I wasn’t sure if it was a placebo or not, but after Wen Jiubo kissed me, the suppression I felt in my chest released and I could breathe normally again. But before I had the chance to feel relief, we came across a scene that stunned me.

I didn’t know when so many horrible and freaky demons appeared out of the fog. They strolled in different directions but weirdly, they moved at the same measured pace. Some demons walked, some crawled, and others flew.

Meanwhile, the air was filled with a strong, rotten smell. It stank of rotten eggs and brined meat, mixed with a large can of Surstr?mming. I covered my nose in an attempt to not throw up.

On the other hand, Wen Jiubo seemed to be quite familiar with them all. He kept hold of my hand and whispered into my ear, “Let’s move.”

“Wait..” Before I could finish my sentence, Wen Jiubo pulled me close and led me through the demons.

“No matter what you see or hear, don’t make a sound. Just act as naturally as you can,” Wen Jiubo whispered.

That’s easier said than done! The cloying stink became stronger as more and more demons passed by us. There was a demon with horns on its head and eyes on its hands, there was another one with an upper body of a naked woman and its lower body was a gigantic turtle. I even saw a skinny toddler demon whose whole body was on fire.

I was petrified, I held Wen Jiubo’s hand with my head lowered. I couldn’t look up, so I prayed internally that we would finish this road as soon as possible.

I wasn‘t sure if it was my imagination; it usually took two minutes to walk this road, but today it had been much longer and we still couldn’t see its end in the haze.

While I was lost in thought, a big eyeball as large as my head suddenly appeared in front of my face. I almost screamed out but managed to remain silent.

It was a single, lidless eyeball, attached only by a few strands of flesh and nerves. Rolling in front of my feet, it seemed very interested in me. Then, I heard a low-pitched voice from above.

“Strange odor. Human odor.”

I swallowed a bit and held my breath. I shut my eyes and subconsciously grasped Wen Jiubo’s hand tighter.

“No, the odor is too light. Strange,” The big eyeball muttered but didn’t leave.

“Get out of the way,” demanded Wen Jiubo to the horrible eyeball. “Don’t block our path.”

The big eyeball finally switched its sight to Wen Jiubo.

“Odor..”

“The odor came from the leftovers of my dinner.” snubbed Wen Jiubo.

“I see..”The demon seemed to accept his response, as it pulled back its big eyeball. I was so curious that I looked up to see the owner of this big eyeball. Unexpectedly, the eyeball kept going up, vanishing into the fog.

What the heck.. This demon was taller than a building!

Wen Jiubo saw I was absent-minded, so he pinched my hand, whispering, “We need to go.”

I was forced to run a few steps to catch up to Wen Jiubo.

“All these demons, where are they heading?” I murmured to Wen Jiubo.

Wen Jiubo glanced at me then said, “They are heading to different places. This spot is the link between the living and the dead, that’s why there are so many demons here.”

I was puzzled, “I don’t understand..”

“Let me explain it to you this way,” lectured Wen Jiubo, “Because of the excess negative energy here, a passageway was created between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The lingering spirits who want to go to the world of the dead and the demons and spirits who want to enter the world of living need to pass through. This place acts as an intersection. That’s why all demons and spirits go through here.”

“But I still don’t get it, how did this link form?” I whispered, “Is it as simple as what the mobile game ‘the master of Yin and Yang’ showed? You just need to cast a spell to open a gate to the other world?”

Wen Jiubo glanced at me like I was a fool, sighing, “Let me explain it more scientifically. ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’ are two of the fundamental elements that form our world, and the element ‘Yin’ here is multiple times stronger than ‘Yang.’ As a result, a gap is created. The gap links the material world and the spiritual world. In other words, as we are talking now, your body is possibly lying beside the demon’s tomb, unconscious.”

In this cold weather? I shivered uncontrollably and picked up my pace. If he was right, I needed to get out of here quickly.

Wen Jiubo seemed to read my thoughts and walked faster as well. We’d better find a way out as soon as possible.

However, at this moment, a giant demon walked by. I subconsciously looked up at it, and just one glance, I felt my blood freeze.

Yes, I saw this demon before. It was as large as a one-floor building, with its whole body covered in thick, black fur. It had a huge, red mouth and cracked lips. With slow and ponderous strides, the demon passed us quickly.

It was.. the black-furred demon I once met on Mt. Yanjin! I never could figure out what it was. I got excited and began to chase the demon without thinking.

That mysterious demon suddenly appeared! What kind of demon was it? Why did it show up on Mt. Yanjin? Did it appear with a purpose or was it just pure coincidence?

“Gu Yu! You idiot, come back!” Wen Jiubo yelled at me from behind, but I chose to ignore him and continued chasing this mysterious demon.

Although this black-furred demon looked slow, it was tall and had long legs. One step for him was longer than three of mine.

Damn it, why was it so fast? I didn’t know how far I would have to run, but I started to realize that I lost it. I cursed inside. However, when I turned around to go back, I suddenly saw something.

Only a few meters in front of me, there was something on the ground.. Was it a human? Yes, it was human, and more precisely, a young girl.