The old Wei family residence was deathly silent.
Xu Muchan jumped down from the old locust tree. Just as he was about to quietly make his way toward the Moon Gate, he saw a group of people silently passing beneath the corridor in the distance. He quickly hid himself in the dense flower bushes.
The woman at the head of the group appeared to be a lady of considerable status. She wore a gorgeous dress covered in elaborate embroidery, with a gold hairpin in her hair and a jade bracelet around her exposed wrist.
Yet her face had almost completely transformed into that of a rat.
The servants following behind her likewise all had animal faces.
Xu Muchan thought for a moment and identified them by their clothing and figures.
This should be Madam Wang of the Third Branch, Wei Ting’s mother.
Madam Wang held her hands folded over her lower abdomen and walked gracefully toward them from beneath the distant corridor. She was still speaking to the maid beside her.
“Is the immortal still dissatisfied with this batch of offerings?”
The maid seemed troubled as well. The whiskers beside her cheeks trembled nervously as she said, “Yes.”
Madam Wang sighed, her tone becoming sorrowful as well.
“So many offerings, and they still can’t satisfy the immortal. If this continues, the immortal will probably become angry again…”
As soon as she said this, the servants following behind her visibly trembled, and the atmosphere became heavy.
Hidden in the darkness, Xu Muchan watched them pass through the Moon Gate and disappear into the distance, wondering who exactly the “immortal” they were talking about could be.
After thinking it over again and again, there was only one possibility that seemed most likely.
Wei Xilou.
The last time his brother had dragged him into the coffin and forcibly sent him back, Wei Xilou had already completely merged with the Five Chang Gods. At that time, there had already been something wrong with him.
And now that Xu Muchan had returned again, he didn’t know how much time had passed. The situation was probably even worse.
Xu Muchan thought for a moment, then decided to go take a look at the western courtyard first.
However, when he tried to turn into his ghost form, he discovered that his body did not react at all.
Xu Muchan frowned in confusion and tried removing the Mountain God Tablet from his chest, but there was still no change.
Instead, after removing the Mountain God Tablet, he vaguely sensed a heavy feeling of oppression and rejection.
Xu Muchan quickly put the Mountain God Tablet back on.
The faint sense of oppression and rejection immediately disappeared.
Xu Muchan’s expression became solemn.
After returning to the old Wei family residence, he was actually unable to turn into his ghost form.
The entire residence was probably filled with Wei family members who had transformed into monsters. If they discovered him…
Xu Muchan licked his dry lips and became even more cautious.
The residence looked quiet, but in reality there were plenty of “people” coming and going.
They seemed extremely busy. People would occasionally pass beneath the corridors and along the paths.
Unable to turn into his ghost form, Xu Muchan was more or less like an ordinary person. He didn’t dare take any risks, so he found a concealed place and hid there until nightfall. Only then did he quietly follow the shadows toward the western courtyard.
The courtyard where Wei Xilou had once lived had its gates tightly shut, and the inside was pitch-black.
It seemed that even though Wei Xilou had already ascended to become an immortal, no one still dared approach the courtyard where he had once lived.
Xu Muchan climbed over the courtyard wall and slipped inside. After making a circuit around the place, he found that there was no one there, but the furnishings were still arranged just as they had been before.
Xu Muchan walked out of the main room and saw that the Ascension Tower next door was brightly lit.
The last time he had left, his brother had been in the Ascension Tower.
It seemed he could only go investigate the Ascension Tower again.
Xu Muchan carefully held his breath and made his way through the bamboo grove for a while before reaching the outside of the wall by following the familiar route.
Under the cover of night, he leaped silently onto the wall like a cat. Gripping the edge of the wall, he peered inside—
The courtyard in front of the wooden pagoda was filled with kneeling members of the Wei family.
Every one of them had a grotesque, deformed animal face. They lay prostrate on the ground in reverence.
At the very front knelt an old man, who should be the Wei family’s Grand Elder. He too was hunched over on his knees, speaking cautiously.
“We humbly ask the immortal to give us guidance. What kind of offering would be enough to satisfy you?”
He was clearly speaking to the being inside the wooden pagoda, but from Xu Muchan’s angle, he couldn’t see the interior.
He could only grip the top of the wall with both hands and carefully move a little to the left so that he could get a better view inside the wooden pagoda.
But just as he moved left and strained to peer toward the pagoda, the deity seated on the lotus throne happened to turn its head at the same moment.
The vertical pupils on its face met his gaze.
It really was his brother.
Wei Xilou—or rather, the new deity—sat upon the lotus throne.
He wore a strange white robe, its front hanging wide open. Beneath his grayish-white skin, the contours of his muscles rose like a sculpture. His two arms rested casually on his knees, while another five arms extended from his back or beneath his ribs.
Each of those deformed, elongated fingers held one grotesque animal head.
They were the Five Chang Gods he had eaten.
Before Xu Muchan looked over, he had been sitting there like a genuine statue of a god. His vertical pupils were lazily half-closed, and there had not been the slightest hint of life in him.
But at this moment, he noticed Xu Muchan.
The vertical pupils on his face suddenly opened wide.
Scarlet eyeballs crowded within the narrow eye slits, straining desperately outward as they fixed themselves upon Xu Muchan.
The monsters kneeling in the courtyard seemed to sense their god’s intentions as well. They all turned their heads at once, their strange and deformed faces turning toward Xu Muchan.
The deity on the lotus throne raised the hand that had been resting on his knee and pointed at Xu Muchan.
“Bring the offering forward.”
His voice was strange. It did not sound as though it came from a vocal tract.
Xu Muchan had the sensation that the voice was ringing directly inside his mind.
The monsters in the courtyard were clearly followers of the new god. Their faces twisted viciously as they looked at Xu Muchan and slowly advanced toward him.
Xu Muchan hesitated for a moment between running and staying.
Then he looked again at the strange deity staring straight at him.
He clenched his teeth, took a deep breath, pulled himself up by the wall, and jumped into the courtyard.
The approaching monsters surrounded him.
Xu Muchan frowned and looked at the deity on the lotus throne.
“I can walk there myself.”
The deity tilted its head slightly.
The monsters surrounding Xu Muchan immediately and respectfully stepped back.
They made no further sound, silently escorting Xu Muchan forward.
Xu Muchan slowly exhaled and walked toward the deity seated on the lotus throne.
Halfway there, someone tugged at his clothes.
Xu Muchan didn’t stop walking. He quietly glanced back from the corner of his eye and saw a young man with a monkey’s face desperately winking at him. He silently mouthed two words:
Run. Quickly.
Xu Muchan carefully studied him for a moment before finally recognizing him from his clothes.
It was Wei Ting.
He hadn’t completely turned into a monster.
He still retained a trace of his consciousness.
Xu Muchan waved his hand at him.
Seeing that Xu Muchan refused to heed his warning, Wei Ting could only lower his head in fear and trepidation.
By then, Xu Muchan had already entered the wooden pagoda.
The monsters did not dare enter the pagoda. They knelt prostrate outside.
Only Xu Muchan walked alone into the tower, facing the strange deity seated upon the lotus throne.
The lotus throne was already very high, and the newly born deity was even taller, forcing Xu Muchan to raise his head to look up at him.
This was the first time Xu Muchan had been able to see so clearly what Wei Xilou looked like after becoming a god.
Those scarlet vertical pupils stared at him. The towering deity withdrew the many arms behind his body, stepped down from the lotus throne, and began circling Xu Muchan, as though sizing up an old acquaintance he hadn’t seen in a long time, or perhaps considering where to start eating.
Xu Muchan followed him with his eyes and asked softly, “Brother, don’t you remember me?”
The other party did not answer. Instead, he bent down and leaned close to Xu Muchan’s neck, gently sniffing him.
Cold air brushed against the skin of his neck, raising a layer of tiny goosebumps. The pressure radiating from the other party was too overwhelming. Xu Muchan’s Adam’s apple bobbed repeatedly, and his breathing quickened, yet he didn’t dare make any rash movements.
He forcibly suppressed his instinct to flee and stood quietly where he was.
A cold palm pressed against the back of his neck.
The deformed hand, much larger than a normal human hand, slowly stroked down along his spine, as though touching a novel toy. The strange sensation made Xu Muchan’s body tremble slightly.
He turned his face and met those eerie vertical pupils, then softly called out again, “Brother?”
The deity lowered his head to look at him, then suddenly reached out and picked him up.
Xu Muchan was already considered tall, but compared with the other’s excessively large frame, he still looked small. He grabbed onto the other’s arm without struggling wildly, observing his next move.
The deity carried him around the wooden pagoda and looked around. Apparently, he couldn’t find a satisfactory place to put down his delicious offering, so he carried him out of the pagoda and toward the western courtyard.
Seeing the western courtyard getting closer and closer, Xu Muchan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
This meant that his brother at least still retained some instinctive memories.
After carrying him into the main room, the deity walked directly toward the large carved bed at the innermost part of the room, then set the offering down and climbed on top of him.
Xu Muchan lay facing upward, looking at the person suspended above him. It wasn’t just his breathing that had become rapid—his heart was pounding as well.
He desperately took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.
His brother’s current state was clearly the result of losing control somewhat after devouring the Five Chang Gods. His mind was muddled.
Xu Muchan quickly thought about how he could make his brother regain consciousness as soon as possible.
But before he could come up with a plan, the person above him suddenly lowered his head and licked his lips.
Xu Muchan’s rapidly spinning mind instantly froze.
He stared at him wide-eyed in a daze.
Once he realized what had happened, he immediately pressed against the other’s chest, trying to create some distance and sit up.
But the difference in strength between them was far too great. Several more arms extended from beneath the towering deity’s ribs, pinning down Xu Muchan’s hands and legs.
Xu Muchan immediately looked like a fish about to be gutted, lying flat on his back. The strange deity was reflected in his pitch-black eyes as he helplessly watched it inch closer and closer…
The skin on his body was damp from being licked. Xu Muchan’s face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth as he struggled desperately.
“Let me go!”
It wasn’t as though they had never been intimate before. But back then, Xu Muchan had usually been barely conscious, and afterward he never deliberately recalled what had happened. All those memories had been blurry.
This time was different.
The deity’s vertical pupils did not bewilder him. Xu Muchan was completely clear-headed.
That only made him feel even more humiliated. His neck and chest flushed bright red as he glared viciously at the person above him, wishing he could pounce on him and bite him.
But the other party clearly had no intention of giving him that opportunity.
His many arms wrapped around Xu Muchan and held him firmly against his chest. His voice sounded directly inside Xu Muchan’s mind.
“Baby, it’s time to sleep.”
Xu Muchan certainly didn’t want to sleep, but drowsiness swept over him like a tsunami.
His eyelids sank uncontrollably.
Before he completely lost consciousness, Xu Muchan finally followed his true feelings and viciously bit the person in front of him.
He didn’t know how long he had slept.
When Xu Muchan opened his eyes again, bright light was shining through the window. It should already have been daytime.
He tried to sit up, only to discover that he couldn’t move.
Xu Muchan’s eyes widened instantly. His pupils darted anxiously around his eye sockets. When he shifted his gaze toward the side of the bed, he discovered that clothes had been laid out all around it.
And the person from last night hadn’t left.
He was standing beside the bed, his vertical pupils slightly lowered as though deep in thought.
Xu Muchan desperately glared at him from the corner of his eyes.
The contemplative deity sensed his gaze. When their eyes met, the corners of his lips seemed to curve upward.
Then Xu Muchan watched as he extended two arms and effortlessly picked him up.
“What does Baby like?” a voice asked Xu Muchan.
Xu Muchan glared at the clothes on the bed and closed his eyes, refusing to answer.
But even without his cooperation, the other party could continue.
He picked up a light-green robe and muttered to himself, “Then we’ll wear this.”
Then Xu Muchan felt the clothes being removed from his body.
He opened his eyes in alarm and discovered that the pupils within those scarlet vertical eyes had stopped moving completely. They remained fixed on him as the deity carefully changed him into a light-green robe.
The robe was designed in an antique style, with a simple cut and high-quality fabric. It was actually quite comfortable to wear.
But whenever Xu Muchan thought about how the clothes had been put on him, his cheeks couldn’t help turning red.
He glared desperately at the person in front of him, expressing his protest with his eyes:
Let me go!
The towering deity placed him on the bed and fussed over him for quite a while before finally releasing his restraints under Xu Muchan’s furious, humiliated stare.
The first thing Xu Muchan did after regaining his freedom was retreat as far away from him as possible, watching him warily.
Humans and gods clearly thought in completely different ways.
The deity seemed not to notice Xu Muchan’s resistance at all and still beckoned him over.
Xu Muchan obviously refused to go.
He pressed his lips together and stared at him expressionlessly.
After the stalemate continued for a while, the strange deity, who looked incredibly violent, actually chose to give in.
He no longer demanded that Xu Muchan come over. Instead, he tapped the tabletop.
When the sound rang out, the doors to the main room opened.
Two groups of people entered in an orderly fashion.
One group carried toiletries, while the other carried an assortment of elaborate breakfast dishes.
The servants carrying the breakfast set everything down on the table before hurriedly withdrawing. The other group, all wearing bizarre faces, remained behind to attend to Xu Muchan as he washed up.
Xu Muchan’s gaze swept over their faces and landed on one familiar face.
Wei Ting.
When Wei Ting realized that Xu Muchan had recognized him, excitement immediately appeared on his face.
He deliberately fell behind the others. After everyone else had left, he stood beside Xu Muchan holding a basin of water and lowered his voice.
“After Big Brother ascended, I never saw you again. I thought you’d somehow managed to escape alive. Why did you come back?”
Xu Muchan frowned.
He looked at the quietly chattering Wei Ting, then at the “person” sitting at the table.
Wei Ting seemed completely unaware that anyone was sitting there.
Xu Muchan gave a soft cough, interrupting him, and shook his head warningly.
Wei Ting looked at him in confusion.
Xu Muchan nervously glanced toward the person at the table.
He had already stood up and was walking toward them.
His towering body enveloped Wei Ting, and Xu Muchan as well.
With Wei Ting standing between them, the towering deity smiled.
“Who is Baby talking to?”
Wei Ting couldn’t see the person behind him, but for some inexplicable reason, a bone-chilling terror seized him.
He instinctively wanted to run, but Xu Muchan’s warning gaze pinned him in place.
In the end, he obeyed Xu Muchan’s wishes, gritting his teeth and refusing to move.
Xu Muchan raised his head and met the deity’s dangerous gaze. Reaching past Wei Ting, he grabbed the deity’s hand and softly pleaded,
“Brother, can you spare him?”
The deformed arm that had already been suspended behind Wei Ting stopped.
Within the deity’s vertical pupils, the scarlet irises shifted, making him appear sinister and cunning.
“Reason.”
Xu Muchan thought quickly.
“You have so many servants, but I don’t have a single one. I want one too.”
He pointed at Wei Ting, who was drenched in cold sweat.
“Give him to me.”
For the first time, those vertical pupils turned their gaze toward the insignificant creature standing before them.
The deity seemed to consider it.
But Xu Muchan tightened his grip on his hand and called out once more,
“Brother.”
His voice was soft and gentle, filled with what sounded like endless dependence.
The lofty deity’s heart immediately softened.
Reluctantly, he said, “All right.”
Xu Muchan breathed a sigh of relief and gave Wei Ting a look.
“You can leave first.”
With permission granted, Wei Ting grabbed the copper basin and ran without looking back.
And in return, Xu Muchan behaved exceptionally well and obediently stayed with him for breakfast.
The deity actually no longer needed to eat, but he seemed to greatly enjoy watching Xu Muchan eat.
Xu Muchan sensed that his mood had become extremely peaceful, even somewhat pleased.
In order to keep him stable, Xu Muchan ate every last bit of breakfast on the table.
The deity reached out and rubbed his stomach, then patted his head.
“Good boy.”
Xu Muchan did his best to maintain a well-behaved smile.
After finally coaxing the other party into a good mood, Xu Muchan used the excuse of wanting to go outside and walk off his breakfast. He sent the accompanying servants away and found Wei Ting in the Third Branch’s courtyard.
When Wei Ting saw him, it was almost as though he had seen a savior.
He wiped his face and said, “Just now, I thought we were all done for. Looks like even after Big Brother became like that, he still really likes you.”
Xu Muchan didn’t like hearing that.
He simply skipped over it and got straight to the point.
“What exactly happened to the Wei family?”
Wei Ting said, “It’s just like what you saw. After Big Brother ascended, everyone in the family became strange. And Big Brother is even worse.
“At first, I was muddle-headed too. Then one day, I suddenly woke up as if from a nightmare and realized what had happened to me. But everyone in the family was like this, so I didn’t dare show that anything was wrong. I could only keep pretending and blend in with them.”
“How long has it been since the Eldest Young Master ascended?” Xu Muchan asked.
Wei Ting said, “I was muddle-headed before, so I had no sense of time at all. But from the time I regained consciousness until now… it’s been about half a month, I think.”
Xu Muchan frowned. In other words, after his brother had sent him away, it hadn’t been long before his brother lost control.
He looked at Wei Ting inquisitively. “Why is it that you’re the only one in the entire Wei family who is still conscious?”
Wei Ting himself was actually quite bewildered. When he regained consciousness and discovered that his handsome face had turned into a monkey’s face covered in fur, while everyone else in his family had completely mutated into monsters, he was utterly devastated.
“Maybe it’s because my heart isn’t sincere enough.”
Seeing Xu Muchan stare at him in confusion, he added, “I’ve never really believed in all that supernatural stuff my family talks about… I thought Mother was just making it up…”
Who would have thought it was actually true?
If he’d known, he wouldn’t have come back even if someone had beaten him to death.
“After I woke up, I kept trying to find a chance to wake the others up and then find a way to leave. But I discovered that there was no way to wake them, and I couldn’t get out of this residence either…”
It was as though some invisible force had imprisoned everyone inside this residence.
With no other choice, Wei Ting stole some edible food from the kitchen and hid it in his room. He endured day after day, thinking that perhaps someone outside would discover something strange about the Wei family and find a way to come inside.
If that happened, he would still have a chance to leave.
Fortunately, Heaven rewards those who persevere.
Although he hadn’t waited for anyone else, at least a normal living person had finally arrived.
He looked at Xu Muchan expectantly.
“Do you have a way to get out?”
Xu Muchan shook his head.
Before Wei Ting could show his disappointment, he added, “I’ll find a way.”
Just as he finished speaking, heavy footsteps suddenly sounded throughout the quiet courtyard.
Wei Ting peered through the crack in the window. He was so frightened that even his voice changed.
“Why are they all coming here?”
Xu Muchan followed his gaze.
He saw the members of the Wei family with animal faces marching in perfectly synchronized steps until they all reached the outside of the room.
Countless pairs of eyes stared straight at the room where they were.
“……”
Xu Muchan pondered for a moment before saying to Wei Ting, “Hide somewhere and don’t move. I’ll go out.”
With that, he pushed open the door and walked outside.
The monsters immediately surrounded Xu Muchan when they saw him, but cautiously maintained a distance of half a step. They crowded around him and escorted him outside, and sure enough, they didn’t spare Wei Ting another glance.
Xu Muchan returned to the West Courtyard.
There, he saw the deity standing beneath the corridor in a white robe.
From a distance, its inhuman nature wasn’t quite as obvious. In the shadows, its grayish-white skin looked even closer to normal. At first glance, it almost seemed as though the eldest young master of the Wei family was still there.
But when it turned around, there was only a single crimson, eerie vertical pupil on its formerly handsome face.
An indescribable emotion welled up inside Xu Muchan.
He walked up to it, suddenly opened his arms and hugged it, softly calling, “Brother.”
The deity raised a hand and stroked his head.
Then it forcefully lifted his chin.
Seeing that his eyes seemed slightly red, it asked strangely, “Why are you crying?”
Xu Muchan denied it.
“I’m not crying.”
The deity’s crimson vertical pupil shifted slightly. It didn’t seem to know whether it believed Xu Muchan or not.
Instead, it took his hand and led him outside.
“I’ll show you something good.”
The deity led Xu Muchan back to the Ascension Tower.
In the courtyard in front of the Ascension Tower stood a huge cauldron, filled with constantly churning black liquid.
It was Black Tai Sui.
Or, more accurately, it was Black River water.
The top and bottom of the huge cauldron were connected.
This wasn’t Black Tai Sui extracted from some evil entity’s body.
It was Black River water flowing directly up from beneath the earth.
His brother had previously told him that a tributary of the Black River was suppressed beneath the Ascension Tower.
But Xu Muchan had never imagined that after becoming a god, his brother would instead bring Black River water before him and make him drink it.
It seemed as though countless whispers were once again ringing in his ears.
Remembering his brother’s warning, Xu Muchan frowned and stepped backward.
“I don’t want to drink this.”
The deity looked down at him in confusion, seemingly unable to understand why he refused.
It scooped up some of the black liquid with its palm and brought it to Xu Muchan’s lips.
In a bewitching voice, it said,
“Good baby, drink this. Then we’ll be the same.”