The instant the ghost soul lunged, Lin Shisan stepped aside with Mu Ling'er in his arms without so much as blinking.
Its claws skimmed his shoulder, stirring a gust of chilly wind that raised every hair on the back of his neck.
"Don't touch her."
Lin Shisan's voice was quiet, but a chilling light surged in his dark-gold eyes.
The ghost soul stopped in midair. Two black hollows where its eyes should have been stared straight at Lin Shisan from its blurred face.
Or rather, at Mu Ling'er, lying quietly in his arms.
Gai Jiuyou's voice drifted from ahead, carrying a trace of languid mockery. "You carry the Myriad Souls Banner's aura. It wouldn't dare touch you. But that girl in your arms reeks of death, and that's what restless spirits love best. Be careful. Don't let her get bumped or knocked."
Lin Shisan drew Mu Ling'er closer, shielding her head with his elbow before continuing forward.
The deeper they went, the more cracks appeared in the cave walls, each seeping a thin, dark-red glow. The yin energy in the air grew heavier, until even breathing carried a rusty, bloody sweetness. An enormous underground cavern appeared ahead.
Its ceiling rose out of sight. Countless stalactites hung overhead, dark-red droplets dripping from their tips and gathering into a thin stream on the ground, winding toward the cavern's center. There stood a black stone platform as smooth as a mirror, covered in densely packed runes that flickered in and out of sight within the dark-red glow.
"This is the place."
Gai Jiuyou's voice grew more solemn. Zi Yuner stopped at the edge of the stone platform, her dark-red slit pupils slowly sweeping over its runic patterns. "The center of Netherworld Cave, where myriad currents of yin converge. Leaving the soul and changing