Chapter 62

"What nonsense are you spouting? I'm utterly loyal to our Ghost King—how could I ever commit treason against my superior!" Lin Yu's words struck Di Ting hard. He grew suddenly agitated, his voice louder than usual, nearly shouting.

"Everything comes down to what you get in return. You're loyal to him, but how does he treat you?" Lin Yu countered. "You made a small mistake and now you're terrified, afraid he'll kill you. That shows the Ghost King doesn't treat you well. He doesn't even care about you, so why should you stay loyal to him?"

"You have the power to replace him. Why grovel and live at someone else's mercy, cowering in fear every day?"

"I don't!" Di Ting blurted out in a panic. The words left his mouth before he could stop them, and even he was shocked. Did he really not?

Lin Yu smiled slightly and said no more. She just needed to plant the seed of usurpation in Di Ting's heart. One day, he would rebel.

After all, Di Ting was still a beast at heart. His mind wasn't as developed as a human's. He had been kept and tamed for so long that he'd forgotten his true strength. He'd never seen the world beyond the Ghost Realm, which was why he remained trapped here.

He wasn't good at thinking. He didn't know that besides begging for mercy, there was another way to break free: overturn everything in a sweeping upheaval.

If no one woke him up, he would willingly bow to the Ghost King for life.

But now Lin Yu had told him he didn't need to live in fear, didn't need to be at anyone's mercy. His bloodline was noble; he was an ancient divine beast. Why should he serve as a mere subordinate to some Ghost King?

He had the power to overturn the heavens of the Ghost Realm. Why kneel on the ground and beg for scraps?

Why not become the king of the Ghost Realm himself?

Why not? He was unwilling.

...

Lin Yu and Di Ting walked out of the underground palace in silence, passing through the Ghost King's Palace until they reached the front hall. Lin Yu walked ahead with light steps, seemingly in a good mood, while Di Ting looked burdened with worry the whole way. He drifted off several times, nearly walking straight into the walls before Lin Yu called out to him to snap him out of it.

Past the Ghost King's Palace, the Yellow Spring Road stretched ahead, shrouded in swirling sand. After such a massive upheaval, the road that should have been empty now had one extra person on it.

The moment Zhou Yuan saw Lin Yu emerge, the worry in her brows instantly dissolved. She trotted over to Lin Yu, looking her up and down, and asked with concern, "Did anything happen?"

She added, "I got swept away by all those souls rushing to be reborn and almost couldn't find my way back. When I returned, the Yellow Spring Road was covered in blood, and no one was around. What happened?"

Lin Yu looked at Zhou Yuan for a long moment. In the end, she said nothing, only, "Let's go. It's almost dawn. If we don't leave now, something bad will happen."

With that, Lin Yu didn't wait to see Zhou Yuan's reaction. Zhou Yuan seemed to want to say something more, but Lin Yu was already striding away. Zhou Yuan had no time to speak and could only follow along behind her.

Lin Yu knew very well that Zhou Yuan hated Fu Zheng. Fu Zheng had already been rescued by her, yet he'd crawled back despite his injuries, seeking death. It couldn't be that he actually wanted to die, could it? The only possibility was Zhou Yuan.

Before everything went wrong, Lin Yu had sent Zhou Yuan away first, telling her to hide. But Zhou Yuan hadn't listened. She'd sensed the situation turning bad—that Di Ting was coming to silence Fu Zheng—so she'd shifted with the wind and helped Di Ting, sending Fu Zheng back. That had triggered the whole catastrophe that followed.

Zhou Yuan probably hadn't expected her own actions to cause such a disaster. She'd never done anything bad before, and the first time she did, it had caused irreversible damage. That was why she looked so guilty now, clutching her fingers and following silently behind Lin Yu.

When they returned to the area where the great battle had taken place, the yellow sand hadn't yet settled, and the wind still carried the smell of saltpeter. Bai Ze's massive body lay stretched across the road, and Fu Ming was already awake.

Fu Ming stood blankly amidst the flying dust, staring thoughtfully at Bai Ze on the ground. The fierce wind whipped his black robes and hair. His wounds were gone; if not for a bloodstain splattered at the corner of his eye that hadn't been wiped away, no one would have guessed he'd just gone through a bloody battle.

Lin Yu didn't look at Fu Ming. She walked a circle around Bai Ze's corpse and ran her hand through his soft, snow-white fur. A trace of warmth still lingered beneath the pelt, and the fading heat rested at her fingertips. Lin Yu spoke: "What a waste, dying just like that."

Lin Yu glanced at Di Ting, then turned her gaze to Fu Ming. Fu Ming said, "Extract the bones. Bai Ze's spine."

Fu Ming looked at the pure-white Bai Ze, then at Lin Yu in her red-and-white dress standing beside him. They suited each other quite well. He paused briefly before adding, "It can be forged into a bone whip for you."

Lin Yu curled the corner of her mouth and nodded. Their gazes turned to Di Ting in unison. Under their joint stare, Di Ting felt a chill run down his spine. "That doesn't seem right, does it? Bai Ze was my brother who fought alongside me through life and death."

Lin Yu: "Mm?"

"Your brother had a difference of opinion with you, and your current predicament is all his fault. If he hadn't suddenly gone mad and tried to take revenge on the gods—"

"Stop. I'll give you his spine." Di Ting interrupted him. He squeezed his eyes shut, steeled himself, and raised his hand to cover Bai Ze's closed eyelids. A streak of white light appeared on Bai Ze's forehead and flowed down along his body.

Di Ting strained, grabbing at the white light in midair and pulling it out. A pure-white spine was drawn from Bai Ze's body, the long bone floating and hovering in the air.

When Di Ting finished, he looked at Lin Yu, but she hadn't moved. She was still standing there looking at him and Bai Ze.

Di Ting patted himself down, rummaged around for a while, and finally produced a qiankun pouch. He tossed it into the air, and the pure-white spine slithered into the pouch like a nimble snake.

Di Ting retrieved the pouch, tied it shut, and handed it to Lin Yu with both hands. Lin Yu didn't move. Fu Ming accepted the pouch on her behalf.

Watching them leave, Di Ting surveyed the mess around him and felt something different stirring in his heart.

In the past, if Bai Ze had died, he would have been at a loss, then tried every way to avenge him. Because Bai Ze had outranked him. Though they were brothers, most of the time Di Ting had followed Bai Ze's orders.

But now it was different. Di Ting stared at Bai Ze's face, which looked as though he were merely sleeping, and after a long moment, it was as if he'd woken from a dream.

Bai Ze's bloodline wasn't as noble as his, his experience wasn't as vast, and their abilities were on par. Why should he take orders from him?

Forget Bai Ze—even the Ghost King was just a fierce ghost with a few thousand years of cultivation. How could he compare to an ancient divine beast like Di Ting? When the Ghost King died, there would be a new Ghost King. But if Zhu You died, his name wouldn't even be recorded anywhere.

But who was Di Ting? He had a lifespan of countless eons. He could ascend to the heavens or dive into the earth. Throughout the Four Realms, who hadn't heard of Di Ting?

His name alone could stop children from crying. He was recorded in countless secret manuals and history books. Why would he willingly serve as a subordinate to a mere Zhu You, trailing behind Bai Ze like a loyal dog?

His past experiences suddenly turned into poison that made him sick. It suddenly hit him—they'd all been playing him for a fool, never taking him seriously at all.

Di Ting coldly looked at Bai Ze lying on the ground. His spine had caved in, and his body had stiffened. Di Ting stepped back, then unhesitatingly struck Bai Ze with his power. In an instant, Bai Ze was blasted into a bloody pulp, vanishing into the swirling sand.

...

The pitch-black gate of the ghost realm opened once more, and Meng Chuan Nü appeared outside it. But this time, when she saw people emerging from the ghost gate, her expression shifted slightly.

It had always been her job to ferry lost souls back to the Ghost Realm. This was the first time she was sending people out of the ghost gate and into the mortal world. Meng Chuan Nü was puzzled for only a moment, but she asked nothing. She simply repeated her introduction: "I am Meng Chuan Nü."

She paused, lifting her eyes to look at the three before her. Her gaze swept across each of them. "Your guide. Seventeen souls of the living, follow me."

Lin Yu quickly realized she meant not just the three living people before her, but also the fourteen children's souls that Lin Yu had collected and brought out with her.

They all boarded the boat with her. In the daytime, Lin Yu finally saw Meng Chuan Nü's face clearly and the wooden hull beneath her feet. The small boat moved upstream effortlessly, sailing against the current, and reached the center of the Buzhou River without incident.

"So Fu Zheng's really dead for good now. What do you plan to do next?" Lin Yu asked Zhou Yuan once the boat was sailing steadily.

Caught off guard by Lin Yu's sudden address, Zhou Yuan froze for a moment, then bit her lip. "I want to join the Heaven's Mandate Tower."

"No." Lin Yu refused immediately. After all the trouble of going around in circles to rescue Zhou Yuan, even though things hadn't turned out as originally expected, at least everything was over now. The Xianzun had his eyes on Zhou Yuan, wanting to refine her into a bone servant. Why would she walk right into his trap herself?

"Why not?"

"That place devours people without spitting out the bones. Once you're in, every day is lived on the edge."

"But you're in there," Zhou Yuan said slowly. "I can go keep you company."

At the end of the day, Zhou Yuan felt guilty. Lin Yu hadn't said anything even though she'd caused such a huge mess. Zhou Yuan could tell Lin Yu had figured it out, but Lin Yu never brought it up. She didn't hit her, didn't scold her, and had helped her so much. Zhou Yuan didn't know how to repay Lin Yu.

The only thing she could think of was staying by her side, but Lin Yu didn't seem to need that.

And that made sense. If she could make one terrible mistake out of confusion, she could make another. Lin Yu looking down on her was only natural.

Lin Yu didn't know what Zhou Yuan was thinking. She asked, "Don't you want to go out and see the world?"

Zhou Yuan: "Huh?"

Lin Yu: "You married Fu Zheng at a young age and were trapped in that deep compound for so many years. Aren't you curious about the world out there? Don't you want to travel and see things?"

Zhou Yuan nodded blankly. "I do... but—"

"No buts. If you want to go, then go." Lin Yu reached up, pulled the gold hairpin from her hair, and then shoved all the ornate jewelry from her neck and wrists into Zhou Yuan's hands. Lin Yu didn't like these clinking, clanging trinkets, but wearing a bunch of strange jewelry was a symbol of noble status.

As a Divine Maiden, she especially had to cover herself in weird jewels and ornaments. Lin Yu still didn't understand why outward gold and silver represented one's status.

"You can't go back to the prince's manor. Sell these things—they should be enough for you to live comfortably for a few years. If you ever fall short of money, just send me a message directly. Once we cross the Buzhou River, we'll reach the Divine Mountain. When we arrive, take a detour and leave from the back of the mountain. Don't show up anywhere near Heaven's Mandate Tower's territory."

Zhou Yuan didn't know why Lin Yu didn't want her showing up at Heaven's Mandate Tower, but she figured there must be a reason. She hugged the pile of jewelry to her chest, her eyes welling with tears as she looked at Lin Yu.

Meanwhile, the wooden boat came to a stop at the peak of the Divine Mountain. Meng Chuan Nü's aged, calm voice came through. "Please disembark."

From here, a short walk led to the residences of the Xianzun and the elders. In the distance, Lin Yu seemed to hear loud crying—a familiar sound, as if she'd heard it somewhere before.

The group got off the boat, and Lin Yu wiped the tears from Zhou Yuan's face. "Alright, stop looking at me like that. Go on now. Be careful on the road."

Zhou Yuan sniffled, walking away with frequent backward glances. Lin Yu waved her goodbye.

Once Meng Chuan Nü had vanished into the waters of the Buzhou River, Lin Yu turned to Fu Ming. Her words came fast. "Hurry. Something's happened."

Hu Sheng had once told her about the Frost Star. As for what happened last night, Lin Yu wasn't sure whether she counted as having died once, so she couldn't be certain whether the Frost Star had changed.

Her breath suddenly caught in her chest. If the Frost Star had fallen last night, and yet she'd come back safe and sound, how was she supposed to explain that?