Chapter 375: Romancing the Ghost

Gloomy, damp.

A strange, fishy stench floated in the air, like rotting, foul-smelling dead fish, making one want to retch upon smelling it.

The two were locked into a cell in Diyuan.

No one came to interrogate, and no one came to torture.

For seven consecutive days, no one paid them any mind; only deathly silence and darkness kept them company, as if they had already been forgotten.

Fortunately, the items on their persons were still there.

Eating the dry rations taken from the Storage Ring, they waited quietly.

On the eighth day, someone finally appeared.

The young girl wearing a pink-and-white floral dress walked out from the darkness, looked the two over at her leisure outside the cell, and said in a crisp voice: "We cannot take lives these few days, which is why we spared you; after tomorrow, it will be your time to die."

Luo Zijun rose from the corner and said: "Why kill us? What crime have we committed?"

The girl gave a cold snort and said: "Trespassing into my Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons and breaking into my Snake Valley are both capital crimes."

Luo Zijun said: "You speak of humans; the two of us are not humans."

The girl was startled upon hearing this, her slightly reddened eyes staring at him as she said: "Then what are you two?"

Luo Zijun said: "We are family members of members of the Snake Clan, therefore, we also belong to the Snake Clan; we are of the same kin as you."

The girl sneered and said: "Family members of Snake Clan members? Then tell me, how are you a family member of a Snake Clan member?"

Luo Zijun said unhurriedly: "My wife is a member of the Snake Clan; her name is Bai Meixue. Since she is a member of the Snake Clan, naturally, I am one too."

The Snake Clan girl scoffed, her face full of mockery: "Don't you humans have a hierarchy of men over women, where a wife follows her husband? Since she married you, she should follow your race and be a human family member, right?"

Luo Zijun said calmly: "You wouldn't know, miss, but actually, I married into her family."

"Married into her family?"

The Snake Clan girl was stunned for a moment.

Luo Zijun explained: "In our human nations, when a man marries into a family, it is equivalent to abandoning his own surname and clan; all status must follow the woman's. Wherever she is from, that is where I am from; she is not human, so I am not human either. Even if she were a dog, I would have to follow the dog."

"Pfft..."

The Snake Clan girl could not help but laugh out loud, looked him over with interest for a few moments, and suddenly pointed behind him: "What about that human girl? She didn't marry a Snake Clan member."

"But she married me."

Luo Zijun said without blushing: "Since I have become a member of the Snake Clan, then naturally, she is one too."

The Snake Clan girl's brow twitched; she stared at him for a few more moments, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Luo Zijun hurriedly called out: "Miss, when will you let us out? I want to go find my wife and contribute to the Snake Clan with her!"

The Snake Clan girl paused her steps, turned her head, and asked: "Contribute what?"

Luo Zijun said: "Have children, of course. We can give the Snake Clan many, many Snake Clan babies, and that way we can strengthen our Snake Clan population."

The Snake Clan girl's mouth twitched a few times, she gave him a strange look, and then walked away quickly.

A moment later.

Inside a palace in the valley, the girl's crisp voice rang out.

"Sister! That guy is so shameless! Guess what he just said? He actually said..."

After the girl vividly recounted the conversation just now without missing a word, the cold figure sitting cross-legged on a Black Lotus, wearing a black dress and practicing with her eyes closed, was silent for a moment before saying: "Indeed shameless."

After a while, she opened her eyes and said: "Little sister, go tell her the same thing."

"Huh?"

"Go on, don't miss a word."

"Oh, alright."

The girl in the floral dress walked away quickly.

When she arrived at a certain room and recounted the conversation with the human boy in the cell without missing a word, the snow-white figure standing by the window, lost in thought while looking at the distance outside, was silent for a long time before saying: "He has always been this shameless."

That night.

When Bai Meixue was bathing in the pure white moonlight, practicing on a lotus seat in the backyard pond, the girl wearing a black dress, whose appearance was almost identical to hers, arrived silently at the edge of the pond.

"I plan to execute him tomorrow."

Staring at the snow-white figure in the pond for a moment, the black-dressed girl said with a cold expression.

Bai Meixue slowly opened her eyes, looked at her, and said: "I have already promised you, haven't I?"

The black-dressed girl said: "But your heart is still with him."

Bai Meixue said nothing more.

After a moment of silence, the black-dressed girl looked at her and said: "You know, if we are to merge, you must have no distracting thoughts and cast aside all emotions. As it stands, you simply cannot do it."

Bai Meixue looked at her and said: "Even if you kill him, I still cannot do it. I am human, not a demon."

The black-dressed girl shrugged slightly and said: "You have already repaid your debt, haven't you? You said before that you would return once you finished repaying your debt; you have broken your word now."

"It is you who broke your word."

Bai Meixue looked at her with calm eyes: "I have not finished repaying my debt. This life of mine is human, lived to repay a debt. My life has not yet run its course; you forcibly severed my life for the sake of cultivation—do you think I could possibly be willing to merge with you?"

Rage burned in the black-dressed girl's scarlet eyes, her tone cold: "I admit I was a bit hasty, but the Snake Clan is now at a moment of life and death; I must advance quickly, and you have a responsibility to help me advance!"

Bai Meixue's tone remained calm: "The one with the responsibility is her, not me."

The black-dressed girl said in a chilling tone: "I will swallow him into my belly tomorrow; that way, after you merge with me, you will be able to be with him forever. What do you say?"

Bai Meixue said: "You can try, but I cannot guarantee whether I will truly merge with you."

"You..."

The black-dressed girl slowly clenched her fists, a sinister color flickering in her scarlet pupils; she stared at her for a while longer and said in a cold voice: "I will make you give up."

Having said that, she walked away quickly.

The next morning.

While Luo Zijun and Shui Wu were sleeping, the cell door opened, and the young girl in the floral dress stood at the entrance and said, "You can come out now. My sister has shown mercy and spared your lives, but you must work for us."

"Work?"

The two were stunned upon hearing this.

Soon, they were brought to a Medicine Valley that covered a vast area of land.

The valley was filled with medicine fields, planted densely with all kinds of medicinal herbs, stretching as far as the eye could see.

At this time, the medicinal flowers were in full bloom, colorful and vibrant, and many figures in the fields were carrying baskets, bending over to pick the herbs.

"From now on, you will work here, picking medicinal herbs. You must pick three baskets every day. If you don't complete the task, the whip will be waiting for you!"

After the girl in the floral dress finished speaking, she waved to the medicine field nearby and shouted, "Auntie Cai!"

A fat woman, standing a full two meters tall with a waist like a water vat, walked out of the medicine field holding a leather whip and spoke in a rough voice, "Seventh Princess, are these the two humans?"

The girl in the floral dress said, "It is them. Make them work hard. If they slack off, beat them severely."

After saying this, she left first.

Luo Zijun hurriedly said, "Hey, I need to go find my wife!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a whip lashed out fiercely.

Luo Zijun dodged it, his gaze fixed on the tall woman before him.

"What, you still want to fight back?"

Auntie Cai's face was full of fat, yet her chin was extremely pointed. Her pair of eyes were long and narrow, but her pupils were not scarlet; they were green, looking exceptionally fierce.

"Kid, don't you look at whose territory this is? A mere human, daring to run wild here? You dare to try and make a move, kid?"

As soon as the words fell, a scarlet, slender snake tongue suddenly flicked out from her mouth, and her entire fat face quickly twisted into a terrifying snake face, the aura on her body also instantly becoming frightening.

Shui Wu's expression changed, and she hurriedly pulled Luo Zijun, saying, "Let's go pick herbs."

Saying this, she immediately pulled him to the edge of the field to pick up two medicine baskets, then went down into the medicine field, preparing to pick herbs.

A thin, frail woman nearby took the initiative to come over and explain, "For this type of medicinal herb, only pick the pistils. Each flower can only have two pistils picked, no more. You need flowers that are fully bloomed..."

"For this type, you only need to pick the medicinal leaves. They must be the leaves close to the flower bud, and only one leaf can be picked per plant..."

Shui Wu listened attentively.

Luo Zijun, however, looked back and discovered that the tall woman was still staring at him viciously from the ridge of the field.

The woman who was explaining to the two hurriedly whispered, "Stop looking at her, hurry and pick the herbs. If you don't finish the task, you will be beaten to death by her."

Shui Wu also hurriedly whispered, "Do the work first. As long as they don't drive us away, we have a chance. There are so many people here, we can slowly inquire."

Luo Zijun didn't speak again; he took the medicine basket and began to pick herbs.

He naturally knew that he couldn't make a move here. Trying to rely on force to find Bai Daxiaojie was seeking his own death, so he could only endure for now.

Just as Shui Wu said, if they could stay, they would have a chance; they could just inquire slowly.

The two soon entered the state of working.

By evening, the two had completed their tasks. In other medicine fields, there were still a few who hadn't finished their tasks, and they were being lashed by that Auntie Cai with her leather whip, letting out shrill screams.

They discovered that these people working were not all members of the Snake Clan; there were other members of the Demon Clan, and they even saw a human little girl.

It was possible she had wandered in by mistake, or perhaps she was a slave specifically abducted.

Dinner was very simple: a piece of meat the size of a palm and two pieces of fruit, and the meat was half-raw.

The key was that there was only one meal a day.

"Damn it, I didn't expect that after being a beast of burden in my past life, I would have to be one again in this life."

Sleeping in a small stone house at night, Luo Zijun couldn't help but curse.

Shui Wu, however, appeared very calm and said deliberately, "If you can't stand it, we will find a way to escape, leave this place, and go home."

Luo Zijun was silent for a moment, then hugged her and said, "Aw u, I'm just afraid you'll suffer."

Shui Wu looked at him with eyes as gentle as water and said, "With you by my side, I am willing to endure any amount of suffering."

"Aw u..."

"Zijun brother..."

"That, you must not be full, right?"

The next day.

The two got up, washed up briefly, and went to the medicine field to continue working.

Shui Wu began to try to talk to others to gather information.

Soon, half a month passed.

The two got to know many people, or rather, got to know many members of the Demon Clan, and also gathered a lot of information.

However, there was still no news of Bai Daxiaojie.

They also got to know that human little girl. The little girl's name was Xiao Duo, and she had two twin sisters, one named Shiqing and one named Huayi. The three girls' mother was named Wen Yun, a beautiful woman who looked very young.

It was said that the four of them were abducted from the outside by demons, specifically to pick herbs.

"My father was beaten to death by them, and a demon even ate my father's head... A demon took a fancy to my mother and wanted to drag her back to have children. My mother would rather die than submit, so she was saved by the Seventh Princess and then sent here to work..."

One day, the little girl finally trusted Shui Wu and told her about her family's situation.

"Aw u sister, are you planning to work here for your whole life?"

Another day, the little girl asked secretly.

Shui Wu told the truth, "Of course not, we will find a way to escape."

The little girl immediately begged quietly, "Aw u sister, when you escape, can you take us with you? Those demons want to bully my mother and my sisters. Mother says we must escape quickly, but we don't know how to escape..."

At night, Shui Wu returned to the stone house and talked to Luo Zijun about this matter.

Luo Zijun said helplessly, "We can barely protect ourselves, how can we help them?"

Ever since arriving at Snake Valley, he would send a message to Bai Daxiaojie every night, but the other party never replied.

Judging from the Seventh Princess's previous reaction, she should know Bai Daxiaojie.

However, ever since she brought him and Shui Wu to the herb field last time, she had not appeared again.

As for those herb gatherers in the herb field, after some inquiries during this period, it was clear that no one knew anything.

They could only continue to wait patiently.

At noon the next day.

While the two were picking herbs in the herb field, a young woman wearing a coarse cloth dress walked over with a herb basket, secretly slipped two steamed buns to Shui Wu, and whispered, "You must not be full, right? I bought these from elsewhere; eat them while they're hot."

This woman looked quite young, and although she wore coarse cloth clothes, it was hard to hide her pretty face and extraordinary temperament; she was none other than Xiao Duo's mother, Wen Yun.

Shui Wu hurriedly thanked her: "Thank you, Aunt Wen."

Wen Yun smiled slightly, glanced at the two, and with an unnatural expression on her face, whispered: "Don't take to heart what Xiao Duo said to you yesterday; children just like to talk nonsense. We... we are living quite well here and have never thought about leaving."

Shui Wu nodded: "Children speak without inhibition; we won't take it to heart."

Wen Yun wanted to say something more, but seeing a supervisor walking toward them, she hurriedly said: "Then I'll go first, eat the buns while they're hot."

After speaking, she lowered her head and left in a hurry.

After she had walked far away, Shui Wu said to Luo Zijun beside her: "She is very cautious; perhaps she is afraid we will tell others."

In the afternoon, the scolding of that Aunt Cai and the sound of a leather whip lashing out, along with a girl's screams, suddenly came from the neighboring herb field.

The two looked up and discovered that the tall and burly woman was waving the whip in her hand, fiercely lashing Wen Yun, scolding her while she struck.

Wen Yun's three daughters were crying and begging on the side.

"What are you looking at! Get back to work! Do you want to get whipped too?"

Just as Luo Zijun and Shui Wu were watching, a supervisor appeared from the side, waving the leather whip in his hand as he warned them.