"Auntie! Auntie! Auntie!"
Little Xian Yue called out three times in a row.
"Good girl! Auntie will give you something tasty!" Zi Yan felt immensely satisfied as she listened to Little Xian Yue's innocent voice, her face filled with joy.
"Oh no, I got too excited and didn't notice Big Brother Gu Fei coming!" Suddenly, Zi Yan's expression froze as she sensed Gu Fei's presence approaching.
Without turning around, she started walking toward the bamboo building, pretending not to have noticed him.
"Zi Yan..."
But before she could take a few steps, Gu Fei's voice echoed beside her.
"Oh, it's Big Brother Gu Fei... Weren't you in seclusion to refine a ninth-grade pill? Why did you come out so soon? Did you fail?" Zi Yan turned around, forcing a smile onto her delicate face to hide her awkwardness. She pretended as if she had just noticed Gu Fei.
"Daddy! Hug me!" Little Xian Le immediately jumped into Gu Fei's arms, and he naturally lifted her small frame.
Zi Yan experiences intense awkwardness, gaining 100 emotional points.
"Yes, I did fail this time." Gu Fei, equipped with an emotion system, could clearly sense all of Zi Yan's emotional fluctuations. However, he chose not to expose her.
"What a shame, that must have wasted a lot of precious herbs!" Zi Yan said with a tone of relief, playing along with Gu Fei.
"Yeah, Daddy, you're so wasteful!" Little Xian Yue chimed in from Gu Fei's arms, her innocent voice helping to ease Zi Yan's awkwardness.
"Really? Then are these also a waste?" Gu Fei laughed, and with a wave of his hand, a large handful of medicinal candy appeared in his palm.
"Wow, so many candies!" Zi Yan's eyes lit up, and she quickly shook her head. "Big Brother Gu Fei would never waste anything! You should definitely make more of these!"
With that, Zi Yan eagerly grabbed the entire handful of candies from Gu Fei's hand and stuffed a few into her mouth.
Now that Zi Yan had grown up, her demeanor had changed. Although she still behaved playfully, her actions now exuded a playful charm rather than the cute, doll-like innocence of before.
"I want some candy too, Auntie Zi Yan! Please share with me!" Seeing this, Xian Yue waved her little hands, eager for the treats.
"Alright, alright, I'll share with you!" However, as soon as Xian Yue spoke, Zi Yan panicked, quickly handing the candy to the little girl. But perhaps due to her nervousness, the candies spilled and began to fall to the ground.
"Oh no, they dropped!" With a thought, Zi Yan stopped the candies mid-air, preventing them from hitting the ground.
At this moment, Zi Yan avoided making eye contact with Gu Fei.
"Don't worry, there's plenty more. Daddy made a lot this time!" Gu Fei said as he produced several more jade bottles, all filled with candies.
"He heard Little Xian Yue call me 'Auntie' and didn't react? That's really strange!" Zi Yan thought to herself, feeling both relieved and a bit puzzled as she suspiciously glanced at Gu Fei. He had never given her so many candies before- why now?
"Big Brother Gu Fei, you're not asking me for a favor, are you?" Zi Yan asked, smiling playfully as her bright eyes seemed to see through Gu Fei's intentions.
"Haha… You're too sharp!" Gu Fei nodded, admitting it openly.
"Haha, considering how sincere you are, I'll help you!" Zi Yan smiled mischievously, accepting all the jade bottles from Gu Fei. As for what favor Gu Fei needed, she didn't care, because she would never refuse anything he asked of her.
"This needs to be kept secret!" Gu Fei smiled slightly and then explained his plan to attack the Hall of Souls. If they could break into the Man Hall and retrieve the soul essence stored there, Gu Fei's soul could easily reach the Heaven Realm, and his alchemy skills might advance to the ninth grade.
Enhancing his soul power would also allow Gu Fei to attempt another great opportunity.
"The Hall of Souls? The one you always mention, that dark organization that collects souls, right? It sounds like a good idea to deal with them!" Zi Yan seemed intrigued by Gu Fei's plan.
The two of them quickly agreed on the plan. To maintain secrecy, they announced that they were going into seclusion and didn't inform anyone else in the Gu Clan, not even the elders, because they suspected there might be Hun Clan spies among them.
"Xiao Yi Xian, Cai'er, Zi Yan and I need to go out for a bit, but don't worry!" After making some arrangements, Zi Yan and Gu Fei quietly left the Gu Realm.
...
The Hall of Souls was notorious in Central Plains. It had numerous branches, with twenty-four important ones known as the Disha Halls. Above these were the Tiangang Halls, the most crucial locations of the Hall of Souls.
The Tiangang Halls were divided into three: Heaven, Earth, and Man Halls. The Heaven Hall served as the headquarters, where the Soul Hall's master, Hun Mie Sheng, resided. The Earth Hall was under the control of the deputy hall master, and the Man Hall was managed by the First and Second Tianzuns.
Gu Fei's target this time was the weakest of the three, the Man Hall as attacking it would be the safest option.
...
The Burial Corpse Mountain Range was located at the southwestern edge of Central Plains. The terrain made the area filled with heavy yin energy mixed with dense corpse qi. The mountain range itself was a strange formation of tombs, creating an eerie and desolate atmosphere. Hardly anyone ever ventured here willingly.
"Whoosh!"
In the silent sky above the Burial Corpse Mountain Range, a faint whooshing sound suddenly broke the stillness. Two figures, moving as swift as light, appeared in the distance. They were none other than Gu Fei and Zi Yan, who had traveled here from the Gu Realm.
"We've arrived. The Man Hall is up ahead!" Gu Fei's gaze fixed on the deepest part of the mountain range, where the space seemed to distort slightly.
"Zi Yan, it's up to you now!"
"Don't worry, leave it to me! Not even a mosquito will get out!" Zi Yan smiled confidently, waving her sleeve as the surrounding space trembled. A massive barrier formed, enveloping the entire area.
With the preparations complete, Gu Fei and Zi Yan charged into the depths of the mountain range, both cloaked in large black robes.