So it turns out I'm the demon!

Strangely, the glowing statue was clearly not far away.

However, after walking for more than half an hour, Jiang Mu and his companion had not closed the distance between them; on the contrary, they felt that they were getting further and further apart.

Along the way, they encountered several groups of low-level monsters that went berserk, but Jiang Mu dealt with them all with ease.

Something's not right.

Jiang Mu suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

Duanmu Li, who was perched on his back, peeked out with a puzzled look on her face.

Jiang Mu glanced back at the path she had come from, then turned to look at the statue, her brows furrowing into a deep frown.

"It doesn't seem like a maze or some kind of illusion. We've been walking forward the whole time. The footprints on the ground are real, and the scenery around us is changing, but we're getting further and further away from the statue."

Duanmu Li blinked her cool eyes and guessed:

"Could it be that the statue itself is flawed? Perhaps it doesn't even exist, and is merely an illusion designed to lure us in?"

Jiang Mu stood there observing carefully for a long time, then shook her head:

"It doesn't seem like a simple illusion."

To verify his suspicions, he simply turned around and walked back along the path he had just taken.

After walking back a distance, he looked back again.

The statue still stands far away, and the distance between them is not much different from before.

"The distance increases when you walk forward, but remains the same when you walk backward..."

Jiang Mu pondered for a moment, rubbing her chin, when a strange, counterintuitive thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

He didn't turn around, but faced the direction of the statue and began to walk backward step by step.

After walking backwards for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a miracle occurred.

The enormous statue that was originally out of reach was visibly brought closer.

"So it turns out we need to walk backwards."

Jiang Mu suddenly realized.

The laws governing this powerful being's cave dwelling are truly tinged with a wicked sense of humor.

That's the underworld.

Duanmu Li widened her beautiful eyes and exclaimed in amazement, "Jiang Mu, you're amazing!"

Hearing the praise from the dark and aloof girl, Jiang Mu felt quite proud.

He lightly patted the girl's thigh with his other hand and teased, "Call me Master like Ah Qing does. Don't call me by my name all the time. It's disrespectful."

Duanmu Li wrinkled her delicate, upturned nose and gave a cold snort:

"No way."

The girl had her own little thoughts.

If she were to call him "Master" along with that little maid, wouldn't her status in this family forever be a generation lower? She's a woman who wants to claim the head of the household.

Jiang Mu was too lazy to argue with this girl and continued walking backwards.

Seeing that his vision was obstructed as he walked backwards, Duanmu Li said, "Let me watch the road behind you so you don't bump into a tree."

"No need, I can just spread my divine sense."

Jiang Mu casually refused, then added, "Besides, won't your neck cramp up from constantly twisting your head to look back while you're on my back?" Duanmu Li pouted her pink lips and retorted:

"Relying solely on divine sense isn't safe either. What if there's some kind of formation or trap that can block divine sense? After all, I'm behind you. If I accidentally bump into you, wouldn't I be the one who gets hurt? Put me down first."

Jiang Mu thought the girl was too scared to let him carry her, so he put her down.

To everyone's surprise, as soon as Duanmu Li landed, she went straight around to the man's front.

To Jiang Mu's astonishment, the girl tiptoed, stretched out her two slender, white arms, and wrapped them around his neck. Then, she lifted her legs off the ground and wrapped them around Jiang Mu's waist.

She clung to the man like a koala.

Jiang Mu subconsciously reached out and supported her, and the two were now facing each other.

"That way I won't have to strain my neck to look, and I can keep an eye on what's behind you."

The girl rested her chin on Jiang Mu's shoulder as she spoke.

Jiang Mu was speechless.

What kind of bizarre brain circuit is this?

Why do I feel like a stay-at-home dad, hugging a giant human-shaped accessory?

Despite his complaints, the method did help him see the road, so he didn't refuse.

Jiang Mu adjusted her posture and continued walking backwards forward.

The two were very close together.

The girl's warm breath, accompanied by a faint fragrance, gently brushed against Jiang Mu's cheeks and neck.

Duanmu Li slightly turned her head, her gaze falling on the man's handsome profile with its distinct features.

"Jiang Mu..."

She suddenly called out softly, a strange light flashing in her dark eyes, "Today is my birthday."

Jiang Mu was stunned: "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you about something like this?"

Duanmu Li stared intently at him with a serious expression. "Since it's my birthday, shouldn't you prepare a gift for me?" Jiang Mu continued walking backwards as he said, "Take the money pouch in my arms yourself. Take as much as you want."

The girl pouted her pink lips and said with dissatisfaction:

"I don't care about money. I don't want anything tacky... I just want a special gift."

"What special gift?"

Jiang Mu asked.

"It's just very special..."

Duanmu Li tilted her head back slightly.

She stared into Jiang Mu's eyes, her nose almost touching his, so close that he could see his reflection in her dark pupils, and his lips moved slightly.

Before she could finish speaking, the man slapped her hard on the buttocks.

"Shut up."

Jiang Mu said irritably,

"I know what you're trying to say. Just shut your mouth and focus on your cultivation."

"I'll buy you gifts after we get back alive. Or if I find some top-tier inherited magic treasures in this powerful figure's cave, I'll pick one suitable for you and give it to you when I have the chance."

Duanmu Li's face immediately fell.

With a stiff, pretty face, she coldly uttered three words: "I don't care."

After saying that, she angrily rested her chin heavily on Jiang Mu's shoulder, and without saying a word, she began to unilaterally declare a cold war.

That brat has quite a temper.

Jiang Mu didn't indulge her either.

His voice turned cold, and he threatened, "If you lose your temper with me again, I'll leave you here on your own."

Duanmu Li stiffened for a moment, then muttered in a low voice, "I didn't lose my temper."

"Then give me a smile," Jiang Mu commanded domineeringly.

"Hehe."

The girl's lips twitched, a forced smile.

"You brat, you really think I won't teach you a lesson? This is your last chance."

Jiang Mu once again made a striking motion with his palm on the small full moon.

Duanmu Li rolled her eyes helplessly, then turned her head back to face Jiang Mu, forced a bright smile, and recited her lines emotionlessly: "Haha, I'm so happy."

Jiang Mu snorted.

He lowered his head and whispered something in the girl's ear.

Duanmu Li was taken aback at first, looking at him with some disbelief.

The girl then bit her lower lip.

She rested her head back on Jiang Mu's shoulder, a barely suppressed smile playing on her lips, and said in a muffled voice:

"Don't lie to me. You'll deny it again when the time comes."

Jiang Mu smiled and said:

"I always keep my word. I don't give away gifts like this easily; I mean what I say."

The girl remained silent.

She nestled quietly in Jiang Mu's arms, her ears flushed a faint pink, and her arms around his neck tightened even more.

After walking for about half an hour, as the statue drew closer, the surrounding scenery began to change.

The once dense forest gradually became sparse, and the path underfoot became smoother and wider, as if someone had peeled off a sticker and replaced it with another background.

Jiang Mu continued to back away, only to be surprised to find that the statue was moving further and further away again.

He stopped, tentatively turned around, and resumed walking forward normally.

This time the distance was right again, and the statue was gradually enlarging.

"What kind of lousy walking style is this? Are you kidding me?"

Jiang Mu thought to herself, "This is what I'm thinking."

"Put me down." Duanmu Li gently patted Jiang Mu's shoulder.

Jiang Mu put her back on the ground and teased, "What's wrong? Did your leg suddenly get better?"

The girl straightened her slightly disheveled black dress, her pretty face blushing slightly.

"I'm afraid you'll tire yourself out. Although I'm not heavy myself, the tomb knife on my back is quite heavy. Also, if you get tired, I'll carry you. I'm very strong."

"That won't be necessary."

Jiang Mu waved her hand, "With your small frame, I don't want to be mistaken for a pervert riding a pony."

"You're the little pony!"

Duanmu Li puffed out her cheeks and glared at him angrily.

But remembering the promise Jiang Mu had just whispered in her ear, she gently brushed the wind-blown strands of hair behind her ear with her delicate pinky finger, and without retorting, lowered her head slightly.

"I can carry you on my back for the rest of my life."

She whispered.

Jiang Mu gazed at the girl, his heart fluttering.

Nothing in this world, not even the sharpest sword, can sever the tenderness that entwines the fingers.

The so-called "heart-fluttering" moment often happens in that casual glance or a slight lowering of the head—a victory won without bloodshed. He snapped out of his reverie and coughed, "Let's go."

Having said that, they continued on their way.

Duanmu Li smiled and followed.

The two walked side by side through the last sparse grove of trees and finally arrived in front of the huge statue.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that this towering statue, hundreds of feet tall, was not actually a physical object carved from stone or jade, but rather a phantom projection woven from interwoven spiritual light.

Directly below the statue stands an arched stone gate.

Inside the stone gate, white mist churned.

When one's divine sense probes into it, it's like a mud ox sinking into the sea; one can't see anything behind it, whether it's real or not.

"Such a grand scale, such a magnificent array projection... this must be the place where that great master passed on his legacy."

Jiang Mu pondered to himself.

He took Duanmu Li's small hand and carefully stepped through the arched gate.

After crossing the gate, the magnificent palace or the treasure-filled secret chamber that I had imagined did not appear.

The scene before us hasn't changed much.

Inside, it was still a mountain forest and grassland.

The only difference is that the fog here is much thicker than outside.

Jiang Mu glanced around and noticed several low-level monster corpses lying haphazardly in the grass not far ahead.

The blood on these monster corpses had not completely dried and was still oozing heat.

"It seems someone came in early, and not long ago."

Jiang Mu examined the monster's wounds and said.

But this is not surprising.

He stood up and looked back; the arched doorway he had stepped through was gone.

A huge black stone tablet, about three zhang tall, appeared.

A pattern is engraved on the stone tablet.

The pattern looks simple, like a child's doodle, but you can still make out the general idea.

There was a forest above, and deep within the forest stretched a log bridge, at the end of which seemed to stretch into an endless ocean. "Forest...bridge...ocean..."

Jiang Mu observed carefully.

"Hey? Jiang Mu, look over there!"

Just then, Duanmu Li suddenly pointed to the right front, "There looks like someone is hanging from that big tree!"

Jiang Mu felt a chill and looked in the direction the girl was pointing.

Through the swirling mist, one could indeed vaguely see a figure hanging from a tree ahead, swaying slightly in the wind.

"Could it be that other cultivators who entered before us fell into the traps here?"

Jiang Mu's guess was wrong.

He shielded Duanmu Li behind him and walked over slowly with light steps.

As the distance closed, the mist peeled away layer by layer, releasing a faint scent of vanilla.

As the thick fog dissipated, the two finally saw the figure hanging from the tree.

With just one glance, Jiang Mu and Duanmu Li were struck dumb, frozen on the spot, their faces filled with disbelief.

The person being hung was a young girl wearing a plain white dress.

An old hemp rope was tied around her slender, fair neck, suspending her in mid-air.

The girl's slender hands hung limply at her sides, her fingertips slightly curled.

With the cold wind blowing through the forest.

She stood there, all alone, swaying stiffly under the tree branch.

The one who was hanged from the tree was none other than Lan Rou'er!

Duanmu Li's pretty face turned deathly pale, filled with disbelief and shock. Her lips moved several times before she managed to squeeze out a few words:

"How...how could this be?"

Jiang Mu quickly unleashed his blade energy, severing the tree trunk above.

Just as the girl's body was falling, he darted to the foot of the tree, opened his arms, and caught the falling girl in his embrace.

It felt icy cold to the touch.

The girl was as light as a handful of flowers about to be blown away by the wind.

Jiang Mu knelt on one knee and carefully laid Lan Rou'er flat on the grass.

This is indeed Lan Rou'er.

It was neither a fake person nor an illusion to confuse the mind.

The girl's body was already cold and stiff.

There was no breathing, no heartbeat, and even the trace of spiritual energy that had condensed in his meridians due to fellow practitioners had completely dissipated.

It was just a corpse.

In other words, the girl who was always bullied by Jiang Mu to the point of tears, and who was as fragile as a dandelion in bed... died.

Duanmu Li bit her lip hard, her fingers gripping the tomb knife trembling violently.

She still couldn't believe it.

The once lively and chattering Lan Rou'er, who had been shyly laughing and holding her hand just a few days ago, had now become a lifeless corpse.

Life and death, are they really that sudden and unexpected?

With red eyes, Duanmu Li looked up at Jiang Mu as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out of her throat.

Jiang Mu remained expressionless.

But a chill was slowly spreading outwards from my body.

Something seemed to be suppressed within his violently heaving chest, ready to burst forth at any moment.

As for Lan Rou'er, he admitted that the kind of feelings between men and women could not compare to those between Shui Miaozheng or Chu Lingzhu.

More often than not, he acted out of a man's pity for the weak.

And the need for that special technique.

But no matter what, she was his woman.

She was the woman he had promised to marry, the silly girl who would obediently come to him with red eyes after he had teased her until she cried, all it took was a few words of comfort from him. And now she was dead, so inexplicably.

Jiang Mu raised her head and glanced at the old tree in front of her and the surrounding area.

There were no signs of a fight, no other people's footprints, and no claw marks from any monsters.

He spread out his divine sense, filtering it inch by inch.

There was still nothing unusual.

He couldn't understand why Lan Rou'er was hanging here.

Who did it?

Or perhaps, after the group got separated, this girl wandered off on her own and accidentally triggered some strange killing formation here?

"Jiang Mu, look!"

Just as Jiang Mu's emotions were churning, Duanmu Li suddenly pointed to the base of the tree trunk, "There are words here!"

Jiang Mu quickly went over.

Pushing aside the dead leaves covering the tree roots, words were seen carved on the bark:

[No boat sails across the sea of ​​suffering; the soul crosses to the other shore.]

[Body turned to dust, spirit returned to the River of Oblivion.]

the other side?

Jiang Mu frowned, pondering the meaning of those two sentences.

Suddenly, he remembered the mysterious pattern carved on the black stone tablet.

Woods, small bridges, vast ocean...

"I understand now. The vast ocean isn't a sea, it's the 'River of Oblivion.' The bridge isn't just for show, it's a passage connecting this shore to the other."

Jiang Mu muttered to herself,

"In other words, Lan Rou'er's soul is not in her physical body at this moment."

It was extracted by some force and sent to a place called "the Other Shore." The physical body remained in place, awaiting slow decomposition by the laws of this world, eventually becoming part of the "dust."

Although it was just a vague guess, it at least cheered Jiang Mu up at this moment.

Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance.

As long as the girl's soul is still somewhere waiting for him to retrieve it, he cannot stay here.

He carried Lan Rou'er's body on his back and then tied the two of them together with a ribbon.

"Walk."

Jiang Mu's face was ashen as she walked deeper into the white mist.

On the rest of their journey, the two encountered several more low-level monsters.

This time, without Jiang Mu lifting a finger, Duanmu Li, who was seething with anger, charged to the front with her tomb knife.

One cut at a time, the blade rising and falling cleanly, clearing a path.

As the forests gradually thinned out, the surrounding fog also thinned out a bit.

Jiang Mu suddenly stopped, his keen senses detecting two auras ahead that were far more powerful than the low-level demons he had encountered before. "Ah Li, step back behind me."

Jiang Mu gave the order in a deep voice.

Duanmu Li obediently hummed in agreement, then retreated to the man's side, carrying the dripping grave knife.

Before long, the owners of the two auras staggered out of the forest.

Jing were two of the powerful demons who had previously participated in the siege of Jiang Mu.

However, at this moment, the two great demons were covered in blood, their aura was very weak, and there were several lacerations on their chests and abdomens.

When the two powerful demons saw Jiang Mu, they were first astonished, and then their expressions changed drastically.

"Jiang Mu?!"

"Just you two?" Jiang Mu asked calmly.

One of the demon kings, with a single horn on its head, gritted its blood-stained fangs and roared fiercely but weakly:

"It seems you're also after this great repair inheritance. We brothers admit defeat today and won't stand in your way."

But don't even think about taking advantage of our misfortune to attack us.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. You're a smart man; there's no need to fight us to the death here. But if you really push us to the brink, my brother and I will self-destruct, taking you down with us!

Jiang Mu was too lazy to waste words and unleashed a sharp blade strike.

"You're crazy!"

The one-horned demon's expression changed drastically. With a roar, it used all its remaining demonic power to condense a huge, white bone shield in front of it, attempting to withstand the attack.

However, it might have been able to hold out for a while if it were at its peak.

How could his heavily injured body withstand the furious attack of Jiang Mu, who was at the eighth realm?

"Boom!"

The crimson blade aura was unstoppable, cleaving the bone shield in two with a single strike. Its remaining power was undiminished, piercing straight through the waist of the one-horned demon.

The great demon was instantly cut in two, its internal organs spilling all over the ground.

The remaining great demon, seeing this, was terrified and lost all courage to fight. It turned and transformed into a streak of light to flee for its life. "Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two streaks of dark light flashed by.

Two Soul-Locking Coffin Nails precisely pierced the Demon King's shoulders, pinning him to an ancient tree nearby.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Mu swung his hand back, and another blade of energy swept past.

A demonic head shot into the sky.

Jiang Mu stepped forward and skillfully cut open their chest cavities to collect their demon cores.

As he turned over the corpses, his gaze sharpened, and he discovered that the two great demons' fatal wounds were actually in their backs.

"Although these two demons are only at the eighth rank, their combined strength is considerable. To be able to silently and severely injure them from behind at the same time... it seems that the attacker must be one of their own, someone they know well and who was completely unprepared for them."

Jiang Mu stood up and murmured:

"It seems that besides the opportunity ahead, there are also old acquaintances. Most likely, that poisonous woman Nan Zhi is just ahead."

He carried Lan Rou'er on his back and continued walking.

In less than half an hour, the forest finally came to an end.

The scene before me suddenly became clear.

In the open space ahead, a stone bridge suddenly appeared.

It was laid out on a flat, dry patch of yellow earth, with no rushing rivers or gullies beneath it.

The bridge is not high, about two meters high.

The bridge was extremely narrow, barely allowing one person to pass at a time. The other end of the bridge connected to another open area, where there was no view of the so-called sea. "How absurd."

Duanmu Li tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

"Why build a bridge on this flat ground? Can't we just go around it?"

"Be careful, don't wander off."

Jiang Mu grabbed the girl.

"This blessed land is strange in every way. Since there is a bridge drawn on the stone tablet, we can only walk on the bridge."

If you try to be clever and go around to the side, who knows what kind of killing formation you might trigger.

As he spoke, he stepped onto the narrow bridge first.

Duanmu Li followed closely behind him.

As soon as I stepped onto the bridge, everything seemed normal.

But when the two had walked to about a third of the way across the bridge, a sudden gust of wind arose from nowhere.

The wind picked up with each step they took forward.

The wind was like a knife, slashing so hard that even a powerful expert like Jiang Mu at the eighth realm felt a stinging pain on his cheeks.

As the wind grew stronger, Jiang Mu began to struggle to move, as if each step was under immense pressure.

If Jiang Mu was already in such a predicament, Duanmu Li, who was following behind, was even more miserable.

The girl, already slender, was almost blown away by the wind. She could only cling tightly to Jiang Mu's clothes, gritting her teeth as she followed behind him. Fortunately, the strange gale began to gradually weaken after the two of them struggled to move to the middle of the bridge.

As the two finally descended the last stone step, the wind suddenly stopped.

It was like a door suddenly closing.

Jiang Mu raised her head and stood there stunned.

The dry, flat land had vanished, replaced by a vast, rolling blue sea.

But on the shore of this sea of ​​suffering, someone has already gotten there first.

"Jiang Mu?"

A slightly surprised female voice drifted into my ears along with the sound of waves.

On the shore, Nan Zhi was holding a red oil-paper umbrella and staring at him.