The paperman was knocking on the door, and Yuan Buyu’s door opened. The paperman, with an expressionless face, walked inside.

The door shut with a "bang."

Standing at the bamboo grove exit, Zhou Lingyi heard a series of hurried sucking sounds, like a starving man, who hasn’t eaten for days, seeing a table full of meat and devouring it in large bites, even chewing in a rough, careless manner.

For a starving man indulging in a feast, the act of gulping down is the main theme; whether the food is delicious or not becomes less important.

Not long after,

The wooden door opened with a creak, and the paperman’s skin was thrown out.

Before entering the house, the paperman had received witchcraft for its eyes and consumed a live dog. The skin then gained a human-like tint, allowing one to see faint blood vessels. In the sunlight, it would show the wheatish color unique to living beings.

But at this moment, the paperman’s skin was no different from normal paper, pale, with a thin waxy layer on its surface.

Zhou Lingyi walked over and gently bit his fingertip, letting a drop of finger blood fall on it.

The blood landed on the paper skin, turning into a small fire capable of burning away evil qi, and within moments, the paper skin was reduced to a pile of ash.

Once Zhou Lingyi finished, he let out a sigh of relief, tapped his foot lightly, and a breeze at the door blew the remaining ash away, leaving no trace.

"Elder Yuan, is your body feeling better?"

Zhou Lingyi wasn’t afraid of Yuan Buyu’s strange state, but Yuan Buyu prided himself on being a dignified person. In the first half of his life, telling stories always with great poise, the latter half as a chef, his clothes often stained with grease, yet his mustache and hair were always kept clean, never showing himself in a dirty state. Now, he had become extremely strange, with no face to show...

His concern for appearance made Yuan Buyu unwilling to show his bizarre state, even to the familiar Zhou Lingyi. He hid away.

"Master Zhou, witchcraft practitioners, after cultivating for a long time, their body’s blood and vitality become especially precious; it’s not worth wasting it on a useless person like me."

"The Will Heavenly Book is truly powerful."

"Only by facing the effectiveness of the will within the Will Heavenly Book can one understand why the storyteller ranks among the top three Tangkou in the world."

At this moment, Yuan Buyu was beset by strange states, speaking with lacking confidence, sounding sickly and lazy no matter how he uttered, "Master Zhou, don’t waste your vitality on this old man buried to the brow, just ask Sister Cui to prepare a few good dishes for me, I will take them with me on my journey,

Moreover, only when I completely leave Ping Shui Prefecture, you can tell my disciple about my situation, letting him be wary of the Heavenly Book Curse. As a teacher, I haven’t taught my disciple many skills, yet at the end, making my disciple worry over me is nothing good."

"Understood."

Zhou Lingyi said he understood, but he had already planned how to create the next paperman to suppress Yuan Buyu’s "will disaster."

"Elder Yuan, you bore the disaster for my brother, how can I do nothing and watch you become a will-less monstrous beast?"

Zhou Lingyi, lost in thought, walked toward the inner courtyard entrance. She still needed to procure materials to "create the paperman." Just as she reached the courtyard entrance, she encountered Senior Brother Yu Zhengyuan.

"Master, I’ve been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Zhou Lingyi asked.

Yu Zhengyuan said, "Master, this time, Lao Yuan can be saved, Junior Brother..."

"You told my brother about Elder Yuan’s situation?" Zhou Lingyi’s face darkened.

Yuan Buyu’s condition advanced rapidly this time, almost within an afternoon and night, he was on the edge from being born to "turning beastly." In the entire Zhou Family’s Troupe, only Zhou Lingyi and Yu Zhengyuan knew the truth.

Yu Zhengyuan had the closest relationship with Yuan Buyu, and after Yuan Buyu’s incident, he specifically instructed him not to reveal the "will disaster" to Zhou Xuan before leaving Ping Shui Prefecture, which Yu Zhengyuan had agreed to.

"Didn’t say, didn’t say." Yu Zhengyuan explained, "Master has been busy making papermen, not paying attention to the outside news, today Xuanzi helped the Hu Clan open a Tangkou."

Hearing this, Zhou Lingyi’s brow relaxed slightly, "Being able to open a Tangkou for the Fox Clan, my brother’s skills are really impressive now, then..."

"In gratitude for Xuanzi, the eight provincial Fox Clans gathered in Mingjiang Prefecture, offering all kinds of mountain delicacies, including hundreds of pounds of Lingzhi and ginseng. However, these are of no account. The main focus is on two kings of mountain delicacies."

Yu Zhengyuan said, "The first king of mountain delicacies is the Snow Mountain Palm Ginseng."

"Such rare Palm Ginseng, those Fox Clans are willing to give it."

Zhou Lingyi shook her head, "Senior Brother, the Palm Ginseng’s Buddha energy is extremely abundant, but it cannot cure Elder Yuan. Your strange illness can be cured indeed."

Zhou Xuan had long helped Yu Zhengyuan inquire, Yu Zhengyuan once had a strange illness that needed Buddha energy to suppress.

Palm Ginseng is renowned for "Buddha energy" in Jing Country; if Yu Zhengyuan could consume some, it would be a remedy as effective as medicine.

"But Elder Yuan’s illness, caused by the Will Heavenly Book, Buddha energy is of no use to him."

Zhou Lingyi said this, her face turning somber, preparing to leave and procure "paperman materials," Yu Zhengyuan following and reporting, "And there is another king of mountain delicacies, I did some digging, and it’s said it can revive the dead, flesh and white bones, called Red Ginseng Child."

"Huh?"

Zhou Lingyi suddenly stopped her steps, "Where is the Red Ginseng Child?"

"The outer courtyard..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lingyi’s feet found wind, disregarding her usual dignified manner, she rushed to the outer courtyard.

Yu Zhengyuan followed behind shouting, "The outer courtyard houses the Palm Ginseng and other mountain delicacies, the Red Ginseng Child hasn’t been sent here yet."