We Don't Have Children Yet

I don't know how much time passed.

Holding Lingzhou Yue, Xiao Ran traversed the extremely distorted Wraith Barrier space, slid from the snow-capped mountain to its foot, drifted from the stream into the lake, and arrived in Hell from the human world.

Flamefree City.

A quiet, unassuming alleyway.

Suddenly, a cloud of black mist appeared in the center of the alley.

The black fog slowly dissipated.

Two figures appeared in the spot.

Are there cultivators coming?

Upon closer inspection, passersby noticed that the newcomers were a man and a woman, both dressed in the special disciple robes of Zongzhi Mountain.

Both their figures and appearances were remarkable, especially the woman, who was elegant and graceful, shining like a fairy in the world.

"I thought we'd never reach that point..."

Lingzhou Yue stretched languidly, her taut body revealing her voluptuous charm. Her delicate and full features were fair with a slight blush, her beauty breathtaking and radiant, like a flower that had been nurtured for a thousand years to bloom.

In contrast, Xiao Ran...

There really isn't a single drop left.

He quickly took the pills, and it wasn't until the tenth pill that he absorbed the Spiritual Power and medicinal power of one pill.

The remaining nine were all absorbed by the surrounding mist.

There's nothing we can do; this is inside the Great Underworld, and cultivators who live off Spiritual Power are lucky to be alive for the time being.

Fortunately, Xiao Ran's Cultivation Level low, and his Martial Aunt Yinyue's pills were potent enough that absorbing just one was enough to restore his strength.

She looked like she had been inflated, and her complexion had improved a lot.

However, there was still a faint eyeshadow mark under my eyes, and my waist felt slightly sore.

"How many days have passed?"

After stretching, Lingzhou Yue drank to express her determination, as was her custom.

"If there is still time, it should be noon on the fifth day now."

Xiao Ran looked around.

There were hardly any people in the alley.

Apart from the extremely thin Wraith Fog floating in the air, the atmosphere was no different from usual.

Because within the Great Underworld, the sun is no longer present.

It glows by its own light from a thin, hazy Wraith Fog, appearing gray and indistinguishable between day and night.

After a while, you can't even distinguish between dreams and reality.

Unlike the eerie Gray Mist of Little Mist, this is a fog that makes you feel very comfortable, yet subtly drains your strength.

Aside from being slightly addicted and experiencing drowsiness, most people don't feel anything particularly special.

The cultivator felt goosebumps all over his body and a dizzy feeling as if he had lost too much blood because his Spiritual Power was dissipating too quickly.

"Has it been four days already?"

Lingzhou Yue continued drinking, her clear eyes as still as water, her expression slightly somber.

"Sorry, the journey took too long, and I couldn't let you see hell."

Xiao Ran looked around.

Some shops were looted, some houses were burned down, some bodies lay mangled and scattered everywhere, some were raped and their remains dumped...

Having lived in the Mortal Realm for three years, the most terrifying scene Xiao Ran had ever witnessed was the Wraith eating people.

In the underworld, the Great Underworld uses the Wraith Fog to digest human beings, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water, which doesn't seem so terrifying.

Cannibalism is truly terrifying.

"Even without seeing hell, you can imagine it."

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Xiao Ran composed himself and strode towards the main street along the alley.

Lingzhou Yue followed, carrying a wine pot, and said with some comfort:

"Fortunately, mortals have several months to a few years to live. After the initial madness, most people will calm down."

As Lingzhou Yue said, the most terrifying time has passed.

After the initial, most ferocious storm, most of the survivors kept their doors and windows tightly shut, chanting Buddhist scriptures at home, and occasionally the soft sobbing of children could be heard.

In the Dharma Ending Era, mortals have gained some understanding of the Underworld. Although they know they won't die immediately, the Dao Alliance simply doesn't have the power to save everyone, let alone the sects.

Someone has calculated it.

In the underworld, rescuing a mortal usually requires twice the Spiritual Power of a Qi Refining cultivator, and also carries the risk of death.

In the Dharma Ending Era, out of ten thousand ordinary people, not even one would become Qi Refining Refiner...

Therefore, most people accept their fate.

As Xiao Ran and Lingzhou Yue walked through the alley, the mortals they encountered stared at them blankly, their eyes vacant and wooden. Few people hysterically begged the immortals for help.

However, as the two got closer to the main street, more and more people came into the alley, and some people actually came to try their luck and ask the two for help.

Some say their ancestors left behind treasures, some say their family owns a mine of Spirit Stone, and others say their wives and daughters are very beautiful...

One particularly gaunt and haggard couple caught Xiao Ran's attention.

The couple waved and called out to Xiao Ran and his companion from a dark alleyway.

"Immortal, please wait."

The woman approached, her face alert, and calmly asked Xiao Ran and the other person.

"Do the two immortals have children?"

Xiao Ran:

"?"

Lingzhou Yue almost spat out her wine, but seeing Xiao Ran's bewildered expression, she suppressed a laugh and took another sip.

He deliberately put his arm around Xiao Ran's shoulder and said, "You don't have children yet, what do you want?"

What do you mean you don't have children yet? Xiao Ran was speechless and too lazy to explain.

However, due to their advanced age and varying physical conditions, not every Dao Companion cultivators can have children.

The woman said, "If you two don't have children yet, my family has quintuplets of girls. You don't need to worry about us. We just ask that you take the children out and give them some food. We'll do anything for you."

The man, in the corner, lifted the burlap sack.

Five little girls, all only three or four years old, were huddled inside. Their faces were bruised and swollen, and the bloodstains hadn't been cleaned off yet.

Upon seeing Xiao Ran and his companion, all five of them instinctively trembled with fear and remained silent.

Xiao Ran's heart clenched instantly.

He knew that children are most mischievous when they are three or four years old, and they can't sit still all day long...

To prevent their child from running around and shouting and being discovered by bad people, the couple frequently beat and even threatened their child at home.

The couple understood that it was better for their child to be beaten and driven to a mental breakdown than to lose his life.

After a long pause, Xiao Ran finally spoke to the couple:

"Take good care of the children. We are Direct Disciple from Zongzhi Mountain, and we will find a way to save everyone."

The couple's faces immediately darkened, their hearts turned cold, and they quickly gathered up their five children, hiding them securely and leaving.

Clearly, they had heard this impossible rhetoric many times before.

Xiao Ran stood blankly at the alley entrance, unable to catch his breath.

He had long heard rumors circulating about people eating children to cultivate themselves.

In peacetime, nobody is really crazy enough to believe such a thing.

But in the underworld, even if you don't believe the rumors, it doesn't stop you from giving it a try...

Having witnessed far more horrific hells, Lingzhou Yue was no longer moved by such childish tales.

He could understand Xiao Ran's reaction and comforted him, saying, "The Netherworld is a distorted little world. People have too much time before they die. Those who can think things through are fine, but those who can't and go to extremes are everywhere. Anything can happen... Fortunately, we didn't see any high-level cultivators above the Foundation Establishment in the city. Otherwise, they would have gone on a killing spree before they died. Some might even have used seals to refine living beings, causing bloodshed and devastation."

Xiao Ran nodded.

I thought to myself, no wonder Master always had a sense of decadence and debauchery towards this world, it turns out he had seen too much hell.

Human nature cannot withstand challenges.

The two continued walking forward.

Xiao Ran kept frowning, feeling that something was wrong.

Without needing to use his Spiritual Power, he could sense with his first-level Art of Resonance that there were many cultivators around, most of whom were enjoying themselves in taverns and brothels, and very few were actually out there rescuing people.

Have all the people on the Dao Alliance's list been saved?

Why are there still so many cultivators lingering here?

Why did everyone else arrive so early, while he and his Master were delayed for so long? Was someone intentionally delaying them to test them, or was it simply...?

Did I not grab Master's waist?

Arrive at the main street.

The streets were littered with starving corpses and mangled bodies, a scene of utter devastation.

However, the taverns, gambling dens, and brothels were overflowing with people, living a life of debauchery.

The legal system of Flamefree City has collapsed, and its economic system is on the verge of collapse as well.

Having power and money is useless; in the end, strength reigns supreme.

For example, military experts at the Body Tempering Realm, free hunters from elsewhere, or low-level cultivators who were originally living in seclusion or just passing through can enjoy pleasures in the Netherworld that they cannot experience outside.

However, with the arrival of the Wraith Hunter from the Dao Alliance Headquarters, many cultivators in the Netherworld have been keeping a low profile, making money and having fun, and dare not go too far.

This is common sense.

However, Xiao Ran saw a yellow-robed cultivator at the Qi Refining Realm forcibly abducting women from house to house and robbing gold and valuables from shop to shop, killing anyone who refused.

Not just this one person, but the entire main street was filled with chaotic screams and sounds of smashing and looting.

Something's not right!

The listless, yellow-robed cultivator, who had just grabbed a young girl who hadn't yet fully grown up, instantly lost all his drunken and lewd aura upon seeing Xiao Ran and the other two, and abruptly released the girl.

Although he was unsure of their exact identities, they were definitely disciples of Zongzhi Mountain.

Blazing Fire Kingdom is a Zongzhi Mountain. In theory, the disciples of Zongzhi Mountain have the obligation to protect the people of the vassal state.

As fellow Qi Refining, the yellow-robed cultivator was facing two opponents, both of whom were disciples of prestigious sects. Realizing he was in trouble, he quickly took out Spirit Stone and offered them to them with both hands.

"Junior Yellow Wind Valley Fu Yuezi greets the two seniors. Here are ten Spirit Stone as a token of my appreciation."

Xiao Ran said in a deep voice, "Flamefree City is located at the foot of Zongzhi Mountain, and there are Dao Alliance 'Wraith Hunter there. How dare you do such a thing?"

"You two just arrived, right?"

"How?"

The yellow-robed monk hurriedly explained:

"It's been almost five days. The Dao Alliance's Wraith Hunter are either dead or missing. They're all gone... This Netherworld is a trap. No matter which direction you go, you'll end up back where you started... We've all been fooled. No one can get out!"

Is everyone trapped and unable to leave?

No wonder there are so many cultivators in the city! Is it Little Mist and the Primate who are behind this?

The situation was urgent, and Xiao Ran didn't have time to think much.

With a single sword strike, he cleaved the yellow-robed cultivator's head in two and then ripped out the flesh from his Dantian.

"Since we can't get out, I'll take your life now."

He then shouldered his sword, the tip of which was adorned with a human head and belly flesh, and strode toward the palace.

Blood splattered all over the ground behind him...

Lingzhou Yue, holding the wine pot suspended in mid-air, was stunned and almost didn't react.

She roughly understood Xiao Ran's intentions, but she didn't expect that this guy would kill people like cutting grass, without even saying a word, and just raise his sword to cut off their heads.

No wonder he dared to touch my body on my very first day at Sword-Wielding Mountain! You know, so many men have died before they even touched her. That day was the first time in a thousand years that a man had touched her body.

What she didn't know was... that this was also Xiao Ran's first time killing someone.