Chapter 22: Splendid Sounds (I) Humans are divided into good and evil, and so are demons...

The sound of a loom wafting from the room lingered in the ears of the three. Wen Gu paused slightly, glancing back at the person two steps behind him.

Ye Qingzhan met his gaze, quickened his pace, and joined him.

Li Zhixing lagged behind, holding onto the railing. When

the person reached him, Wen Gu whispered, "Follow closely." Ye Qingzhan nodded, and continued up the steps.

Ye Qingzhan, beside him, followed him, slowly lifting his feet. The rhythmic sound of the loom's strokes

echoed

again and again, as if someone were sitting at a loom, pedaling and spinning the shuttle in an orderly fashion.

Following the sound, the two men and the immortal lightly approached the door to the wing room. Ye Qingzhan glanced up at the sign hanging on the side of the door—A Thousand Threads.

After a moment's thought, she remembered that this was Mo Zhi's room.

Ye Qingzhan peeked inside. Candlelight flickered inside, illuminating a charred ghost. Two skeletal hands, barely discernible, rested on a loom, threading the thread repeatedly.

Continuing downward, as Ye Qingzhan had expected, the ghost's feet at the loom were shadowless.

She had also given this charred skeleton a name, for its entire body appeared to have been scorched by fire, its flesh horribly damaged. Only the resemblance of a human was apparent, making it difficult to distinguish between male and female.

Ye Qingzhan chose the character "Mo," inspired by its color. Since there were still many unknowns about it, she chose "Zhi," the character she saw.

The scene before her told her that the illusion of Mo Zhi had taken shape.

Ye Qingzhan glanced at Wen Gu, then at Li Zhixing, who nodded.

"Let's go in," the exiled immortal said. "We have to enter the illusion anyway."

With that, the two men and the immortal entered the chamber containing the loom.

The ghost who was skillfully weaving cloth seemed not to hear the footsteps of several people, and was still operating the spinning machine with both hands and feet.

Ye Qingzhan did not dare to disturb her, and first carefully looked around the room - the table, chairs, and bed. It looked more shabby than those in ordinary inns. Only the embroidery on the wall was very eye-catching.

There were many people in this embroidery, some were holding each other, some were holding hands, and some were standing upright... They were wearing dresses of different colors and had different buns, but their faces could not be seen clearly.

Ye Qingzhan turned around and looked at the man and the immortal who were staring at the burnt ghost in front of the loom.

The exiled immortal seemed to be very interested in weaving and was watching with great interest. As for Wen Gu... he was also watching intently.

Feeling incredible in his heart, Ye Qingzhan was about to speak out to remind the two when the sound of the loom stopped. Mo Zhi stood up, walked towards her and stood still, pointing at the embroidery on the wall.

Wen Gu and Li Zhixing then looked over together.

The embroidery began to burn itself.

Two people, one fairy and one ghost, disappeared without a trace the moment the flames tore through the embroidery.

***

Ye Qingzhan was awakened by the shaking.

She opened her eyes and felt like vomiting, but because her stomach was empty, she couldn't vomit anything, so she could only look around dizzily. Looking down, there were many beautiful pleated skirts and embroidered shoes, and looking up, she could only see the high sky and the distant green mountains.

She wondered in her heart: Where is this? Why is the location so strange...

"Sister," suddenly a light voice sounded, and then Ye Qingzhan saw a pair of embroidered shoes running over, and then she heard her say, "There seems to be a house in front, let's go and ask for some water to drink."

Ye Qingzhan wanted to see the person who was speaking, but his eyes could only catch a glimpse of her neck. She heard another voice from above, replying, "Okay."

"It would be even better if that family had a place to stay. The sun looks like it's about to set. What if we encounter that terrifying monster tonight?"

Monster...

Ye Qingzhan listened intently, wondering: There are monsters in Mo Zhi's dreams?

Then she thought again, remembering what the exiled immortal had told her on the way to the city from Ghost Gate: that heaven and earth were originally divided into six realms. Gods and immortals were separated, residing in Shangjing Yingzhou and Penglai Xianzhou in the Nine Heavens. Humans and demons, while both in the human realm, were also separate. Mortals settled in the Nine Continents, while demons long resided on Yuyuan Island, surrounded by the Wuqing Mountains. The mountains acted as a natural barrier, keeping humans and demons separate. Further down, the underworld—the demons and the underworld dwelled in the Northern Dark Land and the Southern Dark Realm, respectively, with the underworld located in the center to prevent them from causing trouble. For centuries,

the six realms existed in harmony, each ignoring the other, and the land remained peaceful. However, due to a great war ten thousand years ago, the heavens collapsed and the earth caved in. The pillars of heaven that separated the two celestial races, and the rocks of earth that separated the demons and the underworld, were destroyed. Wuqing Mountain, the natural barrier between the human and demon races, was severely damaged and collapsed.

Furthermore, in that war, seven of the eight supreme gods of the divine realm perished, and the youngest was nowhere to be found.

In short, the divine realm was gone.

The task of reorganizing the six realms fell to the immortals. Because all realms had suffered heavy losses, the pillars of heaven and the rocks of earth were beyond repair, and the six realms were united into three. Immortals resided in heaven,

humans and demons shared the earth, and the demons and underworld continued to provoke each other from across the netherworld. Since their separation, friction between humans and demons has been constant. While in Camellia Village, Ye Qingzhan had heard villagers say that Wuqing Mountain, without its summit, could no longer hold back the scattered demons and spirits, who flocked to the bustling human world. What he had heard today resonated with everyone.

However, just as humans are divided into good and evil, so too are demons.

Obviously, the monster that gave the people in the illusion a headache was an evil demon.

A female voice that sounded a little older continued: "Let's walk faster and try to find a place to sleep before the sun sets. Don't let that monster into our dreams."

The crowd responded and quickened their pace. Judging from the voices, there seemed to be more women.

As they suddenly quickened their pace, Ye Qingzhan felt a stronger bump, and felt as if her collar was being pulled tightly, like a jade pendant, swaying back and forth. After being bumped up and down, she suddenly felt loose, and her body floated down.

No!

Getting closer and closer to the ground, Ye Qingzhan screamed in her heart. She didn't know what she was now. If she was really a jade pendant, what if she fell and died?

In her panic and anxiety, a lot of black mist suddenly appeared around her. The strands gathered together and formed a dark cloud, which dragged her steadily and then delivered her to the hands of the latecomers.

Wen Gu sent away the evil spirits and lowered his eyes to look at Ye Qingzhan seriously.

Ye Qingzhan was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Wen Gu, it's a good thing you are here too. I thought..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard the young man who was holding her and staring at her for a long time said: "Why did you become an embroidered handkerchief?"

"..."

A pair of clever eyes suddenly became bewildered, staring blankly at the young man with a smile on his lips.

"Embroidered handkerchief... me?" Wen Gu

nodded.

"Then why didn't you change?" Ye Qingzhan came back to his senses, looked at him and asked, "How did you recognize me?" Wen

Gu, who didn't want to imagine himself as a handkerchief, shook his head and was about to say something, but heard a rustling sound in the grass beside the path.

He heard it, and Ye Qingzhan could hear it clearly too. They both looked at the grass together, and the evil spirits around Wen Gu were ready to go.

Suddenly, a head popped out from the brush.

Wen Gu, holding Ye Qingzhan, took a step back.

Another head popped out right after.

"Ouch, you pricked me to death!"

a familiar voice complained. Wen Gu glanced down at Ye Qingzhan, only to hear her exclaim in surprise, "Exiled Immortal, Exiled Immortal, you're here!"

Li Zhixing emerged from the brush. He was sitting on the ground, picking at the weeds from his body with a plaintive look. Hearing the sound, he noticed a figure standing a few steps away, with a sour face.

The sound came from the handkerchief in his hand.

After clearing the weeds from his body, Li Zhixing stood up, pulling the charred skeleton Mo Zhi beside him. Then he walked over to Wen Gu, stopped, and said to the handkerchief in his hand, "Little Qingzhan, how did you become like this?"

Before he could finish his words, Wen Gu frowned, glared at him, and said, "Shut up."

Li Zhixing glanced at him and pursed his lips. He knew the young man's thoughts well, and he said defiantly, "This immortal has a mouth. I can say whatever I want and call others whatever I want." He glanced at his increasingly dark face and continued, "I won't shut up, I won't shut up, I won't..." A sinister

aura rose up, forming a cage around him.

Afraid of being devoured by the black mist, the Celestial Immortal tactfully shut up.

"My bad," Li Zhixing said.

Wen Gu snorted coldly, and Ye Qingzhan hurriedly said, "I think I hear footsteps. Wen Gu, put me on the ground."

The young man holding the embroidered handkerchief did not move, and asked, "Why?"

- He regarded her as his own, and did not want her to leave his sight for a moment.

"The exiled immortal said that you cannot arbitrarily change a single flower or object in the illusion," Ye Qingzhan controlled his temper and explained patiently, "If someone passes by on this road or the person who just lost the handkerchief returns, they will definitely pick me up. If you keep holding me, what if it affects the story?"

Listening to the little girl's words, Li Zhixing was very satisfied and nodded, "You are a teachable child." Turning to Wen Gu, he said, "Put it down, young man. After the people leave, this immortal will try to free her from this handkerchief."

Wen Gu glanced at him, as if she didn't believe it. She stared at the embroidered handkerchief in her hand for a moment, and her fingertips brought out a hint of evil, spreading a thin layer on the ground. She placed her on it and slowly let it fall to the ground.

Although this layer of Yinsha was still dark, it was as soft as a veil. Ye Qingzhan lay on it, thinking that he was quite considerate, and said comfortably, "Thank you." Hearing the footsteps getting closer, he said anxiously, "Hide quickly. If anything happens, I will use the exiled immortal's ginkgo to send a message to you."

Wen Gu nodded hesitantly, and was pulled by the exiled immortal to the bushes he had just emerged from. Mo Zhi followed and hid in.

On the path lined with wildflowers, a young girl ran hurriedly. When she passed by where Ye Qingzhan was, she actually bent down to pick her up. She said, "What a beautiful handkerchief!"

The girl in coarse clothes put Ye Qingzhan into her sleeve and ran away hurriedly.

Wen Gu wanted to get up, but was held down by Li Zhixing. He showed him Ye Qingzhan's ginkgo message:

There may be monsters haunting this place. The exiled immortal can work with Wen Gu and Mo Zhi to pretend to be a demon-killing Taoist priest.

Don't worry about my safety. Yinsha protects me, I believe that Wen Gu will find me.