"Impossible." Meng Shuying enunciated each word clearly, "When a person dies, it's like a lamp extinguished. That person must have been lying to you."
Xie Hanzhu also pondered, "I've cultivated for so many years and have never heard of someone being resurrected after death. Whether it's a demon or a human, when they die, their souls dissipate. With the soul gone, how could they come back to life?"
Besides, if it were really possible to bring the dead back to life, wouldn't the cultivation world be in chaos? Every sect in the Five Great Sects has ancestors who were immensely powerful before their passing. If there really was a secret method to resurrect the dead, wouldn't they go to any lengths to bring back several generations of their former leaders?
For example, the current Qingxu Sect Master, Zhan Xuehan, is only in the Nascent Soul stage, yet is considered one of the top experts in the cultivation world. Among the deceased former sect leaders, there were several in the Deity Transformation stage!
Reviving just a few Deity Transformation cultivators would allow Qingxu Sect to dominate the entire cultivation world. Danyang Alliance and Kunlun Sect wouldn't stand a chance.
"I didn't believe it at first either," Chuntan said with a bitter smile, "I've lived for hundreds of years and never heard of such a thing. But..."
Her expression grew serious, and after a long silence, she said in a low voice, "He proved it to me. Death... can indeed be reversed."
Perhaps knowing that she wouldn't believe him, that man stabbed his own disciple in the chest right in front of her.
Chuntan watched the disciple die and personally guarded the corpse for three days.
On the third day, just as the man had said, his disciple came back to life, speaking and acting like a normal person.
Xie Hanzhu was skeptical. "Did you see clearly? Could it be that the master and disciple were playing a trick on you, pretending one of them had died?"
Chuntan frowned slightly, clearly displeased. "I would never mistake that. I personally examined his corpse; his soul had indeed dissipated, and his breath had stopped."
After all, she was a lower-realm demon, her power not inferior to anyone present. If not for her injuries and the fact that her cultivation was sealed by the Fox Attendant, she wouldn't have been captured so easily.
Su Luowei thought for a moment before asking, "What did the man and his disciple look like? What were their names, and where did they cultivate?"
"They both wore black robes and masks, so I couldn't see their faces. But judging by their voices, one was older and the other younger. As for their names… they refused to tell me, only saying they were servants of the Demon Lord."
"Servants of the Demon Lord..." Wen Miaomiao's face darkened. "Since they're connected to the Demon Lord, they certainly wouldn't do anything out of kindness. What did they ask for in return, or rather, what did you pay?"
Chuntan was silent for a long time. Just as Su Luowei thought she wouldn't answer, Chuntan sighed deeply and said with difficulty, "They said… they needed enough sacrifices for the Demon Lord to manifest and perform the ritual."
She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again, a hint of struggle in her gaze.
Wen Miaomiao didn't press further, simply watching her quietly.
A burst of demonic energy passed, and two items fell from Chuntan's body.
One was a black flag, the other a black rod.
As soon as the two items appeared, the sky changed color. The previously clear sky was now filled with rolling dark clouds, lightning flashing within, as if the Nine Heavens Thunder was about to descend and strike the flag.
"What a heavy aura of death..." Xie Hanzhu muttered.
Such a heavy aura could only be from the Demon Realm.
"This is..." Su Luowei couldn't believe her eyes, staring at the two items in shock.
She had seen such items in ancient texts before. If she was correct, this should be a Soul-Summoning Banner!
"That's right, it's a Soul-Summoning Banner."
The Soul-Summoning Banner lay quietly on the ground, continuously emitting demonic energy. The demonic energy was so dense that it was almost tangible, forming a black mist filled with resentment and destruction, tightly enveloping the banner.
Wen Miaomiao narrowed her eyes, her voice colder than ever. "Those innocent brides—you didn't just kill them outright. You refined them into the Soul-Summoning Banner."
"Yes." Now that things had come to this, Chuntan had become calm. She said, "I refined their souls into the banner's fabric and their flesh into the rod. My deal with the Demon Lord's servants was to offer forty-nine maidens as sacrifices for the Demon Lord."
Such a bloody transaction and cruel methods sent chills down everyone's spines.
Even Xiao Ba, who had been silently observing, couldn't help but exclaim, "So ruthless, so terrifying."
Taking advantage of Xiao Ba's presence, Su Luowei immediately asked, "Are the Demon Lord's servants telling the truth? Can they really bring people back to life?"
"It's a lie," Xiao Ba answered without hesitation. "If her beloved were a cultivator who had just died, with the soul still intact and the spiritual sea unbroken, there might be a way. But Yuehui was a mortal. When a mortal's body dies, the soul immediately dissipates. Even if the Demon Lord himself came, he couldn't bring her back."
At that moment, the situation suddenly changed. The Soul-Summoning Banner, which had been lying on the ground, suddenly stood upright, moving on its own without any wind. The black mist surrounding the banner transformed into terrifying faces, howling and roaring as they tried to break free from the banner.
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the Soul-Summoning Banner. It seemed to come to life, slowly rising into the air before shooting toward Su Luowei with lightning speed.
Xie Hanzhu screamed in fright, and Su Luowei was also startled. She raised her sword to defend herself, only to sense a fluctuation of spiritual energy beside her. The next moment, a formation flew out and struck the Soul-Summoning Banner, trapping it in place.
The one who acted was Meng Shuying.
As she cast the formation, she moved from behind Su Luowei to stand beside her, one hand outstretched to protect her, ready to deal with any further attacks from the banner.
"Don't be afraid, Senior Sister, I'm here."
She stepped forward again, completely shielding Su Luowei behind her. Through Meng Shuying's silhouette, Su Luowei saw the Soul-Summoning Banner still struggling to break free from the formation. The eight corners of the formation occasionally flashed with golden light, clashing with the demonic energy of the banner.
Looking at her back, Su Luowei felt a moment of daze.
The Soul-Summoning Banner had acted so suddenly that no one had time to react. Meng Shuying had immediately protected her and still managed to trap the banner in the formation.
Meng Shuying must have had a hard time during these years, to have such quick reflexes when danger arose.
The young girl who once needed her protection had grown into someone capable of protecting her.
Su Luowei smiled silently, then shook her head. Remembering that Meng Shuying couldn't see her, she added, "I'm not afraid."
Seeing that Su Luowei was unharmed, Wen Miaomiao also relaxed, quietly withdrawing her hand.
Xie Hanzhu, who had a fiery temper, was furious that Chuntan had dared to attack her Senior Sister even after being captured. She drew her sword and pointed it at Chuntan, shouting angrily, "You fiend! How dare you try to sneak attack my Senior Sister!"
"Hold on, Hanzhu," Wen Miaomiao stopped her, explaining, "She isn't the master of the Soul-Summoning Banner, so it doesn't obey her. What happened just now was likely beyond her control."
"Really?" Xie Hanzhu looked doubtful.
"Yes, and besides, her cultivation is sealed, so she lacks the ability to attack. Also..."
"Moreover, due to the backlash from the Soul-Summoning Banner, I probably won't live much longer," Chuntan said calmly. "I may have refined the Soul-Summoning Banner, but I can't control it. Otherwise, why would that man have given me such a powerful artifact? But it doesn't matter anymore..."
Remembering the Fox Attendant's words, Chuntan blinked, tears gathering in her eyes.
She had originally been part of the fox tribe, enlightened by the Fox Immortal, which allowed her to cultivate on the surface. She had long known that the well led to Fox Valley and had intentionally lured Meng Shuying into the well, hoping the wind at the bottom would kill her.
After entering Fox Valley, she had secretly returned to her childhood home, waiting for the people pursuing her to die in the valley.
Two days later, a fox messenger suddenly arrived, saying that the Fox Immortal had summoned her.
When she reached the shrine, the Fox Immortal wasn't there; only the Fox Attendant was present. The Fox Attendant trapped her and told her that the Fox Immortal already knew about everything she had done.
And then she was told that the man who claimed to be able to revive Yuehui had lied to her.
The process of refining the Soul-Summoning Banner was too evil and would lead to backlash. The man had approached her just to use her and make her bear the brunt of it.
That's why her body had been deteriorating.
At first, Chuntan didn't believe it, but as she wept and struggled, she suddenly heard the voice of the Fox Immortal.
The Fox Immortal's voice was as gentle as it had been when she first enlightened her.
"What the Fox Attendant said is true. Even at my peak, I couldn't revive your beloved."
"I've been asleep for too long and didn't notice what was happening. I'm sorry."
Tears slipped from Chuntan's eyes, falling into her collar and disappearing.
"I now know that he was lying to me from the start. Yuehui... could never be revived. He was just using me."
He had exploited her love for Yuehui, deceiving her into believing that if she offered enough sacrifices, Yuehui could be brought back to life.
And what did she do? She foolishly believed it. Not only did she expend her blood and cultivation to refine the Soul-Summoning Banner for him, but she also brutally killed so many innocent girls.
No wonder the Fox Attendant had called her a fool.
After living for hundreds of years, her hands stained with blood, the white fox suddenly knelt on the ground and wept bitterly.
She would never, ever see her young mistress again.
That day, at the ruins of the last Fox Immortal temple, the white fox, unable to withstand the backlash from refining the Soul-Summoning Banner after her cultivation was sealed, died in grief.
After her death, the Soul-Summoning Banner dissipated into a black mist and gradually vanished.
When handing over Chuntan's body to the officials, Xie Hanzhu hesitated. "She's already dead. Why don't we just bury her?"
Wen Miaomiao replied, "Because the families of those missing brides are still waiting. Waiting for someone to give them an explanation."
Before Chuntan died, she had confessed that the brides' bodies were buried beneath the bamboo forest. When they returned to Fuxiao City, the officials would send people to dig them up.
Xie Hanzhu sighed softly. "She was a pitiful person… no, a pitiful fox."
Picking up the clothes that had fallen on the ground, Xie Hanzhu dug a small pit nearby and buried them as Chuntan's cenotaph.
She had initially wanted to place a marker, but Meng Shuying advised against it. "If you place a marker, everyone will know she's here. That's not a good thing."
After a long silence, Xie Hanzhu cut a piece of green bamboo from the forest and planted it on the cenotaph.
On the way back, Su Luowei walked slowly, falling behind the others.
Meng Shuying slowed her pace, waiting for her.
"Senior Sister seems to have something on her mind," Meng Shuying noticed Su Luowei's weariness and couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. She gently took Su Luowei's hand, asking, "Are you still scared by the Soul-Summoning Banner?"
Su Luowei shook her head, subtly withdrawing her hand. She said softly, "I was just thinking..."
"Thinking about what?" Meng Shuying's eyes flickered with a hint of disappointment.
After some hesitation, Su Luowei said slowly, "I was thinking… if one day, I mean hypothetically, if I died..."
She turned her gaze to Meng Shuying, staring at her intently.
"If the Demon Lord's servants found you and offered you a deal, would you accept?"
"I would," Meng Shuying replied without a moment's hesitation. "As long as there's the slightest chance, I would try."