The house was as cold and quiet as ever.
Bai Shuanglian had long since grown used to this.
After all, her home here in New Sea City was just a temporary place to stay.
It couldn’t really be called a true home.
And this kind of chilly silence was something she’d grown accustomed to, so it didn’t bother her.
But today, after returning home, Bai Shuanglian, for the first time, felt that being alone here was a bit too lonely.
If only that Little Pen Immortal could be here too, it would be nice.
But the Ghost-Binding Rope’s signal had already become faint.
She should be back in the Underworld by now.
Then, once she returned to the Human Realm, they could meet again.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t do anything bad then and trigger any other mechanisms of the Ghost-Binding Rope.
Otherwise…
That would be interesting.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Bai Shuanglian’s delicate, beautiful face.
Just imagining the cute expressions Ling Xiaoyou might make made the loneliness in her heart fade away.
Meeting her was already the greatest gain from this entire experience.
Bai Shuanglian thought this to herself.
Suddenly, she frowned and looked out the window.
Outside, towering buildings stood tall.
In the distance, neon lights illuminated the bustling Commercial Street, making it lively even in the dead of night.
Farther away was a Garden District awaiting development.
Bai Shuanglian had heard that although it was called ‘awaiting development,’ in reality, no one had been there for a long time.
It was nearly abandoned.
Bai Shuanglian didn’t know exactly why it had been abandoned.
She only knew that such deserted buildings were often places where Evil Cultists and ill-intentioned villains liked to hide.
So, when she first arrived in New Sea City, the first place she cleaned up was that deserted Garden District.
After eliminating seven groups of Evil Cultists, eleven Devils, three Fierce Ghosts, four Abnormal Creatures, and five Murderers hiding within, the once-ominous district had grown much quieter and no longer felt so terrifying.
But today, as Bai Shuanglian looked toward it again, an inexplicable sense of unease rose within her.
The feeling came suddenly, without warning, as if something bad was about to happen.
But this wasn’t something that should occur.
Bai Shuanglian closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, her dark eyes were covered in a deep blue light.
This was a spell every Exorcist had to learn: the Dharma Eye.
Under Bai Shuanglian’s Dharma Eye, the world turned black and white.
The darkness of night became bright as day.
The abandoned Garden District that once festered with black miasma was now pure white, with no sign of the expected darkness.
Still, Bai Shuanglian couldn’t shake her unease, as if something terrible was about to happen.
Staying at home wouldn’t bring any answers.
So Bai Shuanglian stood up, walked to the window instead of the door, pulled it open, and climbed outside.
As she fell, an Ice-Blue Longsword appeared beneath her feet, lifting her toward the abandoned Garden District.
Bai Shuanglian moved swiftly, arriving above the district in no time.
Now, with her Dharma Eye still active, the oppressive aura of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator radiated from her, pressing down on the district below.
Instantly, all the snakes, ants, rats, and insects hiding within the Garden District were startled by an invisible terror, fleeing their hiding places without hesitation and rushing toward the outskirts.
Bai Shuanglian paid them no mind.
Her gaze swept the entire area, missing nothing, determined to find the source of her unease.
She didn’t believe her instincts could be wrong.
For a Cultivator of her level, any change in mood was a sign that something was happening.
It wouldn’t be a mistake.
Yet, no matter how carefully she searched, she couldn’t find the cause.
Was it some special method of concealment?
Bai Shuanglian frowned, her fair fingers pinching her chin as she fell into deep thought.
***
“My Master, your humble servant has brought you a new sacrifice. Please open the Spirit Gate and accept our insignificant offering!”
Earlier, a hundred meters beneath the Garden District, in a hollow underground cavity, a pitch-black, ferocious Devil was fervently praying before a Law Array glowing with crimson light.
The Devil’s words made the sinister array blaze even brighter, illuminating several still figures lying upon it.
They were humans—or rather, they had once been.
Men and women, young and old, all wore hospital gowns and identification tags on their ankles.
As the Devil chanted, the red light grew brighter.
Finally, when it reached a blinding intensity, a jet-black Spirit Gate inscribed with countless complex Mingwen opened beneath the corpses, swallowing them whole.
Seeing this, joy appeared on the Devil’s twisted face.
Clearly, it was pleased with the result.
But that happiness didn’t last long before turning into fear.
It hurriedly prostrated itself, adopting the most respectful and humble posture to receive its Master’s reprimand.
After an unknown length of time, the red glow faded from the Law Array, and the Devil stood again.
There was no joy on its face—only gloom.
“How was it? Was the Master satisfied with this sacrifice?”
As it stood, another Devil in a suit—Naer, who had once seen Bai Shuanglian and Ling Xiaoyou chasing each other in the sky—hurried over and asked anxiously.
“The Master said He was very dissatisfied.”
The Sacrificial Demon shook its head, speaking in frustration.
“Sigh. As expected, dead humans can’t win the Master’s favor.”
Naer sighed, not particularly surprised.
“Yeah. To the Master, dead humans are worthless—at most, something to pick teeth with. Humans hardly have any meat to eat anyway, better to feed on fallen beings.”
The Sacrificial Demon sighed as well.
“Master also said that if we send these things again, He’ll swallow our entire Faction.”
Upon hearing this, Naer sighed once more.
“We don’t even have a Faction left. In New Sea City, it’s basically just the two of us. If it weren’t for the Law Array concealing us and masking our presence, we would’ve been killed by her too.”
As he spoke, Naer clenched his fists in resentment.
“It’s all that damned Exorcist’s fault.
If she hadn’t come to New Sea City, we wouldn’t have fallen to sacrificing dead humans!”
“But what can we do? Even together, we can’t defeat her.”
The Sacrificial Demon glanced at him and spoke.
“Why don’t we just beg the Master for power and go all out against her?”
Naer looked at the Sacrificial Demon, suggesting.