After paying the spirit stones, Xie Ziyin couldn’t shake the feeling that a malicious gaze was fixed on him.
He turned around, scanning the crowd, but the stare had already vanished.
Not far away, beneath an intricately carved red pillar, sat a figure clad in black robes—a woman, her face obscured as she kept her head lowered, her actions unclear.
Her?
An enemy from his past life?
Uncertain.
But Xie Ziyin had no intention of stirring trouble now. The Hundred Ghost Tower was a den of chaos, and he preferred to keep a low profile.
Lowering his gaze, he changed direction, deliberately circling far around the suspicious woman in black. After weaving through the crowd and confirming no one was following, he finally sought out Li Xingyang and the others.
Li Xingyang was in the middle of a heated complaint to his companion: "Why did the merchant charge you 520 spirit stones but demand 620 from me? What, do I look like an easy mark?"
His companion grinned. "Maybe I just look broke. Young Master Li, you’ve got that extraordinary aura about you!"
Li Xingyang preened at the flattery. "Well, that’s the only logical explanation."
Xie Ziyin approached and cut in bluntly, "Go back first."
The companion immediately bowed. "Yes, Senior Brother."
Despite having been thoroughly disciplined by Xie Ziyin all month, Li Xingyang—ever the glutton for punishment—couldn’t resist asking, "You’re not coming with us? What are you planning?"
His companion paled, covering his face and turning away. This was going to end badly.
Xie Ziyin smirked coldly. "Do I need to report to you?"
Li Xingyang stammered, "I—"
"Seems you have too much free time." Xie Ziyin’s tone was icy. "Copy the medical texts. Three days."
Li Xingyang’s face twisted in outrage. "What?! Do you even know how thick that tome is? Xie Ziyin, you think I’m actually afraid of you—"
His companion clapped a hand over Li Xingyang’s mouth, dragging him away while trembling. "Senior Brother, we’ll copy it! We’ll start right away! Please don’t do anything rash!!!"
He never wanted to experience that living hell again.
---
After waiting endlessly with no sign of Shen Hefeng, Wen Shuangbai’s patience ran dry.
Was that damned Taoist toying with her?
Fine. He’d regret this.
She stood abruptly, her swift steps stirring a sharp breeze that sent her black robes fluttering.
Just as she was about to exit the Hundred Ghost Tower, a hooded Taoist in black robes suddenly darted from the shadows, blocking her path. He clutched a divination banner that read: "880 Spirit Stones per Fortune—Payment Even If Wrong!" in a raspy, aged voice. "Young lady, care for a reading? This humble one senses ominous clouds shrouding your aura—a sign of ill fortune ahead—AHHH! OW!"
The Taoist howled, clutching his foot. "You dare stomp on me?!"
Wen Shuangbai didn’t stop, kicking relentlessly as Shen Hefeng dodged through the crowd, cursing through gritted teeth. "What kind of charlatan starts by cursing people? Take that! And that!"
The onlookers in the Hundred Ghost Tower barely blinked, sidestepping the scuffle with practiced ease while jeering at the Taoist.
"Not this fraud again, always spouting doom! Serves him right—get him, girl!"
"Last time he told me my plans would fail! Spent a month in misery, only to succeed! Absolute scam!"
"..."
Some mischievous soul had left a pebble on the ground. Shen Hefeng tripped over it mid-dodge, yelping as he face-planted spectacularly. His banner flew from his grip, landing at Wen Shuangbai’s feet.
She hooked it with her toe, lifting and weighing it in her hand.
Huh. This thing was no ordinary prop—it was expensive.
Grinning, she prodded Shen Hefeng with the long end of the banner, taunting, "Bloody disaster? Financial ruin? How about I give you a taste of both today?"
With that, she strode off, banner in hand.
Shen Hefeng scrambled after her, howling, "You—you brigand! Return my Spirit-Devouring Banner!"
That banner had cost him a fortune—10,000 spirit stones in debt!!!
Unnoticed in the crowd, Xie Ziyin retracted the hand that had tossed the pebble and quietly followed.
---
Wen Shuangbai sprinted to a nearby abandoned temple, only to find Shen Hefeng already waiting inside, calmly holding his tortoise-shell divination tool.
"Surprised? I got here first." He smirked. "Did you really think you could outrun me with your amateur cultivation?"
Still, this junior sister was something else—an artificer who fought like a martial artist. What had she been practicing in secret?
"Stay back." Wen Shuangbai brandished the banner threateningly. "Come closer, and I’ll snap this in half."
Shen Hefeng scoffed. "You? Break it?" Even he couldn’t manage that.
Wen Shuangbai grinned. "Aren’t you the great diviner? Why not cast a hex and see if I can?"
Shen Hefeng didn’t need to calculate—he knew Wen Shuangbai would return it to him, and he also understood why she hadn’t done so yet. So, he pulled down his hood and first bowed to her in apology. "Shimei, my apologies. I shouldn’t have kept you waiting so long."
Wen Shuangbai let out a cold snort.
Shen Hefeng continued, "But I really didn’t curse you. What I said was all…"
Noticing the look on his shimei’s face, he quickly swallowed the words "calculated it" and silently covered his mouth.
Ah, today he had cast a divination for himself before leaving, and the hexagram had warned him of "disaster from the mouth," advising caution in speech and action.
Never mind, never mind. Getting his Soul-Devouring Banner back was more important.
Shen Hefeng swiftly changed the subject and confessed, "By the way, Shimei, I didn’t get the Divine Wood Token."
At this, Wen Shuangbai’s face fell entirely. "You didn’t get it?"
Shen Hefeng shrugged. "The Divine Wood Token doesn’t like me. It prefers that guy Lu Ying. What can I do?"
The main party was favored by the Heavenly Dao, so naturally, rare treasures gravitated toward them.
Wen Shuangbai sighed and tossed the hexagram banner back to Shen Hefeng.
"Ah, no! Don’t throw it! My Soul-Devouring Banner—ahhh!" Shen Hefeng shrieked, scrambling to catch it before carefully stowing the precious banner away.
Wen Shuangbai studied Shen Hefeng’s movements, thinking to herself that he was just as fragile as ever—in close combat, he wouldn’t even stand a chance against her.
But his divinations were uncannily accurate, and that was enough.
Just as Wen Shuangbai was about to bring up the competition, her brows suddenly furrowed, and she turned her head toward the entrance.
Someone had arrived.
The newcomer wore simple cloth robes and straw sandals, his hair tied back with a wooden hairpin—his attire plain and unadorned. Yet his face was strikingly handsome, the tear mole at the corner of his eye like a divine stroke from the Creator himself. He walked in under the moonlight, like a seductive wild spirit.
Wen Shuangbai instinctively glanced at him a few more times.
"Ah, Ziyin’s here." Shen Hefeng straightened his Taoist robe, clearly having expected Xie Ziyin’s arrival.
So, these two had planned this?
Wen Shuangbai’s heart filled with doubt, her gaze flickering between Xie Ziyin and Shen Hefeng.
She still hadn’t figured out how these two, who were supposed to be mortal enemies in the original story, had ended up colluding.
That look in his eyes…
Xie Ziyin instantly understood—the person sitting beneath the red wooden pillar was undoubtedly her.
His eyelids twitched slightly as he let out a light scoff. "You really are like a lingering ghost."
Wen Shuangbai: "?"
She nearly laughed at the absurdity. Who was the real lingering ghost here? "Just now, Shen Hefeng said I’d encounter a petty person today. I didn’t believe him. But it seems his calculations were spot-on—here comes the petty one."
Xie Ziyin found her words utterly ridiculous and chose to ignore her.
The two stood on opposite sides, as clearly divided as the waters of the Jing and Wei rivers.
Shen Hefeng sat cross-legged on the ground, arms folded, looking left and right before finally speaking. "Alright, since you’re both here, let’s get down to business."
Though Shen Hefeng hadn’t managed to seize the Divine Wood Token during their trip to Ningyuan Mountain, he had obtained something he liked even more.
Without Wen Shuangbai guiding him there or Xie Ziyin providing the elixir, he wouldn’t have succeeded.
"I owe each of you a favor. Tell me, how should I repay you?"
What favor could he/she possibly owe Shen Hefeng?
The moment those words left his mouth, the same question arose in both their minds.
Wen Shuangbai shot him a glance, while Xie Ziyin swept him with a sidelong look—their gazes briefly crossing before both turned away in mutual distaste, nearly speaking in unison.
Wen Shuangbai: "Form a team for Taihua Mountain."
Xie Ziyin: "Team up."
Wen Shuangbai: "?"
He also wanted to team up with Shen Hefeng?! Just what kind of fallout had he had with the main party to outright sever ties and refuse to compete together?
Over on his side, Xie Ziyin was equally exasperated.
Both their expressions darkened, while Shen Hefeng alone was delighted. He clapped his hands. "What a coincidence! Perfect—the three of us can form a team together!"
A weapon cultivator who knew the Divine Wood Token was at Ningyuan Mountain, whose combat skills surpassed even body cultivators, and a medical cultivator with unparalleled healing and alchemy prowess—both ranked in the top ten in the first round of trials. Teaming up would bring nothing but benefits.
Plus, this way, he’d repay both favors at once—a triple win! How marvelous!
The hexagram had foretold he’d encounter noble luck recently, and sure enough, here it was.
But before his joy could last, the two rejected him in unison.
Wen Shuangbai: "No!"
Xie Ziyin: "No."
Shen Hefeng: "…"
"Then what should we do?" Shen Hefeng felt torn—how could he choose between them? "Do you want to split me in half? One half for Shuangbai, the other for Ziyin?"
Wen Shuangbai: "Fine by me."
Xie Ziyin: "Agreed."
Wen Shuangbai & Xie Ziyin: "…………"
Shen Hefeng: "??"
The scene descended into eerie silence.
Shen Hefeng let out a long, world-weary sigh. "But this old man can’t. I’m only eighteen—I haven’t lived enough yet. I’m not ready to die."
He glanced between the two, their faces growing darker by the second, then stood up and stretched lazily. "Alright, one last time—if both of you agree, the three of us team up. If neither of you agrees, then I’ll find someone else."
Having repeatedly echoed the words of this detestable man, Wen Shuangbai kept her lips sealed, not wanting to utter another word.
Xie Ziyin remained silent.
Shen Hefeng blinked. "Since none of you are objecting, I’ll take that as agreement to form a team together?"
Still, no one spoke up.
Shen Hefeng counted to three, his eyes gleaming with determination, and decisively declared, "Alright, it’s settled then! Anyone who backs out owes 100,000 spirit stones per person!"
Xie Ziyin: "?" A tyrannical clause?
Wen Shuangbai: "...Isn’t the penalty a bit too high?"
"Too high?" Shen Hefeng stroked his chin. "Not at all. I’ve calculated it—100,000 is just right."
If someone backed out, he’d be able to clear his debts in one go. How perfect.
Wen Shuangbai pondered silently.
So what if it was high? She wouldn’t back out. But Xie Ziyin might...
What if Yu Xiaoxiao convinced him to rejoin the protagonist’s group? Then her debt would be wiped clean.
Though she truly disliked working with Xie Ziyin, Wen Shuangbai was a pragmatist at heart.
Who didn’t have a few annoying coworkers?
Besides, this team-up would give her a chance to observe Xie Ziyin up close and figure out what had happened between him and Yu Xiaoxiao. How had the plot derailed so badly that a devoted side character like him ended up joining forces with villains like them?
After a rational assessment, she said, "My senior brother will be joining us too."
Yin Xuan—first-grade spirit bone, second place in the Sword Arts Pavilion tournament.
Shen Hefeng had no objections. In fact, he was pleased. "Even better! What do you think, Ziyin?"
In his past life, Xie Ziyin had navigated the cutthroat world of academia while dealing with difficult patients—a seasoned veteran of society.
After weighing his options, he gave a quiet hum of agreement.
Fine. This team-up would give him a chance to study the so-called "villainess," pinpoint her weaknesses, and use them to break off their ill-fated engagement once and for all.
"Remember," Shen Hefeng said, stroking his tortoise shell with rare solemnity, "I’ve already divined the omens. Numbers one, two, three, four, and six all foretell great calamity. Our team can only have five members. With four now, we still need one more."
Wen Shuangbai asked curiously, "What about five? Great fortune?"
Shen Hefeng gave her a look that said, How dare you even hope for that? "Whenever I divine matters concerning myself, I’ve never once drawn 'great fortune.'"
Wen Shuangbai: "Then what is it?"
Shen Hefeng: "Oh, just the next-worst omen. Slightly better than 'great calamity.'"
Wen Shuangbai: "..."
Xie Ziyin stayed silent. He didn’t believe in such things. He was a staunch solipsist.
