I knew that at the foot of Fulong Mountain, there was no vil called "East Sea," and I also knew that this so-called wedding was more like a trap. I knew that once I went, there would be no turning back.

  But, I had to attend "my" wedding.

  Mù, and your master, is our confrontation about to begin?

  And you, Ao Chi, if you've truly returned, why won't you come to see me?

  "If you're going to Fulong Mountain, we should set out soon. It's quite far," Ku Yue reminded me.

  "Alright, that's the pn. Let's eat something first, then head for Fulong Mountain." I took a deep breath, my expression tinged with a sense of tragic resignation, as if I were prepared to face death.

  "If you ever get married in the future, promise me, never have your wedding in the dead of night during early winter!" Jiu Jue stood at the top of Fulong Mountain, rubbing his hands together while exhaling mist, speaking seriously.

  It was still early morning. Jiu Jue had brought me to the mountaintop with the supplies.

  The main force, in this pce now familiar to me as a part of my body, was feeling the biting mountain wind while looking at the scenery below, the sea of clouds in the distance.

  My thoughts were as calm and clear as a ke with no ripples.

  I′ve always been running around, forgetting what it feels like to belong. Until I came back here.

  The cave where I once lived with Zi Miao, the colorless flowers still swaying in the same spot, their branches gently moving, unchanged. My fingers brushed over the thirty marks on the stone wall outside the cave.

  These marks on the stone wall were carved by me all those years ago. It was my way of marking time.

  From the moment I became human and entered this world, my first thirty years were spent here. At that time, there was gentle sunlight, changing seasons, my joyful ughter, Zi Miao's tender presence, and of course, Ao Chi's unwavering companionship.

  The peach blossoms are still here, but everything else has changed.

  The loneliness of being a tree ended here, and the solitude of being Sha Luo began here.

  Is this what they call a cycle?

  "Your expression doesn′t look like you're going to a wedding, but rather a funeral," Jiu Jue ughed behind me. "The you I know isn't a pessimistic person. Has your appearance changed, but also your nature?"

  I didn't even argue with him. I just said, "Take me here, and you don't need to accompany me tonight."

  The meal we had before leaving was subtly tampered with. Jiu Jue did something to the food of Cang Tongkai and the others, adding something to help them sleep.

  If anything bad is going to happen, I hope the only one who suffers will be me.

  Jiu Jue said nothing. He turned and walked to the highest point of the mountain, stretched zily, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "It's almost ten o'clock. Why does the sky still look as dark as it does before dawn?"

  "Is it already ten o'clock?" I thought it was still early.

  The sea of clouds I had gazed at for thousands of years was no longer bathed in sunlight. Each yer looked like the surface of the sea under the night sky, with waves twisting in bck and white. The surrounding stillness of the wind and the dim, murky light were clearly distorting everyone′s sense of time, flipping the day and night.

  Why hasn′t the sky lightened yet?

  A sor eclipse? It couldn′t st this long.

  "Something′s very wrong," Jiu Jue murmured, turning to me with a smile. "Little tree yaokai, whether you like it or not, I′m going to drink your wedding wine tonight."

  The wind sounded strange now, a low howling noise spiraling up from the foot of the mountain. It grew louder and louder, starting like a child′s soft cry, then swelling into the howls of many people, sending a chill down one′s spine.

  I gazed down at the foot of the mountain, where the bottom was nowhere in sight, and suddenly said to Jiu Jue, "Do you know, many people died here unjustly in the past. They treated me as a divine tree that could fulfill their wishes, and without hesitation, they tried to climb up to worship me, hoping I would grant them happiness. In my loneliness and boredom, I was happy to be treated as a god, enjoying the feeling of being worshiped, while watching countless men and women, old and young, lose their footing and fall as they climbed."

  "I know," Jiu Jue said. "Zi Miao told me. That′s also why he kept you by his side to cultivate. But you don′t need to worry. The number of lives you′ve saved far exceeds those lost because of you." He gently patted my head as he spoke.

  We sat side by side on the rge stone, my head resting on Jiu Jue′s shoulder. Together, we watched the scene before us, like witnessing the most beautiful sight in the world—though it was a scene that seemed to mirror the end of days.

  The sky showed no sign of brightening, and the wind grew fiercer. The stones and sand atop the mountain were blown about, rolling in all directions, tumbling down the mountain with sharp, cracking sounds, like the snapping of necks and bones breaking into pieces.

  The closer it got to night, the stronger the scent of death became.

  I took the Death card out of my pocket, gnced at it, then put it back.

  I would carry it with me always.

  When the hands of Jiu Jue's watch pointed to midnight, he and I stood in front of the massive three-story vil, gazing at the words "East Sea Vil" on the gate, and couldn't help but exchange a smile.

  When we arrived in the morning, this area was still a desote hollow, but in just a few hours, towering buildings had risen from the ground.

  The white marble covered the entire structure, standing conspicuously and awkwardly in this moment when day and night were completely blurred, like a pile of accumuted bones—cold and hard. The "double happiness" characters on the two stone columns beside the gate were too bright and garish, cking the celebratory feel, making one think of a pale-faced woman with overly bright red lips.

  The gate suddenly opened, slowly sliding to both sides. The people inside seemed to know there were "guests" outside.

  A few young women, all looking identical, wearing the same bright red cheongsams, greeted us with smiles, their voices identical: "The VIPs have arrived; please come in! The wedding is about to begin!"

  As soon as we entered, the gate immediately began to close slowly. The sound of the thick stone doors colliding together was enough to make our hearts sink a few inches.

  The guide girls moved with such lightness, walking through corridors lined with flowers, their ughter echoing as they went. Elegant wall mps were pced every two meters, with water-blue shades carved with wheel patterns and feathers. The light beneath them wasn′t from bulbs, but from white candles.

  The girls in cheongsams weren′t walking; they were gliding over the ground, or rather, floating. Their delicate, beautiful little feet in red high heels were barely lifted, with their heels never quite touching the ground.

  After nearly five minutes, they stopped in front of a tall, baroque-style door.

  "The VIPs have arrived!" They split into two lines and pushed open the door, calling out with raised voices.

  I'm really sorry, but when I hear "The VIPs have arrived!" it sounds just like "Guests have arrived!" during a wake.

  Jiu Jue′s grim prediction was right; I felt more like I was attending a funeral than a wedding.