The voices, not deliberately lowered, startled Wen Hui and Xie Lang in the next room. They leaned close to the wall, listening in trepidation.

Xie Lang whispered, "I knew it - your young master indeed has a secret."

Wen Hui scratched his head. "I grew up with the young master since childhood. Except for being a bit unlucky, there's nothing..."

The black cat clung to Wen Hui's collar, sleeping with a satisfied look. Xie Lang was quite displeased. He scooped the cat back into his own arms and whispered, "His kind of fate is almost unacceptable to heaven and earth. How could an ordinary person have it? If an ordinary person did, they would have died on the spot long ago."

"I don't care," Wen Hui muttered. "Anyway, the young master is not a bad person."

On the other side, Ye Jiuya asked, "Who are you?"

Chen Weichen was extremely close to him, confronted by that frosty gaze like snow.

"An old acquaintance," he said softly. "I can't say more. If I do, you will have to kill me."

Ye Jiuya looked into his eyes and saw no hint of falsehood.

"I have no old acquaintances," Ye Jiuya said, "nor anyone I wish to kill."

"I cherish my life greatly," Chen Weichen looked at him. "Ye Jiuya, a year from now, when I'm about to die, I'll tell you then."

"Using Annihilation Incense to bargain, just wanting to cling to Swordmaster Ye for a year - a year of spring, summer, autumn and winter, 365 days, so short."

Ye Jiuya said indifferently, "Really?"

"Really," Chen Weichen said. "Every word I say to Swordmaster Ye, whether in the past, present, or future, not a single one is false. If there is..."

He paused, then continued, "Then let the starry river pour down, the sun and moon reverse, and the Heavenly Dao shatter my soul, never to enter the cycle of reincarnation."

Ye Jiuya did not ask further, perhaps because those eyes were like a clear spring, that oath poisonous as a needle dipped in poisoned wine, and the person before him was so unfathomable.

A year of 365 days was indeed fleeting to him.

Chen Weichen looked at him, the corners of his eyes and brows carrying a faint, gentle smile, like apricot blossoms in misty rain, clear streams stretching on, and lush green grass.

The figures of the immortal sect members appeared in Ye Jiuya's mind.

One emperor, three lords, fourteen marquises, various sects and clans, no less than a thousand people.

Among them, those who could reverse the cycle of reincarnation, defy the heavens to change fate and be reborn, were no more than two or three.

Those with the magnanimity and breadth of mind to swear by the pouring starry river and reversing sun and moon were also no more than two or three.

Yet none could have this kind of smile.

Such a person could not cultivate immortality.

The immortal way could not tolerate such deep feelings.

Outside the window, the moonlight was faint, and in the deep night, all was silent.

Tomorrow the sun would rise, and it would be another scene of desolate smoke and sorrowful flames.

Putting on a finely embroidered silk robe, taking up a silk fan with gold patterns, he was again the dashing young master walking out from the splendor of the mortal world.

Wen Hui combed that flowing hair with a rhinoceros horn comb. Suddenly dazzled, he carefully picked out a strand. "Young Master, it's white."

The young master fanned himself, smiling carelessly. "A night of autumn wind brings white hair - it also knows my life is short. Extremely good, extremely fitting."

The fan was still the one he had taken when he left home. The front depicted a prosperous landscape, the back inscribed with a mournful rhapsody.

Wen Hui had gone to school with his young master and could read.

He first glanced around. In the room, Xie Lang was holding a scripture, stroking the cat. Ye Jiuya was by the window, gazing at the sky filled with smoky clouds. The autumn wind was rustling, very cool.

The servant boy vaguely felt uneasy and stole a glance at the rhapsody on the fan.

The autumn wind blows drearily, saddening people to death. Going out is sorrowful, coming in is also sorrowful.

Who among those seated is not harboring worries?

Causing my hair to turn white.

In the other room, the teaching had begun. The voice of the scholar came from afar, saying things like "If rituals are not performed for three years, the rituals will surely decay. If music is not performed for three years, the music will surely collapse", "A child is born for three years before being free from the embrace of its parents. The three-year mourning is the common mourning period under heaven", and so on.

The children did not seem to understand. None spoke up, only the scholar talking to himself.

The servant boy suddenly felt a bone-chilling desolation in his heart. Holding that snow-white hair, he wanted to shed tears.

The teachings of the sages, he did not understand, only hearing those words "three years", "decay", "collapse", "mourning", feeling like needles piercing his heart.

Our young master - such a good young master, nineteen this year, twenty next year, unknown the year after.

"Young Master," he asked carefully, "should I pull it out?"

"No need. Pulling it out will hurt a bit. Not good." The young master didn't seem to mind much.

Bidding farewell to the scholar, they set off again.

Before leaving, Chen Weichen gave the scholar a jade pendant, deep red like congealed blood.

The young wife secretly watched through the window lattice, smiling as she wiped her tears, and continued washing her hands to prepare the soup.

"Ye Jiuya, that young wife is willing to use her remaining short life and prolonged illness to exchange for her husband's well-being," Chen Weichen suddenly asked in the carriage. "You traverse the fourteen continents, seeking these few fate-altering treasures, what is it for?"

Ye Jiuya replied, "Entrusted by someone."

"I don't believe it. You are a very heartless person. Who could entrust you with such a major matter that goes against the ways of heaven and the principles of cause and effect?"

"I also have a debt of gratitude to repay."

"What debt?"

"The debt of a sword."

Ye Jiuya looked at Chen Weichen indifferently, as if to observe his reaction.

But Chen Weichen showed no particular response, only a hint of mockery appearing in his eyes. "Ha."

Xie Lang was looking out the window when he suddenly said, "There are troops ahead."

Indeed, a troop of black-armored cavalry was coming from afar, their horse hooves clattering, very imposing. Leading them was a large yellow flag with the character "Yan" written on it.

"Yan faction bandits," Chen Weichen was most familiar with worldly affairs. "They're heading in the direction we came from. The village is likely to be raided. Don't know if it can be spared."

Wen Hui had some concerns and looked back. "That village teacher..."

Xie Lang pushed him back. "This is no longer something we can interfere with."

Chen Weichen tapped his head with the fan handle. "Before leaving, I gave him a good item. Right now his luck is at its peak. Who knows what kind of karmic cause and effect will arise."

Xie Lang cast a talisman spell, using an immortal art to obscure their presence. The cavalry seemed to not notice them and went straight past.

Thus, they traveled without conversation. When passing by households, they borrowed lodging. In the wilderness, they rushed through the starry nights. Three days later, they arrived at the old capital of the Central Continent - the so-called "Jinxiu Ghost City".

Inside the Jinxiu City, ten thousand ghosts wail; outside the Jinxiu City, white bones wither.

The Southern Dynasty was not originally the Southern Dynasty, but the orthodox Central Dynasty. Since its establishment, it had been extremely prosperous and flourishing. In the capital, gold and silver shops were everywhere, and pearls and jade were scattered all over the sky. People wore silk and satin, embroidered with fine fabrics, and enjoyed the eight delicacies from land and sea. However, after more than a hundred years, it gradually declined, and its fate could not be reversed. When the war broke out, powerful enemies and iron cavalry marched south, broke through the city gates, slaughtered the people, plundered all the gold and silver, and burned half of the prosperous night sky to ashes.

As the saying goes, "The inner treasury burns into brocade ashes, and the streets are trampled with the bones of officials."

Later, all the slaughtered people in the city turned into resentful ghosts and evil spirits, wailing night after night. The fierce evil energy surged to the sky, and no one dared to enter. Even eminent monks and Daoist priests could not help them transcend, and the prosperous city turned into a ghost town.

When they arrived, it was just dusk. The blood-red color in the west was startling, and the twilight shrouded the eerie city gate. Even though mortals could not open their celestial eyes, they could still feel the heavy dark energy.

The black cat in Xie Lang's arms meowed sharply and piercingly.

The young Daoist priest coaxed it gently, "Qingyuan, big brother is here, don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

Chen Weichen had been wondering for a long time and finally asked, "Are you two really siblings?"

Xie Lang glared at him.

"My family sent me to a Daoist temple on the mountain to study Daoism when I was young," he said. "Once, when I went down the mountain to visit my family, they all died in the war, leaving only a little black kitten that hadn't been weaned. I took her back to the mountain, and since then, she has been my little sister."

Wen Hui glared at his young master, condemning him for asking about someone's sad past.

"It's alright," Xie Lang comforted the black cat named Xie Qingyuan and said lightly, "It's not a sad thing anymore. I've long transcended it; otherwise, I wouldn't have reached the first level of the heavenly realm."

As they got closer, they suddenly saw a girl in a big red dress standing at the city gate. Her hair was very black, and her figure was slender. At first glance, she looked like a fierce ghost. Upon closer inspection, her demeanor was normal, and she was a living person.

The girl wore a golden mask on her face and held a black heavy sword, as if she had been waiting for them.

Seeing Ye Jiuya, she said, "Swordmaster Ye."

Xie Lang was just getting off the carriage and was so startled that he almost fell. "Shattered Kunlun, Lo-Lord..."

Seeing that he had the problem of not being able to speak when he met a big shot, Chen Weichen impatiently knocked on his head, "Where's your tongue? Lord Canlong!"

Ye Jiuya said, "Lord Canlong."

The girl nodded to him, turned around, and leaped into the air, her skirt fluttering.

The sky was filled with sword shadows and red clothes, and there seemed to be a dragon's roar in the golden-red horizon.

Her sword moves were grand and magnificent, and under the sword's edge, the wind and clouds surged. A sword carried the weight of all the mountains and rivers in the world.

It was like Yi shooting down the nine suns, and like the emperors riding dragons and soaring.

When the sky full of sword light and red shadows receded, the girl slowly landed at the foot of the city gate, and a red mark under her black hair was particularly eye-catching.

Cracks appeared on the city gate and gradually expanded. With a loud bang, it disintegrated.

At the same time, an invisible barrier seemed to be broken as well. The sound of ghosts crying instantly came out, and thousands of voices gathered together, sharp and piercing. Black energy pervaded, and the city gate opened like a ferocious beast with fangs, ready to devour people.

The girl neatly sheathed her sword, and on the ancient black scabbard were three characters: "Shattered Kunlun."

She looked at the three people behind Ye Jiuya and asked, "Who are you?"

Xie Lang straightened his Daoist robe and said, "This Daoist is named Xie Lang."

"Marquis Langran." The girl politely nodded and looked at Chen Weichen.

"Chen Weichen, Swordmaster Ye's follower in the mortal world." Chen Weichen's tone was quite complacent. "This is my servant."

The girl snorted, "No cultivation, no realm. Ye Jiuya would take you as a follower?"

Young Master Chen blinked, "After all, I have thick skin."

The girl dropped a sentence, "My name is Lu Hongyan," and went straight inside the gate with Ye Jiuya.

"I remember now. The Kaiyang Blood was not obtained by Swordmaster Ye alone," Xie Lang frowned.

Chen Weichen raised his eyebrows, "You're quite well-informed."

"The disciples of my Qingjing Temple are all over the Fourteen Continents, so of course I'm well-informed," Xie Lang whispered to him. "The matter of slaughtering all the flood dragons in the East Sea was indeed done by Swordmaster Ye alone, but during the rebirth of the phoenix, the battle of the phoenix nest in Woye was fought by him and Lord Canlong together."

"So, this request was entrusted by Lady Lu," Chen Weichen said leisurely.

"This Daoist really can't figure out what kind of person Swordmaster Ye and Lord Canlong would repay in this way," Xie Lang said with a bitter face as he walked forward.

Chen Weichen remained silent.