Soul Roaming, Entering the Netherworld!

The bright sun hung in the sky for only half a day before heavy snow began to whirl again in the afternoon.

Flakes upon flakes of snow buried the entire Capital beneath a vast blanket of white, covering the corpses frozen or starved to death in roadside ditches, yet unable to bury the laughter and merriment within pavilions and lofty halls.

The winter sun was lazy.

It set early beyond West Mountain.

Chen Mu stood by the window with his hands clasped behind his back, watching the sun sink. Then he turned, went to the bedside, removed his outer garments, and lay down.

He waited quietly for a while longer, until the sun's lingering glow had completely faded.

Chen Mu summoned the system.

He activated Soul Roaming!

Bzzzz!!!

In but an instant, Chen Mu heard a buzzing at his ear. It then thundered through his mind, battering his consciousness until it nearly scattered into pieces.

It felt as though an invisible giant hand had yanked him violently from the bed, brutally hurled him to the ground, then whisked him away in a certain direction.

It sounded complicated, but it had all happened in an instant.

When Chen Mu regained consciousness, the world before him had completely changed. He was no longer in his bedroom, nor in the grand and sprawling Xuanguo Estate, but in a dim, magnificent, boundless world!

Pitch-black mist filled the heavens, blotting out sky and sun. Merely looking up brought a violent palpitation to his heart, as though something incomparably terrifying within it was watching the earth.

Beneath his feet.

The ground was made of handful after handful of Grave Soil, soaked through with dark brown bloodstains!

Those bloodstains stretched all the way to the limits of sight, into the depths of darkness, their origin unknown.

Oppressive, terrifying auras pressed in from every direction. He could even feel waves of resentment filling heaven and earth.

This place,

Seemed to be where every ill omen and terror converged!

"The Netherworld..."

Chen Mu felt his throat go dry.

He looked down at his body and discovered that his whole form was illusory rather than corporeal. A faint layer of white light covered its surface.

Chen Mu could feel that this dim white glow blocked the resentment and pressure coming from outside, isolating him from that terror.

Otherwise,

He had no doubt that in a single instant, his soul and spirit would collapse!

Was this... truly the Netherworld?

Chen Mu raised his head with some difficulty and looked toward the heavens, only to sense horrifying, bizarre gazes descending from the darkness-shrouded sky, as if they were examining him.

Any one of those gazes was enough to destroy him countless times over.

Yet those indescribable terrors could never penetrate the thin, seemingly feeble white light surrounding him.

Chen Mu waited for a while and sensed no change. He quietly let out a breath of relief. At last, he was certain that with the system's protection, he should be safe.

But.

Was this place truly fit for the living?

Suppressing the palpitations in his chest, Chen Mu tried to observe his surroundings. But when he turned his head, it felt as though his heart had been viciously stabbed.

There,

Less than three feet behind him, floated a phantom!

She wore a maidservant's clothes and appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen. Dark blood flowed from all seven orifices, while her pupils gleamed with a miserable white as she hovered there in silence.

A Netherworld Ghost!

Chen Mu's pupils contracted sharply.

Though he now possessed a sorcerer's abilities, this was still his first time seeing a Netherworld Ghost. Coupled with the sheer horror of this place, he could not control the turmoil in his emotions.

But.

Chen Mu quickly calmed down.

Because when he looked carefully, he saw familiar words above the Netherworld Ghost's head.

Cui'er

Origin: Xuanguo Estate

Resentment: She accidentally witnessed the Third Young Master sexually humiliating his uncle's concubine and was hanged to death.

Obsession: Her gravely ill mother and frail younger sister, whom she could not let go of.

The moment the system's description appeared, it immediately diluted that terror completely. It even gave Chen Mu the feeling of being in a horror game, making him feel as though he had entered his home ground.

Looking at the description of her death, Chen Mu frowned slightly.

He remembered that Third Young Master. He was one of Xuanguo Estate's legitimate sons and held an extremely high status.

Of the three legitimate sons in this generation of Xuanguo Estate, the eldest was diligent, keen, and devoted to learning, and had already been posted elsewhere as an official. The second had exceptional talent and outstanding Martial Arts; it was said that he had already become the Kyoto Grand Camp Commandant. Only the third was dissolute and licentious, sowing his seed everywhere without restraint. Even Old Madam indulged him in spreading the family branches and leaves.

Chen Mu retained memories of all these matters as well.

Looking at Cui'er's horrifying corpse-like appearance, Chen Mu no longer felt fear. Only a trace of sighing remained in his heart as he said, "I will ask a physician to treat your mother, and I will care for your younger sister as well."

Cui'er did not respond.

She continued to float there silently.

It was as though she had no self-awareness at all, and only that obsession had kept her from dispersing.

It was also at this moment.

Chen Mu sensed the white light enveloping him growing dimmer and dimmer, like a candle flickering in the wind. The pressure from the darkness around him also became increasingly intense.

Just as he was nearly suffocating, his vision suddenly went black. Another force swept him up and dragged him away in an instant, crossing a distance he could not fathom.

Inside the bedroom.

Chen Mu jolted awake and abruptly sat up in bed.

He looked at his hands. A trace of cold sweat still lingered on his forehead.

"The Netherworld..."

"Cui'er..."

As Chen Mu gradually came back to himself, he slowly lowered his hands and murmured inwardly.

Then he summoned the system interface.

Everything on the system interface remained as usual. He had not gained any new Soul Points; perhaps merely giving his word could not directly dispel the final lingering obsession of "Cui'er."

"Don't worry."

"I will do what I promised."

Chen Mu murmured as he gazed ahead.

Then a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He lay down again and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day.

Chen Mu awoke.

The energy he had expended the previous night had fully recovered, and he felt brimming with vitality.

Just as Chen Mu rose from bed and stretched, the bedroom door was pushed open. Xiao Mei, a maidservant dressed in pale green, walked in.

She carried a tray holding a modest but rather refined breakfast.

"Second Master, it is time for breakfast."

Xiao Mei set the tray on the table and spoke in a cool voice.

Then.

She turned and walked straight out.

Chen Mu watched her departing figure for a moment, then suddenly smiled softly.

In recent years, Xiao Mei had rarely attended to him at his side. Most likely, she devoted all her energy to practicing Martial Arts. Still, she had always brought him his three daily meals on time.

If he occasionally gave an order, she would obey it as well.

As for the other maidservant, Xiao Feng, she had not appeared for several days in a row since he had fainted in fright after encountering a ghost.

Judging from his past memories, she had likely gone to every length to curry favor with some other young master or young miss, hoping to exchange him for another master to serve.

How foolish.

Her own master was not even dead, yet she had run off to flatter other young masters and young misses. In their eyes, she had likely long since been branded as one who fawned on the powerful. What master would want such a servant?

There was no need to concern himself with Xiao Feng at all. As for Xiao Mei... secretly learning Martial Arts—this alone meant Chen Mu already held her lifeline in his grasp.

However.

The current Chen Mu disdained using such methods.

A First Rank Martial Saint commanded respect even from the reigning emperor of Great Yuan. The same was true of a Second Grade Sorcerer; so long as one was willing to enter the Imperial Court, one could wield power over the realm, deciding the life and death of tens of thousands with a single word!

The legendary First Grade Sorcerer, one that had never even existed in legend, was the direction he now pursued. As for maidservants or servants, they were nothing more than dust by the roadside, not worth his attention.