Chapter 20

Upon hearing Xu Manman’s words, the hibiscus seemed to freeze for a moment. With its spiritual energy sealed, it couldn’t transmit any messages, and Xu Manman had no idea what it wanted to say.

At this moment, a slightly low, magnetic, and husky female voice came from the side.

“Hmm?” Just a single word, but it made one’s bones go soft.

Xu Manman couldn’t help but turn her head to look, seeing Jing Wuye speaking into a transmitting conch from which the female voice emanated.

Jing Wuye said, “Reporting to the Soul-Reaping Envoy, we have successfully captured the young master of the Di Luan clan, the Sea King Ao Xiu, and the Immortal Lord Lang Yin.”

“Oh?” The person seemed a bit surprised.

“So easily?”

“Thanks to the sister of the Blood Sect for her inside information and covert assistance,” Jing Wuye also spoke well of Xu Manman.

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the conch, as if puzzled but unable to ask more, so she just said blandly, “First, bring the people to the Hall of No Return.”

The fact that the Soul-Reaping Envoy was a woman surprised Xu Manman a little, but it wasn’t important. She broke free from the hibiscus leaves’ grip and resumed stroking the petals, gently rubbing the black spots on them. The hibiscus trembled violently; Xu Manman wasn’t sure what it was thinking or if removing the curse mark hurt—it was already being very gentle.

The petals were extremely delicate and cool to the touch, making them hard to let go of, and Xu Manman was a bit addicted, holding the flower pot lovingly. The hibiscus, initially trembling violently, seemed to resign itself to fate, wilting listlessly.

The spider with a human head and ghost face pulled along two human cocoons, while Xu Manman, holding the flower pot, followed Jing Wuye through the mountain interior.

The cave was winding and labyrinthine, with large caves leading into smaller ones and countless bends. Without a guide, it would be very difficult to navigate.

“Old Jing, when did you join the Blood Sect?” Xu Manman asked casually, as if making small talk to gather information.

Jing Wuye, unsuspecting, answered honestly, “It’s been eighty-seven years this year.”

“And when did you join the Myriad Thorn Palace?” Xu Manman asked.

“Over two hundred years ago,” Jing Wuye smiled wryly.

“The Myriad Thorn Palace didn’t treat you well, did they?” Xu Manman was a bit puzzled as to why he would betray them after more than a century.

“You, as a human, don’t understand the hardships of us plant spirits,” Jing Wuye sighed long, as if pouring out centuries of resentment and grievances.

“We plants are rooted where we grow, unable to move around like birds and beasts or other spirits who can hunt and cultivate.”

“Every species has its advantages. Plants have roots and can draw nutrients and spiritual energy from the earth, often living longer than other spirits,” Xu Manman said.

“We might live two thousand years longer than other spirits, but a thousand of those years are spent buried in the soil, unable to move. That’s a miserable life. We’re rooted in one place and can only absorb whatever is there. If we’re lucky enough to root in a blessed land, we can take shape in three to five hundred years. If we’re unlucky and grow in barren mountains and wild rivers, it might take thousands of years without achieving true form,” Jing Wuye sighed as he spoke.

Xu Manman nodded while stroking the petals.

“It does sound difficult.”

Receiving Xu Manman’s understanding, Jing Wuye’s desire to confide surged, and he poured out the hardships of being a plant spirit.

“After finally taking human form and finding a sect to rely on, they say, ‘You flowers and plants just need some manure to thrive.’ We’re not dung beetles; who wants to push manure?” Jing Wuye was indignant.

Xu Manman smiled awkwardly—she had thought the same before.

Jing Wuye continued, “For plant cultivation, besides absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the quickest way is to absorb nutrients from the soil. And the most nutrient-rich place is where the bones of cultivators are buried. We can absorb more spiritual energy and nutrients from the bodies of deceased cultivators. Naturally, the burial places of major sects have the most, but they don’t let us absorb it.”

Xu Manman thought, Isn’t that obvious? Who in their right mind would want someone to consume their corpse?

Jing Wuye, however, didn’t see it that way.

He righteously said, “We’re not killing people, just eating the dead, which doesn’t violate Daoist Alliance principles. Why be so harsh on plant spirits?”

Xu Manman said, “Is that why you joined the Blood Sect?”

Jing Wuye replied, “The Blood sovereign provides plenty of food; there are many corpses here.”

Xu Manman said wistfully, “But those corpses were once living people, killed by the Blood Sect…”

“Mostly killed by the Burning Heaven Division or tormented to death by the Fate Defying Division,” Jing Wuye said.

Xu Manman felt conflicted. Was Jing Wuye a bad spirit? He only wanted to eat corpses—a simple and natural desire for a plant. But why should others’ corpses be given to him? This was an irreconcilable conflict; even the Daozuns were powerless.

Xu Manman, as a human, naturally thought more from a human standpoint but tried to maintain a balance among all races. However, as a human, it was hard to truly see things from a spirit’s perspective. Humans had more moral constraints, while spirits followed their instincts. There was often conflict even within spirit races, like between Ao Xiu and Li Que…

Xu Manman sighed quietly, unconsciously stroking the tender petals, suddenly recalling something. “Old Jing, you’re a thorn spirit. Let me ask, What’s the difference between flowers and leaves for you plant spirits?”

Jing Wuye was stunned for a moment, then answered, “That is…

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Here are a harmonious hundred words. Find a place to read it yourself…
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(T/N:huhu… the raw really put it like this… so I just translated it as it is…so please use your own imagination on what those hundred harmonious words might be..hehehe… i guess the ‘flower’ is probably the spirit plant’s own reproductive organ..hehe)

Very likely, the immortal Lord might really wither…

She carefully reached out and touched the leaf, but got no response.

Xu Manman thought: If she could see tomorrow’s sunset, she must kneel fast enough.

Otherwise, she won’t be able to see the sunrise the day after tomorrow…

For three hundred years, she remained pure-hearted and abstinent and kept away from men. One day, she miscalculated and ravaged the flower with her ruthless hands – these hands must not be innocent anymore…

Beside her, Jing Wuye continued to ramble on, “…Nowadays, some flower spirits, after mingling with humans for a long time, pick up human vices. They don’t like revealing their true forms and feel ashamed, completely forgetting their origins. Only the Qiluo flower spirits stay true to themselves, never hiding…”

Xu Manman vaguely recalled—the Qiluo flower’s pollen was hallucinogenic, and its petals could be used as an aphrodisiac, and one or two taels of it are sold for ten thousand gold in Tiandu.

No wonder that the Qiluo flower spirit flaunted itself in the streets, showing off with an implied “Mine is very big; take a look”…

Ugh, it’s immoral and disgusting!

Xu Manman walked alongside Jing Wuye for a long time, estimating that they had ventured deep into the underground labyrinth, until they finally saw a palace.

The palace was entirely built of black rock, exuding a chilling aura. Above the grand entrance hung a plaque that read, “Hall of No Return.”

Does it imply that there’s no return once you enter?

Jing Wuye approached the guards at the entrance, exchanged a few words, and then led Xu Manman and the ghost-faced spider into the Hall of No Return.

The entire hall was constructed from black stone that seemed to absorb light. Despite numerous torches, the place remained eerie, with visibility dropping significantly beyond five meters. It felt as if something was lurking in the darkness.

Upon stepping into the main hall, the coldness intensified. Xu Manman immediately noticed the dampness in the air, likely due to ice blocks or similar formations arranged around, turning the hall into an icehouse.

Such measures were probably taken to preserve corpses.

Xu Manman looked up to see that there were no seats atop the nine steps, but rather a stage for performances. On it stood several puppets in costumes—a bald monk playing the zither under a tree and a few cultivators sparring nearby.

Music from behind the curtains created a heart-wrenching atmosphere that echoed through the empty palace.

Jing Wuye bowed but did not interrupt the performance.

Xu Manman watched the stage intently, trying to discern some meaning, but the play had no dialogue. She only saw the cultivators eventually kill the bald monk.

Confused, Xu Manman felt the performers were completely immersed in their own world, indifferent to whether anyone understood them.

Moments later, the play ended, the music stopped, and a female voice emerged from behind the curtain.

“Are you from the Blood Sect?”

“Indeed, I am a spy from the Burning Heaven Division embedded with Lian Yue Daozun,” Xu Manman said with a smile.

“I have captured Immortal Lord Lang Yin, Young Master Di Luan, and Sea King Ao Xiu, intending to present them to the Blood Sovereign.”

As Jing Wuye had mentioned, the Soul Reaping Envoy disliked showing herself and merely spoke from behind the curtain, “Bring them up for me to see.”

Li Que and Ao Xiu were immediately dragged into the hall by the ghost-faced spider.

Two streams of spiritual energy shot out from behind the curtain, locking onto Li Que and Ao Xiu’s divine apertures.

“It is indeed them; no mistake.” Having used puppets extensively, she feared being tricked by them.

“I personally captured them; there’s no impersonation. The power of the divine veins cannot be faked,” Jing Wuye said.

“Thousand-petaled Hibiscus…” the soul-reaping envoy murmured.

“Three hundred years ago, the former Blood Sovereign desired him, but only now has it come to fruition. Jing Wuye, you have done well.”

Xu Manman’s ears perked up, gleaning new information.

Three hundred years ago, the Blood Sect targeted Immortal Lord Lang Yin but failed.

Three hundred years—the same time she had known Immortal Lord Lang Yin.

It was said that Immortal Lord Lang Yin rarely visited the Si Yi sect, but in the past three hundred years, he had hardly left. Was it because he was injured three hundred years ago?

Moreover, the former Blood Sovereign…

This meant the Blood Sovereign had changed within these three hundred years.

“However, the Blood Sovereign is currently preoccupied with more pressing matters. Send them to the Fate-Defying Division to extract their divine veins,” the Soul-Reaping Envoy ordered.

Jing Wuye replied, “As you command!”

Jing Wuye led the group out of the hall, which soon returned to its previous desolation.

The female voice behind the curtain spoke again.

“Blood Sovereign, Xu Yanyue has taken the three to the Soul-Reaping Division.”

After a brief silence, the female voice continued.

“I see… I know what to do.”

Jing Wuye informed Xu Manman that the formation setup would take several hours and suggested she rest in a side hall of the Hall of No Return, promising to notify her once everything was ready.

Jing Wuye was a talkative person, chattering non-stop along the way while dragging Xu Manman with him. Xu Manman, who had been wanting to gather some information, not only didn’t stop Jing Wuye from rambling but even chimed in occasionally to encourage him to talk more.

“What do you think of the Soul-Reaping Division compared to the other three divisions?” Xu Manman asked.

Jing Wuye replied, “Of course, our Soul-Reaping Division is the best.”

“Oh, why is that?” Xu Manman raised an eyebrow.

“Because the ‘people’ in our division are normal,” Jing Wuye said seriously. “We don’t like killing people; we just like dead people.”

Xu Manman was speechless.

“The Burning Heaven Division is full of bloodthirsty maniacs. People as peaceful as you are rare, probably because you haven’t stayed in the Burning Heaven Division long enough to be influenced by them.”

“The Fate-Defying Division is more terrifying than the endless hells. It’s filled with harrowing screams because they like to torment the living, doing all sorts of bizarre things to them until they’re neither humans nor ghosts. It’s like some people who enjoy pruning flowers, they must shape others into what they think is beautiful.”

“The Doom-bringing Division’s brothers are mysterious and profound in their blood curse techniques. They interact more with the Fate-Defying division. They say that when life is tortured to death, a mysterious power is born at the moment of death, neither poison nor gu, which they call a resentment curse. This resentment curse power, once infected, would even make Immortal Lord Lang Yin suffer.”

Xu Manman pondered and asked, “That soul-locking nail, it must be made by the Doom-bringing Division, right?”

“Exactly. They discovered that nailing someone in a coffin to slowly suffocate and die in despair, fear, pain, and anger—even scratching their fingers off—generates immense curse resentment power. Blood curse techniques are too complex; I only know a little. If you encounter them in the future, steer clear and don’t offend them, or you won’t even know how you died.”

Xu Manman felt a chill in her heart, thinking about how many innocent people the Blood Sect must have tortured to death to collect such curse resentment power.

Jing Wuye didn’t notice Xu Manman’s emotional change and continued, “By comparison, our place is much quieter than the other three divisions, mainly because we have more dead people than living ones. I know they call the Hall of No Return the Yama Hall, and we only collect the dead, not needing to go out and kill. The corpses the other three divisions send over are almost more than we can store…”

Xu Manman remarked, “The number of brothers in the Soul-Reaping Division who can practice puppet techniques is still too few…”

Jing Wuye said, “There’s no help for that. Puppet techniques require very high cultivation from the practitioner, plus talent.”

Xu Manman probed, “Old Jing, your strength in the Soul-Reaping Division should be among the top three now, right? I see the Soul-Reaping Envoy respects you quite a bit.”

Jing Wuye couldn’t hide his pride, “Not bad, not bad. I can now control twenty or thirty puppets of the same realm at once, which is more than others. But the Soul-Reaping Envoy can control puppets in the Dharma Aspect realm, and we don’t even know how many she can control.”

“This puppet technique and the forbidden spirit formation are a perfect match. Puppets can’t use spiritual energy, but their bodies are tough, and they don’t fear pain or death. The forbidden spirit formation allows the puppets to fully utilize their strengths.”

Xu Manman smiled sinisterly, “Lian Yue Daozun fell right into this trap.”

Jing Wuye solemnly admired, “You even know such top-secret plans. You must hold a high position in the Burning Heaven Division.”

Of course, she knew; she was tricked to death the same way… She had used all her strength to destroy the forbidden spirit formation before her death; otherwise, Immortal Lord Lang Yin would have suffered greatly when he arrived.

“Sigh, what’s there to say? The Burning Heaven Division was practically wiped out by Immortal Lord Lang Yin, with hundreds killed,” Xu Manman sighed deliberately.

“Some brothers from the Burning Heaven Division have been sent to besiege Fu Yue Shenzun. With you around, the Burning Heaven Division is not extinct,” Jing Wuye comforted.

“I wonder who the next Burning Heaven Envoy will be…” Xu Manman said thoughtfully.

“You’ve done a great job, but unfortunately, your cultivation is too low… However, you might still become a deputy envoy. With one Kaiyuan Ningbo Pill from the Fate-Defying Division every month, you could achieve the Nascent Soul stage in less than ten years!” Jing Wuye said it enviously.

Kaiyuan Ningbo Pill…

Xu Manman gleaned another piece of information.

“I’ll go check on the formation’s progress. People here are lazy; they’ll let the puppets do things if they can. I’m not at ease unless I oversee it,” Jing Wuye said, getting up.

Xu Manman got up to see him off, smiling, “Old Jing, you really have a warm heart. Will you be coming with us?”

“Of course, we need to bring more people to escort you. These three captives are crucial and must not be lost,” Jing Wuye babbled a few more words. “Unfortunately, it’s too conspicuous, so we can’t go through the Cardinal Tower. Setting up such a formation burns a lot of high-grade spirit stones. If we were to meet the Blood Sovereign, it would be closer. But recently, there have been too many Daoist Alliance cultivators in Tiandu, so it’s dangerous. The Fate-Defying Division is very far.”

Xu Manman’s eyebrows twitched at these words—the Blood Sovereign is in Tiandu?

Xu Manman said, “Now Tiandu is filled with many Daoist Alliance cultivators from the Seven Sects, all to protect Lord Tuntian. I hope the Blood Sovereign stays safe.”

Jing Wuye nodded, “Your information is accurate. We did plan to target Lord Tuntian, but with Di Luan and Yun Jiao now in our hands, Lord Tuntian can wait.”

After Jing Wuye left, Xu Manman closed the door and set up a barrier.

She turned to look at the hibiscus flower on the table. The demonic purple petals were shrouded in a misty, soft light. Under her gaze, it slowly shed its purple robe like a beauty undressing, revealing pure white, delicate, smooth skin. Even the fragrance seemed to become much fresher.

Xu Manman suddenly thought of something—dawn had arrived.

So, Immortal Lord Lang Yin could still be used as a sundial…