On Penglai Island.

The Taoist sat excitedly before the chessboard, picking up the black piece.

The chess piece was smooth and jade-like, made of fine material.

Across from him, a nun held the white piece in her hand. Compared to the Taoist's concentrated focus, she appeared rather absent-minded.

The Taoist fixed his gaze on the board. Since their last encounter on Yintai Mountain, he wasn't sure how many years had passed since they played chess together. He practiced the principle of Daoist skill, living freely and allowing his thoughts to rise and fall naturally.

The lake water rippled gently with his thoughts, subtle and faint.

Self-discipline and harmony with the Taoist ways.

"How many years have passed... what a sigh, what an endless sigh,"

The Taoist placed a piece down, encircling the capture, and laughed:

"You've grown much weaker at chess."

"..."

But no reply came.

The Taoist suddenly raised his head.

He saw the nun's already fair face now pale to an alarming degree. In the next instant, a deep crack suddenly appeared across her skull.

The Taoist's expression turned to horror.

The fissures on her body spread rapidly, branching out like forked lightning, and with a loud crack, she shattered abruptly.

Her fine white fragments mixed with snowflakes, transforming into a boundless snowy river.

On Lake Heart Pavilion, only the Taoist remained.

He pinched his fingers together, attempting to stop his trembling, but could not suppress the shivers coursing through his entire body.

After a long while, pale-faced, he uttered:

"Even you have died... how endless and arduous is this path?"

And as he turned back...

The vast waters of Penglai Island,

surged like mountains, now a tempestuous scene of raging waves.

................

Wang Kang was a woodcutter from Da Qiwei Village, born in Da Qitou and raised in Da Qiwei. His family owned a few acres of meager land, and he also had an elderly mother to care for—he was the quintessential bachelor.

But this bachelor was not like those idle vagrants; instead, his sense of responsibility for his elderly mother made him earnest in his work. He neither gambled nor visited brothels and diligently saved money with the hope of marrying one day. However, three or four years ago, he had his leg broken when gored by an ox, and since then, he lacked strength for farm labor. Thus, he rented out half of his family's land to others and often went up the mountain to gather firewood.

Firewood seemed easy to gather, but selling it posed a significant challenge. The piles of wood accumulated at home, but they scarcely brought any substantial grain in return. Wang Kang couldn't even comprehend the meaning of the word "prosperity."

To say more, it's not just the word "prosperity" he didn't recognize—he was illiterate altogether.

Early this morning, by unfortunate coincidence, Wang Kang's elderly mother lost a tooth.

A lost tooth was no small matter. According to tradition, when an elderly person loses a tooth, they must go to the Elder Cave at Huishou Cliff for three or four days. If they survive and return, they are carried back home; if they die, they are left there to rest forever, with only a short and simple funeral.

Wang Kang panicked, clutching his mother's jaw, trying to reinsert the tooth, but no matter how much he tried, it wouldn't go back in.

"Heaven is calling Mother to the Elder Cave."

Compared to Wang Kang, his mother was much more composed about the matter. For elderly people, each passing day shortened the days remaining. While the young worried excessively, the elderly saw little to be troubled by.

"Better go to the Elder Cave—what if the ghost there comes for us? It'd be a disaster for Kangzi!"

Seeing that Wang Kang was reluctant to take her to Huishou Cliff or Elder Cave, the old mother tried to persuade him several times, even coughing repeatedly.

The legend of Huishou Cliff told of man-eating ghosts—said to be souls of unfilial sons who were banished to the mountains and transformed, driven by anger over their familial abandonment. They specialized in preying on the elderly from both Da Qitou and Da Qiwei villages, devouring them fully within a month or two, leaving nothing but skeletons.

Helpless, Wang Kang, fearful of ghosts and swayed by his mother's insistence, was compelled to limp on his injured leg and carry his mother up Drunk Mountain.

Amid the shifting shadows of the trees, even in broad daylight, the atmosphere felt sinister and eerie, tinged with a bloody scent.

Wang Kang's heart was tense.

Could the man-eating ghost have come out last night to hunt?

His thoughts a whirl of panic, he finally managed to carry his mother to the entrance of the Elder Cave.

The cave's mouth was pitch black, exuding a sense of death.

Wang Kang broke out in a cold sweat, carefully placing his mother down.

"Mother, we're here..."

He had just said half a sentence.

From the cave's dimness came a wind-filled moan—something moved faintly in the murk.

Wang Kang froze as he saw a figure crawl out from the depths!

It was a blood-soaked figure!

................

"Bring me some water."

Chen Yi tossed the water bag aside, leaned against the stone wall, and touched his pale cheek.

Wang Kang trembled, his body shaking as it dawned on him that this was no man-eating ghost but rather a fallen nobleman.

Compared to Wang Kang's fearfulness, his elderly mother remained calmly leaning against the wall, head drooping as though she were taking a nap.

"There's—there's a stream nearby; I'll fetch water for the master right away. But—but master, it's not safe here..."

Wang Kang stuttered as he shook. Seeing the nobleman's sword and blood-soaked figure, he instinctively recognized that this man was formidable.

"Not safe?"

Chen Yi asked.

He had been hiding in this cave for nearly an entire night, narrowly escaping detection by numerous agents from the Xique Pavilion.

"There—there's a man-eating ghost..." Wang Kang whispered nervously, "It lives here, preying on people."

Chen Yi studied Wang Kang's panic-stricken demeanor for a moment before asking, "What surname does the man-eating ghost carry?"

"Wang!" Wang Kang replied repeatedly, "Just like our Da Qitou and Da Qiwei villages—we all share the surname Wang!"

The nobleman's expression remained unchanged. He pointed his finger deeper into the cave:

"You mean that one?"

Wang Kang fixed his eyes on the direction pointed.

An orange-yellow hide, streaked with dull black stripes, lay sprawled in a pool of congealed blood. Its upward-facing head bore the clearly etched character "Wang."

"A tiger?!" Wang Kang cried in shock.

This was no elder-devouring ghost—it was merely a massive, robust tiger.

Chen Yi leisurely retracted his hand and said:

"Go fetch some water, I'll watch over your mother."

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