Looking at the headless corpse on the ground, Chen Yi sighed and lifted a piece of cloth from the corner of the meditation courtyard, wrapping the body within.

Speaking of it, in his past life, he had little connection with Di Guan. If not for their joint resistance against the former emperor at the end, they were nothing more than fleeting acquaintances.

But a bond, however shallow, was still a bond. Giving the deceased a proper handling was only right.

Chen Yi placed the corpse, wrapped in cloth, outside the courtyard, adding dry branches and fallen leaves. From his chest pocket, he took out a fire starter and set it ablaze. Under the eerie blue flames,

Di Guan's body began to burn. After all, as a monk, the Buddhist Sect had always advocated cremation and simple burials.

White smoke curled skyward, and soon, the body was entirely consumed by the flame.

Watching this scene, Chen Yi couldn't help but reflect on a nagging question,

Now that Di Guan, a living man, had ventured into the underworld, and his physical body met its demise, where had his soul gone?

Though his body was dead, if his soul hadn't entered the cycle of reincarnation, there might still be a chance to meet it.

But after considering for a moment, Chen Yi shook his head, deciding against pursuing the matter.

A reunion would be meaningless. To Di Guan, Chen Yi was nothing more than a stranger. Even in a past life, they were no more than passing acquaintances.

Faced with the roaring flames, Yin Weiyin murmured a few lines from the Taoist rescue spell. He then approached the torn paper remnants, clutched a handful in his palm, and let the fragments trickle down like sand.

"This is premium White Spirit Paper." Yin Weiyin recognized the material of the paperman.

"White Spirit Paper?" The Paperman Technique had a long and storied history. Chen Yi had only a rudimentary understanding and was clueless about most of the finer details.

Yin Weiyin let out a soft "Mm" of affirmation: "This type of paper is crafted by using white ginseng, white Lingzhi, and white deer antler as the primary ingredients, boiled into a pulp, then dried into sheets following traditional methods. It's thin yet tough, highly receptive to enchantment, and the ideal material for making papermen. It far surpasses yellow or red paper, let alone ordinary xuan paper."

The way it sounded, this paper's value was so exorbitant that even a royal-born woman like Yin Weiyin hesitated to use it frivolously. This fact alone affirmed the extraordinary prestige of this strikingly beautiful woman's origins.

Judging by her words, there might even be links to the royal family of Goryeo.

Speaking of papermen, Yin Weiyin became slightly more animated and continued:

"Papermen made from this material possess the highest degree of spiritual resonance. You saw how lifelike that woman's every expression was earlier? That was all thanks to this paper. Moreover…"

"Moreover what?"

"Moreover, it's said that papermen crafted using this material can naturally coalesce their own souls," the female crown paused dramatically before continuing, visibly intrigued. "They develop their own thoughts, their own actions. If not controlled in real-time, the papermen, after forming a soul, become almost indistinguishable from a living human."

The speaker voiced it casually, but the listener took it to heart.

Chen Yi's eyes narrowed slightly. A possibility crossed his mind: Could it be that the Jing King and the Princess were papermen?

Unconsciously, he etched Yin Weiyin's words into his memory.

Outwardly, he maintained a calm facade as he casually asked:

"So… were the papermen I just killed carrying souls?"

Yin Weiyin shook her head and replied, "Without souls. Only papermen that have been separated from their masters for a long time can develop souls."

Chen Yi's expression remained unchanged, though beneath the surface, ripples stirred in his mind.

In other words, if the Jing King and Princess were papermen, they had to be the kind with souls.

Waves of contemplation surfaced and receded within Chen Yi. Yin Weiyin, tilting her head, observed his silence, unable to fathom what private thoughts churned within him.

She wasn't Yin Tingxue. She rarely understood what this man was thinking.

Yet, at times, she wished she could know his unspoken thoughts—perhaps out of fear, or perhaps for some other reason...

When Chen Yi finally turned his gaze back, their eyes met briefly. Startled, Yin Weiyin immediately averted her eyes, as if the man before her were some monstrous beast of calamity.

"What's the plan now?" Yin Weiyin changed the subject abruptly.

After deliberation, Chen Yi replied, "First, let's check the path ahead."

With that, Chen Yi began searching around the meditation courtyard. Finally, beneath the lotus pedestal of a Buddha statue, he found a raised section.

Pressing down firmly, a series of clicking sounds echoed—but they stopped abruptly after a moment.

Yin Weiyin craned her neck and saw a hidden door below, half-open but stuck, as though obstructed by something inside. She remarked,

"It's jammed in there."

Chen Yi approached and struck with his blade.

With a resounding crash, the stones blocking the hidden door shattered completely. Chen Yi stepped into the tunnel first, with Yin Weiyin close behind.

The passage, carved into the stone walls, extended through the craggy cliffside, ultimately forming a stone bridge. The path wasn't long; within a few steps, a faint light could be seen ahead.

Walking along the path, Chen Yi recalled events from his past life, estimating who or what he might encounter ahead.

For instance, might he meet Qu Yuan wandering the old walls of ancient Ying, or perhaps Tang Xianzu, the author of *Peony Pavilion*...

Then, Chen Yi saw it—

Not far ahead, the stone bridge had collapsed.

Cold gusts of wind surged upwards from below. The gap in the broken bridge, jagged like gaping fangs, was hideously menacing, as if cleaved apart by force. Beneath their feet loomed a seemingly bottomless abyss.

Chen Yi furrowed his brows.

He had assumed that although Di Guan had died, the path itself would remain intact.

But to his surprise, with Di Guan's death, the path had vanished as well.

The stone bridge wasn't merely broken in one section—it was missing three-quarters of its length entirely, as if it had plunged into the depths of the abyss. The winds in the chasm swirled fiercely, howling like restless souls. Even if they had the ability to fly, they couldn't cross this expanse.

Was this the work of that woman?

Unlikely.

It must have been someone else. That woman's abilities weren't sufficient to destroy nearly the entire stone bridge.

Given the circumstances, this path was no longer an option.

The only consolation was that...

Out of caution earlier, he had intentionally let the cannibal ghoul Liu Ting escape.

Chen Yi turned around and led Yin Weiyin out of the passage.

"We'll have to take another route."

"Another route?"

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