There was truly nothing left in the small building worthy of their lingering.
The matter was resolved unexpectedly smoothly.
Daoist Qingyun, Shen Weixun, and the Black and White Impermanences all descended the stairs.
As they stepped out of the small building, they saw that Niannian had woken up at some unknown time.
Gu Huan was lying on the right side of the doorway, with fresh blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were wide open in death.
"What's going on here?"
Seeing the body of his enemy right after coming out, Daoist Qingyun, who had originally planned to exact revenge with his own hands, inexplicably felt a sense of melancholy.
"I don't know either. Just now, Junior Sister woke up. But right after she did, this man spat out a mouthful of blood and then lost all signs of life. His soul dissipated at the same time. I couldn't stop it. I'm sorry, Master."
Mu Yanchen lowered his head and explained.
Master had said that Gu Huan must not die, for otherwise, they wouldn't be able to save Junior Sister.
But this man had vanished right before his eyes, and he hadn't had time to react. It was mainly his dereliction of duty.
Mu Yanchen was so remorseful that he was on the verge of tears.
Daoist Qingyun was in an excellent mood and had the urge to tease his eldest disciple. He put on a serious face and said, "You can't even handle such a simple thing? Tell me, what have you learned all these years? What should we do now? What about your Junior Sister?"
"I'm sorry, Master. It's my fault. I'm unskilled in my learning. Whether it's climbing mountains of swords or diving into seas of fire, I will surely find a way to save Junior Sister!"
In Daoist Qingyun's eyes, his eldest disciple's earnest appearance was the most amusing.
But Shen Weixun couldn't stand it anymore. She rolled her eyes at her master and said, "Humph, you just take advantage of Senior Brother's good temper and obedience to bully him. You keep saying that the three of us are disobedient and always find fault with us. But you're the one being disrespectful in your old age. Why should we always show you respect?"
"Hey... Don't expose my flaws. Don't you think Big Brother looks especially funny like this?"
Daoist Qingyun blushed and retorted impatiently.
Just then, Niannian, who had finally come to her senses, blurted out her first words: "Master, don't bully Senior Brother!"
Goodness gracious, all the disciples were united, and he had become the bad guy.
Daoist Qingyun shook his head helplessly. "Fine, fine, I won't tease him anymore. Alright, Yanchen, Niannian is fine now. Gu Huan died because his body couldn't bear the backlash of the spell. Just now, for some reason, the person who imprisoned Wanwan suddenly lifted the curse himself, severing all connections to Wanwan's soul. Naturally, the spell on Niannian was broken without any effort. You don't need to dwell on it anymore."
"Ah, is that so?"
Hearing this, Mu Yanchen immediately let out a sigh of relief. A smile appeared on his face, and he was no longer so tense.
As for the matter of his master joking with him.
He didn't take it to heart at all.
The originally relaxed atmosphere was about to be interrupted by the Black Impermanence. Although he didn't want to disrupt the mood, there were some things he had to mention.
"Now that I've revealed Niannian's identity, she will surely face more dangers in the future. Both Xiaobai and I are ghost messengers, and Changning resides in the underworld. We can't stay in the human world for long. So, I have to trouble all of you to protect Niannian."
When it came to this matter, Daoist Qingyun was full of doubts.
He frowned slightly, pondered for a while, and finally asked, "Why did he suddenly stop when he heard Niannian's name? He even lifted the curse himself. From what that man said, it seems that he was quite angry with Gu Huan's actions."
"Some things I originally didn't plan to say. After all, the fewer people who know these secrets, the better. But since things have come to this point, you must know."
The Black Impermanence let out a long sigh. His gaze towards Niannian was filled with admiration.
Finally, he told them everything he knew about the past.
According to the written records about the Holy Cult, the last battle recorded involved Niannian in her previous life.
Moreover, she was the main character.
In her previous life, Niannian's family was accidentally killed by members of the Holy Cult.
After that, she accidentally entered the circle of metaphysics and showed extraordinary talent. For a while, her name became well - known.
Later, the Holy Cult also tried to recruit her. It was during this contact that Niannian found out that the Holy Cult was the one that had harmed her family.
From then on, Niannian spent her whole life opposing the Holy Cult.
But the Holy Cult's reputation on the surface was so good that for a while, Niannian, who had openly opposed the Holy Cult, was even labeled as a devil.
Later, the Holy Cult was about to do something very terrible. When their true nature was finally exposed, Niannian gained many supporters.
But by that time, the Holy Cult had already grown powerful.
The underworld was also extremely busy at that time and had no way to deal with them.
Or rather, by the time they wanted to take action, it was already too late. It seemed that nothing could stop them.
In the end, Niannian searched through all the ancient books and found a broken formation. After months of research, she destroyed the Holy Cult's great cause just as they were about to succeed.
That formation...
The price to activate it was huge.
Niannian gave everything she had.
At that time, there were also many people from the metaphysical world. They gave all their merits and cultivation to Niannian.
They gathered everyone's strength together, using one person's body as a container, and perished together with the Holy Cult.
Logically speaking, Niannian was destined to have her soul completely dissipate.
But for some reason, there was always a guardian spirit by her side.
That guardian spirit took on a lot for her, which was how her soul was preserved.
Even so, Niannian's soul was in a terrible state.
Later, out of respect for her righteousness, the underworld secretly repaired her soul and that of the guardian spirit and quietly sent them into reincarnation.
The underworld is not supposed to interfere in human affairs.
The underworld could repair a person's soul, but it shouldn't.
So when Niannian was reincarnated, no one else was involved.
The whole process was personally handled by the King of Hell, the Black and White Impermanences, and the judge.
Over the years, the Holy Cult had been constantly searching for Niannian.
Firstly, because Niannian had ruined their plan in her previous life. For the Holy Cult, this was undoubtedly a deep - seated hatred.
They wanted revenge.
Secondly, because deep within Niannian's soul, she had gathered the merits and cultivation of all the metaphysical masters.
She was the container.
She was also a treasure.
If the Holy Cult got Niannian, it would be equivalent to getting all the merits and cultivation of those people.
The Holy Cult no longer had the chance to wait for a chaotic era to casually harm people's lives.
So they set their sights on Niannian.
It could be said that if they got Niannian, half of their plan would succeed.
That's why the Black and White Impermanences had been covering up Niannian's whereabouts all along. That's also why they had been so reluctant to say anything before.
After all, the fewer people who knew such secrets, the better.
However, Niannian was safe for now, at least until the Holy Cult was fully prepared.
As for the preparations and plans of the Holy Cult.
The Black and White Impermanences didn't know either.
They only knew that it was a plan that could destroy the world.