Remnant Soul

Xiao Yan felt himself sink into a hazy state. Time seemed to stretch on forever, yet it also felt as though only an instant had passed.

He drifted through nothingness, then abruptly jolted awake.

The world brightened in an instant. Before him lay an endless road, where countless souls stood in a line that seemed to stretch beyond sight.

There was nowhere to escape, for blank nothingness lay on either side of the road.

So this is Yellow Springs Road? Understanding dawned on Xiao Yan, and he joined the long procession of souls of his own accord. Not that he seemed to have any other choice.

The line moved slowly forward. After an unknown length of time, he finally reached the end of the road.

Two enormous deities stood before a towering gateway. They had human bodies and beastly faces: one bore a ferocious ox's head, the other an ugly horse's head. Their enormous fangs looked capable of swallowing heaven and devouring earth. They were figures straight out of myth.

"So these are Ox-Head and Horse-Face?" Xiao Yan murmured, then gave a bitter smile.

Although he had transmigrated to the Dou Qi Continent, this was his first time witnessing anything like this.

Perhaps my memories of this were erased last time? That would be perfectly normal. Why would deities like these allow me to remember what they looked like?

Xiao Yan continued forward, entering the Netherworld.

While Xiao Yan marveled at the imposing grandeur of Ox-Head and Horse-Face guarding the Netherworld, the two were communicating through their spiritual senses.

"So this is the Corpse Mountain and Blood Sea the clan leader constructed? Hehehe, Mo Yu, the Horse-Face you transformed into with that secret technique is truly hideous."

"Qiu Di, surely you don't think the Ox-Head you transformed into looks any better?"

"Still, I have to admit that Lord Void's Secret Art is truly miraculous. I heard the elders in the clan say that Lord Void himself can transform into a demonic god hundreds of zhang tall. This must be a high-level Heaven-tier Dou Technique, the kind that only appears in legends!"

"That isn't something we can fathom. Xiao Yan is about to enter the Hall of Yama. Now we'll see how the hall master performs as the Judge of the Underworld."

Clearly, Ox-Head and Horse-Face were none other than the Hall of Souls' Eighth Heavenly Venerate, Qiu Di, and Ninth Heavenly Venerate, Mo Yu, transformed through the Nihility Devouring Flame's Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation Secret Art.

Following the crowd, Xiao Yan entered a great hall. It was so magnificent that its boundaries were beyond sight, yet there was only one deity inside.

It was a deity who resembled a judge.

The souls who had entered the hall ahead of Xiao Yan suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving him alone in the vast hall, gazing up at the enormous judge.

Xiao Yan silently swallowed. He understood that this had to be the Judge of the Underworld.

He would weigh the merits and sins of Xiao Yan's life, then decide how he would be reincarnated.

Was it all going to end just like this? Xiao Yan could not accept it. He had finally been given another life, yet he still had so many regrets.

He had yet to fulfill the Three-Year Agreement and wash away his past humiliation;

He had yet to become his father's pride and his clan's glory;

He had yet to confess his love to Xiao Xun'er and give the woman who had never abandoned him a wonderful future;

He had yet to help Yao Lao reconstruct his physical body and make good on his grand boast;

He had yet to...

At the end of that long flood of memories, another figure appeared in Xiao Yan's mind: Xiao Yi Xian.

He had yet to discover whether the stirring in his heart that night had been real.

There were too many regrets. Perhaps that was simply life.

"We meet again." The judge spoke slowly, pulling Xiao Yan back from his tangled thoughts.

"Again?" Xiao Yan froze, then seemed to realize something. With a bitter smile, he said, "Yes. I wasted my chance at reincarnation, and all I managed to do was leave myself with even more regrets."

"One reincarnation?" The judge's laughter was deafening, making the entire hall tremble.

"Hun Miesheng! Keep your voice down! You're disrupting the formation's setup!" The Nihility Devouring Flame's voice suddenly rang out in the judge's mind. It was filled with anger; clearly, the tremendous commotion had disturbed him.

"My apologies, Lord Void. Your subordinate deserves death," the "judge" hurriedly replied through his spiritual sense.

"Hurry up and finish the procedure."

Hun Miesheng stopped laughing, shook his head at Xiao Yan, and held up two fingers. "You reincarnated twice."

"Twice?" Confusion filled Xiao Yan's eyes.

It should only have been once.

Hadn't I transmigrated from Earth to the Dou Qi Continent? I don't have any memories of reincarnating twice.

Faced with Xiao Yan's confusion, Hun Miesheng chuckled. "I once promised you that, if your reincarnation failed, I would return the memories of your previous life to you. I will keep my promise. Go and look. Once you've seen them, you'll understand."

Hun Miesheng waved his hand, and Saint Hun Qing, disguised as a Netherworld Soldier, led Xiao Yan out of the hall to an extremely spacious, empty area.

An enormous mirror stood there.

"This is the Three-Life Stone. Within it, you can see your past and present lives," Saint Hun Qing said impassively. With a wave of his hand, a ripple rose from the mirror's surface and surged toward Xiao Yan.

A vast flood of information poured into Xiao Yan's mind.

"Begin, begin!" Hidden in the shadows, the Nihility Devouring Flame saw that Xiao Yan had finally reached the designated spot and immediately activated the formation.

Xiao Yan instantly fell into an illusion.

Qingshan Town, Jia Ma Empire.

Xiao Yan abruptly appeared before a clinic. It was not large, but it was packed with people. He did not recognize many of them, yet they all knew him.

"Oh, the boss is back." A familiar figure approached. It was none other than Nalan Jie, whom Xiao Yan had killed earlier.

Yet Nalan Jie now acted as though he and Xiao Yan were old friends. He draped an arm around Xiao Yan's shoulders, then shouted into the clinic, "Hey, Xiao Yi Xian, your husband's back!"

"Xiao Yi Xian, Senior Sister..." Xiao Yan could scarcely believe it.

Suddenly, a girl in a white dress emerged from the packed crowd inside the clinic. She had smooth, long white hair, and sunlight slanted down from the roof, illuminating her gently smiling face.

The beauty of that sight left Xiao Yan instantly spellbound.

"Little Yanzi, did you bring back the medicinal herbs I asked you to gather?" Xiao Yi Xian called to him.

But Xiao Yan gave no response. He had no idea what was happening.

Why had Xiao Yi Xian become my woman?

Seeing Xiao Yan's dazed expression, even Nalan Jie found it amusing. He gave Xiao Yan a hard shove into the clinic. "Hurry up and hand those medicinal herbs to Xiao Yi Xian! The patients are still waiting for their medicine."

Xiao Yan stumbled and nearly fell. Only then did he notice a packet of medicinal herbs in his hand, which had appeared at some unknown point.

A lovely fragrance drifted into his nose. Xiao Yi Xian's slender, white-jade hand reached out before him and took the packet of herbs. Then she said with a reproachful look, "Every time I ask you to do something, you drag your feet. I really don't know whether deciding to marry you was right or wrong."

"Marry me?"

"Yes. Didn't we agree last night that we'd get married on the first of next month? What, are you trying to back out? Too late!" Xiao Yi Xian covered her mouth and laughed softly, a blush rising in her cheeks as her lips curved into a gentle smile.