I watched as Lan Yin took out a delicate blue-patterned jar from his chest. Instantly, the clear laughter of a child rang out.
"Ah, I can help you, but..."
"I get it. Just keep pretending to be a child, and don’t let anyone find out, okay? When the time comes, you’ll get your reward. I’ll find a way to let you reincarnate."
Lan Yin said as he handed the small urn to Mo Yu. Mo Yu looked at it with fear, while I watched everything unfold from the side. Though it was just a simple memory, I could sense an incredible power from that little urn—not an aura of death, but something like kindling about to ignite, radiating warmth and light.
It felt as full of vitality as a newborn baby.
"What exactly is this thing?"
Mo Yu asked, and Lan Yin smiled.
"Sometimes, if you want to achieve something and the straightforward path is blocked, there’s no need to bang your head against the wall. You just have to take a detour."
Lan Yin spoke, glancing around, then walked to the bedside and lifted the mattress. There was a hidden compartment. He placed the small urn inside.
"Remember this, Miss Mo Yu. From now on, we’ll call each other husband and wife. Don’t slip up. My parents told me that Hades Village places great importance on our union this time."
Mo Yu nodded gratefully, stood up, and bowed.
"Thank you, Young Master Lan."
Lan Yin smiled and helped Mo Yu up.
"Call me husband, just once."
The words were on Mo Yu’s lips, but she still couldn’t say it. In the end, she whispered it very softly.
"That being said, Miss Mo Yu, in a month, I’ll go myself to find your beloved and tell him everything."
"But..."
Mo Yu hesitated.
"An ugly bride still has to meet her in-laws. If you want to be with him, he has to know everything."
Lan Yin looked at Mo Yu seriously, and she finally nodded.
The next day, as soon as they left the room, Lan Yin’s parents were already waiting outside, bombarding them with questions—mostly about whether Lan Yin and Mo Yu had consummated their marriage.
"Don’t worry, Father, Mother. It’s done. Soon, you’ll get to see your grandchild."
Lan Yin’s parents beamed with joy, but I noticed that Wang Su still looked distrustful. He always seemed on guard and never truly trusted Lan Yin.
"What’s wrong, Brother Wang? Didn’t sleep well last night?"
Lan Yin smiled and walked over, but Wang Su just shook his head and called back the Hades Village guards stationed outside. The Lan residence was tightly surrounded—over fifty people from Hades Village, not counting the servants, made sure no one could get in or out.
Especially for Mo Yu, the moment she stepped out of her room, people watched her from all sides. It felt like prison. I couldn’t help but swallow nervously.
Lan Yin, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease. He went out every day to collect souls as usual. A week passed, and Lan Yin asked Wang Su if Mo Yu could accompany him to collect souls.
"That’s not allowed, Brother Lan. Miss Mo Yu can’t leave until she’s given birth to a child."
Seeing this, I found it odd. Aren’t people from Hades Village supposed to return to Hades Village to give birth? Why don’t they have to go back?
"Then come with us. At least let us collect souls together. Isn’t that enough? You can’t expect my wife to stay locked up forever. We don’t even know if she’s pregnant yet, and there are still thousands of souls to collect."
"No, rules are rules. Hades Village entrusted me with guarding this task, so I won’t act carelessly. Once Miss Mo Yu gives birth, everyone in Hades Village will help her."
Lan Yin just smiled and left. He said goodbye to his parents and decided to go farther away, wanting to quickly collect 9,999 souls. After his wife gave birth, he could help her. Wang Su nodded, seeming to relax his guard against Lan Yin a little.
Another exhausting day passed. Mo Yu could only pretend to be an obedient bride, smiling all day. But as soon as she returned to her room, she collapsed from exhaustion. The constant pretending and fake smiles were wearing her down.
Half a month passed, but Lan Yin still hadn’t returned. Mo Yu didn’t know when this endless ordeal would end. Still, she clung to Lan Yin’s promise, her heart full of hope for his return.
Meanwhile, Lan Yin, trying to collect souls as quickly as possible, headed south where an epidemic had broken out. Several villages were plagued, with many deaths, and people from Hades Village rushed there to fulfill their missions.
Lan Yin hurried nonstop in that direction, hoping to toughen himself and become stronger, so he could support Mo Yu after her childbirth.
Following Lan Yin’s memories, I walked through the area, surrounded by refugees fleeing disaster. Black smoke rose from many places, and the stench of burned corpses hung in the air.
The epidemic here was severe. Lan Yin was exhausted—he’d already collected two or three hundred souls along the way. He hoped that by the time he returned, he’d have half the required number.
While traveling, Lan Yin constantly refined his skills. I saw him take sheets of white paper and, with a sharp knife, cut out animal shapes—eagles, snakes, tigers, and more. I recognized this as the Divination Arts of Hades Village.
Whenever Lan Yin recited the incantation, those paper-cut beasts would come to life. He practiced again and again.
At dusk, Lan Yin arrived at a desolate village where many refugees, too weak to walk any further, had gathered. Lan Yin gave all his food to them.
There were few people left in the village. Lan Yin knew many would die soon, so he could only wait silently.
One day, two days, three days—every day, people died. Without exception, the dead were burned. The survivors, those with any strength left, could only keep moving on.
Lan Yin hadn’t eaten in days and was dizzy with hunger. Luckily, as someone from Hades Village, he wouldn’t starve to death just from not eating.
After four or five more days in the village, only Lan Yin remained. He decided to move on to the worst-hit area, a place called Nanshan City—the epicenter of the epidemic.
On the way, Lan Yin saw almost no one. Corpses lay everywhere along the roadside. Suddenly, he was stunned by a particular body and rushed over.
The corpse looked like it had been gnawed by something—its chest was missing a large chunk, and the internal organs had been gouged out.
But Lan Yin was certain this was someone from Hades Village—he found the Soul Vessel that the person carried. At first, Lan Yin felt a chill, suspecting it was the work of an evil spirit, given how many people had died here.
Still, Lan Yin pressed on, determined to strengthen his will. As he approached Nanshan City, he sensed that something was seriously wrong. Following him, I saw over thirty corpses of Hades Village people along the way.
Most of the bodies had been eaten down to the bone. Besides the Soul Vessel used for collecting souls, Lan Yin also sensed the unique aura of Hades Village people.
Before me stood a dead city, shrouded in dark clouds and filled with circling crows. Everywhere were corpses gnawed to the bone, now just skeletons. Lan Yin stood at the wide-open city gate as dusk approached.
This time, Lan Yin stopped. I saw him begin to tremble, overcome by a fear that overpowered his will to enter. Lan Yin turned and ran away.
But just then, I heard a shrill, piercing laugh from inside the city. Lan Yin realized something was wrong and ran faster. Even after more than ten days without food, he still had strength left from resting.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
An evil voice called out, and suddenly the world around Lan Yin turned into a forest. He panicked and dashed into the trees, but no matter where he ran, he always ended up back in front of the dead city.
"East, west, north, south—silks and satins..."
Lan Yin immediately released two strips of white silk, sending them into the forest. The silk seemed to find a path, and Lan Yin ran in that direction.
"Smart, waiting here to catch prey. Not bad."
Suddenly, I saw a flash of green light. Lan Yin screamed in agony as his entire arm was ripped off by a short, sharp-faced Blue Wraith, who then began to eat it.
Clutching his arm, Lan Yin cried out in pain. It was his first encounter with a Blue Wraith, and he was terrified. But for the sake of survival, he fought back—reciting an incantation and throwing out three paper cutouts. Three golden lights flashed, and a tiger, an eagle, and a lion appeared.
But those paper beasts were useless against the Blue Wraith. With a single gesture, it reduced all three to ashes.
Lan Yin kept releasing strips of white silk, trying to buy time to escape, but it was all futile against such overwhelming power.
Yet I sensed that Lan Yin’s fear had vanished. He stared intently at the Blue Wraith, almost mesmerized.
"Oh, kid, not bad—you actually dare to fight back. The other Hades Village people just run when they see me, but you’re interesting."
"Honestly, I want to run too. But maybe, if I beat you, I’ll be even stronger when I get back."
The Blue Wraith seemed to find this hilarious and laughed exaggeratedly.