I don't talk about love with my Martial Sister

Chapter 40

The journey to Fengdu was longer than it appeared. The three of them walked along the road in silence.

They didn't see a single living creature along the way— or rather, no conscious beings that could move, since this was the ghost realm, where living things were probably the rarest of all.

Feeling a chill from her own thoughts, Shang Càn wrinkled her nose in boredom, realizing that this place was far from what she had imagined.

"Didn't expect it to look like this?"

Perhaps noticing the emotion on her face, Pei Chen smiled and said, "The entrance is quite remote, so it's normal not to see any ghost tribe traces for now. If the entrance were directly in Fengdu city, the scene we would have encountered upon arrival might have aligned more with your expectations, Càn."

"Let's not go there," Shang Càn sighed. "In my imagination, I was prepared for a fight as soon as I landed."

Thus, the calm journey they were currently on made her feel powerless, like she had swung a fist against cotton. To dispel this feeling, she initiated a conversation with Pei Chen: "It seems like Jun Kunyao knows a lot about this place. Have you been here many times?"

"... Yes."

Pei Chen paused for a moment, then nodded: "I come here every month."

Shang Càn's brows shot up, and she wanted to exchange a glance with Yunduan, but the latter seemed lost in thought, her gaze lowered. So she just rolled her eyes and asked, "Every month? That's quite frequent."

Pei Chen's gaze flickered subtly as he replied, "It's part of my responsibilities."

Shang Càn shot a cold glance at his unconsciously clenched fist, sighing inwardly that this heavenly leader was quite bad at lying.

It was probably related to the personal matter he had mentioned earlier about not sealing this entrance in time. Shang Càn thought, wondering what could have compelled such a serious person to defy the commands of their leader.

"I think I see something."

The usually silent Yunduan suddenly spoke up, prompting the other two to look up. Sure enough, they spotted a few shadows in the red mist.

Wanting to avoid lingering on the previous topic, Pei Chen quickly took the lead, lowering his voice: "Up ahead is Fengdu's protective river, also known as the River of Forgetfulness."

"It's the River of Forgetfulness—" Hearing a term she had read in a book before, Shang Càn's eyes lit up for a moment, then furrowed her brows again as she quietly asked, "...So those figures I see now, which look like people, are...?"

Yunduan echoed her soft tone and replied, "They're ghosts."

The flawless celestial body was particularly sensitive to the aura of non-human entities, making Shang Càn tense up. But she quickly realized that Yunduan had said "ghosts" rather than "ghost tribe," and she looked at Yunduan, receiving a confirming nod in return.

"They're probably newly deceased individuals who haven't yet transformed into ghost tribe members," she whispered. "Their ghostly aura is weak, far less chilling than the ghost tribe members we've encountered."

"Exactly, we need to pass ourselves off as such newly deceased ghosts."

Pei Chen said this as he moved ahead, signaling to the two: "Newly deceased ghosts have to go to the River of Forgetfulness to see if they qualify to cross over. If they can't see the other side and re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, they'll need to come up with a new plan."