“What exactly is this thing?” Yan He murmured.
“There are so many corpses. No wonder the resentment is so strong.”
Pei Rong looked around. The ordinary people nearby were only focused on evacuating in an orderly manner and could not see the enormous, bizarre tree covered in corpses.
He said, “The ghost realm has merged with the real world. We have to set up the formation as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if any ordinary people see it, we won’t even have to wait until tomorrow—the rumors will be everywhere tonight.”
The others, still stunned by the scene before them, immediately came back to their senses.
Of the people present, only Jiang Fang and Peng Ye were completely ordinary people who had never practiced any supernatural arts.
The other four—Yan He and the others—were all highly skilled in large-scale concealment techniques.
They immediately took a large quantity of talisman paper from the vehicle and began drawing talismans on the spot while determining the formation’s positions.
Jiang Fang and Peng Ye did not know how to set up formations, so they went to help the staff evacuate the residents, making sure everyone could leave safely.
With no one paying attention to him, Xu Muchan stood where he was, gazing into the distance at the enormous tree gradually being submerged by the Black River water.
The dog-face mask, which he had hung back around his waist, trembled faintly, as though it had sensed something and was extremely excited.
Xu Muchan stroked it and asked quietly,
“Is Brother still inside?”
The dog-face mask could not answer. It merely continued striking against his palm.
Xu Muchan untied it from its strap and turned back toward the others.
“I’m going in.”
Yan He, who was drawing talismans, jerked his hand. A few drops of cinnabar splattered from the brush.
“The ghost realm is about to collapse. It’s too dangerous to go in now.”
But Xu Muchan was only informing them. He had no intention of asking for their opinion.
After saying that, he put on the dog-face mask and entered the ghost realm once again.
Only his final words drifted away in the wind.
“Don’t follow me.”
Peng Ye watched his figure disappear into the distance. He turned to Jiang Fang and sighed.
“My Brother Xu really is still as bold as ever.”
Jiang Fang frowned at him.
“Xu Muchan is several years younger than you. What exactly happened to you two inside the ghost realm?”
The flood tide had arrived so suddenly that after the two of them came out, the others had not even had time to ask about what had happened inside.
“What do you know? A brother is a brother. It’s strength that matters, not age.”
Peng Ye rolled his eyes.
Remembering what had happened inside the ghost realm, he shook his head.
“It’s impossible to explain in just a few words. Anyway, if it weren’t for Xu Muchan, my little life would’ve probably been left in there a long time ago.”
While the two were talking, Xu Muchan had already reached the base of the enormous tree.
The roots of the giant tree had already been submerged by the Black River water pouring from the tree hollow.
The corpses hanging from the branches fell downward one after another with heavy splashes.
Countless red ribbons floated on the black water, rising and falling with the current. The intense visual contrast was deeply unsettling. At first glance, the sight was horrifying in a way that made one’s skin crawl.
At first, the corpses could still struggle in the black river water, letting out unwilling screams.
But gradually, their flesh, skin, and bones dissolved, merging completely into the Black River.
Only their ceaseless wails remained echoing across the surface.
The shallow water continued spreading outward, and its level was gradually rising.
Xu Muchan kept Brother’s warning firmly in mind and did not recklessly step into the water. Instead, he chose to climb along the branches above.
The giant tree’s branches were dense, making them fairly easy to climb.
Xu Muchan pressed his lips together and carefully avoided the corpses filled with malice as he slowly approached the central trunk.
Black river water continued pouring endlessly from the hollow at the center where the main branches divided.
But upon closer observation, one could see that something seemed to be rising and falling faintly at the opening of the tree hollow.
Xu Muchan picked a relatively high branch and lay flat on it, observing for quite a while before confirming that it was an arm.
The arm seemed to have been severed from the middle of the upper arm by some sharp weapon. Its pale, deformed fingers were tightly clutching a monkey’s head.
Xu Muchan recognized it. It was one of the heads of the Five Wuchang Gods. After his elder brother replaced the Five Wuchang Gods, that monkey head, along with the other heads, had been chopped off and become his elder brother’s spoils of war.
That was his elder brother’s arm.
A god’s body was indestructible, yet at this moment, his severed arm was floating and sinking inside the hollow of the tree.
Xu Muchan raised a hand and touched the mask on his face, saying softly, “Did Big Brother get hurt?”
The dog-face mask could not answer him, but the emotion it conveyed was extremely agitated. Clearly, it had recognized this arm as well.
Xu Muchan lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before carefully approaching the hollow in the center of the main trunk. At this moment, the hollow was like the mouth of a spring, continuously gushing out a black river. The corpses near the hollow had long since been cleared away, so Xu Muchan could approach without interference.
But how to retrieve the arm from inside the hollow was a problem.
He tried using his long hair to fish the arm out, but the hair, which was like a living creature, lost control the instant it approached the black river water, becoming limp and powerless as it sank into the black river.
Xu Muchan retrieved the hair that had lost control and pursed his lips. He simply used his long hair to secure his body, hanging himself upside down from the branch. Then, when he saw the right moment as the arm floated up, he thrust his hand into the hollow and swiftly, accurately, and ruthlessly grabbed the severed arm—
But just as he was about to pull away from the hollow with the severed arm, his thoughts suddenly emptied and came to a halt.
Many strange voices surrounded his ears, saying something. The severed arm tightly held in his hand also began to move. Its five fingers spread apart and slipped between his fingers. After interlocking their fingers, it pulled Xu Muchan downward with neither a light nor heavy force…
Xu Muchan’s gaze became hazy, as if he could see the owner of the arm looking at him from across the surface of the water.
He murmured, “Big Brother, where did you go?”
The long hair tightly wrapped around the branch gradually loosened, and Xu Muchan’s suspended body dropped a large distance. Not only did the arm sink into the black river water, but his cheek was also perilously close to the surface.
The black river water, surging like the mouth of a spring, made a muffled gurgling sound. If it surged a little higher, it would be able to touch Xu Muchan’s face.
Xu Muchan’s pupils widened as his vacant eyes sank downward.
But just as his face was about to disappear beneath the water, Xu Muchan seemed to hear his elder brother call out to him beside his ear.
His unfocused eyes regained their focus. His other hand, which had been hanging limply in midair, suddenly plunged into the water. Then both hands tightly seized the severed arm submerged in the water, and with all the strength of his will, he pulled upward—
His body stopped in midair for an instant, and Xu Muchan fell onto the tree branch in an extremely disheveled state.
At the same time, the black river water that had suddenly surged high into the air missed him completely, and the viscous black water fell back into the hollow of the tree.
The muttering voices around them grew louder. It seemed to be the unwilling voice of the black river water.
Xu Muchan looked at the severed arm he was clutching tightly. It was indeed his elder brother’s arm.
The cross-section of the wound was smooth, and it was even still fresh, as if it had only been severed not long ago.
Xu Muchan tried to take the monkey head. Its deformed fingers had originally been tightly clenched around the monkey head, but when Xu Muchan took it out, he did not have to use much force. The moment he lightly touched it, the tightly clenched fingers loosened.
At the same time Xu Muchan took the monkey head into his hand, the severed arm turned into ashes and scattered.
The monkey head in his palm clearly radiated warmth, yet its texture had become like jade. It was only the size of a fist, and it was already impossible to tell that it had once been a blood-soaked head.
Xu Muchan put the monkey head into his pocket and stood on the branch, looking around. There was still no sign of his elder brother.
Instead, after he took the severed arm out, the black river water at the tree hollow surged even more rapidly. In just this short while, the water below had risen considerably again.
Xu Muchan knew he could not stay any longer. He could only grit his teeth and leave the Ghost Domain.
When he emerged from the Ghost Domain, Yan He and the others had just buried the talismans according to their positions and set up a large concealment formation. This kind of formation was not difficult. It had little effect on cultivators, but it was highly practical.
For example, at a time like this, setting up a formation meant they did not have to worry about ordinary people seeing things they should not see.
“Done.” Yan He patted the dirt from his hands. When he turned around, he saw Xu Muchan emerging from the Ghost Domain. He looked much more disheveled than before, and he was even wearing a strange dog-face mask.
Yan He first breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, “Did you find anything in the Ghost Domain?”
The monkey head belonged to his elder brother, and Xu Muchan had no intention of telling the others. He removed the mask and put it away, then shook his head and said, “The black river water is surging faster. Have everyone been evacuated?”
Jiang Fang said, “Most of them have been evacuated, but some people aren’t cooperating very well. On top of that, the staff are leaving one after another, so it’ll probably take another hour to finish cleaning up.”
“That’s about right. Let’s hurry and leave too. The flood tide should be coming soon.”
The few of them immediately notified the staff at the scene and hurriedly drove away, evacuating the old city district as well.
That entire night, no one slept.
The Black River Research Institute sent over quite a few more people. Xu Muchan did not know them and simply watched quietly from the side as they installed a large amount of equipment on the top floor of the hotel. Afterward, a group of people remained stationed on the rooftop.
At around five in the morning, the Ghost Domain finally collapsed completely, and a black torrent surged violently toward the real world.
Half of the enormous Prayer Tree was already submerged in the river water. Its branches had been thoroughly soaked by the black river water, changing from dark red to pure black. Its leafless, ferocious branches spread outward, while viscous water flowed over them, making them appear even more sinister and terrifying.
The people on the rooftop observed this scene, and no one said a word.
Although they had always been trying to understand the Black River, determine the origin and cause of the flood tides, and prevent the flood tides from creating more disaster zones, in fact, after all this time, none of them had ever personally seen the Black River, much less a flood tide.
This was the first time in the history of the Black River Research Institute that they had directly faced a flood tide.
The black river water surged toward them like a vast, overwhelming tide, swallowing the buildings in the old city district in an instant. Someone stared at the surging flood, his eyes going blank. He lowered the instrument he was operating and unconsciously began walking forward.
“What are you doing?” Xu Muchan noticed something was wrong in time and stopped him.
That person’s eyes were fixed straight ahead. He said nothing and merely struggled to move forward. If Xu Muchan had not pulled him back, he would already have jumped from the building more than fifty stories high.
Seeing another person with vacant eyes about to jump from the building, Yan He finally realized the problem.
“Don’t let them look anymore! The flood tide has the power to bewitch people!”
Those who still retained their sanity did not dare look at the distant scene anymore. They hurriedly restrained their colleagues who were no longer lucid.
The chaos on the rooftop continued for a long time. By the time those who had been bewitched finally regained consciousness, Xu Muchan looked toward the old city district and said, “The flood tide has receded.”
Fortunately, among all the misfortune, this flood tide had only affected the old city district.
Although the buildings in the old city district had suffered considerable damage, at least the residents had been evacuated in time, and there were no casualties.
It was just that, despite all their precautions, they ultimately could not prevent the public opinion online. By now, quite a few people online were discussing the mass evacuation from the old city district of Shu’nan. There were all kinds of things being said.
Peng Ye had not slept all night, and he had even gotten into a struggle with his colleagues on the rooftop. Now he was sprawled across the sofa, completely unable to move. He picked up his phone and browsed the trending topics on various social media platforms, then tossed the phone aside and said, “We’ve already done everything we could. The PR department can’t come after us again, right?”
Yan He sprawled beside him and said, “Anyway, it’s not our problem anymore.”
Jiang Fang looked at Xu Muchan and asked, “Sister He gave us two days off. Are you coming back to Jiangcheng with us? Although the crisis in Shu’nan has been resolved, we’ll still need to write a report and brief the higher-ups on the specific circumstances afterward. We don’t know much about what happened inside the Ghost Domain, so we may need you to write it.”
Xu Muchan thought of the person who had still not woken up in the hotel room and shook his head.
“I already booked my own flight, so I won’t leave with you.”
Everyone had more or less guessed the reason.
Xu Muchan had come to Jiangcheng alone before, but when he came out of the Ghost Domain with Peng Ye, he was carrying a man with him. According to what Peng Ye said, that was Xu Muchan’s elder brother.
Jiang Fang had learned some information from He Yunyi. After hesitating slightly, he still asked with concern, “Has your elder brother woken up? If he hasn’t, perhaps you could take him to the research institute and have them take a look…”
“No need. He should wake up soon.” Xu Muchan shook his head and rejected the suggestion. He checked the time and said, “My flight is at noon. It’s about time for me to go. See you in Jiangcheng.”
That was what he said, but after Xu Muchan took the man back to Oak Manor, Wei Xilou still did not wake up for a long time.
Xu Muchan even called in a favor from Wei Yao and had a doctor come to the house for an examination. In the end, the doctor could not find anything wrong. He even suspected that Wei Xilou had become a vegetable and tactfully suggested that Xu Muchan should not avoid medical treatment and should still send him to the hospital.
Xu Muchan politely saw the doctor out, then turned back to the room and complained to Wei Xilou, “Looks like doctors are useless too. They can’t see what the problem is at all.”
He lay beside the bed, tilting his head as he looked at the man’s handsome profile.
“Big Brother, where exactly did you go?”
The sleeping man did not answer him either. Xu Muchan lay beside the bed for a while before getting up and going downstairs to cook.
He had given the housekeeper an extended leave. Xu Muchan had to attend school during the day, and with his elder brother in this condition, he did not feel comfortable leaving his elder brother alone at home with an outsider. So he simply did not let anyone into the house.
During the day, he could use the security system to check on the situation at home at any time. Once school was over, he could take care of his elder brother himself.
Xu Muchan casually made himself a cup of instant noodles for dinner. After finishing all the homework assigned in class, he took a shower, changed into his pajamas, hugged a pillow, and climbed into Wei Xilou’s bed.
He stared at the person beside him for quite a while before turning off the light and saying softly, “Good night, Big Brother.”
These past few days, Xu Muchan had not been sleeping very well. In that state between dreaming and waking, he was startled awake by the sound of the Black River’s waves. When he opened his eyes, he found that, sure enough, he was looking at the Black River again.
The black river flowed quietly, completely different from its violent state in the old city district.
Looking toward the direction from which the Black River came, he could vaguely see rolling mountains, as well as an enormous, incredibly dense tree atop the mountains.
A huge silver-white moon hung among the treetops, equally quiet and soundless.
Xu Muchan wandered aimlessly along the riverbank. As he walked, his footsteps suddenly stopped. He stared at the figure ahead, surprise and wariness intertwined in his voice.
“Big Brother?”
The person standing ahead was actually Wei Xilou.
His face was made snow-white by the moonlight, his brows and eyes dark as ink. He looked as silent as the Black River itself. The old-fashioned long robe on his body reflected the moonlight, making his entire person seem unreal, like something out of a dream.
He did not answer Xu Muchan and simply stood there quietly watching him.
Xu Muchan could not help taking a step forward.
“Big Brother?”
This time, Wei Xilou opened his mouth, but his voice was extremely soft. Just as Xu Muchan strained to hear what he was saying, extremely noisy whispers suddenly rang out around him, completely drowning out Wei Xilou’s voice.
For some unknown reason, Wei Xilou suddenly gave Xu Muchan a deep look, then turned and walked away.
Xu Muchan anxiously chased after him.
“Big Brother, what did you say? I couldn’t hear you clearly.”
Wei Xilou’s footsteps grew faster and faster, and Xu Muchan also chased more and more urgently. Just as he was about to catch up, he suddenly stopped short and looked at the Black River only inches away.
The Black River flowed silently. Wei Xilou had already disappeared without a trace.
Xu Muchan looked at the Black River in front of him, took a deep breath, and slowly backed away step by step.
He suddenly understood what his elder brother had said to him just now.
He had said:
“Ah-Chan, don’t follow me.”
Xu Muchan jolted awake from his dream. He fumbled for the light and turned it on, squinting as his eyes were assaulted by the harsh light. Habitually, he reached out to touch the person beside him, but his hand found nothing.
He was instantly startled.
“Big Brother?”
Wei Xilou was not on the bed.
Xu Muchan hurriedly put on his shoes and went looking for him, only to see Wei Xilou standing motionless in front of the pitch-black floor-to-ceiling window, staring outside.
Xu Muchan cautiously approached him.
“Big Brother, you’re awake?”
Wei Xilou did not answer.
Xu Muchan walked over to his side and took his hand, only to discover that it was still cold, without any human body temperature. Just as he felt somewhat disappointed, he suddenly realized that his hand had been grasped.
The man facing the floor-to-ceiling window turned around and narrowed his eyes, studying him for a long time, as though he had finally recognized him. Then he bent down and tightly embraced him.
“Ah-Chan…”
Xu Muchan buried his face in the hollow of his neck and rubbed against him like a small animal. He asked uncertainly, “Big Brother, are you all right now?”
The person holding him did not answer again.
Instead, like he was carrying a child, he simply picked Xu Muchan up and walked toward Xu Muchan’s bedroom.
The position was really rather strange. Xu Muchan became somewhat flustered, but he did not know what condition Wei Xilou was in now and did not dare struggle recklessly. He could only tightly grip his shoulders and let him carry him back to the bedroom.
During these few days after returning to Jiangcheng, Xu Muchan had been sleeping in Wei Xilou’s room. His own room had instead been left unused. The suitcase and schoolbag he had brought back from Shu’nan were casually spread across the floor, and he had not yet had time to put anything away.
Seeing the messy room, Xu Muchan felt somewhat embarrassed.
“I haven’t had time to clean up the room yet. How about we sleep in your room instead…”
Wei Xilou still did not speak. He placed Xu Muchan on the bed and climbed on top of him.
Xu Muchan’s body stiffened, and he did not dare move. His previously calm heartbeat also began to lose its rhythm. Just when he was at a loss, the person holding him buried his head into the hollow of his neck, most of his body pressing down on him, and then fell deeply asleep.
His elder brother had awakened, but he had become somewhat strange.
Xu Muchan found it difficult to describe the current situation. His elder brother seemed to have returned to the time when he had still been in the Mountain God’s cave—appearing and disappearing unpredictably and difficult to communicate with.
Senior year of high school was demanding, and Xu Muchan had to attend school during the day. So every morning when he left the house, he had to spend quite some effort convincing Wei Xilou to let go of him and stay obediently at home by himself.
Worried that Wei Xilou might wander off, he had even specially locked the front door from the inside.
The first few days passed peacefully enough, but gradually, Xu Muchan began to realize that something seemed wrong.
While he was in class, whenever he happened to turn his head, the corner of his eye would always catch a familiar shadow outside the window. But whenever he focused his gaze on it, there was nothing there.
At first, he thought he had simply seen it wrong. But when he came out of the restroom and discovered Wei Xilou’s figure also appearing in the mirror, he finally realized there was a problem.
He opened the surveillance system at home and searched for Wei Xilou’s figure.
Not in the dining room. Not in the living room. Not in the study either.
Xu Muchan frowned and switched to the surveillance camera in his own bedroom, only to see that all the clothes in the wardrobe had been pulled out, while Wei Xilou was lying on top of the clothes, sleeping with his eyes closed.
His elder brother was perfectly fine at home, so what was the thing he had been seeing?
Xu Muchan closed the surveillance feed. The corner of his eye swept across the window glass beside him, and a handsome, pale face was reflected in the glass. Its eyes stared at him without blinking.
But when he turned his head to look, the shadow disappeared again.
After it happened so many times, Xu Muchan was no longer frightened. He was simply somewhat puzzled.
After thinking about it carefully, it was most likely his elder brother causing it.
On Friday after school, Xu Muchan turned down Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang’s invitation to hang out and decided to go home and have a proper talk with his elder brother.
The moment he entered the house, the door behind him suddenly slammed shut, and Xu Muchan was also forcefully pinned against the wall.
Only then did he realize that all the curtains in the house had been drawn and the lights had not been turned on. Everywhere he looked was dim and dark.
The person who had pinned him against the wall gazed at him faintly. His tall nose moved closer as he slowly sniffed Xu Muchan’s body. Then, as expected, he stripped off the clothes Xu Muchan was wearing and personally changed him into a fresh set of clothes. Only then did he contentedly lean against Xu Muchan’s neck and sniff, murmuring,
“Ah-Chan smells so good.”
Xu Muchan’s face remained expressionless. This scene had played out almost every day when he came home these past few days, and he was already somewhat numb to it.
Based on his observations and conclusions, his elder brother probably found the smell of other people on Xu Muchan unpleasant, which was why he insisted on changing his clothes.
Xu Muchan pushed him away slightly and turned on the main living-room light. Looking at the person in front of him, he said,
“Big Brother, we need to have a talk.”