Me, Go to the Underworld?

"Do you think Senior Huang's boyfriend will receive her letter?"

"Yes, definitely, I swear!" Li Yichen was on the verge of tears. "Please, my lady, you've asked me eight hundred times already."

"You..." Ouyang Xuanxuan immediately bristled. "You're getting sick of me, aren't you?"

"No, I swear to heaven, absolutely not." Li Yichen had finally gotten a taste of how a woman's mind worked. He really couldn't keep up; one careless step and he fell right into a trap.

"That's more like it." Ouyang Xuanxuan smiled triumphantly, but then her expression turned forlorn. She glanced up at Li Yichen and bit her lip. "Tell me... if one day..."

"I'm only saying if, so don't get the wrong idea..." Ouyang Xuanxuan said bashfully. "If I died one day, would you be sad? Would you forget me quickly?" As she spoke, she slowly lowered her head, not daring to look at Li Yichen.

"I wouldn't be sad," Li Yichen said softly.

"You..." Ouyang Xuanxuan's head shot up. Her eyes were a little red, filled with disbelief, and her heart ached. "So fairy tales really are all lies."

Then she heard Li Yichen continue, "Because I'd never let that happen in the first place. Even if Black and White Impermanence took you away, I'd snatch you back from the Underworld."

Ouyang Xuanxuan's heart gave a sudden leap, and her eyes immediately lit up. Staring at him, she asked, "Do you mean that?"

"I swear." Li Yichen solemnly raised three fingers.

"Mm." Ouyang Xuanxuan suddenly brightened. Her tearful eyes curved into crescents, with a teardrop still hanging at one corner.

"Pinky promise." Ouyang Xuanxuan suddenly held out her soft, pale little finger.

Li Yichen couldn't help smiling. He held out his own little finger and hooked it around hers. "Pinky promise, sealed tight, no changing it for a hundred years."

Their fingers reluctantly parted. "Li Yichen, I'm heading back now." With that, she slowly turned and walked toward her dorm.

"Wait," Li Yichen suddenly called.

He called me... Ouyang Xuanxuan stopped, torn, her palms beginning to sweat. He's not going to ask me to get a hotel room with him, is he? I... I haven't even agreed to be his girlfriend yet.

Ouyang Xuanxuan slowly turned around, her gaze wavering. "Hehe... um... did you need something else?"

Li Yichen walked up to her, looked down at her, and reached out his right hand.

She instinctively wanted to dodge, but in the end she stayed still. She could even hear her own heartbeat.

Li Yichen wiped the corner of her eye. "Wipe away those tears. If your roommates see them, they'll think I bullied you."

"Hmph! Li Yichen, you're a complete idiot!" Ouyang Xuanxuan suddenly stamped hard on his foot in annoyance, then turned and ran into the dorm building.

"Ow... what's gotten into that girl now?" Li Yichen muttered through a grimace. Caught off guard, he had actually felt the sting.

When he returned to his dorm building, he happened to see the old caretaker locking the door.

"Hey, sir, wait for me!" Li Yichen shouted as he ran.

Sure enough, the old man was still the boss. He completely ignored Li Yichen, locked the door, and went back inside.

"Fuck." Li Yichen was furious. "Why does this crap always happen to me?"

"So you won't let me back in? Fine, then I won't go back." Li Yichen thought for a moment, then vanished into the night with a flicker.

Whoosh... On the road from Jinling University to the White Temple, a shadow swept past like a gust of wind.

A passenger in the back of a taxi saw a shadow flash past the window and cried out, "Driver, did someone just go past us?"

The taxi driver put down the cup in his hand, glanced outside, and said casually, "There's nothing there. Were your eyes playing tricks on you?"

Ten minutes later, a sharp whoosh cut through the air above the White Temple, and Li Yichen appeared in its plaza.

With a thought, the glowing seal of a Communication Talisman appeared once again.

"Hello, Seventh Master, Eighth Master, are you there? I need your help with something." Li Yichen felt as though he were making an international call.

Then... nothing.

Li Yichen held out his palm, staring unblinkingly at the flickering Communication Talisman seal until he nearly fell asleep.

"What's going on? They came so quickly last time, but there's not a peep this time." Li Yichen couldn't help curling his lip. "Don't tell me a Maoshan Taoist captured them?"

Just then, the Communication Talisman seal finally stirred, and White Impermanence's voice came through. "What a thrill! This is absolutely thrilling..."

"What's thrilling?" Li Yichen frowned. That remark out of nowhere left him bewildered, and it sounded very noisy on the other end.

"Hello? Sorry, Yichen, my boy. What did you need us for? It was too loud just now, so I didn't catch it." White Impermanence's words only made Li Yichen more curious.

"Um, Seventh Master, what are you doing?" Li Yichen couldn't resist asking. "It sounds really noisy."

"The Underworld is holding its very first Underworld Sports Car Race. It's absolutely thrilling!" White Impermanence sounded excited.

"Huh?" Li Yichen thought the Underworld really was keeping up with the times. They even had car racing now.

So he asked curiously, "You have sports cars in the Underworld?"

"Of course," White Impermanence said matter-of-factly. "The Underworld is a reflection of the mortal world. Whatever the mortal world has, the Underworld has too."

Just then, Black Impermanence's complaining voice came from the other end. "People reporting in these days bring all the latest things from the mortal world, like sports cars, computers, and all that modern stuff. Meanwhile, old ghosts like us are still fucking riding horses and using broadswords and spears. Just looking at it pisses me off."

"Hehe, well... maybe you two will get some too." Listening to his complaints, Li Yichen actually felt a little sorry for him.

But it made sense when he thought about it. Back in their day, when someone died, burying a few bowls or clay pots with them and burning some paper carriages and horses was already considered pretty good.

But now? Sports cars, villas, even planes, tanks, and cannons were all available. No wonder those old ghosts were green with envy.

"Yichen, my boy, did you need something from us? You didn't call just to listen to us complain, did you?" Once Black Impermanence had finished venting, White Impermanence continued his questioning.

Only then did Li Yichen remember why he had called. He said directly, "I was hoping you two could help me again by bringing someone up for a visit. There are some things I want to show him."

He then briefly explained what had happened with Zhou Tingting.

The other end went silent for a few seconds before a voice replied, "Yichen, my boy, it's not that we don't want to help. It's just that the racing event will run for several days, and neither of us has the time."

Before Li Yichen could speak, the voice continued, "How about this? Tomorrow, we'll open a Spatial Gate for you, and you can come to the Underworld yourself."

"Me... go to the Underworld?" Li Yichen was stunned. Was that a place ordinary people could visit?