Wandering Gods of Day and Night

"So you've been searching all the way to this burial mound?"

Zhou Xuan didn't wait for Yun Ziliang and the others to act together; instead, he embarked alone on a day trip and entered the underground through the passage at the top of the burial mound.

As soon as his Divine Soul slipped inside, he realized that beneath the mound was an underground mausoleum.

On either side of the main walkway of the tomb's entrance were nailed numerous human skin tattoos.

These tattoos carried a resemblance to the aura of the Tree Clan, yet the designs were unfamiliar to Zhou Xuan—mostly depicting green-faced, tusk-bearing Evil Ghosts.

"Tattoos of the Ancient Clan."

Seeing the tattoos of the Ancient Clan made Zhou Xuan's heart tighten.

He remembered that twenty-three years ago, the strongest High Priest of the Ancient Tattoo Clan—the Yumen High Priest—had come to East Market Street to cultivate the Legend of the Hundred Spirits and facilitate the reincarnation of the Mother of Hundred Demons.

And this cultivation required a hundred infants to kill one another, leaving the last survivor to become the Legend of the Hundred Spirits.

Mu Hua was precisely the Legend of the Hundred Spirits.

Now that Mu Hua has come to revisit the old haunt with Little Fuzi, could it be…

"Could it be that after Mu Hua's madness subsided, his bloodlust awakened, and he brought Little Fuzi here…"

Zhou Xuan dared not think further and took another day trip, delving deeper beneath the burial mound into the subterranean palace.

At the lowest level of the palace stood a stone-built altar. The altar was littered with countless bones—tiny skeletal remains of infants. Their femur bones were only half the thickness of an adult's wrist bone.

The bottom of the altar was painted with patterns of Evil Ghosts, using blood that had long faded due to the passage of time. The outlines were now weathered and indistinct.

Mu Hua was currently seated in the center of the altar, cross-legged, his head hanging low, while Little Fuzi lay nearby, his face pale, his eyes shut tight, and his arms covered in filthy blood smears.

"Damn it."

In that moment, Zhou Xuan felt an uncontrollable surge of anger, the urge to twist Mu Hua's head off to avenge Little Fuzi. But soon, his anger subsided as he sensed the faint heat within Little Fuzi's body and saw the slightest rise and fall of his chest.

Little Fuzi wasn't dead.

"Brother Zhou, you've come."

Though Zhou Xuan had yet to manifest his Divine Soul's form, Mu Hua still detected his presence.

This wasn't surprising, as Mu Hua was Zhou Xuan's mirror person.

"Mu Hua, what's wrong with you today?" Zhou Xuan manifested his Divine Soul's great form and, mimicking Mu Hua, sat cross-legged beside him.

Mu Hua continued to lower his head and asked, "Have you dealt with those villains completely?"

"Almost,"

Zhou Xuan replied.

Three God-level entities had fallen, Yunwu Venerable was dead, and for now, neither Wansese Realm nor the Hundred-Eyed High Priest sought trouble with them.

The two of them in the Netherworld Stone had spoken about their presence in the Capital Mansion.

If Zhou Xuan were to day trip into the Capital Mansion with the Mountain and River Map, he would certainly stir up major trouble.

The Painter once told him that the Capital Mansion was the only state unaffected by the summons of the Time Realm. There, many eight-incense-stick-level human demigods resided, along with nine-incense-stick-level humans.

And if Wansese Realm and the Hundred-Eyed High Priest went to the Capital Mansion, it would be to persuade the experts to regard Zhou Xuan as prey.

Thus, even with the Mountain and River Map in hand, forcing a confrontation with Wansese Realm would likely provoke an attack from the Mansion's elites.

If among them were individuals skilled in the Space Law, Zhou Xuan's Divine Soul—despite its rapid day trip speed—would find escape incredibly challenging.

Still, letting Wansese Realm escape wasn't a big issue; she could flee, but could the Tattoo Forbidden Land be abandoned?

Zhou Xuan's next target was to assault the Forbidden Land and capture the remaining two Dharma Bodies of the Three-headed Stone Buddha.

"The villains of Mingjiang Prefecture have been largely crushed by me."

Zhou Xuan turned to Mu Hua and said: "But you—why did you come here? And what happened to Little Fuzi?"

"I've been dreaming constantly these past few days."

While Mu Hua's head remained lowered, Zhou Xuan could hear the sound of his tears dropping.

"In my dream, I saw so many childhood friends—dozens, even hundreds of us—playing together, diving into the river to catch fish. But one day, the skies darkened dramatically, and when food ran out, we began to feast on each other's flesh and blood.

We started killing each other, and I… I was the last one standing. I killed so many people, and those people—they were clearly my friends."

"It's just a dream," Zhou Xuan tried comforting him.

"I wish so much that it was just a dream."

Using his arm to wipe away his tears, Mu Hua stubbornly said, "Today, I suddenly became vicious. The hens that my sister had been raising at home to lay eggs—I ate one alive. I clamped my jaws around the chicken's neck, sucking its blood like a madman.

The nightmare made me turn savage, and simultaneously, I felt drawn by a certain will. I wanted to come see this altar. Little Fuzi followed me, but I told him not to."

"You're Little Fuzi's first friend in Mingjiang Prefecture."

"Little Fuzi is my first friend in this life." Mu Hua abruptly raised his head, his voice resolute: "I wanted to walk into the mountains, but he kept following me. He said he was worried about me...

... Once we were in the mountains, the bloodlust in my bones erupted. I lost control. I attacked Little Fuzi, throwing him to the ground like a wolf from the hills. The blood on his hands is from my biting…"

Mu Hua paused briefly, then continued: "But scenes of me and Little Fuzi playing together kept surfacing in my mind. Eventually, I restrained myself. I kept walking deeper into the mountains, even though Little Fuzi's hands were bitten into gory flesh, he still followed me..."

Zhou Xuan nodded and said, "Little Fuzi is a devoted little fool, isn't he?"

Finally, Mu Hua lifted his head and looked at Zhou Xuan: "Brother Zhou, you should leave. Take Little Fuzi and go. I want to stay here at this altar for the rest of my life."