Who wants to kill her?

Within the crack, green light swirled, as if something was rampaging and struggling to break through Gu Lili's body.

"It's Netherfire again!"

Seeing that Gu Lili had fainted, Guan Nan quickly formed hand seals and channeled spiritual energy into the crack between her eyebrows.

But the spiritual energy that was sent in was like a snack for the Netherfire, being devoured by it bit by bit without any effect of blocking it. Instead, it was allowed to emerge from the crack, only to be pulled back by some force.

"My spiritual power cannot suppress it!" Guan Nan clasped his hands together and cast a spell again, summoning the Spirit Binding Spell. As soon as the spell was released, it rushed towards the crack. The Netherfire within the crack sensed the threat and struggled to break free from its internal restraints, rushing back towards the spell. The moment the two collided, the spell, like a thin talisman, was ignited by the Netherfire and burned to ashes.

"Let me give it a try," Ksitigarbha suddenly appeared and said.

"When did you arrive? If you keep disappearing like this, don't blame me for putting a restriction on the underworld."

Ksitigarbha always liked to hide his presence in the underworld, especially around Guan Nan. Ksitigarbha was already a half-Buddha, and his invisibility technique was a high-level celestial magic, making it difficult for Guan Nan to detect him. In the past, he often felt that he was being watched, but he didn't care. Now, however, he was furious to discover that there were spectators around when he was with Meng Po.

“Someone has tampered with her.” Ignoring the threat, Ksitigarbha quickly summoned a talisman to investigate, but it was also burned to ashes.

"What tricks could there be that I can't fight back against? Apart from those few in the sky..." Guan Nan frowned slightly, then said coldly, "You mean?"

"Yes, this sealing technique is indeed a work of the heavens. It sealed her origin and nourished the Netherfire so that it can contend with you."

"Ha, they're after me."

"...You blockhead, you're obviously after her." Dizang glanced at Guannan and said indifferently.

"I'm going to heaven to see which old man used such despicable means." Guan Nan stood up and cast a spell, preparing to open a spacetime rift.

“Don’t go! I can see who made this seal, but I don’t know why they did it. The reason and motive are unclear, but what they want to see is definitely the demise of Meng Po,” Ksitigarbha said, frowning.

"How laughable! In this heaven and on earth, who dares to touch Meng Po? In all the millennia, who has ever been able to touch Meng Po?"

"Sigh, didn't they change the person? This girl doesn't even know any magic after taking over as Meng Po. How could she possibly be as decisive and ruthless as Qing Lian, who is like a female war goddess possessed by her?" Dizang sighed and said with emotion, "A proud blockhead."

"The person who made the move knew the importance of Meng Po, so they took a desperate gamble and sealed her source. The Netherfire can fight against you, but it will also burn away her spiritual consciousness. As long as the source is not damaged, there can be thousands of Meng Pos, but this one must die. The one this person wants to kill is the Meng Po in front of us!" Ksitigarbha said coldly, abandoning his usual playful demeanor.

"Kill her?? How long has she been in the underworld? Although time doesn't flow in the underworld, it's only been a few years according to human reckoning. How could she possibly provoke the heavens to unleash a deadly attack?"

"I don't know. We can investigate it later, but if you insist on continuing to discuss this issue, your little girlfriend... will be burned out."

Ksitigarbha looked at Gu Lili. Because her origin was sealed, she could not suppress the Netherfire. The crack between her eyebrows had spread all over her body, like a porcelain doll that had been smashed. Although it was intact, it seemed that the force of a single finger could shatter it.

"This... Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, what do you think we should do?"

If Ksitigarbha had dared to mock Guan Nan like this before, he would have certainly summoned his magical artifact to fight him. Over the millennia, the two had clashed countless times. This high-ranking official from heaven had been entrenched in the underworld for many years, using a prestigious title, but in the Great Emperor's eyes, he was nothing more than someone monitoring him. But now, seeing Gu Lili on the verge of death, he couldn't care less about anything else and had to suppress his temper, asking the other party for a way to save her.

"Suppressing the ancient Netherfire will probably require a joint effort from you and me."

"Let's begin."

The two exchanged glances and simultaneously cast a spell, conjuring a magic array to channel spiritual power into Gu Lili in order to suppress the Netherfire and urge their origins to break the seal. However, Ksitigarbha was a deity, and the turbid energy of the underworld would imprison half of his spiritual power. Even with Guan Nan's combined efforts, they could only barely suppress the Netherfire's second burning attack.

"How is Lady Meng Po? How does it feel to be back in the Underworld?"

Gu Lili slowly opened her eyes. In front of her was a girl who looked to be in her early twenties. She was not wearing any makeup, but her eyes and brows were lively and playful. Her black hair was just casually scattered. She wore a long blue gauze dress, with no other decorations except for a belt embroidered with blue lotus flowers at her waist.

Gu Lili cautiously sat up and asked, "Who are you?"

The woman in green looked surprised and leaned her face closer to Gu Lili, asking, "Don't you remember me?"

"Never seen it before."

The woman in green simply sat down on the ground, resting her chin on her hands and legs: "My lord, your soup is truly amazing. Its medicinal effects last for ten thousand years, and even I cannot resist it. Not to mention others, I am curious about which great deity you are, who has come to the underworld to undergo tribulation."

"Who are you, and where is this?" Gu Lili looked around. It was like a void, with nothing but the two of them.

"This is your spiritual realm, and I am your origin—Qinglian," the woman in green said, pouting.

"Are you the former Meng Po?" Gu Lili asked.

"You're wrong, you're the one who's in a state of forgetfulness. Ten thousand years ago, I was just a drop of morning dew on a lotus leaf. As the sun was about to rise, you took pity on me when you passed by, took me in, and refined me. Then you placed me in the River of Oblivion to nurture my intelligence and transform me into my current form. Qinglian is the name you gave me."

The woman in green suddenly dimmed, tears welling in her eyes, and continued, "Your elegant demeanor was captivating. You said that was your first impression of me. But you left, and a thousand years have passed..."

"Lotus leaves... Lotus leaves in the underworld? Am I Meng Po? Me? I'm just a wage slave? I'm clearly..."

"We didn't meet here ten thousand years ago, Lady Meng Po."

Where is that?

The woman in green curled her lip, extended a finger, and pointed upwards: "The sky!"

Gu Lili felt dizzy, perhaps she was still dreaming, the strange things that had happened in the past few days had left her exhausted.

"You don't believe me, Lady Meng Po? It's alright if you don't believe me, you'll remember in the future, but for now you must return to your place!"

Seeing that Gu Lili still looked doubtful, Qinglian had no choice but to avoid the main issue: "Before you entered the mortal world, you sealed your magic power and some fragments of your memories inside my body. I'm taking them out for you now. Then we'll investigate who's harming you. Qinglian will destroy him."

"Someone wants to harm me? What do you mean?"

Qinglian waved her hand towards the air, and Gu Lili saw the conversation between Guan Nan and Dizang just now, as well as the anxious scene outside.

"The seal placed on you cannot be broken by their spiritual power. You must dispel it yourself to make it ineffective. Come, Lady Meng Po, come back."

As Qinglian spoke, she began to form hand seals, drawing out several strands of fluorescent green Qi from her divine consciousness, condensing them into a single strand in her hand, and then channeling it into the crack between Gu Lili's eyebrows.

In an instant, golden light flashed, and Gu Lili, outside of her divine consciousness, slowly opened her eyes. The Netherfire that was about to burst forth from her forehead was firmly enveloped by the upgraded Meng Po essence, gradually becoming dim and without light, and finally completely disappearing into the crack.

Then the crack quickly closed and disappeared, revealing a pale pink divine hairpin in the crack's location, before vanishing again before anyone could notice.

"Meng Po?" Guan Nan called out as he slowly approached Gu Lili's face after she opened her eyes.

"Lady Meng Po, we still don't know who wants to harm you. Qing Lian thinks it's best not to tell anyone about your return to your rightful place yet," Qing Lian said through divine sense.

"Hmm," Gu Lili replied with a single, brief word.

"I'm so tired, I want to rest," Gu Lili said to Guan Nan.

The sealing of the Netherfire was clearly due to external forces, not the work of the two of them. Guan Nan looked at Di Zang in confusion, but the guy had already quietly disappeared before Gu Lili woke up. He could only use his spiritual power to examine Gu Lili's body. After confirming that there was nothing abnormal, he nodded and sent Gu Lili back to Meng Po's residence.

Back at Meng Po's Residence, Gu Lili felt completely drained and collapsed onto the bed.

"Qinglian, are you still there?"

"Yes, sir. I'll always be here. It's all thanks to the Netherfire that my seal was broken today; otherwise, I would have remained just that green blob."

"Then can you tell me about what happened before? Didn't I make you so angry that you drank the Meng Po soup and were reincarnated?"

“That’s not me, that’s a remnant of your consciousness, just like me, waiting for you to come back.” Qinglian blinked, seeing Gu Lili’s puzzled look, and then changed her words, “According to the way things are said in your time, it should be… well, she is the soup-making puppet you left behind. You left me and her together, and then we’ve been running according to the program you set. But you’ve been gone for too long, and over these thousand years, she has gradually developed her own intelligence.”

“Normally, when you come back, she should return to your consciousness. But she cleverly used this trick so that no one would doubt your identity and she could realize her dream. The things you created are indeed as intelligent as you.”

Qinglian, like a devoted fan of Gu Lili, couldn't hide her joy at her return, her words revealing her admiration and respect for her.

Gu Lili said blankly, "But I... still can't remember anything. Then why should I leave?"

“I don’t know. You didn’t tell me that once when you came back from the 19th floor, you created the former Meng Po and sealed her magic power and a part of her spirit with me. You only told me that you would come back in 300 years. Who knew that you would be gone for a thousand years.”

"The 19th floor? I've heard Zhong Kui mention that place; the Netherfire was obtained from there."

"Yes, sir. You used to go to the 19th floor for a while every Ghost Festival. You were never very happy when you came back. I don't know why, and you wouldn't let me ask."

"Then I'll go to the 19th floor tomorrow. But right now... I'm going to sleep."

After saying this, Gu Lili closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Qing Lian also transformed into a wisp of green silk and disappeared into Gu Lili's brow.

The next day, Gu Lili vaguely heard someone sobbing softly beside her. She tried to open her eyes several times, but was too weak to continue sleeping. She was finally awakened by the aroma of soybean flour mixed with the scents of eggs and soy sauce wafting through the air.

"Lady Meng Po...you...you're awake."

"Haha, what's wrong? Why are you crying like this?"

Gu Lili opened her eyelids and was greeted by a zombie-like face with her makeup ruined by crying. The dark circles under her eyes, which she had deliberately painted, were now just dirty gray. Two deep tear tracks stretched all the way to her chin, and the tip of her nose was red from repeated wiping. Looking closely, if it weren't for the official robes and hat, she would have looked more like a Western clown, which made Gu Lili giggle.

389 said with a hint of annoyance, "My lord, we were so worried! How could you still be laughing? You've been sleeping for two days and two nights, and we couldn't wake you up. Fangfangfang went to find Guannan in a panic, but Lord Guannan only told us to keep an eye on things and that there was nothing he could do."

"Don't be angry, I'm sorry to have worried you. I don't know how this happened either, but... I think I smelled jianbing guozi just now, I'm hungry, 389."

Seeing that the other person still looked serious, Gu Lili shook his arm and begged for food in a coquettish manner.

389 wanted to continue asking questions, but when she heard that Gu Lili was hungry, she stopped asking. She simply brought the pancakes and soy milk that Fangfangfang had just brought to the bedside and helped Gu Lili adjust her backrest: "Here, eat. Why don't you take another day off today and let the adults rest more?"

"No, the ghost's life is long. It's better to spend a day lying here wasting my ghost life than to listen to the woes of the dead and help them fulfill their dreams. That way, I can at least have some meaning. Besides... I still owe that guy a thousand years' worth of points. If I pay off my debt sooner, I might be able to reincarnate."

"You're going to be reborn? Then who will make the soup?"

"Why don't you make it yourself?"

"No, I don't want to. I want to be reborn with you. I'll try my best to accumulate points."

"Then I'll wait for someone to argue with me too, and then I'll pretend to be angry, and we'll take the opportunity to drink soup and be reborn."

"Pfft, hahahahaha!"

The two girls exchanged a glance, and their giggles echoed through Meng Po's residence. Fang Fang Fang, who had been standing at the door listening to their conversation, seemed to be imagining some beautiful scene and also laughed foolishly. Then she came to her senses, put away her smile, and turned to walk towards the Yellow Springs.

"Aren't you going to eat something?" Gu Lili chewed the last bite of her jianbing guozi, then took a sip of soy milk and turned to ask.

"We underworld messengers don't need to eat either."

"But on the day of the annual party, I saw you eating with great relish."

"Hey, you were so drunk at the company's annual party that you didn't recognize anyone, yet you still noticed me?"

"Hey, you... even when you're drunk you're only half sober, I still have some self-control."

389, with a gossipy, onlooker's expression, chuckled and said, "That day you were holding Guan Nan the whole time..."

Gu Lili was both embarrassed and annoyed: "Oh dear, shh~" She quickly reached out and covered the other person's mouth, then looked towards the door to make sure Fangfangfang and the others were not there before she felt relieved.

"Don't talk nonsense anymore, but why do I always feel hungry and want to eat?"

"That's because you loved to eat when you were alive. Actually, what you're eating now is the taste from your past life, the taste you imagined in your mind, not the taste of the food itself. Otherwise, could food conjured by magic taste different to a thousand people like it does in the real world?"

"So I can actually go without eating or drinking?"

"Of course, you hold an official position, and with the blessing of spiritual power, you no longer need any earthly food. But you can eat if you like. It's all up to you. Have you ever watched the ancient costume fantasy cultivation drama? It's similar."

389 explained it to Gu Lili in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Gu Lili suddenly understood and slapped her thigh: "I see, that's great!"