I continued to follow Xie Zhuo, and my success with the little girl further confirmed my earlier thoughts.

Finding someone in a critical moment, helping them resolve their crisis—this way I could temporarily use their body, just for a little while!

But that little while was enough.

In the days that followed, I used this method to repeatedly “encounter” Xie Zhuo in Que Mountain.

When he had been searching for evil spirits for days without a drop of water, I entered the body of a small vendor and gave Xie Zhuo a sugar figurine.

Xie Zhuo ate the sugar figurine, nodded to me, and said: “Thank you, it’s very sweet.”

And I felt sweetness in my mouth as well.

When he found a clue about an evil spirit and got his arm scratched during the capture,

I entered the body of an old doctor and helped bandage his wound.

Afraid of hurting him, I didn’t dare tighten the bandage, and finally had to use trembling hands to tie a loose knot.

Xie Zhuo actually didn’t need bandaging or my cautious care, but he didn’t criticize anything and even escorted “me” home.

There were other times, too, when he was keeping watch in the marketplace, I brought him a small stool;

When he was resting by the roadside, I brought him a sun hat;

When there was nothing else to do, I would find someone among the people passing by to hand him a flower.

If I couldn’t even find a flower, I would find someone to say “thank you for your hard work” as they passed him.

Day after day, Xie Zhuo’s reactions changed from initial surprise and bewilderment to eventually responding and nodding in gratitude.

I saw that Xie Zhuo’s expression had become much gentler and calmer than when he left Mingjing Forest.

Later, almost everyone in Que Mountain knew that this silent man had been invited by Principal God Ji to help Que Mountain.

So, besides me, many other people began to offer their kindness to help Xie Zhuo.

Children would chase after him in the marketplace, asking him to teach them martial arts; elderly people would offer him clothes and shoes they had made; and when he was tracking evil spirits, the soldiers would try their best to cooperate with him.

I saw that the “human quality” in Xie Zhuo gradually increased.

He began to respond to these kindnesses.

Xie Zhuo would teach the children martial arts when he stopped… even though the children couldn’t learn well.

He would also refuse and thank the elderly when they offered clothes and shoes… although he would end up covered in all sorts of garments in the end.

And he would heal injured soldiers as he passed by… even if these soldiers hadn’t helped him before.

It seemed that during this time in Que Mountain, Xie Zhuo’s heart finally ceased to be like his homeland, forever covered in white snow.

The ice and snow in his heart had melted, turning into a gentle stream that nourished a patch of spring soil. The soil was sprouting, full of vitality.

Watching Xie Zhuo like this, I felt indescribably happy and moved.

I thought, although Xie Zhuo had never been one to smile or express himself much, he was truly a gentle person at heart.

Despite experiencing so many sad and dark moments, when faced again with warmth and kindness, he still chose to accept and respond.

How much courage must he have had to open the tightly closed bud in his heart and reveal the softest petals within.

But looking at myself now, I feel a bit anxious.

In the past, when Xiaxia liked Xie Zhuo, she took him to stroll through eight streets and bought countless little trinkets.

Now, after so much time had passed,

I was still me.

I hadn’t taken him through eight streets, but still only knew how to stuff him with different things.

The way I expressed my affection and love was really… impoverished…

Things continued this way for quite some time.

So long that I thought Xie Zhuo’s search for evil spirits in Que Mountain might become a permanent state.

Then suddenly one day… I couldn’t find Xie Zhuo.

My soul form also needed rest. Usually, when Xie Zhuo was resting, I would rest too; when Xie Zhuo awoke, I would awaken as well.

But that day, Xie Zhuo had been searching for evil spirits for several days without closing his eyes, and I had been floating alongside him for all those days.

He finally found an evil spirit, though not Zhu Lian.

But at least he had resolved this evil spirit that had been hidden deep in Que Mountain.

When he rested, I too closed my spiritual awareness to rest.

Perhaps I slept too deeply, but when I reopened my spiritual awareness, Xie Zhuo was gone!

And it seemed he had been gone for a long time; I couldn’t feel his aura or soul energy anywhere in the surrounding environment.

I lamented my oversleeping and began searching for Xie Zhuo.

I searched the marketplace he frequented, looked at Que Mountain’s city gate, and the places where he usually rested… he wasn’t in any of them.

It was as if he had disappeared from Que Mountain.

After a fruitless search, just as I was about to despair, I suddenly heard a passing soldier saying: “It seems the Principal God has allowed that mysterious person to enter the forbidden area.”

I immediately perked up and turned my head toward the top of Que Mountain.

Having been in Que Mountain for so many days, I had learned many of their legends. The “forbidden area” they spoke of was the large stone at the top of the mountain.

Compared to Kunlun, the Northern Wilderness had very flat terrain, making Que Mountain the highest mountain here.

And that huge stone was the highest point in the Northern Wilderness. The stone resembled a magpie bird, which is how Que Mountain got its name.

Inside that stone was Que Mountain’s forbidden area. It was said that only Principal God Ji could go there.

No one knew what was inside.

“Our Principal God said shortly after the mysterious man arrived that he could go anywhere in Que Mountain, just like the Principal God himself. It’s just that the mysterious man hadn’t gone to the forbidden area before.”

“What do you think his background is? Could our Principal God have trusted the wrong person? Can he solve this disaster in our Northern Wilderness?”

“If he can’t solve it, the Principal God surely can. I trust anyone the Principal God trusts. We just need to guard the city gate well. I’ve heard that the situation outside is getting worse and worse…”

I didn’t listen any further and turned to fly toward the stone at the top of Que Mountain.

At the “magpie’s eye” of the stone was an exposed cave. The cave was deep and dark; from a distance, it looked like the eye that gave life to the giant magpie stone. As I flew closer, I discovered it was about ten feet high, easily accommodating four or five people.

I was just thinking of flying into this magpie’s eye when suddenly, I saw someone walking out from inside. He stopped right at the cave entrance, gazing into the distance—it was Xie Zhuo.

I floated to Xie Zhuo’s side, circled around him twice, and seeing that his expression was natural and he had no injuries, I relaxed, quietly settling on his shoulder, my soul gently leaning against him who knew nothing of my presence.

“I heard the Northern Wilderness is getting worse,” I said, looking into the distance with Xie Zhuo.

The position was high, offering a view of the forests and marketplace below, and even the Northern Wilderness beyond Que Mountain.

But I saw that the vast Northern Wilderness was covered by a faint but present layer of black energy.

That was evil energy. Its prevalence indicated that the Northern Wilderness outside Que Mountain had almost fallen.

I had heard the people of Que Mountain say that perhaps after some time, Principal God Ji would close Que Mountain’s gates. At that point, no one from outside would be allowed to enter Que Mountain.

Principal God Ji was perhaps thinking, if he couldn’t protect the Northern Wilderness with his power, he could at least protect Que Mountain.

But I tragically knew that Que Mountain… wasn’t protected in the end.

This place…

Became the City of Undying.

Only I didn’t know yet why it would become like that.

“Young Master Xie Zhuo.”

From behind came Principal God Ji’s voice.

Xie Zhuo and I both turned around to see him in his white robes, walking toward us from behind Xie Zhuo.

He slowly walked to Xie Zhuo’s side. Xie Zhuo nodded slightly to Principal God Ji as a greeting.

“You found no trace of the Evil God here, did you?”

“No. The energy here is cleaner than outside.”

Principal God Ji frowned slightly: “This place is Que Mountain’s spiritual vein. He has not even visited this place… Such actions make me unable to discern what he wants this time.”

Thousands of years ago, the eight directional gods worked together to finally seal the Evil God in the deep-sea abyss. After that battle, the gods were almost all destroyed, with only ten remaining.

Principal God Ji and Xi Wang Mu were the principal gods who survived that battle.

They had both confronted the Evil God and knew his habits.

“How did he act before?” Xie Zhuo asked.

“Kill the principal gods, cut off the spiritual veins.” Seeming to recall past events, Principal God Ji’s expression grew solemn for a moment. “After destroying a place’s spiritual veins, the people there would have no source of soul energy to fight against him…”

“But this time, he doesn’t seem to have this plan,” Principal God Ji said. “Previously, I came here daily to investigate. I thought he was good at concealing himself, and I couldn’t detect anything, so I sought you out. You are so sensitive to evil energy, yet you haven’t felt anything either. It seems he truly hasn’t come here. What does he want this time?”

Xie Zhuo lowered his eyes, pondering for a moment: “Previously, his soul wanted to turn me into his vessel. He fought with me within this body, and he lost.”

Principal God Ji’s expression changed slightly: “He lost?”

Xie Zhuo nodded: “When he escaped from Mingjing Forest, he was already very weak.”

Principal God Ji looked at Xie Zhuo somewhat incredulously.

I understood why Principal God Ji was surprised.

The Evil God’s power, in the legends of Kunlun and people’s mouths, was almost invincible.

Before, when the gods fought against the Evil God, they could only seal him in the abyss. Now, the Evil God’s soul had been recalled, and even if it was just a soul, it should still be stronger than all other souls in this world.

But Xie Zhuo said the Evil God had lost.

In a “vessel” created by the Evil God, the Evil God’s soul fought against Xie Zhuo’s, and the Evil God lost.

Became “weak,” and fled in disarray…

“Just now, examining the spiritual vein, I realized Que Mountain’s spiritual vein is powerful. At present, he probably has no way to cut this spiritual vein. And…”

Xie Zhuo looked into the distance, the color of the outside sky reflecting in his jet-black pupils.

“After he escaped, he released evil energy along the way, continuously creating evil spirits and corpse ghosts. Through them, he continuously created chaos, expanding the evil energy. I think… after you sealed him in the abyss, when he returned, his goal must have changed.”

“The previous path is no longer viable. Now, he should be targeting ‘people’ rather than spiritual veins.”

Targeting people, not spiritual veins…

Principal God Ji looked down the mountain: “You mean, he wants to infect everyone with evil energy. This way, even if all the spiritual veins of the world remain, there would be no one who could oppose him…”

Xie Zhuo nodded.

Principal God Ji’s face instantly paled.

The scenario they were describing was just like Kunlun before.

Evil energy everywhere in the world, everyone—Meng Meng, Wu Cheng, Kunlun’s defense army—all infected by evil energy.

The remaining principal gods at the peak of Kunlun attempted to absorb the world’s evil energy but failed…

The timeline I came from before arriving here. It could be said that it had already been conquered by the Evil God; the gods and all people had been defeated by the Evil God.

“I must inform the other principal gods of this matter. Young Master Xie Zhuo, finding the Evil God and containing him may only be possible by you. I can only, on behalf of the other principal gods, express our gratitude to you first.”

“No need to thank me. This is what I was going to do anyway.”

Xie Zhuo said this as he turned to leave. But Principal God Ji spoke again behind him.

“Young master…”

Xie Zhuo paused slightly and turned to look at him.

In the backlit cave entrance, Principal God Ji stood there, seeming to emit a divine light: “I’ve heard that since you came to Que Mountain, you’ve often helped the people here. But when I first met you, I didn’t think you were a person who would act this way. Why have you changed in Que Mountain?”

Hearing this, I felt strange.

What? Xie Zhuo helping the people of Que Mountain had somehow become a fault worthy of the Principal God’s questioning?

Could it be that the Evil God had entered Xie Zhuo’s body and was controlling him to help the people of Que Mountain?

I stared at Principal God Ji with some dissatisfaction.

I felt my protectiveness was a bit irrational now, as if I couldn’t bear anyone having even the slightest misunderstanding about Xie Zhuo.

But Xie Zhuo was much more composed than I was. Hearing the question, he seemed to answer without thinking: “The people of Que Mountain have been good to me.”

“Just for this reason?”

Xie Zhuo was silent for a moment, then said: “When I was young, I often felt luckier than others.”

I looked at Xie Zhuo. Principal God Ji didn’t know about his childhood, but I did. And he said that in such a childhood, he felt he was luckier than others.

“Perhaps the snow, candlelight, warm breeze, and summer flowers favored me.”

I was stunned…

Snow… candlelight… warm breeze… summer flowers…

“So, I was grateful for the clear wind, warm sun, bright moon… all the scenery within my sight.”

“Later, the little wolf came, and I was grateful for living beings.”

“And then, I came to Que Mountain.” He looked at Principal God Ji and repeated, “The people of Que Mountain have been good to me. So I wanted to give something back.”

He didn’t say much, but it encompassed his past, without mentioning any hardships.

If I had a pair of eyes now, I think they would have welled up with tears.

I suddenly felt that my soul’s arrival in this time wasn’t the gods’ mistake, but heaven’s will.

There must have been a special connection, which is why I came to his childhood.

Became the snow, warm sun, became the summer flowers, the clear wind.

I also suddenly understood why, many years after the present in that snow bamboo forest, Xie Zhuo would save the “stranger” that was me. It was because he was still repaying the world’s kindness.

Perhaps I had been wrong. His heart had never been like his homeland, always covered in snow.

He had always…

Been in bloom…