Qin Mu's thoughts were a tangled mess.
Qin Hanzhen? Qin Fengqing?
The genealogy he had found in the study recorded the figures of the Kaihuang lineage. The last page of this genealogy read: "The one hundred and seventh generation is Hanzhen's son, Fengqing."
Qin Fengqing was Qin Hanzhen's son.
Then what did the strange thing that slid down from the tree actually mean?
Who was she calling Qin Hanzhen?
Who was the Qin Fengqing in her words?
Qin Mu's body trembled, his face drained of all color. He was Qin Fengqing, and the Person in the Tree was Qin Hanzhen!
The last person on the Kaihuang Qin family genealogy was him, and this Person in the Tree was his father!
Was this person who had merged with the ancient tree his father? Was it the family member he had longed for day and night?
His closest relative!
How had he become like this?
Qin Mu kept telling himself to stay calm. Old Ma had once told him that no matter what he faced, he must remain unfazed even if the sky collapsed. As long as reason remained, even when facing a world-ending catastrophe or a certain death crisis, he could find a thread of hope.
The Cripple had also told him that he must always maintain a smile, stay optimistic—not only to deceive the enemy but also to keep his own spirit sunny. Even if he lost a leg, he should show the most honest smile, for that was the chance to escape.
Grandma Si had also told him that even if there was darkness and demons in his heart, he must be strong. If he himself fell into chaos, everything would be lost.
But now, even knowing that danger was right before him, Qin Mu could not calm down.
His father, the closest relative he had never met, had become like this. He could not do what Old Ma, Grandma Si, and The Cripple had said.
Qin Mu tried his best to calm his mind, not thinking about the Person in the Tree, not caring about him, suppressing the trembling in his body.
Suddenly he felt a pain in his palm. Unconsciously, he clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, blood trickling down along his palm lines.
Qin Mu looked up at the mysterious being descending from the tree.
The thing sliding down the tree was half-snake, half-human, massive in size. Though its lower half was serpentine, it had no scales; its upper half was the image of a woman, a very beautiful and alluring woman, yet the voice it emitted was male.
Where she slithered, a sticky mucus dripped down, much like when Qin Mu transformed into his Zhenxing Jun form, but the difference was that her Zhenxing Jun form was more primal.
Behind her neck grew something like a membrane. When she spoke, the membrane opened, like two fans inserted on either side of her neck, rising above her head, constantly vibrating to produce sound.
She seemed incapable of opening her mouth to speak, instead relying on the membrane behind her neck to vibrate and produce sound, which was why her voice was so strange and obscure.
The membrane was likely her vocal cords, with bone spurs over two feet long growing at the tips, like javelins. When opened, two black eye-shaped patterns appeared on the membrane, like two eerie eyes staring at you.
As far as Qin Mu knew, there were two forms of the Zhenxing Jun transformation. One was a simple Zhenxing Jun form without the Gate of Receiving Heaven or the scriptures in hand. The other was like Qin Mu's, with the Gate of Receiving Heaven behind him and scriptures held in his hands.
But this strange being before him, her form was more primal, not as if achieved through cultivation, but as if she were born this way.
This was a being from Youdu, perhaps even a deity!
She and the owner of those eyes two hundred and sixty-four zhang apart were not the same person.
"You and I made a promise, Qin Hanzhen."
She slithered down to the base of the tree, coiling around the ancient trunk, her bewitching face pressing against the face of the Person in the Tree, their cheeks touching, the membrane behind her head vibrating as she spoke with a laugh: "You and I made a pact with Tubo. As long as you found your son named Fengqing, you would let everything go and follow me to Youdu to reveal the location of the Land of Carefree. Now, you have found your son, your wish is fulfilled, it is time to honor your promise."
The Person in the Tree remained motionless, his gaze still fixed on Qin Mu. His body had turned to wood, and his eyes could no longer see the person before him. Tears fell from those half-petrified eyes.
That strange being's long body circled the ancient tree more than once, then she moved away from the Person in the Tree, slithering leisurely, her voice drifting through the tree, capricious: "Back then you broke into the world of Youdu, shattered the seal barrier. You were dying, merged with this divine tree, barely clinging to life, all so you could see your son one more time. So you did everything to preserve your life. I came here, stayed by your side all this time. You promised me that as soon as you saw your son, you would let everything go—your life, the Land of Carefree—everything could be abandoned. You were willing to offer your soul to Tubo, willing to reveal the location of the Land of Carefree. I agreed, and I did not take your life."
Her face suddenly dropped from the divine tree, hanging before Qin Mu, her massive body slowly turning, coiling around him once, the membrane vibrating, emitting a strange laugh: "Could it be that after seeing your son, you now wish to renege? Do you want to watch your son die before your eyes? Hehehe, what a succulent body, what a young life. He is only sixteen, isn't he? He must be tender and juicy when eaten..."
Cold sweat broke out on Qin Mu's forehead. Suddenly he activated the Three-Pill Tyrant Body Art, circulated the Zhenxing Jun Earth Lord True Art, transformed into his Zhenxing Jun form, and said in a hoarse voice: "Senior, I am also..."
"You are also in the Zhenxing Jun form?"
The strange Youdu being suddenly stretched out her serpentine body and slithered away from Zhong Yue with a whoosh, landing on the ground, though her long tail was still coiled around the tree, not fully down.
She looked down from above at this tiny youth before her, a playful smile on her face: "Poor little thing, how ridiculous and childish your little tricks appear before me. Don't you know? The Zhenxing Jun form is actually imitating me. I am..."
"Zhenxing Jun!"
She leaned down close to Qin Mu, wanting to see panic, anxiety, and the despair of shattered belief in this youth's face.
Qin Mu tried hard to stay calm, but she still saw the terror that came from the depths of his heart.
Zhenxing Jun raised her head with satisfaction and laughed: "What an interesting little thing, trying so hard to act like an adult, yet appearing ignorant and adorable. Didn't you say a sentence in the Youdu language when you boarded the ship? That's the only Youdu language you know, isn't it? That phrase was 'Gate of Receiving Heaven'. Did you really think I would retreat upon hearing that phrase and let you board?"
Qin Mu suppressed the trembling in his body. Before a deity like Zhenxing Jun, all his cunning was utterly useless!
Indeed, as she said, he had always been trying to be an adult, an adult who could shoulder everything. He had learned how the villagers handled matters, how they did things, but in essence, he was still a big boy.
Before Zhenxing Jun, his efforts, his learning, his maturity—how ridiculous they seemed.
"Seeing how hard you try to act like an adult, I won't make things difficult for you."
Zhenxing Jun returned to the tree, her serpentine tail wrapped around the divine tree, like a woman embracing a beloved man, the membrane behind her head opening and vibrating, as she laughed: "Qin Hanzhen, you father and son meet again, and should be happy. Why do I sense such sorrow from you? Ah, because from now on you will be separated by the realms of the living and the dead—one alive, one dead. Hee hee hee, there's no need to be so..."
She slithered before the Person in the Tree, looking up at him, her serpentine body twisting as she passed before him, and said slowly: "Reveal the location of the Land of Carefree, and then your child, your family, and your clan can all go to Youdu to accompany you. How interesting—those pitiful humans who dare to make deals with gods, thinking they can gain an advantage, not realizing they lose everything, lose it all! And the price I used for the trade was nothing more than your life."
She came to the right side of the Person in the Tree and couldn't help but laugh, laughing very happily, her face pressed to his ear: "I traded your life for the lives of everyone in the Land of Carefree, including your son's. And what you got was just seeing your son once. What a foolish mortal—even when possessing the power of gods and demons, you are still influenced by your own foolish thoughts, never able to reach the mindset of a god. And because you have the pact with Tubo, you cannot break your promise."
The Person in the Tree calmed down, opened his mouth, but his tongue had turned to wood and could not speak.
Zhenxing Jun laughed: "What do you want to say?"
The Person in the Tree still opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Zhenxing Jun leaned closer, wanting to hear more clearly, and asked curiously: "What exactly do you want to say?"
The Person in the Tree still could not speak.
Qin Mu suddenly felt his mind calm down and said: "Lord Jun, father and son are connected by heart. I think I can understand what he intends to say."
Zhenxing Jun glanced at him: "He can't make any sound at all. You can hear him?"
Qin Mu said: "Our lives are both in your hands, Lord Jun. Are you afraid we might play some trick?"
Zhenxing Jun looked at him deeply and sneered: "You can't play any tricks. Come here, see what he wants to say."
Qin Mu stepped forward, came before the Person in the Tree, tilted his head to listen, and after a moment said: "He is saying that his eyes cannot see, cannot see my face clearly, so he hasn't truly seen me, and therefore the pact with Tubo has not yet taken effect."
Zhenxing Jun was surprised and laughed: "Interesting. I didn't expect you father and son to truly have hearts connected. This does make things a bit difficult. He used a forbidden art to merge with the divine tree. This forbidden art is called 'Dead Wood Brought to Life,' a technique that can borrow life, but the backlash is also severe. It not only links lives but also links physical bodies. Your father fought those deities, exhausting them and himself, and had to use this forbidden art to extend his life. Now, only his face has not completely turned to wood. Reversing this process is difficult, but not impossible for me. After all, I am from Youdu, and I control life..."
The membrane behind her head opened, revealing eye-shaped patterns. Two beams of light shot from those patterns, one to the left, one to the right, injecting into the Person in the Tree. Gradually, the wood-like appearance on his body began to shed. The skin on his neck began to show skin texture, no longer tree rings.