Edited—

Elder Xu expressed immense regret for this sudden fire. After meeting Zhou Jiayu, he apologized repeatedly, saying he had been somewhat careless. He hadn’t expected that person’s audacity to be so great—daring to make a move on Zhou Jiayu right here.

Zhou Jiayu magnanimously indicated it was nothing. He was just curious whether these houses and paper people were really vulnerable to fire?

Hearing this, Elder Xu smiled and said, “The material of these paper people is special. Ordinary fire cannot ignite them. Only fire of extreme yang can make them burn.”

Zhou Jiayu remembered the lighter Lin Zhushui had given him. Presumably, what was inside was fire of extreme yang.

Elder Xu continued, “The one who attacked you is actually also a member of our Xu clan…” When he spoke of this matter, his eyes were filled with heartache. “Our Xu clan has had a rule since ancient times: once one has learned the inheritance, one cannot enter the secular world. This rule has continued for several hundred years and is the foundation of our Xu clan’s inheritance.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Then what is his situation?”

Elder Xu said, “His talent is extremely high, but his views diverged from ours.” He told a story in fits and starts. The content of the story was somewhat cliché—nothing more than a genius within the clan who entered the secular world and was blinded by fame and fortune. In the end, he violated the clan’s rules and was driven out of Mount She.

The story was simple, but Zhou Jiayu heard the regret in Elder Xu’s tone.

Elder Xu said that before that person went down the mountain, he had also attempted to make a move on the most important sacred object within their clan. Fortunately, he was stopped in time. But they hadn’t expected that he would actually set his sights on Lin Zhushui’s disciple, Zhou Jiayu, and repeatedly made attempts. Although none had succeeded, judging from Lin Zhushui’s reaction, he was clearly already enraged.

“We’ll go to the cemetery tonight,” Elder Xu said. “If you can obtain the ancestor’s recognition, then he won’t be able to touch you in the future.”

While Elder Xu was saying these words, Lin Zhushui had been very silent. It was only after Elder Xu finished speaking that he suddenly beckoned to Zhou Jiayu and said, “Come here.”

Zhou Jiayu muddleheadedly moved to Lin Zhushui’s front.

Lin Zhushui didn’t speak. He bit open the index finger of his own hand. Once fresh blood oozed out, he directly extended his finger to Zhou Jiayu: “Suck it. Suck the blood clean.”

Zhou Jiayu froze for a moment and said blankly, “Sir, you are…”

Lin Zhushui said, “That place is heavy with yin energy. If you go, you’ll be affected. Drink some of my blood.”

Zhou Jiayu still wanted to say something, but Lin Zhushui urged, “Hurry.”

So Zhou Jiayu could only brace himself and take Lin Zhushui’s index finger into his mouth, gently licking the wound on Lin Zhushui’s injured finger with his tongue. Although during the tattooing before, Zhou Jiayu had always felt Lin Zhushui’s fingers were very cold, at this moment, it was just a few drops of blood, yet Zhou Jiayu felt as if he had swallowed a huge surge of heat. This heat flowed down his throat into his stomach, dispelling the cold within his body. Zhou Jiayu’s face turned red, and he even began to sweat slightly on his forehead.

After the blood was sucked clean by Zhou Jiayu, Lin Zhushui naturally withdrew his finger from Zhou Jiayu’s mouth. He picked up a prepared tissue from the side and wiped the wound on his hand and some kind of transparent liquid.

Zhou Jiayu didn’t know whether he was truly hot or simply embarrassed. His entire face was flushed red. His eyes secretly glanced at Lin Zhushui’s finger, then silently lowered his head.

Lin Zhushui said, “How do you feel?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Pretty… pretty hot.” He suddenly remembered something and said, “Sir, the water you gave me to drink on the train before—did you add your blood to it?”

Lin Zhushui said, “Yes.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Ah… then thank you, Sir.”

Lin Zhushui said in a light tone, “What is there to thank me for?”

Elder Xu watched the interaction between the two from the side, smiling very kindly. He said, “I didn’t expect Mr. Lin to have such a side as well. Truly, the bond between master and disciple runs deep. The bond between master and disciple runs deep.”

Lin Zhushui didn’t respond. Zhou Jiayu smiled a bit embarrassedly.

The departure time was set for around eight in the evening. It was said that the cemetery was very special and could only be entered at night.

Zhou Jiayu casually made some dinner, and the four of them ate together.

Ever since these paper people stopped hiding, they began bouncing around everywhere. While they were eating, one was still circling nearby. Judging from the hairstyle, it should be a boy. It kept opening its mouth and drooling at the bone Shen Yiqiong was holding in his hand.

Actually, Zhou Jiayu quite admired these paper people. Although their facial features were all simple sketches, when they moved, they were exceptionally vivid and lifelike, possessing the charm of real people.

Shen Yiqiong felt a bit uncomfortable from being stared at and said to it, “You guys can eat meat too?”

That paper person actually nodded.

So Shen Yiqiong hesitated for a moment, then shaved off a piece of meat from the big bone and held it out in front of it. The paper person happily took it, stuffed it into its mouth, and ate with great delight.

Shen Yiqiong looked at it, showing a thoughtful expression.

Seeing his expression, Zhou Jiayu said, “What are you thinking?”

Shen Yiqiong said, “Don’t you think paper people are quite cute too? Can we raise one at our place? In the future, it can take care of all the laundry and sweeping…”

The moment he finished saying this, the paper person seemed to understand. It glared at Shen Yiqiong with its flat eyes, stood up, and directly ran away. Shen Yiqiong showed an embarrassed expression: “Wow, it can understand that too? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have said it in front of it.”

Zhou Jiayu couldn’t hold back a laugh.

After dinner, Lin Zhushui’s side was ready to set out.

If Zhou Jiayu were going with anyone else, Shen Yiqiong would definitely remind him to be careful. But since Zhou Jiayu was going with Lin Zhushui, Shen Yiqiong not only wasn’t worried but also said with a hint of jealousy, “Come back early. I’ll miss you.”

Zhou Jiayu said very disdainfully, “Will you miss me, or will you miss Sir?”

Shen Yiqiong said, “Can’t I miss both?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Can you not glare at me while saying that?”

Shen Yiqiong hmphed and said aggrievedly that he was going back to gnaw on sweet potatoes and wasn’t going to play with Zhou Jiayu anymore. Zhou Jiayu thought to himself that Shen Yiqiong’s mental age being eighteen was impossible. Having fourteen would already be pretty good.

Lin Zhushui was still waiting outside the door. Zhou Jiayu hurriedly went out to meet up with him.

The place they were going to was apparently quite far from the village. It was said to take a whole night for a round trip. Zhou Jiayu had originally been thinking that walking through snow at night would probably be somewhat troublesome, but he hadn’t expected that when they reached the village entrance, he would see four or five paper people pulling a sleigh.

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Holy crap, there was this kind of operation too?

“Get on, get on.” Elder Xu sat in the front driver’s position, smiling kindly. “This is fast. Hold on tight when the time comes.”

Zhou Jiayu nodded. He and Lin Zhushui sat on the left and right. The moment they sat down, Zhou Jiayu had originally thought this sleigh couldn’t be that fast no matter what. Who knew that once they really got on the road, he nearly got blown breathless by the oncoming cold wind.

Those paper people wore specially made snow shoes. Their running speed was no worse than sled dogs, and they could even handle some rather troublesome mountain terrain.

Zhou Jiayu felt like he was about to be blown into an idiot by the wind. No wonder Elder Xu had told him to remember to wear a hat when they set out. At the time, Zhou Jiayu had thought he was afraid he would be cold. Now that he thought about it, he was probably simply afraid his head would freeze off.

Zhou Jiayu was in a mess from the wind, watching the surrounding scenery constantly change. It wasn’t snowing. Moonlight sprinkled onto the ground, casting bright light. Lin Zhushui sat beside him, yet the wind around him seemed to be blocked by something invisible. Even the movement of his hair wasn’t obvious.

Zhou Jiayu suddenly felt that this scene was actually quite romantic. He and Lin Zhushui were sitting on a sleigh, gliding through the deep forest at night. The moonlight was beautiful. Everything around them was very quiet. Of course, if his head weren’t so cold it felt like it was about to fall off, it would be even more perfect.

Lin Zhushui’s voice was still light. He said, “Zhou Jiayu, are you cold?”

Zhou Jiayu sniffed and said, “I… am… not… cold…” He regretted it the moment he said it. His voice was shaking like he was being electrocuted. He himself didn’t believe he wasn’t cold.

Lin Zhushui sighed lightly, somewhat helplessly. He said, “If you’re cold, then sit closer to my side.”

Zhou Jiayu felt a bit conflicted in his heart. Before he could respond, Elder Xu in the front said, “The road is still far! Young man, don’t tough it out!”

These words made Zhou Jiayu give up resisting. He honestly moved to sit beside Lin Zhushui.

Clearly, this action wasn’t unnecessary, because the moment he got a little closer, Zhou Jiayu obviously felt that the surroundings weren’t as cold anymore.

Lin Zhushui was like a big fireball, trying his best to control the temperature he emitted. But as long as you got slightly closer, you could clearly sense the blazing energy burning within his body.

“Still cold?” Lin Zhushui asked like this.

Zhou Jiayu shook his head honestly and said, “Not cold anymore.” He felt that after sitting beside Lin Zhushui, the wind seemed to be blocked. Without the wind blowing directly at him, that feeling of his whole head freezing off had finally improved considerably.

The sleigh continued forward, following the winding mountain road, driving into the bushes.

Although the terrain grew increasingly troublesome, the paper people’s speed wasn’t affected in the slightest. Zhou Jiayu felt that it was probably going at least eighty kilometers per hour.

Elder Xu’s words that the road was far were indeed not a joke. By the time it reached midnight, after four hours of travel, they finally arrived at their destination.

The destination was a cave hidden in the trees. The cave was very low. The bushes beside it were piled high with accumulated snow. Even when you reached the entrance, if you didn’t look carefully, you wouldn’t discover there was a cave here.

Elder Xu bent over and entered the cave first. Lin Zhushui walked at the rear, sandwiching Zhou Jiayu in the middle to guard against accidents.

In the short cave, one could only pass by bending over. After walking inward for several dozen meters, the rock ceiling above finally disappeared. A huge iron door appeared before Zhou Jiayu’s eyes. The iron door looked quite old, a full five or six meters high. If relying purely on human strength, it definitely couldn’t be pushed open.

Elder Xu was still wearing a cheerful expression. With a wave of his hand, the paper people who had originally been pulling the sleigh slowly walked forward, grabbed the door handles, and began to exert force. The strength of these paper people was indeed great. The iron door, which looked exceptionally heavy, was pulled open to a gap wide enough for a person to pass through in no time.

“Let’s go.” Elder Xu beckoned.

Zhou Jiayu followed behind him but saw that those paper people had no intention of entering. He said, “These little paper people aren’t coming in?”

Elder Xu said, “Mm, they can’t come in.”

Zhou Jiayu made a sound of acknowledgment and watched the paper people huffing and puffing as they closed the door again.

Behind the door was a huge cave. On the surrounding rock walls of the cave, some torches were inserted. These torches were already burning when they entered; it seemed they were permanently preserved inside the cave.

Elder Xu walked familiarly in the front, leading the way for Lin Zhushui and Zhou Jiayu.

The paths in this cave were somewhat complicated, with forks everywhere. Zhou Jiayu faintly heard some细碎 sounds coming from the fork they hadn’t taken. He asked in confusion, “Elder Xu, is there something in that side fork?”

Elder Xu smiled and said, “Yes, yes. This is also a kind of protective measure. If you take the wrong path, you won’t get out.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” He silently walked a few steps closer to the front.

Zhou Jiayu had originally thought he should be able to see quite a few paper people in this cemetery, but unexpectedly, after walking the whole way, he hadn’t seen a single paper person. However, according to what Elder Xu had said before, there should be some restrictive conditions in this cave regarding paper people.

After walking for about a dozen or so minutes, after going around a huge rock, a breathtaking sight was reflected into Zhou Jiayu’s eyes.

Seeing such a marvelous sight, Zhou Jiayu couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of amazement: “So beautiful—”

Elder Xu smiled and said, “Yes, very beautiful.”

In the deepest part of the cave, there was a huge pit. Within the pit stood an enormous tree. But this tree was different from ordinary trees. Ice formed its branches, and snow formed its leaves. Its branches and leaves stretched out, hidden in the depths of the darkness. The faint light of the torches shone upon it, and one could even see a weak reflection.

Too beautiful, Zhou Jiayu marveled. This tree extended toward the very top of the rock. The trunk was extremely thick. Zhou Jiayu couldn’t even see its full appearance clearly. This giant tree of ice and snow—he couldn’t see its roots below, nor its canopy above. But just from the parts Zhou Jiayu could see, it was already a good one or two hundred meters tall. He just didn’t know how tall it actually was.

What first attracted Zhou Jiayu’s attention was the tree itself, but he quickly noticed there were other things hanging on the treetops.

Those seemed to be paper people draped in frost and snow. Their bodies were entwined with red threads, hung one by one on the branches of the giant ice tree.

Zhou Jiayu remembered the ancestor Elder Xu had spoken of. Could it be this giant ice tree before his eyes?

Was this tree naturally grown? Or man-made? Zhou Jiayu’s eyes were full of amazement. For a moment, his mind was filled with a mess of random questions.

On both sides of the cliff near the trunk, countless coffins were placed. Judging from the material, these coffins should also be made of paper. There were so many they couldn’t be counted. Presumably, this area was the cemetery Elder Xu had spoken of. Born from the tree, dying by the tree—no wonder this place was the sacred land of the Xu clan.

Elder Xu said to Zhou Jiayu, “Go over. Press your hand against the trunk.”

Zhou Jiayu glanced at Lin Zhushui and softly called out, “Sir.”

Lin Zhushui reached out and gently pressed on his shoulder, saying lightly, “Go. I’m watching from the side. Don’t be afraid.”

Hearing Lin Zhushui’s words, Zhou Jiayu’s originally somewhat panicked emotions strangely calmed down. He took a deep breath and slowly approached that bottomless pit, then pressed his palm against the ice-and-snow-like trunk.

Almost the instant his palm pressed against it, Zhou Jiayu felt a surge of cold air pouring into his body along his arm. He opened his mouth but couldn’t make a sound. He saw the surrounding branches and leaves seemed to have life, gathering toward him. His body was lifted up by the branches and sent to a high place.

The branches slowly caressed his body, like a mother examining her newborn—earnest, meticulous, and carrying a motherly gentleness.

The cold air within his body began to gradually dissipate. Zhou Jiayu heard a voice. That voice was very aged and very faint, a bit like humming some song, echoing by his ears.

Sleepiness suddenly surged up. Zhou Jiayu’s consciousness began to separate from his body. He had a comfortable feeling of returning to the womb. His mind was even unwilling to think about what was happening anymore.

However, at this moment, this comfortable feeling was interrupted.

Zhou Jiayu heard Lin Zhushui’s voice: “Zhou Jiayu—wake up!”

This voice was like thunder, making Zhou Jiayu’s whole body tremble. He instantly woke up from that abnormal feeling. He opened his eyes and discovered that his body was almost pressed against the trunk. And if he took a few more steps forward, beneath his feet was that black pit with no visible bottom.

Lin Zhushui stood behind him, forcefully grabbing his arm and calling his name: “Zhou Jiayu!”

Zhou Jiayu came back to his senses, his face somewhat dazed: “W-what happened to me?”

Elder Xu showed a somewhat embarrassed expression from the side. He said, “Mr. Lin, I’m sorry. I also didn’t expect that the Ancestral Tree would like him so much.”

Zhou Jiayu’s whole person was muddleheaded. It wasn’t until Lin Zhushui pulled his arm and made him move away from the big tree again that he recovered: “W-what happened?”

Lin Zhushui didn’t speak. He reached out and touched Zhou Jiayu’s forehead. After confirming the temperature was normal, he said, “Did it work?”

Elder Xu said, “It should have worked.”

Zhou Jiayu didn’t understand at all what they were talking about.

Lin Zhushui said, “Since it worked, then let’s go. This place is heavy with yin energy. He can’t stay too long.”

Elder Xu nodded. The group was just preparing to leave when Zhou Jiayu suddenly heard a cracking sound like ice breaking. Lin Zhushui had clearly heard it too, because his footsteps instantly stopped. He said in a low voice, “Wait—there’s someone else here.”

Elder Xu was stunned upon hearing this. “Someone else? How could… Could it be…” Before he finished speaking, a huge branch of the ice-and-snow giant tree in the darkness suddenly snapped directly, carrying ice and countless small paper people on the branch, plummeting directly into the deep pit.

When Elder Xu saw this sight, his face turned ashen. He seemed to have already guessed what was happening. He was trembling all over from anger: “Xu Jinghuo—you fucking crazy?”

Zhou Jiayu’s first reaction upon hearing the name Xu Jinghuo was that this name actually paired quite well with Lin Zhushui…

No one responded.

Elder Xu roared angrily, “You actually made a move on the Ancestral Tree—you, you, what the hell are you thinking?! Stop hiding!! I know it’s definitely you!!” After he said this, a figure really emerged from the darkness. Only that figure was standing on the treetop above, looking down at them. The person Elder Xu called Xu Jinghuo slowly said, “Elder Xu, I’m only doing this for the good of the Xu clan.”

Elder Xu was so angry he was practically going crazy. Zhou Jiayu didn’t doubt for a second that if a pair of wings grew on his back, he would fly up immediately and fight Xu Jinghuo regardless of everything.

“I really am doing this for your own good.” This was a man’s voice. It sounded very young; the owner of the voice should be no older than thirty. He stood on the tree branch and said gently, “Elder Xu, if you let the Xu clan continue like this, sooner or later we will be exterminated.”

Elder Xu sneered coldly, “And what you’re doing now can make the Xu clan continue?”

“Of course it can.” Xu Jinghuo said, “And you… you’re quite impressive…” He shifted his gaze to Lin Zhushui, “Your name is Lin Zhushui, right? I’ve heard of you. Impressive. Very impressive—”

Lin Zhushui let out a cold laugh. “You’re too kind.” Although he said “you’re too kind,” what he did was not polite at all. He reached into his pocket and took out three paper cranes, then blew a breath toward the paper cranes.

When Xu Jinghuo saw this sight, he panicked a bit. He said, “Don’t release those paper cranes—if you release them, I’ll chop off another branch!”

Elder Xu hurriedly said, “Mr. Lin!” Judging from his expression, it looked like he would rather Xu Jinghuo make a move on him than on the Ancestral Tree.

Lin Zhushui didn’t speak. His palm slightly cupped, and the three paper cranes in his palm actually began to fly slowly. The wings of the paper cranes carried bright flames; they looked like nothing good to mess with at a glance.

Xu Jinghuo let out a breath and said, “That’s more like it.”

Elder Xu said, “Xu Jinghuo, hurry down. I won’t blame you for what you did before!”

Xu Jinghuo said, “Really won’t blame me?”

Elder Xu said through gritted teeth, “I won’t!”

Xu Jinghuo laughed loudly upon hearing this. He said, “Even if I said I stole Hongxiu’s corpse from here—you really won’t blame me?”

Hongxiu? Yan Hongxiu? Hearing this name, Zhou Jiayu suddenly realized that this matter seemed rather unusual.

When Elder Xu heard the name Yan Hongxiu, he was stimulated again. He roared angrily, “You still have the face to say it! You really, you really—” A string of dialect curses came out of his mouth. Although Zhou Jiayu couldn’t understand them, they were clearly curses, and from the looks of it, quite filthy ones.

Xu Jinghuo laughed heartily upon hearing this. He said, “I still have to tell you—that locust tree demon was also released by me. They’re all dead now, not even a chance to reincarnate!”

Elder Xu roared, “Shut up!! You beast!!” As he spoke, he was about to take something out from his bosom. Lin Zhushui said coldly, “Elder Xu, calm down. He’s deliberately provoking you.”

Elder Xu’s movements instantly froze upon hearing this. He seemed to only now react—that Xu Jinghuo was saying these words with an obvious purpose.

“Go ahead and chop.” Lin Zhushui’s fingertips gently toyed with those few flame paper cranes flying around his palm. He said to the figure in the darkness in a gentle and soft voice, “Xu Jinghuo, if I were you, I’d chop off another branch and let us know how impressive you are.”

Zhou Jiayu was shocked upon hearing this, not understanding why Lin Zhushui would say such words.

Who knew that Xu Jinghuo would burst into loud laughter? He said, “Mr. Lin, before, someone told me to be careful of you. I thought they were overthinking it. I didn’t expect that upon first meeting, you truly impress me.”

Lin Zhushui sneered coldly, “First meeting? I wouldn’t say so.”

Xu Jinghuo said, “Oh?”

Lin Zhushui said, “Weren’t you on the same train as us?”

Xu Jinghuo didn’t respond.

The flames in Lin Zhushui’s hand burned even more dazzlingly. His voice was very light, very gentle, but the content he spoke wasn’t so comfortable. He said, “Although I don’t like killing people, for you, I can make an exception.”

When Lin Zhushui said these words, his tone didn’t sound like he was threatening someone. But Zhou Jiayu could sense that he was serious.

Xu Jinghuo hadn’t spoken provocatively again. He clearly also sensed that Lin Zhushui’s words weren’t deliberately scaring him.

Lin Zhushui’s body began to emit a scorching high temperature that didn’t match this cold space at all. Zhou Jiayu, standing beside him, was probably the one who felt it most clearly.

Although Xu Jinghuo had the character for “fire” in his name, he seemed to hate flames very much. He stayed on the tree branch, not speaking for a long time. Just when Zhou Jiayu thought he wouldn’t say anything, he spoke: “Mr. Lin, you are indeed impressive enough. But no matter how impressive a person is, once they have a weakness, it becomes a fatal place.” When he said the word “weakness,” he placed his gaze on Zhou Jiayu’s body.

“Weakness?” Upon hearing this, Lin Zhushui smiled brilliantly. The powerful confidence in his words made Zhou Jiayu feel as if his heart had been struck by something. He said, “The person I, Lin Zhushui, choose to protect—can that be called a weakness?”

Xu Jinghuo still wanted to retort, but a cluster of flames ignited on his body. He said in terror, “This is impossible—when did you—”

Lin Zhushui sneered coldly, “Nothing is impossible.”

Zhou Jiayu watched Xu Jinghuo, standing on the tree branch, turn into a man of fire. From head to toe, he was completely burning. But what was very strange was that he actually didn’t emit any screams. He fell straight down from the branch into the bottomless deep pit. If he were really a person, he would probably be in extremely grave danger.

Elder Xu’s complexion didn’t look good. He said, “Mr. Lin… Xu Jinghuo he…”

“Not dead.” Lin Zhushui said coldly, “That was merely a paper person he was controlling. He should still be on Mount She.”

Elder Xu said, “A paper person? But paper people can’t touch our Ancestral Tree.”

Lin Zhushui said, “What if this paper person was not born from this Ancestral Tree?”

Elder Xu’s eyes widened round, seemingly completely unable to accept Lin Zhushui’s statement.

Lin Zhushui gently brushed away the ashes in his palm and said, “Eliminating other possibilities, this is the only answer. Tell the people in the village to be careful. Xu Jinghuo’s life-bound paper person has been damaged; his body will definitely suffer heavy injuries. Don’t let him escape.”

Elder Xu nodded in agreement.

Zhou Jiayu had also heard the name Yan Hongxiu from Xu Jinghuo’s mouth just now. He hesitated for a moment but still voiced the doubt in his heart, saying, “Elder Xu, what exactly is the deal with that Yan Hongxiu?”

Elder Xu said, “That’s a long story…” He slowly told Zhou Jiayu about Yan Hongxiu and Xu Jinghuo.

Yan Hongxiu didn’t belong to the main Xu family but was a relative by marriage of the Xu family. Their branch’s ability to control paper people was growing weaker and weaker. By Yan Hongxiu’s generation, they had almost completely lost this ability.

But Yan Hongxiu was an anomaly. Her ability was very strong, and she had won the love of the Ancestral Tree. Unfortunately, heaven envies the talented. Before she had even turned twenty, Yan Hongxiu was diagnosed with a terminal illness and soon passed away from illness.

After her death, Elder Xu buried her around the Ancestral Tree as was proper. But one day, he discovered that Yan Hongxiu’s corpse had disappeared. Along with her corpse, the locust tree spirit—which had undergone a drastic change in temperament because of Yan Hongxiu’s death—had also disappeared.

Elder Xu had suspected back then that this was Xu Jinghuo’s doing, but he had never had evidence. Now, hearing Xu Jinghuo personally admit that he had orchestrated all of this.

While he was saying these things, Zhou Jiayu listened from the side, while Lin Zhushui walked to the side of the Ancestral Tree. He closed his eyes, seemingly carefully listening for any movements below the pit.

“Have you gone down to look?” Lin Zhushui suddenly asked like this.

Elder Xu was stunned. “The bottom is too deep, and paper people can’t be brought in. We haven’t gone down.”

Lin Zhushui said, “There should be an underground river below.”

Elder Xu said, “You mean…”

Lin Zhushui said, “Xu Jinghuo transported the branches he just chopped off out through the underground river.”

Elder Xu’s beard began to tremble again from anger. He cursed “bastard, bastard”—how dare he covet the Ancestral Tree’s branches—

But Lin Zhushui’s expression was a bit strange. “However, there’s some good news.”

Elder Xu said, “Huh?”

Lin Zhushui pointed at that giant ice tree: “Your Ancestral Tree is angry.”

Although Lin Zhushui said this, Zhou Jiayu didn’t understand what it meant for the Ancestral Tree to be angry. It wasn’t until they left the cave, sat on the sleigh, and went to a nearby river that he understood. According to Elder Xu, there was only one river near here. If there really was an underground river, it would definitely connect to this river. Moreover, the water temperature of that river was relatively high; it never froze year-round, which was rather special.

However, when they actually reached that place, they discovered that the river which Elder Xu said never froze had already formed a layer of thick ice. Generally, when rivers freeze, there would still be some flowing water underneath. But this river was completely frozen solid. Presumably, this was the result of the Ancestral Tree’s anger.

Beneath the ice surface, Zhou Jiayu saw many, many human palm prints. These palm prints were densely packed in the river, making one’s scalp go numb from looking at them.

Zhou Jiayu looked at the river surface and suddenly felt these palm prints were somewhat familiar. He said, “I’ve seen this situation at the ice venue before!”

Elder Xu said, “Ice venue?”

Zhou Jiayu nodded. “Isn’t there an ice sculpture exhibition below Mount She? When Shen Yiqiong and I went to look, we also saw many palm prints under the ice venue.”

Elder Xu said, “Oh, that. Those were left by paper people.” He said, “Paper people support from below to make it convenient for people above to harvest ice. Sometimes they do leave some palm prints.”

So that’s how it was. The doubt in Zhou Jiayu’s heart was resolved, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief—not human palm prints; that was good then.

“Break the ice.” Lin Zhushui suddenly said, “There’s something under the water.”

Elder Xu, hearing Lin Zhushui’s words, took out a whistle from his bosom and blew it hard. In the next moment, several paper people appeared before Zhou Jiayu’s eyes. These paper people simply seemed to float over with the wind, instantly standing before them in the blink of an eye.

Elder Xu gave them orders, telling them to break open the ice surface.

Several paper people bent down and began to work hard.

Zhou Jiayu noticed that whistle in Elder Xu’s hand, remembering how Xu Jinghuo had deliberately provoked Elder Xu before.

Crack, crack. Although the paper people’s hands were made of paper, they showed no mercy when breaking ice. Very quickly, they cut the frozen river water into several large chunks and began searching for what Lin Zhushui had spoken of.

Before, Lin Zhushui had said there was something under the water. But when the paper people really lifted up the ice blocks frozen with things inside, Zhou Jiayu involuntarily retreated several steps.

Inside that huge block of ice were actually four frozen corpses.

Zhou Jiayu was very familiar with the appearances of the corpses—they were the university students he had met on the train. But if that were all, it would be fine. Yet these four corpses were actually tightly hugging a thick tree branch. That tree branch was clearly the one that had just been chopped off from the Ancestral Tree.

“T-this…” Elder Xu said in shock, “How can there be dead people here?!”

Lin Zhushui didn’t respond. He only instructed the paper people to carry the dead people and the tree branch all to the shore.

Zhou Jiayu moved closer to Lin Zhushui’s side, showing an expression of not being able to bear it: “Sir, how long ago did something happen to these students?”

Lin Zhushui said, “A few days.”

Zhou Jiayu counted and discovered there were only four people. He remembered what Lin Zhushui had said before and was stunned: “Sir, that Xu Jinghuo—was he disguised as a university student and entered the mountains with us?”

Lin Zhushui nodded.

Zhou Jiayu looked at the genders of the corpses and discovered they were three men and one woman. There was still one girl missing, and that girl was Xiao Ju—the one he had exchanged phone numbers with before…

Zhou Jiayu was shocked: “Xu Jinghuo is a girl?”

“Male.” Lin Zhushui sneered coldly.

Zhou Jiayu: “…” He felt admiration for Xu Jinghuo’s makeup skills. Besides thinking that Xiao Ju was slightly too tall, he had completely discovered nothing unusual.

“Deal with the corpses and the tree branch first.” Lin Zhushui said, “Don’t go near them. Be careful of the corpses.”

Zhou Jiayu had just been thinking whether Lin Zhushui had misspoken—why be careful of corpses? The next second, he watched with his own eyes as the originally stiff corpses hugging the tree trunk actually moved.

Zhou Jiayu: “?!”

Elder Xu also saw it and said in shock, “Mr. Lin, the corpses are moving!”

Lin Zhushui said, “Naturally they can move.” He wasn’t surprised at all. “Otherwise, who would transport the branch?”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” It seemed… quite reasonable.

__

Author’s Note:

Today’s comment section joke delivery, by user Chang Dudu:

Ten years ago—
Zhou Jiayu: My master Lin Zhushui

Ten years later—
Zhou Jiayu: My husband Lin Zhushui.