Xiao Fuxuan's coffin?

Xiao Fuxuan…

Wu Xingxue repeated softly.

His subordinates followed, but were unwilling to get too close to the coffin.

Ning Huaishan craned his neck, wondering, "How strange. Why is High Immortal Tianxiu's coffin here?"

'Good boy, he knows what to say.'

Wu Xingxue was still trying to figure out who Xiao Fuxuan was, afraid he would get it wrong and expose himself. Thanks to Ning Huaishan's quick mouth, he was saved from disaster.

But it was indeed strange.

Wu Xingxue didn't understand the rules here, but he had read storybooks.

In the storybooks, Immortals treated Evil Demons as filth, like fire and water, irreconcilable. Who would place their own coffin in a prison specifically for confining the Demon Lord, as if they were afraid they would die with their eyes closed?

Or... was there another explanation?

As Wu Xingxue thought this, he reached out and stroked the edge of the white jade coffin, which was studded with coffin nails.

He'd had a bad habit since he was young. The nobles of Magpie Capital mostly loved rare objects, things like Mermaid Pearls, Prajna, and World-Illuminating Lamps. The names they came up with were grander than the last.

But he was different.

He was very old-fashioned; he just liked white jade. Whenever he saw it, he couldn't resist touching it to test its quality.

...

"If you ask me, it's definitely not a real coffin. It must be a cenotaph."

"And a cenotaph isn't strange? What's the difference between that and him lying here in person?"

"True! Even an ugly stone statue carved in a rundown mountain temple can be said to be imbued with the original's spirit, let alone personal clothing? That's not just imbued with spirit; that is the original person. My Lord City Lord—"

After Ning Huaishan finished his sarcastic remarks, he turned his head and saw his City Lord stroking the coffin.

Ning Huaishan: "..."

Ning Huaishan: "???"

It was truly bizarre.

The scene was so strange that the few subordinates were stunned.

This Demon Lord was indeed moody, and indeed always did the unexpected. His laughter did not mean he was happy, and his soft-spoken words did not mean he was about to praise you.

Serving him was truly difficult, and seeing through him was truly impossible.

...

But that was Xiao Fuxuan, the Xiao Fuxuan who had nailed him into the Canglang Northern Domain. He... why was he touching it?

Ning Huaishan licked his lips. "City Lord, what are you doing?"

The few of them exchanged a look, then looked at Wu Xingxue. The subordinate closest to Ning Huaishan suddenly moved his neck strangely. He extended a finger and wrote on Ning Huaishan's hanging hand:

"Don't you think..."

Before he could finish writing, a "bang—" sounded.

Where Wu Xingxue's fingers had brushed past, a black coffin nail suddenly shot out, over a foot long. The nail was still stained with jade dust and wreathed in a faint golden light, as if it had been forcefully yanked out.

"..."

The subordinate who was writing paused and curled up his fingers.

Then came the second sound.

Bang—

Another black coffin nail popped out.

Then the third.

The fourth.

...

With every coffin nail that came loose, the entire white jade coffin would tremble.

It wasn't just the coffin; the Sword Mound, that giant tree, and even the entire wilderness would tremble along with it.

Ning Huaishan and the others reacted as if facing a great enemy, instantly retreating several zhang away and exclaiming, "City Lord, I thought... so you wanted to open the coffin?!"

'No, I didn't.'

Wu Xingxue said in his heart, 'If I knew even a little bit of magic, I would've run faster than you.'

Unfortunately, he didn't. Not only could he not run, his feet were completely stuck. The coffin seemed to possess some divine power; as it trembled, it felt as if countless invisible hands were gripping him tightly from the ground.

So after his subordinates had all retreated, he was still standing by the coffin, watching helplessly as the nails fell out.

When the last "bang" sounded, the massive white jade lid made a "grinding of tiles and stone" sound as it crashed to the ground.

Wu Xingxue closed his eyes for a moment.

He didn't smell any decay or rot, only the scent of cold snow and flying dust before his nose.

It was a bit like the depths of winter in Magpie Capital.

"It's really open..." Ning Huaishan and the others murmured. "City Lord, what's inside?"

Wu Xingxue opened his eyes.

The white jade coffin was much taller than a normal one, so he couldn't see inside from where he stood.

The gripping force on his feet had vanished at some point. He hesitated and took a step closer. "Inside is..."

Xiao Fuxuan.

Wu Xingxue's lips moved, then pressed together unconsciously.

It was too unexpected.

The High Immortal Tianxiu was actually lying inside the white jade coffin. He looked the same as the illusion on the Golden King Lotus before, yet not quite the same.

The inner walls of this jade coffin were covered in a thick layer of cold qi. Xiao Fuxuan lay within it, his closed eyes, brows, and the black Mourning Nails on his earlobes all covered in frost. He looked colder than a jade disc, without a trace of life.

Wu Xingxue rested a hand on the jade coffin, looking down for a long time.

"City Lord, is it a cenotaph? Or is some personal item of his placed here to suppress this place?" Ning Huaishan's voice came from afar, growing closer.

His subordinates, having waited a long time without an answer, hesitantly gathered around again.

The moment they peeked over, they saw Xiao Fuxuan's face.

...

Ning Huaishan quickly retreated to his original spot again.

The others were about to run too, but one of them said, "Eh? No, wait!"

Ning Huaishan: "Am I crazy that I'm still waiting?"

"The City Lord is still here, what are you panicking about! Look closely, the one in the coffin isn't the real person."

'Hm? Not the real person?'

Wu Xingxue glanced up, but afraid of showing too much surprise, he lowered his gaze again.

Fortunately, Ning Huaishan had a mouth. "Not the real person?"

"That's right. Have you forgotten? The favorite thing for those High Immortals to do is to split off a... a physical body, leaving one here, and another there."

'Oh, storybooks love to write about that too, Immortals traveling the Mortal Realm.'

Wu Xingxue thought.

"How could you tell?" Ning Huaishan returned, half-believing, half-doubting.

"I'm old, after all. I've seen this kind of thing before. Look at his left wrist."

Wu Xingxue looked over.

He saw a small black mark on the inside of the person's left wrist, like that King Lotus from before.

'So it's really not the real person, just an empty shell?'

The subordinates were still talking, but Wu Xingxue wasn't listening closely anymore.

Because he was thinking about a question—

Since the one in the jade coffin wasn't the real person and showed no signs of coming back to life.

Then... who opened the coffin just now?

For a moment, he looked down at his own hands.

He almost suspected that the so-called original owner, the Demon Lord, had not completely dissipated, and had perhaps left some residual power in his hands.

But that wasn't right either.

When he touched the coffin, he hadn't used any strength at all; he had really just touched it.

Besides...

If the original owner were still around, with his abilities, wouldn't it be easy to snatch this body back? Why had he allowed him to occupy this body until now?

As Wu Xingxue's thoughts ran wild, he suddenly glimpsed an object beneath "Xiao Fuxuan's" palm, cradled by the High Immortal Tianxiu's slightly curled fingers, with only a corner exposed.

'Is it a Jade Sculpture?'

Wu Xingxue hesitated for a moment, muttering in his heart, 'Although you're just a shell, I should still give you a heads-up. Forgive my offense.'

He moved aside the person's cold fingers and took out the object from under his palm.

It was a white jade figurine. The carving was lifelike, but the figurine was faceless, making it impossible to tell who it was. It held a long sword in its hand, and there was a carved square pedestal at its feet.

In Magpie Capital, there was only one kind of stone or jade sculpture with a square pedestal—a divine statue for worship.

He didn't know if it was the same here.

If it was a divine statue, and holding a sword, it should be the High Immortal Tianxiu himself.

Wu Xingxue guessed, his thumb unconsciously rubbing over the carvings on the pedestal.

Unsure which spot he touched, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he heard a voice.

"Have you been to Chunfan City, west of Meng Capital? There's an extraordinary man there named Yi Wusheng."

Wu Xingxue: "..."

He almost threw the divine statue away.

But fortunately, he had seen countless spectacles back in Magpie Capital, and his greatest skill was maintaining a straight face.

'Who is speaking? Why am I hearing this voice?'

Wu Xingxue kept his eyes downcast, but a storm was raging in his heart.

'Is it because I'm holding this divine statue?'

Wu Xingxue was silent for a moment, then used his thumb to touch the carved flower from before again.

But this time, there was no reaction.

'What's going on? Don't tell me I've been possessed and am now hallucinating?'

Wu Xingxue turned the divine statue over again, muttering in his heart.

"Do you want to go back? Go find him."

At a certain moment, the voice appeared again without any warning.

Wu Xingxue's fingers tightened.

The content was still disjointed, but the phrase "Do you want to go back" struck a chord right in his heart.

Do you want to go back?

Of course, he did.

He wanted to go back to Magpie Capital so badly.

There were no Evil Demons or heretics there, no place like the Canglang Northern Domain, and no clanking Heavenly Locks.

There was no division between the Immortal Capital and the Demon's Den, only the Mortal Realm with its bustling carriages and horses, where one could come and go freely.

Chunfan City...

Yi Wusheng...

He subconsciously repeated the two names, then gave a self-deprecating laugh in his heart.

'You've truly become obsessed.' Wu Xingxue said to himself.

'You don't know whose voice this is, nor who these words were meant for. It's highly likely just some residual Spiritual Sense on this divine statue that happened to align with your own thoughts, yet you actually took it seriously and memorized it.'

He shook his head lightly and was about to put the bewitching divine statue back when the vague voice sounded again.

"This kind of shell is the most useful. Pinch the center of the wrist, pour in Spiritual Sense, and a puppet is made. If it's a prominent figure, then you've scored a great deal. Take it out, it's obedient and impressive... Are you obedient?"

"..."

Wu Xingxue directly threw the divine statue back into the coffin.

He was respectful enough of the High Immortal Tianxiu to avoid hitting the body. The divine statue clattered onto the jade bottom, making Ning Huaishan and the others jump.

"City Lord, you can't just... City Lord?" Ning Huaishan was halfway through his sentence when he saw their City Lord leaning against the side of the coffin, bending over and reaching a hand toward the person inside.

He saw Wu Xingxue grasp Xiao Fuxuan's wrist, his slender thumb rubbing and pressing on the black mark.

Isn't that... isn't that the method for making a puppet?!

The subordinates were all stunned. "City Lord! You... you're not planning to turn this mortal shell of the High Immortal Tianxiu into your own puppet, are you?!"

Wu Xingxue thought, 'Of course not. Would I dare? Besides, do I even know how?'

In truth, he couldn't explain why he had touched it. To prove that the voice in his head wasn't a hallucination? But he couldn't really prove anything, since the voice had said one needed to pour in Spiritual Sense.

He had nothing to pour in, so he could only press down. How could he possibly test for a result—

Before this thought had faded, he suddenly felt something jump under his thumb.

It was very faint, like the pulse of a living person.

Wu Xingxue: "?"

...

...

...

'Wait a minute?'

He was suddenly startled and looked up to see the person in the coffin, who had been dead for an unknown amount of time, abruptly open his eyes.

The sound of Ning Huaishan and the others screaming their heads off was deafening. "It worked! It actually worked! City Lord, look quickly, the puppet is made, he's opened his eyes!"

Their City Lord's heart went cold.

He had opened his eyes.

'The terrifying part is that I didn't do anything, but he really opened his eyes.'

Wu Xingxue didn't even have time to utter a word of defense before his vision blurred.

A huge force landed on him, followed by the world spinning. He closed his eyes instinctively.

No one saw clearly how the newly formed "puppet" got up from the coffin. They only felt a hurricane in the wilderness whip up a vortex of vast snow foam in front of the coffin.

All the long swords in the Sword Mound began to tremble incessantly. The sound of metal striking stone mixed with the wind, almost indistinguishable from the chains on Wu Xingxue's body.

When the wind and snow scattered, they saw the "puppet" pinning Wu Xingxue to the ground, his right hand catching a long sword that flew out of the Sword Mound. With a flick of the sword, its cold glint pointed downwards.

...

Hearing the wind from the sword, Wu Xingxue's eyes flew open. He saw the tip of the sword embedded in the ground just inches away, the cold Sword Qi sweeping over with the wind, only to stop right at his neck.

Unharmed, yet with the sharp edge right beside him.

He saw Xiao Fuxuan blink away the cold frost from his eyes and brows and look down at him.

After a long while, he called his name: "Wu Xingxue."