Xiao Fuxuan's gaze darkened slightly.

He seemed to want to say "Wu Xingxue," but with Ah Yao beside them, he ultimately said nothing.

The person by the red pillar looked at him, a puzzled expression appearing on their face after a moment: "?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Wu Xingxue asked.

Xiao Fuxuan lifted his chin, gesturing at the blood covering the ground and the crazed Ah Yao, and asked, "What happened here?"

"Are you asking me?" Wu Xingxue lowered his eyes to look at Yi Wusheng on the ground, silent for a moment.

Before, when he was leading the Evil Demon on a wild chase across Peach Blossom Isle, he had been full of spirit. Now, standing by the pool of blood, his voice was low, and coupled with his somewhat pale complexion, he inexplicably appeared listless.

Seeing that expression, Xiao Fuxuan frowned slightly, blinked, and looked away.

He suddenly didn't want to ask anymore.

Before Wu Xingxue could speak, he said in a deep voice, "Forget it."

The unsheathed sword in Xiao Fuxuan's hand turned, and the tip of the scabbard tapped lightly on the back of Ah Yao's hand.

Ah Yao abruptly pulled his hand back, and the blood-dripping longsword clattered to the ground, rolling over once. The silver tassel and Hibiscus Jade pendant on the hilt were soaked in blood. Amid the winding streaks of blood, the two characters for "Wusheng" on the jade pendant became surprisingly clear.

Ah Yao stared blankly at the jade pendant and collapsed to the ground as if his strength had left him.

Xiao Fuxuan lifted the hem of his robe and half-knelt in front of Yi Wusheng, pressing the back of his fingers against the other's forehead. Just as he was about to probe for his spirit, he saw the person by the red pillar move.

The lamplight cast the person's figure into a gray shadow. That shadow moved from the red pillar, stopped beside him, and then curled into a ball.

Xiao Fuxuan's movements paused, and he glanced to the side.

He saw Wu Xingxue obediently crouching beside him. Wu Xingxue first glanced at the limp and dazed Ah Yao, then turned his head and said softly, "Xiao Fuxuan, do you think that little madman was acting strange just now?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

'Does one even need to think that? Isn't it obvious?'

His expression began to grow indescribable.

But he didn't make a sound, merely watching Wu Xingxue, waiting for him to continue.

But the other person was also looking at him, waiting for a response, with no intention of continuing. He looked so well-behaved he could almost be called "obedient."

"..."

Xiao Fuxuan remained unmoved.

After a moment, Xiao Fuxuan finally budged. "So, what happened here while I was looking for Yi Wuqi?"

Wu Xingxue thought for a moment and said, "He was originally limp on the ground, then he suddenly shot up as if startled awake, drew Yi Wusheng's sword, and charged over."

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

Wu Xingxue: "And then it was really strange. That little madman killed Yi Wusheng with just one strike."

There was only a single sword wound on Yi Wusheng's body, right in the center of his chest, not off by an inch, clean and sharp. It looked as if a single strike had ended everything, with no further movement.

Wu Xingxue: "Have you ever seen a madman?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "...I have."

Wu Xingxue nodded. "That makes it easier to explain. If you've seen one, you must know that when a madman gets agitated, they have great strength, but their hands are unsteady. The more excited they are, the more violently they tremble. But this little madman didn't tremble at all. He didn't even have an expression on his face. I think..."

He looked at Ah Yao, seeming a little lost in thought in the silence. Then he retracted his gaze and looked back at Xiao Fuxuan. "His body must have been borrowed by someone."

"..."

"Who do you think borrowed it?"

"..."

Xiao Fuxuan looked at him, already feeling numb.

After a long while, he scoffed coldly, "I don't know. Maybe I borrowed it."

After speaking, he stopped looking at Wu Xingxue. That person seemed to have been stunned by this answer and didn't make another sound.

After a long time, he heard Wu Xingxue go, "Oh."

...

Right, he dared to say "oh."

Xiao Fuxuan tapped Yi Wusheng's forehead with a blank expression. As expected, a hollow tok-tok sound returned, just like with the countless people who had died before. But beneath that hollow sound, there was the faint echo of an extremely soft sigh.

Xiao Fuxuan froze. He immediately grabbed Yi Wusheng's left hand, pressed his thumb into the center of his wrist, and pushed upward.

A slight ridge bulged under Yi Wusheng's skin. The next moment, that bulge shot upward like a slithering snake, passing his arm, his neck, and then continuing up.

Yi Wusheng's dilated pupils suddenly constricted. Then, his eyeballs moved, catching a faint glimmer in the lamplight.

It was as if... he was alive again!

"Xiao Fuxuan." Wu Xingxue suddenly spoke, even forgetting that Ah Yao, an outsider, was present. His gaze, which had been lowered, was now raised, staring unblinkingly at Yi Wusheng. A moment later, he was staring unblinkingly at Xiao Fuxuan.

Xiao Fuxuan could see it in his peripheral vision but didn't turn his head, only acknowledging with an "en."

His hands didn't stop moving. Just as Yi Wusheng was about to open his mouth to speak, he conjured two long strips of black cloth out of thin air and sealed his mouth and nose.

"What's with him?" Wu Xingxue asked.

Xiao Fuxuan said, "That last sword strike annihilated the Evil Demon inside him. What he's holding in his mouth now is the single wisp of a remnant soul left after being devoured by the Evil Demon."

The dead naturally cannot be resurrected. For a living person possessed and consumed by an Evil Demon, death is the only release in the end.

But legend says there was once a method in the Immortal Capital. By borrowing a High Immortal's immortal energy, one could preserve a sliver of a remnant soul. As long as that breath of immortal energy wasn't released, they could continue on for a while longer.

Although this method existed, it was rarely used.

Because once one ascends to immortality, they can no longer interfere in the affairs of the Mortal Realm at will.

Immortals have their own rules. Punishment or reward, life or death, saving or not saving—all must be done in accordance with the Lingtai Heavenly Dao. Otherwise, if they took care of this one today but not that one, and took care of that one tomorrow but missed this other one, the Mortal Realm would descend into complete chaos.

Yi Wusheng himself was also very bewildered.

Freed from the Evil Demon's possession and without that eerie smile, bathed in the warm lamplight, his features could almost be called gentle. He was like a completely different person from his previous muddle-headed self.

He frowned tightly, wanting to speak, but felt his mouth and nose were bound tightly by the black cloth.

"Mmh mmh—" Yi Wusheng grunted twice at Wu Xingxue.

He reached out to pull at the black cloth but was slapped away by Wu Xingxue's palm.

After slapping him, he then asked Xiao Fuxuan, "This cloth can't be pulled off, right?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

He said to Yi Wusheng, "Move it and you die."

Yi Wusheng grunted "mmh mmh" again. Although it was extremely uncomfortable, he still lowered his hand.

Wu Xingxue suddenly asked, "So is he considered alive now?"

Xiao Fuxuan shook his head.

Not really. It's just a breath of a remnant soul. Even with immortal energy sustaining it, it's hard to say how many days it will last. He didn't use this method often, and had few points of reference.

"He's not?" Wu Xingxue asked again in a low voice.

Xiao Fuxuan was silent for a moment, then said, "Barely."

"Oh." Wu Xingxue nodded.

After this whole affair, his listless air seemed to have vanished again.

When Yi Wusheng climbed up from the ground, Wu Xingxue stared at Yi Wusheng's wrist, and the thumb hanging at his side twitched unconsciously. He didn't even realize it himself.

He flicked his robes and straightened up.

Just as he was about to check on the Hua Clan members outside the courtyard, he heard Xiao Fuxuan's deep voice ask, "Want to learn?"

Wu Xingxue was taken aback and looked back at him. "What?"

Xiao Fuxuan glanced at Yi Wusheng, then turned back to look at Wu Xingxue's hand.

Only then did Wu Xingxue realize. "Are you talking about the method you just used to save him?"

He was quiet for a second, then smiled. "I don't have a single bit of immortal art in me. I have no skills to speak of, so I can't learn it. Are you... teasing me?"

"No."

"Besides," Wu Xingxue added, "the storybooks I read all say—"

'Storybooks again...'

Xiao Fuxuan froze for a moment, waiting to hear the rest, but saw that he had stopped talking.

"Say what?"

"They say..."

Wu Xingxue glanced at Yi Wusheng and Ah Yao, and flexed his fingers twice.

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

He lowered his head slightly, moving a little closer.

Wu Xingxue said in a low voice, "The storybooks all say there's a distinction between immortals and mortals, that Immortals cannot casually interfere with whether these people in the Mortal Realm live or die. You just saved Yi Wusheng's life by a breath, and now you want to teach a common mortal like me some immortal arts. Doesn't that count as... violating the Heavenly Rules?"

He smiled at the end and looked up at Xiao Fuxuan.

Xiao Fuxuan was tall, and the line of his jaw was lean and sharp. As he lowered his head, that line became even more defined. It would move slightly when he spoke.

Xiao Fuxuan's expression was indifferent. After listening, he hummed in acknowledgment.

After a moment, he said, "It doesn't. The Immortal Capital is gone, and I'm not High Immortal Tianxiu anymore."

He glanced at Wu Xingxue and said, "My Divine Sense just entered this body. Didn't you turn me into a puppet?"

A flicker of light passed through Wu Xingxue's eyes.

"How can a puppet violate the Lingtai Heavenly Dao?"

After speaking, he conjured a piece of paper flowing with golden light out of thin air and handed it to Yi Wusheng. He said, "I have some things to ask you. Answer me in a moment. Hold this paper, and I'll be able to hear you."

Yi Wusheng froze for a moment, then took the paper.

The question he most wanted to ask was then transmitted: "Why did you save me?"

"I have something else to trouble you with," Xiao Fuxuan said.

He pointed at Wu Xingxue. "In your current state, can you still perform the Soul Dream Technique?"

Yi Wusheng nodded.

Xiao Fuxuan: "Later, I'll trouble you to take a look at his situation."

He then turned to Wu Xingxue and said, "He is skilled in the Soul Dream Technique. You might not understand it right now. But with a single probe of his hand, he can figure out where a living soul like you came from, and where you are supposed to return."

Wu Xingxue: "..."

Yi Wusheng nodded. "I... I will certainly do my best."

Wu Xingxue: "..."

His expression turned wooden for an instant, but it was fleeting.

Xiao Fuxuan glanced at him, then pushed open the room's door and said to Yi Wusheng, "Right now, there's another, more important matter. You need to face your family and clearly explain the whole story, for instance, the rumors from back then."

Who would have thought that Yi Wusheng, looking at the dense crowd outside the courtyard, would say, "The Family Head is here. I cannot."