Chapter 46

Xue Ming heard the thunder that shook the heavens and earth and vaguely understood that her previous guess was correct. The thunderclouds gathered in the sky, centered on her, were because of the Hundred Ghosts Flag. Whoever became the new Ghost Emperor would be struck down by this heavenly thunder. Even though Jiang Xing’s speed had reached its limit, it was still affected by the massive impact from behind. It struggled to stabilize its wings and glide for a while but eventually flipped over, spinning like a kite with a broken string.

Yan Yuhe, holding Xue Ming, jumped off Jiang Xing just in time, quickly performed a spell to turn Jiang Xing back into a paper crane, put it into his sleeve, and then landed on the ground with Xue Ming in his arms.

The impact of the thunder knocked Xue Ming unconscious, and she lost consciousness in Yan Yuhe’s embrace. The wind continued to howl, and he shielded her from the wind with his back. He slowly sat down with Xue Ming in his arms, letting her rest comfortably in his embrace. His long black hair brushed against Xue Ming’s face, which he gently moved aside, revealing her pale and peaceful face.

After the thunder struck, the originally dark clouds quickly dispersed in all directions, revealing a moon as bright as jade. The flying sand and stones all fell, and when the dust settled, the heavenly thunder left a huge crater. The thousands of ghosts kneeling on the ground, the corpses and Hundred Crow’s lair, had all disappeared completely, likely turned to dust and blown away by the wind, leaving no trace. Everything settled, and the surroundings became silent. Yan Yuhe sat still, looking down at Xue Ming. The moonlight illuminated her face, making it as clear as jade. She looked adorable as she slept soundly, and Yan Yuhe remained in this position for a long time without moving.

Xue Ming didn’t know how long she had slept. Perhaps because she had things on her mind, she woke up with a start, kicking her legs and waking herself up. She opened her eyes and met Yan Yuhe’s gaze. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized she had been sleeping in his arms, and she quickly got up.

The surroundings looked as if they had been bombed densely, with no piece of land intact. However, it looked much cleaner than before, with everything gone and the area within several miles leveled. She hurriedly turned to check if Yan Yuhe had any other injuries. Yan Yuhe also stood up, obediently cooperating with Xue Ming’s inspection.

Upon checking, she indeed saw that besides the injury on his arm, there were also claw marks on his neck, and his clothes on the shoulder were torn, though she couldn’t see the extent of the injury. Xue Ming hadn’t expected the Hundred Crow Ghost King to be so powerful. It took several people to fight him without completely subduing him, and Yan Yuhe also got injured.

Moreover, the previous heavenly thunder could only confirm that Jiang Ruoming was definitely struck dead, but it was unclear whether Hundred Crow was hit. However, there was no time to worry about that now. Xue Ming looked up and asked worriedly, “Is it serious?”

Yan Yuhe lowered his eyelashes, his dark eyes shifting slightly. Finally, he held her hand, gently shook his head, and said nothing.

Xue Ming remembered that he was already injured. When he had taken off his clothes before, wounds were extending from his back to his ribs, emitting black gas, and they looked very deep. If not for those injuries, he wouldn’t have been hurt while dealing with Hundred Crow today. She still didn’t know what Hundred Crow’s background was.

Xue Ming wanted to ask more but suddenly felt a burning sensation on the back of her hand, seemingly from Yan Yuhe’s body heat. However, this temperature was too high for a normal person, like having a high fever.

Xue Ming immediately stood on tiptoe and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, “Why is your body temperature so high?”

Yan Yuhe didn’t dodge, letting Xue Ming touch his forehead. Sure enough, his body temperature was higher than usual, and his skin was scorching hot. Xue Ming was about to ask if he needed healing when she noticed her hand was as pale as snow, with black ghost claws starkly contrasting against her porcelain-white skin. She was shocked, quickly raising both hands and rolling up her sleeves to look. She vaguely realized something and hurriedly grabbed Yan Yuhe, asking, “Do you have a mirror?”

Yan Yuhe silently took out a mirror. She held it up and saw her face had become neither human nor ghost. Her eyes were blood-red, with two sharp ghost fangs faintly visible at the corners of her mouth. Her skin was so white it had no other color, making her eyebrows and eyes look even darker and her lips redder.

She looked like a beautiful fairy, but it made Xue Ming feel uneasy. She stammered, “I-I-I look like this… what’s going on?”

Seeing how frightened she was, Yan Yuhe lowered the mirror in her hand and said softly, “You’ve absorbed too much yin energy.”

Xue Ming then understood that it wasn’t Yan Yuhe’s body temperature that was too high but her own body temperature that was too low, making Yan Yuhe’s warmth feel exaggerated.

Additionally, her body seemed to be in a half-ghost state, making her more sensitive to the temperature of living people. She recalled that when Jiang Ruoming activated the last yin-gathering formation, she indeed absorbed too much yin energy, to the point that even Nie Xiaoqian couldn’t protect her, which is why she ended up in her current state. “So, from now on, I…”

Just as Xue Ming was about to ask more questions, a voice from not far away called out, “Hero Yan!”

She turned her head and saw the two White and Black Impermanence figures floating over with smiles. They bowed simultaneously in front of Yan Yuhe and said, “Hero Yan, you have done a great deed by killing the Ghost Emperor’s daughter and protecting the realms of yin and yang. We look forward to hearing the good news of your ascension to immortality.”

For some reason, Xue Ming instinctively felt slightly afraid of White and Black Impermanence. Perhaps it was because she was now in a half-ghost state, making her naturally fearful of the underworld officials. She hid behind Yan Yuhe, hoping he would shield her from their view.

Unexpectedly, White Impermanence smiled at her and said, “Miss Xue, you’ve changed quite a bit.”

Black Impermanence chimed in, “Miss Xue, you are quite remarkable. If it weren’t for you activating the Hundred Ghosts Flag and returning it to the Ghost Emperor’s daughter, we might have had to fight them all night! You’ve done a great deed and will surely be rewarded handsomely in the future.”

Xue Ming didn’t understand where their familiarity came from and looked at White and Black Impermanence with a puzzled expression.

White Impermanence sighed sadly, “It’s only been a few days, and Miss Xue has already forgotten us completely.”

“How could you say that…” Xue Ming smiled awkwardly and asked, “Have I met you before?”

White Impermanece said, “I am Chun Ye.”
Black Impermanece said, “I am Qiu Sheng.”

“Chun Ye and Qiu Sheng?” Xue Ming thought for a moment.

Aren’t they the two servants who were with the fake Ning Caichen earlier? She widened her eyes in surprise, recalling the past events, and said in astonishment, “So you… I thought you were already dead…”

“We are indeed dead.” White Impermanence shook the half-crying stick in his hand and smiled, “We didn’t mean to deceive you earlier. It’s just that Qiu Sheng and I really thought you were Hero Yan. We only learned the truth later.”

Xue Ming remembered the day when Nie Xiaoqian killed these two. She had gone with a lantern to find their souls and save them, only to find the two of them standing there arguing. She hadn’t paid much attention to this clue at the time, but now she realized that ordinary people would have their souls dispersed after dying. How could anyone stand there arguing?

Xue Ming had been in the dark about everything along the way, always finding out there were more secrets. So she grabbed White and Black Impermanence, intending to ask them thoroughly. Just as she was about to ask, Gu Jinglan returned. He held a rope wrapped several times around his hand and arm, with the other end tied to a child’s neck. However, this time, the child tied up was not You Yin, but a dark-skinned child with sharp horns, disheveled hair hanging down his back, and only a few loose pieces of cloth covering his body, barefoot. His eyes were blood-red, full of aggression towards everyone, being reluctantly dragged forward by Gu Jinglan.

“Who is this?” Xue Ming asked.

“This is the Hundred Crow Ghost King,” White Impermanence said. “He was affected by the heavenly thunder, lost all his cultivation, and was severely injured, which is why he looks like this.”

“Why didn’t the heavenly thunder strike him dead?” Xue Ming asked curiously.

Hundred Crow snorted, looking very defiant.

Black Impermanence leaned close to Xue Ming and whispered, “Hundred Crow is a spiritual being born from the sacred mountain, originally meant to be a mountain god. Years ago, he came to the human world out of mischief and entered the ghost path. His master came to the underworld earlier and asked us to bring him back. The master wants to deal with him personally.”

Xue Ming understood. No wonder Yan Yuhe and the others had such a hard time fighting Hundred Crow together.

As she was lost in thought, Yan Yuhe grabbed her wrist and pulled her back a few steps. Then Xue Ming felt a light, wide robe fall over her head, accompanied by a faint fragrance, blocking most of her vision. She lifted it slightly with her hand and saw that Yan Yuhe had removed his outer robe and put it over her head. Before she could understand why he did this, she suddenly saw a bright light on the eastern horizon—the sign of dawn.

There was no sunrise in the ghost realm, so seeing this, Xue Ming knew the ghost realm had been broken, and they were now in the human world. She felt great, took a deep breath of fresh air, and wanted to pull down the robe to see the sunrise. But as soon as she reached out, she felt a sudden pain on the back of her hand, as if burned, and quickly pulled it back.

Xue Ming was shocked and looked at Yan Yuhe in disbelief, asking for confirmation, “I can’t be in the sun?”

Yan Yuhe said, “Not for now.”

Xue Ming panicked. She couldn’t live without the sun and anxiously grabbed Yan Yuhe, asking, “How long is ‘for now’? I can’t bear it if it’s ten or eight years.”

Yan Yuhe looked at her, his eyes changing subtly, very deep and unfathomable. He said, “It depends on when your yang energy recovers.”

Xue Ming breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, “So that’s how it is.”

Xue Ming could accept it as long as it didn’t take a long time. She could have Yan Yuhe transfer more to her regarding the yang energy. Although the process was arduous, as long as the outcome was good, it was worth it.

White Impermanence, Black Impermanence, and Gu Jinglan didn’t like the sun, so they suggested moving to another place to discuss the remaining matters in detail. So they set off and returned to the temple where they had started.

On the way, Xue Ming grabbed White and Black Impermanence and asked them carefully, finally understanding the whole story.