He held up his phone, with a look of utter confusion on his face, unsure of what to do—whether to send a message or not, and he ultimately chuckled dryly and said, "My lord, uh... what did you drop here?"

In usual awkward situations, if it were someone else standing opposite him, Xie Bai would simply ignore them, finish whatever he was doing, and leave without a word; if it were someone from the Tai Xuan Dao, then he would inevitably make a sarcastic remark or two.

But this time, he acted completely out of character. Instead of sarcasm, he unexpectedly replied to Li Dong, "I found something, but since Yin Wushu is coming, there's no need to beat the point." With that said, he turned to leave without waiting for their response.

The rainy weather of this season was already damp and gloomy, and an weird wind seemed to blow from nowhere, causing Xie Bai to cough involuntarily once again.

"My lord—" Li Dong couldn't help but worryingly call out.

However, Xie Bai had no intention of listening to him. His expression remained cold, but his pace quickened, unable to wait until he reached the darkness before he waved his hand, dispersing a cloud of black mist, covering his mouth with a scarf to suppress the cough, and stepping into the mist.

Unexpectedly, the floating black mist was suddenly dispersed, dissipating like real smoke in the air.

In its place stood a tall figure, taking the place of the previously floating mist, with an expression of disgust as he clicked his tongue and said, "This mud on my foot is simply—"

Xie Bai suddenly halted his steps, instinctively taking a step back, afraid that if he had been a second later, he would have bumped into the newcomer's embrace.

"Xiao Bai?" The person in front of him had just dispersed the mist, but upon seeing Xie Bai, he abruptly cut off his words, surprised and somewhat hesitant as he called out.

Xie Bai subconsciously raised his head, almost about to respond. However, that "Hmm" rolled in his throat, then he forcibly swallowed it back.

Yin Wushu...

A name he could usually say without hesitation, but at this moment, he couldn't bring himself to say it. After all, it had been over a hundred years since he last called this person by their full name, and after a hundred years, he hadn't seen this person again...

Xie Bai kept a cold expression, stifling the cough into his chest, deliberately ignoring the long-lost title, remaining silent.

Judging from Yin Wushu's expression, he clearly hadn't expected Xie Bai, who was supposed to have "already left," to be standing here. He hadn't even put down his left hand yet, his slender fingers loosely holding a piece of pigeon-gray cloth.

This sight was all too familiar to Xie Bai. With Yin Wushu's extremely critical personality, even in a place where the smell of the monster corpse hadn't completely dissipated, he would symbolically cover his mouth and nose, as if speaking with an exposed tongue would rot it in the foul smell.

Xie Bai remained silent without saying a word. He didn't rush to speak, but kept his gaze fixed on Xie Bai for a while before he slightly moved, turning his head to glance at the two shadows shrinking by the flower bed.

Li Dong awkwardly said, "Boss, you're here so fast."

Following suit, Feng Li called out, then squatted back down to guard the pit he had dug out, pretending to be invisible.

Yin Wushu let out a "Hmm" from his nostrils, as if in agreement, then shifted his gaze back to Xie Bai.

This man was tall, and always seemed to tilt his head slightly when looking at someone.

His attire was no different from the common people on the street, but the iron-gray half-stand collar coat accentuated his handsome yet dignified appearance. He had exceptionally well-defined features, with dark, deep eyes reflecting a warm yellow reflect from the streetlights, seemingly containing a layer of moisture. Even with his slightly furrowed brows and lowered eyes, one could sense a hint of emotion, even when there seemed to be none.

His gaze fell directly on Xie Bai's face, as if trying to see through the three layers of black bandages to Xie Bai's eyes.

Unfortunately, Xie Bai showed no intention of removing that covering.

"You..." Yin Wushu started, but after a while, he couldn't figure out what to say next. After a long pause, he self-deprecatingly smiled and said, "It's been too long, I'm all over the place with my words."

Xie Bai's lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "A person who's been avoiding me for a hundred years suddenly appears in front of me. I would also be incoherent, because I had no intention of talking at all."

Yin Wushu frowned slightly, his expression briefly strange, as if somewhat understanding. He paused for a moment before continuing, "If I had no intention of speaking, I wouldn't be standing here."

Xie Bai adjusted his scarf over his mouth and nose again, then sneered, bluntly retorting, "Are you lying?"

Yin Wushu: "Huh?"

Xie Bai nodded towards Li Dong and said indifferently, "When I returned, I happened to overhear the message you sent."

Yin Wushu remained silent, his expression turning to Li Dong, who immediately raised his hand to swear, "I'll remember to wear earphones next time."

Yin Wushu withdrew his gaze, recalling his conversation with Li Dong just now, then waved his hand and said, "It's just a misunderstanding. I originally intended to..."

As he was explaining, Yin Wushu realized that Xie Bai had already turned his head to face the flower bed directly, pointing towards the pit that Feng Li was guarding. "Instead of standing here, it's better to quickly go and see what's inside. After all, exposing ourselves like this isn't a good idea. Isn't that why you're here?"

Yin Wushu nodded, "That's indeed one of the reasons, but—"

"I'm also busy and don't have time to linger here." Xie Bai interrupted him, covered himself with his scarf, and was about to bypass Yin Wushu blocking his path and leave.

Yin Wushu reached out and grabbed him, saying, "Wait."

Xie Bai glanced down at the hand grabbing him, the fingers wrapped in black bandages struggling but failing to break free.

He raised his head, expressionless, and interrupted Yin Wushu, "This hand just touched the monster corpse."

Yin Wushu: "..."

Xie Bai continued, "Touched it many times."

Yin Wushu's face turned from blue to green, then to jade green, but he still didn't let go. He took a deep breath, suppressing his frustration, and said somewhat helplessly, "Xiao Bai, you—"

Xie Bai was extremely annoyed and didn't want to hear him speak anymore, so he struggled again, coldly using his trump card, "This hand absorbed the entire monster corpse, and there's still blood on it."

Yin Wushu was momentarily stunned into silence.

Li Dong groaned and fell back onto Feng Li, "Damn it, these two guys are not giving OCD any room to breathe They keep interrupting each other. It's driving me crazy. Just finish your sentences already!"

(NT: OCD - Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts or sensations (obsessions) or the urge to do something over and over again (compulsions)).

Feng Li: "..."

Li Dong grabbed his collar and shook it, "What should we do about them? It seems that I should beat them. But I dare not do it, would you do it for me?"

Feng Li remained impassive. "I didn't do drugs today, my mind is still clear, I don't want to commit suicide temporarily."

Xie Bai who could hear it all clearly. “…”

These two subordinates who specialized in causing trouble managed to bring Yin Wushu back to his senses. Taking advantage of Xie Bai's silence, Yin Wushu directly dragged him over to Feng Li's side.

Xie Bai didn't want to move, but Yin Wushu's hands were notoriously difficult to shake off once he grabbed onto something. And he was a dignified Yin guest, as famous as the Tai Xuan Dao sect, responsible for overseeing millions of demon spirits, being dragged along in this rundown neighborhood, even if it was Yin Wushu doing the dragging, it was still a joke.

So Xie Bai reluctantly took a few steps, wearing an icy expression, tightly pursing his lips, and stood by the edge of the pit, emitting a cold aura.

Feng Li silently glanced at his boss grabbing onto the Yin guest’s hand, then silently lowered his gaze and pointed to the deep hole in front of them, saying, "This is the hole from which we dug out the monster corpse, it's a bit... long."

Not only was the hole long, but it was also narrow and deep, with no bottom in sight. Even standing by the edge and using the streetlights, only darkness could be seen in the depths. It was unclear how long Feng Li's hand had to stretch to dig the monster corpse out of such a ghostly place. So, Li Dong had just been sneaking around the hole, studying it for half a day, and still couldn't figure out why Yin Wushu wanted to come and see this hole.

With one hand firmly holding Xie Bai to prevent him from running away, and the other hand covering his mouth and nose with the pigeon-gray cloth, Yin Wushu stood beside Li Dong and the others, looking down at the hole with a deep and serious expression.

"Boss, what's so special about this hole that you've been staring at it for so long?" Li Dong couldn't help but ask when he saw Yin Wushu's inaction.

Xie Bai chuckled coldly beside him. "He's just worried about not being able to find a way out."

Li Dong and Feng Li both looked up, glanced at the gray cloth in his left hand, then looked at the Yin guest in his right hand, their expressions saying, "...Seriously can't find a way out?"

Feng Li said slowly, "This hole is indeed unusual. The heavy smell on the monster's body was everywhere, but there was none of it inside this hole."

Upon hearing this, Yin Wushu raised an eyebrow. Without saying a word, he put the cloth back into his coat pocket with his left hand, then flicked his wrist in the air, and a thin wooden twig appeared between his fingers, emitting a faint woody scent. The twig was carved with intricate runes, with an extremely thin silver thread in the center, and the other end naturally hung down.

He gently flicked his fingers a few times, and the wooden twig began to rotate horizontally, winding around the central silver thread and gradually lengthening. Soon, it lowered into the narrow and deep pit.

As the silver thread went deeper, the wooden twig in Yin Wushu's fingers swayed uncertainly, like a compass that couldn't find its direction.

After turning back and forth for a moment, the wooden twig suddenly stabilized. Yin Wushu then smirked, lazily twisted the twig, and began to retract the silver thread.

Li Dong and Feng Li couldn't help but be curious, both craning their necks and staring intently at the hole. They saw the long silver thread straighten and finally retract, and as it came out of the hole, they saw something strange hanging from the other end of the thread, about the size of a fist, naturally deep in color with a slight reddish hue, but wrapped in a thin layer of white film with traces of blood on it.

Xie Bai, who had been keeping a cold face, finally couldn't help but glance in the direction of the hole, then quickly turned away.

Yin Wushu immediately collected the strange object along with the wooden twig and the silver thread.

Li Dong asked somewhat bewilderedly, "Boss, what is that?"

Yin Wushu replied casually, "A heart."

Li Dong exclaimed, "…Damn, whose heart is so pitiful, buried in such a place?"

Yin Wushu smiled lightly, "Mine."

Li Dong and Feng Li were speechless: "………"

And their amazing boss, who had just uttered casually such shocking words, acted as if he had just dug out a preserved duck heart, and turned to Xie Bai, asking seriously, "Xiao Bai, hey, don't turn your head, let's talk about business. Where's the demon core from the corpse we just dug out? It's really suspicious to bury the monster corpse in such a place."

Xie Bai replied, "Got it."

Behind them, Li Dong and Feng Li silently covered their chests. Li Dong casually crumpled a piece of paper and threw it to Feng Li, saying, "Did you see that? These two ancestors, one loves digging hearts, the other specializes in extracting cores. They are from the same lineage, extremely brutal, both are perverts."

Feng Li finally couldn't help but ask, "Wait, what do you mean by same lineage?"

 

Translator : DarNan