Beneath the Earth

Hearing footsteps, Xuan Heng turned toward the mouth of the valley, already on guard. Anyone who could approach the valley entrance without being detected by a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal like him could not possibly be weak.

Yet when Xuan Heng turned and saw the person standing at the valley entrance, he froze.

A woman stood at the entrance, dressed in a simple earthy-yellow gown. Her aura was deep and tranquil. There was no radiance from any spiritual treasure behind her, nor any Dao resonance of a Primordial Spirit, yet as she stood there, the valley's earth qi seemed to have found its home.

Xuan Heng recognized her at a glance. She was Houtu, one of the Ancestor Witches.

Houtu looked at the Xuanqing Immortal Light at Xuan Heng's fingertips, then at the remnant souls in the valley whose tribulation qi Xuan Heng had cleansed. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Fellow Daoist, can you see these remnant souls too?"

Xuan Heng withdrew the Xuanqing Immortal Light and nodded. "Of course I can."

Houtu merely nodded, then walked into the valley. Looking at the scarlet earth beneath her feet, she slowly said, "I have traveled through many places in the Primordial World. There are countless places like this valley, yet I can do nothing."

Xuan Heng nodded but said nothing.

Houtu suddenly raised her head and looked at Xuan Heng with great seriousness. "Since Fellow Daoist can purify these remnant souls, do you know where they should go?"

Xuan Heng's heart jolted at the question. Of course he knew the answer.

Remnant souls should enter the Six Paths of Reincarnation, be judged in the Underworld, and then pass into the Six Paths to be reincarnated. But Xuan Heng could not speak that answer aloud.

After a long silence, Xuan Heng shook his head. "The Primordial World does not yet have a place capable of bearing these remnant souls. They have nowhere to go."

The hope in Houtu's eyes gradually dimmed.

Seeing her expression, Xuan Heng softened his voice. "Heaven and earth have their own ordained course. Since there is life between heaven and earth, they will not have only one road—death."

Houtu looked at him and said nothing more.

Within the desolate valley, the final wisp of a remnant soul dispersed within the azure-blue Immortal Light. Yet neither of them was the first to leave.

After a long while, Houtu finally said in a low voice, "Fellow Daoist Xuan Heng, I want to go see other places."

Xuan Heng gazed beyond the desolate valley. The Primordial World was vast, and this valley was far from the only place where the dead had nowhere to return.

Xuan Heng nodded.

"Mm. I too am traveling through the Primordial World. Fellow Daoist Houtu, let us travel together for a while."

Xuan Heng and Houtu left the desolate valley and continued southward.

The Primordial World was vast, with mountains and rivers stretching without end, and places rich in spiritual qi everywhere. Yet the farther they went, the more Xuan Heng could sense that beneath the flourishing surface lay many heavy things.

The Dragon-Phoenix Calamity had ended long ago, and the three races had long since stepped down from their place as protagonists of the Primordial World. Yet the scars left by that great calamity had not completely vanished.

Houtu remained silent throughout the journey. Whenever they came upon a place haunted by dead souls, she would gently crouch down, press her palm close to the earth, and use the power of the land to soothe those souls with nowhere to go.

At her side, Xuan Heng used the Xuanqing Immortal Light to wash away their tribulation qi. Whenever the blue Immortal Light descended, the Sha Qi clinging to the remnant souls would slowly disperse.

Some dead souls could briefly regain clarity, while others had long since shattered beyond recognition and could only slowly dissolve into heaven and earth within the cleansing light.

After an unknown length of time, Xuan Heng and Houtu stopped before a broken river.

There was no aura of any great race here, only the lingering panic of a weak tribe's migration. Xuan Heng picked up a fragment of bone from the riverbed. It still bore traces of erosion by demonic qi.

Houtu glanced at it and said softly, "These remnant souls did not even possess cultivation."

Xuan Heng nodded. "That is why even their remnant souls were incomplete after death."

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept over the broken river. Wisps of gray-white aura drifted above the water. These remnant souls had long lost their original forms; it was impossible to tell who was who.

Houtu crouched down and pressed her palm against the riverbed.

Earth qi seeped downward bit by bit. The gray-white auras drifted toward her, like creatures exhausted to the very limit finally finding a rock upon which they could rest.

Houtu asked, "Do they still count as souls?"

Xuan Heng did not answer. He merely silently used the Xuanqing Immortal Light to help them purify the lingering tribulation qi of the great calamity. As the Xuanqing Immortal Light cleansed them, the gray-white auras within the riverbed grew much quieter, until all of them silently sank into the earth veins.

"Alas. In the Primordial World, even the strong can struggle a little after death. But when the weak die, they have nothing at all." Houtu slowly rose to her feet and looked at the now-purified river channel.

Xuan Heng did not respond. The two continued south, and along the way Houtu encountered even more dead souls.

There were beast souls left behind after being devoured by ferocious beasts, spirits of small tribes killed in the aftermath of Demon Race conflicts, and battle intent from Witch Clan members that refused to disperse after death.

When Houtu saw the lingering will of the Witch Clan, she stood there for a long time. It belonged to a young Witch Clan warrior. His body had long been shattered, leaving only a trace of battle intent clinging to a broken stone spear. He had no Primordial Spirit, and after death could not even form a soul shadow. Yet that sliver of battle intent still refused to fade, trying again and again to raise the stone spear that had long been broken.

Several more years passed before Xuan Heng and Houtu arrived at a place of extreme yin. There was little vegetation here, the sky remained overcast all year round, and countless fine cracks covered the ground, endlessly exhaling icy cold air.

A great number of remnant souls were drawn in by the yin qi and gathered near the cracks in the earth. They tried to burrow underground, only to be swiftly ripped back out by the yin qi within the fissures.

Seeing this, Houtu's brows furrowed slightly. "They want to go down."

Xuan Heng nodded. "Underground, they can hide from the sunlight and catch their breath for a time, so they will not suffer so much."

Houtu said nothing further. Instead, she walked directly to the fissure, stretched out her hand, and sent a thread of heavy earth qi sinking down through the crack.

A low echo rose from underground. The sound was muddled, like weeping, and like the final breath of countless creatures before death. Houtu closed her eyes and carefully sensed the movements beneath the earth. Only after a long time did she open them again.

Houtu looked at the remnant souls gathered beside the fissure. Her voice was soft, yet clearer than anything she had said before.

"There are stars in the heavens and mountains and rivers upon the earth. Every living creature has a place to dwell."

"Then the dead should also have a place."

Xuan Heng's heart shook. The instant those words left her lips, he keenly sensed the surrounding earth veins tremble.

After speaking, even Houtu herself went blank. Her gaze instantly turned dazed. The thought seemed like a sudden whim, yet also like something that had long taken root in her heart, merely waiting for the right moment to emerge.

Xuan Heng truly wanted to speak the word "reincarnation" outright. But just as he tried to open his mouth, he discovered that no matter what he did, he could not make a sound. In the end, he could only say helplessly, "If such a place truly existed, then the creatures who died in the Primordial World would not remain trapped upon the earth forever, suffering endless pain every moment."