Middle-earth, twenty miles outside of Rivendell.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the travelers on the ancient road also disappeared one by one. In such a chaotic world where demons and monsters were rampant, even though they were under the foot of the Qingyun Mountain, the stronghold of the Orthodox Sect, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't suddenly encounter some kind of demon or ghost.

  Everyone's life is only one, even ordinary people cherish their own lives, let alone those who have just survived the beast disaster, and naturally cherish themselves more.

  However, there were still a few figures walking on the road, with an old man leading the way. He had a refined and otherworldly air about him, holding a bamboo staff in his hand, from which hung a piece of old cloth with the words "Immortal's Guidance" written on it. Behind him followed a man and a woman, the man wearing a headscarf to cover his face, while the woman was elegant and lovely. Although the sky had darkened, she seemed to be intently reading a black book with no words on its cover.

  This was naturally Zhou Yixian, Xiao Huan and Ye Gou Dao Ren's party.

  All the way, they dragged and pulled, and Zhou Yixian would often pull passersby aside, talking nonsense with flying eyebrows and colors. Xiaohuan and Ye Gou Dao Ren naturally couldn't bear to watch, but those who were pulled away by him to have their fortunes told, indeed, as Zhou Yixian had said earlier, after being told their fortunes, each and every one of them was greatly shocked, and after paying the money, they seemed to regain their vitality, leaving with a happy heart.

  Later on, Zhou Yixian had earned enough silver and was full, but Xiao Huan had become completely lazy and only cared about reading books. Since this period of time, Xiao Huan had become more and more fascinated with the book that Ghost Mr. left behind, which recorded the strange and mysterious ghost dao secret techniques. Not only did she often read it during her rest time, but even when walking normally, she would still hold onto the book without letting go. At this moment, although the sky had already darkened, she seemed to not have noticed at all and was still fully immersed in the book.

  A stray dog beside the road called out to Zhou Yi Xian, saying: "Senior, it seems that today we still can't reach He Yang City. If we can't find a place to stay, I'm afraid we'll have to spend another night in the wilderness."

  Xian looked up at the sky, nodded, and then glanced around, but all he saw was darkness in every direction. There were no houses or even dilapidated temples to be seen anywhere in this desolate wilderness.

  Monday Fairy coughed, but only saw Wild Dog Taoist staring at him. His granddaughter Xiao Huan didn't react at all and still followed behind Wild Dog Taoist, engrossed in reading that black ghost book. Monday Fairy had always felt that his granddaughter reading this demonic book was very inappropriate, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. Every time he said how cruel and unorthodox the demonic path was, a poisonous and evil art, Xiao Huan would dismiss him with one sentence:

  "This evil and magical art has many ways to save people, it's much stronger than your divination!"

  Every time Zhou Xian heard this, he was speechless and couldn't utter a word. He had a thick skin and didn't want to admit defeat, but if Xiaohuan were to say something like that again, he wouldn't be able to continue. Anyway, Zhou Daxian looked at Xiaohuan looking at the book with great disapproval, and now he was slightly angry, shouting: "Xiaohuan, what's wrong with you? Why are you still reading that ghost book?"

  Xiao Huan finally lifted his head from the book and looked at Zhou Yi Xian, saying impatiently: "Grandpa, we're walking so slowly. It's not because I was reading a book, it's because you were fortune-telling and cheating people out of their money, that's why we're so slow."

  On Monday, Xian was a bit embarrassed, his old face slightly red, coughed twice, turned his head and dryly said: "Forget it, forget it, we don't talk about this. What I mean is that now we have nowhere to live, let's think of a way."

  The wild dog Daoist shook his head and said, "It's really impossible to find a place to stay here. Senior, you're more familiar with this place than we are. Think about it, is there any dilapidated temple or something nearby that we can make do with for the night?"

  Xian hummed and coldly said, "How did you know I'm familiar with this place again? Although I was born in Yangcheng since childhood, I've always been wandering the world. When have I ever been familiar with this place?"

  He suddenly seemed to be thinking of something and stopped halfway through what he was saying.

  Xiao Huan and Ye Gou Dao Ren both looked a bit strange, Xiao Huan said: "Grandfather, what do you want to say?"

  Xian furrowed her brow on Monday, as if she had thought of something but couldn't quite be sure, slowly turning around to look ahead, seemingly trying hard to recall something.

  "That seems like I really remember, not far ahead there is a fork in the road, from that small path to go in, although it's a bit far, but indeed there are rooms over there."

  Xiao Huan and Ye Gou Dao Ren were both delighted. Xiao Huan laughed and said: "Really? Then what are we waiting for, let's go quickly."

  On Monday, Xian didn't know how, but he seemed a bit hesitant, his brow furrowed, trying hard to recall something. He said: "But I always feel that something is not quite right in my heart, it's been too long, I only vaguely remember that there was indeed a house in this direction outside the city of Heyang, but that house didn't seem like a good place. But what exactly it was, I just can't think of it anymore."

  Xiao Huan gave him a sideways glance, then walked ahead without paying attention to him. She said, "Alright, let's hurry up and go. At least there's a house, no matter how broken it is, it's better than sleeping outside."

  Xiao Huan left first, and the wild dog naturally followed. Zhou Yi Xian walked at the end, involuntarily following, but constantly tapping his head with his hand, frowning tightly, muttering to himself: "What house is it after all? Why can't I remember?"

  They walked forward for a while, and the sky had completely darkened, but with the help of a few weak stars in the sky, the three people indeed found a small road that was almost hidden on the side of the main road, leading to the depths of the wilderness.

  Xiao Huan and Ye Gou Dao Ren both nodded, walking up the small path. Ye Gou Dao Ren quickened his pace, walking ahead of Xiao Huan while vigilantly observing their surroundings. Only Zhou Yi Xian was still following at the back, occasionally muttering complaints to himself, seemingly unable to recall what the house in his memories was for or where it came from.

  This small path is surprisingly long, the three of them walked for half a time, and still didn't see any signs of houses, Xiao Huan had some doubts, turned back to Zhou Yi Xian and said: "Grandfather, are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"

  On Monday, Xian was glanced at by Xiaohuan and felt a little guilty. He dryly laughed and said: "You know, when people get older, they can't help but forget some things sometimes. But I really remember that there's a house on this road, it's just that I couldn't recall what the house is for right now. Besides, it's been many years, it's not impossible that the house was demolished by someone. Even if no one demolished it, with the wind and rain, it might have collapsed."

  Xiao Huan was momentarily speechless, shook his head, turned around, and suddenly the wild dog in front of him stopped in his tracks. He immediately turned back and shouted loudly: "Come quickly, the house is here."

  Xiao Huan and Zhou Yi Xian were both stunned, but then Zhou Yi Xian suddenly burst out laughing loudly: "Haha, I knew it! With my intelligence, how could I possibly forget that there's a house here? How could I possibly remember wrongly?"

  Xiao Huan didn't bother with him, and quickly walked to the side of the wild dog Dao person. Looking ahead, he indeed saw a house at the end of the small road, which occupied a considerable area. However, from a distance, the courtyard was desolate, the walls were damaged, and there was no sign of human life. It was clear that it had been abandoned for many years.

  Xian walked slowly on Monday, shaking his head and making sounds with his mouth, seemingly still boasting. Xiaohuan gave him a white eye and scolded: "Hurry up, grandpa."

  After that, the three of them walked towards the house. The night wind blew over, and it was a bit cold on the desolate field, so they all shrank their necks.

  As I walked closer, it became clearer that this was a dilapidated house. The original surrounding wall had collapsed in some areas and was fragmented in others. Even the courtyard gate only had a worn-out door frame left, with no door panels remaining. Inside the courtyard, there was only one house, whose roof seemed to be missing half of its tiles when viewed from outside, with exposed beams. The house appeared to have a door that was slightly ajar, and the entire structure looked like it was made of wooden boards. After being weathered by wind and rain, a musty smell wafted through the air.

  Xiao Huan furrowed his brow, but Zhou Yixian was quite pleased, slowly walking into the courtyard and looking around, only to see that although the weeds were overgrown, there didn't seem to be any other strange places. It seemed that even though he still couldn't remember what this house was, at least it shouldn't be dangerous.

  He turned around and invited Xiaohuan and Ye Gou Dao Ren to come in. Xiaohuan walked to Zhou Yi Xian's side, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly turned around to ask Ye Gou Dao Ren: "Daozhang, have you ever felt that the layout of this house seems familiar to us?"

  The wild dog Daoist was taken aback, looked around in all directions, and after a long time still didn't understand anything. He shook his head to indicate that he didn't know. Zhou Yixian said impatiently: "What do you remember again? This house has been here for years, even I, your grandfather, can't remember it. Have you seen it before?"

  Xiao Huan shrugged and said, "Well, let's just go in and take a look."

  On Monday, Xian hehe smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Forget it", took the two people to the stone steps in front of the house, and pushed open the door with a creak.

  Just as Xian stood at the door, peeking into the dark room, Xiaohuan suddenly felt something move under her feet and looked down to see a worn-out black sign with some writing on it. Curious, she squatted down, pulled out the black wooden sign from the rubble, brushed off the debris, and examined it carefully. After a moment, her body shook violently, and she took several steps back, her face pale with anger, shouting: "Grandfather, look at this place!"

  Xian suddenly turned his head back, apparently having looked around for half a day, but the room was too dark and he couldn't see clearly for a moment. He said, "What's that, Xiao Huan?"

  Xiao Huan pointed at his feet and said angrily: "Look for yourself."

  On Monday, Xian lowered his head and looked at the wooden sign carefully. Suddenly, he was stunned, shook his head, rubbed his eyes with his hand, and looked again. Suddenly, he let out a loud "ah" and jumped down from the stone steps, stretching out his hands, not looking like an old man at all.

  On that black signboard, although the characters were somewhat blurry, it could still be discerned as the two words "Yi Zhuang".

  Xiao Huan was both angry and afraid, glaring at Zhou Yi Xian in anger: "What kind of road did you bring us on? You've actually brought us to this kind of place again. Last time in He Yang City, you did something like this before."

  On Monday, the old man's face turned red and white with embarrassment, saying: "This... this old man has said it before, but really only remembers that there is a house here, but can't remember what it was used for. It turns out, it turns out..."

  Xiao Huan suddenly interrupted him with a "hmmph", saying: "You talk too much, what else do you want to say? Hurry up and go."

  Monday Xian busy not wait said: "Yes, yes, we hurry up, every time we encounter this kind of place, we will be unlucky!"

  He suddenly stopped in his tracks, and the little ring and Ye Gou Dao who were following behind him almost bumped into him. Xiao Huan poked her head out from behind and scolded, "Grandpa, what are you doing again?"

  Her voice also stopped suddenly.

  At this moment, on a dark and windy night, under the faint starlight, in front of the desolate haunted house, Zhou Yi Xian and three others stood there in shock. Before them, at the entrance of the courtyard they had just entered, an eerie figure suddenly appeared.

  That man was quite tall, and the fabric of his clothes seemed to be good too. However, he was extremely dirty all over, and his shirt was torn in several places, barely showing its original dark green color. Looking at the style, it seemed to be a Taoist robe worn by a monk.

  Somehow, the man's face seemed to be always in the shadows, and Zhou Yixian and the other two couldn't see his features clearly. Yet this person had appeared silently behind them, like a ghost, and a chill ran down their spines as a cold air rose from behind their backs.

  For a long time, that person seemed like a stone, standing there motionless, yet it made Zhou Yixian and others even more frightened. They couldn't feel the slightest breath of life from this figure.

  "Who are you?" The voice was slightly trembling, but Xiao Huan finally spoke up and asked.

  The man did not respond, let alone answer, but a moment later, in the shadow that shrouded his face, two faintly dark red lights suddenly ignited like ghost fires, as if a pair of eerie eyes were staring deeply at the person in front of him.

  "Ah!"

  Suddenly, Zhou Yixian let out a soft cry, and Xiao Huan and Ye Gou Dao Ren were both startled. They turned to look, only to see that Zhou Yixian was not looking at the person's face, but instead his gaze was directed at the person's arm, saying: "That...that is the mark of Qingyun Gate!"

  ※※※

  One hundred thousand great mountains, suppressing demon ancient cave.

  The darkness seemed endless, blocking the way in front of Gui Li and Jin Ping'er. They walked for a long time, but this road seemed to have no end. However, strangely, in this ancient cave, there seemed to be only one path, with no other forks in the road, which eliminated the worry of getting lost.

  Since passing the black bat, there would be one or several powerful monsters guarding every certain distance in the Town Demon Ancient Cave. Some of them even made Jinping'er move, but at this moment, Gui Li suddenly showed unprecedented strength, and all the way was like breaking through bamboo, directly killing his way in. Almost no monster could withstand his attack, and even the three-eyed spirit monkey Xiaohui's strength was shocking. The same fate also happened to several other powerful monsters as the black bat.

  Jin Bier didn't make a move all the way, but as she watched, her face became increasingly unsightly. Gui Li's path was high and his progress was fast, far exceeding her imagination. Even in the end, she secretly thought to herself: In the demonic sect, is there really someone who can compare to this person?

  That bold and talented Demon King? Or that low-key and mysterious Mr. Demon?

  At this moment, Gui Liang had just struck down a ferocious double-headed demon leopard in front of Jin Ping'er. The massive beast crashed heavily into the hard stone wall, and it seemed that its fate was all but sealed.

  Gui Li didn't even give the leopard a second glance, his expression unchanged as he continued walking forward. The little grey creature on his shoulder seemed to be in high spirits, looking around in all directions. Jin Ping'er followed behind them, passing by the double-headed magic leopard's side, and turning her head to look back, she saw that its originally sturdy body had shriveled up completely, as if the essence inside had been sucked out. This was naturally due to the Blood-drinking Pearl's demonic power.

  It's just that this kind of demon is an extremely powerful creature, and even if Gui Li has the Soul-Devouring Demon Rod in hand, it can still be killed by the huge demon beast in an instant. This cultivation is almost not strong, but terrifying.

  This man, when did he start, his Taoism has made such a rapid progress!

  Jin Ping'er's heart was getting more and more shocked, looking at Gui Li's back shadow, her eyes were also becoming more and more complicated. At this moment, suddenly, Gui Li's body stopped, and a slightly vigilant expression slowly appeared on his face.

  Jin Ping'er was taken aback for a moment. Although there were many ferocious beasts guarding the road, she had never seen Gui Li with such a solemn expression before. She immediately concentrated her mind and became vigilant, and indeed found that something was amiss around them.

  After the Double-Headed Demon Leopard's death, the surroundings returned to their usual silence. However, at this moment, a low and mournful singing voice came from that invisible darkness:

  Xiaomatsu Gang, moon like frost, people like drifting cotton, flowers also hurt.

  After tens of thousands of years, three thousand years, I hope we don't forget each other after parting

  The singing voice was mournful and piercing, although the sound was not loud, but somehow it penetrated into my ears, and every word was heard clearly. At first, the singing voice seemed very desolate, then my mood became sorrowful along with it, as if in the vast unknown, I followed the singer through three thousand years of time, re-experiencing that unknown yet beautifully sad tenderness.

  Time is as ruthless as a knife, what warms your heart is just a pair of faintly smiling eyes.

  Did you forget?

  Many years later, or perhaps another cycle of ups and downs?

  What else do you remember?

  That blank emptiness is like a memory, staring blankly at the darkness and distance.

  Have I ever hugged you before?

  With you.

  ※※※

  The little monkey Xiao Hui suddenly let out a "squeak" and seemed extremely delighted, jumping down from Gui Li's shoulder and darting into the darkness.