(NT : the title is a Chinese idiom meaning that something is not merely emotionally distressing or hurtful, but rather deeply disturbing or intellectually challenging.)

 

"What's that?" Xie Bai stepped forward to where Yin Wushu was, waving his hand to signal him to move aside.

Yin Wushu followed his gaze, then chuckled and said, "I didn't lie to you, did I?" With that, he moved aside and leaned against the stone railing, making way.

Approaching a few steps, Xie Bai crouched down, about to take a closer look, when Yin Wushu began chattering beside him.

"Look at that, the hem of your clothes is dragging on the ground. Are you here to clean the bridge?" Yin Wushu didn't want to touch anything on the ground, but seeing Xie Bai's actions, he bent down reluctantly, a look of annoyance on his face, and lifted the hem of Xie Bai's coat, brushing off the dust that had just been tarnished it.

Because of the heavy mist, the dust on the bridge had a dampness to it. After Yin Wushu straightened up and shook off a piece of cloth, carefully wiping his palms and fingers, he snapped his fingers and burned the cloth.

Xie Bai watched his meticulous actions expressionlessly, then moved his neck slightly and continued to examine the things in the crevices of the stone with a blank expression.

As Yin Wushu said, the scattered dark red beads inside were exactly the same texture as the one Xie Bai had picked up from under the demon's body earlier, albeit slightly different in size. There were more than ten in total, some as large as pearls, others similar in size to the one Xie Bai already had.

"Why are there so many... what exactly are these?" Xie Bai carefully picked out the beads from the crevices, along with the one he had before, laying them all out in his palm, studying them for a while before standing up.

Yin Wushu narrowed his eyes slightly and remained silent, his gaze fixed on the beads for a long time without speaking, as if he was also pondering for Xie Bai. After a moment of silence, he slowly shook his head and said, "I don't know."

If even Yin Wushu couldn't recognize them, either these things were extremely rare and unusual, or... they were just insignificant trinkets that no one cared about.

Xie Bai furrowed his brows, lips pressed tightly together...

The title of "Yin Guest" had been on his head for over a hundred years now. During this time, whenever a demon died in the spiritual realm, he would be responsible for verifying the facts, disposing of the body, erasing all traces of its existence, and then collecting the defunct demon pill to be sent to the Ten thousand spirits Tree. Only then would the cycle of life and death be considered complete.

It sounded almost as mysterious as the Tai Xuan Tao, controlling the life and death trajectories of countless demons, but in reality, it was much more leisurely than managing live demons in the Tai Xuan Sect.

After all, most of the demons in the spiritual realm had long lifespans. Even if they suffered injuries like broken arms or legs, it was just a minor inconvenience to them. Even if their physical bodies were reduced to dust, as long as the demon pill was intact, they would be as good as new in eighteen years. While the human world had changed generations, they still lived carefree and endless lives.

So, it was common to go for several months or even years without seeing a demon's corpse. Seeing four in one day was extremely rare. Coupled with this pile of strange and inexplicable beads... Xie Bai's suspicions were suddenly aroused, feeling that there was something peculiar about them.

"Really don't know?" Xie Bai asked again, feeling uneasy.

Yin Wushu rested his hand on the stone railing, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Being old doesn't mean you've seen everything. But don't worry, there's a demon market in a while, where there are some old demons who specialize in exchanging rare trinkets. You can go ask around there, maybe you'll find out something."

With his reminder, Xie Bai found it feasible, so he flipped his hand and collected the pile of beads.

With all things that needed to be done carried out, there was no need for the two of them to linger on the bridge any longer. After all, the old times had passed and there was nothing left to talk about. Xie Bai whispered, "I'm leaving," then turned and headed down the bridge.

Just a few steps away, he heard Yin Wushu suddenly say from behind, "Since we're already at the door..."

Xie Bai paused for a moment, then turned back to look at him.

Leaning against the railing, Yin Wushu glanced at him and pointed to the other end of the arch bridge. "Aren't you going to take me in to have a look?"

Although he was almost enveloped in the mist, his words still came out as clouds when he spoke, indicating how heavy the night's chill was.

Xie Bai pulled up his scarf and shook his head towards him, "There's nothing to see, I'm going back." With that, he walked into the darker night without looking back.

The wind that came rushing over brought an even heavier chill, cutting through the flesh to the bone. Xie Bai coughed a few times, each cough muffled in his chest, unable to make a sound.

He didn't need to look back to know that Yin Wushu might stand at the bridgehead for a few more seconds, but he wouldn't linger. He was never a stubborn person; stubborn people took everything to heart, but he had no heart, no scruples. Occasionally a thought would cross his mind, and he would say it casually. If it didn't suit him, he would just laugh it off and forget about it, never to remember it again...

When he was young, Xie Bai used to think that he only seemed indifferent, and wouldn't be so casual about things and people he cared about.

But when it was his turn, he realized that when Yin Wushu was kind to someone, he was genuinely kind, and when he was ruthless, he was genuinely ruthless...

When Xie Bai returned to his residence and opened the door, he glanced at the peculiar-looking clock on the wall, only to find that it was almost 1 a.m.

He took off his mist-drenched coat, removed the black bandages from his eyes and hands, ran his hand lightly over the woolen fabric, removing all the moisture and dust from the surface in an instant. He hung up the coat, changed into slippers, and was about to go into the room to hang the three demon pills on the Ten thousand spirit Tree when he suddenly heard an extremely plaintive meow from the bathroom.

Xie Bai: "..."

Almost forgot about the black cat he had picked up!

He turned his head and changed direction.

As soon as he entered the bathroom, he saw the black kitten hanging its head with half-closed eyes, leaning against the inclined wall of the sink in a lifeless manner, with its front and hind legs naturally drooping, looking as if it were saying, "If you don't care about me, I'll just die here for you."

The thick foam that had been on it had naturally dissipated by now, its fur soaked through, clumping together in strands, sticking to its skin in all directions, making it look as if it had lost its fur, quite unsightly.

Xie Bai looked at it with a complicated expression, then reached out and lifted its slender tail to examine it closely.

Before, he felt that this black cat was extraordinary, whether it was Yin Wushu himself or a closely related entity to him. Now, seeing it like this, he leaned more towards the latter—Yin Wushu wouldn't degrade himself into this sorry state within a few minutes, right after attending to official business.

That was not a matter of digging out the heart, that was a matter of digging out the brain.

When this cat followed him before, it was still somewhat cautious, but now that it had been left hanging in the room for half a day, it started to throw tantrums. When Xie Bai lifted its tail, it even reluctantly scratched Xie Bai's hand back, as if saying, "Take your paws off, stop fooling around"... It reminded him of Yin Wushu at certain times.

Xie Bai probably never imagined that he would one day be at a loss because of a kitten.

Never mind...

Xie Bai patted the kitten's head, turned on the hot water, adjusted it to the right temperature, and carefully rinsed off the foam from its body. Then, he shook out a soft towel, wrapped it around the kitten, rubbed it gently, and then threw the cat, along with the towel, directly onto the soft sofa in the living room.

Black cat: "..."

It looked at Xie Bai with a tilted neck, as if it had never seen such a heartless person in its life.

Xie Bai didn't even give it a glance and stepped into the locked room. He took out the three newly collected demon pills from his pocket, put them one by one into new paper lanterns, and hung them up in the air with a flick of his hand, just as he had done before.

However, this time, as soon as he withdrew his hand, the lanterns he had just hung up underwent a strange change.

The three lanterns swayed slightly, tilting towards another lantern not far away. In just a moment, the four lanterns stuck together, the paper touching the paper, forming a cluster.

Frowning, Xie Bai looked at the strange sight before him and pondered for a moment.

The lanterns in this room seemed to be suspended in mid-air, seemingly unsupported, and looked like they could fall at any moment. In fact, this was not the case; each lantern had its own support, which was a tree without substance. Over thousands of years, wherever the Yin Guest went, the tree followed, growing roots wherever he stayed. Besides the Yin Guest himself, no one could see or perceive it.

Every time Xie Bai collected a demon pill, he would hang it on the branches of this Ten Thousand Spirits Tree. Once hung, they would be connected, unable to be removed. The residual spiritual energy in the demon pills would be gradually absorbed by the Ten Thousand Spirits Tree, flowing into the world through its living roots, maintaining a delicate balance.

So, theoretically, the demon pills that were hung up wouldn't move and gather together on their own. After all, each demon cultivated differently, and the pills they produced were vastly different, many of which were mutually exclusive...

Yet these four demon pills were tightly pressed together. If it weren't for the lanterns separating them, they would have fused into one.

This abnormal situation was something Xie Bai had never seen before, but after a moment of thought, he had some clues—since they were not repelling but attracting each other, they must be fundamentally similar.

Xie Bai's gaze swept over the clustered lanterns and finally landed on the fourth one. His memory was always very good; as long as he paid attention, he wouldn't forget anything that had happened in the past. So, he could identify the source of every lantern on this tree...

Moreover, this fourth lantern had just been hung up by him a few hours ago.

Digging up four demon corpses in two different places in one day was already unusual enough, and now finding out that the demon pills from these four corpses might be of the same origin made it even more suspicious.

As Xie Bai lowered his head to ponder the connection between them, there suddenly came the sound of scratching and patting outside the door, small and light, as if lacking strength.

Xie Bai: "... "He didn't need to look to know it was that black kitten.

With a click of his tongue, he turned and stepped out of the door, his long legs moving straight forward without deviation, just enough to push the kitten aside, which was leaning against the doorway out of curiosity. Xie Bai closed the door behind him, then bent down to pick up the kitten by the belly, carrying it to the sofa.

Only the floor lamp next to the sofa was lit in the living room, and there was an extremely old book on the square table in front of it. To someone who didn't know, the cover might seem like it was stolen from a museum. But in fact, it was just a miscellaneous record Xie Bai had bought from the demon market last year for entertainment.

Thinking of the demon market, Xie Bai couldn't help but spread out his left hand, and a pearl-sized dark red round bead appeared in his palm.

Previously, the daylight was too dim, and he couldn't see clearly. Now, illuminated by the floor lamp, he realized that the color of this bead was not heavy, but rather translucent. While the smaller beads were indistinguishable, this larger one was much clearer, giving off a somewhat spiritual aura.

Soon it would be the first day of winter, and the Cold Festival in the North Sea demon market would arrive. Yin Wushu's previous suggestion was not unreasonable; the vendors there had seen far more rare and peculiar items than ordinary people, and the managers of the demon market were like omniscient beings.

The first time Xie Bai went there, he was very young, not even six years old. He was coaxed and deceived by Yin Wushu to go there. From the moment he entered the demon market's gate, his understanding of ordinary things in his childhood was completely overturned, leaving no trace of residue behind...

 

Translator : DarNan