"Wang Xiedi, what are you doing kneeling in front of my room in the middle of the night?"

Wang Xiedi, who was immersed in immense grief, suddenly heard a voice.

That voice... that familiar voice!

His body suddenly went stiff.

’This... this voice is... Senior Sister?!’

’No, no, that’s not right. Senior Sister has passed away. I saw it with my own eyes!’

’That funeral banner was brighter than my Heart-Protecting Mirror!’

’So... is this Senior Sister’s ghost?!’

He slowly raised his head, and through his tear-filled eyes, he saw the person who made him feel such immense guilt.

She was standing gracefully under the moonlight, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

’Was it because my mission failed and I got her killed? Is her resentment so strong that she came back from the underworld to claim my life?!’

’Or... am I feeling so guilty that I’m having auditory and visual hallucinations?’

Thoughts churned in Wang Xiedi’s mind, and he soon reached a "logical" conclusion.

He was immediately overwhelmed by an even deeper sorrow, and his tears flowed more fiercely.

"Senior Sister! I’ve failed you, Senior Sister!"

"Senior Sister... even your spirit in heaven couldn’t bear to see what a failure I am, so you’ve manifested... to come and push me onward?"

"Sigh... Senior Sister, I’ve failed you, Senior Sister!"

Su Ling’er: "..."

Su Ling’er was completely confused.

’What the hell?!’

’Manifesting?’

’Am I not standing right here, alive and well?’

Exhausted and angry, Su Ling’er couldn’t take it anymore and snapped at him:

"What nonsense are you spouting?! What do you think you’re doing, kneeling here? Get up this instant!"

"Anyone who didn’t know better would think I did something to you!"

Wang Xiedi was stunned. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

’Could it be... Senior Sister isn’t dead?’

He looked at Su Ling’er again. Under the moonlight, her figure was perfectly clear.

He instinctively glanced at her feet—she had a shadow!

’Ghosts aren’t supposed to have shadows...’

’Could it be... could it be that Senior Sister is still alive?!’

’Is this real?!’

’Although it feels like her Spiritual Qi has three strange, evil auras attached to it, that’s not important!’

’At least Senior Sister is alive!’

This made his heart surge with an unbearable feeling.

"S-Senior Sister... could it be... you’re not dead? You’re really not dead?!"

Su Ling’er: "???"

A series of question marks seemed to pop up over Su Ling’er’s head.

’First Senior Brother and the others tried to hold a funeral for me and failed, and now you’re hoping I’m dead, is that it?’

’Wait, you really thought I was dead, didn’t you?!’

She had been through hell all day. First, she was locked in a coffin for her own funeral procession, stuck with three desiccated corpses and fierce ghosts. After getting out, she was forced to do three times her usual tasks. She was physically and mentally exhausted, already simmering with a belly full of fire.

’You’re just that eager for your Senior Sister to die, aren’t you?!’

She was seething.

’And it was all because of you!’

’Because of that stupid mantis of yours, the entire plan failed!’

’I suffered through all that for nothing!’

’I had clearly drawn the attention of those demon lords, and what was the result?!’

’Not only did you accomplish nothing, but now you’re here cursing me to be dead!’

’You’re just that eager for your Senior Sister to die, aren’t you?!’

Su Ling’er trembled with rage. She took a deep breath and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth:

"I think... you... must... want... to... die!"

Completely oblivious to his senior sister’s fury, Wang Xiedi felt that confirming she was alive was more important than anything else in his despair.

Still crying, with tears and snot smearing his face, he tried to lunge forward to grab the hem of his senior sister’s skirt and have a good cry.

Su Ling’er saw his tear- and snot-streaked face trying to rub against her freshly changed, clean clothes. Without a second thought, she lifted her foot and firmly planted the sole of her shoe on Wang Xiedi’s face, preventing him from getting any closer.

"Get away from me! Can’t you stay away from me?!"

"Can’t you just go back and reflect on what you’ve done, or just go to sleep?"

"Oh my god, you’re going to get my shoes dirty, you know?! Scram!"

"Waaaah—! Senior Sister! I’m so heartbroken!"

"Senior Sister, you’re really alive! This is wonderful! This is wonderful!"

His tears and snot unceremoniously smeared all over the top of Su Ling’er’s shoe.

He was overjoyed. At least his senior sister was alive. This meant there was still hope, even if he was currently being held at bay by the sole of her shoe!

Su Ling’er couldn’t stand it any longer. She directly circulated her Spiritual Qi.

"Off you go—!"

With a powerful kick, she sent Wang Xiedi flying toward his thatched hut in the distance!

Wang Xiedi traced a perfect parabola through the air. As he watched the scenery and the figure of his senior sister rapidly recede, his mind became crystal clear.

’Huh?’

’Did Senior Sister just kick me into the air?’

’Is this my punishment?’

’A responsible person needs to be punished when they do wrong, and then they must try harder next time!’

He didn’t forget to shout at the top of his lungs while mid-air: "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister! Xiedi will definitely reflect on his actions!"

"Scram, Wang Xiedi!"

Su Ling’er stomped her feet in a rage.

"Just go to sleep! You’re still thinking about your Jade-faced Mantis girl, aren’t you?"

"Look at you! You couldn’t even save her, and you have the nerve to think about other things?!"

Su Ling’er wanted him to shift his attention away from her immediately. It was better for him to spend his time thinking about the Jade-faced Mantis than to keep pestering her. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Hearing this while flying through the air, Wang Xiedi couldn’t help but feel a surge of sorrow.

’That’s right...’

’Although Senior Sister is back, the Jade-faced Mantis...’

’...is gone forever...’

’I... I had already decided to take responsibility, but I still let her down... Ah—! I’m gonna crash! Aaaah!’

"BANG—!"

With a loud crash, his entire body smashed into his own thatched hut.

He left a clear, human-shaped silhouette on the wall, while he himself was kicked back onto a pile of straw inside the hut and passed out immediately.

The last things that flashed through his mind were the shattered remains of the Jade-faced Mantis, the terrifying old man with pitch-black eyes who was once again visiting him in his dreams, and the true Heart Demon hidden behind it all.

...

Meanwhile, high in the sky, Lin Qingfeng happened to be passing by and witnessed this absurd scene.

"Tsk tsk, that mantis just died and Wang Xiedi is already going after Su Ling’er. What a scumbag!"

"Is that any way to treat the memory of the recently deceased mantis?!"

"My poor junior sister really has it tough."

He stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Maybe I should arrange for a few hundred female Jade-faced Mantises for Wang Xiedi later. Let him take his pick and form a Jade-faced Mantis version of AKB48, or ’Mantis Generation,’ or ’Cosmic Mantis Girls,’ or something."

"By then, he probably won’t have the energy to think about anything else, and his sexual frustration might be somewhat relieved."

He shook his head, paid no more mind to the farce between the two, and flew off on his own toward the Transmission Hall.

...

「Meanwhile, inside Qingxu Temple.」

As the Grievance Beast was busy digesting the Heart-Connected Fruit, the mother fruit before Sect Leader Xuanyuan—the one linked to the Heart-Connected Fruit carried by Wang Xiedi—suddenly flashed with a faint light.

Xuanyuan’s brows furrowed slightly, then a trace of relief appeared on his face.

’It seems...’

’Wang Xiedi... has succeeded!’