After a lot of walking through sparkling caverns while Xu Yun gaped at the shapes of the stalactites and scribbled stuff down, we finally reached the crystal cave.

It was totally dark when we entered, since it was so deep inside the cave. I cast a ball of floating light to illuminate our surroundings.

Xu Yun gasped, dropping his tablet.

"This...is truly amazing! Amazing..."

Indeed, it was "truly amazing". I'd discovered this cave about a year ago and had to get rid of a giant spider, which was gross. But the grossness had been worth it.

The walls and ceiling of this cave were covered in the most beautiful assortment of crystals ever. Rainbow and clear, turquoise and violet, all the possible colors you could imagine sparkled under the light of my orb, reflecting it and casting colors onto one another in an endless dance. Every time I moved the orb, the shadows of colors shifted, casting new colorful paintings and images on each other.

"Pretty cool, huh? This is my favorite place to come when I need a little indoor time, you know? I call it The Awesome Cave of Never-ending Crystal Awesomeness. Heh."

"This... is a natural marvel! A wonder of the world!" Xu Yun spluttered, leaning down to stare at the crystals and totally forgetting his poor tablet. "Wondrous! I've never seen anything like this! Immortal Xia...thank you! Thank you for showing me this astounding — "

"AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

Cutting off Xu Yun's speech of gratitude was an earsplitting, bloodcurdling scream.

"HEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPP! HEALP! HALP! HEEEEEELLLLLLL! AAAAAAAAAA!"

I looked at my temporary student kid Xu Yun. My temporary student kid Xu Yun looked at me.

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That was Li Cheng's voice.

And clearly...he was in some kind of pain. Or trouble. Or both. They were definitely not mutually exclusive.

We both started off running.

After a minute, I realized this was way too impractical. I skidded to a stop and turned to the sparkling lavender wall, placing my hand against it.

"This better not cause an avalanche or something," I muttered. Then I performed the Earth Reforming Technique, channeling my qi to my palms. Under my hands, the sparkling lavender stone started to shift and tunnel, creating a new pathway. It stretched out in front of us towards Li Cheng's confused screeching, making it echo even louder.

"Come on."

We sprinted down this tunnel until we reached the end.

I was pretty sure I knew what had happened already, even before we stepped out.

"Li Cheng! I told you not to touch the water! It's poisonous to mortals! Now I'm gonna have to make an antidote, and that's just — "

My voice froze in my throat.

What...the heck...was happening here?

There was Li Cheng standing in the middle of the underground lake cave, not touching the glowing blue water at all. His eyes were wide with fear, and he was trembling so much he probably could have acted as a massage chair.

"Li Cheng... where's Wei Li? Where's your scholar sister?"

"Hello, Xia Yue. Wei Li is over here. Can't you see me?"

I squinted, then refined my vision with an Enhanced Night Vision technique. There was someone standing in the shadows — a female figure. That had to be Wei Li. But...

When that person stepped out of the shadows, their face was completely different. It was still refined and beautiful, but...

It was someone completely different.

Someone...that I recognized.

"...Zhao Yaoyao? Shijie? What...are you doing here? Where did Wei Li go?"

Zhao Yaoyao, my older disciple sister back at the Jade Heaven Sect, grinned at me. Her teeth were sharp, a characteristic of either a person who sharpens their teeth, heh...or a vengeful ghost.

Her eyes also glowed red like blood.

"Dear shimei Xia Yue...You don't recognize me? I am Wei Li; Wei Li is a face I wore to come and meet you again, my dear, sweet, and talented little immortal shimei. But now that I'm wearing my original appearance, you seem to recognize me, dear shimei. I am impressed. You still remember your shijie Zhao Yaoyao, after all these years, even after we didn't exchange more than a few words in all the years you lived at the Jade Heaven Sect? Immortality has truly improved your memory...Ha..."

She stepped closer to Li Cheng, who stood between her and me and Xu Yun. He was trembling with fear and seemed unable to move.

With sharp fingernails, she grabbed him by the chin and lifted his head.

"How does it feel, little dull Cheng-er?" she hissed. "Your senior scholar sister never existed. Wei Li is a gorgeous vengeful ghost. And she is about to snap your neck!"