The speaker was Qiongniang, clan leader of the Sinü Clan.

She glanced at Zanxing, then lowered her eyes and said: “The monster you described with an oily green, viscous body should be the Water-Wood Spirit of this place. Yue’e Mountain has existed for thousands of years, and the vegetation in the mountain that has survived for long periods has already awakened spiritual intelligence. The Water-Wood Spirit usually disguises itself as water grass, hiding in the water to confuse passersby. When people approach, it drags them into the pools and transforms them into nutrients for the water grass. The mountain’s waterways are interconnected—falling into water at this location doesn’t necessarily mean you can be found at this location.”

Zanxing understood. No wonder she had fallen into a water pool but emerged elsewhere, running into the demon-slaying army.

“However…” Qiongniang frowned slightly, her tone somewhat reproachful: “Because many people have died after being dragged into the water by the Water-Wood Spirit, to prevent this from happening repeatedly, we’ve placed warning plaques at all water pools in the mountain. Why did you still approach?”

“Plaques?” Zanxing looked toward the Earth-Eating Ghost.

Earth-Eating Ghost was stunned, thought for a moment, then picked up a square wooden plaque from under a nearby tree: “You mean this thing?”

On this wooden plaque, someone had hastily drawn three wavy lines with a large red X over them. At first glance, it was impossible to tell what it meant.

“Exactly.”

Zanxing: “…” Drawn so carelessly, only a ghost could figure it out. Even writing a single character for “danger” would be better than this. No wonder so many people had been dragged into the water by the Water-Wood Spirit—most probably died without ever guessing what was drawn on the plaque.

Earth-Eating Ghost was also completely puzzled: “I thought this meant no swimming allowed, I…”

The demons from Heishi City were naturally rebellious—the more they were told not to enter the water, the more they wanted to. It would be strange if they listened. He probably saw this plaque and became interested instead, only to be dragged underwater by the Water-Wood Spirit and have a leg gnawed off.

“However, in the past, no one dragged into water pools by the Water-Wood Spirit ever survived. You’re the first to come out alive and tell us what’s underwater. This is also the first time we’ve learned that this spirit creature has formed a lair beneath the water. It seems we’ll need to put up more warnings in the future.” Qiongniang spoke to herself.

In any case, the misunderstanding here had been cleared up. Seeing that he was vindicated, Earth-Eating Ghost immediately became smug. He made a provocative gesture at Putao: “Did you hear that, little girl? It was the Water-Wood Spirit that harmed your senior sister. Our Young Master was being a bodhisattva by fishing her out. Throwing dirty water on a bodhisattva—the cultivation world has no shame!”

Putao’s face turned red with anger, but she couldn’t argue back. Those Chihua Gate people wanted to argue a few more words, but after seeing Mimi beside Zanxing, they swallowed their words. Everyone had experienced that silver lion’s roar earlier and felt some fear.

Since the misunderstanding had been cleared up, the next step was to focus on important matters. Zanxing thought for a moment and looked at Qiongniang: “You two, we entered the mountain to find Master Ming Jing. But no matter what, we can’t find the mountain gate entrance. Since you both came from the mountain, could you guide us?”

At these words, Qiongniang’s gaze paused as she pondered: “So you know Master Ming Jing… He indeed resides in the Buddhist temple on Yue’e Mountain. However, you can’t enter the mountain.” She looked again at the demon-slaying army group: “They can’t either.”

Gu Baiying frowned: “Why?”

“Because of ‘balance.'”

“Balance?”

Qiongniang released her hand, and broken petals fell from her palm, returning to the soil. Her voice was calm, as if devoid of any emotional fluctuation: “Yue’e Mountain has existed for thousands of years. There are many legends in Duzhou, but in fact, very few people can find the mountain gate. Because Yue’e Mountain is alive—besides animals and plants, it only accepts those it recognizes.”

“And to be recognized by it, you must first achieve ‘balance.'”

This was spoken too obscurely for everyone to understand immediately.

It was Meng Ying who asked in a deep voice: “How can balance be achieved?”

“All things in the world seek balance—yin-yang balance, sun-moon balance, movement-stillness balance, mountain-water balance, good-evil balance. For example, the Sishi Clan and Sinü Clan represent balance. One male or one female constitutes balance; an elder and a child represent balance; the living and the dead are also in balance.”

“Only those who achieve balance can find the mountain gate. Otherwise, the mountain range changes infinitely, and even if you walk here for hundreds of years, you cannot truly enter this mountain.”

Zanxing vaguely had an idea. After pondering for a long time, she asked Qiongniang: “Then how did Gui Yansheng achieve balance?”

Since Master Ming Jing had seen Gui Yansheng on Yue’e Mountain, it meant Gui Yansheng had already entered the mountain. What exactly had he done to be accepted by Yue’e Mountain?

“You mean that golden-eyed youth?” When Qiongniang mentioned Gui Yansheng, she remained calm, as if whether he was a demon or a human made no difference to her—she treated all equally. She answered softly: “He has a half-demon body, which is inherently a form of balance.”

Zanxing was stunned. That worked, too?

Gui Yansheng was indeed a half-demon. This identity he despised had now provided him considerable convenience—at least he didn’t have to wander around the mountain like headless flies unable to find the entrance, as Zanxing and her group were doing.

So here was the problem: their group of demons had unequal numbers of men and women, old and young, and they couldn’t possibly kill half their number to enter the mountain. Even if they did this, success wasn’t guaranteed, since mountains differed from people and had different judgment standards. What if a man and woman went together, but Yue’e Mountain considered their ages unequal, disrupting the balance, and refused to accept them?

This mountain range seemed to have a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Not only was Zanxing’s side in difficulty, but the demon-slaying army members also began whispering among themselves, their expressions showing considerable distress. The demon-slaying army hadn’t known about this situation before setting out, and their group was also mixed and uneven. Trying to arrange a ‘balance’ wasn’t an easy task.

The situation seemed to have reached a bottleneck. They were blocked at the mountain gate before even entering, unable to catch even a glimpse of Gui Yansheng’s shadow.

At this moment, amid the silence, someone suddenly spoke: “It’s not that there’s no solution.”

The speaker was Youlang, clan leader of the Sishi Clan. He lowered his eyes, his black clothes like ink, still maintaining that indifferent appearance of having no desires or demands, as if he wouldn’t care even if the sky fell. His gaze swept over everyone as he hesitated, seemingly considering whether to say what came next.

Everyone looked at him hopefully. Having come this far, turning back wouldn’t be worthwhile. If there were a good solution, whether a demon race or a demon-slaying army, they would all likely be willing to try.

Youlang’s voice rang out: “Your group consists of demons, their group consists of humans, perfectly divided into two parts…”

Zanxing’s heart skipped a beat as she suddenly understood what Youlang was about to say. She abruptly raised her head, meeting Gu Baiying’s gaze, looking toward her.

Youlang continued speaking: “If you proceed in pairs, one human and one demon together, perhaps you could achieve a state of ‘balance.'”