094 Changes in the City

“Shikong, how far has the city’s reconstruction progressed?”

Nuoluo wanted a detailed account of the work in the city.

Shikong slowly recounted the changes in Fengdu City. After much debate with Shuishen, they had divided the city into an outer ward and an inner ward. All spirits had to pass first through the outer ward, where their identities were verified and the crimes they had committed in life were made to appear one by one again. Those steeped in wickedness were cast directly into the River of Three Crossings, while only those who met the required conditions were allowed into the inner ward to continue their trials. Even after entering the inner ward, they had merely gained the possibility of reincarnation. They still had to undergo even stricter examinations and wait for rebirth. If any spirit in the inner ward killed a companion, it would be sent back to the outer ward and thrown straight into the River of Three Crossings.

“Your Highness, the passage connecting the outer ward to the River of Three Crossings has already been completed, but the road linking the inner ward to the Netherworld still cannot be built. And Shuishen insists that even spirits who set foot on the road of reincarnation must first pass through the Netherworld, or they will not be able to be reborn smoothly.”

“Have you found the reason?” Nuoluo asked. The most crucial step in the City of Reincarnation was to ensure that spirits could walk smoothly onto the road of rebirth. Even if that road passed through the Netherworld, its passage still had to be guaranteed.

Shikong shook her head. Neither she nor Shuishen could resolve it. Everything they were facing now could only be settled by Nuoluo and the King of the Underworld.

“Have the spirits’ identities all been confirmed?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Every spirit in the city has now been identified.”

Nuoluo looked at Shikong with approval. Progress had exceeded her expectations.

Then Nuoluo thought of the Nether Butterfly that had finally dissolved into the soil. “There is one matter I would like you to consider as well. See whether there is any way to resolve it.” She described in detail the butterfly’s fate.

“Your Highness means that even if it is reborn through reincarnation, its new life cannot last very long. Compared with ordinary lives, these reborn lives are extremely limited in duration,” Shikong said, immediately grasping the problem.

“That is right. Though it was only fashioned from a fallen leaf, it was still fused with my power and that of the King of the Underworld. I never expected its life to be so brief.”

“Your Highness, could it be because it cannot bear these two forces at once within such a short time? Even if it has been granted new life, without any tempering at all and then suddenly receiving such immense power, perhaps it simply cannot endure it directly.”

Nuoluo considered Shikong’s question. She had not thought of that before. Perhaps it was one reason.

“What do you think?”

“Your Highness, rebirth certainly carries risks, but it is also a rare opportunity. If one wishes to continue living, one must pay a price. A life that receives a new beginning without giving anything in return naturally cannot be compared with those that have endured countless hardships,” Siji offered.

Only Shaoguang remained silent, but it was clear she was thinking about something.

“Shaoguang, what have you thought of?”

“Your Highness, I have not finished forming my thoughts. I only have one question that has yet to be confirmed. If I truly come up with a good suggestion, I will report it to Your Highness at once.”

Nuoluo did not press her for an immediate answer. Though these matters concerned only that single fallen leaf, once they involved the rebirth of spirits, things were never simple. They had to consider every factor with great care. If reincarnation failed, the spirits would not enter the Netherworld; they would vanish forever.

Niaoniao, who had been waiting outside all along, suddenly rushed in. “Nuoluo, you’ve only just come back, and already you’re talking about these troublesome things. Come with me somewhere.”

Without another word, it dragged Nuoluo outside. Then Niaoniao turned back and said, “The rest of you are not allowed to come!”

Shaoguang, Siji, and Shikong exchanged glances, none of them knowing what strange idea that miraculous bird had come up with this time.

Nuoluo had no choice but to signal for them to stay where they were.

Niaoniao led Nuoluo to a secluded corner by the outer city wall, acting all the more mysterious for it.

“Niaoniao, what exactly did you find? I’m very busy right now!”

“You’ll see in a moment! It’s right inside,” Niaoniao said, pointing ahead. “Go in, and you’ll find it.”

“Inside?”

Nuoluo looked at the corner before her. Weeds grew thickly all around it, and she could vaguely make out an entrance hidden within.

“Nuoluo, I’ll go in first. You follow behind me.”

Niaoniao insisted on entering, and Nuoluo followed close behind. What exactly was it that Niaoniao was so determined to show her?

From the outside, it seemed like an inconspicuous place, but the farther they went in, the more unusual it felt. The entrance connected to a passage that curved downward into the earth.

The opening was extremely narrow. Nuoluo even had to stoop to walk forward, but the farther she went, the wider the passage became, until at last she could straighten up and look around.

The light all around was extremely dim, allowing her only to barely make out the path beneath her feet. The walls were mottled and worn, as though they had existed for many years already. It was remarkable that Niaoniao had managed to find a place like this at all. But what had it discovered?

“Niaoniao, what exactly are you trying to show me?” Nuoluo began to suspect that Niaoniao had simply been idle lately and had dreamed up this whole scheme for amusement.

“Nuoluo, it’s just ahead. I found it by accident.”

“Huh, why is there no sound today? Why is he so quiet today?” Niaoniao muttered to itself again and again.

“What sound?” Nuoluo heard nothing at all.

“There definitely was one a few days ago. Nuoluo, believe me. When you see it, you’ll be very surprised.”

“I’m already surprised. Have you just been bored these past few days?”

“Nuoluo!”

Niaoniao snapped in irritation and quickened its pace. It was also baffled. Why was it so quiet today?

At last they reached the end of the passage, and there was nothing there at all.

Niaoniao stared in astonishment at the surroundings. “Where did it go?”

“So this is what you brought me here to see? An underground passage with absolutely nothing in it?”

“No, there was a spirit here. But today it’s gone.” Niaoniao was equally puzzled.

“A spirit? Aren’t spirits exactly what you hate most? What spirit could possibly have caught your attention like this? All right, Niaoniao. If this is a game, then it ends here. I’m really busy, and I have no time to play with you.”

“This spirit was truly strange. It was unlike every spirit I had seen before. It could sing, and its hair was strange too—silver. It didn’t look like a spirit at all. When I saw it, it even smiled at me. If I hadn’t already known what it was, I would have thought I’d seen a living person in Fengdu City.”

Niaoniao hurried to explain. It really was not teasing Nuoluo; it had genuinely discovered a strange spirit.

“But all the spirits have been confined elsewhere. How could there be a spirit here?” Nuoluo had already locked up all the spirits together the first time she came here.

“It was confined here by itself. At least when I saw it, it was bound under layer after layer of restraints.”

Niaoniao walked forward a few steps and pointed to the ground. “It was imprisoned right here.”

Nuoluo found no trace at all, but from Niaoniao’s expression, she could tell it was not lying. So why had that spirit been confined alone in this hidden place, and why had it suddenly been taken away? Moreover, none of them had ever reported this to her.

Nuoluo stepped to the place Niaoniao indicated and searched carefully. Suddenly, she caught a faint scent, so slight it was almost impossible to detect. Yet in its familiarity and weakness, she felt as though she had encountered it somewhere before.

She searched the ground inch by inch while racking her memory. Then it came to her: this familiar scent was strikingly similar to the aura of the spirits Nuoluo and Litian had encountered in Hundred-Mile City.

The ledger in the innkeeper’s account book had carried the same faint aura. It belonged to the spirits of the Xuyi clan.

Nuoluo was startled. Again the Xuyi clan? What sort of secret lay behind them? Why did their spirits vanish in such strange ways? The mysteriously disappeared child in the Realm of Nightmares, the human who had suddenly died in Hundred-Mile City, the spiritual traces in the innkeeper’s ledger, and now the spirit that had vanished here. What conspiracy was hidden among all these things?

Suspicion rose in Nuoluo’s heart, but she showed nothing unusual. She could not tell Niaoniao what she had discovered yet.

“Niaoniao, there really was a spirit here. You did not see wrongly.” Nuoluo’s tone softened. So Niaoniao had not been deliberately playing a trick on her; it had truly stumbled upon a hidden secret by accident.

“Then why is it gone?” Niaoniao wore the look of one who had known all along that it had not been mistaken. Yet it was still puzzled. How had that spirit suddenly disappeared?

Nuoluo had to dispel its doubts. “Niaoniao, let’s go back. Since it was confined here, there must have been a reason. Perhaps what you saw was only the surface. A spirit that seems harmless may simply be trying to win your sympathy so that you will help it escape. Isn’t it better that it has now been taken elsewhere?”

Niaoniao looked at her in confusion. “You mean it deliberately made itself seem different from the other spirits just so I would help it escape?”

“It is very possible. So forget about its existence for now. Once we leave, forget everything you saw here.”

“All right. I thought I’d be able to surprise you. If I could discover a spirit like that, then it could have been the first to try reincarnation. I never expected this.”

Niaoniao was a little disappointed, but it would not go against Nuoluo’s wishes. Since it had promised to keep what it saw here a secret, it would certainly do so.

Nuoluo was still smiling, but the questions in her heart grew only deeper. Who had confined that spirit here? Could it have been Siji?

If so, what was her purpose? And Siji had never mentioned that child of Luoyun’s to her. Where had she taken that soul?

Along the way back, neither of them broke the silence. Niaoniao was somewhat embarrassed. It also knew that Nuoluo had been very busy lately; it was only that it had felt a little lonely.

Seeing the downcast Niaoniao, Nuoluo was just about to comfort it. Such a gloomy Niaoniao was something she was not used to at all.