When Black Emperor appeared, the black mist behind him rapidly contracted and vanished.
Everything around us returned to calm at that moment.
When Black Emperor said that,
all of us looked delighted.
"Black Emperor, you finally came back."
"Immortal Black Emperor, you weren't hurt, were you? This time, I made a mistake. I'm sorry."
My master and I spoke in turn.
Black Emperor had already transformed into the form of an ordinary black dog.
After hearing what my master and I said, he shook his head and said to my master,
"Taoist Song, you can't be blamed for this. Your blood is too special, too strongly yang. You should have a fate aligned with extreme yang, right?
"With a fate like yours, your blood wards off evil and demons in the world of the living.
"But once you're on the Nether Road, it becomes a delicacy. Every ghost will want to take a bite out of you.
"Still, it was nothing. It just took a little extra effort. I'm fine."
Black Emperor spoke with a trace of pride, looking utterly smug.
But when it came to traveling the Nether Road, Black Emperor truly had every right to be smug.
Hearing that Black Emperor was fine, we all breathed a sigh of relief.
Then we continued asking,
"Black Emperor, that Thousand-Legged Worm you went to hold off at the end—what exactly was that thing?
"When we were hiding earlier, was that red liquid its saliva?"
I thought of a centipede. After all, only centipedes had that many legs.
But we had not seen its true form, so we still had to ask Black Emperor to confirm it.
Upon hearing this, my master also pricked up his ears.
Having never traveled the Nether Road, he knew far too little about that place.