The lucky survivors, after resting, either remained silent or left a few comforting words before leaving this bloody and terrifying place. In this chaotic world, whose life is not at stake, who can care for anyone's life? Every day and night, in every desolate and quiet place, aren't the same scenes of life and death being played out?

  On Monday, Xian and Xiaohuan also left there. The lair of the beast was smelly and nauseating, really not a place for humans to stay.

  They barely managed to move the corpse of the wild dog Taoist from the beast demon's lair and placed it on that empty land that had just entered the mountain forest.

  The stray dog's body was still slightly warm, but it had finally cooled down slowly.

  Xian furrowed her brow on Monday, sat aside, shook her head and sighed. Xiao Huan knelt beside the body of Ye Quan, choking back tears.

  The night wind was blowing, swaying the treetops, and in the darkness, a mysterious black-clad figure had seen everything that had just happened. Although for him, it would have been easy to get rid of those two beast demons, he seemed as cold-blooded as ever, standing silently in the dark from start to finish. At this moment, his eyes were sizing up Xiaohuan's body, then shifted to Zhou Yixian's.

  After a while, only Zhou Yixian said in a low voice: "Alright, Xiaohuan, he... after all, he's dead. Let's find a place to bury him and let him rest in peace."

  Xiao Huan's body shook, and her sobbing grew louder. Suddenly, she raised her head and cried to Zhou Yixian: "Grandfather, you know everything, can't you think of a way to save him?"

  Xian let out a wry smile and said, "I'm not the Nine Underworld Yanluo, nor am I an immortal from heaven. How would I know such a technique to revive the dead?"

  Xiao Huan sobbed: "But Dao Zhang died to save us."

  On Monday, Xian let out a sigh and moved his gaze to the face of the wild dog Dao Ren, nodding his head and saying: "As it turns out, I was wrong about him in the past. Who would have thought that someone like him could also have true feelings? Alas, but now it's too late to say anything. Xiao Huan, listen to Grandpa's words, let's give him a proper burial."

  Xiao Huan's face was expressionless, but tears kept falling from her eyes, drop by drop, wetting the palm of Ye Gou Dao Ren's hand.

  In the shadows, the man in black's eyes flickered, but there was no hint of pain or compassion. In his eyes, human emotions seemed like a play, and he was just a cold observer on the side.

  On Monday, Xian got up and searched around, but in this desolate mountain wilderness, where could he find anything useful? After searching for half a day, he could only pick up a wooden stick at random and poke the ground a few times, but only managed to turn over a little mud. If he wanted to dig a hole to bury someone, heaven knows how long it would take.

  Can't even get a proper burial done?

  On Monday, Xian Qi abandoned his staff and let out a long sigh, with a rare hint of melancholy on his face. After sighing, he turned around to see that Xiaohuan had stopped crying at some point, wiped away her tears, and was now sweeping the ground with a wooden stick near the Wild Dog Taoist, scattering all the dry leaves and twigs far away.

  On Monday, Xianqi initially thought that Xiaohuan had found it difficult to dig a hole, so she just wanted to tidy up the area around the wild dog's body and leave. But as she looked on, things didn't seem right. Xiaohuan swept out a circle with a radius of about five feet around the wild dog's body, then discarded the wooden stick and walked back slowly, her face showing less sadness but more determination.

  On Monday, Xianyan saw that Xiaohuan's face seemed off and walked a few steps forward, saying: "Xiaohuan, what are you doing?"

  Xiao Huan said in a low voice: "I want to save him!"

  As soon as this was said, Zhou Yixian was greatly shocked, and even the black-clothed person in hiding trembled with fear, his eyes immediately fixed on Xiaohuan. Zhou Yixian asked in astonishment: "What did you say?"

  The soft voice was still low and husky, but the words were very clear and distinct: "I want to save him!"

  Xian shook her head hastily on Monday: "Yes, Xiaohuan, I understand what you mean... No, not that. What method did you use to save him?"

  Xiao Huan stretched out his hand to straighten the corpse of the wild dog Daoist, but his hands were in a rather strange position, raised over his shoulder, one hand pointing to the sky and the other clenched into a fist. At the same time, he said: "The Daoist died to save us, I...I can't do nothing."

  On Monday, Xian's eyebrows furrowed even tighter as he looked at Xiaohuan, who then straightened the wild dog Taoist's two feet, placing his right foot under his left. His face turned even more unsightly, and suddenly he shouted loudly: "Are you crazy, Xiaohuan? Do you want to use the 'Soul Retrieval Technique'?"

  Xiao Huan was silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice: "Grandfather, I only know that this thing... perhaps, perhaps it can really save someone's life?"

  "Preposterous!" Zhou Yixian scolded loudly for the first time, his tone and expression severe. "What nonsense are you spouting? The 'Soul-Gathering Technique' may have the ability to gather souls, but this method has always been a heterodox technique, unpredictable and perilous. Not only does it disturb the roaming spirits, but it's also a major taboo in the underworld, violating the laws of the netherworld. Don't you want to live? Moreover, this technique is used on living people, where the soul remains as long as there's breath. How can you use it on a dead person? When their breath ceases, their soul disperses. Even if you have this technique, where would you find his soul? Are you going to search for it among the countless ghosts in the underworld?"

  In the darkness, a pair of eyes sparkled as if he had suddenly discovered something unbelievable.

  Xiao Huan's eyes reddened as she cried, "Grandfather, he just died not long ago. Perhaps his soul is still nearby, and there might still be hope. If we delay for even half a moment longer, it will truly be too late."

  Monday Xian's face turned pale, and he strode to Xiaohuan's side, pulling her up with one hand. In a deep voice, he said: "Xiaohuan, I'm telling you, don't harbor any illusions. I know what you're thinking in your heart. Back then, you relied on your own abilities to retrieve the scattered soul of your sister Jinping'er, but I'm telling you, that time and now are different. This spell is meant for use on living people, and such ghostly and heterodox techniques greatly harm one's yin virtue. Back then, you only helped Jinping'er once, yet it already damaged your yang lifespan by a year. Now if you continue to act rashly and cast this spell on the dead person, whether or not you'll succeed is hard to say, but at the very least, you'll ruin your own foundation of spiritual power, and your yang lifespan will likely be shortened by more than twenty years. Have you thought it through?"

  The last few sentences, Zhou Yixian almost shouted out, Xiao Huan was also stunned for a moment. In her flower-like years, saying she wasn't afraid of death was nonsense. It was just that facing the wild dog Taoist lying on the ground, no matter what, it was hard to bear. But thinking of those terrifying consequences, it seemed like she couldn't breathe either.

  The atmosphere in the field was momentarily frozen, and after a moment, Zhou Yixian slowed down his tone and said softly: "Xiaohuan, life is predetermined by heaven, and no one can change it. It seems that the heavens wanted Ye Gou to die today, we'll give him a proper burial, and that's doing right by him, isn't it?"

  Xiao Huan's face changed color, and from time to time, a struggling expression flashed across her face. After a long while, she suddenly raised her head and said: "Grandfather, his fate is not determined by heaven."

  Xian looked at Xiaohuan's face and his heart sank, forcing a smile, he said: "What?"

  Xiao Huan took a deep breath and said resolutely, "The Daoist priest's fate was sealed by himself. He chose to rush here to save us without regard for his own life, which led to his unfortunate demise. If he had turned around and left, where wouldn't he be able to find a place to settle down?" The young girl's face was pale with grief, her voice barely above a whisper as she said, "So, he died for our sake. Without him, we would have been dead long ago. How could we still be here discussing the concept of 'yang shou'?"

  She looked at Zhou Yi Xian, Zhou Yi Xian didn't know why, but shifted his gaze away, "Grandfather, I want to save him. This magic may be treacherous, but it's nothing compared to the danger he faced earlier to save us."

  She said resolutely.

  Zhou Xian knew that her mind was made up and couldn't be changed, so she could only sigh to the sky. But in the darkness, that person's eyes were fixed on Xiaohuan, shining brightly with a radiant light.

  ※※※

  In the woods, it is now deep in the night, with a strong aura of evil.

  In the faint light, that strange ritual slowly unfolded.

  The first drop of blood fell from the small, white wrist that had been cut open, landing slowly beside Wild Dog Dao Ren. Immediately afterwards, Little Ring circled around Wild Dog Dao Ren, using her own blood to create a strange pattern on the ground beside him as she shook her wrist gently, letting the drops of blood fall and slowly form an eerie design.

  In the dense forest, as the blood-red pattern gradually took shape, a faint wailing sound began to emanate. Zhou Yixian stood by, watching with a slight twitch at the corner of his eye. And in the shadows, the black-clad figure who had been observing this scene for a long time suddenly furrowed his brow.

  This scene, he seemed to have seen it somewhere before!

  Great Wizard...

  The man in black was involuntarily trembling slightly!

  The blood array Xiao Huan is currently setting up, apparently has some similarities with the one set up by the great witch doctor when saving Bi Yao at Huqi Mountain, but after Xiao Huan walked around in a circle and the spell array took shape, that black-clothed person had already figured it out. The spell array set up by Xiao Huan is still somewhat different from the one set up by the great witch doctor back then. Not to mention other things, just the scale of the array alone is much smaller, perhaps they both used fresh blood as a medium, but Xiao Huan herself was the only one who cut her wrist and sought blood, so it's naturally impossible to compare with the great witch doctor back then.

  Perhaps it was also because of this reason that Xiao Huan's formation was much simpler than the grand wizard's, but even so, after one round, Xiao Huan was already stumbling and her face had turned pale.

  On Monday, Xian didn't say a word and went to support Xiao Huan. Xiao Huan was a bit weak, turned back to him with a faint smile, then slowly sat down at the top of the formation, three feet in front of Ye Quan's skull, the Wild Dog Taoist.

  In the depths of a dense forest, a sudden and eerie howl pierced the air, and in an instant, the entire forest was filled with a chilling cacophony. A dark and foreboding energy swept across the land, as if the very heavens themselves were being shrouded in darkness. The wind blew in from all directions, causing the surrounding trees to sway ominously, their branches casting long, ominous shadows that seemed to conceal countless icy gazes watching this place.

  Xiao Huan's face was solemn, slowly closing her eyes, a pair of white hands clasped together at her chest, murmuring mysterious incantations in a low voice. After a moment, her slender palms opened up at her chest and slowly descended, sinking into the blood-stained pattern in front of her body.

  The blood patterns surrounding the Wild Dog Taoist's body suddenly lit up, and all the blood seemed to have gained life, flowing within the patterns. At the same time, Xiao Huan's pale face was suffused with an eerie black aura.

  The dark wind grew stronger, and the entire dense forest seemed to darken at this moment, with only the magic array beginning to shine brightly.

  Vibrant and flowing blood, as if the most delicious delicacy, attracted countless ghosts.

  On Monday, Xian's face showed increasing concern. He deeply knew the danger of this soul-gathering technique. Think about it, ordinary people actually want to snatch souls from the underworld, which is a very dangerous thing. However, Xiaohuan was limited by his cultivation and only cast spells within the range of this dense forest, with minimal impact. It's unlikely to alarm those powerful ghostly guardians of the underworld, otherwise, if he wasn't careful, it would be unthinkable.

  It seems that this kind of formation is just a small trick, and even the little ring can't handle it. But seeing her face getting darker and her body starting to shake, I realize that this time it's different from when she saved Jinping'er. Jinping'er's soul hadn't dissipated completely, so there was something to rely on to collect the remaining soul. When the great witch doctor treated Bixiao in Fox Qi Mountain, although the formation was very large, it actually relied heavily on the "Hehuan Bell" to capture Bixiao's residual soul. This allowed her to use her techniques to exhaustively search the nine hells and forcibly bring back the remaining soul. However, this also led to two consequences: first, the great witch doctor herself became exhausted, and second, she disturbed the underworld guardians, who counterattacked with ghostly forces, ultimately leading to her downfall.

  This time, the small ring is taking a rough and shallow path, running the most bizarre and profound technique in the ghostly way. Moreover, it lacks the most crucial soul, and its difficulty is already unimaginable for ordinary people to find the soul of Ye Gou Dao Ren among all the wandering souls in this dense forest.

  Those two beast demons have harmed countless people's lives here, and there are countless vengeful spirits swirling around, unable to be reincarnated. But Xiao Huan set up this formation, clearly intending to capture a soul and put it into this body. How could this not drive all the vengeful spirits mad?

  At that moment, the wind and clouds changed color, countless black auras appeared and disappeared in an instant, rushing towards the small ring one after another. The small ring's face was increasingly painful, its complexion almost completely shrouded by the black aura.

  It seems that Xiaohuan may not be able to hold on for much longer, but somehow she refuses to give up. So many vengeful spirits and ghosts swirl around her, wailing or begging incessantly, or menacing her with ferocity. All the pain, despair, and evil in this world seem to want to pierce her brain, yet Xiaohuan still struggles to hold on, using the last bit of spiritual energy within her to search for something in the endless sea of vengeful spirits.

  This time if we fail, I'm afraid there will be no more chances!

  Monday Xian was already sweating profusely, but didn't dare disturb Little Ring, so he could only pace back and forth on the ground, sighing. The figure in the dark shadow, although surrounded by eerie atmosphere, seemed to be completely unaffected, and instead, those eerie auras seemed to be somewhat afraid of him, keeping their distance from him. At this moment, the black-clad man's gaze was fixed on Little Ring without blinking, and he couldn't help but nod his head. After a long time, a low voice that only he could hear whispered: "How is it possible...this young woman actually has such high innate talent in the ghostly way...and yet she can still hold on under these circumstances. If there was a master of the ghostly way to guide her, given some time, she might just make it..."

  In his tone, he inexplicably revealed a hint of hesitation.

  At this moment, a joyful expression suddenly appeared on the face of Xiaohuan, who was filled with black energy. Her right hand, which had been immersed in the bloody array, suddenly stretched out and grabbed at the air before quickly putting it down again to grab onto Ye Wudao's right hand. Immediately after, she also pulled her left hand out from the blood pool and made a similar grasping motion at the air. Suddenly, the ghosts and spirits in the sky let out a loud wail, as if they had all fallen into an uncontrollable rage. The ghostly energy was like iron, and in an instant, black energy enveloped Xiaohuan's body, surrounding her completely.

  Outside the law array, the trees within three zhangs were suddenly withered and dead, as if they too could not bear this boundless evil energy.

  On Monday, Xian was shocked and lost color, her hands and feet were unsteady. She saw Xiaohuan panting heavily, several times trying to put her left hand on the wild dog's right hand, but a boundless black air surrounded her, ghostly howls echoed, and dark winds blew, as if a great force prevented her from pressing down. Xiaohuan's face was getting uglier, her body trembling, and blood threads were flowing out of the corner of her mouth.

  Just as the formation was about to be destroyed, Zhou Yixian was in a state of extreme urgency and was just about to rush forward regardless of everything to pull Xiaohuan out of the formation. Although he didn't know what the consequences would be, it was better to get away from those ghosts. However, before he could even move his body, a black figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Zhou Yixian was shocked, and at this moment, this black-clad person seemed to be similar to the surrounding ghosts.

  "All he heard was the man in black speaking in a hoarse voice, coldly saying: 'If you want your granddaughter to live, just stand there quietly and don't move.'"

  As soon as he finished speaking, the black figure flashed and appeared around Xiaohuan and that strange magic array. Without saying a word, he saw his arm waving continuously, and black things flew out of his hand one after another, "拔拔拔"

  Burst into the ground and inserted around the law array.

  Those objects appeared dark and iron-like, but it was unclear what they were. However, once inserted into the formation's mud, the blood within the formation suddenly seemed to be affected by an external force, its flow speed increasing almost twofold in an instant, as if boiling over. A red glow burst forth from above the formation, enveloping Xiao Huan's body.

  This layer of red light seemed to be particularly useful for the ghosts and spirits around, and in an instant, they retreated. Under the cover of the red light, Xiaoyuan's face quickly returned to normal, and his left hand, which was stretched out in mid-air, immediately pressed down and grabbed the left hand of the wild dog Taoist.

  At the moment when Xiaohuan grasped Ye Gou's arm, a faint cracking sound was heard, and a dark red light began to emanate from Ye Gou's palm, extending downwards like lightning, instantly enveloping his entire body. In an instant, Ye Gou's whole body lit up, and after a brief moment, it dimmed again, returning to normal.

  At that moment, Xiaohuan struggled to open her eyes and stared tightly at the front. The wild dog Taoist's head suddenly tilted to one side, and he slowly let out a breath.

  Xiao Huan was overjoyed and suddenly felt a sense of relief, but before her eyes went dark and she fainted.