Li Xin and the others learned that the tree spirit wanted to…

The head of the Huang family was speechless, his eyes darting around, too afraid to respond.

“You’re lying, aren’t you?” Li Xin pressed again.

The head of the Huang family, frustrated, decided to give up and shouted, “So what if I am? Why should I tell you?”

Li Xin scoffed, “So you’re admitting it.”

“This is the Huang family’s business, none of your concern!” The head of the Huang family yelled angrily.

Li Xin and Chi Yu exchanged a glance. There was definitely something going on here.

So, Chi Yu stepped forward, lowering his gaze as he glared at the head of the Huang family. “What exactly is the connection between you and the tree spirit? If you tell the truth now, we won’t hold it against you. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee the fate of your descendants in this mountain.”

“You’re a Yama officer from the underworld, but you can’t control our immortal cultivators!” The head of the Huang family sneered, “I didn’t want to break the peace earlier, so I gave you some face. You think you’re something? Don’t take yourself too seriously.”

“Is that so?” Li Xin’s eyes darkened, his gaze turning menacing as he ordered Chang You, “Go, send those little beasts to be reborn, and let’s see if the Yama officers from the underworld can do anything about it.”

“Yes, Lord Li,” Chang You responded, immediately transforming into his human form.

As soon as Chang You took a step, the head of the Huang family realized that Li Xin wasn’t joking, and he quickly rushed to stop him. “Wait, wait, if you must, take it out on me. Don’t hurt my descendants!”

“Then speak,” Chi Yu warned, glaring at the head of the Huang family. “As long as you tell the truth, we won’t harm your descendants.”

The head of the Huang family, restrained by the situation and fearing for his descendants, could only reluctantly swallow his anger.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but you have to guarantee that my descendants will be safe.”

“I keep my word. You may speak,” Chi Yu assured him.

The head of the Huang family took a deep breath, sighing heavily. “Well, here’s the story. That soul didn’t know how long it had been drifting until it arrived here and latched onto a locust tree. Over the years, it merged with the tree. Then, the tree, with the soul’s power, became a spirit. After some more time, it gained a human form and could leave its body and walk around.”

“My grandson, Huang Xiaoxing, often played in the mountains with it, and they became very close. One day, Xiaoxing went down the mountain alone and saw a large rooster tied up in the village’s ancestral hall. Tempted, he ate it. The villagers found out and began punishing him. When he went down to look for them, it was too late, so he killed the old man who was in charge of the punishment.”

“When I heard about this, I was heartbroken and wanted to help him take revenge by destroying the village. We planned to kill those responsible for Xiaoxing’s death, and we were about to slaughter the village when a Taoist priest came to negotiate with us. After some discussion, we realized that killing them wouldn’t solve anything, and resurrecting Xiaoxing was the right path.”

“So, I suggested that the villagers offer incense to accumulate merit for Xiaoxing, and the spirit agreed. It also suggested setting up an altar at its body’s location, so the tree could absorb the incense for future use.”

“And how did you plan to resurrect your grandson?” Li Xin asked.

The head of the Huang family stammered, “It’s… it’s that soul… I just… I just thought…”

Before the head of the Huang family could finish, Li Xin already had an idea.

Having walked the human world for a thousand years, Li Xin had heard of such things, even if he had never used them.

“You’re planning to use a living soul to revive him, aren’t you?” Li Xin ground his teeth, his voice dark and cold.

“How did you know?” The head of the Huang family was taken aback.

Li Xin sneered, muttering bitterly, “That’s truly vicious.”

Chi Yu, not understanding, quickly asked Li Xin, “What are you talking about?”

Li Xin snorted, “There is a dark art that uses a living soul to exchange for another soul to be reincarnated into a body.”

Chi Yu, after some thought, widened his eyes in shock and stared at the head of the Huang family with rage. “You’re trying to use that soul to exchange for your grandson?”

“We have no choice,” the head of the Huang family explained helplessly. “My grandson died unjustly, and this is the only way left.”

“Despicable!” Chi Yu, enraged, stepped forward and kicked the head of the Huang family hard in the back, causing him to grunt in pain.

“Tell me, where is that soul now?” Li Xin demanded, impatience in his voice.

“I… I don’t know…” The head of the Huang family gasped in pain, unable to catch his breath.

“You don’t know?” Chi Yu glared at him, then turned to Li Xin.

Li Xin immediately understood and gave Chang You a look.

Chang You nodded, “Don’t worry, Lord Li. I’ll make sure there won’t be any survivors.”

As soon as Chang You finished speaking, the head of the Huang family immediately begged, “Wait, wait! Master, please show mercy. This has nothing to do with my children and grandchildren.”

“Then tell us quickly, where is that soul?” Li Xin demanded impatiently.

“I truly don’t know. The soul is with the tree spirit, but now it’s escaped. I don’t know where it went,” the head of the Huang family pleaded. “We only want to save my grandson Xiaoxing, we don’t want anything else. It’s truly unfair.”

“Unfair?” Li Xin sneered. “You really don’t fear death, do you? That group of little beasts from your family fought my spirit beasts just to help that tree spirit escape, didn’t they?”

The head of the Huang family shrank back, not daring to respond.

Chang You gave him a harsh kick, making the head of the Huang family squeak in pain.

“So your family’s younger generation didn’t want us to pass through because they were helping that tree spirit escape,” Li Xin muttered.

“We had no choice…” the head of the Huang family replied.

Li Xin patted Chi Yu on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, senior. I’ll help you find the soul.”

Chi Yu nodded and then asked the head of the Huang family, “How far along is your plan with the tree spirit?”

“It’s almost done. Once it absorbs more incense, it will be able to use it to make a body for Xiaoxing. Once the body is prepared… we can use magic to bring Xiaoxing back,” the head of the Huang family explained, gritting his teeth in pain.

Chi Yu’s expression grew colder, his eyes becoming dark and menacing. “You better be telling the truth. If I find one lie, I won’t spare you or your descendants.”

“I swear, I swear it’s the truth!” The head of the Huang family hastily reassured them.

Chi Yu, troubled by the fate of his own soul, spoke softly, “Li Xin, let him go.”

“Fine,” Li Xin agreed. He turned to the head of the Huang family and warned, “I’m letting you go this time. If your Huang family dares to harbor that tree spirit again, I’ll destroy your entire clan.”

“I won’t, I won’t dare!” The head of the Huang family promised repeatedly.

“Chang Wu, let him go,” Li Xin instructed.

Chang Wu gave Huang Dangjia another hard shove before releasing him.

Chi Yu took out the Soul-Tracing Plate and began to search for the residual soul’s location. The plate spun a few times before stopping.

Chi Yu looked in the direction the plate pointed and indicated, “In that direction, but it’s not close.”

“This tree spirit sure knows how to run,” Li Xin sneered.

Chang Wu didn’t revert to his human form but remained in his deer shape. He walked up to Chi Yu. “Master, get on. I’ll carry you over there.”

Chi Yu paused for a moment. The considerate gesture immediately eased some of his inner turmoil.

“Alright.” Chi Yu nodded and raised his leg to climb on.

Just as Chang Wu was about to move, he noticed Li Xin’s intense glare, and immediately hesitated.

Chi Yu also saw the look but ignored Li Xin. He instead instructed Chang Wu, “You turn back into your original form and carry Lord Li Xin.”

“Understood, Master.” Chang Wu responded and transformed back into his human form, walking up to Li Xin.

Li Xin’s little plan was seen through, and he felt a bit embarrassed. He sighed lightly and said, “Alright, since you’re so considerate and filial to your master, I’ll take a ride on a deer today.”

With that, he lifted his leg and climbed onto Chang Wu’s back. “Let’s go.”

Chi Yu shot him an exasperated glance and instructed Chang Wu and Chang You, “Not that way. Go to its original body.”

“Understood, Master.”

Both Chang Wu and Chang You responded in unison, then kicked their hooves and galloped away, speeding through the mountains and forests like lightning.

Once Huang Dangjia saw that they had all left, he dared to cough heavily a few times. “So unlucky, truly a disaster!”

He struggled to get up from the ground, gasping for breath. After a while, he managed to steady himself, then let out a whistle to summon a mountain sparrow.

“Go tell Huai An that the Celestial Master is headed to his original body. He needs to be cautious,” Huang Dangjia instructed before coughing again.

He never imagined that, despite his years of cultivation, he would be forced to suffer like this.

The sparrow chirped twice before flying off.

Not long after, Li Xin and Chi Yu arrived at the hillside where the old locust tree stood.

By now, it was almost dawn. The rising sun at the horizon dispelled the cold silence of the night, and the view became much clearer.

Li Xin and Chi Yu jumped off the deer’s back, and Chang Wu and Chang You reverted to their human forms.

The group stood in front of the old locust tree. Chi Yu couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him from behind. He turned around but saw no one.

“Master, what’s wrong?” Li Xin noticed Chi Yu’s discomfort and quickly asked.

“It’s nothing, just that I feel like someone is watching us,” Chi Yu replied, scanning the area again, still seeing no one.

Li Xin, Chang Wu, and Chang You also surveyed their surroundings. The mountain was quiet, only the sound of wind rustling through the leaves and the occasional bird call.

“Master, we’ve checked, and there’s no sign of anyone, no demonic aura from mountain spirits or beasts. It might just be your imagination,” Chang You said respectfully.

Chi Yu glanced one more time before nodding. “It’s fine. It’s probably just my imagination. Let’s get down to business.”

“What do you plan to do, Master?” Li Xin asked.

Chi Yu turned to Li Xin and said, “Nu Yi, use fire.”

Li Xin immediately understood his meaning. No matter what kind of spirit it was, its original body was always the last line of defense. If its body was destroyed, the wandering soul would also suffer a great blow, possibly even be obliterated.

He was trying to force the tree spirit to come back and face them.

Li Xin quickly gathered his spiritual power and ignited a flame in his hand. Just as he was about to strike at the old locust tree, hurried footsteps approached from behind.

“Stop!”

Li Xin and the others turned around to see the villagers who had been worshipping the tree the day before, rushing toward them.

“What are you doing?”

Seeing the villagers coming, Li Xin immediately extinguished his flame and stepped forward, shielding Chi Yu behind him.

Among the villagers was Da Liang, who, seeing Li Xin and the others, angrily approached and yelled, “You bunch of frauds, you spoke so nicely, but now you’re here to ruin our village! What do you want?”

“That’s right,” another villager added. “I saw you guys lurking around the village yesterday. You looked suspicious. You’re clearly up to no good.”

“What does this tree have to do with you? If you’re jealous of our village having a celestial protector, go find your own celestial protector. Don’t come here to envy others.”

“A celestial protector? Protecting us…” As the villagers continued with their absurdities, Li Xin interrupted them, “Quiet down, with all this nonsense.”

“You still dare to be so arrogant?” The village chief stepped forward disdainfully. “There are so many of us here. Each of us could take you down with one punch. You’d better look at yourself in the mirror before you come out here and stir up trouble. You really don’t know the heights of heaven or the depths of earth.”

Li Xin sneered, shaking his head. This was a case of a scholar encountering a soldier.

“You say it’s a celestial protector?” Li Xin pointed at the old locust tree and asked the villagers, “Have you forgotten about the yellow weasel’s misdeeds?”

Li Xin sneered again. “Such a poor memory. Do you not remember why you were worshipping this tree in the first place? Now you’re surrounding it, calling it a celestial protector and saying it’s blessing you. It’s laughable.”

“Shut up! Do you want to drag our village into trouble?” The village chief was enraged and called for the villagers around him. “Beat them up, and then throw them down the mountain.”

“Got it!” The villagers charged forward.