Afterward, as Xing Yan and Qiong Rong followed the Ghost King and his sister toward the Ninefold Nether Capital, they traveled almost entirely in darkness. Whether this was a custom of the ghost realm or the Ghost Mother's way of showing her sincerity, Xing Yan did not know, but neither ruler brought any attendants. On that silent journey, he could tell that the Ghost Mother leading the way must have stored up a heartful of tender words during their long separation. Yet she seemed scrupulously proper, restraining herself before her guests from afar rather than whispering such intimacies to the beloved standing within arm's reach. Seeing this, Xing Yan likewise remained silent, considering this unforeseen turn of events.
They traveled without speaking through the darkness for roughly half an hour before their surroundings began to change. Beneath the icy seawater, glimmers gradually appeared in what had been an unbroken blackness. At Qiong Rong's startled cry, Xing Yan noticed clusters of cold, spectral light drifting up around them, purple or blue, like dandelion seeds blown into the spring air. They shimmered behind him, swaying and floating, their faint radiance painting the dark waterway with hazy color.
When these strange clusters appeared, Yingluo explained that the cloudlike masses of cold light were Yin-Soul Jellyfish, creatures unique to Ghostside's waters. Among the rare luminous beings of the ghost realm, they were used whenever illumination was needed.
By the light of these peculiar jellyfish lanterns, Xing Yan gradually made out the path on either side. Huge, long white bones curved like bows stood in orderly rows, resembling the skeletons of gigantic whales. Their tips met overhead to form a vast corridor of gleaming bone. Walking through this undersea passage, he occasionally looked up and saw the luminous jellyfish drifting slowly beside the tops of