"The backyard is where Master lives, could it be..."

Zhou Xuan’s thoughts had just begun to form when suddenly a voice came from behind him.

"Old Third, you’re crying at the wrong direction of the grave."

Zhou Xuan heard the voice of the Big Child, and turned his head along with the Third Child, but saw nothing.

"Big Child, where are you?"

"Old Third, how about I show you a magic trick, want to see?" The Big Child’s bright voice came from the Ancestor Tree.

"Go ahead and show me." For a moment, the Third Child forgot he was here for mourning, not for fun.

"Watch closely, one, two, three... flower!" The Big Child even started a countdown.

After a rustling sound of leaves, the face of the Big Child emerged from within a few willow leaves.

The surrounding willow leaves set off the Big Child’s cute chubby face, making him really look like a sun facing "sunflower."

"Big Child, how did you end up like this?"

"Don’t mention it, my soul was grabbed over by this tree, which was actually a good thing as there was a monster in the backyard. It was so ugly... scary, and it was wearing a storyteller’s large robe. Aiya... can’t bear to recall, can’t bear to recall..."

The Big Child manipulated two leaves to cover his eyes, making a frightened gesture.

The storyteller’s robe, the backyard, Master, monster...

Zhou Xuan thought of this, and went on a day trip again, but his Master’s room seemed to be sealed by some restriction, and his divine soul couldn’t penetrate it.

Fortunately, Zhou Lingyi was waiting in front of Yuan Buyu’s room. Zhou Xuan revealed himself and asked, "Sister, what happened to Master?"

"Brother, why are you here?"

"What happened to Master that the Red Ginseng Child needs to be used?"

"Your Master... Master..."

Zhou Xuan said, "Sister, open the door, I want to go in and see—"

"Brother, don’t go inside, you can’t go inside..."

"Then tell me what happened to Master."

Zhou Xuan felt very anxious inside.

Just at this moment, the door creaked open, and Yuan Buyu walked out of the room. His face was much paler, but nothing else seemed strange.

"Disciple, I’m fine now, thanks to your Child."

Yuan Buyu looked like he had survived a catastrophe, and said.

"Master, I came back a few days ago and you were fine, how did you suddenly become so ill? And what about the monster that Big Child spoke of?"

Zhou Xuan hurriedly asked.

Yuan Buyu sighed and said to Zhou Lingyi, "It’s time to tell Xuanzi the truth." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He then said to Zhou Xuan, "Do you still remember, the storyteller God ’Bi Fang’, used the Will Heavenly Book to make a wish, cursing you to certain death."

"I remember that incident." Zhou Xuan said.

"That wish was like a curse, Elder Yuan took that curse on your behalf." Zhou Lingyi said sorrowfully.

"What..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan connected all the recent details together.

At first, his body showed signs of illness, which Miss Qiang had detected, and then he guessed someone had placed a curse on him, a curse method from God ’Bi Fang’s Will Heavenly Book.

Later, Zhou Xuan had ascended to the Heavenly Dome and learned the truth — ’Bi Fang’, along with seventeen God-level beings, jointly laid down the curse — activating the Will Heavenly Book, assured Zhou Xuan’s death.

After that, Zhou Xuan did indeed encounter some strange events, such as having a bizarre dream, where dozens of accountants were tallying with abacuses.

In the dream, Zhou Xuan asked those accountants, "What are you calculating?"

The accountants replied, "Calculating when you, young man, would die."

But after that bizarre dream, Zhou Xuan was no longer affected by the ’Bi Fang’ Heavenly Book curse.

He once thought that it was because of using the "Blood Well Revival" on the Heavenly Dome, forcing the gods in heaven to collectively write on the Will Heavenly Book, suppressing the curse’s effect to the minimum, thus stopping the Heavenly Book curse and allowing himself to turn peril into safety.

Only now did he realize, it was Master Yuan Buyu who took on the curse for him.

"Master, when did you take on the curse for me?"

Zhou Xuan asked Yuan Buyu, "Don’t lie to me."

"After you learned Shifting Form from the Prince of Wuhead, you came back to Zhou Family’s Troupe once, to show me the ’Will Heavenly Book’. I saw your curse in the book, and transferred it to myself, as I am also a storyteller, capable of taking the curse for you."

Yuan Buyu said with a bitter smile, "During these days, I would occasionally lose an old tooth, or feel bone pain and skin itchiness, I thought the Will Heavenly Book’s curse would come slowly, but unexpectedly — this curse’s calamity, seemed not to progress intensely, but once it progressed — it was like ’illness strikes like a falling hill’, it onset yesterday afternoon, today I was unrecognizable."

"Elder Yuan started with the curse’s calamity, he would need to consume live human flesh and blood, if not, he would be in tremendous pain. I could only use the Witch Clan’s method, to create a Paperman resembling live flesh and blood for Elder Yuan to consume, but it only alleviated Elder Yuan’s pain, not curing Elder Yuan’s cursed strange illness."

Zhou Lingyi also admitted.

Yet Yuan Buyu said, "It’s not an illness, it’s the ’Hundred Beasts’ Image’, the wish that ’Bi Fang’ made, after the curse effect was suppressed, it changed from ensuring your death Zhou Xuan to ’Zhou Xuan turning into the Hundred Beasts’ Image’."

He pushed open the door, and saw the Red Ginseng Child, originally a chubby doll, had undergone a mutation — a goat’s eyes, a monkey’s hands, a cow’s nose, a chicken’s wings...

It seemed like parts from over a hundred animals had been cut off, piecing them into a person.

Zhou Xuan also thought that before the Red Ginseng Child was brought over, Master Yuan Buyu was this kind of monster.

"Xuanzi, the Will Heavenly Book’s curse cannot be removed, the Red Ginseng Child, its body is a Mountain Spirit, able to temporarily take on the curse, for me, however, once it fully becomes the ’Hundred Beasts’ Image’, the curse will transfer back to me, I will undergo the process of becoming the ’Hundred Beasts’ Image’ again, from losing old teeth, to bone pain and skin itching — in the last one or two days, becoming the ’Hundred Beasts’ Image’.

Yuan Buyu sighed and said, "The ’Hundred Beasts’ Image’, seen as abandoned by heaven, no longer shielded by heaven and earth, also severed the possibility of the Incense Fire Divine Dao, you’ll become a monster, eating humans and flesh everywhere, then get deprived of the incense fire by heaven and earth, ultimately dying amidst various diseases."

"Master has no great skills, but can still bear the curse for a while longer."

Yuan Buyu’s original plan was to leave Ping Shui Prefecture as soon as possible, after he turned into a bizarre beast, Zhou Lingyi would go to remind Zhou Xuan of the "Heavenly Book Curse".

Since then, until Yuan Buyu thoroughly died, the curse would not fall upon Zhou Xuan.

Even if Yuan Buyu turned into a monster, living one more day meant shouldering the curse for Zhou Xuan one more day.

Thinking of this, Yuan Buyu shed tears again, seemingly convinced that in his heart, even with the Red Ginseng Child temporarily bearing the curse, the curse wrought by the Will Heavenly Book cannot be resolved.

And after he becomes the "Hundred Beasts’ Image" again, the days he could live were limited, sooner or later the curse would fall to Zhou Xuan’s head.

Zhou Xuan’s young life was still sliding towards the abyss, perhaps within half a month, perhaps within a month, it certainly wouldn’t be too long...

"Master, the Heavenly Book curse isn’t necessarily hopeless."

Upon hearing the terror of "Hundred Beasts’ Image", Zhou Xuan wasn’t disheartened, instead filled with an intense War Intent.

"What method?"

"Cut down ’Bi Fang’, and seize his Heavenly Book." Zhou Xuan said determinedly...