# She stared at the line of blood-red writing in the Book of Life and Death, not moving for a long time.
Second death: about to begin.
She had clearly already died once.
And now it was telling her there would be a second time?
What exactly did that mean?
She reached out to touch the line, but just as her fingertip was about to meet the page, a wave of icy air suddenly swept over her.
“Don’t touch it.”
Ye Chenyuan’s voice came from behind her.
Lin Wantang whipped around.
She had no idea when he had appeared behind her.
His black robes pooled on the ground, and his expression was even more severe than usual.
“You knew all along?”
“Knew what?”
“This line.”
Lin Wantang pointed at the Book of Life and Death.
Ye Chenyuan glanced at it.
His eyes darkened slightly.
“I didn’t know.”
“You’re the Netherworld King.”
Lin Wantang stared at him.
“You didn’t know?”
“The Book of Life and Death doesn’t belong to me alone.”
“But you can open it.”
“I can.”
“And see the life and death of everyone.”
“I can.”
“Then why can’t you see mine?”
Ye Chenyuan fell silent.
Lin Wantang smiled faintly.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of ease in that smile.
“So you don’t know how I died either, do you?”
“I’ll investigate.”
“How long will that take?”
“Until I find out the truth.”
“And if you can’t?”
Ye Chenyuan looked at her.
“Then I’ll keep investigating.”
Silence settled over the surroundings.
Lin Wantang suddenly felt that this man always spoke the same way.
Simple.
Direct.
He never promised results.
Only that he would do it.
But what she wanted to know most right now wasn’t whether he was willing to investigate.
It was—
Why had she become the center of this conspiracy?
“Ye Chenyuan.”
“Hmm?”
“Was I not supposed to die?”
He didn’t answer.
This time, the silence itself was the answer.
Lin Wantang drew a deep breath.
“That’s good.”
Ye Chenyuan’s brow shifted slightly.
“What is?”
“At least it proves I wasn’t just unlucky.”
She raised her head.
“Someone harmed me.”
“Yes.”
“Then find that person.”
A trace of an extremely faint emotion surfaced in Ye Chenyuan’s eyes.
It looked almost like approval.
Or perhaps familiarity.
“Okay.”
Early the next morning, Lin Wantang was jolted awake by a peal of bells.
She sat up.
“They have alarm clocks here too?”
The door opened, and Xie Qi poked his head inside.
“What’s an alarm clock?”
“Never mind.”
“His Highness wants you to go to the Judge’s Hall.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
After washing up, Lin Wantang followed Xie Qi out of the side hall.
Along the way, she noticed that the Netherworld seemed even busier than it had the day before.
Underworld enforcers hurried back and forth.
Some carried files.
Others held copies of the Book of Life and Death.
Several underworld officials even rushed down the corridor with panicked expressions.
“What happened?”
Xie Qi lowered his voice.
“There’s a problem with the Book of Life and Death.”
“The Book of Life and Death again?”
“Yeah.”
“How many people?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Lin Wantang stopped walking.
“Is what happened to me related to this?”
Xie Qi didn’t answer.
She immediately reached out and blocked his path.
“Talk.”
“I really can’t say.”
“If you don’t, I’ll ask Ye Chenyuan.”
Xie Qi gave a bitter smile.
“You’ve gotten pretty good at using His Highness to pressure people.”
“If it works, it works.”
Xie Qi: “…”
He glanced left and right before lowering his voice further.
“Last night, the life-and-death records of 372 people suddenly vanished.”
Lin Wantang froze.
“Vanished?”
“Yes.”
“Their death records vanished?”
“No.”
Xie Qi’s expression grew solemn.
“The entire people disappeared from the Book of Life and Death.”
Lin Wantang’s heart sank.
“Like me?”
“Very much like you.”
She was silent for a moment.
“What’s happened to those 372 people?”
“Some are alive. Some are already dead.”
“So that means…”
“Someone is altering the Book of Life and Death on a massive scale.”
As soon as Xie Qi finished speaking, a cold voice came from behind them.
“Not altering it.”
Lin Wantang turned around.
Gu Changsheng stood at the end of the corridor. No one knew when he had arrived.
He held several files in his hands.
“Deleting them.”
He walked closer.
“Someone directly erased the existence of 372 people from the Book of Life and Death.”
Lin Wantang frowned.
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
“Do they have anything in common?”
Gu Changsheng glanced at her.
“Yes.”
Lin Wantang waited for his answer.
“To varying degrees, every one of them had come into contact with the same thing.”
“What?”
“The Yellow Springs Flower.”
She froze.
The red pattern on her wrist grew faintly hot.
Gu Changsheng’s gaze fell on her wrist.
“And you’re the most special one among them.”
“Because I have the Yellow Springs Flower on me?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Because you haven’t merely come into contact with the Yellow Springs Flower.”
“You’re its host.”
Lin Wantang stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Gu Changsheng didn’t answer immediately.
He simply turned around.
“We’ll talk once we reach the Judge’s Hall.”
Inside the Judge’s Hall.
Behind the enormous black desk sat three full rows of Books of Life and Death.
Every book was so massive and heavy it looked capable of crushing someone to death.
Gu Changsheng sat down.
Lin Wantang stood before him.
Xie Qi was assigned to stand by the door.
“Miss Lin.”
Gu Changsheng opened a file.
“I’m going to ask you a few questions first.”
“Go ahead.”
“Did you ever have any strange dreams when you were alive?”
Lin Wantang thought for a moment.
“Yes.”
“What kind of dreams?”
“The Yellow Springs.”
“Anything else?”
“A man.”
Gu Changsheng looked up.
“Ye Chenyuan?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“How many times did you see him in your dreams?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it the same scene every time?”
“No.”
Lin Wantang said, “Sometimes it was the Yellow Springs. Sometimes it was a snowy field. Sometimes…”
She paused.
“There was a huge city.”
The brush in Gu Changsheng’s hand suddenly stopped.
“A city?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of city?”
“A black one.”
“What was on the city gate?”
Lin Wantang frowned.
She tried hard to remember.
“A character.”
“What character?”
“…You.”
Gu Changsheng’s expression changed abruptly.
“Youxu.”
Lin Wantang looked puzzled.
“What kind of place is that?”
Gu Changsheng didn’t answer.
He quickly closed the file.
“That’s enough for today.”
“Wait.”
Lin Wantang stopped him.
“You clearly know.”
“I can’t tell you yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because your memories are restoring themselves.”
Gu Changsheng looked at her.
“If they’re forcibly awakened all at once, your soul could very well rupture.”
Lin Wantang fell silent.
“So I can’t know about my past life yet?”
“It’s not that you can’t.”
“It’s that you can’t know all of it.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
Gu Changsheng looked slightly surprised.
“You’re not going to ask more?”
“You all said I can’t know, so what good would asking do?”
She turned around.
“But I have one question you can answer.”
“What?”
Lin Wantang looked back.
“Did Xie Qi really make a mistake?”
Gu Changsheng froze.
Xie Qi by the door instantly tensed as well.
“What?”
“Yesterday, you said someone forged a soul-reaping warrant.”
Lin Wantang enunciated every word.
“So did he make the mistake, or did someone make him make it?”
The hall fell utterly silent.
Gu Changsheng didn’t answer.
But Lin Wantang understood.
“I knew it.”
She turned to Xie Qi.
“You didn’t do it on purpose.”
Xie Qi let out a breath of relief.
“Of course not.”
“But you did reap the wrong soul.”
“…Yes.”
“Good.”
Lin Wantang suddenly smiled.
“I was planning to make you pay for it.”
Xie Qi: “…”
“But you’re off the hook now.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“That’s great.”
“But I still want to know why you got a fake soul-reaping warrant.”
Xie Qi’s smile froze.
“I don’t know.”
“Where did you get it?”
“The Soul-Reaping Bureau.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“The underworld enforcer on duty.”
“What was his name?”
“Old Chen.”
Gu Changsheng suddenly spoke.
“Old Chen has gone missing.”
Lin Wantang froze.
“Missing?”
“Last night.”
She and Xie Qi exchanged a look.
Things were getting stranger by the minute.
At noon, nine peals of bells suddenly rang throughout the Netherworld.
Each one was heavier than the last.
The entire Ghost Gate Pass shook.
Countless underworld officials stopped in their tracks.
Xie Qi’s expression changed.
“Something happened.”
Lin Wantang looked up.
“What?”
“Something happened at the Judge’s Hall.”
The three of them hurried back.
The area outside the Judge’s Hall was already packed with underworld enforcers.
The doors were tightly shut.
A gigantic blood-red sigil appeared on them.
Gu Changsheng raised a hand.
The sigil shattered instantly.
The doors burst open.
The interior was in complete disarray.
Books of Life and Death lay scattered across the floor.
The desk had been cleaved in two.
And the one Book of Life and Death at the very center—
was gone.
Gu Changsheng’s face turned livid.
“Someone stole the master ledger.”
Lin Wantang frowned.
“Which one?”
“The master ledger.”
“Everyone’s life and death are recorded in it?”
“Yes.”
“Mine too?”
“Yours too.”
Lin Wantang fell silent.
Just then, an underworld enforcer hurried over.
“My lord!”
“Speak.”
“Someone found Old Chen outside the Ghost Gate Pass.”
“Alive?”
“His soul is still intact.”
“What about him?”
“He’s gone mad.”
Gu Changsheng frowned.
“Bring him here.”
Before long, Old Chen was brought into the hall.
His entire body trembled.
The moment he saw Lin Wantang, he suddenly screamed.
“Not her!”
“Not her!”
“She wasn’t supposed to die!”
Lin Wantang froze.
“You know me?”
Old Chen shook his head frantically.
“I’ve never seen you!”
“Then why did you say I wasn’t supposed to die?”
“Because…”
His eyes suddenly widened.
“Because that person said…”
“Who?”
“She has to die!”
“Who said that?”
Old Chen suddenly grabbed his head.
“I don’t know!”
“I really don’t know!”
“That person was wearing a mask…”
“They said that as long as I handed over the soul-reaping warrant, I could make someone disappear forever.”
A chill went through Lin Wantang.
“Disappear forever?”
Old Chen nodded.
“Not just die.”
“But disappear from everyone’s memories.”
“Disappear from the Book of Life and Death.”
“Disappear from reincarnation.”
Lin Wantang’s face gradually paled.
“So they want to make me disappear?”
Old Chen looked at her.
Then he began trembling again.
“No…”
“Not you.”
“The person who truly needs to disappear…”
He suddenly looked behind Lin Wantang.
His eyes were filled with terror.
“It’s the Netherworld King.”
Everyone froze.
Lin Wantang whipped around.
There was no one behind her.
But the next moment, a cold voice came from outside the hall.
“Continue.”
Ye Chenyuan walked in.
The entire hall instantly fell silent.
Old Chen’s face grew even paler when he saw him.
“Your Highness…”
Ye Chenyuan walked up to him.
“Who told you to take the soul-reaping warrant?”
Old Chen trembled all over.
“I don’t know.”
“Speak.”
“I really don’t know!”
Ye Chenyuan didn’t ask again.
He merely raised his hand.
A streak of black spiritual light flashed across Old Chen’s brow.
A moment later, Ye Chenyuan withdrew his hand.
“His memories have been erased.”
Gu Changsheng’s expression was grave.
“What kind of power could do something like this?”
Ye Chenyuan didn’t answer.
His gaze fell on Lin Wantang.
“It wasn’t an ordinary ghost cultivator.”
Lin Wantang looked at him.
“Then who was it?”
Ye Chenyuan said nothing.
He only walked up to her.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“The Netherworld Palace.”
“Again?”
“From now on, you can’t leave my sight.”
Lin Wantang frowned.
“Why should I listen to you?”
“Because they already know you’re still alive.”
“I’m already dead.”
“No.”
Ye Chenyuan looked at her.
“You’re neither alive nor an ordinary departed soul.”
“Then what are you?”
He raised his hand.
His fingertip gently touched the Yellow Springs Flower on her wrist.
The red pattern lit up instantly.
“You’re the only person in the Three Realms…”
“rejected by the Book of Life and Death.”
Lin Wantang stared at him.
“So?”
Ye Chenyuan’s voice was low.
“So right now, you—”
“can’t die.”
She stood there for several seconds.
“What?”
“Your soul cannot be sent into reincarnation.”
“Your name cannot be recorded.”
“Your lifespan cannot be calculated.”
Ye Chenyuan looked at her.
“Even death cannot truly take you away.”
Lin Wantang stood rooted to the spot.
She suddenly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“So what exactly am I supposed to count as now?”
Ye Chenyuan was silent for a moment.
“A permanent resident of the Netherworld.”
The entire hall fell deathly silent.
Xie Qi couldn’t help lowering his head.
His shoulders shook faintly.
Lin Wantang glared at Ye Chenyuan.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“No.”
“You absolutely are.”
“This king does not laugh.”
“Then why did the corner of your mouth move?”
Ye Chenyuan remained expressionless.
“Your imagination.”
Xie Qi finally couldn’t hold it in.
“Pfft—”
Lin Wantang turned around.
“Xie Qi.”
“Yes!”
“Did you just laugh?”
“No!”
“The corners of your mouth are practically splitting your face in half.”
Gu Changsheng silently turned away.
He wanted no part in this farce.
Yet just as everyone began to relax a little, the ground suddenly shook.
A massive crack spread from the center of the Judge’s Hall.
Black mist billowed out from the fissure.
Ye Chenyuan’s expression changed instantly.
“Back!”
All the underworld enforcers quickly retreated.
But Lin Wantang remained where she was.
Because within that black mist, she heard a voice.
Soft.
Yet incomparably familiar.
“Wantang.”
She abruptly raised her head.
Deep within the black mist, a pair of blood-red eyes slowly opened.
“I found you.”
Lin Wantang’s pupils contracted.
The next moment, Ye Chenyuan yanked her into his arms.
A black barrier crashed down around them.
A tremendous force slammed into it.
The entire Judge’s Hall shook.
“Ye Chenyuan!”
“Don’t move.”
“What is that?”
“The aura of Youxu.”
Lin Wantang’s heart sank.
“Youxu?”
She suddenly remembered the black city from her dream the night before.
The character ‘You’ on its gate.
It hadn’t been a dream.
It truly existed.
And that place…
seemed to be looking for her.
The voice in the black mist rang out again.
“A thousand years.”
“You’ve finally returned.”
“This time—”
“I won’t let you escape again.”
Boom!
With a single strike, Ye Chenyuan shattered the black mist.
The Judge’s Hall returned to silence.
But Ye Chenyuan’s hand was still wrapped tightly around Lin Wantang’s wrist.
Lin Wantang looked down.
His fingers had gone faintly white.
For the first time, she realized that this Netherworld King, who was always so calm he seemed to have no emotions at all…
was actually afraid.
“Ye Chenyuan.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know who he is?”
The man was silent for a long time.
At last, he said in a low voice,
“I do.”
“Who is he?”
Ye Chenyuan gazed at the gradually fading black mist.
A deep, icy chill surfaced in his eyes.
“A thousand years ago…”
“He was the one who killed you.”
Lin Wantang froze.
She suddenly felt the air around her turn cold.
Her death had never been an accident.
The person who forged the soul-reaping warrant hadn’t simply wanted her dead.
What they truly wanted was to erase her completely.
But now—
she had returned.
And the Netherworld King who had waited a thousand years for her had finally found her again.
Ye Chenyuan tightened his grip on her hand.
“This time,”
he said quietly,
“I won’t let anyone kill you again.”
Lin Wantang raised her head.
Their gazes met in midair.
She didn’t know why.
She was clearly already dead.
Yet at this moment, for the first time, she felt—
Maybe coming to the Netherworld wasn’t the end of her life.
Maybe it was where all the truth was truly beginning.
In the distance.
The sea of Yellow Springs Flowers, sealed away for years, suddenly bloomed all at once.
One flower.
Then two.
Then countless more.
Red petals whirled through the sky.
And in the deepest part of the field, a stone gate that had slumbered for a thousand years slowly split open.
Four ancient characters were carved into the gate.
Youxu is about to open.