“Someone has been here…”

The little bookworm shrank in the book crack looking at him, its pink-gray light clustering into a ball. Upon hearing his question, that pink-gray light immediately dimmed considerably: just from hearing this question, it knew this person wasn’t here to take them to the upper realm.

Suddenly feeling listless, even that strange fear and apprehension subsided quite a bit.

Xie Buchen noticed this scene but didn’t have any particularly deep feelings about it.

After one battle, he was already on the brink of exhaustion. Risking entry into this Ten Thousand Beasts Maze was firstly relying on the key Master Hengxu had given him, and secondly hoping to gain some breathing room for himself.

Jian Chou had entered the maze long ago—who knew where she had reached by now?

Now the little bookworm said someone had passed through earlier. This person wouldn’t be Song Lin, as he and Song Lin had entered one after the other, and Song Lin couldn’t have been that fast.

Therefore, the one who had passed through here not long ago must have been Jian Chou.

Jian Chou…

These two characters, with a turn of the tongue and a swallow down the throat, slid into his heart and lungs like ice blocks floating in a dark river, gradually sinking down, gradually dissolving into the dark river.

A moment of confusion flashed in Xie Buchen’s eyes before returning to that sky-like calm.

And indifference.

He looked at the little bookworm again. He had seen quite a few spirit beasts in the Hidden Realm, and presumably this little bookworm was one of them.

However, what attracted his attention was not this tiny bookworm.

What interested him were the ancient books piled high on three sides of the narrow cave: covered in dust, with edges even fuzzy, countless fragments hanging in the crevices like food scraps, a complete mess.

Though the little bookworm was still dejected, seeing no other movement from the man for quite some time, it couldn’t help but wonder. Forcibly suppressing that strange feeling of apprehension in its heart, it looked up.

With this look, it discovered that the other’s gaze had fallen on these books.

With a thud in its heart, the little bookworm quickly waved all its legs together, seemingly trying to block those books: “Don’t look! This lord doesn’t lend these books!”

Childish voice, extremely clever.

But…

Too small.

A grain-sized black dot standing in the book crack—how many books could it protect?

With just one glance, Xie Buchen knew these books had been unattended for years and were extremely damaged.

The cave entrance glowed with light like transparent glass.

This layer of light was the final protection the Hidden Realm granted these spirit beasts, so the little bookworm was relatively safe inside.

When Jian Chou was here earlier, she also couldn’t break through this layer of glass light protection.

Therefore, the little bookworm was still confident about its safety.

When Xie Buchen looked over, it wasn’t afraid at all, snorting: “What are you looking at? This lord said these— What, what are you doing?!”

Halfway through its words, the little bookworm’s voice suddenly rose as if someone had grabbed its throat, practically screaming with a broken voice!

In the blink of an eye as it spoke, this azure-robed man standing in front of its “cave dwelling” actually reached out toward its “cave dwelling”!

That was a very slender, elegant hand for holding a brush.

A scholar’s hand.

The little bookworm had once mixed around human islands and knew that most hands praised by teachers in schools, those that wrote beautifully, all looked like this.

Nails glossy and smooth.

Finger bones straight as jade bamboo.

Not necessarily very pale, but definitely very clean.

If it were in the past, the little bookworm could have been entranced just looking at such a hand, but now it only felt its soul leaving its body!

Its screaming voice hadn’t even finished when the scene that shattered its soul occurred—

The cave dwelling’s glass light that had successfully blocked many people should have blocked Xie Buchen when his hand approached.

But this time, the usually reliable glass light failed.

A mysterious symbol lit up in Xie Buchen’s palm. When he pressed it against the glass light, circles of pale golden light scattered in all directions. Under this golden light, the barrier formed by the glass light melted away like snow meeting hot water!

Gone!

The glass light barrier between the little bookworm and Xie Buchen was gone!

At that moment, the little bookworm, terrified to the extreme, could only cling dumbly to the corner of the book pile farthest from the cave entrance, trembling.

However, Xie Buchen’s hand did not fall on it.

He glanced at it indifferently, then lowered his eyes. A trace of deeply hidden exhaustion flashed in his eyes, then was buried again in his frost-snow-covered gaze.

Reaching out, he only took the book where the bookworm had been residing.

In the courtyard, wild grass grew everywhere, but there was not a single insect sound.

The four stone walls had cave after cave, but they were all silent without a trace of life.

The entire maze was filled with a grim aura of death, unable to emanate any vitality.

Xie Buchen stepped on the weeds growing from the stone slab cracks, his body swaying twice as if somewhat lacking in strength, nearly about to fall.

But the next moment he steadied himself again.

That book was already taken out, exposed to the outside light.

Old, worn, just as he had seen from outside, pitted and full of gnaw marks.

The moment he took it out, countless fragments fell to the ground like a layer of snow.

At a glance, hardly any complete sentences could be found on the entire page, every character appearing fragmented.

Unconsciously, Xie Buchen’s brow furrowed slightly.

His fingers slowly pressed against the uneven gnaw marks. The rough texture was under his fingertips, but that ancient ink fragrance was not affected at all by the damaged pages. In this lifeless courtyard, it slowly dispersed and became increasingly evident.

The light cast a slanted shadow at his feet, also making the little bookworm somewhat frightened.

It stood trembling against the innermost wall, so scared that all its thin legs didn’t know where to go. The pink light around its body trembled and shook, as if it would be frightened out of existence the next moment.

Xie Buchen stood at the cave entrance, at the light source, and it couldn’t see his expression at all.

The little bookworm only knew that its beloved book had fallen into someone else’s hands!

How did he get in?

How did he get the book?

What did he want to do?

…

A series of questions instantly flooded the little bookworm’s mind, but its brain wasn’t very capable to begin with, and somehow it just shouted: “That’s this lord’s book! You commoners should put it down immediately!”

This should have been a very imposing statement.

Upon hearing this, Xie Buchen slowly lifted his gaze from the book pages to rest on it—emotionless, without anger or joy—and only asked: “You read books too?”

The little bookworm naturally didn’t think there was anything wrong with what it had just said, filled with anger: “Of course this lord reads books!”

Read books?

Xie Buchen casually turned a page. His eyebrows, like distant mountain ink paintings, furrowed a bit tighter. He saw that when the book page stood up, light passed through the sieve-like paper, leaving countless light dots on the other side.

Somehow, the little bookworm suddenly felt guilty, and its voice became weaker.

“I, I… this lord still loves books very much, it’s just… just can’t control myself…”

Ah ah ah why did it have to explain this to these people again!

As a bookworm, eating books was naturally normal instinct, wasn’t it?!

The little bookworm’s words actually made no sense, but Xie Buchen understood.

Bookworms love to read books and also love to eat books.

He casually turned a page and saw some sentences that glimpsed heavenly secrets from this book, but whenever it reached crucial parts, they had all been gnawed by the bookworm.

His fingertips, carrying a bit of coldness from excessive blood loss, slowly moved across the pages.

This book came from the human islands, a lost ancient manuscript. When he was still at the Marquis Xie residence, he had seen some, though incomplete at the time.

Now seeing this ancient manuscript again, he had a strange feeling.

Cultivators on the Nineteen Continents had always come from two sources.

One from the Nineteen Continents themselves, including land and sea, including demon cultivators and ordinary cultivators; the other from the human islands, basically all people seeking immortality and the Way.

The two places might have many differences, but perhaps the only similarity was their exploration of the “Way.”

Seeing things from the Nineteen Continents on the human islands might be somewhat novel, but seeing things from the human islands on the Nineteen Continents was not particularly unusual.

In Xie Buchen’s mind, something seemed to gradually surface clearly.

He blinked slightly, thinking, pressing his finger down to touch the paper.

This line of text was severely gnawed, almost unrecognizable, but as Xie Buchen’s finger slowly slid and gradually lifted, ink marks actually began to seep and condense on the old paper, and the originally rough gnaw marks began to grow toward the pitted holes.

In just a moment, the originally incomplete lines of text appeared on the paper!

The little bookworm, seeing this scene, was completely dumbfounded.

Xie Buchen calmly turned a page, but a smile slowly emerged at the corner of his lips.

His eyes remained calm, but this bit of smile carried a strange authenticity.

Page after page…

It almost made one think he was in the study by the large camphor tree at the Marquis Xie residence on an afternoon, sitting on the shaded window sill with a scroll of ink-fragrant books spread open, smelling the tea fragrance filling the room, waiting for someone to bring him brewed tea and show him that shallow three-part smile.

…

His fingers gradually moved down.

The last page, the last line of text he knew appeared.

It was several lines of poetry—

“I am originally a fisherman and woodcutter in the wild fields of Meng Zhu, living my whole life as a carefree person…” His lips moved slightly, the recitation barely audible, “I’d rather sing wildly in the marshes than serve as an official in the dusty world.”

Rather serve as an official in the dusty world?

At that moment, as if touching some searing arc, Xie Buchen’s slender finger pressing on the page trembled.

Seven characters without beginning or end, just lying on the yellowed page.

He remained silent for a long time.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Breaking the silence was the little bookworm’s timid shout.

Xie Buchen lowered his brow and finally came to his senses somewhat.

Just in that blink of an eye, many things seemed to flash through his mind: book fragrance, red sleeves, mountains of corpses, seas of fire, long rivers, setting sun, distant mountains…

And sword shadows.

His raised eyes gradually lowered.

His heart suddenly returned to ancient well-like stillness. He slowly closed the book in his hand, seeing four vigorous characters written on the cover: Records of Human Affairs.

Human islands, recording heard matters?

Just such a thought briefly crossed his mind.

Xie Buchen brushed away the paper scraps from the cover and handed it toward the cave that no longer had glass light blocking it. Under the little bookworm’s bewildered gaze, he slowly placed it back in its original position.

“If you love it, don’t devour it.”

A light voice, unable to detect any fluctuation, like a calm lake.

The little bookworm stared blankly, still unable to react.

He took away a broken book and returned a more or less intact one?

It didn’t understand these literary phrases very well, but it could understand the literal meaning of Xie Buchen’s words.

However, understanding the literal meaning…

“But I just love eating books. Earlier, a big sister told me that if I want to eat, then eat, and after eating my fill, then read books—perfect.”

Want to eat, then eat, after eating full, then read books—perfect?

This was indeed an interesting statement.

Xie Buchen inexplicably curved his lips: “She said that?”

“Yes.” The little bookworm said unconsciously, then the next moment was frightened out of its wits, its little head becoming unclear. One leg immediately lifted up, pointing at Xie Buchen while trembling: “You you you you you you know!”

What was there to know or not know?

Xie Buchen looked at this cave, then at the surrounding caves, and turned to leave.

“If you love it deeply, why not read books to clarify your mind and see your nature. Preserve heavenly principle, eliminate human desires.”

His azure robe stained with blood was already gradually drying.

The hem of his robe swept over the wild grass, pressing down the broken grass stems.

Xie Buchen’s steps were steady and soundless.

The little bookworm still maintained that posture of one thin leg raised pointing at him.

Seeing Xie Buchen turn and leave without asking anything, it became somewhat puzzled, retracting that leg and scratching its head.

“This… whose advice should I follow?”

Confused.

Its little brain was completely insufficient.

One said if you love to eat, then eat, after eating full then read books, also saying books are in the world, and that books in the world don’t exist only on books; the other said if you love it, don’t eat it, read it properly, preserve heavenly principle, eliminate human desires—was he telling it to eliminate the desire to eat books?

It stretched out one leg on the left: eat books?

It stretched out one leg on the right: don’t eat books?

Which side?

“Oh my, I might as well kick with all eight legs together!”

Its head was spinning!

The little bookworm directly fell backward on the book.

“Heh…”

A light laugh suddenly came.

The little bookworm’s body stiffened, shivering with cold, and with a “bookworm flip” it turned over and got up, looking up to see the third “uninvited guest” appearing at the cave dwelling entrance.

One look, one pause, then it actually burst into laughter: “Hahahaha—”

The newcomer carried a fish basket, and for now it was unclear what was inside.

He wore an old light blue robe that looked ready to grow moss, with disheveled hair, standing in front. Seeing the little bookworm laughing heartily, he wasn’t annoyed.

“Is it funny?”

“Hahaha I thought it was something scary, but it’s just a little mayfly that transformed into human form to frighten me. Really… hahaha this is the first time I’ve seen something smaller than me… hahaha…”

At Shangren Buyu’s place, the little bookworm was truly the smallest kind.

Having grown this big and cultivated for so many years, it had never seen a mayfly…

“Ha—”

Eh.

Something seemed wrong.

The laughter suddenly stopped.

The little bookworm’s trembling antennae also stopped at once. In that instant, cold sweat rushed up all over, making it feel like all eight legs were really going to kick together…

“May, mayfly…”

Whether on the human islands or in Shangren Buyu’s Hidden Realm, it had never heard that mayflies, living only from dawn to dusk, could cultivate!

The vastness of heaven and earth, the time of one dawn and dusk—how could one glimpse the mysteries of heaven?

All mayflies could not escape heaven’s judgment…

But…

But if the one before its eyes wasn’t a mayfly, then what was it?

The little bookworm almost suspected it was hallucinating, but the smile appearing on that mayfly’s face was so real.

Fu Chaosheng didn’t mind the other’s mockery, looking at it with very kind eyes.

Even carrying a feeling of looking at a junior, at a child who didn’t understand.

He reached out and casually pinched the stiff little bookworm between his fingers.

“What’s so great about eating books? If you could eat all the great principles of this world, then you’d have real ability.”

With a sigh, Fu Chaosheng looked back at the “sky” outside the high walls.

His two eyes flashed with a dim gray light—

The sky of the Hidden Realm was the sky of a small world, different from the truly vast great world. The sky here had boundaries.

Through this boundary, he could see everything he wanted to see.

Left and right eyes, universe and cosmos.

He smiled inexplicably, as if seeing something.

The little bookworm between his fingers had already begun habitually playing dead from excessive shock. Fu Chaosheng casually tossed it into the fish basket.

The next moment, a earth-shattering scream was heard: “Ahhhhhhhhh!!!”

Oh, right.

In the fish basket was his “old friend.”

The little thing that had just mocked him was probably frightened.

Fu Chaosheng slung the fish basket over his shoulder, pretending not to hear that terrible scream, and slowly walked away.

The moment he turned around, his figure also disappeared.

At this moment, Jian Chou, who had arrived at a new cave, suddenly felt something and looked back in a certain direction.

But behind her were only towering high walls.

That feeling, however, came from behind the layers of high walls.

Xiao Diao called out “Awoo” twice, its tail stiffly resting in the hollow of Jian Chou’s neck, not noticing what was behind them at all, only staring with both eyes at what was inside the cave.

That feeling came quickly and left quickly.

Jian Chou frowned and finally suppressed that strange feeling in her heart. Looking down, she saw the Immovable Bell beginning to flicker.

Someone was approaching her?

Narrowing her eyes slightly, she gripped her blade and axe tightly.

Following the little bookworm’s words, after abandoning Song Lin, she had gone east and arrived at this cave.

Unlike the previously smaller caves, this cave was a full three zhang high, as if the entire wall had been hollowed out, and the carvings outside were also larger than before.

A majestic falcon stood on someone’s arm, gazing into the distance as if about to soar far away.

That fierce spirit, the magnificence of wanting to conquer everything, was expressed thoroughly in this simple carving.

Jian Chou had thought she could see this falcon’s experiences like before, but unexpectedly, besides this one carving, the entire area around the cave entrance only showed shattered traces, as if the original carvings had been scattered by some force.

Though the little bookworm was somewhat slippery, seeming like an unreliable half-grown child, she could see its kind heart.

With this thought, she gently reached out toward the pitch-black cave entrance.

“Buzz!”

Brilliant light, crimson red, instantly surged around like waves!

Glass light suddenly appeared, raising a barrier like a window, separating inside from outside.

At that moment, everything behind the barrier seemed to become clear.

Jian Chou couldn’t help but tremble in her heart—

Two points of crimson light gradually appeared behind the crimson barrier of glass light.

As if, behind this barrier, a ferocious beast had been awakened and was slowly opening those sharp and majestic eyes!