Entering Changbai Mountain Back Then, Strange Events Emerge Today

After the mobilization rally, Evan Lin kept going to school and attending classes as usual. But now, whether he was walking through the campus of Capitalview First High School or just out on the street, he drew stares everywhere—people recognized him all the time.

Some girls from other schools even came all the way to Capitalview First High just to wait at the front gate, hoping to catch a glimpse of Evan Lin in person.

Compared to before, Lynn Chen had become much quieter and more withdrawn.

Whenever she ran into Evan Lin in the school hallway, Lynn Chen would almost always take a detour to avoid him.

At times like this, Lynn Chen really wanted to reach out to Rachel Liu, just to find out what Rachel was thinking.

Right now, she just felt like she couldn’t face Evan Lin at all.

Even though Lynn Chen knew she’d been way too harsh to Evan Lin in the past, she never imagined it would leave such a deep wound.

Every time she remembered Evan Lin’s words on the podium, Lynn Chen was flooded with regret and a crushing sense of defeat.

She threw herself even harder into studying and practice exams, trying to numb herself with the grind and aiming for Beijing University.

Maybe only by getting into a top school like Beijing could she ever hope to help Evan Lin someday—to make up for everything she’d done to him before.

Evan Lin had no idea what was going on in Lynn Chen’s head. But seeing her clearly not interested in talking to him, he couldn’t be bothered to put on a warm face for someone giving him the cold shoulder.

After the rally, Wendy Wen stepped down from her roles as arts club president and head of the broadcasting station, throwing herself into exam prep. She planned to apply to Quhang Communication University’s broadcasting program and become a host in the future.

Ivy Liang pretty much stopped talking to Evan Lin altogether. The less she could see through him, the more she instinctively pulled away.

Back at home, Stella Huang and Irene Xu kept brainstorming for Evan Lin. When Irene heard he’d turned down Clearwater University, she shot him a bitter, almost resentful look—like she couldn’t believe any normal person would do that.

Who in their right mind would pass up a guaranteed spot at Clearwater?

In all of China, there were hardly any schools that could compare with Clearwater.

As the college entrance exam got closer, Irene Xu started whipping up all kinds of brain-boosting dishes for Evan Lin, always switching things up. Her logic was simple: lock down his stomach first, so that when he filled out his college choices, he’d think about the food and maybe decide to stay in Capitalview.

“Honestly, Capitalview University’s actually pretty good.”

That was Irene’s favorite line. Stella Huang would sometimes chime in too—they both didn’t want the gaokao to mean a permanent goodbye to Evan Lin.

Evan Lin just smiled and didn’t answer either way.

A week later, Byron Yang was at the blackboard going over how to solve a system of quadratic equations. As he taught, his eyes kept drifting to the back row—to Evan Lin’s seat.

Evan Lin was sitting there, head tilted, gazing out the window at the plane tree leaves rustling in the wind.

Whenever Byron saw this, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of longing for his own high school days. Evan Lin was basically the very image of the youth every guy dreamed of having.

Top grades, a soccer ace, dazzling and wild, never bound by anyone’s rules, and with a crowd of girls always ready to cheer him on.

That daydream only lasted about three seconds before Byron snapped out of it. He turned back, chalk in hand, wrote a formula on the board, and as he turned to explain it to the class, he glanced back and suddenly noticed—Evan Lin’s seat was empty.

In that instant, Byron felt a faint, inexplicable sense of loss—like a leaf breaking free from the tree and drifting gently to the ground or floating on a pond’s surface, light and aimless.

He paused for a moment, then went on teaching the rest of the class.

Evan Lin slipped out of the classroom with his phone and headed to the end of the hallway, leaning on the railing.

He looked out toward the sports field, where students were having gym class. The boys playing basketball were getting more fired up with every cheer from the girls on the sidelines.

“Alright, what’s up?”

Evan Lin yawned, sounding totally casual.

On the other end, Summer Mu hesitated for a moment before speaking: "I’ve tracked down where Master Morgan was before. I’ve got a lead."

Earlier, Zuo He and Zuo Shan flew out to Changbai Mountain. I had someone check with the locals—Zuo He and Zuo Shan really did go into the mountains, but after they went in, no one knows where they ended up.

And Master Morgan only reappeared in the world after Zuo He and Zuo Shan left Changbai Mountain. So it looks like they really went there to find him, and Morgan’s been hiding out in the mountain for years.

But as for exactly where—no clue. With all that snow, it’s basically impossible to track anyone down in there. Plus...

Summer paused, sounding a little hesitant.

"Plus what?"

Evan Lin picked up on the weird vibe and got curious.

Summer was silent for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and said, "I found something odd."

"Something odd?" Evan Lin frowned.

"Yeah. I sent people to ask some of the old-timers around there, and they all said that decades ago, they saw a young man go into Changbai Mountain alone."

Later, I showed them a photo of Morgan. Even after all these years, except for some extra white in his beard, he hadn’t changed much—they recognized him instantly as the guy who went into Changbai Mountain alone.

Summer’s voice dropped: "But here’s the kicker—the most important thing is, they said Morgan didn’t go into Changbai Mountain on his own..."

"He didn’t go in on his own?"

Evan Lin raised his eyebrows.

All the rumors said Master Morgan was unbeatable—a peak first-grade Vajra, looking down on everyone.

With a reputation like that, nobody had ever heard a single bad word about him.

And when he went into seclusion to break the Vajra barrier, wasn’t that supposed to be his own choice?

Right now, Evan Lin couldn’t shake a weird feeling.

"Yeah, Morgan didn’t go into Changbai Mountain of his own accord."

According to those old-timers, Morgan was forced into Changbai Mountain.

In other words, someone was actually hunting him down back then.

Hunting down a peak first-grade Vajra—Master Morgan himself!