In his eyes, a trace of anger began to emerge.

"I know, it's exactly this thorn buried deep in my heart that brought me here all along.

First, I have to thank you for letting me see through this, letting me understand the knot deep in my heart.

Now, let's talk about who gave you the courage to dare to use this thorn against me?"

Fierce Yang Qi surged forth, and with a sudden sound, was ignited by the anger in his heart, transforming into flames that enveloped his entire body.

The middle-aged man he had grabbed instantly let out a miserable scream.

At this moment, Wen Yan finally saw that the Natural Enemy profession's alert had actually shown up a long time ago.

"Heart-Probing Ghost."

"On the endless Underworld Road, an aberrant creature that feeds on human and ghost intellects. It digs out the weak spot deep inside other intelligent creatures' hearts, using it as a base point, and bit by bit devours the target's mind.

The person targeted will fall into an Illusion Realm constructed by themselves, unable to escape, or perhaps, unwilling to escape."

"Temporary Ability: None."

Wen Yan glanced at that "None" and immediately burst out laughing.

What he liked seeing most right now was this "None"—it meant that his own strength, his own ability, was already more than enough.

Flames raced along Wen Yan's arm, igniting the enemy.

The surroundings gradually faded, becoming more and more illusory, turning into a canvas wrapped around him that, as it burned, was destroyed by the flames, finally revealing the real environment beneath.

He was still on that road thick with Yin Qi.

But now in front of him there appeared a strange ghostly creature, big-bellied, with two eyes taking up half its oversized head.

That ghost object was held up in midair by him, one hand pinching its tongue, one hand gripping its neck, fueled by furious Yang Qi—already burning it with flames.

The fierce Yang Qi clashed violently with the Yin Qi in his surroundings, like fire blazing underwater, never to be extinguished no matter what.

A short distance behind him, the Grave Walker looked at the changing scene around them, face turning an odd mix of blue and white.

He had no idea when they had gotten ensnared.

Sure enough, unfamiliar roads are where mistakes get made.

He had thought before that this road full of restless Nether Souls was off, and he'd never heard of a road like this before.

Luckily Wen Yan had stopped him just now and kept him from going back the way they came; otherwise, who knows what kind of trap he'd have triggered.

Now, feeling the Yang Qi radiating from Wen Yan, he was a little uncomfortable, but didn't move—just sensing it was proof enough they'd really come back.

"Impossible! No one can see through me!" The Heart-Probing Ghost was still howling.

Wen Yan said nothing, gave no reply, simply stimulated his Yang Qi and burned the creature with brute force, until it slowly turned to nothingness, soul scattered and destroyed.

In his palm, only a one-inch long Ghost Bone remained.

After burning it with Yang Qi for quite some time, and seeing no more change, he finally put it away.

He'd been training the Scorching Sun Fist to its second level for days now, but he'd still been far from gathering Yang Qi into actual flames—this time, his rage unexpectedly brought it out.

He gradually drew back his Yang Qi and called out.

"Keep leading the way, this time there shouldn't be anything left."

The Grave Walker hurriedly caught up, overtaking Wen Yan to take the lead again up ahead.

Wen Yan followed behind, silent, continuing forward.

At the start, he truly hadn't noticed a thing.

The other side's influence targeted his five senses, his thoughts—even the Natural Enemy alert failed to show, because that illusion came from himself; he blocked out what he could have seen, so naturally he couldn't see it.

He sensed something was off after leaving the Desolate Tomb, when the passive effect derived from Scorching Sun remained as it had been; not one bit had changed.

The effect of Sunless Travel was completely outside his conscious control, and so far, Wen Yan had only triggered this effect in two places.

The Nether Soul Realm, and on this very road beneath Old Zhao's Family house.

If he really had left the Desolate Tomb and returned to the living world, no matter what the place outside was—even if it was a domain—it wouldn't count as abnormal, since you can't travel there in the flesh under normal circumstances.

So the truth could only be one thing: he'd never left, he was still right here on this road.

Now, looking at the crowd of Nether Souls around him that had long since lost consciousness, Wen Yan wondered—had their consciousness simply been wiped out? Or had their minds been devoured by that Heart-Probing Ghost here?

Maybe both.

This time, they hadn't gone far before the road ahead split at an intersection.

This time, the Grave Walker was a bit more careful.

"Brother, grab hold of my hoe."

They walked along the small path and emerged from a Desolate Tomb. When the Grave Walker spotted some buildings in the near distance and noticed two paper figures keeping watch at the doorway, he heaved a long sigh of relief.

"Good, we didn't mess up this time."

Wen Yan followed him out and made his way to the mansion gate. Before he'd even spotted anyone, he first heard Lord Zhu's hearty laughter.

A few seconds later, he saw Lord Zhu walking grandly toward them, like a tiger or a dragon.

"Hahaha, Xiao Wen, how'd it feel? Pretty unique, isn't it?"

The Grave Walker beside them looked a little uneasy. Wen Yan patted him on the shoulder.

"It's fine, this really was a rare experience. Thank you—I'll treat you to some fine incense next time."

Wen Yan strode forward to greet Lord Zhu.

"Truly unique experience, Lord Zhu. I'm so used to shortcuts now, I don't think I'll ever be able to honestly sit on a bus or plane again."

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