Passing through the grand gate and entering the manor.
The scene before Ao Qing abruptly changed.
The sky was gloomy, the surroundings shrouded in darkness, and a low, mournful wind echoed in his ears.
The little maid, Chun Yan, walked ahead leading the way, occasionally turning her head and stealing glances at Ao Qing.
The reason for her furtive looks was most likely not affection.
Her small mouth had not stopped chattering, and her eyes were filled with hostility.
Ao Qing carefully sensed the various auras within the manor.
The first feeling that arose in his mind was chaos. The auras of various specters were intertwined, and the scents of the garden were strangely eerie.
Ao Qing reached out and patted Chun Yan's shoulder, only to be met with a glare from the little maid.
"The Immortal Lady lives in such an environment every day?"
Chun Yan, the little maid, twisted her petite waist and broke free from Ao Qing's hand.
"My mistress is a celestial being from the heavens, unconstrained by material things. How could you possibly understand?"
Ao Qing, clad in a green robe that shimmered with light, radiated a gentle and bright azure glow.
He faintly heard the mournful cries of countless specters coming from deep within the manor, a pervasive air of endless sorrow filling the heavens and earth.
According to the annals of strange and unusual occurrences, mortals become specters after death.
If a specter does not ascend to the afterlife and remains in the human world or the underworld for a long time, without incense and offerings, it will eventually perish.
The Given Solitary Garden established by Lady Jin Se.
Is a small realm of the underworld open to masterless souls.
She collects masterless souls from the underworld, allowing them to persist in the world for as long as possible.
However, this 'realm of the underworld' is too small, and Lady Jin Se doesn't have many good ways to alleviate the suffering of the specters.
Thus, the entire manor has become what it is today.
They continued on their path.
Behind them, groups of Yin soldiers chased after them, escorting captured souls to the Given Solitary Garden.
Seeing this, Chun Yan sighed softly and looked at Ao Qing, her voice filled with helplessness.
"Don't do this next time you come."
"Seeing these souls so pitiful, my mistress's heart will probably ache for a long time."
Ao Qing reached out and took a white paper lantern from the side of the path.
"Speaking of which, haven't the souls bound to the mortal realm been increasing in number lately?"
Chun Yan's bright black pupils dimmed slightly, and she pursed her lips.
"Yes, in the past, every now and then, Yin messengers would come and take away souls with clear minds to be reborn."
"But in recent years, the Yin messengers seem to have disappeared, and they haven't come once."
"My mistress sent someone to check, but none of them returned."
"My mistress said it might be that something happened in the underworld, and it will take time to handle, just like when that great sage caused chaos in the underworld back then."
Listening to Chun Yan's description, Ao Qing had a rough idea in his mind.
The souls couldn't be reborn, it must be because something went wrong in the underworld.
From this perspective.
Either the Black Mountain Demon King has taken over the City of Unjust Deaths, or the Yin-Yang King has cut off the path between Yin and Yang.
The worst-case scenario would be if these two malevolent demons appeared simultaneously and divided the underworld between them…
Hiss!
Ao Qing suddenly felt that the situation wasn't good.
Just as he was about to think further, Chun Yan, who was walking ahead, abruptly stopped and said respectfully:
"Mistress, I have brought the person."
Ao Qing looked up ahead.
He realized that his current location seemed to be near the small lake in the manor's garden. In front of him was a small lake covering four or five acres.
Above the small lake, a silver moon hung in the pitch-black sky, radiating billions of strands of bright moonlight in all directions.
The lake water was dark green and thick, but strangely emitted a faint fragrance.
Looking at the center of the lake, a small island rose from the bottomless black water. There was an octagonal pavilion on the island.
Black gauze, like the clouds at dusk, blocked the graceful figure within the pavilion.
The thin black gauze billowed in the Yin wind, occasionally revealing a glimpse of an even more serene outline.
Chun Yan finished her announcement and stood there waiting.
After a while, the figure in the pavilion slowly moved. Through the gauze, something like fabric could be seen sliding down like light smoke.
A woman's languid, weary voice softly echoed.
"Come here."
Chun Yan bowed her head and stepped aside, gesturing for Ao Qing to go ahead.
Ao Qing took two steps forward, vaguely sensing a suction force coming from the lake water, as if it were trying to pull his soul out.
The water of the River of Forgetfulness?
Ao Qing tapped his toes, launching himself into the air and transforming into a blue-scaled dragon. His immense vital energy resisted the pull of the River of Forgetfulness.
This was a strange water that only targeted souls, flowing endlessly beneath the bridge of Nai He.
Any soul would be drawn to this river, but once they fell into the water, there would be no possibility of reincarnation.
But the water of the River of Forgetfulness only targeted ghosts. As long as one's yang energy was strong enough, one wouldn't be affected.
Ao Qing crossed the small lake and landed on the island in the center of the lake, saying gently:
"I am Ao Qing, the Dragon King of West Lake. I have come uninvited, Immortal Lady, please don't be offended."
A light laugh echoed from the pavilion, carrying endless charm and allure.
"Heh, you're a smooth talker."
"Tell me, what brings you here?"
Ao Qing knew that he had used a ghost to bait him before, and his methods were not very honorable. Without arguing, he stated his reason for coming.
The Dragon King's Palace lacked manpower.
Ao Qing had come this time to borrow people from Jin Se.
"Of course, I call it borrowing, but it's more like buying them."
"I will use my incense offerings to nourish these masterless souls, and they will need to do things for me in their spare time."
"To thank you, Immortal Lady, I can set up a side shrine in the temple, which would also be a source of income for you."
Ao Qing was very generous because he didn't want to be tied down by those offerings. He could use them for exchange.
Of course, it wasn't as if offerings were bad, or that there were any hidden calculations or anything like that.
It was simply that Ao Qing was unwilling to rely on external forces.
He had cultivated for three thousand years before becoming an immortal, which was considered quite slow within the dragon clan.
This was because he had dedicated most of his time to refining himself.
After hearing Ao Qing's conditions.
Jin Se inside the pavilion fell silent.
After a long time, a pair of pearly white hands lifted the gauze…