Splash – the body hitting water splashed onto Jing Hengbo’s face. She stared wide-eyed, standing dumbly by the pond without moving.

Now it was her turn to be stunned.

What happened?

Suicide?

Holy crap.

Was it really necessary?

Just explaining the truth of a story and shattering the little beauty’s sad and wonderful fantasy?

Could that song have some other mystery?

Or was she just a little neurotic?

This wasn’t the time to study song mysteries or neuroses. Jing Hengbo sighed and splash – she also jumped into the pond.

Only after jumping did she realize this pond looked small but was actually very large underwater, with rapid currents that seemed to have hidden caves. People could easily be swept into the caves, making it very difficult to find someone in such waters.

The water was deep and the sky had darkened, making it impossible to see the bottom clearly. She searched for quite a while with no trace of the beauty, and could only climb ashore reluctantly.

After getting out, she observed the terrain, wanting to find if this pond had any other possible exits, but shortly after the pond was a cliff with obviously no way out.

Could that beauty really have drowned at the bottom like this?

This was really unbelievable. She couldn’t believe it either, so she waited by the pool. She waited for a long time – long enough to drown hundreds of people – but no one came up. She flashed around the area, thinking to catch that woman coming out from another exit, but found nothing.

It was completely dark. Afraid Zirui and Yong Xue would panic if they couldn’t find her, she had to reluctantly return. Before leaving, she collected the things the beauty had left on the stones, planning to ask Qi Sha tomorrow.

Night had fallen.

Seven Peaks Mountain’s lights were sparse and dim, showing no signs of life despite having several guests.

A figure slid up and down the nearly ninety-degree cliff, looking like smoke or a ghost from afar.

The black shadow slid to halfway up the mountain and pulled out another figure from a cave.

Qi Yi, who had been sleeping soundly in the cave, opened his eyes. Before he could cry out or beg for mercy, the black shadow flung him and threw him off the cliff…

The black shadow continued leaping, descending ten zhang to grab Lu Er sleeping on a protruding pine tree and toss him upward.

Where he was tossed to was none of its concern.

The black shadow turned around a mountain ridge. The narrow ridge had cliffs on both sides, with Wu Shan meditating on top.

The black shadow kicked and broke the ridge.

Wu Shan fell with a startled cry.

Si Si was carefully digging for medicine in a grass shelter. Nearby was a cave emitting a rank smell, clearly housing a fierce beast. Si Si seemed unwilling to disturb the beast and dug very carefully.

The black shadow appeared behind him like wind and kicked him into the cave.

Sounds of fighting and screaming echoed through the mountainside.

Shan Wu was honestly sleeping in an empty house.

The black shadow swept past.

Crash – the house collapsed.

Er Lu slept in the halfway mountain dwelling, crowded in one room with the titled officers. He felt safe there.

The black shadow flashed by.

In the middle of the night, a titled officer suddenly felt something heavy on him. Opening his eyes, Er Lu was completely naked, grinning menacingly while lying on top of him.

The officer was both shocked and angry, punching this big rabbit and knocking him over. All the officers woke up, and hearing of their comrade’s humiliation, they were filled with righteous indignation and pounced to give him a good beating.

Yi Qi was searching in the bushes, muttering to himself.

“Where’s the roe deer? I have to catch at least one roe deer to treat little Bo to a meal, otherwise she’ll definitely despise me for a long time…”

The bushes suddenly rustled, vaguely revealing a roe deer’s pointed nose. Yi Qi was delighted and pounced over.

His ankle suddenly tightened.

In a flash Yi Qi knew something was wrong and tried to retreat, but his body tightened and he was already swaying upside down.

“Hehehehehe.” Strange laughter sounded by his ear.

Yi Qi suddenly found he rather missed this voice.

Before he could tearfully express this nostalgia and obtain some degree of redemption, he was already picked up, swaying all the way up the mountain.

From this posture, he surely had a new mission tonight, and before he had his new mission, his junior brothers had surely been completely wiped out.

Tonight, who would be the unlucky one?

…

Jing Hengbo was destined to sleep poorly tonight.

After returning, she reported this incident to Ying Bai, Pei Shu, and Tian Qi. All three looked at her strangely, asking in unison: “You met a beauty?”

“Combing hair by a lake?”

“Listened to you tell a story?”

“Then committed suicide?”

“You’re making up stories, right?”

The three had strange expressions as they searched that area, returning to say there was no one, no corpse, and no passages near the pond. She must have been bewitched by mountain spirits and had a dream.

“Let me ask you, how old is Master Ziwei, male or female? Beautiful or ugly?”

Though Jing Hengbo already knew the answer, she couldn’t help asking again.

Some things were too bizarre.

“He became famous thirty years ago – what do you think his age is?” Tian Qi sneered.

“He supposedly almost got married when young – what do you think, male or female?”

“I heard his voice years ago – of course he’s male.”

“Appearance? No one has seen it. Why don’t you just ask Qi Sha? They must see his true face, right?”

Jing Hengbo sighed. In Qi Sha’s mouths, the old bastard was always an image of a wretched old man with drooping snot, hunched back and curved spine.

Jing Hengbo slammed the door heavily on their noses and went to sleep.

In the evening she casually ate some dry rations, thinking tomorrow she’d make the three men do hard labor to set up a stove. She really didn’t know how Master Ziwei and Qi Sha lived – did they really live on wind and dew?

Zirui and Yong Xue were both household experts, far beyond this waste who could lose her bucket while carrying water. The room was clean and tidy, with bedding they’d brought themselves already laid out. Knowing she liked to open windows to see scenery, they’d left the room facing the cliff for her.

Jing Hengbo decided to cast aside all the messy affairs and have a good sleep. Certain speculations – wouldn’t she know by tomorrow at the latest?

But she couldn’t fall asleep for a while.

This mountain had who knows how many fierce beasts, their roars rising and falling throughout the night. Many sounds were very strange, accompanied by deep night mountain pine waves and various dark sounds, making one’s hair stand on end.

And that woman combing hair by the lake with her inexplicable jump also lingered in her mind like a restless spirit. Her heart told her ten thousand times this was a hoax, this was definitely a hoax, but she still felt vague fear – what if it was real? What if she really was traumatized into suicide? Many things we ourselves thoughtlessly consider nothing, but perhaps they hit others’ soft spots? Looking at that woman’s later expression, she clearly seemed to have an epiphany as if some truth had been revealed…

She tossed and turned, restless and sleepless, not falling into a confused sleep until midnight. Just as she fell asleep, she heard sobbing and crying sounds.

There was also vague singing, ethereal and choked, seeming to come from underground.

“Big fox got sick, second fox looked, third fox bought medicine, fourth fox boiled, fifth fox died, sixth fox carried…”

Jing Hengbo sat up abruptly, her eyes shining brightly.

Here it comes!

Turning her head, she saw a vague figure through the window near the cliff.

Seeing this figure now, Jing Hengbo felt like she’d found redemption, her eyes brightening as she pushed open the window with a snap.

“Hahaha I knew you weren’t dead, sure enough coming to play ghost at midnight, speak! Are you that old fellow Ziwei…”

Her voice suddenly stopped.

Her eyes slowly widened.

As she’d thought, there was indeed a purple shadow floating before her, with long hair and a slender body.

But this shadow wasn’t as she’d imagined, clinging to her window sill or hanging upside down from the roof.

The purple shadow floated in mid-air.

Truly mid-air, suspended between two cliffs.

She could clearly see there was nothing to cling to, no ropes or nets.

A normal person absolutely couldn’t float like this for so long.

That purple shadow had disheveled hair covering her face, vaguely revealing beautiful contours, dancing with flowing sleeves in the air, ethereally singing the foxes’ loving history.

Mountain wind howled as her body twisted and folded at angles the human body couldn’t achieve, both graceful and stiff, reminding one of those inflatable people in the modern world who made various poses using fans.

Her head and feet could fold together, her head could emerge from her crotch, her right leg rested on her left shoulder, boneless and soft.

Fierce mountain wind, swaying ghost shadow, ethereal singing.

A scream exploded from the next room – Zirui and Yong Xue had also seen it.

The scream awakened Jing Hengbo. She pulled out a dagger and threw it.

The dagger flew toward the purple shadow’s head, whistling back and forth above that shadow, slashing horizontally and vertically.

Jing Hengbo was certain this fellow must have black, flexible, invisible thin threads hanging from above. Cut them and he couldn’t play ghost anymore!

The dagger whistled back and forth in all possible positions, all cutting empty air.

No threads.

The more Jing Hengbo cut, the colder her heart became – could it really be a ghost?

The purple shadow slowly approached. Mountain wind blew up her long hair and clothing, revealing half a snow-white face.

Jing Hengbo stared at that shadow, beckoned back her dagger and gripped it tight, prepared to go red blade in, white blade out if this ghost really attacked violently.

That ghost was still singing.

“Big fox got sick, second fox looked, third fox bought medicine, fourth fox boiled, fifth roe deer died, sixth roe deer carried…”

The song flowed like water. Under tension, Jing Hengbo initially paid no attention, but suddenly paused.

Wait.

Roe deer?

Wasn’t it foxes?

Like lightning striking down, she suddenly understood completely. Furious, she threw a stone.

“Yi Qi, go die!”

Bang – she closed the window and lay down to sleep.

Several snaps came from next door with mid-air cries of “Ai yo ai yo,” probably Zirui and Yong Xue also throwing stones to revenge Yi Qi’s midnight ghost impersonation.

Yi Qi hugged his head in mid-air with nowhere to flee, wailing upward: “You old immortal, you made me offend my wife, let me go!”

A cackling laugh came from mid-air, the voice quite unpleasant. Jing Hengbo pushed open the window again – the purple shadow was gone.

“Boring old pervert!” she cursed angrily at the sky.

Splat – a lump of bird droppings fell, big as a plate. Jing Hengbo quickly ducked her head as the droppings splattered yellow and green across the window.

Jing Hengbo snapped open the window again: “Have you no shame!”

Crash – this time what fell was an eagle.

Jing Hengbo quickly ducked, closed the window, and bird feathers scattered over the droppings.

Jing Hengbo sat on the bed hugging her knees, looking sadly at the window, feeling everything was wrong – though looking at Qi Sha’s behavior she knew Master Ziwei wasn’t worth expecting much, this level of mischief still somewhat broke through peak values.

A master, a master – even if playing with the world, the heart has its own integrity, as all melodramatic novels say.

But this one engaged in every form of cheating, swindling, kidnapping, murder, arson, ghost impersonation, and thievery. He deliberately aroused her guilt and self-blame, impersonating spirits to hit her soft spots when her mind was unsettled. After being exposed he showed no shame or restraint, fighting tooth for tooth like a shrew, clearly an old pervert who wouldn’t suffer the slightest loss or want any face.

Previously hearing Qi Sha boast about bullying their master, she thought Master Ziwei was a good-tempered sissy. Now it seemed there might be some sissy qualities, but good temper? Forget it. Being bullied? Ha!

Thinking she still needed this old pervert’s help, thinking this unprincipled old fellow would definitely hold grudges and make demands, not knowing what strange requests he’d make, she suddenly felt that trusting Qi Sha was indeed the world’s most unreliable thing.

The cliff showed no more movement. Even Ying Bai, Pei Shu and others didn’t appear – either they were restrained by Master Ziwei or they were playing dead.

Jing Hengbo sadly contemplated her grim future prospects and lay down to sleep.

However tragic things were, they’d arrive tomorrow – why rush to worry now? Today there’s a bed, today I sleep, right?

Sleep in the latter half of the night was stable, just constantly dreaming of floating ghost shadows.

Early morning she opened the door with eyes full of red veins. Zirui and Yong Xue were already up making breakfast, both with large dark circles under their eyes, clearly having slept poorly too. Even Er Gouzi stopped composing poetry, crouching by the window looking at pine trees on the opposite cliff. Jing Hengbo looked over – there was a rare white eagle on the opposite tree, surveying proudly.

“What’s that, what’s that?” Er Gouzi asked.

“Sparrow! Sparrow!” Jing Hengbo patted its head feathers. “Rare white sparrow! Dog Master catch it for a lackey, Dog Master catch it for a lackey.”

From far away, that white eagle looked about sparrow-sized.

Er Gouzi fell into deep thought. Perhaps bullied by Feifei for so long, entering deep mountains and seeing many birds, it began considering the possibility of cultivating subordinates to deal with the little monster.

The little monster curled by the table sleeping soundly, suddenly opened her eyes, stuck her head out to look at that white eagle, then kicked Er Gouzi out the window.

Colorful feathers scattered as Er Gouzi struggled for a long time before climbing back up the window, cursing: “Bright moon rises from the sea, people everywhere share this moment, I go find lackeys, killing you won’t be late!”

This scene played out daily. Jing Hengbo was long tired of it, curled her lips, and went out to wash up.

Opening the door, she nearly stretched her neck forward.

Holy crap, where did this pile of mountain spirits come from?

Standing before her was a group of people – calling them people was rather generous. Their clothes were ragged, faces bruised and swollen, bodies covered in mud, looking like they’d rolled in a mud pond for three years then been gang-assaulted.

She pointed with her finger, counting: one, two, three, four, five, six.

“Hey, didn’t you get drunk and fall off a cliff?”

Opposite her, Qi Yi’s eyes still had spinning circles, looking nearly drunk to death.

“Hey, didn’t you go rescue someone?”

Opposite her, Lu Er was bruised and battered with a crooked mouth, having clearly had a hard time rescuing.

“Hey, didn’t you go worship Buddha’s light?”

Opposite her, Wu Shan had his arm in a sling, unable to clasp his hands together anymore.

“Hey, didn’t you go gather medicine?”

Opposite her, Si Si’s mouth was swollen like sausages, still chewing something disgusting in shape and color, his mouth visibly swelling more.

“Hey, didn’t you escape by urination?”

Shan Wu looked least injured with no major problems, but his complexion was clearly wrong – purple and bloated, constantly unable to help clutching his stomach and circling on the ground stamping his feet.

Hmm, looked like he was holding his urine?

“Where’s the one who went to receive Master?”

Er Lu wasn’t there.

“Went to Black Water Marsh to receive Master…” the goofballs said with sad faces.

Jing Hengbo looked at the last one. He still wore last night’s purple dress with disheveled hair, his face painted snow white with powder. His expression was miserable, mouth twisted as if about to vomit at any moment, but Jing Hengbo had no intention of letting him off.

“Where’s my roe deer?”

Yi Qi’s about-to-vomit expression became more vivid. His mouth twisted several times and he spat out a tuft of fur.

Roe deer fur.

Jing Hengbo stared at that roe deer fur – the whole roe deer couldn’t have been eaten alive by him, could it?

Of course it wouldn’t be willingly. Look at their expressions of being tormented to death.

No wonder they’d rather float around all that time than return to the mountain.

Jing Hengbo looked at the six people, thinking of her pile of “fox murder case” nonsense yesterday, thinking of that fellow’s crying and jumping into water, her body hair suddenly stood up.

Can’t stay here!

The old fellow held grudges and his methods were underhanded with endless tricks!

Speaking of serious offense, her words yesterday were definitely worse than how Qi Sha offended their master.

Her life would be ruined!

Jing Hengbo whirled around and called to Zirui and Yong Xue: “Pack up, we’re leaving!”

As soon as she spoke, deep, resonant voices suddenly echoed throughout the mountains.

“I opened this mountain, I planted these trees. You played with my disciples, I’ll kill but not bury.”

…

The coldest season had passed. Dahuang’s weather was gradually warming, and warm sunlight heated the corridors, yet that person’s clothing remained cold as snow.

Gong Yin was listening to Meng Hu’s report, his fingers gently threading through Little Yin Yin’s warm, soft white fur.

“They’ve already reached Seven Peaks Mountain.” Meng Hu’s expression showed worry. “It’s just that we’re concerned about Master Ziwei’s temperament… I heard that when Qi Sha’s eldest brother practiced martial arts back then, he nearly lost half his life.”

“As long as his life remains, that’s enough.” Gong Yin said indifferently.

Meng Hu lowered his eyes. He knew his master had always been iron-hearted and decisive as steel. For a period he’d almost thought his master had changed, but later he understood that his master’s original intentions had never altered.

Successful men had their own ruthlessness that ordinary people couldn’t match – toward themselves and toward others.

“The previous path has already had variables, and the future path will be even more difficult.” Gong Yin said. “The world is vast and distant. It’s time to let go.”

Meng Hu nodded. Yes, everyone had their own thoughts and energy, every matter would have variables. During the process of moving forward, complete control was impossible. What they did was always just provide some clues based on the other party’s motivations. The countless possibilities afterward were chosen by the parties themselves. The results of each choice were also borne by the parties themselves.

Things had to be done by oneself. Only by being able to do them could one continue forward.

That path had already begun clearly. What followed was a world of free development.

Gong Yin groomed Little Yin Yin’s fur and examined the little grass mud horse, saying: “It’s grown quite a bit. Some harder feed can be added afterward.”

“Yes.”

“I heard that person is doing well. Have them brought to see.” He was lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly said.

Meng Hu turned and made a gesture.

In a moment, light footsteps sounded. Listening, he frowned slightly.

Meng Hu also frowned and turned, pointing at the feet of the person walking over: “Don’t walk on tiptoes, don’t deliberately lighten your steps, don’t think about controlling your footfall.”

That person stopped there, and after a while continued forward. This time Meng Hu nodded and said nothing more.

Gong Yin turned back to look at that person. Under the sunlight, that person was crystal clear like ice and snow, seeming about to melt from being exposed to sun.

He rarely squinted his eyes. Facing directly under sunlight for the first time, he was somewhat unaccustomed. So this was how it looked under daylight…

It didn’t look very comfortable…

Back then, had she ever found it distasteful?

He began to drift into thought again. That person waited quietly under the corridor, showing neither impatience nor humble unease. Their eyes gazed far into the distance, seeming to look at something far away, yet seeming to look at nothing.

Meng Hu looked satisfied and waved to indicate the other party should withdraw.

After this time, presumably there would be no need for continuous long-distance travels back and forth. That was really too exhausting.

When that person turned around, their bearing remained noble.

Gong Yin watched that wisp of snow-white clothing disappear around the corridor corner, then washed his hands in the golden basin Meng Hu offered.

“Once the Huangjin Tribe’s war comes to a temporary end, begin preparing travel gear for a long journey.”

“Yes.”

…

“Find me in the halfway mountain dwelling within a quarter hour, and I’ll release the hostages.”

Jing Hengbo crumpled the note with ghostly scribbles in her hand.

Just now when she’d turned around, she discovered both Zirui and Yong Xue were gone, then suddenly there was an extra note on the door. She couldn’t recognize a single character on the note, but Qi Sha could read it at a glance.

Jing Hengbo was on the verge of tears – she’d come to treat illness, not play hunger games. The old immortal was bored out of his mind, catching newcomers like a cat encountering mice.

“If I don’t complete the mission in a quarter hour, will he slaughter the hostages?”

“Yes.” Qi Sha said in unison.

Looking at their expressions, Jing Hengbo took a deep breath and decided it was better to believe them.

The next instant she’d already disappeared from the spot – no time to delay, and she still had to find someone. Who knew what the old immortal would disguise himself as?

It seemed the old fellow knew her abilities, otherwise getting from here to the halfway mountain dwelling would be impossible for anyone to accomplish in a quarter hour.

Her figure flashed and she was on a certain mountain path, flashed again to the edge of a certain forest, flashed again to a certain mountain path, flashed again…

She suddenly felt something was wrong.

With her current teleportation ability, reaching the halfway mountain dwelling should only take about three flashes, but now she’d already flashed seven or eight times. Why was she still seeing mountain paths and forests?

Wait, mountain paths… forests…

Something seemed a bit off.

It seemed like each flash showed mountain paths, each flash showed forests – the scenery appeared alternately, without change during the alternation.

She thought for a moment and flashed again. The last appearance was forest, so if this time showed mountain path…

The next instant she was indeed standing on a mountain path, with winding stone steps stretching downward, even vaguely visible was the halfway mountain dwelling.

But she knew if she continued like this, she’d never reach it.

Formation!

Jing Hengbo supported her chin and looked around. It was hard to imagine how this formation was arranged – this was a big mountain! The surrounding scenery was natural. Could Master Ziwei really use the entire mountain to form an array?

She’d learned about formations from Qi Sha during idle moments on the road. Generally the most crucial thing was finding the formation’s eye, but this formation used the mountain itself with flowing scenery section by section, all natural landscape. Where could she find the formation’s eye?

Most critically, even if she could find the formation’s eye, she didn’t have time.

Qi Sha had said that formations that slowly activated primarily to trap people had little killing power, but mostly consumed time. This formation’s eye definitely had many illusions and probably many pranks, with the purpose being to delay her time.

This type of formation that constantly changed illusions required the formation master to be nearby, constantly changing the formation’s eye.

In other words, this formation simply wasn’t meant for her to break. It couldn’t be broken at all.

Old immortal!

Jing Hengbo cursed inwardly.

She thought for a moment, sat down, bit on a sweet grass root, and said leisurely to the sky: “Hey, old fellow, about yesterday’s story – I haven’t finished the most crucial part yet. Do you want to hear it?”

Only the sound of wind passing came from above.

She ignored it and continued: “I told you tenth fox was the murderer, but actually tenth fox was also a scapegoat. Actually the real murderer was…”

She suddenly raised her voice, crying shrilly: “Ninth fox!”

Above, there was suddenly a whoosh sound, as if someone had brushed their clothing in shock. She immediately reached lightning-fast into her bosom, pulled out a fire starter, flicked it to ignite, and flung it out with her hand.

The entire movement was fast enough for only one blink.

“Hiss.” A sound rang out, and a smell of burnt hair wafted up.

Jing Hengbo laughed heartily: “Hey! Old immortal! This fire starter is palace-made and very hard to extinguish. Quick, find a pond to save your precious hair!”

With light hissing sounds, smoke seemed to drift overhead, then the scenery before her eyes changed – green trees everywhere, steps reaching the bottom. She was already close to the halfway mountain dwelling.

Jing Hengbo smiled with satisfaction.

The old fellow was very invested in that story.

The old fellow was also very invested in his precious hair.

She was a woman – yesterday at first sight of the old fellow, she’d been attracted by his hair. The longer hair was, the harder to maintain. Being able to keep nearly two-meter hair from splitting meant this old immortal had definitely spent much energy. His hair must be his most important treasure.

Hmph, truly an old witch.

Jing Hengbo had originally come with full reverence to seek treatment and meet the super deity, but now felt no need for politeness at all. This cheap-boned old bastard definitely preferred people calling him old immortal.

“Hehehe, hurry up and treat your bird feathers…” She chuckled a few times at the air, flashed again, and reached the open space in front of the halfway mountain dwelling.

The open space was quite lively, with many men shirtless laying foundations to build houses. Actually Jing Hengbo hadn’t originally planned to stay long, but the titled officers and Pei Shu’s people were already battlefield enemies. Though they had no direct grudges and even some mutual respect, their long-standing opposing positions led the two groups to compete over everything – even going to the toilet they’d compete over who could urinate farther. This house construction came from mutual taunting, with both sides now having marked territories, competing over who could build faster.

Jing Hengbo’s gaze swept over that group of bare-chested men, shaking her head. Impossible – the old immortal was so narcissistic, he wouldn’t likely go shirtless in dirty pants.

That elderly couple who guarded the mountain dwelling moved through the crowd, bringing tea and food to the men. Jing Hengbo looked at the old couple – she’d just seen them yesterday and could naturally recognize them as the real people. But she still wasn’t assured, stepping forward to take the teapot from the old man’s hands, smiling: “Uncle, let me.” While taking the teapot she casually pulled the old man’s hair.

With one pull, her hand was full of white hair. The old man cried out and covered his head, turning to look at her aggrievedly: “Miss, this old man is advanced in years and didn’t have much hair to begin with. Can’t withstand your pulling…”

“Sorry, sorry.” Jing Hengbo had to apologize while discarding the handful of white hair. This white hair was dry and brittle, definitely not a wig. Besides, given that old immortal’s abnormal love for hair, he shouldn’t be willing to wear white hair either.

Looking again at the old woman – not really old, her hair still black – she was too embarrassed to pull people’s hair again. She moved closer to look at the food on the woman’s plate, crying out in exaggerated surprise: “Wow, Auntie, did you make this? It looks so fragrant and delicious!”

The woman stared at her strangely – the plate just held the most ordinary sesame cakes. Would this obviously precious young lady really like such crude country food? And like it so exaggeratedly?

“Wow, Auntie, your skin is so good too! Is it because you often eat this kind of sesame cake?” Jing Hengbo moved close to the other’s orange-peel old face, reaching out to pinch. The skin under her fingers was loose and flabby, swaying in her palm. She praised admiringly: “Wow, truly tight and delicate, smooth as silk.”

The woman moved away her fingers and looked at her sympathetically – poor girl, so beautiful yet such an idiot.

“Have a cake.” The woman lovingly offered a cake. “Sesame nourishes the brain.”

Jing Hengbo’s face didn’t redden as she smiled and bit into it, secretly wiping her hands on her skirt while curling her lips.

This one wasn’t it either.

That old fellow was truly delicate and smooth as silk. When she’d just grabbed and kneaded the woman’s face, the skin’s loose, sagging feel couldn’t be replicated by any human skin mask.

But this mountain dwelling only had these people. If not them, then who?

She gnawed the flatbread while wandering through the crowd, occasionally patting this one’s shoulder: “Wow, brother, you have such a good figure.” Pinching that one’s chest muscles: “Wow, brother, your pectorals are so strong!”

The men scattered east and west, especially Pei Shu’s subordinates – they fled fast. Though every man would be happy to be molested by such a beautiful Queen, thinking of their young commander’s possessiveness, their lives were more important.

“Hey! Jing Hengbo!” Sure enough, Pei Shu’s dissatisfied voice came from a nearby tree. “The quarter hour was for finding and rescuing people, not for molesting men. Whatever you touch wherever on whoever, I’ll cut off that person’s meat from that place. Want to try?”

Before he finished speaking, an eternally tipsy voice from an opposite tree said lazily: “Pei Shu, did the mud from Tianhui Valley stuff your brain too? Careful that your own next moment…”

Pei Shu turned back to glare furiously at his lifelong rival: “Ying Bai, you also dare compete with me…” Suddenly feeling darkness overhead, he looked up to see Jing Hengbo standing beside him, looking down at his crotch.

That gaze was too bizarre. Pei Shu nearly hugged his pants protectively.

Jing Hengbo chuckled while stroking her chin: “Touch whoever wherever and cut that person’s meat from that place? You keep your word, right?”

“Whoosh” – a gray shadow flashed as someone escaped the scene at maximum speed, not even managing to drop a harsh word…

Jing Hengbo laughed heartily. Look how scared that boy was – was she someone who touched people randomly? She wasn’t afraid of random touching, just afraid of touching the wrong person!

Standing in the tree, she raised her head to look at the empty, clear view of the small mountain dwelling courtyard, her heart moving.

Who said she had to look among the crowd? People could hide in the courtyard too.

Calculating the time, there was still half a stick of incense time. If she searched the rooms and still couldn’t find anyone, it would be too late.

But she still decided to trust her intuition. Moreover, she felt Ying Bai running to this tree to drink while facing this small courtyard didn’t seem like casual drinking either.

She flashed down from the tree and entered the courtyard. This house had the most ordinary style – three tile rooms and a small courtyard, though the middle room was closed. She’d seen yesterday that it had never been opened.

She went straight to that room, flashing inside. The room was dimly lit, and after entering she discovered this room was as empty as could be, with no furniture, only murals on the four walls.

Houses in this mountain area sometimes had murals on the sides, with varied bizarre content mostly related to local beliefs, but they were generally painted outdoors – indoor ones were rare.

Jing Hengbo glanced around, confirming no one could possibly be here. Just as she was about to leave disappointed, her heart suddenly moved as she looked at those murals.

They seemed to depict ocean fairy mountains, misty towers and pavilions, with immortals flying in the sky and mermaids resting on reefs.

Wait, mermaids?

Jing Hengbo’s gaze shifted. The four walls’ murals formed a continuous scene with many mermaids painted extremely delicately and realistically, each with graceful curves in various poses. Some sunbathing, some singing, some reaching toward heaven, some with backs to the viewer facing the sea while looking in mirrors.

Jing Hengbo pressed against the wall, sniffing each one, then suddenly laughed heartily, stepped back, and kicked the mirror-gazing mermaid’s butt.

“Disgusting old narcissist, this mermaid is so fat, how dare you impersonate it!”

Crack – the wall surface split, splashing some crystals. Behind was vaguely a hole, and a fellow fell backward with a splat, a big footprint on his butt.

Jing Hengbo immediately flashed in, planning to ride on this old fellow’s back and beat him up first.

Her teleportation took only the blink of an eye, but when she landed, the butt-up fellow had disappeared. Under her feet was something soft, with a faint sharp cry – Zirui’s voice. Jing Hengbo quickly pulled back her fists meant for beating someone and helped Zirui up in the wall cavity. The woman’s expression was still calm, pointing to a sign hanging on her chest. Written messily on it: “There’s one more, another quarter hour. Old rules – can’t find her in a quarter hour, kill the little girl. Oh right, watch your toes.”

Jing Hengbo looked down – her boot tips were somehow wet, and there was also a puddle on the ground.

She didn’t remember seeing water before. Looking back at the broken hole in the wall, she understood.

This wall was specially made, covered with a layer of special crystal that could show human forms, so the shameless old fellow could impersonate mermaids behind the wall. Once the crystal shattered, it would turn into poisonous water. Her toe tips were already feeling numb.

The old immortal must have guessed that after finding someone she wouldn’t politely invite them out. This was intentional!

“Old immortal, have you no shame!” Jing Hengbo roared angrily. “Didn’t you say finding someone in a quarter hour would count? You’re cheating! And poisoning too!”

No one answered her. In the distance someone seemed to cackle – cheating and such was exactly their family tradition, right?

Jing Hengbo held her head in pain. The old fellow was getting more and more shameless. Earlier he’d at least given a hint about the mountain dwelling, now he said nothing. Seven Peaks Mountain was so big – where could she find Yong Xue?

She had Zirui leave by herself and sat in the wall cavity thinking.

Seemingly playful, but the test had already begun, right?

Someone like Master Ziwei, however rogue and shameless, should still have his own principles. Even if just from personal preference, he definitely wasn’t so obedient.

Come to think of it, seven disciples ran down the mountain but stayed at the mountain’s base so long because of her. The old fellow was already frustrated, and now she came asking for help without even a greeting – how could there be such a bargain?

The first meeting tested her reaction, the second ghostly impersonation tested her courage, the third formation tested her adaptability, the fourth finding people tested her eyesight.

She had no martial arts, so the tests couldn’t be too outrageous – definitely things she could accomplish.

And the old fellow was narcissistic and conceited. He definitely thought he hid well and wouldn’t be discovered, so he should be carrying both hostages nearby, preparing to either kill them when time was up or come out to mock her. But she really had broken through, so he cheated, wrote another sign, and took away Yong Xue. The sign was hastily written with rushed characters.

Since he’d been carrying Yong Xue just now, Yong Xue should still be nearby.

Jing Hengbo moved closer to look at the sign, sniffed the scent, paused her finger on a certain character, picked it up, squinted at what was stuck to her finger, then quickly left the room.

Walking, she discovered the numbness had reached her calves.

Looking at the sky – nearly noon.

The woman was just entering the courtyard, placing the sesame cake plate aside and beginning to wash vegetables.

Jing Hengbo looked at that plate of cakes: “Auntie, when were these cakes made?”

“Made this morning.”

“About to start lunch?”

“Right,” the woman looked at the sky, “about another quarter hour. Once I finish washing vegetables, I can light the fire to cook.”

Quarter hour.

Light fire.

She knew where Yong Xue was, but she couldn’t move anymore.

The numbness from her toes had reached her waist. She couldn’t teleport anymore.

She looked at the kitchen – just a few steps away, but now it might as well be the ends of the earth.

More critically, that numbness shot upward like lightning. Her throat tightened and she couldn’t even speak.

Jing Hengbo stood rigidly in the courtyard, looking at the kitchen so close yet so far, wanting to shout but unable to make sound, watching helplessly as the woman carried the washed vegetables into the kitchen, took split firewood from behind the stove, and prepared to light the fire.

That old woman’s expression was calm, her movements natural, doing what she did every day, thinking of nothing else.

She wouldn’t know there was a person stuffed in the stove chamber – if she lit the fire, that little girl would be finished.

Sweat poured down Jing Hengbo’s forehead.

What to do?