After Han Qingwen saw the three of them off, watching their silhouettes disappear into the bustling crowds of the city, Zhuge Muyu appeared from the shadows beside the Tower Master at just the right moment. He smoothed his robes and spoke in a low voice.
"Tower Master, wasn't Niao Niao supposed to go? Why was she replaced?"
Han Qingwen replied calmly, his gaze still fixed on the distance. "That male cultivator took a sudden liking to Xia Yiwan. I tried to persuade him to reconsider, but he wouldn't change his mind, so I could only go along with it for the time being."
Zhuge Muyu frowned, his brow knitting with concern. "She hasn't controlled that body for long. What if something goes wrong while she is with them?"
"It's fine. I already made the risks clear to them before they left. If anything really happens, it won't be blamed on Dengyun Tower. At worst, we simply abandon that shell and find another."
A flash of icy blue light passed through Zhuge Muyu's eyes, a ripple of the puppet's internal energy, and he didn't press the matter further. He bowed respectfully toward him and said, "Tower Master, this disciple will go repair my foundation now."
"Alright, you may go."
On the other side of Songran City, the three of them had already returned smoothly to the entrance of Xianke Ruyun. The shopkeeper saw them approaching again and still greeted them with a cheerful, practiced smile.
Yun Po spoke first, her voice echoing in the lobby.
"Shopkeeper, do you have any empty courtyards available now?"
The shopkeeper immediately clasped his hands in an apologetic gesture.
"I'm truly sorry, honored guest. We're fully booked at the moment. There aren't any vacant courtyards left right now."
Yun Po frowned, her expression clearly displeased as she looked around the crowded inn. Yunxi smoothly took over the conversation.
"Yun Po, just come to my courtyard instead. There won't be any vacancies in Songran City's inns for a while."
As she spoke, she glanced at Xia Yiwan, the meaning behind the look obvious to everyone present.
The shopkeeper chimed in, nodding in agreement. "The honored guest is right. With Dengyun Tower staying here in the city, nearly all the inns are completely full."
Yun Po had no choice but to turn to Xia Yiwan and say, "Sorry to trouble you with this arrangement."
The three of them then entered the small, quiet courtyard Yunxi had rented previously. After she opened the restriction with a practiced wave of her hand, she stepped inside the gate first. Li Li, nestled comfortably in her arms, sent a voice transmission with a mental sigh.
"Zūnshàng, you have already schemed against three Dengyun Tower disciples in this little courtyard. I really wonder what that Tower Master's expression would be if he knew what was happening here."
Yunxi rubbed Li Li's soft head and replied through the link.
"That just proves this courtyard has good feng shui for our purposes."
She then turned back to Yun Po and Xia Yiwan as they reached the inner rooms and said, "That room over there is yours."
Yun Po had just answered with a quick "Alright" when Xia Yiwan suddenly closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep, her consciousness vanishing instantly. Her collapsing body was caught perfectly by her before she could hit the floor. She turned back toward Yunxi and complained.
"Ran Xi, you could have at least warned me before acting so suddenly."
Despite her words of complaint, her movements were quick and efficient. She carried her inside the room and placed her gently on the cool jade bed before asking, "What is wrong with her?"
Yunxi had already set up the courtyard restriction to ensure total privacy and only then entered the room unhurriedly. She looked down at the sleeping female cultivator and spoke.
"She wasn't fully possessed by the intruder. For some reason, a part of her original soul wasn't devoured by the evil soul and only fell into a deep slumber. That's why I had you choose her specifically. I want to see if we can wake the sleeping soul and learn exactly how the possession happened from her perspective."
Yun Po thought it over for a moment and said, "No wonder Han Qingwen tried to stop me from picking her. So her primordial spirit wasn't completely annihilated after all."
"It could also be that she was only recently possessed and wasn't skilled at using dual cultivation to plant an evil seed in you yet, so she was just acting as filler for the group. She probably didn't expect you to pick her at the end."
"So you deliberately mentioned the clan's secret cultivation grounds earlier to make Han Qingwen think about playing the long game and not act against me for now."
Yunxi smiled and nodded, her eyes sharp. "Yes. If we're pretending to be cultivators from a powerful reclusive clan, having a few cultivation secret grounds is perfectly normal. It also makes Han Qingwen less willing to give us up as potential targets."
"I understand the strategy. Then what is next?"
Yun Po didn't have the specialized ability to see through the layers of souls, so she simply asked her directly.
"First, plant the Ice Soul Cold Cicada into the evil soul and put it to sleep. Then I will try to awaken Xia Yiwan's original soul."
"Alright."
Yun Po was decisive in her actions. After confirming that her movements wouldn't harm the original soul trapped within, she quickly formed complex hand seals. She smoothly sent the Ice Soul Cold Cicada she had nurtured in his own body into Xia Yiwan's dantian, where it settled into place.
Yunxi and Li Li guarded the process from the side, watching for any fluctuations, while Xiao Meng ensured that Xia Yiwan wouldn't wake up midway through the procedure. Since the physical body hadn't fully fused with the possessing evil soul yet, everything went smoothly. Nothing like Zhuge Muyu waking up halfway happened this time.
Half a day later, as the light in the courtyard began to dim, Yun Po turned to Yunxi and said, "It's done. The evil soul is asleep now. The rest of the work is up to you."
Yunxi thought for a moment and, to be safe, took out the Soul Containment Mirror from her storage. The surface of the mirror shimmered with a ghostly light. She used its power to forcibly extract the evil soul from Xia Yiwan's body, and along with it came a faint, flickering white soul light cluster.
Yun Po let out a low whistle when she saw the artifact in action. "Ran Xi Daoyou's Soul Containment Mirror really is impressive to behold."
Yunxi only sent the evil soul, which was already implanted with the Ice Soul Cold Cicada, into the depths of the Soul Containment Mirror. She then returned the faint, flickering soul light cluster back into Xia Yiwan's body and turned to speak.
"I went to the underworld by chance and took on one of their tasks. This soul artifact is only borrowed for the duration of my work."
Yun Po nodded, her expression understanding. "I know about that arrangement. Besides you, there are three other cultivators from the Weiyu Realm who ascended and also have Soul Containment Mirrors in their possession. Still, it's better not to show this kind of soul artifact casually in the Spirit Realm. Someone might get jealous of its power."
Yunxi smiled faintly at his concern. "This Lord reached an agreement with the Ten Yama Kings of the underworld to use the Soul Containment Mirror. It's not something just anyone can snatch away from me. Even if this Lord falls in battle, the mirror won't recognize a new master."
She truly didn't care about the risks of theft. The Soul Containment Mirror was originally a tool crafted for underworld ghost officers, meant specifically for capturing and holding souls. What she and Han Lian's group needed to capture were the vicious souls that had escaped from the Eighteen Layers of Hell, so the mirror's grade was far higher than ordinary artifacts found in the mortal or spirit realms.
The underworld also feared the potential for chaos if the mirror accidentally changed owners while in the mortal world, so the Ten Yama Kings used a powerful secret art to bind it temporarily to the officers. Even if they died, no one else could contract it, and the Ten Yama Kings would be able to retrieve the artifact immediately from across the void.
When Yunxi had first encountered a Soul Containment Mirror that a ghost officer had accidentally lost in the mortal world of the Weiyu Realm, that mirror had already developed its own consciousness and was improving its grade by devouring mortal souls. It was unclear how long it had stayed there, yet it never recognized a master during all that time, which showed how special such soul artifacts were designed to be.
That's why Yunxi didn't bother hiding it when Yun Po saw the mirror and even explained its nature openly to her.
Yun Po's reputation as an information broker wasn't fake; she kept track of many such legends. From the moment she had first learned about Ran Xi, she had already used her vast network to investigate her past, which was why she knew about the Soul Containment Mirror and had kindly warned her. After learning that the mirror won't easily change owners, she dropped the topic and quickly shifted gears to the task at hand.
"Xia Yiwan's soul is too weak at the moment. Can you wake her in this state?"
Yunxi replied with a touch of uncertainty, "I don't know for sure. We have to try and see."
"Alright. I will guard the area outside."
Yun Po was tactful and knew when to give her space. After saying that, she left the room to stand watch in the courtyard.
Yunxi didn't stop her from leaving. After she had gone out, she set up another heavy restriction around the room, took out a powerful energy barrier, and enclosed herself and Xia Yiwan inside it for absolute security. Only then did she retrieve the advanced medical pod from her space, the machine humming softly as it materialized.
Since repairing Ye Chenyu's dantian last time, this's only the second time she had used it. This time, however, she was repairing damaged divine sense, so the treatment agents required were completely different.