"Li Shimin."
Chen Cuo smiled.
"Greetings, True Person." The sight of that smile made Li Shimin shudder. He raised his hands in an awkward salute and asked cautiously, "Was it you who brought us—brought me here? What place is this?"
"Don't you already know where you are?" Chen Cuo's words carried a pointed meaning.
Li Shimin's face turned abruptly pale, but he steadied his thoughts and cupped his hands. "May I ask why you led me here? Have I done something wrong?" He thought that, although he had kept Great Hua Mountain at a distance these past few years, he had never made trouble over the matter of Li Jiancheng. There should still be room to mend relations between them.
Chen Cuo shook his head. "I didn't bring you here. You arrived on your own. Perhaps something happened in the Mortal Realm."
"I came here myself?" Shock crossed Li Shimin's face, but he did not think Chen Cuo would deceive him about this. "Could my Yang Lifespan have run out, bringing me to the Netherworld?" Whatever his station or depth of composure, when his own life was at stake, he could hardly remain calm.
"I don't know whether your Yang Lifespan has run out, but this is indeed the Netherworld." Chen Cuo watched him with a smile, studying his expression with evident interest, as though waiting to see how Li Shimin would react.
Yet despite showing a flicker of panic, this sovereign of the Mortal World soon regained his composure. "With your abilities, you long ago broke through the bounds of Yin-Yang, life and death, and attained Eternal Longevity. Since you've met me here, surely you won't stand by and watch me perish."
At that, he composed his expression, straightened his robes and crown, and bowed solemnly to Chen Cuo.