In the afternoon, she received a call from a friend, left home a little after two, and went straight to work. Naturally, she once again missed what happened after dark: her "pets'" souls leaving their bodies, their physical forms lying motionless in a shoebox. And she certainly didn't see these two humanoid souls "strolling" across most of the city, finally stopping near a remote, deserted, and pitch-black abandoned construction site. After a glance at each other, they began to move in unison…
Treading the Gang Dou Step and forming the Yin Yang Skill, they moved with different movement techniques and at varying speeds, yet both were equally graceful and fluid, like a dance rehearsed countless times. Then, they simultaneously clasped their hands, leaving only their index and middle fingers extended like swords. Pointing in unison at the sky, they shouted, "Open!"
A black beam and a white beam of light shot out from their fingertips. The surrounding scenery warped slightly from this strange external force, its lines appearing to bend.
But that was all.
The sky showed no other change—not the slightest. The deep, almost-black blue sky was as still as death. The stars and moon, outshone by the city's neon glow, were rendered dim and lackluster, nearly invisible.
"Did you see that?" the white-clad Bai Qi asked in astonishment, still looking up.
"I saw," the black-clad Mr. Hei nodded, his expression serious.
"The passage should have opened wide, although the entrance does float in mid-air…"
"I know."
"There should be a road leading to infinity, lined with…"
"Spider lilies."
"So I'm not blind?" Bai Qi finally turned his head, staring at Mr. Hei with wide eyes.
"Even if you were blind, I wouldn't be," Mr. Hei deadpanned.
"Then… then… no, I mean us…" Bai Qi stammered, his words jumbled.
But Mr. Hei simply turned to leave, tossing over his shoulder, "We'll try another spot."
However, it was utterly useless. They tried four or five different places, even running out to a wide-open area by the sea where the Spiritual Energy was so thick it washed over their faces, yet the result was still the same.
"We're in deep trouble now," Bai Qi said, his voice laced with disbelief. "The Yellow Springs Road… it's gone!"
In the dark of night, Mr. Hei closed his eyes.
He stood ramrod straight, like a mighty pine, but his ever-tightening brow betrayed his inner turmoil.
"Haven't you noticed that our Mana seems to be gradually draining away?" he said quietly after a moment.
"I did feel something, but I thought I was just hungry…" Bai Qi subconsciously rubbed his stomach, then froze. He asked, a look of terror on his face, "Could it be that because we can't return to the underworld, we're being affected?"
"Even though we are true gods, we are not gods of the mortal realm, after all," Mr. Hei sighed softly.
Bai Qi was truly terrified. He stood stunned for a moment, then immediately started patting himself down. He held up his empty hands and cried out, "My Soul Hooking Plate and mourning stick are gone! What about yours? Don't tell me yours are gone too!"
"Okay, I won't tell you."
"So yours are gone too? They're gone! Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
"Because I only just confirmed it."
"How can you act so calm at a time like this?" Bai Qi stomped his feet. "The Yellow Springs Road is gone! The entire road is gone! It just vanished for no reason, POOF! Not only can we not return to the underworld, but our Mana is also slowly weakening! And now even our artifacts are gone! What the hell is going on?!!"
Mr. Hei slowly turned his head. His face was placid, but his eyes were extremely grave. "Does acting like a dog scrambling for shit help? Control your emotions, or you won't solve anything."
"Fine, fine, control. I'm controlling myself." Bai Qi paced in a few circles, then took a deep breath and put on a calm expression. "Okay, I'm under control. Have you figured out what to do?"
"Can't think of anything," Mr. Hei replied, shaking his head honestly.
Bai Qi instantly lost his composure. He rolled up his sleeves. "You itching for a fight? You're asking for a beating, aren't you! Let me tell you, I'm not happy right now. And when I'm not happy, I get very violent…"
"There's something even more terrifying. Haven't you noticed it yet?" But Mr. Hei completely ignored his tantrum, easily changing the subject with a non-sequitur.
"Uh… what?"
"Ghosts," Mr. Hei said, his gaze fixed on the distance. "We've been walking this whole time and haven't seen a single ghost. For all living things, there is birth and death, like flowers blooming and falling, like the cycle of flourishing and decay. In a city this large, how many are born each day, and how many pass away? Not to mention all the birds, beasts, and insects. We know better than anyone how crowded this road usually is with souls coming and going. But what about the past two days?"
"Right. Even if the Yellow Springs Road is gone, the order of heaven and earth should still exist," Bai Qi said, scratching his chin. "The lost souls would have nowhere to go, so they should be crowding together or wandering around. But… where are the souls? Not a single one!"
"So, what happens to you and me doesn't matter," Mr. Hei said, looking up at the sky. "The order has been disrupted. Or worse… it might have vanished completely. That is the truly dire matter."
"It's bigger than the sky itself!" Bai Qi corrected him with conviction. After hesitating for a moment, he spread his hands in frustration. "So, what are we going to do?"
"Stop asking idiotic questions," Mr. Hei snapped, clearly at his limit, but he couldn't stop himself from explaining to the partner he'd had for tens of millions of years. "The Yellow Springs Road is gone, so we investigate! The ghosts have vanished, so we find them! The order of heaven and earth is in chaos, so we set it right!"
"You're right!" Bai Qi declared, his spirits soaring. A moment later, he deflated and asked again in a small voice, "So, what's the first step? Where do we even start investigating? This was so sudden, we don't have a single clue, do we?"
"We wait for dawn. We see if we automatically return to Xin Huohuo's home, and if we automatically possess the bodies of that little black cat and white dog again."
"Xin Huohuo? Who's that?"
"The human girl who knocked you over."
"Oh, that girl. She's dirt poor, but her heart's in the right place… And let me state again, she knocked *both* of us over." Even at a time like this, Bai Qi didn't forget to make a serious correction. "So what if the answer is yes?"
"Then it proves that all these accidents and coincidences weren't random. They're all connected. Whether you look at it from the Buddhist perspective of karma or our own Taoist concept of inherited consequences, Xin Huohuo is the source."
"Got it in a flash. We start by investigating that girl!" Bai Qi snapped his fingers. "I knew it! How could a normal human knock us flying? But… she seems completely normal. Could there be a hidden mastermind? Who could it be? Which mortal has the ability to screw us both over and even wipe out the cycle of the Heavenly Dao? And why?"
"I don't know who, and we don't need to know why," Mr. Hei said, shaking his head again. "We just need to drag them out and destroy them!" With that, he sat down cross-legged on the ground, settling in to wait for sunrise.
「It was now three in the morning.」
Far away in a fast-food restaurant in the city center, Xin Huohuo, the presumed source of all this calamity, was so busy she was run off her feet, her forehead beaded with sweat.
The restaurant owner was getting his money's worth out of her. She not only made deliveries, but also had to work as a waitress when there were no delivery orders. After eleven at night, she and one cook were the only ones on duty.
As luck would have it, a group of brats who gamed together were having a real-life meetup tonight. The large party filled the restaurant, ordering all sorts of food and drinks, treating her like a personal servant. After they finished eating and drinking, they didn't leave, but sat around talking loudly, making a huge mess of the place and causing a ruckus late into the night. At one point, when they were all flushed with drink, one of them got bold and, emboldened by the alcohol, tried to pinch her a*s. With a smile, she sent a quick, accurate slap his way, then acted as if nothing had happened. The little punk took the hit but couldn't even figure out who the "culprit" was.