The Crossing of Forgetting was in an uproar.
"How did he get up there first?"
"Wasn’t he the last in line?"
"Could this be the secret technique to boarding the Empty Return Raft? But can merely understanding these common practices achieve such a feat?"
The ghosts and soul cultivators shouted in bewilderment.
The elder guiding Sun Lingtong was momentarily stunned but then bowed deeply to Yun Xiao’s reflection: "Thank you, elder, for your great kindness and support. I am eternally grateful and will sing your praises and fairness throughout my life!"
Upon hearing him speak, the Crossing of Forgetting fell silent.
Even if they felt indignant or puzzled, they wisely kept silent. The reason was simple: Yun Xiao’s reflection had elevated the elder. To question this was to oppose Yun Xiao’s choice!
Yun Xiao’s reflection, however, showed no reaction and waved his long sleeve once more.
The next moment, Sun Lingtong vanished from where he stood and appeared on the Empty Return Raft.
The Crossing of Forgetting erupted once again.
"What’s going on?!"
"How can that little brat get up there too?"
"Why is he allowed up there? He was just one who received help."
If not for the rules, these soul cultivators and ghosts might have already begun violently attacking the elder and the youngster on the Empty Return Raft.
This was too much!
Clearly, there were only ten places on the Empty Return Raft, and now two had been taken at once.
Considering there were more than thirty people queued at the Crossing of Forgetting.
The places for crossing were so limited; that Sun Lingtong and the elder preemptively boarding made many ghosts and soul cultivators nearly burst out in curses, crying out about an inside job!
As the main party involved, Sun Lingtong felt quite confused as well.
He walked over to the elder and used Divine Sense Transmission to inquire: "Old man, what is going on?"
The elder gave Sun Lingtong a knowing look: "It’s actually thanks to you, little rascal. Consider that I owe you a favor."
"Huh?" Sun Lingtong was taken aback.
Clearly, he was the one who had been guided and helped.
The elder then looked deeply at Sun Lingtong: "Little rascal, who were you in life? What good deeds did you do to have such great merit and a pure light surrounding you?"
"You are a truly good person."
"That is why just a little help from me is enough."
Sun Lingtong’s pupils contracted, and he was internally shocked, quickly understanding the truth: How could he have been some kind of saint? The Bukong Sect operated, usually finding joy in theft; how could there be a pure light?
"It was the aura Ning’s mother gave me."
"She said it could help me enter Wangchuan Immortal City."
"So this aura had such a profound use!"
Even after figuring it out, Sun Lingtong still feigned ignorance, scratching his head: "I’m not sure."
The elder patted his shoulder: "Becoming a ghost, it’s normal to lose some memories. It’s okay if you can’t recall. When I say I owe you, I promise to make it up to you."
While they were communicating through Divine Sense, Yun Xiao’s reflection waved his sleeve repeatedly, selecting eight others to board the Empty Return Raft.
Yun Xiao’s reflection gradually faded and eventually disappeared into the vast river mist.
The many soul cultivators and ghosts left at the Crossing of Forgetting stared longingly, or with glaring eyes, fixated on the Empty Return Raft drifting away. Many kept their eyes on Sun Lingtong and the elder, their Adam’s apple moving as if they wanted to speak, but ultimately dared not utter a curse.
After all, they could still queue here, waiting for the opportunity to cross later.
If they really hurled abuses, infuriating Yun Xiao’s reflection, and got expelled, they truly wouldn’t have this chance for the rest of their lives.
The Empty Return Raft drifted slowly on the surface of the Wangchuan River.
It did not resemble any mundane boat but was more like a massive, slightly concave frost-white waning moon, or a semi-withered, vein-defined giant lotus petal.
The curves at the bow and stern naturally converged, its lines smooth with a beauty tinged with decay.
The entire raft emitted an extremely faint, nearly non-existent moon-white soft glow, forming a halo shield thin as a cicada’s wing but immensely resilient.
Sun Lingtong, unable to sit still, wandered around on the Empty Return Raft.
Poking here, touching there.
He found the material of the Empty Return Raft very peculiar, neither gold nor wood, nor stone nor jade.
The body of the raft seemed woven from countless translucent, hair-thin glass fibers, with extremely dim, star-like silver light flowing slowly within, like frozen teardrops.
The material filling the spaces between the filaments was beyond Sun Lingtong’s knowledge, making it completely unrecognizable. It felt icy to the touch, yet surprisingly robust and stable, bearing the weather of ages, embodying fragility and resilience, reminiscent of moonlight. Only it was solidified, cold moonlight.
The entire raft was exquisite beyond compare, yet it exuded a profound sense of emptiness and desolation. Sun Lingtong thought of the story of Yun Xiao and Yue Yi, and he couldn’t help but empathize with the endless, unfillable void in Yun Xiao’s heart.
The waters of Wangchuan surged.
Countless ghosts soared and struggled here, letting out silent screams and wails. Seeing those on the Empty Return Raft, they surged over, displaying despair and the malice of pulling others down with them.
The soul cultivators and ghosts on the Empty Return Raft all felt tense. They knew well the severe consequences of being dragged into the water.
Furthermore, the body of the Empty Return Raft had no tangible feel, making one feel strangely suspended upon standing, as if treading on thick, cold mist, leaving one uneasy.
The mighty river rolled on, each wave crashing against the raft’s halo, sending mist flying everywhere and causing the raft to tremble.
Every tremor triggered the starlight and moonlight woven within the raft.