Chapter 122: Chapter 119: Midnight Arrives, the Bells Toll

Song Ciwan was unaware of what transpired after she left, but out of an abundance of caution, she led Xie Yunxiang through a dozen or so streets before finally stopping.

By this time, they were dozens of miles away from the scene of the incident.

The Illusory Nether City was enormous. Xie Yunxiang recalled some information he had read before. "The Illusory Nether City opens at the end of every year, but those who come out never seem to mention its true size. They only say they never saw its end, and that the visible parts seem no smaller than Pinglan City."

Then, Xie Yunxiang gave a bitter smile. "They also rarely go into detail about their experiences in the Illusory Nether City... Now I see why. No wonder they’re unwilling to talk. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to say anything either."

’What’s there to talk about? It’s just killing Ghost Spirits and killing people.’

’Talk too much, and you might attract enemies. If some ruthless character ends up secretly targeting you, wouldn’t you just be asking for trouble?’

At this thought, Xie Yunxiang touched the mask on his face, speaking with a mix of lingering fear and relief, "Brother Xin, thank goodness for this mask you gave me. Otherwise, after those two times we killed... we killed them, yes, but their companions are still alive. If we get recognized after we leave, we’ll be in serious trouble."

Song Ciwan nodded. Xie Yunxiang was truly a master of the Dao of survival; his concerns were spot on.

That was why in the Illusory Nether City, they absolutely could not remove their Human Skin Masks.

Not only that, but Song Ciwan also advised Xie Yunxiang, "Brother Xie, find some cover later. Besides the Human Skin Masks, we should also alter our body shapes. If you don’t know a technique like the Bone Shrinking Skill, then just put on a few more layers of clothes."

Xie Yunxiang immediately understood. He first handed the two unlocked Storage Talismans to Song Ciwan and said, "Brother Xin, I brought a tent. Wait for me a moment."

He ducked into the tent to change his clothes while Song Ciwan extended her Spiritual Sense, waiting nearby and inspecting the spoils in the Storage Talismans.

These were two Low-Level Storage Talismans, each with a capacity of a space five feet to a side.

One of them was rather empty, containing only sixteen Primordial Longevity Pearls and some strange and bizarre ghostly materials.

For instance, the Yin Soul Pearls were quite common; Song Ciwan herself already owned a few.

There were also other items, such as a Bone Flute of a chillingly cold color, a Seal with a blurry pattern, and some slimy, unidentifiable object that looked like a mix of mud and moss...

Without bothering to examine them all, Song Ciwan simply took the Primordial Longevity Pearls out of the Storage Talisman. Everything else, including the talisman itself, she transferred wholesale into her Heaven and Earth Scale.

She handled the other Storage Talisman the same way. This one contained quite a lot of items: besides some food, Elixirs, Talismans, and clothes, there was also a good deal of refined Demon Beast blood, wine, and Hidden Weapons commonly used by Martial Artists, such as Flying Locust Stones.

Whatever it was, she fed it all to the Heaven and Earth Scale, Storage Talisman and all. Song Ciwan would never directly use things obtained from such a dog-eat-dog situation.

When she had time later, she would trade all of these items in.

Destroying the evidence, then "fencing the goods"—it was a streamlined process that guaranteed no one could ever trace it back to her.

As for the "witnesses" she let go, she wasn’t worried. If they truly became a threat, Song Ciwan would deal with them then.

She meticulously organized her spoils, moving the ten Primordial Longevity Pearls she originally kept in her Storage Talisman into her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven. The sixteen newly acquired pearls, she placed in her own Storage Talisman.

Next, Song Ciwan calculated how many trades she had made today.

Since arriving in the Illusory Nether City, she had only made one trade, selling a single Primordial Longevity Pearl for ten Ancestral Dragon Coins.

With nine opportunities remaining, Song Ciwan decided to sell one of the Storage Talismans first.

[You have sold one Low-Level Storage Talisman and obtained one Two-star Wondrous Item: Space-Dominating Pearl.]

Space-Dominating Pearl: This item is single-use. Upon activation, it automatically forms a spatial shield that can block and divert attacks within its range. This diversion ability lasts until its energy is depleted, at which point the shield dissipates.

Song Ciwan was delighted after reading the description of the Space-Dominating Pearl. She immediately sold the other Storage Talisman and received a second one.

When Xie Yunxiang emerged, Song Ciwan smiled and handed him a Space-Dominating Pearl. "Brother Xie," she said, "I’ll hold on to all the Primordial Longevity Pearls for now. We can split them eighty-twenty after we leave the Illusory Nether City. As for the other spoils we just got, how about this Space-Dominating Pearl covers your twenty-percent share?"

Xie Yunxiang had changed his clothes and was still wearing the mask. His figure was indeed a bit bulkier than before. He was also hunching his back, which made him appear somewhat shorter.

While it might not hide his identity completely, it was at least a significant improvement.

He accepted the Space-Dominating Pearl, feeling both surprised and ashamed. "Brother Xin, isn’t this item too valuable? I’m already relying completely on your protection. How could I have the audacity to take a share of the other spoils?"

As he spoke, the Heaven and Earth Scale stirred again, and an emotional aura was collected: [Human Desire. The joy, surprise, and worry of a Qi Transformation Stage Cultivator. Value: five taels and six maces. Tradeable.]

Within a single day, the emotional auras he provided were getting smaller and smaller.

This wasn’t to say that Xie Yunxiang was being insincere; it was mainly that there’s a limit to a person’s emotional fluctuations. For someone like Xie Yunxiang to be "fleeced" like this so many times in a row could already be considered a rare talent.

Song Ciwan felt he really needed to rest and recover, so she comforted him, "Brother Xie, please accept this without worry. It’s for your own protection, which also lightens my burden."

Xie Yunxiang put the Space-Dominating Pearl away, and sure enough, he felt a little more at ease.

Later, Song Ciwan also changed her clothes. She then demonstrated the "Bone Shrinking Skill" in front of Xie Yunxiang, making herself an inch shorter and transforming from a tall, lanky youth into a slender youth of average height.

After that, Song Ciwan and Xie Yunxiang experienced a period of relative calm.

The Illusory Nether City was vast. Although several thousand Cultivators had entered this time, once they dispersed throughout the city, it wasn’t actually that easy to run into one another.

Growing a little bolder, Song Ciwan led Xie Yunxiang into a few of the street-side shops.

These shops usually contained a number of Ghost Spirits. Most of them were low-level—the kind Song Ciwan could destroy with a flick of her wrist.

After killing a Ghost Spirit, besides obtaining wisps of Mysterious Ghost Spirit, she would also get one or two Primordial Longevity Pearls to drop every now and then.

Xie Yunxiang, who followed her, would also cast Magic and join the fight when they encountered the very weakest Ghost Spirits.

After doing this several times, Xie Yunxiang’s combat abilities actually showed some noticeable improvement.

This was mainly reflected in the fact that when he saw some of the more bizarrely-shaped Ghost Spirits, he could at least manage to not shut his eyes and cast Magic blindly.

—Xie Yunxiang had said before that he was afraid of Ghost Spirits, and now it was plain to see that he was *truly* afraid of them!

Time flew by. Just as Song Ciwan and Xie Yunxiang were getting used to the rhythm of the Illusory Nether City, the clock in the Mortal World gradually struck Midnight.

Midnight arrived, a time for Yin and Yang to cycle, for the old to be replaced by the new.

Suddenly, from the highest points of the Illusory Nether City, from the spires of towers that pierced through the gray mist, a series of long, drawn-out bell chimes rang out. DONG... DONG... DONG...