Chapter 1401: Forget Each Other in the Jianghu

The moonlight was bright, and the stars shone brilliantly, draping the entire Yao Chi Xian Shan in a dazzling veil.

On Shen Nü Feng, Ji Ning Shuang continued her graceful dance, her white robes fluttering like delicate snowflakes in the sky, creating a dreamlike beauty. Her gentle smile was even more captivating than her movements.

As the final flourish faded, she gathered her jade sash and, like an innocent young girl, blinked her watery eyes. "Was my dance beautiful?"

"Yao Chi Shen Nü's dance is always beautiful." Ye Chen smiled faintly, his voice carrying a hint of weariness.

"Why do you always look at me with such a strange expression?" Ji Ning Shuang rested her chin on her hands, her clear eyes rippling with enchanting waves. "You seem to hide so many stories."

"Stories are meant for future generations." Ye Chen gave a weary smile and gently raised his hand, intending to retrieve the memory immortal light from her divine sea. But he paused midway, and after a second or two, lowered it again, deciding it was best to let things unfold naturally.

"It must be a very long story." Ji Ning Shuang smiled softly, her expression slightly dazed, and she couldn't help but want to lift her jade hand to brush away the fatigue and weariness on his face.

"Help! Help!" The beautiful scene was abruptly shattered by an untimely shout.

Ye Chen and Ji Ning Shuang both turned instinctively to see Qi Wang stumbling toward them, his face bruised and swollen, his once-elegant robes now in complete disarray.

Behind him, three or five Yao Chi fairies gave chase, each holding an immortal sword, their eyes flashing with anger. Strands of their hair were still damp, as if they had just bathed.

Ye Chen instinctively rubbed his forehead. He didn't need to ask to know what had happened—Qi Wang must have sneaked a peek at them bathing and gotten caught red-handed.

Ji Ning Shuang could see it too, and she suddenly felt an urge to teach him a lesson.

By then, Qi Wang had scrambled over and hidden behind Ye Chen.

Ye Chen didn't hesitate and slapped him across the face. Qi Wang, who hadn't even caught his breath, was stunned on the spot and then tossed in front of the fairies.

The fairies pounced on him. Their anger was so intense that they forgot to bow to the Shen Nü, surrounding Qi Wang for a thorough beating. They even pulled a few undergarments from his embrace.

"Damn, I have to admire you." Ye Chen couldn't help but cover his forehead. Not only had he peeked, but he'd also stolen undergarments. And if he was going to steal, couldn't he have run faster? How embarrassing.

The fairies retrieved their undergarments and then blushed as they bowed to Ji Ning Shuang. "We greet the Shen Nü." If not for Qi Wang being an old friend of the Shen Nü, they would have struck him down with their swords on the spot. They'd never seen anyone so shameless.

"Go back and rest." Ji Ning Shuang coughed awkwardly, feeling embarrassed even as the Shen Nü.

"We bid farewell." The fairies turned and left, not forgetting to glare fiercely at the sprawled Qi Wang before departing. They all felt like giving him a few more kicks.

Compared to Qi Wang, their gazes toward Ye Chen were full of admiration. If it had been the Huang Gu Sheng Ti peeking at them, they might have just smiled shyly. After all, beautiful women always admire heroes.

Ye Chen stood up, stuffed Qi Wang into the Hun Dun Shen Ding, and put on the Gui Ming face mask. "I should be on my way. Thank you for the hospitality at Yao Chi. The peaches were delicious."

"Will we meet again?" As Ye Chen prepared to leave, Ji Ning Shuang lowered her watery eyes, biting her lip lightly, her jade hands clenched tightly. In that moment, she seemed less like the radiant Yao Chi Shen Nü and more like an ordinary woman caught in forbidden feelings.

"The past is too painful. It's better if we xiang wang jiang hu." Ye Chen didn't turn back, walking away step by step, waving his hand lightly over his shoulder. His silhouette was desolate, and his voice was hoarse with weariness.

"Xiang wang jiang hu." Ji Ning Shuang murmured softly, lifting her eyes to stare blankly at his fading figure. It blurred in her vision, and her heart felt an unprecedented emptiness.

"In the end, he's just a passing traveler in the dust of life." A ethereal voice echoed as Yao Chi Xian Mu appeared at her side, gently dispelling the mist from her eyes.

"One day, I'll follow in his footsteps." Ji Ning Shuang smiled lightly and turned away, transforming into a strand of immortal light that entered a cave dwelling. She sealed the entrance and entered secluded cultivation.

"You sly Huang Gu Sheng Ti, I shouldn't have let you in." Yao Chi Xian Mu rubbed her forehead. It was the first time she'd seen her Shen Nü so disheartened, all because of him.

"We greet the Xian Mu." The reincarnated individuals emerged from the pavilion and bowed respectfully.

Yao Chi Xian Mu collected her thoughts and waved her hand gently. Glancing inadvertently, she noticed the tear stains at the corners of the reincarnated individuals' eyes, which surprised her. "You've been crying?"

"We inform the Xian Mu, we plan to descend the mountain for training." The reincarnated individuals bowed again. Now that their memories had returned, they couldn't ignore their past ties. Ye Chen had left them jade slips sealed with memory immortal light, and they were setting out to find their loved ones from their previous lives.

"The world is full of dangers, so take good care of yourselves." Yao Chi Xian Mu smiled warmly and waved her hand, releasing wisps of immortal light that merged into their bodies—a supreme protective secret art.

"Thank you, Xian Mu." The group turned to leave, wiping away tears from their eyes as they went.

"What's going on here?" Watching their departing figures, Yao Chi Xian Mu felt a strange sensation. The Shen Nü had entered seclusion in disappointment, and now her disciples were leaving in tears.

With a sigh, she turned and vanished, leaving behind the serene Shen Nü Feng.

Under the moonlight, Ye Chen headed north, crossing a vast plain and landing in an ancient city. This was the closest city to Yao Chi and the largest within millions of li.

The ancient city was bustling, even at night, with crowds filling the streets and vendors calling out endlessly, exuding an air of prosperity.

As soon as Ye Chen entered the city, he heard waves of discussions. Mostly from the street-side taverns, where some loudmouths, flushed from drink, were spitting as they talked.

"Yesterday's event at Yao Chi Holy Land was quite the spectacle!"

"I heard the Yuan Gu Jiu Zu were all there, along with the Feng Huang clan and many major forces from Dong Huang. The god children and goddesses were like a galaxy of stars." Someone sighed in admiration. "And there were at least twenty Zhun Di level cultivators, including the youngest Zhun Di, who was there yesterday."

"The real highlight was what happened at the gathering." Many people grinned. "The Huang Gu Sheng Ti took on four god children from the Yuan Gu Jiu Zu single-handedly and even crippled the Feng Huang god child."

"I can't believe there's still a Sheng Ti lineage in this world, and he's an old friend of the Yao Chi Shen Nü." The elders stroked their beards and clicked their tongues. "Their strengths are evenly matched—quite a perfect pair."

"Looks like I'm famous again." Ye Chen chuckled, turned, and slipped into a miscellaneous shop. A few seconds later, he emerged, dragging a sharp-featured old man with him.

"Who the hell are you?" The old man was bewildered, sizing up the masked Ye Chen. He'd just stepped into the shop and was now being hauled out.

"Fellow countryman." Ye Chen replied casually, then stuffed the old man into the Hun Dun Shen Ding. This fellow was a reincarnated person from Da Chu, originally from Black Dragon Island. During the Xuan character generation's great competition among the three sects, he'd gone with Wu San Pao to the Heavenly Court headquarters, and Ye Chen remembered him well.

"You bastard, kidnapping in broad daylight?" The old man was furious, howling inside the cauldron. He was a Zhun Sheng, after all, and this was humiliating.

"Quiet down." Ye Chen summoned the memory immortal light and then headed straight for the city center.

Soon, wails and howls echoed from the cauldron as the old man clutched his head and rolled on the ground. In his agonized roars, his memories from his previous life slowly unlocked.

What followed were sobs. The old man wept bitterly, tears streaming down his face. Two hundred years was too long, and the past and present lives were too ethereal, filled with the passage of time.

Ye Chen just smiled in response and used the ancient city's teleportation array to appear in a vast mountain range.

Without stopping, he continued on his journey, dust-strewn and alone.

Days turned into nights, and time cycled on.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

In that half month, he had visited over a hundred ancient cities and traveled across ninety million li of land.

His harvest was decent—he found nearly a thousand reincarnated people, each living out various lives: bandits, death row prisoners, god children, goddesses, sect elders, tea shop owners, storekeepers. Each had their own story.

Regrettably, among those he found, none were the ones he knew well.

There were still so many souls from the ninety million of Da Chu unaccounted for, like Chu Xuan Er and Chu Ling Er, Hu Wa and Xi Yan, Zi Xuan and Long Ye, Dao Huang and Du Gu Ao.

On the vast earth, he pressed on in solitude.

Gazing at the stars above, there were many others like him.

They were all reincarnated people, wandering like travelers in the worldly dust, searching for their old kin in isolation.

It was another quiet night when he stopped at the peak of a mountain, quietly gazing into the distance.

Far away lay a sea of fire, a black sea that gave off an eerie chill. Gusts of Yin Feng carried the howls of vengeful spirits, as if it had consumed countless innocent lives. Every wisp of black flame bore an aura of annihilation, distorting the surrounding heavens and earth.

It was immense, seemingly boundless, desolate and sinister, its ancient presence having witnessed countless changes through the ages. It hid obscure secrets that were impossible to fathom.

Instinctively, Ye Chen activated his protective force and narrowed his eyes at the sea of fire. It was as if he could peer through the darkness to see fragments within—nothing but ashes of destruction. The area beyond the fire for over ten li was barren, reduced to scorched earth.

"Damn it, have you stared enough?" Qi Wang shivered and huddled up.

"What's that place?" Ye Chen asked.

"A forbidden zone," Qi Wang cursed.

"Is that Tian Xu?"

"Tian Xu my ass, that's the Purgatory." Qi Wang replied. "The Tian Xu you mean is in Zhong Zhou. This one in Dong Huang is the Purgatory. Then there's Huang Quan in Bei Yue, Wang Chuan in Xi Mo, and Ming Tu in Nan Yu. These are the five great forbidden zones of the Xuan Huang Continent, each one a deadly menace."

"To be mentioned alongside Tian Xu, this Purgatory must be no joke." Ye Chen murmured to himself. Such a perilous place would likely make it hard even for a Jian Shen to escape unscathed.

"Forbidden zones aren't for fooling around." Qi Wang shuddered again. "But there was once a madman who stirred up trouble in a forbidden zone and came out alive and kicking."