Chapter 366: Soul Homeland

When He Lingchuan released Master Gan III, he made it very clear: if these matters were exposed, the Grand Tutor of Baoshu Kingdom would surely seek revenge for his son.

The entire Fuguang Kingdom could not afford to offend the King of Baoshu, let alone a mere Wuzhe County.

Upon hearing this, Master Gan III's lips twitched twice, and he scuttled away. After several trips back and forth from the brink of death, he no longer dared to utter threats. After all, even the Soul-Snatching Mirror, which had once been his master, had been subdued by He Lingchuan. He finally realized that a thin arm couldn't twist a steel bar.

By then, dawn had broken in the east, and the farm chickens began to clear their throats and crow. He Lingchuan and his two companions returned to the county town. Early-rising residents were already bustling about their livelihoods. The real Wuzhe County was full of vibrant life, incomparable to the illusory world within the mirror.

The three found a random roadside stall and slurped down a huge bowl of rice vermicelli, the bowl larger than their faces. The stall owner had used some unknown herbs for the stew, creating a distinctive broth. Adding a handful of mushrooms and a pinch of pickled long beans gave it a sour freshness followed by a rich depth. He Lingchuan also ordered a side of peanuts to spread over his vermicelli, and four large steamed buns to top it off. People around them were also crouched at shaky small tables, devouring their food like a whirlwind, breaking into a light sweat on their foreheads but feeling utterly refreshed.

After the meal, Wu Jinsong went back to pack his bags, preparing to check into the Purple Bamboo Courtyard. He also wanted to return to Grand Tutor Sha's mansion as soon as possible, but since He Lingchuan would only depart with the caravan in two or three days, the two guards had no choice but to wait patiently.

He Lingchuan returned to the Purple Bamboo Courtyard with the Soul-Snatching Mirror in hand. Most guests were still asleep, and as he walked through the corridor, he could faintly hear snoring from within their rooms. He went to the bathhouse first for a relaxing soak, then returned, closed the doors and windows tightly, and took out the mirror.

While it's true that all things have spirits, for an artificial mirror to gain sentience and become a demon is a rare and unpredictable stroke of luck. Many divine artifacts don't receive such treatment; at best, having a nascent artifact spirit is already remarkable. But since it didn't have legs, it couldn't move on its own, which was why it needed a mirror slave to carry it around. As for the malevolent spirits, they couldn't touch the mirror themselves, nor could the living beings they controlled, so they were likewise unable to pick it up. Now that it had broken its contract with Master Gan III and no longer had a mirror slave, it couldn't move on its own. It could only obediently remain in He Lingchuan's hand.

Only then did He Lingchuan learn that after Sha Xinghai had completed his transaction with Master Gan, Master Gan had actually hoped the sorceress would return the souls to their original owners. This way, no one would be aware, and the Gan family wouldn't have to take any risks. But the mirror refused. How could food already in its mouth be casually spat out?

The mirror now began to plead with He Lingchuan: "Please do not hand me over. I am willing to be your protective mirror."

He Lingchuan was no longer afraid to meet its gaze. He shook the mirror and asked, "Are you truly set on following me?"

"Yes!"

He held the mirror, looking at himself from left to right. "Are you captivated by my charm?" The young man in the mirror truly looked handsome!

"...Yes, yes."

He tapped the mirror twice. "Confess and be leniently dealt with, or I'll..."

"Twist me into a pretzel, right?" The mirror said, filled with longing, "I want to experience the aura of the City of the Dead. It would greatly benefit me."

So, this fellow yearned for Dragon Coiling City? "How so?"

"As you know, I was born from resentful souls. But I've devoured too many; their resentment and hatred from life never dissipate, accumulating inside me, forcing me to consume other things." The mirror expressed its troubles. "The City of the Dead behind you is far beyond imagination, capable of bearing an unimaginable amount of grievances. I want to learn from it."

"You want to imitate it?"

"Something like that."

He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing, just let me stay on you. I can slowly ponder it." The mirror had an abundance of time. "I vaguely sense that the City of the Dead is exceptionally powerful at night, and its connection to you is very close." This thing wasn't wrong; He Lingchuan could indeed only enter Dragon Coiling City at night.

The mirror then asked curiously, "How can you carry such a terrifying City of the Dead without being affected by it?"

"What kind of effects should there normally be?"

"A vast amount of yin energy and resentment would corrode your vital essence, deplete your blood, leaving you exhausted, weakened, empty, and internally consumed, soon leading to illness and death. Given the scale of this City of the Dead, it would take at most... ten days to kill a healthy person?" The mirror asked cautiously, "How long have you been connected to it?"

"Half a year." Oh, no problem then. He felt his body was even better than six months ago.

"!!" Half a year, and this man was still vigorous? "Even if your physique surpasses ordinary people, it's useless. Such yin power can drain even immortals! Not to mention the City of the Dead, even sorceresses couldn't withstand my attachment, which is why I had to bind them as mirror slaves. Otherwise, I'd have to change hosts every few months, which is quite troublesome." At this point, it let out a long "Oh," convinced it had found the truth. "Have you also become a slave to the City of the Dead?"

"Get lost!" He Lingchuan flicked it, making the mirror spin several times. "Do you think I'm a fool like Master Gan III?" After signing the contract, Master Gan III had to obey orders, but He Lingchuan's body and will were completely free; no one demanded he do this or that. Or... were they?

He thought carefully. He hadn't signed any contract himself; he had merely taken a blade from the black dragon that Zhong Shengguang had transformed into. At most, it was just an agreement. Wait, no. Hold on. The divine bone necklace couldn't be thrown away, and the Floating Life Blade would stubbornly return. Oh, this... Thinking about it this way, he wasn't so sure anymore.

The mirror spun around, tutting, "It's terrifying, it's fascinating, I must study it thoroughly!" What enlightened demon doesn't yearn for the Grand Dao? But artifacts becoming demons are truly rare; it had no ready path to follow and could only grope its way forward. Unfortunately, it had never achieved much. Just as it was about to lose heart, Dragon Coiling City appeared, showing it the way! This was its path, the direction of its future endeavors.

He Lingchuan scooped it up and brought it close to his chest. The mirror only thought he was trying to find a suitable position for a protective mirror, unaware that he actually wanted to observe the divine bone necklace's reaction. Previously, when evacuating from the side of Sorrowless Lake, the necklace had warmed up, alerting him to the presence of treasure. Generally, divine bones were only interested in things they could consume. However, this time was clearly an exception; the divine bone remained quiet, showing no enthusiasm whatsoever. Did it look down on the protective mirror, finding it unappetizing? So, its earlier warmth by the lake was merely a simple warning not to miss the culprit? Although the Grand Square Flask and he were not in a master-servant relationship, it truly paid close attention to his every move.

He Lingchuan looked at the simple and cheerful mirror, which was still unaware it had just narrowly escaped danger. "What exactly happened with your mirror-world battlefield?"

It turned out that although the resentful souls devoured by the mirror had vanished, their resentment could not be dispelled. The Soul-Snatching Mirror was not a Pixiu; it didn't have the ability to only take in and never release. If things continued this way, it might burst itself. Therefore, it had recreated General You's battles from his lifetime, giving these resentments a target to slowly resolve. However, this method was like unwinding a silkworm cocoon—extremely slow. It had been working for over two millennia without dispatching many souls. So, the mirror world had to be maintained indefinitely, letting the souls entertain themselves. But now it realized that the City of the Dead contained far more souls and far deeper resentment than its own, yet it managed to control them perfectly, which was truly a miracle.

"A miracle?" He Lingchuan immediately thought of the Three Corpse Worms. Dragon Coiling City cleverly utilized the Three Corpse Worms, which was likely one of its effective ways to neutralize the resentment of the deceased. But this was a secret that could not be spoken.

"Can I use your mirror to collect people?"

"Not anymore," the mirror said miserably. "Previously, to stop you from escaping, I forcibly intervened and altered the rules. Now that world is in chaos, and I won't have the capacity to absorb living people for a very long time."

"How long is 'a very long time'?" This mirror had existed for ages, so its definition of "a very long time" surely differed from what he understood.

"At least four or five... decades?"

He Lingchuan gave it a series of sharp taps. "Four or five years, or forty or fifty years? Be clear!"

"At least several decades, starting now!" the mirror said sadly. "If I hadn't been forced, I wouldn't have dared to transfer you into the Soul Realm."

"But isn't it an illusory realm you created? How troublesome can it be to change a rule?" No wonder the mirror had first sent him to a replicated Wuzhe County instead of the battlefield. But this was the second time he had heard the words "Soul Realm" from the mirror.

"It's not like that," the mirror explained helplessly. "Formed by heaven and earth, it follows its own principles. The Soul Realm faithfully replicates past history, so it must be absolutely precise. Any slight alteration introduces a flaw, and the illogical and irregular points would accumulate, eventually making the entire Soul Realm unsustainable and leading to its collapse. And then I, I'd be in deep trouble!" It had originally hoped that the resentful spirits in the Soul Realm would kill the intruders quickly, thus creating minor flaws that it could later repair. Who would have thought... Even Hongluan had been scorched, and it was the mirror itself that had intervened, altering the rules to strike her down. Now, all the resentful spirits inside instantly discovered that history had changed.

He Lingchuan hissed softly. "The Soul Realm can't change at all?"

"No!" the mirror declared unequivocally. "Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not! Not even a tiny bit." It was a living example. Its mirror world had only just begun to take shape when it was thrown into disarray by those resentful spirits, and it was uncertain when it would recover.

That serious? He Lingchuan stroked his chin. Then, what about him entering Dragon Coiling City every night, causing a divergence between the dream world and real history? Did that not matter? Previously, he had been ignorant, thinking it was just fun. Now, after the Soul-Snatching Mirror's explanation, he suddenly felt that the Grand Square Flask was truly incredible, capable of bending even fundamental laws.

"What does the City of the Dead you see look like?"

"Well..." The mirror found it hard to describe, so it simply said, "See for yourself." The next second, the mirror surface showed the outline of the City of the Dead as it saw it, or rather, reflected it.