Seeing the floor covered in bathwater and the broken, unusable bathtub corpses, the shop assistant remained unfazed, showing no curiosity or intention to ask questions. He quickly and efficiently cleaned up, moving the wooden planks of the bathtub outside, wiping up the bathwater, and finally left with a respectful demeanor.

Quiet, sensible, and with a good attitude.

Luo Yuzhu and Bai Xianzhu were eager to find someone, so they took the initiative to gather information and see how things were going at the Dengxian Academy.

Jiang Baiyu was left alone in the inn, feeling quite bored.

He opened the window and looked out at the bustling street. Next to him was a pet mat, and a skull sat quietly. To avoid scaring anyone who might glance up and see it, and to not seem too strange himself, he covered the skull with a piece of satin.

With his hands folded and his chin resting on them, he admired the exotic scenery of this other world.

After a while, Jiang Baiyu spoke up, “Hey, my skull friend, let’s have a chat.”

The skull remained silent, showing no reaction.

Jiang Baiyu pouted, “You could pretend to be dead before, but not now. I know you’re definitely not an ordinary skull. The divination I did for you came out either as a great disaster or great fortune, like a diode, two extremes.”

“Are you unable to leave the Demon Mountain, so you need me to take you out? Lucky for you, you left just before the Demon Mountain turned into a big pit.”

“Someone… let’s just call him a person, said you are the greatest treasure of the Demon Mountain?”

The skull still didn’t respond, as if Jiang Baiyu was just talking to himself.

Jiang Baiyu gently nudged it with his elbow, “Give me some reaction.”

The skull, covered by the satin, lost its balance and rolled off the pet mat, tumbling to the ground and rolling several times.

Looking into its dark eye sockets, Jiang Baiyu felt a bit guilty. He got up, walked a few steps forward, squatted down, and picked up the skull. “Let me clean you up.”

He took out a clean handkerchief and carefully wiped it down, then placed it back on the mat.

“Could it be that you’re too weak to speak?” Jiang Baiyu speculated, mumbling to the skull, “The divination said burying you here is a great disaster, and finding a new feng shui spot to bury you is also a great disaster. At least tell me what you plan to do next. Are you going to follow me around forever? Please don’t, I don’t have a preference for serving a skull every day. If I suddenly get unhappy, it would put me in a tough spot.”

“If you were my wife, serving you every day would be natural, and I’d be happy to do it. But you’re not my wife; we just met by chance, so let’s part ways amicably.”

“Tell me what you really want to do. If you can’t say it, I can do a divination.”

Jiang Baiyu decided to go for it and did a divination on the spot, getting a result of great disaster.

Jiang Baiyu: “??? ”

His face was full of question marks. “Are you unhappy again? What exactly are you unhappy about? What did I say wrong? Let’s talk it out nicely, don’t just scare me with a great disaster. You’re being a bit too irritable. I worked hard to collect you, faced bad people, and my heart was racing, almost dying on the spot. It took a lot of twists and turns to bring you here; I deserve some credit for that!”

Jiang Baiyu did another divination, and the result was still a great disaster.

“Damn, you’re a hard skull to please! Let’s not even talk about it; you’re not my wife, yet you enjoy my services every day. Do you want to be my wife but can’t say it?”

“If I splash you with some water, you won’t let me take a bath, and if you’re unhappy, you can splash me too. If you knew I used my bathwater to wash you, would you explode right here?”

The skull didn’t explode, but Jiang Baiyu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Goosebumps popped up on his arms, making him feel uneasy.

Jiang Baiyu laid out the facts, “Let’s be reasonable here. It’s the middle of the night, and suddenly I need to take a bath. If I don’t wash you, I can’t sleep. What can I do? Of course, I used the leftover water from my bath. It’s shameful to waste resources. Although I’ve used it, it’s still relatively clean. I wouldn’t mind bathing a skull in the dark of night; you, who enjoy being served, shouldn’t have so many complaints. We need to understand each other, you know?”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop, and the irritable skull showed no mercy.

“Damn, you’re not going to get so angry that you turn into a ghost, are you?!”

During the day, with the window open, Jiang Baiyu felt like he was sitting in an air-conditioned room; the temperature inside was different from outside.

If this skull really showed itself, he was quite curious. However, after waiting and waiting, he didn’t see the skull transform into a ghost. Instead, the temperature in the room gradually returned to normal.

Jiang Baiyu, feeling cheeky, said, “Oh, are you suffering from kidney deficiency?”

“Indeed, it’s a deficiency; the kidneys are all gone, no kidneys left.”

Looking outside, it was still early, but the lazy and boring afternoon made him feel sleepy. Jiang Baiyu yawned and decided to lie down for a bit.

Luo Yuzhu and Bai Xianzhu needed time to gather information; they wouldn’t be back so soon. Besides checking on the situation at the Dengxian Academy, they would definitely also look for news related to his master uncle, searching for any trace of him.

If it really had something to do with the Dengxian Academy, they probably wouldn’t return today.

The extermination of the Tianji Sect was such a big deal that the two of them would have things to discuss with their master uncle.

Jiang Baiyu closed the window, walked to the bed, took off his shoes, and lay down. He had barely closed his eyes when he quickly fell asleep.

He hadn’t had a good sleep in five days, and his mind was tense.

Jiang Baiyu slept deeply, his consciousness floating like being in water, gradually hearing a cacophony of sounds, voices intertwining as if they were arguing.

Shouts, the sounds of weapons clashing, the sound of sharp blades piercing flesh, blood splattering, explosions, sobbing, wailing…

The chaotic sounds painted a scene in his hazy mind, as if penetrating through layers of barriers, coming through the void. To Jiang Baiyu’s ears, it was a series of dreamlike murmurs, audible but indistinguishable.

Suddenly, that layer of barrier disappeared, as if he had finally broken through that layer of paper.

“Kill the evil star, defend the righteous path of the world!”

Someone shouted, fervent and mad, offering their passionate feelings to their faith.

“The evil star is not worth mourning! It must be killed! It must be killed!!”

The murderous intent distorted the voice, and just by listening, one could imagine how repulsive it was.

“Someone like you, the evil star, should never have been born!”

Malicious curses, sharp and piercing, penetrated the soul like a sword, inflicting deep wounds.

Countless voices, each one filled with insults and devoid of any kindness, gathered together with immense power, chilling the heart.

Jiang Baiyu was furious, his anger skyrocketing, and his blood pressure rising, feeling uncomfortable all over. The only way to relieve this unpleasantness was to go crazy and curse others.

Why should he suffer in silence when he could retaliate fiercely, transferring the pressure onto others and feeling at ease himself?

He suddenly opened his eyes, but the scene before him left him stunned.

A powerful man with white hair and a youthful face stood in front of Jiang Baiyu, his face written with “leader,” looking at him with a gaze full of hope, as if he were looking at the most satisfactory heir, ready to entrust him with a heavy responsibility, making a name for himself like the sun surrounded by stars, soaring into the sky.

“The birth of the evil star is a catastrophe that will lead to the suffering of all living beings. As members of the righteous sect, we must defend the righteous path. I know some may not understand or even be unwilling, but some things require sacrifice, even if it means going against the world and facing the wrath of thousands, I will not regret it.”

“I know you feel compassion in your heart; the evil star has not yet matured, and punishing it for mistakes it has not committed is too arbitrary. The grand scheme of the world has never been an easy matter. If killing one person can save countless others, then that is the consensus, that is supreme merit.”

“To defend the righteous path, one must have awareness; dedicating oneself to the righteous path of the world has never been a simple matter.”

The “leader” had a solemn expression as he handed over a treasured sword, “Chop off the limbs of the evil star as a sacrifice to the heavenly path.”

As he spoke, people appeared behind him, men and women of all ages, all looking at Jiang Baiyu with hopeful eyes, as if he were the savior sent from the heavens, born to save the world, responsible for killing the evil star that harmed the world and defending the righteous path of humanity, upholding a bright and clear sky.

Jiang Baiyu sensed something unusual behind him, slightly turned his head, and caught a glimpse of someone kneeling on the ground, deeply bowing their head, long hair touching the ground, making it hard to see their face. Clearly, this person was the so-called evil star mentioned by the “leader.”

He withdrew his gaze, focusing on the front, and did not take the sword.

Seeing him hesitate to take the sword, the “leader” showed a look of disapproval, and the people behind him displayed the same expression.

Under the gaze of so many people, the pressure built up, prompting action.

Jiang Baiyu took the sword, and under the appreciative and encouraging gaze of the others, he snapped it with his knee with a loud crack.

In dreams, anything is possible, and the great sword broke in response.

Jiang Baiyu stood tall, exuding an aura of sanctity and inviolability, rejecting the other party like he was refusing the bribes of spies, “Old man, we, the successors of socialism, don’t believe in such nonsense!”

“………………”

Everyone showed a confused expression as if they had encountered a bug, and the world lost its sound.

Then Jiang Baiyu woke up.

The images from earlier lingered in his mind, and he couldn’t help but give himself a thumbs up.

What a bunch of nonsense!

Jiang Baiyu opened his eyes, and as he saw the scene before him, his gaze instantly froze.

Sitting by his bed was a skeleton. Clearly, all the soft tissue had rotted away, and the joints couldn’t possibly fit together, yet a miracle was happening right before his eyes.

Every bone was one he had personally cleaned, and he remembered it clearly.

It sat like a person, sideways on the edge of the bed, its dark eye sockets facing him, staring with an invisible gaze, making him feel the presence of its eyes.

In broad daylight, with the room slightly dim, this scene was eerie and terrifying.

Jiang Baiyu gasped, about to scream reflexively, but a bony hand pressed down hard on his mouth.

“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Great disaster!

It really was a great disaster ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!!