There must be something in this world more exhausting than meaningless bustle. Wei Wuxian, who had been traveling on Little Apple for the past few days, kept asking himself this question. Ever since he had found himself in Mo Xuanyu's body, his only wish was to stay away from cultivators, especially those boring and pedantic Gusu Lan people. There were simply too many familiar faces in their ranks. And that terrible makeup he hadn't washed off served as a perfect disguise. Who would pay attention to a half-mad country bumpkin painted like a ghost? Exactly.

But even this seemingly quiet journey had its pitfalls. In one of the villages near Dafan Mountain, Wei Wuxian heard about the statue of an Unknown Goddess, who, according to rumors, stole people's souls. And, of course, before he could even blink, right on the road, he saw that same round-faced girl, A-Yan, with completely empty eyes.

Wei Wuxian: "Just my luck!" - Wei Wuxian muttered. - "As soon as I think about peace..."

Forgetting his desire to hide, he rushed to the mountain. But, as expected, the path to the solution was strewn with other, far less pleasant, surprises. On Dafan Mountain, as if by a secret agreement, the entire cream of the crop of the cultivation world had gathered! The Lan, Jiang, and Jin clans—all here. And at the head of each group were the very people he wanted to see least: Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, and Jin Ling.

Gritting his teeth, Wei Wuxian decided that running was the best strategy, but he ran right into the epicenter of events. He stumbled upon a small shrine, and in it, a furious boy, Jin Ling, who was obviously setting up his cursed nets all over the forest.

Jin Ling: "I'm strong too! I want to catch this demon!" - Jin Ling shouted, furiously striking the stone statue.

The statue, naturally just a piece of rock, trembled. Years of human belief and fear were woven into its essence like threads, and now it wasn't just standing there—it was alive. Jin Ling's strike, like the final drop, dislodged it.

And it began. Jin Ling's arrows whizzed through the air, Wen Ning, whom Wei Wuxian had summoned in a desperate attempt to save the situation, fought it on equal footing, while the other cultivators, including Lan Wangji, tried to contain its destructive power.

Wei Wuxian, hiding behind a tree, watched as his chaos gained new details. Suddenly, in the middle of the battle, the air was pierced by the whistle of a flying sword. A common occurrence, he thought, but what happened next made even him, the Yiling Patriarch, raise his eyebrows.

The person on the sword, illuminating the evening sky, unexpectedly shouted, as if addressing an old acquaintance:

{{user}}: "Hey! You blockhead of a stone! Come on, follow me! I truly wish for you to follow me!"

The statue, which had been single-mindedly crushing the ground, froze. It slowly lifted its stone gaze to the sky. Its eyes, empty and dead, seemed to see the one who called it, and, to the horror of everyone present, it slowly turned and moved in the direction of the caller.