Chapter 615: Speaking of the Past in the Old Neighborhood

The Feather Scale Trial twenty-four years ago was the last one Wei Qingju had ever watched. The swordsman she had favored never ended up competing, yet after she died, he took twenty-third place on the Crane List with a cultivation base of only three years in the Mystic Gate. If Zi Liang had still been alive then, he surely would have remembered this bright, spring-filled little garden.

"Before they could finish deducing this body of 【Mercury Flower Gonghua Gonghua Gonghua Fucha】, Wei Qingju died first. Everything she left behind was carved up and devoured, and these dragon-gold bones eventually fell into the hands of Yu Sicheng." Seeing Pei Ye leaned on his jade tiger with both hands. "I had been thinking that perhaps we would have to seek help from the Immortal Platform or the Nourishing Intent Tower for this matter. Relying only on you, me, and the swords in our hands, it is truly difficult to pierce this iron wall."

"Can Xu Chuo get to know someone from the Nourishing Intent Tower?"

"In any case, I'll ask her." Seeing Pei Ye muttered to himself, "And if they didn't have time to finish this purple-gold body back then, how did Yu Sicheng manage to wear it inside his body?"

He thought of that patch of smooth purple-gold on the left cheek of the fox-faced eunuch.

"When we questioned Guo You last night, did you forget? He kept shouting, 'Yu Sicheng, let me go!'"

"You mean, when he fell into Yu Sicheng's hands... he didn't just hand over the *Luochuan Seeking the Crossing*?"

"Regardless, in the Great Ming Palace, besides Yu Sicheng, there shouldn't be anyone who understands these bones of 【Mercury Flower Gonghua Gonghua Gonghua Fucha】 better than him."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded slowly.

Indeed, no matter what the speculation was, and no matter how much damage his body had sustained, if he wanted to continue pushing forward, he would eventually have to face these bones of the immortal ghost once again.

In their last exchange, the opponent had understood his methods infinitely well, yet he had not even seen a glimmer of hope for destroying the other.

If there were to be another fight, it would truly be as Yu Sicheng had said: he would kill him.

Before securing a chance at victory, he could no longer engage the man head-on, and that chance at victory was something he had to find himself.

—The man who was a bit shy and gentle, with a tall, slender build and narrow shoulders, was of course Guo You.

Seeing Pei Ye walked out of the spring-colored garden and returned to the water's edge; the dampness on his body had not yet dried.

He sat down on a stone by the water. The spring scenery was like a dream, as if the slaughter in those dark waters a few moments ago had been yesterday. But when he lowered his head, he saw a plucked Luoshen wood peach resting quietly beside him, its petals gently pushed by the east wind.

"..." Seeing Pei Ye was slightly stunned. This time, he politely picked it up and placed it on the wound on his wrist, letting it dissolve into him on its own.

The scale flower appeared on his wrist once more. Seeing Pei Ye raised his head, and that faint shadow appeared in his field of vision again, arms resting on the water, looking up at him as if the entire surface of the pool were her desk.

Seeing Pei Ye stared at her blankly for a while. He had already sensed some resemblance between her and the female figure from just moments ago, but he didn't mention it, only asking curiously, "So you can pick these flowers? Doesn't that mean I could touch you?"

The faint shadow smiled and shook her head: "I asked someone else to help me pick them."

"Hm?"

The faint shadow cast her gaze toward the lake sand beside him, where an object the size of a half-body was slowly arching up, revealing half a face that made one's bones chill and heart sicken.

Or perhaps it was hard to call it a "face"; it was merely a cluster of flesh tumors serving various functions—a cross-shaped slit at the top hid a single, murky gray eye, with three gills opening on each side. The olfactory organ was likely those two small holes, and the mouthpart was tightly closed, like a flat, shriveled chrysanthemum.

Seeing Pei Ye subconsciously gripped his sword tighter. At the same time, the thing shrank back in alarm, burying most of its head back under the water, blocking the front with two sharp claws shimmering with a ghostly green light. Only then did Seeing Pei Ye catch a glimpse of the edge of its shell, guessing that its appearance under the sand must be like a shuttle-shaped turtle.

"A Yu." The black cat said in a low voice.

Seeing Pei Ye suddenly remembered the picture books of strange powers and chaotic spirits he had seen in his youth, and he felt a slight sense of realization.

Legend had it that this monster lurking in the water was shaped like a three-legged turtle, with flesh in its mouth like a bowstring, capable of shooting sand. If a person walking by the water's edge had their reflection shot by it, they would fall ill with a sudden, acute disease. In ancient and modern tales, it was also called a "water fox" or "short fox." He could even recite the line from the *Classic of Poetry, Minor Odes*: "To be a ghost or a Yu, is something one cannot obtain..."

"You seemed to have some conflict when you met just now. I've already told it not to shoot at you anymore." The faint shadow rested her chin on her hands on the water's surface. "I asked it to bring a flower; otherwise, you'd become blind the moment you entered the water, and you wouldn't be able to see me."

"Many thanks." Seeing Pei Ye glanced over. The mound of sand had completely subsided, and pushed by the ripples, it was no longer visible. Clearly, for this gloomy water monster, showing its face for even a second longer was too much of a torment.

"So it listens to you that well... Can it see you?"

"Of course." The faint shadow smiled, "It's only you who can't see me."

"I could see you all the time—if you're willing to give me another flower in a moment."

"No, the next one will cost money."

Her laughter was indeed as crisp as a bell, and clear and ethereal, which made Seeing Pei Ye's mood inexplicably lighter. He laughed: "Luo Weiyou, you led me here, so do you know what those three people in the garden are talking about?"

"Aren't they talking about that iron bone thing?"

"Something deeper?"

The faint shadow shook her head.

"You're the one who came from the shore, yet you're asking me."

"You seem to know everything about this place, that's why I'm asking you." Seeing Pei Ye said, "I thought you had some deep meaning in leading me here."

"There's no deep meaning. Didn't I tell you from the start that I don't like those people coming in here?" She tilted her head slightly to look at the youth on the shore, her voice serene and pleasant.

Seeing Pei Ye suddenly felt inexplicably that if this face could become clear, it would surely have a pair of extremely beautiful eyes.

"Do you want to... go take a look with me?" The faint shadow thought for a moment and said to him.

"Hm?"

"The Old Palace of the Luo Goddess, the place those people have always wanted to enter."

"..."

"But you can't get in either; you can only look at it from the outside, just like that person."

"Alright."

"Then come."

The faint shadow leaned back gently and submerged into the water like a swimming fish. Seeing Pei Ye lifted his sword and stood up, then dove in headfirst.

This time, there was no need to close his eyes. Just like when he was searching for the Luoshen wood peach earlier, the faint shadow swam ahead to guide him, occasionally looking back to see if he was keeping up.

Seeing Pei Ye didn't know which path she was taking him on; there were rising counter-currents and soft grassy valleys, but he didn't see Yu Sicheng's figure again.

Yu Sicheng had once firmly blocked him here, and everything beyond was an unknown darkness to him. But now, the nimble faint shadow had brought him inside. There was nothing special; after crossing the grassy valley, there was another high mountain... Yique and Yique Huan Yuan, the Tong Valley and Jing Mountain. Seeing Pei Ye didn't know where he had traveled or how deep he had gone.

Until he saw a water curtain that seemed to hang down from the nine heavens.

This was likely the true end of everything. The twelve counter-currents flowing from afar originated here. Looking back in the direction they extended, winding and floating in the dark waters, they truly looked like silk ribbons. And in the center of this origin, these counter-currents converged and gathered together like gently bundled silk ribbons. If the winding and circling of the twelve counter-currents was a beautiful flower, then they had arrived at its stamen.

Seeing Pei Ye stood in the quiet and dark water, looking up quietly. The strange sight formed by the water silk ribbons, nearly a hundred feet wide, was like layers of blooming pale chrysanthemums. The hazy water curtain blocked all sight looking into the depths, and also blocked all footsteps attempting to continue forward.

The faint shadow stopped here, leaning against the gently hanging water curtain. Seeing Pei Ye glanced at her and tried to continue swimming inward himself. The hanging silk flow didn't actually stop him. He swung his arm and swam through it... and then he stared blankly at the faint shadow leaning against the side of the water curtain.

Her posture hadn't changed in the slightest, but everything seemed to have turned in a different direction.

This was still the place where he had just stood quietly looking up.

The faint shadow pointed her finger at her chin, tilted her head, and smiled: "Eh? Why did you swim in feet-first, but swim out head-first?"

"..."

"This place isn't actually the Old Palace of the Luo Goddess." The faint shadow said.

Seeing Pei Ye looked at her.

"Legend has it that the Luo Goddess lives in a place no one can find. If she doesn't open the path, no one can enter." The faint shadow also looked up, "Even if a giant beast suddenly came here and drank all this water dry, no palace would be revealed inside. So you don't need to try to pass through it."

"The dwelling of the Luo Goddess is in another world that no one can touch. If one must say what this is, it's just its gate wall."

"A gate wall?"

"Hm, you ate my Luoshen wood peach, you can close your eyes and take a look."

Seeing Pei Ye was slightly stunned. He closed his eyes before this silk flow... and then he tilted his head slightly and froze in place.

Indeed, the magnificent and quiet flower of silk flow was gone, and even the sound had disappeared from his ears. The whole world seemed to have only himself left.

He stepped on the ground, raised his head, and saw in front of him what was indeed a pale red, slightly old courtyard wall, standing quietly in the drizzling spring day. A few cold blue flowers swayed under the corner of the wall, and the silk ribbons drifted slightly.

Seeing Pei Ye subconsciously walked forward, but after only a few steps, he found that he couldn't seem to get close to it.

He opened his eyes and returned to the water realm.

"Where you are now is just before the steps of the Luo Goddess." The faint shadow said, her voice lingering, "If you have a heart to pay respects, you must wait for the Luo Goddess to summon you."

This tone pulled Seeing Pei Ye out of his daze. He smiled: "Luo Weiyou, aren't you the Luo Goddess?"

"..."

"I don't know either." Luo Weiyou jumped onto a stone, swinging her legs, "Sometimes I feel like I might be... Ah, why did you say out loud what I was thinking in my heart? How annoying."

Seeing Pei Ye laughed: "Anyone could see that proud spirit of yours."

"..." The faint shadow twisted her body and looked elsewhere, seeming a bit shy.

After her gaze shifted away, Seeing Pei Ye restrained his smile and watched her quietly. In truth, he knew that the dead could not return to life. Whether it was a phantom or a dream, it would only be a fleeting beauty. But he still couldn't help but think that this magical place might indeed have some magical immortal art that could make a dead soul revive, even if it had lost all its memories...

Many people who were alive or already dead, whom he knew or didn't know, would find comfort in that.

He was also very willing to be friends with her.

The figure on the stone only felt embarrassed for a moment before shifting her gaze back, admitting it generously: "Alright, actually that is what I thought. I'm always free and easy here, every living creature listens to me, and I know many things about this place... You two came to my territory, did I not treat you well?"

"Quite well."

"Right. It's just that I don't like going to the shore, and I don't like strangers from the shore coming down." Her voice became serene again, looking once more toward the distance from which they had come, "Except for..."

She didn't continue, not knowing if she couldn't remember either.

Seeing Pei Ye also leaned under the stone. The two of them and the cat sat quietly for a short while. Seeing Pei Ye suddenly raised his head and whispered: "Luo Weiyou."

"Hm?"

"That, are we friends?"

"..." The faint shadow on the stone shifted her body, "You're so abrupt. How long have we known each other... For now, for now, let's count as half-friends."

"Then, I'll be leaving in a moment. Do you have any gifts for me?"

"What?"

"That Luoshen wood peach of yours," Seeing Pei Ye said, "I don't think there are very few of them. Can you let me eat a few more?"

The black cat also said softly at this time: "You just said you were treating the two of us, but actually you only took care of him. You can't call that treating me, so just count my share as his."

"..." The faint shadow was a bit puzzled, "Does my flower taste that good?"

"No, it's because I am currently carrying the 'Method of Planting Immortals in the Dantian' that you mentioned." Seeing Pei Ye said, "This thing of yours is a great supplement for me."

"..."

"..."

"Then, I'll give you five."

"How about twenty?"

"Ten at most!"

"Twelve, same as the number of silk flows. It's a good number, and it shows the Luo Goddess's generosity."

"..."

"Is that okay?"

"Alright, I'll call the little fish to pick them."

"Many thanks for the Luo Goddess's kindness!"

"Hmph. How much longer can you stay here?" The faint shadow asked.

"About three quarters of an hour."

"Oh."

After a while, some fish the size of half a palm swam over, each holding a fluorescent blue flower like jade light. These were likely the largest ones here. The faint shadow gently stroked their foreheads one by one, letting them place the flowers in front of Seeing Pei Ye.

"Now we're only half-friends." The faint shadow said.

Seeing Pei Ye grabbed a handful and stuffed them into his mouth, chewed twice and swallowed, then grabbed the rest and ate them all clean in one go.

The faint shadow watched in silence.

"I won't eat yours for nothing." Seeing Pei Ye swallowed the twelve flowers, leaned on the stone, and stood up with his sword.

"About two quarters of an hour left." He lowered his head to wipe his sword, "In the second quarter, I have to rush to the place where I leave the Mirage Realm. And in the first quarter, I will help you kill everyone outside who wants to come in."

"Including that Yu something?"

"..."Hide from him." ===== CHAPTER 616 =====