"Brother, why are you so slow? We’ve been waiting for ages."
I let out a sigh. My ghost soul was already damaged at this point, and I didn’t want to argue with John Chou anymore. It’s just as Mr. Brown told me before—debating with John Chou is nothing but a waste of energy.
We started walking, following this pitch-black tunnel where not a single glimmer of light could be seen. There was no telling when it would end. The walls around us pressed in, filling me with a suffocating sense of dread. I stretched out my hand and touched the wall; my fingertips began to sting sharply.
"Don’t move around, Ethan. Since this place is a Daoist holy land, there are bound to be all sorts of unknown dangers—threats to us ghosts."
I nodded and kept walking with Mr. Brown.
"Young Master, did you really come here just to retrieve the sealed object?"
Mr. Brown asked, but John Chou remained silent and then stopped walking.
"What’s wrong, Young Master? Even at this point, you still won’t tell us your true purpose for coming here. Surely it’s not just about retrieving the sealed item."
"Do you know why Mount Immeasurable is considered the Daoist holy land?"
"Young Master, stop keeping us in suspense. Just tell us, so Ethan and I can be prepared."
John Chou smiled and kept walking forward.
"I didn’t come here just to get the sealed item. Even without the Nine Dao Gate Elders, there are other ways to break the seal."
Mr. Brown sighed and turned to glance at me. I could only respond with helplessness, and so we continued walking.
Gradually, I saw a faint light ahead. The glow grew brighter and, the moment we stepped outside, I was stunned.
At the mountaintop stood a massive gourd, deep purple-red in color. All around it were rows of purple-red wooden frames, each over three meters tall, covered with gourd vines.
On the ground, I saw countless ripe gourds that had fallen, densely packed and already changed color. On some vines, there were gigantic gourds nearly two meters long.
A gentle energy filled the air all around us. Across the mountainside, yellow, white, and red pentagonal flowers bloomed everywhere.
"It’s pretty beautiful here."
Mr. Brown remarked. I nodded in agreement.
"Just don’t release any ghost energy, or we’ll be in trouble."
As John Chou spoke, I hurriedly retracted all the Specter Webs I’d extended outside my body.
We wove our way through the gourds and started climbing the mountain. The summit wasn’t far—maybe two kilometers away. The place was surrounded on all sides by towering peaks, enclosing it completely.
The strangest thing was that sunlight could actually shine in here.
"Can you tell us now, Young Master? What exactly are you after?"
John Chou smiled again, raising his hand to point at the mountaintop. The massive purple-red gourd looked over ten meters tall, and fresh shoots still sprouted from it. As we drew closer, I saw the dense gourd vines wrapped tightly around it.
"Let’s head up the mountain first."
John Chou said, and we kept walking. The closer we got, the more I realized—the gourd seemed carved from some kind of wood. But then it hit me: that tree must have been at least six or seven meters thick, probably over a thousand years old.
We stopped in front of the giant gourd. Sure enough, it was carved by someone. On the lower part, I saw a black-and-white Taiji symbol. On the upper part, six large characters were inscribed, but I couldn’t recognize them.
Still, they looked somewhat familiar. One character seemed to be 'Shang' (Ascendant), but with a hook on top, written in a crooked style and painted in red.
But one of them I did recognize—it was 'Wang' (King). After staring for a while, Mr. Brown smiled and explained that these were the names: Ascendant Realm, Celestial Realm, and Jade Realm.
Especially the 'Tai' character in 'Celestial Realm'—it was almost unrecognizable. The other characters were easier, like two fishhooks on either side, a crooked 'fire' character in the middle, and on top, two horizontal lines with a vertical stroke, almost like an airplane.
"Brother, the Sixfold Blossoms in the courtyard are having some trouble right now. That’s why I came here—to get something: the Sunset Vine."
I let out a surprised sound and looked at Mr. Brown. He seemed to understand something.
"Young Master, I suppose what you’re after is something to balance yin and yang. The Sixfold Blossoms have absorbed too much Deathbane Aura. If there’s only yin, they’re meaningless, aren’t they?"
John Chou nodded. I suddenly remembered that Julian Chu spent nearly every hour of the day tending to those Sixfold Blossoms. He always seemed deeply interested, often smiling as he worked. It never looked like John Chou was forcing him.
"Then let’s hurry and find it, Young Master."
Mr. Brown said, beginning to look around.
"Finding it won’t be easy. Here, as ghosts, if we use our powers, we’ll barely be able to move."
John Chou said. I made a sound of acknowledgment and glanced around. The place was filled with a gentle energy, and didn’t seem all that dangerous.
"Ethan, you’re wrong. If you release a lot of ghost energy, the thousands of Daoist ancestors buried here—their cultivated soul avatars—will appear. You might handle dozens, but what about hundreds, or thousands?"
I swallowed hard and watched as a ball of golden light emerged from my pendant. This time, I noticed that Zhang Jizheng’s form was no longer translucent—instead, he seemed almost solid, greedily absorbing the energy here. Gradually, his body became more and more human.
"Sigh, if my master ever found out I was keeping company with ghosts and helping you this much, he’d probably die of anger."
Then Zhang Jizheng began bowing to the surroundings, and performed three kneelings and nine kowtows before the gourd.
"Immortal Master, please don’t blame me. Your disciple is forced by circumstances—this is the only way."
With that, Zhang Jizheng straightened up.
"What’s the point of all that ceremony? Your dead master can’t hear you anyway."
John Chou muttered, and Zhang Jizheng snorted coldly.
"Let’s hurry and look. The Sunset Vine isn’t easy to find—it’s the color of clouds at dusk. I’ve only ever heard about it from my master."
I made a sound of surprise and looked over the mountainside covered in gourd vines. Searching would be difficult, especially since we couldn’t use our powers. John Chou climbed onto the gourd and stood at the top, scanning the area.
"It’s about ten square kilometers—not too big. All right, let’s hurry. We need to find it before the Nine Dao Gate Elders arrive, and get out."