Chapter 377: The East Turns White, A New Beginning

Before Xinyi reached the village entrance, he saw a sea of flames and a pungent, scorched stench assailing his nose. His heart skipped a beat, and he rushed over, only to see Zhao Wuyang sitting alone at the village entrance, looking dejected and saying nothing.

The scorched stench and flames were from the burning of corpses; Xinyi could not distinguish which of these bodies were Living Corpses and which were people from the village.

He walked up, ruffled Zhao Wuyang's hair, and sat down beside him. Xinyi thought that the reason Zhao Wuyang was so depressed was because he could not bear to see such life and death, but he had underestimated Zhao Wuyang.

"Xinyi Dage..." Zhao Wuyang started to speak but stopped.

Xinyi waited for Zhao Wuyang to speak while deliberating on how to console him, but to his surprise, after waiting for a long while, he did not hear Zhao Wuyang continue. He felt a bit curious and turned his head to look, only to see Zhao Wuyang knitting his brows, wondering what he was thinking about.

"Wuyang..." Fearing that Zhao Wuyang was heading down a dead end, Xinyi felt he should take the initiative to speak.

"Did the Black and White Venerable say anything to you, Brother?" Zhao Wuyang did not turn his head, still keeping his head lowered in thought.

This was truly the first time Zhao Wuyang had interrupted someone.

"Is something amiss?" Xinyi felt that Zhao Wuyang would not be like this without reason, so he recounted what had happened earlier at the dilapidated temple on the mountain.

"Fengyue..." Zhao Wuyang mused, "So that was the cry of a phoenix."

Lingxiang had once given a copy of *Records of Strange Tales from Mountains and Seas* to Zhao Wuyang, which contained mentions of the phoenix—

"In Penglai there is a mountain, called Danxue, upon which there is much gold and jade. The Dan River flows from it, running south into the Bohai Sea. There is a bird there, shaped like a chicken, with a pearl on its crown, feathers hanging like a waterfall, and tail feathers as long as whips, shining brilliantly..."

Zhao Wuyang recited the description of the phoenix from the *Records of Strange Tales*, but his brows did not relax in the slightest.

"The book says that the phoenix is a familiar of the ancient god Xiwangmu. It gestates an egg for a thousand years, but its hatching is destined by heaven, and it must pass through many rebirths by fire before it can grow up. And once a phoenix cries..."

Zhao Wuyang stopped, while Xinyi remained calm, merely glancing to the side.

"Once a phoenix cries, wherever its voice reaches, all things are renewed..."

Xinyi fell into deep thought:

A rare Spirit Root, yet a phoenix could be born in response to the times; this matter was extremely suspicious. Lingxiang seemed to have calculated this long ago, which was why she left him a silk pouch. At first, he thought she just wanted him to look after Maidong, but now it seemed like a signal. Yet Lingxiang only had Foundation Establishment cultivation; how could she have calculated this?

"If it is truly as the book says, that all things are renewed, then everything makes sense," Zhao Wuyang continued.

"How so?"

"Three years ago, the gate between the Netherworld and the mortal realm was destroyed. Souls had nowhere to return to and had to attach themselves to corpses, which is how the Living Corpses came to be. Now that all things are renewed and the Tiger Gate has been re-established, the lingering souls will naturally head to the Underworld."

As Zhao Wuyang spoke, he looked at the burning corpses. He remembered that during the chaos just now, he had vaguely heard a series of bell sounds, like the Soul Summoning Bell of the Black and White Venerable.

"Although these Living Corpses have lost their souls, they have not returned to the earth for a long time, and due to the eruption of Nether Qi, they became Corpse Demons. Corpse Demons are bloodthirsty; they smelled the scent of living people here, which is why they came."

This certainly made sense; in this way, the disappearance of the Black and White Venerable could also be explained.

But looking at Zhao Wuyang's expression, it did not seem like his confusion had been resolved; rather, he seemed to have even greater doubts, and what he had said was merely a prelude.

Xinyi remained silent, waiting for Zhao Wuyang's follow-up.

"Xinyi Dage, the Lotus Heart Sword Intent is a technique created by Fucang Elder, is that not so?"

Zhao Wuyang finally raised his head to look at Xinyi, and the latter nodded.

When he was cultivating at Qingwei Peak, he had heard of it.

At that time, Long Qi had just broken through his realm and was very proud, while Lingxiang had sneered at him, mocking Long Qi for merely relying on a family legacy, whereas she could create her own technique, and she even said that the mysteries within this technique were not something just anyone could practice.

But what did this have to do with the current situation?

Xinyi did not understand what Zhao Wuyang meant and looked at him in confusion.

"Just now, during the crisis, I could not bear to strike, but a person in black suddenly appeared. In the midst of their movements, they used the Lotus Heart Sword Intent, and the fire on these Corpse Demons also originated from that person's Talisman."

Upon hearing this, Xinyi sat up in shock.

"Did you see clearly?"

Zhao Wuyang shook his head.

"That person's movements were extremely fast, flashing by in an instant. I did not see them clearly, but I could never mistake the Lotus Heart Sword Intent technique."

Naturally, Xinyi would not doubt Zhao Wuyang, but there were simply too many suspicious points in this matter.

"Is there a possibility that Fucang Elder escaped from the Demon Lord and, taking advantage of the Ghost Gate opening at Humoukou, returned to the mortal realm?"

Zhao Wuyang speculated, but Xinyi did not respond.

Xinyi knew exactly what kind of person Lingxiang was; she would never leave Maidong in the Demon Realm and return to the mortal realm alone. If both of them had returned, they would definitely have appeared together. But according to what Zhao Wuyang said, there was only one person just now.

The Lotus Heart Sword Intent was indeed something only Lingxiang knew, but she had been taken to the Demon Realm by the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord had gone to great lengths for this; how would he give her a chance to escape?

Lingxiang had injured her legs back then, and ever since, she had been unable to perform techniques like the Cloud Step. Zhao Wuyang's cultivation had improved greatly over these three years; if even he had not seen the person clearly, how could it be Lingxiang?

But if it was the Lotus Heart Sword Intent combined with a Talisman, if it wasn't Lingxiang, who else could it be?

If it really was Lingxiang, why avoid being seen?

Xinyi could not figure it out either. He felt as if he were caught in a complex game of Go, where one move could decide the outcome, and a moment of carelessness would lead to total defeat.

And this game, while it seemed to have been set up by Lingxiang, always had logic that didn't hold up; it was more like it had been calculated by someone long ago...

That person...

Who could it be?

In these three years, Xinyi had not only been busy dealing with the containment of souls from Living Corpses but had also been secretly investigating the destruction of the Qiao, Long, and Lu families, and it was only after that that he learned of the three families' mission to suppress demons.

At that time, all three families were wiped out by the Demon Race, yet coincidentally, each family left behind one bloodline, and they all gathered at Yuanqing many years later. The various developments were too coincidental.

According to the information Xinyi had gathered, all signs indicated that there had always been a thread running through it all, and the one leading that thread was the legendary Tumi Xianzi.

When Xinyi was previously forced to submit to Bai Wuchang, he would often hear him mention this person, mostly regarding the Life-Prolonging Pill, but he never said anything else. Judging by various signs, the origin of everything had already shown its head back then.

"How long have we been away from the sect?"

Xinyi, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke. Zhao Wuyang was caught off guard and did not react immediately. After he came to his senses and calculated, he replied.

"Two years and eleven months."

Nearly three years!

Xinyi let out a long sigh and looked toward the east, the direction from which the Fengyue had come. The sky was already turning white, stretching out across the horizon.

"It is time to return to the sect."

Zhao Wuyang nodded. Now that the Ghost Gate had been re-established, they truly had no reason to continue staying in Chenjian.

Just at this moment, one after another, the cries of infants came from the village, continuing without cease, as if proclaiming the new birth of all things.