Chi Muyao was lying in a pool of blood.

He did not know where he had fallen from. The golden bell's boundary protected him a little, but he still suffered a terrible attack after entering the death room.

They were spiritual energy attacks. Every attack was like a full power blow from a Nascent Soul stage Heavenly Venerable

The attacks were transmitted out by the golden bell, but the aftermath of the attack would still flood the narrow room. Although Chi Muyao himself was not directly attacked, he was shattered by the residual spiritual energy in the room.

All Foundation Building stage cultivators spectating Nascent Soul stage Heavenly Venerables fighting would be struck by residual spiritual energy, let alone being attacked intentionally. 

He knew that he had entered a death room, which meant that the crack Xi Huai went through might have been safe. At the very least, he one hundred percent eliminated one death room.

He wasn't able to calculate any more than that, so he didn't know if Xi Huai could get out smoothly.

He lay there, struggling to move until he realised even a slight movement would wrack his body with pain. 

He gave the last of his spiritual energy to Xi Huai. He had nothing left now, unable to even heal himself.

It was undoubtedly an enviable thing to sign a spirit contract with the Colourless Yunni Deer. But now, he lacked the ability to even heal himself. 

With enough time, maybe a year and a half, he could recover a little. Alas, he no longer had a chance to recover. 

He could only lie on the ground, curled up, in pain. He started crying again in no time.

 He didn't cry when Yao Weng kidnapped him to the cave. 

He didn't cry when he was trapped in the death formation. 

Yet now, he cried uncontrollably.

He felt like he was about to die after entering the death room. Although the attacks had ceased, when the formation activated again, they would resume. He could not withstand another round. 

He felt a little sad when he thought about this.

In the end, he wasn't able to make Xi Huai realise he liked him. Wasn't he quite stupid? 

Xi Huai obviously liked him so much at first, but he screwed it up. He had a talent for doing that.

Why was he so sure at the beginning that he didn't like Xi Huai? He always felt he could not possibly fall in love with someone as scary and dangerous as Xi Huai. After transmigrating, he always subconsciously felt that Xi Huai would be the destroyer of the He Huan Sect.

Yet he fell for him in the end... 

However, it was good that Xi Huai did not believe him. After he fell into the death room, Xi Huai could struggle to leave on his own. There was still a chance for him to survive. 

After Xi Huai left, he would forget Chi Muyao with time.

When he occasionally recalled him, he would just remember a little He Huan Sect disciple who didn't know better. He would reminisce about how young and foolhardy he had been and smile. 

Chi Muyao thought about all this.

But he was still unhappy.

After falling in love with Xi Huai, the thought of Xi Huai ending up with someone else, maybe Ming Shaoluo or some other beauty he met...  The thought of Xi Huai treating them equally as well.. 

It made him a bit jealous.

At this moment, he suddenly heard movement and opened his eyes slightly. He saw that the scarecrow had taken on Su You's form. It stood up from the ground and glared fiercely at him. 

Seeing Su You's haggard state, Chi Muyao laughed. It hurt, but he was happy. 

Su You cursed him, "You are really a madman."

In front of Su You, could anyone else be considered a madman?

He, Chi Muyao, did not measure up.

Su You asked, “You think that boy will understand if you protect him so? Plus this is just a puppet doppelgänger. You may have stopped one of me, but another can go capture him. Isn't this kind of sacrifice a bit stupid?" 

“I-I observed that if your puppet doppelgänger is damaged, your original body will also be severely injured. This is why you try to avoid fighting as much as possible, right? By...dragging you in and letting you be attacked by the death room’s formation, your injuries compounded again, right?" 

Su You was so angry that he slapped Chi Muyao.

The golden bell was originally protecting Chi Muyao, but at this moment it became a cage. Chi Muyao's body crashed into the golden bell before falling to the ground. He coughed out blood.

His original handsome face was deathly pale at the moment, blood and filth splattered on his cheeks. 

Su You squatted in front of Chi Muyao and sneered. “I really thought your body was good at one point. I wanted Little Guban to possess you. After all, you don't come across such a healing ability everyday. Who knows what kind of amusing expression he'll have when he realises he was revived in the body of a He Huan Sect disciple?"

“Now you are like this. Had I known, I would've let the Yu family junior enter the formation. His body is the most suitable, even having the same spiritual root. However, had I done that, Little Guban would probably commit suicide..."

Chi Muyao could no longer answer. He felt like he would breathe his last soon. His consciousness remained, but his life was almost extinguished. 

These were probably his last moments. 

His thoughts were in a daze. This Little Guban Su You was talking about was Yu Yanshu's elder? A member of the Yu family?

How could a member of a renowned Righteous clan fall in line with Su You and make him care so much?

So that last time Su You risked going to steal from the Nuan Yan Pavilion, he might've been after that Yu family elder's soul-bound lamp or something similar, because it would help with possession?

Su You laughed even more wildly at his pained state. He picked up a strand of Chi Muyao's hair and said, "But look at you now. Your body is broken like this. It's not usable anymore."

Chi Muyao thought this was pretty good. Now a stranger couldn't go out and do who knew what with his body. If he did something bad, it would make the people who cared about him sad. 

Su You saw the look in his eyes and suddenly became fierce. He pulled Chi Muyao up by the hair and forced him to look at him. "If you die, this golden bell will no longer work. How long do you think you can hold me?"

Su You forced his way into the golden bell by virtue of his high cultivation. He did not expect to not be able to leave at all. Otherwise, he would not be trapped here.

He was extremely irritated about being trapped. He wanted to kill this brat on the spot.

When Chi Muyao could not speak, Su You forcefully connected their divine senses.

Only then did Chi Muyao reply, "It will not dissipate. The golden bell will enter a masterless state. It will remain as it is according to the will of the previous master. So this puppet doppelgänger of yours, made up of a fraction of you, will remain trapped here. It's worth it to trade my life to weaken you slightly."

Su You finally started going crazy. He slammed Chi Muyao's head hard into the ground.

Immediately afterwards, he began to try various ways of escaping the confines of the golden bell to no avail.

"Chi Muyao!" Su You returned to his side with gritted teeth, injecting spiritual energy into his body. "You had best open the boundary, or else I will keep you barely alive and carve chunks of flesh from you with a knife. Let's start with that pretty face of yours, okay?" 

"I don't care anymore..." Chi Muyao replied with his divine sense. "The last thing I can do before I die is to help him weaken you. One last good deed." 

Su You paused and looked at Chi Muyao. He couldn't help but wonder, "You like the guy with the dragon horn so much?"

Chi Muyao ignored him. 

Su You asked again, “Then do you want to know how he was born? For example, what means his father used to be with his mother?"

"No..." Chi Muyao replied, closing his eyes. 

"Why? Wouldn't it be interesting to learn about your loved one before you die?"

"I love Xi Huai, which has nothing to do with how Xi Huai's parents came together. I love him and him alone." 

Su You suddenly laughed. He suddenly fell silent, standing up and taking a few steps back. 

Chi Muyao did not have any strength left. He was struggling to even open his eyes. He relied on the spiritual energy that Su You had sent him to barely hang on.

Like this, Chi Muyao lay on the ground, panting. 

Su You leaned against the boundary of the golden bell, glancing at Chi Muyao. From time to time, he rang his bell, like the sound would reassure him.

When Su You lost patience, he would walk over to Chi Muyao and pressure him to lift the golden bell. Chi Muyao simply ignored him like a stubborn mule, not even replying using divine sense later on. 

The formation would only start after a certain period of time had passed. It may be three days or half a month. 

Unfortunately, Chi Muyao and Su You coexisted in this space for thirteen days before the formation activated again. 

The death room would eventually open again so that others could enter this space. If they were lucky enough to have survived until then, they could even leave. 

Su You had been staring intently at Chi Muyao, trying to see what feeble resistance he would put up this time. 

Even so, he couldn't stop what was about to happen. 

He could only watch as Chi Muyao recalled the golden bell after the cracks opened. Su You wanted to follow Chi Muyao out, but a bird doused in fire suddenly flew out and attacked him ferociously when he approached.

 This bird came so suddenly it caught Su You off guard. It even attacked using Hui Dragon Flames. When he retaliated, the bird disappeared.

Chi Muyao went outside the golden bell and struggled to his feet. The blood on his clothes left a trail behind him.

Qiuqiu also instantly arrived on his shoulder, nervously crying out. 

Chi Muyao entered a crack. When it was about to close, he stuck his middle finger up at Su You. "Go to hell!" 

Thirteen days. 

After thirteen days, Chi Muyao was able to recover some healing ability and force his way out of the golden bell. 

He knew that this was his only chance and dared not act lightly. Otherwise, if he messed up, Su You would be prepared next time. 

He wanted to wait a few more days and let himself recover a little more before leaving, but the cracks opening made him hasty. 

Maybe... he could go out and find Xi Huai?

Even if he had to leave the golden bell, he needed to keep Su You inside.

He needed to go find Xi Huai. 

He couldn't rest easy. He was afraid Xi Huai wouldn't find the way out.

After returning to the Yu Chong School, Yi Qianxi only vaguely mentioned what had happened. She also refused to take out Chi Muyao's soul-bound lamp. There was nothing even the Sect Elders could do. 

They all thought that Chi Muyao would not survive the ancient Heavenly Punishment formation.

This time things were too serious. The little they caught wind of made them afraid.

Under those circumstances, even many Golden Core stage cultivators were swept away. A poor cultivator like Yi Qianxi, who had no artefacts to speak of… If Chi Muyao had not deliberately prevented her from coming over, she would have probably been taken into the ancient Heavenly Punishment formation too.

They couldn't help but feel pain in their hearts.

What a good, kind child Chi Muyao was. He helped their Sect so much. Why did he go so young...

Hao Xiao, basically a cheap shifu, only taught Chi Muyao some knowledge about spirit beasts. However, even he couldn't help but feel pain.

He dug Chi Muyao's grave and buried some of Chi Muyao's things there. He cried like a baby in front of the grave and felt that he was too much of a miser. In the end, he did not give his disciple anything decent. 

Yi Lan did the same. He remembered the little disciple whenever he saw anything in the Sect and was sad for quite a while.

Because Chi Muyao was gone, the production output of the Yu Chong School was much less. However, many industries in the cultivation world, including pill making, enchanted vestment, and artefacts required the spirit beasts they processed. This ended up having a huge impact.

Meanwhile, Yu Yanshu came to the Yu Chong School once. He saw that the atmosphere here wasn't good, and did not stay long. 

He probably felt very sad as well. 

What they didn't know was that, at night, Yi Qianxi would take out Chi Muyao's soul-bound lamp. As long as it was illuminated, she could fall asleep peacefully. 

One day, the soul-bound lamp suddenly began to flicker. Yi Qianxi was so scared that she couldn't sleep for several nights. She sat on her bed and stared at the lamp. 

On the sixteenth day after entering the formation, Chi Muyao's soul-bound lamp finally stopped flickering. A steady orange light was inside, as warm as Chi Muyao himself.

 After calming down, Yi Qianxi looked at the lamp. Because she couldn't do anything, she cried for another night.