The first person to look at Chen Xiaobei wasn't one of the young men, but Old Liu.

Old Liu was about to speak, but I stopped him with a wave of my hand. "Look at Xiaobei's eyes!"

Chen Xiaobei's eyes had a kind of indescribable emptiness, and her voice had become an ethereal, emotionless tone. She gave the impression that it wasn't her speaking at all.

Old Liu raised the hand holding his fan slightly, then lowered it again, turning around to block the others' view. He was creating an opportunity for me to use the Ghost Eye Secret Technique.

As purple light flickered faintly in my eyes, one of the young men was already asking with a smile, "Little sister, do you live here? Are outsiders not allowed in?"

Chen Xiaobei replied, "Outsiders are allowed in, but no photos!"

That person deliberately teased Chen Xiaobei: "What if I insist on taking pictures?"

Chen Xiaobei lowered her head and didn't speak. Another person said impatiently, "Don't tease the little girl. Look, you've embarrassed her. Let's go!"

That person smiled at Chen Xiaobei, turned around, and walked into the alley entrance. After the last of them entered the alley, Chen Xiaobei suddenly raised her head: "Don't take pictures, or something very serious will happen."

"What could happen?" The last person, walking behind, turned his head and smiled at Chen Xiaobei.

Chen Xiaobei's voice became even more strange: "Don't try it. You absolutely mustn't try it."

That person ignored Chen Xiaobei and went straight into the alley.

After they were all gone, Chen Xiaobei came over and took Old Liu's hand, "Let's go!"

As Old Liu looked at my face, I shook my head slightly, meaning: I didn't see anything.

Old Liu nodded slightly and was led into the alley by Chen Xiaobei.

At that time, as I walked behind them, a passage from my master's words suddenly popped into my head.

He said: "When you enter the martial world in the future, it's fine if you remain unknown, but once you make a name for yourself, don't underestimate any business."

"Sorcerers have a characteristic: the greater your reputation, the more dangerous the evil spirits you encounter."

"Because Heaven won't arrange for you to have prey that you can easily catch."

"The Dao of Heaven likes balance. Just as the Dao of Heaven makes a ferocious beast appear in a certain place, it will inevitably arrange for the beast's nemesis nearby."

"Evil spirits are the ferocious beasts in the eyes of the Dao of Heaven, and sorcerers are the hunters arranged by the Dao of Heaven. When the Dao of Heaven lets you encounter a business that is half life and half death, it is showing you favor. The 30% chance of survival is the test that Heaven leaves for sorcerers."

"Why do many sorcerers, despite possessing superb skills, want to hide their names? It's because they are afraid of being targeted by the Dao of Heaven and dying an unnatural death."

"When you encounter a difficult opponent, don't first suspect that you haven't improved, but rather try to find a way to survive!"

When my master said this to me, I also asked him: "Why does the Dao of Heaven make such arrangements? Does it have a grudge against sorcerers?"

My master was silent for a long time before telling me: "Unless you can find the secret agreement signed by the Yin and Yang realms back then, you will never find the answer. However, you'd better not look for the answer."

"Some things have become fixed patterns and are not allowed to be broken. Your search for an answer is a search for a way to break the rules. Breaking the Dao is harder than breaking the Heavens."

While I was still lost in thought, it suddenly darkened before my eyes. I subconsciously looked up at the sky, only to find that the sun seemed to have been pulled much further away, and the surrounding temperature also dropped significantly. Walking in the alley felt like walking into another world.

Although Weizi Alley wasn't yet completely dark, the gloom here was enough for a fierce ghost to travel during the day.

I was just about to call out to Old Liu when I felt a chill under my feet. When I looked down, I realized that my shoes had been soaked by the water seeping out of the cracks in the bricks, and my socks were sticking to my feet, icy cold.

It's not uncommon for that kind of old-fashioned red brick road to accumulate water during the rainy season. But it wasn't the rainy season now, yet the red bricks in Weizi Alley were spewing water when stepped on.

The cracks in the bricks were also carrying a trace of chill. The Yin energy in this alley had almost reached the point where it was transforming into water. Was this a place for people to live?

I raised my hand and pressed Old Liu back to where he was. "Was it like this when you came here a few days ago?"

Old Liu's expression wasn't very good either: "No! When I left yesterday, there was no water on the ground."

But Chen Xiaobei said, "Every year at this time, the ground will return water upwards. My dad says it's the spring thaw."

Spring thaw?

There's a saying in the Northeast: "When spring warms and flowers bloom, and the ice and snow melt, the soil layer that was frozen in winter gradually thaws, and water vapor will return from underground to the surface."

The old saying "cover up in spring and freeze in autumn" means that in spring, you should wear thicker pants and don't rush to take off your cotton shoes, lest the dampness returning from the ground injure your legs and knee joints.

Dampness doesn't represent Yin energy. The returning water in Weizi Alley was clearly Yin energy.

Old Liu wanted to ask Chen Xiaobei a few more questions, but I waved my hand again and said, "Where did those people go just now?"

As Old Liu looked towards the depths of the alley, his expression changed as well—those people were gone.