Chapter 206: Defying Common Sense

A surge of fury unlike anything Yun Jiao had ever felt flooded through her chest.

These so-called “immortals of the upper realm”—what exactly did they think the mortal world was? A convenience store they could plunder at will?

The incident with the Devouring Beast was the same: when they needed vitality, they came to the human realm to take it; when they wanted to nurture an immortal vein, they dug up the lower world; when things failed, they slaughtered thousands and harvested their souls for power.

Why?!

Even a convenience store required payment. Even the underworld, for all its ruthlessness, at least put on the pretense of justification. Yet whenever it came to the mortal realm—no permission, no explanation, not even a word. Did being born weaker mean humans deserved to be trampled on?

The anger wouldn’t subside. For a moment, she actually wanted to march straight to the upper realm and demand an answer. But reason anchored her in place. She took several long, deep breaths, her hands clenching tighter and tighter.

Then a cool hand covered hers, prying her fingers open one by one. A calm, indifferent gaze met her own.

“Do not let it disturb your heart,” Night Abyss said quietly.

“…”

Somehow, the rage and weight pressing on her chest melted away.

“Girl…” The old man limped over, still sore but clearly having heard everything. He glanced at the pearl in Night Abyss’s hand, his expression grim. “What now? Should we contact Senior Yuan and have him investigate who set up this formation?”

Yun Jiao’s clarity had fully returned. She took the Soul Origin Pearl from Night Abyss, her eyes darkening. “No need,” she said coldly. “He’ll come looking for us himself.”

“…”

---

When they returned to Qingyang, Yun Jiao re-treated the trio’s injuries. It happened to coincide with class time, so she escorted Old Zhou and Tang Chen to the Celestial Masters Hall, which had dedicated healing facilities. Qingyang was too sparsely populated to care for them properly.

The old man, however, seemed delighted—lying in bed groaning louder than anyone else.

“Girl… in this condition, I can’t move for a while, can’t cultivate, and certainly can’t teach at the Celestial Masters Hall. Didn’t you recruit fifty new elders as instructors? Maybe rearrange the schedule a bit, hmm?”

He spoke righteously, but the gleam in his eyes said otherwise—he was planning to rest, shamelessly.

“Alright,” Yun Jiao agreed easily.

“I don’t care if—wait, what?” He froze, blinking. “You… agreed? Just like that?”

“Mm.” She nodded. After all, he was old; recovery took longer for him than for the younger disciples. At worst, she’d just make a few extra exam papers for him later. “Rest well. I’m leaving.”

“Wait! Where are you going?” The man who had been groaning moments ago shot upright like a carp flipping out of water. The way she’d agreed so fast—it smelled suspicious.

“I’m going to the back mountain.”

He hesitated, gritted his teeth, and got up to follow. “I’m coming too!”

“Your old bones don’t hurt anymore?” she asked, side-eyeing him.

“I’m worried you won’t be able to carry all the herbs Eryun planted,” he said solemnly. “By the way, you’re going to make soup, right? Winter melon soup sounds good. As an injured man, shouldn’t I at least get an extra bowl?”

“No. I’m going to see Eryun about something.”

“…What for?”

Yun Jiao didn’t answer and simply kept walking toward the back mountain.

---

“What’s this?”

Eryun’s eyes lit up the moment she handed him the white pearl. Before she could speak, he started rattling off questions excitedly.

“Is it a new seed? It’s huge! What kind of garlic would this grow into? Little disciple, what’s it called? Where’d you find it? It’s even steaming—just like that white gourd last time! Don’t tell me it’s from the same batch? Oh right, did you ever figure out what that white gourd was? You never told me! If Night Abyss hadn’t put a sealing spell on the mountain, I could’ve asked Yi Zheng to check it for me. But now even Yi Zheng’s gone back to the underworld! You have no idea—”

“It’s a Soul Origin Pearl,” Yun Jiao cut him off before his chatter spiraled further.

“Soul Origin Pearl?” Eryun blinked, his cheerful expression fading into one of grave seriousness.

“Mm.” She pointed to the faint soul shadows within. “This pearl absorbed the soul power of tens of thousands of spirits. They’re all fragmented souls of the dead. Can you restore them and let them return to reincarnation?”

“Oh.” Eryun nodded. “Nope.”

“…”

It wasn’t unexpected, but Yun Jiao still felt her heart sink. These souls were too weak—if released, they’d scatter instantly, unable to reform. “Even you can’t do it?” she asked quietly. If even the King of the Underworld couldn’t, then no one could.

“There is a way,” Eryun said suddenly.

“You just said there wasn’t!” the old man couldn’t help blurting out.

“With my own power, I can’t make them whole again,” Eryun replied seriously. “But there’s a place that can repair damaged souls.”

“Where?” Both Yun Jiao and the old man leaned forward eagerly.

Eryun tossed the pearl lightly in his hand, speaking carelessly. “Just throw it into the River of Souls.”

“The River of Souls?!” Before Yun Jiao could respond, the old man exploded. “Are you insane? Other than Yama himself, no soul dares approach that river! Even ghost judges get devoured—nothing left, not even a wisp! You want to throw them in there?!”

Eryun turned and gave him a look usually reserved for idiots. “Who told you the River of Souls devours souls?”

“Wh–what? Isn’t that… common knowledge?” The old man blinked. “Even the Spirit King said so!”

“Of course not!” Eryun said, still lazily tossing the pearl. “The River of Souls is the underworld’s spirit river. It channels souls through reincarnation. It contains the power of Samsara itself—it can restore any damaged soul.”

“But… isn’t it true that no soul has ever climbed out after falling in?”

“Oh, that’s because besides repairing souls, the river also washes away the seven emotions and six desires, and erases all memories of past and present lives. Then it sends them into reincarnation.” Eryun spoke patiently, as if explaining to slow children. “They forget everything, even that they were in the river—of course they don’t remember climbing out.”

The old man looked more and more bewildered. As an emergency substitute Yama himself, he’d studied every underworld manual available—but what Eryun was saying completely contradicted everything he’d learned.

“Are you pulling our leg?” he said suspiciously. “Doesn’t every book say that souls must enter the Reincarnation Platform and drink Forgetting Water before they can be reborn?”

“The Reincarnation Platform sits above the River of Souls,” Eryun said matter-of-factly. “Jumping straight in or drinking from above—what’s the difference?”

“Then the Forgetting Water—”

“Is the water of the River of Souls itself!” Eryun said, eyes brightening as he remembered. “Back then, underworld envoys used to scoop it up from the river for reincarnating souls to drink. But too many of them slipped and fell in, so later we built a channel to bring the water up to the platform instead. Saves time. Wait—don’t tell me you didn’t know? I built that channel myself!”

The old man: “…”

Yun Jiao: “…”

Suddenly, both of them had the same powerful urge—

to go back and tear up every single page of that Underworld Common Knowledge Handbook.

(End of chapter)