Chapter 62 Qiansizhong Xiaoliu

Upon hearing Shao Yanzhe address him as "Mr. Liu," the man inside the prison slowly stood up, gripping the wooden bars of the cell with both hands, and poked his head out to look at him.

"Who are you? How did you get in?"

Listening to the man's voice and observing his expression, Shao Yanzhe immediately confirmed that this person was not Mr. Liu.

He could see the similarities between the three Mr. Lius from the subtle details, and through language probing and careful observation during their interactions, he determined that the three of them were one person. They were just pretending, creating the illusion that they were different and not one person.

But the person in front of me was not him. His eyes, movements, and tone of voice were all different, with no resemblance whatsoever.

Just as Shao Yanzhe was sizing up the person in front of him, the person inside was also curiously sizing him up.

This is the first person to come in after all this time.

This person looked like a scholar, and although he appeared somewhat disheveled, his eyes gave him a comfortable feeling, and he developed a liking for him at first glance.

"Hey! Are you mute?" he spoke again.

Shao Yanzhe snapped out of his daze, looked at the person inside, and instead of answering his question, asked, "Who are you? Why are you locked up here?"

"My name is Xiaoliu. My best friend lost his body, so I gave it to him," Xiaoliu answered earnestly, with a touch of naivety.

Shao Yanzhe's eyes immediately changed. So, the Mr. Liu he had met before was not the original owner of the willow tree, but an outsider who had taken over the original owner of the willow tree!

He looked Xiaoliu up and down, but couldn't detect any signs that he was lying.

"Were you locked up here by your good friend?" Shao Yanzhe asked.

Xiaoliu nodded innocently, "Yes, he did it to protect me. There are many bad people outside who could hurt me."

Shao Yanzhe looked at Xiaoliu with a complicated expression. That Mr. Liu was really a sinner!

Xiao Liu seems to have no problem with intelligence, but her emotional intelligence is about the same as that of a three or four-year-old child. She is at the stage where she believes whatever is said. If her emotional intelligence were to increase by another two or three years, she would no longer be able to be fooled.

Shao Yanzhe's eyes darted around, and he looked at Xiaoliu with an innocent expression, saying, "Do I look like a bad person to you?"

Xiaoliu quickly shook her head: "Of course you're not a bad person!"

Shao Yanzhe continued, "Then come with me and leave this place. I'll protect you!"

Xiao Liu was somewhat tempted, but still hesitated: "But my good friend told me to wait for him here."

"How long has it been since your good friend last visited you?"

"It's been over a hundred years!" Xiaoliu said somewhat dejectedly.

"Look, your good friend hasn't come to see you for so long, maybe something happened to him, why don't you go visit him?"

Xiaoliu's eyes slowly lit up: "You're right! I'm going to find my best friend!"

Shao Yanzhe nodded with a smile: "That's more like it! I'll get you out right away."

Xiaoliu shook her head and said, "No need, I can come out by myself."

After he finished speaking, he walked out of the prison and looked at Shao Yanzhe with anticipation.

"We're leaving now! You must protect me well!"

Shao Yanzhe looked at the intact prison, then at Xiao Liu who walked out of the prison with ease, and his lips twitched a few times.

No, is this prison merely a decorative structure?

Xiao Liu didn't care what he was thinking. He glanced at Shao Yanzhe, pondered for a moment, and then hid behind him, letting him block his way.

"Hurry! Hurry! I need to rescue my best friend!"

Shao Yanzhe turned around, thinking to himself, "Your good friend doesn't need your rescue."

"What would you do if your best friend did a lot of bad things, like killing a lot of people?" he asked tentatively.

Xiao Liu leaned forward and said firmly, "My good friend is a very good person; he wouldn't kill anyone!"

"What if? And it was someone you killed with your own body. I've heard that monsters who kill people get struck by lightning. Is that true?" Shao Yanzhe asked curiously.

Xiaoliu shuddered, her face turning pale: "You, how did you know?"

"So, it's true after all!" Shao Yanzhe exclaimed in realization.

Then he stopped and looked at Xiaoliu seriously, saying, "In that case, you should go back to prison. The reason you haven't been struck by lightning for so many years is obviously because there is an outsider inside your body. If the higher-ups notice this after you go out and send down heavenly lightning, you might die."

"No! If my best friend really does something bad, I have to stop him!" Xiaoliu said firmly.

"Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

"I'm scared! But I still have to stop my best friend!"

Shao Yanzhe was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. He sighed and said, "You need to think this through. Once you're out, there's no going back. Your best friend might even be hoping you're locked up in jail forever. If you try to stop him, he might resent you. At that point, forget about your best friend; he might even see you as an enemy, and you'll have no good friends left."

Xiaoliu said earnestly, "So what? I just wanted to stop him from making the same mistakes. It's okay if we can't be good friends anymore."

"If that's the case, then let's go!"

Shao Yanzhe turned and walked out, and Xiao Liu quickly followed.

As soon as I stepped out of there, the space behind me collapsed with a roar, and the passageway beneath my feet shook violently.

The cells on both sides slowly crumbled, and countless pieces of wood fell down with a rustling sound. The tree roots that were moving through the space accelerated their movement, and I inexplicably saw the snake pit. This scene was extremely disturbing.

"What happened?"

"Is that monster going to eat us all?"

"Run! This place is going to collapse!"

"Aaaaaah! Help! I'm being pinned down!"

"Help! I'm going to fall!"

"No! I don't want to die!"

The scholars who were mechanically and numbly writing were jolted awake from their dazed state as if struck by a stick. They hurriedly escaped from their cells and gathered with the other scholars.

But some people were slower and got crushed under the crumbling blocks of wood; they reached out to the others for help.

The successful scholars exchanged glances, then ultimately chose to look away.

They are struggling to survive themselves, and have no energy left to help others.

Shao Yanzhe, leaning against the violently shaking wall, looked at Xiaoliu: "Can you control it?"

Xiaoliu said somewhat flusteredly, "I'll try!"

After he finished speaking, he closed his eyes and began to try to control his own body.

outside world.

Mr. Liu, who was lecturing the students, paused, and his eyes instantly darkened.

He stood up, turned his head to look at the willow tree next to him, his eyes filled with resentment.

"Mr. Liu, what's wrong?" a newly arrived scholar asked in confusion.

The scholars who had been there for some time lowered their heads, not daring to look.

"Shut up!"

Mr. Liu gave the scholar a sinister look, then with a wave of his hand, a willow branch appeared, wrapped around the man, and hung him in mid-air.

The scholar, whose mouth was covered, looked terrified and made muffled, fearful noises.

The scholars below were terrified at the sight. They couldn't understand why Mr. Liu, who was usually so frightening during the day, had become so terrifying.

They wanted to leave their seats, but were afraid of Mr. Liu's tyranny and dared not act on their own. They could only look at the others with panic in their eyes.

"Brother Liu, what should we do now?" Chen Yunhe asked Liu Mingyuan beside him, his face pale.

Liu Mingyuan was equally at a loss, having no idea how to answer his question.

At this moment, he couldn't help but miss the days when Shao Yanzhe was around. Although he often acted unpredictably, he always had a solution in mind and the ability to face danger.

He was too lazy in the past, which has resulted in him lacking in literary talent and being unable to face the dangerous situation he is in now.

Brother Shao! Where are you?

Please come and save me!

He and Chen Yunhe huddled together, shivering like little chicks exposed to the rain, pitifully needing the care of their mother hen.

Wen Yanqing and Su Yuheng were in a better position; their literary energy was enough to protect themselves, so they weren't completely helpless against a powerful demon.

Inside the willow tree.

"Waaaah! How did it turn out like this!" Xiaoliu cried as she regained control of her body, only to discover that it had been completely soaked in resentment, and the part that had been separated was a condensation of that resentment.

He looked at the thousands of souls wrapped and suspended by willow branches. Some had already become part of the willow tree, while others were in a state of being partially absorbed. Only a few souls were in slightly better condition, but if they did not return to their bodies soon, they would immediately become wandering ghosts.

With Xiaoliu's control, the surroundings stopped shaking so violently.

"How is it? Are you able to get your body back?" Shao Yanzhe asked.

Xiaoliu shook her head: "No, he takes up too much time; I can only control half of it."

"That's fine then. In that case, let's release them all first!"

"good!"

Xiaoliu is trying hard to seize control.

"Mr. Liu?" a surprised and uncertain voice rang out.

"What! Mr. Liu! Where is he?"

The crowd's panicked gazes swept around, and finally, all eyes fell on Xiaoliu, their eyes filled with fear.

When Zhou Jiming saw Shao Yanzhe standing next to Mr. Liu, and seeing the relaxed atmosphere between the two, he couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"Brother Shao, what's going on?"

Shao Yanzhe glanced at Xiaoliu and told him the details.

"What! He's the willow tree spirit? That Mr. Willow has taken over his body!"

Zhou Jiming couldn't believe it. He couldn't understand how a monster could have its body taken over by a scholar.

Is he really that useless?

The other scholars, upon hearing this, also looked incredulous, clearly not believing it.

“These things aren’t important right now; getting out of here is the priority,” Shao Yanzhe said.

Zhou Jiming nodded immediately: "That's right! Can he get us out of here?"

Shao Yanzhe looked at Xiaoliu.

Xiaoliu opened her eyes, her green pupils emitting a faint green light: "Of course I can. Don't struggle, I'll send you out now."

"I don't want to!" a scholar suddenly spoke up, his eyes filled with wariness and disgust as he looked at Shao Yanzhe and the others.

"Who knows if you're planning to devour us! I'm not going to obediently go and die!"

As he spoke, he turned and ran in the opposite direction.

With this scholar taking the lead, the other scholars, who were already wavering, followed suit. They were naturally wary of strangers, and the fact that Xiao Liu and Mr. Liu looked alike only increased their distrust.

"Hey! Don't run around! It's dangerous!" Xiao Liu reached out to stop them, but the people ran even faster when they heard his voice and quickly disappeared from their sight.

He was about to chase after them when Shao Yanzhe stopped him.

"Alright, let them run if they want. Just make sure they don't die. Get us out of here first!"

"good!"

Xiao Liu acted quickly this time, fearing that the remaining scholars might also escape. Before they could react, she controlled the willow branches to wrap them up and send them away.

When Shao Yanzhe opened his eyes, he was met with Mr. Liu's gloomy face.

He glanced around and saw that he was now in the courtyard where Mr. Liu used to teach. Then he saw Liu Mingyuan and the others. Seeing that they were alright, he felt much relieved.

Mr. Liu glanced at Shao Yanzhe, and finally fixed his gaze on Xiao Liu.

He frowned at him and said, "Xiao Liu, didn't I tell you it's dangerous outside? You're naive by nature and easily deceived by those with ulterior motives."

As he spoke, he glanced at Shao Yanzhe, clearly referring to him as the person with ulterior motives.

Xiaoliu tilted her head slightly and stared at him, her eyes still glowing with a faint green light, her face full of doubt.

"Fu Si, have you forgotten that when I come out, I will have the memories of my original self? I am no longer the innocent person I used to be."

Upon hearing this, Liu Fusi's previously composed gentle demeanor vanished, replaced by a sinister gaze that swept over Shao Yanzhe. He knew that it was all thanks to this scholar that Xiao Liu had been released from prison.

"Hmph! All you're saying is because you're disgusted with me, aren't you? You've found new friends and are planning to abandon me, your old best friend, isn't that right?"

As he spoke, he glared at Shao Yanzhe, then looked at Xiaoliu and said, "They were right after all. Monsters are ruthless creatures. If I had known this would happen, I should have killed you back then!"

Xiaoliu immediately turned pale and subconsciously took a few steps back.

Shao Yanzhe stepped forward and glanced at Liu Fusi: "What? You, who stole someone else's body and deceived someone else's feelings, are actually turning the tables on me!"

He raised his voice, trying to make sure everyone present could hear: "Xiao Liu looks like he's just transformed, like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child with amnesia, who doesn't understand anything. You actually took advantage of his ignorance to deceive him. You are a cunning, hypocritical, and sycophantic villain!"

What? Now that you've been exposed, you're getting angry and embarrassed? Everyone here knows exactly what kind of person you are!

Moreover! The only profound knowledge you possess that you can be proud of is something you've stolen from others.

You're a complete and utterly useless piece of trash!

He spoke very quickly, not allowing anyone else to interrupt, but strangely enough, everyone present heard what he said clearly.

Liu Fusi, the target of the attack, turned ashen-faced. His gaze swept around him, and he saw the contempt in the eyes of those around him, which made him even angrier.

Damn it!

"You all deserve to die!"

Looking at the people around him, he found them increasingly repulsive.

His body surged with energy, and he reached out his hand toward the willow tree.

The next moment, a dark shadow slowly detached from the willow tree, and countless black willow branches hung down like silk threads, with souls that had long since turned to ashes hanging from them, and one could faintly hear the wailing from within.

Just one glance was enough to make me dizzy, and negative emotions surged within me, filling me with a violent rage. I just wanted to destroy everything around me.

Shao Yanzhe looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar tree and forcibly suppressed the negative emotions in his heart.

"Is this tree beyond your control?" he asked.

"Yes, it's formed from resentment. Over the years, it's probably become one with him. I can't control it." Xiao Liu lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's nothing. By the way, could you help me find my pen?"

Shao Yanzhe and Xiaoliu described the appearance of the jade hairpin pen.

"good!"

"Brother Shao, don't look for your pen yet. What should we do now?" Zhou Jiming asked anxiously.

Shao Yanzhe looked at the huge black willow tree with a solemn expression and said, "From now on, we can only take it one step at a time."

"I've searched the area within a five-mile radius, but I haven't found the pen you mentioned," Xiao Liu said with a guilty expression.

"fine."

Shao Yanzhe stared at the large black tree, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Hey? Brother Shao, is that your pen?" Zhou Jiming's voice suddenly rang out.

Shao Yanzhe moved his gaze and walked in the direction he was pointing, and saw his jade hairpin pen hanging on that big black tree!