Chapter 44

On the birthday of the Buddha-son, travelers indeed flocked like clouds in an endless stream.

This was Xie Chang'an's first time discovering that the Bone-Reflecting Realm could hold so many people.

There were demons, mountain spirits, and strange monsters, alongside lonely wandering ghosts just like herself.

Most of these figures hurried along in silence, never speaking to one another.

In the dimness, some carried lanterns, others preferred to remain hidden within the pitch-black night, and still others were completely shrouded in black cloaks, concealing even their hands, making it impossible to tell whether they possessed human shapes or were other kinds of monsters.

By comparison, Xie Chang'an—dressed in red with a red umbrella, cradling a fire fox—appeared far more conspicuous.

However, upon reaching the Bodhi Lake—which Yu Cui had mentioned they must cross to enter the Unlit Sky for the banquet—she began to overhear a few people huddling together and whispering.

They spoke with their voices lowered against the drifting ghostly winds, but since Xie Chang'an happened to be standing directly downwind, she heard every word with crystal clarity.

"Is this lake going to be difficult to cross?"

"What is there to fear? As long as you have a fragment, you can cross. Don't you have one?"

The other person let out a low, mocking chuckle without answering.

"We've come all this way, and you still refuse to give me a straight answer? The two of us brothers have been through thick and thin together; if you lack a fragment, I can certainly take you along for the ride. Otherwise, this lake is bound to be fraught with peril, and we'll each have to leave it to fate!"

"Brother Zhou, given our friendship, of course I wouldn't hide anything from you. Just follow my lead... Urg!"

A muffled groan rang out.

"Zhou Siyuan, you actually..."

"Forgive me, virtuous brother. Every man for himself and the gods destroy the unrighteous; since I lack a fragment, I have no choice but to borrow yours!"

Through the swaying reeds at the lakeside, Xie Chang'an and the fox watched as the man stabbed his companion to death. Fearing that the comrade might still find a way to revive, he severed the head and tossed it directly into the lake before finally stopping.

Immediately afterward, the man bent down and searched the corpse, yet no matter how thoroughly he rummaged, he failed to find the item he sought.

Growing increasingly frantic and enraged, he lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot as he scanned his surroundings, finally fixing his gaze on Xie Chang'an and striding toward her!

It was simple: among all the people nearby, only Xie Chang'an appeared frail and easy to bully.

Forget about the Bone-Reflecting Realm; even in the mortal world, a young maiden traveling alone was exceedingly vulnerable to meting out a tragic fate.

"Is the young lady also heading to the banquet?" Zhou Siyuan asked in a deep voice.

"And what if I am?" Xie Chang'an looked back at him.

The blood staining the man's hands was still dripping steadily downward, thick and viscous.

He had murdered the sworn brother who had shared life and death with him without the slightest hesitation.

People often said that demons and evil entities ran rampant in the Bone-Reflecting Realm, devoid of benevolence, righteousness, and old ties of friendship. Xie Chang'an now had a direct and visceral understanding of those words.

The casual betrayal and slaughter of companions and friends for the sake of benefit—the law of the jungle in the Bone-Reflecting Realm—was merely a reflection of all phenomena in the mortal world.

The more chaotic the mortal realm became and the more people died, the more chaotic the Bone-Reflecting Realm grew.

"If you are, then hand over the fragment you're carrying." Zhou Siyuan's expression held a suppressed calm, beneath which lurked a terrifying madness ready to erupt into murder at any moment.

"What fragment? I only arrived a short while ago, and hearing that there was a lively gathering here, I simply came to have a look."

Xie Chang'an was equally calm, her composure as casual as if she were asking what was for dinner.

Zhou Siyuan stared at her for a long moment, then suddenly smiled and reached out to grab her.

"Whether you have a fragment or not, I'll know as soon as I search you!"

His strike was as swift as lightning, yet Xie Chang'an unexpectedly hurled the fox in her arms straight at him.

The fox shrieked, its front paws colliding directly with Zhou Siyuan's hand!

Failing to snatch the fox, the man instead let out a muffled grunt and was forced to stumble backward several steps.

The fox turned its head, baring its teeth and hissing fiercely at Xie Chang'an to express its fury over being unceremoniously sold out as a shield, before pouncing once more toward Zhou Siyuan's face. Faint tongues of fire flickered across its front paws, leaving several scorched claw marks directly across Zhou Siyuan's face.

Flying into a rage, Zhou Siyuan summoned his ghostly saber and slashed down toward the fox with full force!

Yet this blade, glowing with eerie ghostly flames, was intercepted midway through the air.

Zhou Siyuan saw a flash of white light before his eyes, accompanied by the sudden appearance of a sword in the opponent's hand.

The sword soared through the air, plunging directly into his body.

He staggered backward another few paces and slowly lowered his head.

His chest had been sliced open by the sword light—precisely in the same spot where he had just murdered his brother.

Vomiting a large mouthful of blood, Zhou Siyuan collapsed sideways.

Even if nearby onlookers witnessed the scene, they remained indifferent, unwilling to step forward and meddle in extraneous matters.

This was the Bone-Reflecting Realm, where slaughter occurred daily. Zhou Siyuan had underestimated Xie Chang'an, forgetting that a frail maiden who dared to travel without any disguise usually possessed something formidable to lean upon.

Only the fox was left cursing and swearing, rummaging back and forth across the two corpses.

"You damned, heartless wretch, actually throwing me out to take the hit! Fine, fine, fine. I misjudged you today; from now on, we go our separate ways, with the bridge for the bridge and the road for the road. Don't you regret this!"

At the very instant it attempted to leap away, the back of the fox's neck was pinched firmly.

Yu Cui: ???

With its weakness seized, its four limbs flailed wildly in impotent rage.

"What are you..."

"You've hidden quite a few things from me as well. Let me guess what you were just searching for—fragments, wasn't it?"

Xie Chang'an's voice was exceedingly gentle—so gentle that the fox shivered involuntarily, its struggle weakening considerably.

"Only those holding fragments can cross the lake smoothly; without one, the lake's restrictive spells are triggered, instantly endangering lives. You must have known this beforehand, or you wouldn't have instigated me to cross the lake. But you said nothing because you possess a fragment yourself, don't you? Since you couldn't be certain whether the fragment was truly effective, you wanted to use me to test the treacherous waters and clear a path for you?"

"I did not! That's not true, stop talking nonsense!"

The fox flatly denied it, striking a posture of lofty righteousness.

"I merely heard them mention fragments and wanted to check the bodies. Since you don't trust me, there's no need for us to cooperate any further. Let go of me!"

Xie Chang'an responded with a soft "very well," but instead of letting go, she used her fingers to trace a few symbols across the fox's back.

Abruptly, the fox discovered it could no longer move or run away.

"Since we are no longer partners, I have no need to show mercy. You must have concealed your true strength in front of me earlier; a grand demon of the Bone-Reflecting Realm should certainly hold a place of distinction. Let me think: once I strip your fox skin and take your internal core—a centuries-old demonic core—it should be more than enough to greatly boost my cultivation. And then there's the fragment..."

Had the fox been able to revert to human form, its complexion would undoubtedly have turned chalk-white.

"You're merely taking advantage of someone's temporary weakness! If you have the guts, release me and let's fight properly again!"

Yu Cui gnashed her teeth in hatred. Had she not been nursing old injuries and unwilling to easily resort to violence—while also mistakenly believing the mortal girl had to rely entirely on her—she would never have been so easily plotted against.

"You guessed right; I simply love taking advantage of people when they're down."

Xie Chang'an lifted the fox to eye level, holding it directly parallel to her face.

In the fox's view, her smile was sinister enough to be far worse than no smile at all.

"Since you're so curious about how I died, I don't mind telling you: back in my mortal life, I slaughtered a sect's grand master and attempted to patricidally kill my own master, which is why I was struck down and blasted to ashes by heavenly lightning."

A sudden realization struck Yu Cui, her fox-like eyes widening slightly: "You are Xie Chang'an! You're actually *that* Xie Chang'an?!"

Xie Chang'an replied, "Splendid. It seems my fearsome reputation has reached even your ears, so you should naturally know my methods."

Compelled by overwhelming terror, the fox immediately turned compliant: "Let's talk this out reasonably. I didn't mean to keep things from you on purpose. Didn't those two just say earlier that as long as one person has a fragment, they can bring along a companion? We just happened to cross paths, and I was merely afraid you might leak the news..."

Xie Chang'an commanded, "Tell me everything you know."

A great demon had once existed in the Bone-Reflecting Realm whose true form was a Yinglong dragon, possessing extraordinary strength verging on divinity.

Daining to follow the conventional path to the upper realms, he believed that immortals were merely a trick invented by ascended cultivators to artificially divide the noble from the lowly. Consequently, he vowed to forge the Bone-Reflecting Realm into another celestial paradise capable of rivaling the upper realms head-on.

Using a continuous stream of spiritual power, the Yinglong carved mountains and parted rivers, positioning himself as the creator of the Bone-Reflecting Realm. This feat genuinely shocked numerous cultivators, drawing countless humans, demons, and ghosts from all directions to pledge their allegiance under his banner.

Yet the commotion he stirred up was excessive, disrupting the balance of heaven and earth and ultimately alerting the upper realms, prompting several immortals to descend in person and join forces to annihilate him.

"The Four-Responding Bells were the magical treasures used by the immortals back then to suppress the Yinglong. The treasures originally formed a pair containing the Yinglong's residual soul and demonic core, but later on, one of the pair somehow shattered into pieces scattered all across the Bone-Reflecting Realm. Some people acquired them by chance and naturally refused to reveal them easily, while others who murdered and robbed to seize the fragments kept even quieter."

The fox paused, realizing that once she reached this point, she could no longer conceal much of the information. Filled with inward vexation, she had no choice but to pour it all out in a rush.

"This time, the Vermilion Ibis spread word that the other complete Four-Responding Bell is in his possession, and he wishes to use his birthday celebration as an opportunity to collect the fragments of the Four-Responding Bells. If any banquet guest is willing to surrender a fragment, he is willing to exchange it for a magical artifact or tool."

Noticing that the other party was still staring at her, the fox felt a chill run through her heart and hurriedly added, "I haven't held anything back! I've truly told you everything this time!"

Xie Chang'an smiled faintly. No wonder this profit-seeking fox had eagerly rushed to the banquet and even boasted about overthrowing the Vermilion Ibis—only then did it all make sense.

She withdrew her gaze, spent a long while examining the two corpses, walked over to the lakeside, and bent down to grope about in the water for quite some time, ultimately using her spiritual power to fish out a dripping wet head—none other than the one Zhou Siyuan had severed and tossed away.

Pressing two fingers together, she pierced them into the crown of the skull and slowly extracted a faintly glowing jade piece.

The fox was profoundly shocked: "How did you know he hid the fragment there?"

Xie Chang'an replied, "He didn't carry a magical pouch or similar artifact on him, and leaving it anywhere else wasn't safe. Storing it inside his own body was the safest choice. I imagine what he said earlier about taking Zhou Siyuan along with him must have been true."

Pity that Zhou Siyuan only cared about murder and plunder.

She held out her hand toward the fox: "Hand over the fragment you're carrying. Let's see if they can piece together."

Yu Cui protested, "How could they possibly fit together? The two fragments aren't even adjacent... Are you trying to trick me again?!"

Xie Chang'an spoke with profound meaning: "So you really do have a fragment after all."

Yu Cui: ......

Furious to the point of apoplexy! The moment her injuries healed, she was definitely going to devour this ghost!