Live in the present.
Listening to Joy Zheng's words, Evan Lin felt a quiet calm inside.
He didn't ask about the meaning behind Joy Zheng's words.
But he guessed that Joy Zheng was probably worried, afraid Evan Lin would go to the Upper-Grade Lin Clan.
That Lin Clan is a terrifying existence in the mundane world.
"Mom, don't worry. I always know my limits."
Evan Lin spoke softly.
"Mm, I know. Evan, you've grown up."
Joy Zheng's voice was gentle, followed by a long silence: "I won't disturb your rest. Remember to sleep early, don't stay up too late, and if you can, drink a glass of warm milk before bed."
"It's good for your health."
After the call ended, Evan Lin leaned there, staring blankly at the sky that had gone completely dark.
He didn't know why.
The closer he got to that mysterious place, the heavier the unease deep inside him became.
Especially that child's face—it kept appearing in Evan Lin's mind.
But whenever Evan tried to recall the details of that child's face, he suddenly found it had become extremely blurry.
He couldn't see it clearly.
It was as if there was an eternal fog between him and the face, one he could never cross.
"What are you... really?"
Evan Lin murmured to himself.
Early the next morning, the sun rose over the horizon.
As the first rays of sunlight appeared at dawn, Evan Lin took out the scroll.
When the scroll touched sunlight, layers of white light rippled across its surface again.
The vanished beam of light reappeared.
Evan Lin left the hotel and followed the beam.
He passed through the county town, climbed two mountains, and waded across a river.
After nearly two hundred kilometers, he finally reached the edge of a cliff.
Looking out from here, all around was dense, lush forest.
From this height, you could barely see any sign of human presence.
"Is this the place?"
Evan Lin frowned. The scroll hovered motionless in front of him.
The beam of light on the scroll had already faded away.
But a quick glance around revealed nothing special.
He couldn't see any trace of the mysterious place.
"Last time I followed Moonshade to a Mysterious Ruin, there were at least some illusion formations around the area. But here, everything looks ordinary—nothing at all."
Evan Lin thought to himself. Then earthy yellow light rippled over his body as he transformed into his Earth-Spirit Mortal Body, using all the soil and rock as his eyes to search for anomalies nearby.
Soon, Evan sensed a faint disturbance less than a hundred meters underground from this spot.
He jumped down from the cliff, landed, and walked another hundred meters south. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing.
"That's the smell of a swamp."
"How could a swamp appear in a place like this?"
Evan was still puzzled, but the rotten stench in the air grew stronger and stronger.
"Just now, standing a hundred meters away, I should've been able to sense a swamp here if there really was one."
"But now, only when I'm close do I notice anything. Someone's messed with this place."
Evan Lin calmed himself and stepped forward.
Ahead was a small grove, looking just like all the woods he'd passed through before—no difference at all.
The only difference was the faint stench lingering in the air.
When he hadn't stepped forward yet, the stench wasn't obvious.
But as soon as his foot landed, the rotten smell hit him full-on, making Evan Lin frown repeatedly.
"It's barely a step's difference, but the change in the air is huge."
Evan looked at the surrounding trees and plants, and only then noticed that the leaves and branches seemed completely frozen, not moving at all.
In all the places he'd passed earlier, no matter how still the woods, the wind would always stir the leaves just a bit.