She wanted to say more, but Qi Buyan spoke up. “Do all the people in your village look like you?”
He shook the dew from his clothes as he asked, seemingly without intention. This question could easily offend someone, but coming from Qi Buyan, it didn’t sound as harsh.
As an outsider, it was natural to be curious about such things, given their extreme ugliness. The man didn’t dare look in the mirror for fear of seeing his own face.
Indeed, all the villagers of Hongye Village looked like this. None of them were good-looking.
But it wasn’t always this way. Ten years ago, the villagers of Hongye Village were just like the residents of Qingzhou, with a mix of beauty and ugliness, but not so horrifically disfigured. Now, everyone was ugly, and their bodies were becoming increasingly deformed.
Mentioning this, the man couldn’t help but cover his unsightly face with his hand.
The year the plague broke out in Qingzhou, he was in his early twenties, a relatively handsome young man in the village with a bright future, engaged to a good family’s daughter from Qingzhou.
Hongye Village, being remote, was initially spared when the plague hit Qingzhou. However, it later spread to their village very suddenly one day.
They thought they wouldn’t survive.
It was Daoist Sanshan Zhenren who saved them.
After surviving the plague, the villagers of Hongye Village were overjoyed for a long time. But a month later, they noticed their bodies were becoming deformed.
The changes in their bodies were too obvious to ignore.
They suspected it might be lingering effects of the plague, but since the Qingzhou residents were unaffected, they started to believe it was a curse due to their superstitions.
When the Qingzhou residents shunned them as unlucky and tried to drive them out of Qingzhou, it was Daoist Sanshan Zhenren who defended them against the rumors and allowed them to stay.
They were deeply grateful.
Daoist Sanshan Zhenren was like a second parent to them.
So when He Sui’an’s words implied doubts about Daoist Sanshan Zhenren and the Xuanmiao Temple, the man felt a bit displeased but decided to let it pass since they were not indebted Qingzhou residents.
After hearing the whole story, Qi Buyan responded nonchalantly, “I see.”
He Sui’an focused on the events from ten years ago.
It seemed like all turning points were from ten years ago, which was too much of a coincidence.
The red snake brought a Wan Cao Flower in its mouth, crawling to Qi Buyan’s feet to show off. The man quickly stepped back, afraid it was a wild venomous snake that could kill him with one bite before he could see his father again.
“A snake!” the man exclaimed.
Qi Buyan bent down and took the Wan Cao Flower from the red snake’s mouth. “It’s mine.”
The man looked uncertain. “Yours?”
They needed to find two Wan Cao Flowers. He Sui’an had been searching for nearly an hour and a half when she spotted one near a cliff. She stood on tiptoe and reached for it.
Loose stones slid from under her feet.
“He Sui’an.” Qi Buyan unconsciously tightened his grip on the Wan Cao Flower in his hand, his smile faltering slightly as if a mask had slipped from his face.
He Sui’an successfully picked the Wan Cao Flower.
She turned around happily. “Look, I found the Wan Cao Flower!”
“Here you go.” He Sui’an walked to Qi Buyan and placed the flower in his hand. “You keep it. I’m afraid I’ll lose it.”
Two Wan Cao Flowers lay in his hand.
Qi Buyan’s eyebrows moved slightly as he held the Wan Cao Flowers, feeling a rare sense of being out of control. After all, the Gu he raised were always under his control, living or dying at his command.
When He Sui’an picked the Wan Cao Flower from the cliff, Qi Buyan realized that her life and death were beyond his control, adding an element of uncertainty.
He blinked, pondering how to deal with this unpredictability.
“Should we go down the mountain now?” He Sui’an asked.
She wiped the sweat from her face with her sleeve, her skin glowing with a healthy pink from the exercise.
The man, not far from them, used the moonlight and the candle He Sui’an was holding to see what Qi Buyan was looking for—the Wan Cao Flower, a very sinister flower. He wondered what they wanted it for.
Qi Buyan, unable to think of how to handle this lack of control for now, carefully put away the Wan Cao Flowers and said to He Sui’an, “Let’s go down the mountain now.”
“You can’t,” the man stopped them.
He Sui’an knew he meant well. “Are you worried that the mountain god will punish us if we’re discovered?”
The man nodded vigorously.
He rambled, “Over the years, everyone who climbed the mountain at night has died. I’m not lying to you, it’s deadly. We should stay at the top until daylight, and then go down.”
Qi Buyan smiled and declined his suggestion.
The man, now anxious, watched them.
Having found the Wan Cao Flowers, He Sui’an didn’t want to stay on the mountain either. “Come down the mountain with us, you’ll be fine. Honestly, we were on the mountain last night too, and nothing happened.”
The man was shocked. “You were on the mountain last night?” He had thought they turned back and didn’t climb until today.
He Sui’an earnestly said, “We weren’t lying to you, we were here last night.”
Her expression seemed genuine.
Seeing this, the man couldn’t help but believe her.
“Could you be favored by the mountain god too?” the man murmured to himself.
He Sui’an was amused. What did he mean by “favored by the mountain god”? There was no mountain god on Dengyun Mountain, but she didn’t argue with him about the mountain god’s existence, finding it unnecessary.
The man seemed to make up his mind. “Okay, I’ll go down the mountain with you.”
Qi Buyan started walking down the mountain.
They retraced their steps.
Ten years ago, the man often climbed the mountain at night and was very familiar with the area, so he wasn’t afraid of getting lost. He followed them, constantly alert to any sounds, fearing unexpected incidents.
The moonlight dappled the ground, stretching their shadows. From deep within the forest, the occasional sound of animals could be heard.
The sound of silver ornaments was the clearest.
It echoed in the silent, eerie night.
The man considered asking Qi Buyan to remove his silver ornaments before they descended the mountain.
But then he realized that this young man was adorned with silver ornaments from head to toe. It would be difficult to remove them all at once. Besides, he probably wouldn’t listen to him. The man was self-aware enough to understand this.
Having chosen to go down the mountain with them, the man braced himself for the worst and continued, no longer fixated on the silver ornaments.
He thought he saw a shadow flicker in the distance.
He looked carefully.
The shadow disappeared again.
Was it just his fear of an unexpected event causing hallucinations? The man stared at the spot where he saw the shadow for a long time. When it didn’t reappear, he concluded that he must have been mistaken.
Hurrying to catch up with He Sui’an and Qi Buyan, he struggled due to his uneven legs, which made walking difficult and slow.
The girl seemed to be tired and slowed her pace.
The man managed to catch up.
He Sui’an, worried he might feel awkward following strangers, casually asked him about life in Hongye Village to help him relax and not constantly worry about dying on the mountain that night.
They chatted, jumping from topic to topic, and before they knew it, they had reached the foot of the mountain. The man was delighted, despite his twisted facial features making his expressions less flexible.
He was very grateful to them.
With several hours until dawn, he wanted to invite them to rest in the village.
Descending from Dengyun Mountain had been exhausting. If they continued to walk back to the Qingzhou inn, they might not have the stamina to make it.
Qi Buyan looked accustomed to mountain trails, while He Sui’an seemed less experienced. Over time, her breathing had become irregular, and continuing could harm her health.
The man’s invitation to his village was out of genuine gratitude.
Since Hongye Village had changed, the villagers had become very xenophobic.
Because outsiders despised them, the villagers despised outsiders, showing kindness only to the Daoists of Xuanmiao Temple.
So they might not be welcoming to He Sui’an and Qi Buyan.
He intended to sneak them into the village.
The man nervously awaited their reply. Unlike the other villagers, he still harbored a desire to connect with outsiders and communicate with them.
He Sui’an was intrigued by the offer, and after a moment’s consideration, Qi Buyan smiled and agreed.
The village was located in the forest at the base of the mountain.
The villagers did not live in ordinary houses; they lived in treehouses.
There were many large trees in the forest that required several people to encircle them. The villagers carved out a hollow in the tree and equipped it with the necessities of life.
Rope ladders hung down from the trees. After climbing up, the villagers would pull the ladders up. When they wanted to come down, they would lower them again. The man led He Sui’an and Qi Buyan to his newly built treehouse, which had not been used yet.
The man offered them a place to rest for the night, promising to guide them out in the morning.
This treehouse was near the hot spring river of Hongye Village, where they could clean themselves. As it was late, the villagers were no longer moving around.
He Sui’an naturally wouldn’t bathe alone in an unfamiliar river, so she went with Qi Buyan. They each took turns to briefly wash with the warm river water before returning to the treehouse.
They climbed the rope ladder up to the treehouse.
He Sui’an, who had never seen a treehouse before, found it fascinating.
Once up, she sat on a thick branch of the treehouse, her freshly washed feet bare, legs hanging down and swinging lightly. The view of the forest from this angle was a unique experience.
Qi Buyan took hold of He Sui’an’s ankle.
She turned to look at him.
He gazed down at her reddened ankle, his fingertips gently brushing over it. It was from the long climb up the mountain, with her embroidered shoes rubbing and pressing against her heels and ankles, leaving red marks.
He Sui’an’s ankles were thin, narrow enough for Qi Buyan to hold with one hand and still have room to spare. He gently caressed her ankle.
“He Sui’an, today I realized that there’s something I can’t control.”
The young man spoke softly.
He Sui’an felt a bit ticklish from his touch.
But her sore ankle felt a bit better after Qi Buyan’s gentle massage, so she let him hold it. “What’s out of your control? How do you want to handle it? Do you need my help?”
Qi Buyan closed his eyes slightly, thinking.
For things he couldn’t control, he usually chose to destroy them. After all, it was better to destroy them himself than let someone else do it.
He Sui’an’s life was beyond his control. If she died by his hand, then it would be under his control.
Just as Qi Buyan was about to open his eyes, he felt a cool, soft touch on his lips. He Sui’an had kissed him, bringing with her a faint fragrance. His eyelids trembled, and he opened his eyes.
He Sui’an had misunderstood his quiet, closed eyes as a signal for a kiss, as he had done so a few times before. That’s why she had taken the initiative to kiss him.
Seeing the surprise in Qi Buyan’s eyes, she immediately realized she had misunderstood.
He Sui’an wanted to climb back into the treehouse.
But Qi Buyan held the back of her neck.
He lowered his head and their lips and tongues intertwined, moving slowly and deliberately, repeatedly licking. His earlier thoughts dissipated in an instant, replaced by a desire to be intimately close to her. Pleasure seeped into his bones.
The wind rustled the leaves beside the treehouse, and the silver ornaments clinked together.
On the tree, the young man’s breath was hot and burning, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly, as if moistened with desire. Qi Buyan’s fingers gripped He Sui’an’s fragile neck, kissing deeply and passionately. Despite his dominant position, the vulnerability in his lowered neck made it seem as if he were the one truly at her mercy.
