My face darkened slightly. He Haoyu had been beheaded with a single stroke. Was I supposed to cut off my own head as well?

If I really did that, maybe I could be resurrected like He Haoyu, but what would happen after I came back to life? Would I really become a monster, neither human nor ghost, or just a ghost?

I said in a deep voice, "You want me to trust you?"

Master Liu smiled and said, "You can also choose not to believe! Then continue to drag everyone in the archives into the underworld with you. I mean, if you think doing that is meaningful, then go ahead."

As I narrowed my eyes at Master Liu, Ye Yang said in a low voice, "Li Po, let's go! No one can make us brothers take a beating for nothing, not even ghosts or gods."

Master Liu chuckled, "I'll be here waiting for you. If you figure it out, you can always come back to me."

I gave Ye Yang a gesture to calm down: "I'll take the gamble!"

Master Liu was slightly moved and said, "You really dare to gamble? Aren't you afraid that I'm not really a master? Aren't you afraid that I'm lying to you? Aren't you afraid that with one strike, your head will be left here?"

I laughed and said, "If it weren't for what Ye Yang just said, I wouldn't gamble with you."

Without waiting for Ye Yang to speak, I waved my hand and said, "Ye Yang, you swore that you would listen to me during missions. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"Do it according to what he says!" After I finished speaking, I sat down on the chair and closed my eyes.

The Nine Ghosts taught me a lot about scheming and deception. They tricked me to let me know what the martial world was like. However, the Nine Ghosts also taught me one thing, and that is that once you've decided that someone is your brother, you should stick with them through thick and thin.

It wasn't that Ye Yang didn't know that if we gave up on risking our lives, we might both die here.

I also thought about turning around and leaving the room to fight for a chance of survival.

However, Ye Yang's last words made me willingly take a gamble with my life. "No one can make us brothers take a beating for nothing, not even ghosts or gods."

I wasn't taking a beating for nothing. If I lived after the strike, my brother and I could join forces to fight our way out of the Lesser Yellow Springs. If I died, Ye Yang would make Master Liu's soul fly away and his spirit scatter.

I wouldn't lose out!

Master Liu was silent for a moment before saying to Ye Yang, "You're carrying the Zhang family's Nine-Ring Soul-Severing Saber, aren't you?"

Ye Yang had indeed taken the Zhang family's Ghost Head Saber. At the time, he just thought that the saber might be useful, but he didn't expect that the saber would be used on me.

Master Liu said, "Use that saber to chop off his head. I'll cast a spell when you strike. As long as we cooperate properly, he won't die. Of course, if we don't cooperate well, his head will be chopped off."

Master Liu's voice became extremely solemn: "Remember, when you strike, you must not be distracted, and you must not hold back. If you are not decisive enough, my secret technique will not work. Don't think about anything in your heart, just think about how to chop his head off with one strike."

"Do it if you understand!"

When Ye Yang unfastened the saber box on his back, I clearly heard the sound of the nine iron rings colliding with the saber's body. The Nine-Ring Saber was the king of heavy sabers. The vibration of the nine rings could seize people's hearts, and now the saber's sound, like an evil ghost demanding life, was surging behind me, ready to take my life at any time.

As Ye Yang slowly raised the Nine-Ring Saber, the wails of evil ghosts suddenly came from all directions. The sound was telling us that this place had been surrounded by ghosts. Before long, countless evil ghosts would rush into the room and engage us in a life-and-death battle.

Master Liu exclaimed, "Something's wrong, He Haoyu has come out of seclusion. Quick, do it now! He Haoyu can command all the ghosts here. He didn't come out of seclusion all this time to guard the secret treasure. Now that he's out, he might have cracked something. It won't be easy to deal with him if he comes to kill us."

There was clearly a hint of hesitation in Ye Yang's movements. He still didn't believe Master Liu.

As I slightly opened my eyes, countless ghost hands had already stretched out from all sides of the room like weeds. Once the faces of the ghosts rushed into the room, we would no longer have time to use the secret technique.

"Do it!" After I roared, Ye Yang suddenly raised his saber and slashed at my neck.

Before the Nine-Ring Soul-Severing Saber even fell, the fierce saber wind had already cut open my skin. The warm blood flowed down my collar and turned into an icy chill on my back, enough to make people shudder.

My hands involuntarily gripped the armrests of the chair, but my waist remained straight.

In an instant, just an instant, the icy blade of the Nine-Ring Soul-Severing Saber was against my body. I clearly felt the blade, sharp enough to cut through gold and jade, slice open my neck.

After I suddenly shuddered, I only felt a chill on my neck...

I had heard storytellers say that when two generals were fighting, if someone felt a chill on their neck, either their head had fallen to the ground, or they would open their eyes and see their headless corpse.

Did Ye Yang really chop off my head with that saber? I would only know if I opened my eyes and looked.

I subconsciously opened my eyes, but all I saw was darkness.