This isn't schadenfreude...

It's really not schadenfreude...

The more Yin Tingxue thought about it, the harder it was to suppress the curve of her lips. She genuinely felt she wasn't gloating, but it was simply too funny—especially when she imagined Master Zhou's expression upon learning of this incident.

How furious would he get?

Just as she was pondering this, Min Ming called out to someone on the other side: "First Madam."

Yin Tingxue shivered slightly and trembled.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the one-armed woman slowly approaching. Yin Tingxue quickly composed her expression, trying her best to look into the distance with a face full of melancholy.

Zhou Yitang glanced at Min Ming and said, "You don't have to call me that."

Min Ming nodded, understanding that she meant "you don't have to" rather than a firm "don't."

After giving that one sentence, Zhou Yitang turned her gaze to Yin Tingxue.

The little fox feigned a calm demeanor, gazing far away as if lost in thought, her mind emptied in an effort to hide any hints of her internal musings.

The faint streak of dawn on the horizon, tinged with a dull yellow, mixed in hints of flesh-like tones. Yin Tingxue stared straight at it.

As her mind emptied, countless stray thoughts flitted past. That streak of dawn inexplicably reminded her of Chen Yi, as though his figure was faintly visible within it.

Realizing this, she felt a bit shy and pushed the thought away. But upon further reflection, she thought, "Isn't it entirely normal? For a woman to think of her husband—there's nothing strange about that."

She contemplated, watching that streak of dawn, watching as it seemed to edge further and further away, taking his figure with it, pushing him further and further into the distance.

Yin Tingxue froze for a moment. Even though she knew Chen Yi hadn't been gone long, she found herself slightly flustered.

"What's wrong with you?"

A voice reached her ears. As she snapped back to reality, patting her cheeks, she noticed Zhou Yitang staring straight at her.

Yin Tingxue first shook her head but, unwilling to lie, then nodded slightly.

"I feel like he's gone somewhere so, so far away..."

She paused for a moment before continuing:

"…Why am I starting to miss him?"

When she said this, she hesitated, pausing intermittently.

Not because she didn't want to think of him,

but because she was surprised to find herself beginning to miss him...

How... how conflicted she felt...

Talking about this in front of Master Zhou made her feel shy.

The chilly morning breeze brushed past, stabbing at her neck, making her shrink into herself and huddle further into her thick clothing. Watching her, Min Ming felt that this Second Madam resembled a red fox poking its head through the snow.

..................

When Chen Yi's vision finally cleared, he no longer knew where he was.

Strange,

The scene before him was utterly unfamiliar.

Pitch black.

The dense, clinging darkness pressed against his face, swallowing all visibility.

Chen Yi's face took on a faint pallor.

Not because he had been swallowed into the belly of chaos,

but because a nun with a crescent-like white body sat on his face.

He reached out and lightly touched it.

Rounded and soft.

Chen Yi immediately shoved it away.

That graceful figure tumbled into a pile of paper dolls, letting out a faint moan. Dong Guifei was already semi-conscious, her cheeks flushed deep red as her breathing grew shallow and uneven.

Chen Yi scrambled up from the pile of paper dolls, casting a glance at Dong Guifei to confirm that only two hours had passed between his fainting and waking.

Based on his own and Qin Qingluo's experiences, the effects of the Yuchun Ointment wouldn't fully take hold in the bone marrow and reach their peak until three hours had passed.

Chen Yi scanned his surroundings.

The place resembled an inconspicuous, dilapidated temple. In the temple stood only a Guanyin statue, severely damaged, with a deep crack splitting through it.

Looking up, he could see a gaping hole in the roof, as though they had fallen through it, shattering the tiles and landing here. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, with motes floating in the air, twinkling faintly—clearly, no one had visited this place for a long time. Upon closer inspection, the lotus pedestal of the Guanyin statue faintly gleamed with traces of golden light.

This ruined temple seemed to have been abandoned for ages.

Chen Yi pressed his hand to his head, recalling the last scene he had witnessed before plunging into chaos.

Yin Weiyin's ghostly blue Nascent Soul had swept past him, pulled into the chaos.

And at that moment, for reasons unknown, the Nascent Soul had borne an uncanny resemblance to the ghostly woman he had seen earlier!

Aside from using the Heavenly Eye to peer into this Secret Realm, seeing that ghostly woman was another reason Chen Yi had plunged into chaos.

"What on earth happened?"

Chen Yi murmured to himself.

When the ghostly woman disappeared, he had felt a peculiar, inexplicable ache in his heart.

Could it be that the ghostly woman was actually Yin Weiyin's Nascent Soul?!

After surveying the temple, Chen Yi paced back to the pile of scattered paper dolls. His brows furrowed faintly as he stood in silence for a long while, finally letting out a sigh.

"…Luanhuang," he muttered her alias.

If not for Yin Weiyin protecting them with the paper dolls, they probably wouldn't have landed here safely. Even if they had, they would've been missing limbs and in far worse shape.

Chen Yi sat cross-legged on the spot, then turned his focus inward. All was intact; the chaotic reversal of heaven and earth had ceased its effect. His Fourth Rank martial arts cultivation and the Golden Core, tiny as a mustard seed, were both present.

Closing his eyes halfway, he silently chanted the spell to Open the Heaven Eye, forming seals with his hands and sensing the Sword Intent that he had left on Yin Weiyin.

The Sword Intent remained, calm and undisturbed.

It seemed she was safe.

Chen Yi took a deep breath, realizing he had to find a way to return.

Again, his mind replayed the moment before entering the chaos,

The Nascent Soul separating from them abruptly, vanishing into the whirlpool,

And… he needed to find that Nascent Soul that had been swept into the chaos...

Like a pebble lodged in his heart, Chen Yi felt an unshakable desire to retrieve it.

He stood up, preparing to leave the temple and explore his surroundings.

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