It was a long, long time ago. After the knock, there were footsteps and the creak of the door opening. A Daoist, sleeves stained with the scent of ink and herbs, leaned against the doorway, looking at the girl who had knocked. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, landing on the girl's elegant figure.

Distant mountains, flowing water, gentle breeze, and thin mist drifting through the mountain.

And as the mist dissipated, the bright morning light flowed past, suddenly transforming into talismanic light like moonlight.

The girl was as always, the Daoist's expression peaceful.

Only this time, it was the girl leaning against the doorway, looking at the Daoist.

Outside the clear glass was the sun-warmed asphalt road.

Young men on bicycles chased each other past the slope where large, soft leaves were beginning to fall. Their school uniforms, white shirts, rustled in the wind as if time itself were embedded in gentle amber, slowing down.

It seemed to take Tiannv Jue a long time to come back to herself, blinking her eyes.

She looked at Wei Yuan, dressed as a Daoist, then at the feathered coat with its activated talismans.

Then she looked back at Wei Yuan.

Five seconds later, her brain finally started working again, and she stammered,

"Yuan, you… you also practice Daoist arts? Did you resonate with the talismans on my feathered coat? This was left by a friend of mine a long time ago. His Daoist skills were very profound, and he, because of this feathered coat, even sacrificed some of his lifespan. I've always felt guilty. It seems your cultivation isn't shallow either, to be able to resonate with the talismans he left behind."

Wei Yuan's lips twitched.

His first instinct was to take the opportunity to play along and pretend nothing had happened.

But looking at the slightly flustered Jue in front of him,

he suddenly found it amusing. He shook his head and laughed, his mind becoming carefree and open. Some things needed to be concealed, but there was no need to keep pretending about others. She'd already seen this. Jue just hadn't reacted yet; she'd understand eventually.

The Daoist's laughter grew more unrestrained. He rested one hand behind his back and tapped the table lightly with the fingers of the other.

His Daoist topknot came undone, and then his long hair broke off, returning to its former length. His tone was calm as he said,

"The heavens have never forgiven me."

"And I have never forgiven them…"

He said,

"Wei Yuan has never regretted saving you."

…

Tiannv Jue paused slightly, looking up at the familiar person in front of her, wearing a Daoist robe but with short hair.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tentatively said, "Daoist Yuan…"

Wei Yuan felt a little strange and replied, "It's me."

The girl closed her eyes and then slowly opened them, gazing at Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan did not look away.

He was wondering how to avoid the initial awkwardness of old friends meeting and recognizing each other.

Then, Jue said, slowly and deliberately, "So, you've always remembered me, and you were just pretending before?!"

Wei Yuan: "…"

?!!!

No, this isn't how it's supposed to go.

Jue counted on her fingers, her tone gradually becoming a little angry, "So, you recognized me from the beginning, and you still pretended not to know me, and we had to introduce ourselves again; so, you actually understood those things yourself, but you still pretended not to know anything and asked me; so, you also knew that although I like Shu cuisine, the Shu cuisine of the past is different from the Shu cuisine of today, but you still deliberately made it spicy?"

She spoke deliberately, pressing forward.

Wei Yuan retreated step by step.

His face was full of embarrassment.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

But he was indeed in the wrong about this. Or rather, although he had only just regained his memories of the Three Kingdoms period, his knowledge of Jue began in the Qingqiu Kingdom. So he had to bear this responsibility, bear it well. Finally, he asked cautiously, "Jue, are you very angry?"

The heavenly maiden's brow was clear and beautiful. She nodded frankly and said,

"Angry."

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said,

"However, the things I was angry about have already been said."

The girl opened her eyes.

She slowly exhaled, then looked up and smiled.

Wei Yuan was momentarily lost in thought, remembering the feelings of the young Daoist when he saw the girl in the mountain breeze.

It was as if the entire mountain was in bloom.

"Although it's very late, I still have to say it."

The girl said,

"Yuan, welcome back."

Wei Yuan's expression softened.

"Mm."

He said, "’I’ am back."

…

On Longhu Mountain.

Zhang Ruosu looked at the reports and photos in front of him.

His brow furrowed tightly.

These were the supernatural events that had occurred around the world recently. Among them, the diversion of the Huai River and the disaster of the ancient Xiangliu evil god in Sakura Island were only the most prominent in the supernatural world; they did not mean that no other events had occurred. Now, integrating this information, the old Daoist saw something special.

He looked at the phone next to him.

Wei Yuan had finally dealt with Jue's 'anger'.

He had originally wondered if it would be a little awkward, but then he thought again that Jue had a long lifespan, and even if he added the life of the Three Kingdoms period, he was only a little over a hundred years old, at most tying with the old Daoist Zhang Ruosu in terms of being able to live long. At least that's how Jue saw it.

He had simply changed from a friend to an old friend of a hundred years.

And the previous reaction made Wei Yuan silently decide that it was better to slowly reveal his identity.

It was a survival instinct. He then asked, "By the way, Jue, what were you and Yu Ji talking about just now?" Yu Ji leaned against the door and said, "It's about recent news."

"News?"

"Yes, it's said that there has been a large area of severe drought in the Amazon rainforest."

"Rainforest, drought?"

Wei Yuan was stunned. He had been busy lately and rarely checked his phone, but how could there be a large area of drought in the rainforest? He opened his phone, flipped through it, and saw a shocking picture. Rivers had dried up, the land was cracked, and some places almost looked like deserts.

When Wei Yuan swiped past a photo, his pupils contracted slightly.

He zoomed in continuously. The photo's resolution was high enough that when he zoomed in to the end, Wei Yuan saw a huge bird vaguely hidden in the clouds, with red feet and a straight beak, yellow markings and a white head, incredibly large and hidden in the clouds. If Wei Yuan wasn't familiar enough with this thing, if his eyes couldn't see ghosts and gods, he would have almost thought it was an illusion.

"Gu…"

This was a strange beast from the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, no, it was an evil god.

It was the one he had told Wu Yu and the others about in Chaoge City, the son of the god of Zhongshan, the Torch Dragon Zhujiuyin. Because it had committed evil and killed Baojiang, the god who guarded the elixir of immortality for the gods, it was personally killed by Emperor Yao and its corpse was nailed to the cliffs of Zhongshan.

But that was Zhujiuyin's son. After death, resentment still remained and grew.

It transformed into an extremely terrifying evil god beast.

Its appearance foretold great drought.

That was this kind of bird.

But why would this evil god, which should have been exiled to the Western Mountain of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, appear in the human world, and even cause the rainforest to directly transform into a desert? Wei Yuan suddenly thought of the fox he had captured earlier, his expression changing slightly. He immediately searched for the latest news.

His expression gradually sank.

In a region where world wars were constantly escalating, a terrifying strange beast was discovered, resembling an eagle, with red beak and tiger claws.

This was a companion of Gu, the resentment after the death of the evil god Qinpi.

Its appearance foretold great wars.

It was probably this evil god that caused the heat of battle in that area to constantly rise.

When Wei Yuan saw a bee even bigger than a bird, he was finally able to confirm his guess.

The *Classic of Mountains and Seas* was constantly connecting with the Divine Land and the human world. It could even be said that there were already faint connections between these two worlds, but these connections were too weak to support those powerful beings entering the human world.

And weak creatures could not travel between the two worlds.

But now the world of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* and the human world were getting closer and closer, finally allowing some of the evil beasts of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* to appear.

And this kind of bee was Qin Yuan, whose sting caused birds and beasts to die and trees to wither. It was the evil beast of Kunlun Hill, brewing honey for Kunlun. Its appearance in the human world meant that the world of the Western Mountain was approaching. Wei Yuan thought of something and was about to call Zhang Ruosu.

The old Daoist had already called in advance.

"Daoist Zhang."

Wei Yuan answered the phone, exchanged a few polite greetings, and without bothering with any further courtesy, directly asked,

"You said before that Kunlun was having problems and it wasn't suitable to go there."

"Kunlun Mountain, what exactly happened?"

The old Daoist was silent for a moment, then replied,

"Kunlun Mountain."

"It has disappeared."

ps: Qinpi transformed into a large osprey, resembling an eagle with black markings on its head, a red beak and tiger claws, its sound like a morning swan, its appearance foretelling great wars; Gu also transformed into a Jun bird, resembling an owl, with red feet and a straight beak, yellow markings and a white head, its sound like a swan, its appearance foretelling great drought in its city — *Classic of Mountains and Seas · Western Mountain Classic*

There is a bird, which resembles a bee, as large as a mandarin duck, named Qin Yuan, whose sting causes birds and beasts to die, and trees to wither.

Second update today… Thank you to Qingshan Yuanyang for the ten thousand reward, thank you~