Chapter 70: Changes at the Gates of Hell (Part 2) "I've come to marry you."...

Upon arriving at Changzuifang, everyone was shocked by the scene before them.

With a resounding crash, the blue bricks and gray tiles collapsed, sending up clouds of dust. The luxurious shop, which only days ago had been filled with the aroma of wine, was reduced to rubble in the blink of an eye. As the dust cleared, two figures emerged from the ruins.

Hu Sanniang's face, with its unusual makeup, was crisscrossed with scars, deep and shallow. Blood stained her tattered purple and red dress. Her hair, like wild waves, flew in the dark night breeze.

She knelt on one knee, a bamboo hairpin tightly gripped in her hand, and her eyes glared fiercely at the man opposite her.

The man confronting Hu Sanniang here was the owner of Changzuifang and a recurring villain in the illusion, Jin Xiao, the Jin family's vassal.

His body was now swollen like a ball, his eyes bulging with bloodshot, resembling a toad.

"Sanniang, don't refuse a toast only to be punished! I'm determined to take the gates of hell."

Before he could finish his words, Jin Xiao, like a ghost, teleported to Hu Sanniang's side and grabbed her by the neck. "I, Jin Xiao, have never failed to achieve what I desire."

Hu Sanniang tilted her head back, veins bulging on her neck, her breathing labored. But with each breath, she seized her moment and thrust the bamboo hairpin into Jin Xiao's eyes.

It missed her eyeballs by a hair's breadth before it was intercepted and crushed in her hand.

Jin Xiao tilted his head, his eyes dark and lifeless, like a puppet being manipulated. As he looked at the shattered hairpin in his palm, a smile suddenly crossed his face. "At this moment, you still want to kill me? You won't accept your fate, huh?"

The grip on her neck grew stronger, and Hu Sanniang's hands, trying to stop her, slowly drooped downwards, her eyelids drooping uncontrollably.

She never accepted her fate.

But she always came up just a hair's breadth short.

In life, in death.

Before closing her eyes, memories of her past life came whistling back -

"Why are you covered in wounds? It's like this every day."

"Why don't you speak?"

The thinly dressed young man, with a bruised face and nose, was lying on the stone steps in front of the door. He opened his eyes and looked at her with his distinct black and white pupils.

The cold eyes softened the moment he saw her, and became clean and bright.

It was like the snow-capped mountains seeing the spring light, and from then

on, the endless snow water flowed along the mountains in the spring. Hu Tangqing could never forget this look.

She also remembered the moment she was thrown into the glacier, and she would never forget it until her death...

"Sanniang, Sanniang!" Li Zhixing held her in his arms and shouted over and over again: "Sanniang, Sanniang! Sanniang, wake up, wake up!"

Ye Qingzhan, who was protecting the two of them, bent down to pick up the broken bamboo hairpin, looked at Chuntao who was lying on the side, tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, and he pulled her into his arms. Chuntao's body was covered with deep and shallow wounds, and she was bleeding profusely.

Wen Gu arrived on the wind, wielding an icy blade in one hand, and with a single palm strike,

he sent Jin Xiao flying. The suddenness of the incident prevented Jin Xiao, his body swollen like a ball of mud, from reacting for a moment. The

palm strike sent Jin Xiao flying several feet away. By the time he recovered, the attacker had already thrust himself between him and Hu Sanniang. Jin Xiao stretched out his arms and gripped the ground, barely stopping himself from being overwhelmed by the ferocious palm strike.

He had been a ghost for many years, devouring countless spirits and possessing immense ghost power. Even so, he was startled by the yin energy emanating from the young man. This energy held not only boundless ghost power but also unspeakable resentment and pain, unbearable for ordinary humans.

Jin Xiao half-closed his eyes, squinting at Wen Gu, pondering his origins.

Wen Gu pointed his icy blade at him.

The cold glint of the blade shone in Jin Xiao's eyes, and he suddenly remembered the words of the stinking fox. The young man before him was most likely the sinister ghost king from the strange realm he'd spoken of. Even if he exhausted all his strength, his soul shattered, he couldn't harm him.

Jin Xiao's half-lidded eyes slowly widened, and he silently took a step back.

"Want to run?"

Wen Gu tilted his head slightly, his icy gaze darting from top to bottom. A sinister aura permeated the air, forming a net that engulfed the two and cut off Jin Xiao's attempts at escape.

The sounds of fighting raged within the cage of black fog. Outside, Li Zhixing had no time to pay attention. He felt Sanniang's pulse, calling out to her over and over again, his expression agitated, sweat dripping down his forehead, his heart pounding with panic—he'd never felt anything so intense, never been so afraid of someone dying.

Ye Qingzhan, also holding someone in his arms, calmed himself down. He checked Chuntao's breath, then laid her flat on the ground. He pulled a palm-sized paper cutout from his sleeve and watched it blossom into a beast with deer horns and the body of an ox.

This is the soul-repairing beast that Wen Gu raised. Wounds licked by it can be healed, and the residual souls that have been repaired can retain a trace of life. Ye Qingzhan didn't know if the beast spirit could also heal ghosts.

The little beast was docile and well-behaved, burying its head beside Chuntao, quietly licking the wounds on her body. Ye Qingzhan's worries gradually dissipated as Chuntao's wounds healed, and his brows brightened.

It is effective.

If Chuntao died at the gates of hell again, her soul would be scattered, and she would really have no chance of reincarnation.

Fortunately, this spirit beast from the East China Sea can save people and heal ghosts.

After feeling relieved, Ye Qingzhan turned his head to look at his side. The exiled immortal had his back to her, holding Hu Sanniang in his arms, with two fingers of one hand pressed together, continuously transmitting spiritual power to her from his wrist. His expression no longer had the panic he had just had, but the sadness in his eyes was scorching, as if he was about to lose his love forever.

Ye Qingzhan couldn't help but feel confused - the exiled immortal and Sanniang had only met a few times, why was he so out of control? At this moment, she couldn't ask, so she just patted the exiled immortal on the shoulder and whispered: "Exiled immortal, try using the soul-repairing beast."

The little beast seemed to understand what Ye Qingzhan said and came to the side of Hu Sanniang. Ye Qingzhan protected Chuntao in his arms again. Before that, he handed the broken bamboo hairpin to Li Zhixing. She vaguely felt that this bamboo hairpin contained the secret of Sanniang's past.

Li Zhixing took the bamboo hairpin and looked at it carefully.

Ye Qingzhan said: "There were two blue birds on this hairpin, but now there is only one left. I don't know how to restore it. Exiled immortal, please give it a try, maybe you can repair it."

Ye Qingzhan had a memory of this hairpin. She remembered that when she first met Hu Sanniang at the Gate of Hell, she was shocked by her strange makeup. In addition, what caught her attention was this roughly carved hairpin.

Two bluebirds leaned against each other, standing on the green branch, as if they were about to fly together.

I wonder if the exiled immortal noticed it or not. After all, they always returned at night from the gates of hell. And the candlelight in the Red Dust Inn was always so dim. She didn't know why, but her eyesight was not affected at night. So when she first met Sanniang, she noticed the hairpin that didn't match her makeup.

As for whether the exiled immortal, whose immortal power was mostly sealed, had noticed it, she had no way of knowing.

The broken bamboo hairpin was held by Li Zhixing, and in his palm it slowly recovered as before. The two bluebirds carved from bamboo stood vividly on the bamboo branch again.

Looking at the two intact birds, Ye Qingzhan was as surprised as the deep sadness in the exiled immortal's eyes just now. Has the exiled immortal also seen the appearance of this bamboo hairpin before? Otherwise, how could it be exactly the same as before?

"Exiled immortal, you also noticed Sanniang's hairpin?"

Li Zhixing was motionless, his eyes were filled with emotions, he stared at the bamboo hairpin in his hand without blinking. Hearing this, his eyes suddenly trembled and he shook his head.

"Then how do you know what it looked like before?"

The restoration technique should also have a basis. The two little birds have different appearances and forms. If the remaining one is used as a basis, it is absolutely impossible to restore the original one. Unless the exiled immortal has really seen and remembered the full appearance of the two little birds.

After slowly closing his palms, Li Zhixing looked at her, "I carved this."

The exiled immortal's voice was neither light nor heavy, but it was like a thunderclap on a summer night, hitting her. Ye Qingzhan was surprised, and then she remembered the various times they had been together at the gates of hell.

The exiled immortal was a carefree person, and he was very smooth in dealing with things. He had never shown fear in front of any ghost, but he could not withstand Sanniang. Sanniang was also more willful and aggressive towards the exiled immortal than towards others.

She had always felt that something might have happened between the two of them, but she never thought that they had such a relationship.

While thinking secretly, Ye Qingzhan suddenly heard a mournful cry, which was made by the Soul Repairing Beast. It took a few steps back from Sanniang, as if it was frightened by something.

Li Zhixing, who had withdrawn from the memories of his previous life, felt as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt. After regaining his consciousness, he hugged the person next to him tightly. Hu Sanniang in his arms, like a cloud of smoke, began to dissipate bit by bit.

The powder of her body was like dust, drifting away in the night wind.

The Soul Repairing Beast raised its head and cried to the sky.

The mournful voice made people tremble with blood. Ye Qingzhan's heart was beating too hard, and he wanted to rush over and hug Hu Sanniang who was slowly "disappearing".

Li Zhixing stopped her, "Don't come over here. Her ghost power will devour mortals."

Hearing this, Ye Qingzhan pulled back from his forward lean, watching the exiled immortal use his immortal power like flowing water to build a red-glowing barrier. Inside the barrier, he straightened Sanniang's body and knelt opposite her.

The clothes they wore, in the intertwined immortal power, also transformed into dazzling wedding gowns embroidered with gold thread. Sanniang's sickly face, which was covered by heavy makeup, gradually revealed itself.

She had a graceful figure, her eyebrows and eyes were as light as distant mountains in the mist and rain, her lips were small and straight, her nose was delicate, but her lips were not cherry red, and her face was pale. The wedding gown she wore seemed to be draped over a dead branch.

It was lost and then found again, and it was also a gift from heaven.

Li Zhixing carefully traced the eyebrows and eyes of the person in front of him with one hand, and a tear fell from the corner of his eye.

Immortal power flowed continuously from his body, and small streams merged into her body.

Sanniang vanished more slowly.

"Tangqing, Tangqing," Li Zhixing knelt before her, calling softly as he put the bamboo hairpin back on her. After fixing Sanniang's makeup and clothing, he pressed his forehead against hers and solemnly said, word by word, "

I've come to marry you."

As the words fell, dark blue spiritual energy and inky powder blended and intertwined, dispersing with the wind like the falling night sky, mingled with starlight. In an instant, it engulfed the entire city gate.

Wen Gu witnessed this scene as he brought Jin Xiao out of the Yinsha.

Before the thick black-blue fog could engulf the people in the vortex, Chuntao was safely escorted out by a barrier.

"Oh no! Sanniang's ghost power has dissipated. She—" Tian Jin wielded a longsword, slicing through the surging fog. "This pure and abundant spiritual energy, could it be..."

Tian Xue, who caught Chun Tao, continued, "The exiled immortal has dissipated his immortal power, attempting to hold onto Sanniang's dying soul."

"What should we do? Our own ghost power can't withstand such pure immortal power. We can't get close to them!" Ming Che frantically twisted his sword sheath.

In an emergency, Hu Sanniang was abducted by Jin Xiao, and Chun Tao pursued him. Qing Huai stayed at the inn to ensure the safety of the ghost guests. The three cultivators worked together to subdue the puppet ghosts controlled by Jin Xiao. They finally reached Changzuifang, where Chun Tao was severely injured and Sanniang's consciousness was dissipating.

For unknown reasons, the exiled immortal had expended all his immortal power to hold onto Sanniang's fading soul. Unfortunately, they were powerless.

Seeing the dark blue vortex about to swallow the thin figure, Wen Gu threw Jin Xiao to the monks who were still a step too late after trying their best, and said to them with his back turned: "Return to the inn immediately, keep an eye on him, and take good care of Chun Tao." The black mist fell to the ground and formed a cage. Wen Gu stepped into it.