095 Mysterious Revenant

After Niao Niao emerged from the passage, it still could not help glancing back once more. The thought of that dead soul, the one it had never had the chance to meet, left a faint regret in its heart.

“Niao Niao must keep the secret of this place. Only the two of us know that we were here.”

“I know. You’ve already said that once. So wordy.” Once Niao Niao returned to normal, it became that arrogant, imperious creature again.

With a flick of its hand, Niao Niao sprang sideways to avoid the strike. It had long since seen through her intention; after suffering losses so many times already, how could it still let Nuo Luo succeed?

Seeing Niao Niao like this, Nuo Luo finally felt relief. To be honest, she truly was not used to Niao Niao’s gloom.

Nuo Luo was to return to the High Temple, but Niao Niao did not wish to go back to that suffocating place. They had been discussing Reincarnation City endlessly, until Niao Niao’s ears were practically calloused from hearing it, and besides, there were still those two detestable fellows to deal with. Taking advantage of the moment, Niao Niao slipped away; it was still searching for some miraculous discovery in Fengdu City.

After returning to the High Temple, Nuo Luo kept thinking about the Xiuyi clan. The more she pondered it, the more she felt that something must be hidden within it, but what secret was concealed there, one she did not yet know?

Under the night sky, Fengdu City was entirely wrapped in black miasma, with no human life surviving there and no light from any temple shining down upon it. Innumerable dead souls were imprisoned within the city, and all of this made Fengdu City radiate a singular and eerie strangeness.

The former Earth Goddess Temple had not been torn down, but it had long since lost its brilliance. The temple stood in darkness, like Fengdu City beneath the night, without the slightest lamp of light.

Nuo Luo stopped before an ordinary-looking building in the southwest of the outer city. The structure before her was a most unremarkable temple-like building, its high walls concealing everything within. This was the place that imprisoned all the dead souls.

The air was thick with the scent of death. Within the inescapable despair came waves of mournful wailing. Even before entering, she could already feel its oppression.

Behind Nuo Luo, the figure of Shaoguang appeared. Shaoguang had hurried over after receiving Nuo Luo’s summons.

“Your Highness, why have you come here?”

“Shaoguang, come with me inside and take a look.”

As Nuo Luo pushed the door open, it was as though she had once more fallen into the River of Three Crossings. Forcing down the discomfort in her heart, she stepped inside. Shaoguang followed closely behind and closed the door after them.

Before them appeared countless dead souls. Around each of them existed an invisible restraint, like a vast cage that bound them within a fixed space and forbade them from leaving at will.

Pale hands, cold and bloodless, stretched desperately outward, trying to break free of the unseen shackles. Scarlet eyes were filled with despair, longing mournfully for the precious lives they had once possessed.

When Nuo Luo and Shaoguang entered, all the dead souls turned their gazes upon them at once, especially upon Nuo Luo. They would never forget that it was this very figure before them who had confined them here.

Yet this time, the dead souls’ eyes held only plea and entreaty. Before overwhelming power, they had no choice but to submit.

Nuo Luo felt a little pained at the sight of them, but she could not lift the restraints she herself had placed. These dead souls had to remain here for now.

“Shaoguang, have their identities in life all been confirmed?”

“Yes, Your Highness. They have all been identified. According to the severity of the sins they committed in life, they have been divided into different areas.”

“Are there any dead souls from the Xiuyi clan?”

Shaoguang thought for a moment. It seemed there truly had been no dead souls from the Xiuyi clan. She was somewhat puzzled by this as well. There had indeed once been members of that clan in Fengdu City, but none of their dead souls were here. Though they had been an unforgettable people, why would Her Highness suddenly bring them up?

“After I left, did any new dead souls appear?” Could that dead soul have appeared only after she left?

“No, Your Highness. No new dead souls have appeared. And aside from Niao Niao, who never came, everyone else should have entered. Is there some anomaly?”

Nuo Luo fell silent. As expected, there was something suspicious. If Niao Niao had not happened to discover the dead soul’s existence, then every trace of its appearance would have been mysteriously erased.

“Were there ever any people of the Xiuyi clan in the city?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Before the disaster occurred, members of that clan did indeed live in the city.”

“Shaoguang, have you not noticed something? Since members of the Xiuyi clan once lived in the city, why would their dead souls disappear? Is that not strange?”

“Perhaps it was only a coincidence.” Shaoguang did not know what Nuo Luo had experienced.

“What if it was inevitable? Such a thing did not happen in isolation. It happened in Bai City as well: the dead souls of the Xiuyi clan there also vanished without a trace.”

“Could they have already been taken to the netherworld?” That was the only possibility Shaoguang could think of. Otherwise, where could those dead souls have gone?

“I thought so too before, but those dead souls never went to the netherworld. Now it seems that some secret must be hidden within them. It is even possible that someone could use these dead souls to accomplish some dark conspiracy.”

Nuo Luo’s words drew Shaoguang into deep thought. Since Her Highness had mentioned this so gravely, she must have discovered something suspicious. When the dead souls were being identified, the number had been enormous, and she, together with the Seasons and Time-Spacetime, had completed that arduous task without rest. There had been no time at all to consider which clans the dead souls belonged to.

“Your Highness, what should we do now?” Shaoguang waited quietly for Nuo Luo’s command.

Nuo Luo’s gaze swept across all the dead souls. At present, everything in Fengdu City was proceeding in orderly fashion, and these dead souls could not escape the restraints she had imposed.

“Shaoguang, leave Fengdu City at once and investigate the Xiuyi clan. Find out how their surviving people are faring. Remember, every single detail must be verified one by one.”

“Every detail?” Shaoguang was visibly startled. Her Highness had never before shown such concern for the development of any human clan.

“Yes, every detail. And this matter must be carried out in secret. Once you have confirmed the situation, report directly to me. Do not let a word leak out.”

Nuo Luo could not discern Season’s true intentions, and until every circumstance had been made clear, she could not reveal her doubts to Shaoguang either.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Shaoguang said no more. Once Her Highness issued such an order, she would keep its contents strictly secret; even the Seasons and Time-Spacetime had no right to know the command she had received.

“Shaoguang, depart at once. Do not waste a single moment.”

After they left that suffocating place, Nuo Luo returned to the High Temple.

Once Shaoguang had prepared everything, she set out on her journey. Unexpectedly, just outside the city she encountered the Seasons.

“Seasons, why are you here?” Shaoguang was astonished at the sight of them. Her departure had been highly secret; how had Seasons found out?

“Shaoguang, where are you going?” The eyes of Seasons flickered with a complicated light.

“I have just received a command from Her Highness. I must leave immediately.” Shaoguang felt that today’s Seasons were a little strange, as though they were worried about something.

“What sort of command?”

“Seasons, do you know what you are saying? A command issued privately by Her Highness can only be known by Her Highness herself. You are overstepping your bounds.”

“I…”

Before Seasons could finish, Shaoguang cut her off. “Seasons, you have been far too out of sorts today. I will pretend none of this happened. Go back.”

Shaoguang did not want to see Seasons punished. On this matter, Her Highness had ordered that no information be leaked, so she had to keep the secret. If she disobeyed Nuo Luo’s command, both she and Seasons would be punished. Though Nuo Luo rarely gave orders, the rules she had established had to be obeyed; no one was allowed to defy them.

Seasons seemed about to ask more, but after looking at Shaoguang’s stern expression, she swallowed the words back. She knew Shaoguang too well. Even if her soul and spirit were utterly destroyed, Shaoguang would never disobey a single command from Her Highness.

“Shaoguang, I was the one who lost composure. I thought something else had happened and that you had to hurry off to deal with it. Take care on your journey.”

“Seasons, do not be like this again. Although Her Highness rarely reproaches us for such things, that does not mean we may freely violate her rules.”

Shaoguang’s figure vanished quickly from Seasons’ sight.

Seasons stood alone outside the city. Behind her lay Fengdu City, plunged into a deathly stillness. She could no longer see Shaoguang. She did not know whether it was merely her imagination, but she kept feeling that Shaoguang’s departure had something profoundly to do with her.

Today, Her Highness had actually gone to inspect those dead souls. Fortunately, she had already erased every trace of that dead soul’s existence completely; otherwise, if it came into contact with Her Highness, who knew what consequences might follow? The dead souls of the Xiuyi clan—those wretches steeped in sin. What Her Highness could not bear to do, she would do in her stead.

Even if one day Her Highness learned the truth and blamed her, she would accept any punishment with gladness. Every factor that threatened the human realm, every factor that might endanger Her Highness, she had a duty to eliminate for her.

Yet there was one thing that left Seasons deeply puzzled. She had not discovered the Xiuyi clansman’s dead soul who could threaten Her Highness. The Xiuyi dead soul she had encountered truly was an aberration among dead souls. Could he have been mistaken?

Thinking of that mysteriously appearing deity, Seasons could not help doubting him deeply, yet she also had no choice but to believe his words. If what he said was true, then would not Her Highness be in grave danger? If he was lying, then the sacrifice would be no more than a few dead souls. Compared with the safety of humankind, a mere handful of dead souls was utterly insignificant.

Seasons strengthened her resolve once more. She knew full well that although Her Highness was ruthless and overbearing when dealing with the demon race, once matters concerned the human world, her heart was softer than anyone’s. The things Her Highness could not do, she herself would do.

Thinking of the two dead souls in her possession, her only regret was that her power was still not enough to annihilate them completely. Even if she could not erase them entirely from this world, Seasons would still imprison them forever in a place no one could find. Let them slowly perish within an endless confinement.