Ji Ruohan jerked her head up and saw, seated on the wind-wrapped Fengshen Litter, a peerlessly beautiful woman.
The beauty’s dress fluttered, her jade-like legs graceful, and her slightly furrowed brows evoked admiration for her stunning beauty yet deterred any approach.
“Female Demon… Senior Yu! How did you come here!?” Ji Ruohan shouted up at Yu Yi on the litter.
“Grandmaster also wants to ask you, but now is not the time to talk about this,” Yu Yi said indifferently.
“Ling’er, bring her up.”
“Disciple, as you command.” Blue Ling’er at her side nodded slightly.
“Hmph, I don’t need your disciple’s help to retreat.” Ji Ruohan said defiantly upon hearing this.
However, just as Ji Ruohan was about to perform sword flying, the broken ground beneath her feet not only erupted with thick Rot Qi, but Ji Ruohan also felt a powerful suction force, as if trying to swallow her whole into the deep earth.
In an instant, Ji Ruohan’s composure was thrown into chaos, and she could no longer fly.
At the critical moment, a bridge of ice descended from the air and landed in front of Ji Ruohan. Ji Ruohan reacted quickly and immediately stepped onto the ice bridge.
As Ji Ruohan continued climbing upward, the surging Rot Qi behind her had transformed into a monster with a gaping maw, devouring all the ice she stepped on.
“Quick! Give me your hand!” Blue Ling’er on the Fengshen Litter leaned half her body out and extended her hand to Ji Ruohan.
This scene made Ji Ruohan feel deja vu. The first time she met Yu Yi, it was because Yun Qianxue had leaned half her body out of the Fengshen Litter and almost got hit by her.
Now seeing Blue Ling’er reaching out to help her in the same posture, Ji Ruohan’s mood was quite mixed.
But she couldn’t think too much now. Ji Ruohan reached out, grabbed Blue Ling’er’s hand, and the moment she was pulled onto the Fengshen Litter, the last block of the ice bridge beneath her feet was devoured by Rot Qi, and one of her shoes instantly corroded and dissipated.
After boarding the Fengshen Litter, Ji Ruohan turned to look down and saw the raging Rot Qi constantly battering the wind shield surrounding the litter. Its ferocity made Ji Ruohan feel a wave of terror.
If not for Blue Ling’er’s help pulling her onto the Fengshen Litter, would she have been dragged into the earth by the Rot Qi and tortured to death?
“You two, stay up there and behave,” Yu Yi said indifferently.
“Grandmaster will go and return.”
“Senior Yu, are you…”
Before Ji Ruohan could finish her sentence, Yu Yi leaped down from the Fengshen Litter, her posture elegant, like a heavenly fairy descending to earth.
Yu Yi slowly fell from the heights, and the Rot Qi churning from the broken ground, as if finding new prey, rushed straight at Yu Yi again.
“Filthy aura, you dare touch Grandmaster?”
Yu Yi’s eyes turned cold. With a flick of her slender wrist, her immense Zhenqi instantly surged out, scattering all the surrounding Rot Qi.
She landed on the ground, and wherever she stepped, the Rot Qi dispersed. Her gaze fixed on the River of Forgetfulness ahead, and she rushed there swiftly.
And as memories of having been here before flashed back, Yu Yi also realized what those two powerful energies were.
At this moment, deep in the River of Forgetfulness, two powerful energies were contending with each other.
One of them was Yu Yi’s eldest disciple, Zi Kui; there was no doubt about that.
And the other was the original “master” of the River of Forgetfulness.
The River of Forgetfulness is three thousand feet deep, the Yellow Springs nine thousand zhang.
The so-called “Candle Illuminating the Nine Netherworlds” refers to the legend that in ancient times, there was a Dragon Holding a Candle, whose candlelight illuminated the Nine Netherworlds, allowing even wandering souls in the Nether Capital to see light.
And beneath the Yellow Springs lay the deepest part of the Nine Netherworlds.
The people of the Nine Netherworlds worshipped the Candle Dragon as a god, grateful that it brought light to the cold and yin Nether Capital.
But as more and more wandering souls with unresolved resentment came to the Nether Capital, their resentment gradually affected the Candle Dragon. Thousands of years later, the Candle Dragon, tormented by resentment, died.
Its enormous body turned into remains, releasing the Candle Dragon’s resentment, along with the resentment and evil energy it had absorbed for thousands of years, which began to ravage the Nether Capital and even spread to the Yang Realm, bringing a great catastrophe to humanity.
It was at this time that the first “Ferryman” was born.
Using the divine power granted by the Ancient Gods, he sealed the Candle Dragon’s resentment in the deepest part of the River of Forgetfulness, and passed down this divine power, along with the duty and mission of protecting the Yin and Yang Worlds, from generation to generation.
There was rarely a blood relationship among “Ferrymen”; some people were born understanding that they were “Ferrymen” with the mission to protect both worlds.
Zi Kui was one of them.
No one knew her origin or age, not even herself.
Zi Kui originally thought that the meaning of her existence was simply to be a “Ferryman,” never leaving the River of Forgetfulness for eternity.
However, this inexperienced “Ferryman,” because she had accepted too many malevolent spirits doomed to become evil beings, had also been affected by resentment, weakening her suppression of the Candle Dragon, causing the Candle Dragon’s resentment to nearly break the seal, and the River of Forgetfulness erupted in riots.
But it was from that time that Zi Kui met the “one” in her life. That person was Yu Yi. Yu Yi quelled the riots in the River of Forgetfulness, rescued Zi Kui, and temporarily took her away from the River of Forgetfulness, spending a wonderful time together.
Above is the Azure Sky, below is the Yellow Springs. When Zi Kui first saw Yu Yi, she thought it was the Azure Heaven Fairy descending to earth, bringing warmth to her.
But later, Zi Kui learned that Yu Yi was not some fairy; she was just a human.
Yu Yi also told Zi Kui that she was first a human, and then a “Ferryman.”
In the years of living as Yu Yi’s disciple and her life, Zi Kui witnessed much of human interaction and grew stronger with Yu Yi’s help.
Zi Kui also changed from “mute, heartless, and expressionless” to “mute, expressionless, and unparalleled.”
She gained a “heart,” and thus gained emotions.
No one had ever stipulated that a “Ferryman” must be cold and ruthless, treating all souls who came to the River of Forgetfulness equally.
Zi Kui, now with emotions, understood a principle.
Not all souls deserve to find rest.
Those unforgivable malevolent spirits did not deserve equal protection from Zi Kui; they should be suppressed together deep in the River of Forgetfulness and suffer endless punishment.
So when Zi Kui had to part from Yu Yi and return to her post at the River of Forgetfulness, her “work” became exceptionally smooth.
But human calculations could not match the heavens’ plans.
Under the direction of a certain mysterious person, that group of Black-clothed Men actually dug a fissure into the seal suppressing the Candle Dragon.
They obviously didn’t know what this meant; they only knew that they had gained the power of Rot Qi and could become stronger.
The appearance of a fissure in the seal meant that the Candle Dragon’s resentment would once again affect the human world, and the first to bear the brunt was Zi Kui, who stood between the Yin and Yang Worlds.
The reason why the souls of Fang Xiaoyu and Fuxi suddenly went out of control was because Zi Kui had been affected by the Candle Dragon’s resentment at that time.
After expending a great deal of effort to shake off the influence of the Candle Dragon’s resentment, she appeared in the Yang Realm to eliminate the Black-clothed Men, then urgently returned to the Nether Capital to fill the increasingly large fissure.
Although filling the seal and continuing to suppress the Candle Dragon was Zi Kui’s mission as the “Ferryman.”
Although every generation of “Ferryman” was lonely and solitary, growing old and dying alone.
But Zi Kui had Yu Yi.
Yu Yi arrived above the surface of the River of Forgetfulness. Her eyes gazed downward, directly penetrating the ten-thousand-zhang Yellow Springs, and saw the scene in the deepest Nether Capital.
And the next thing she saw made her heart ache painfully.