Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

—Is this person treating themselves like a pet? Even giving themselves a name like that?!

—I am a Heavenly Demon! You know what a Heavenly Demon is? In the old days, I was second only to the Demon King and above all other demons!

"or……"

Looking into the little teddy bear's dark eyes, Zhang Ruoxue's thoughts seemed to drift away to somewhere, and a figure she had longed for for a long time unconsciously surfaced in her mind.

She gave a somewhat sad smile, her tone suddenly softening as she lifted the little teddy bear up.

"How about I call you Xiaohan?"

……

The little teddy bear didn't bark.

Ye Yuchan didn't say anything either.

The old rogue grinned, watching the man and dog with great interest.

In the silence, Zhang Ruoxue revealed a genuine smile, "It didn't react, so does that mean it agrees?!"

"Woof?!"

Logically speaking, shouldn't the lack of reaction mean they don't like the name?!

Why is this guy's thought process so weird?!

"In short, I'll call you Xiaohan."

As she spoke, Zhang Ruoxue hugged the little teddy bear in her arms, as if she were really hugging someone.

She seemed to have forgotten that there is still a significant difference in physical appearance between humans and dogs.

"Wang..."

Teddy, who was completely squeezed against the soft chest, felt only darkness before his eyes and even had some difficulty breathing.

Oh no...

"Ruoxue".

"Huh? What's wrong, Yu Chan?"

"It looks like it's about to run out of breath."

Zhang Ruoxue: "Huh?"

34. Intelligence gathering.

Inside the Netherworld Cave.

What surrounds you is not an ordinary stone wall, but rings of eerie green flames that seem to have no substance yet exude a chilling aura. Just being in them is like being soaked in icy water, your flesh and bones shivering involuntarily.

Moreover, this coldness did not act directly on the skin; it was more like a coldness emanating from within—a bone-chilling cold.

"It's all fire... but it's freezing cold. This place is really weird."

Ye Yuchan rubbed her small hands together, her lips trembling as she spoke.

Zhang Ruoxue was pushing the wheelchair behind her. It's worth mentioning that a small, trembling, brownish-red Teddy dog ​​was lying on the girl's head, its tongue lolling out listlessly.

"It's quite eerie." Zhang Ruoxue looked around at the increasingly intense yet increasingly cold eerie green flames, her voice trembling slightly, "It's like jumping into a bonfire, and also like jumping into icy water..."

"and--"

Looking into the distance.

Before them lay an unknown, eerie green expanse. Looking around, they could see nothing but flames. Moreover, although it was called a cave, it was actually getting narrower and narrower as they went in. From its initial width of about a hundred meters, it was now less than ten meters wide, and it was still shrinking.

This gave Ye Yuchan the involuntary feeling that she was being swallowed up by some enormous creature.

The initial vastness was due to the enormous creature opening its blood-red maw, and now they might be moving inside the throat of that indescribable monster.

Thinking about this, Ye Yuchan couldn't help but shudder.

"Hey, you old rascal... is this Netherworld Cave really a gateway to the Netherworld? Something doesn't feel quite right to me..."

"When have I ever lied to you?" Yunping turned around and glared at Ye Yuchan. "Don't worry, this place is very safe, and we'll be there soon."

"Immediately" means...

"Yes, right here."

Yunping stopped.

But the place he was standing in was a little off...?

The width of the cave interior had shrunk to about three meters, barely enough for four people to walk side by side, while the surrounding ghostly flames showed no signs of extinguishing, instead burning even more wildly.

Even Ye Yuchan could feel the bone-chilling coldness that the intangible flames stirred up when they brushed past her cheek.

—But that's not the most disheartening thing.

"You old scoundrel... are you sure you're not joking?"

Ye Yuchan silently wheeled herself to Yunping's side, swallowed hard, and her face screamed "cowardice."

As a master of admitting defeat, Ye Yuchan immediately came up with more than a dozen tactical excuses for retreat the moment she saw the pit in front of her.

Yes, it's a pit.

What lay before them was a circular pit that wasn't particularly large, but was bottomless and pitch black, where nothing could be seen at all.

"Do you think I'm joking..." Yun Ping adopted a serious posture, turned to the side, pointed to the pit next to him where it was uncertain whether a person who jumped in would be able to keep their body intact, and said in an extremely serious tone: "Jump in yourself, or should I help you?"

—Why does this line sound so familiar…?

The last time I heard this line was when I went to Blackwater Abyss... Ye Yuchan still remembers that stench vividly!

Ye Yuchan timidly wheeled herself back a few meters, her face showing considerable reluctance: "No, why does it always have to be so special when we go to other places..."

"Because these places are quite special in themselves. Do you really think the road to the underworld will be a highway to heaven? And then they'll lay out a red carpet for you and install a security door at the end?"

Ye Yuchan nodded firmly: "It would be best to add an anti-theft lock and a watchdog or something."

Xiaohan: "Woof?"

Zhang Ruoxue glanced helplessly at the bottomless pit, then looked up slightly. "Speaking of which, it seems we have no other choice. If we go any further... there's no way forward."

There's no road.

Zhang Ruoxue wasn't lying. Indeed, the pit didn't look very big; even an ordinary person could step across it without using spiritual energy. But the problem was—

After crossing it, there was nothing there.

Apart from the blazing, eerie green will-o'-the-wisps, there was nothing there; it was completely clean.

In other words, they only have one path ahead of them—

Jump.

"Ruoxue..."

Knowing she was probably going to have to lie down, Ye Yuchan quickly cast a hopeful glance at Zhang Ruoxue.

At this moment, the latter also displayed a remarkable display of her "plastic sisterhood," reaching out to pull Xiao Han down from above and laughing, "Alright, Yu Chan, we have no way out now, you jump first."

"Why do I have to go first again?! Last time you let me go first into that portal too, but this time you go down and test the waters first!"

Ye Yuchan was clearly unwilling. Although there might not be any real danger inside, she thought about how she had come out of the portal girl's body last time and hit a certain light bulb girl on the head. She felt that jumping down like this wouldn't lead to anything good.

Zhang Ruoxue continued to hold Xiao Han, her face full of innocent and adorable expressions. Faced with Ye Yuchan's request, she simply chose to play dumb.

"I'll jump later, Yu Chan, you go first. I'll get to know Xiao Han first."

"What's with you being so familiar with a teddy dog?! Don't try to change the subject with something like that!"

"Xiaohan, how old are you this year...?"

—Zhang Ruoxue began to ignore Ye Yuchan.

Yu Chan gasped. What did this mean? Did nobody respect her, a patient, these days?!

She stared at the dark pit, swallowed hard, and realized that she was just a child with a mild fear of heights! She never wanted to experience the feeling of falling from a great height again.

So Ye Yuchan, with a sickeningly sweet smile, looked at Yun Ping, who also had a big smile on his face.

"Um, Master~"

—Even the way they address each other has changed! And it's become quite disgusting.

"Is there any other way for me to go to the Underworld more safely?"

Yunping gave a particularly warm and comforting smile: "No."

"Is there...?"

"Fifty thousand gold coins."

Yunping's smile slowly faded, then he pointed to the pit, "Fifty thousand gold coins, jump in quickly."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Ye Yuchan's wheelchair began to tilt forward, and then the silver-haired girl and her wheelchair disappeared from everyone's sight.

So fast……

Zhang Ruoxue was taken aback by Ye Yuchan's sudden acceleration, "She went down so decisively..."

“She’s a money-grubber after all.” Yunping sighed helplessly. “I originally wanted to kick her off the wheelchair, but then I thought that might damage the wheelchair I worked so hard to make. It’s better to tempt her with 50,000 gold coins.”

"Teacher, you're a demon..."

"Ok?"

Yunping returned Zhang Ruoxue's warm smile.

Zhang Ruoxue didn't say much, but silently patted Xiaohan's head before jumping into the pit without a word.

Even Zhang Ruoxue knew that whenever the old rogue showed that seemingly kind smile, it basically meant he was about to transform into a demon...

She didn't want to be targeted by that old rogue. After all, the last person targeted by him was Ye Yuchan, who had been tricked countless times.

……

Falling.

Indeed, there was a feeling of gravitational imbalance, but for Ye Yuchan, it was more like a dizzying, upside-down sensation rather than a pure fall from a great height.