Shangwu responded, "Yes, cross the Netherworld Bridge and find the ’corpse’ of the shadow, then you can. Night ghosts usually don’t devour shadows immediately but rather put them aside for three days until the flesh dies, making the shadow more valuable to absorb."
"Can’t cross it, wooden plaque." Ye Chenfeng thought of that bridge.
Shangwu tapped her forehead and a moment later, with a resolute tone, said, "Of course, I can cross it, but I must use my blood to invoke the Blood River. Once there’s a Blood River on the Netherworld Road, the Netherworld Bridge can be passed. I’m about to die anyway, so I might as well help you all."
As soon as Shangwu finished speaking, the entire town fell into complete darkness.
The moonlight and starlight that had been above in the night sky disappeared entirely, and a thick, black fog surrounded the town.
A male voice appeared in the air, faintly carrying a sound of sobbing.
"Shangwu, you actually betrayed me! Consenting the method to cross the Netherworld Bridge costs one’s life, where does that leave my love for you!?" The night ghost’s voice began to carry a hint of madness.
Shangwu, however, coldly stared at the night ghost and said, "Love me? You love me by taking my shadow and letting me die the next day? Thanks to you, I’m going to die anyway, so I might as well lend them a helping hand. Are you happy now? To spend your life with a soulless shadow? Ridiculous!"
A gust of wind rushed past the crowd, and a dark figure stood not far away. He wore a red mask on his left face, and looking at the right, he resembled Shangwu a bit. His clothes were tattered, and it turned out to be the madman Ye Chenfeng had encountered at the street corner earlier.
"No, Shangwu, I just wanted you not to leave me. I won’t let you die. I’ve always protected your shadow very well. She likes me a lot and hopes you’ll like me as much as she does." The man’s eyes showed a bit of infatuation.
Before the Heavenly Mechanism Mirror, Tianmiao raised her eyebrows and tutted twice, "Oh dear, Hong Rong seems to have another story. Ah, love and hatred, tut tut."
"In this world, there are countless infatuated men and women. What I, Jie Wenzhan, despise most is scum like you. If you can’t get it, you resort to threats. When others don’t reciprocate your feelings, you call it betrayal?" Jie Wenzhan drew his sword and moved forward to shield Shangwu behind him, coldly saying, "Ridiculous! Shameful!"
"Tut tut, look at how Jie Wenzhan cherishes the gentle and lovely. Look at Ye Chenfeng, the straight steel man." Tianmiao continued to make sarcastic remarks.
"But I think what Jie Wenzhan said makes a lot of sense." Kong Hou nodded.
"Yes, keep watching. It’s getting interesting." Tianmiao smiled.
The night ghost raised his hand to the mask, sneered, and a thick fog instantly surrounded Jie Wenzhan. With a gentle tap on the mask, the fog tightened like an untouchable giant hand, pulling Jie Wenzhan’s spirit out of his body. The night ghost stared at the struggling spirit in captivity and said, "Who do you think you’re talking to? I am the sovereign here, killing you is easier than squashing an ant!"
Shangwu shouted angrily, "Stop! Have you forgotten what you promised me earlier? Your nature is still so vicious!"
For Shangwu’s rebuke, his eyes seemed hurt, his body gradually melting into black smoke, yet slowly solidifying in front of Shangwu he said, "Is it because of him? Because of this human? I’ve been continually cultivating myself just to protect you. Even if you killed me, it was you who turned me into a night ghost, I’ve never blamed you, I’ve always been ungrudging."
Tianmiao rested her chin on her hand, looked at the Heavenly Mechanism Mirror with the same face as Hong Rong’s Shangwu, and sighed, "Hong Rong is not having an easy time either. She saved a lunatic, and the lunatic self-gratified, entangling to the end. However, in the end, Hong Rong must have bashed this lunatic’s head in." After all, Hong Rong is such a fierce person!