Zhuo Wu had never been so flustered before.
His divine power, which was almost omnipotent in its strength, had no effect whatsoever on this evil entity. In fact, every time he tried to use his divine power, it would be completely devoured by the entity.
Of course, he couldn't bring himself to undress in public to remove the entity from his clothes either.
"Leave," Zhuo Wu managed to squeeze out two words from his throat.
Countless immortals looked up at him in confusion and panic: "Why, Lord Immortal?"
By this time, Jing Jiujiu had already slowly and painstakingly crawled up along his undergarments, occasionally kicking out a leg or two, not really knowing where he was kicking, as he tried to make his way up to Zhuo Wu's collar.
Behind the swirling mist of immortal energy, Zhuo Wu's expression was on the verge of cracking.
If this had been Jing Jiujiu's first time transforming into a little paper man, he probably wouldn't have been so adept.
But he had already trampled all over Bai Yuhuai's body countless times before, so naturally, he had become quite skilled at it... and now he had made it to his destination.
Jing Jiujiu grabbed hold of Zhuo Wu's collar, wedging himself against his Adam's apple. This way, he wouldn't fall down or flip out from the collar.
The veins on the back of Zhuo Wu's hand bulged even more prominently. Without another word, he turned and left with a sweep of his sleeve.
Several divine attendants immediately followed him, leaving the rest of the immortals still in a state of confusion and panic.
"Did the Lord Immortal just take something off Tingshan Zhenren's head?"
Tingshan Zhenren, the immortal who had been so frightened that he shattered his jade crown, whispered, "Could it be that my attire today offended the Lord Immortal? He seemed furious just now."
"No..." someone else shook their head, but couldn't explain what had happened.
He just felt that the Lord Immortal seemed to have grabbed onto something.
Zhuo Wu, with Jing Jiujiu in tow, entered another side hall, which opened up into an entirely different small world.
It had mountains, waters, flowers, and fruits.
Jing Jiujiu couldn't help but marvel. No wonder everyone wanted to become an immortal. Perhaps it was because immortals could create such dwellings with just a wave of their hand.
He wondered if money could achieve the same thing.
Jing Jiujiu was momentarily perplexed.
"Come out," Zhuo Wu's voice rang out.
Jing Jiujiu remained firmly nestled in his spot, completely oblivious.
The divine attendants, however, were so frightened that they all fell to their knees.
"Leave," Zhuo Wu cast them a glance and spoke coldly.
Once only Zhuo Wu remained in this small realm, he finally picked up Jing Jiujiu.
"What exactly are you? How dare you appear here?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Can you speak normal Chinese?"
Zhuo Wu: "So you can indeed speak... Are your facial features drawn with chimera blood? Besides the back of my mountain, where else are chimeras raised?"
Jing Jiujiu bit his finger again, feeling a bit angry: "I don't understand!"
Zhuo Wu seemed to realize something: "You don't understand?"
Zhuo Wu: "Are you from the Netherworld?" He spoke with a kind of detached indifference, unhurried: "No wonder a low-level evil entity from the Netherworld can't understand my words."
Jing Jiujiu: ?
He still couldn't understand, but he felt that Zhuo Wu probably wasn't saying anything nice.
Jing Jiujiu bit his finger even harder.
Zhuo Wu frowned slightly and loosened his grip a bit.
Jing Jiujiu struggled to write a character in his palm with his feet: I.
Am.
Wine.
Zhuo Wu's palm was incredibly itchy. He unconsciously curled his fingers: "Are you writing? What are you writing?"
Jing Jiujiu could tell from his response that he didn't understand.
Illiterate Zhuo Wu.
Jing Jiujiu thought to himself, not feeling the least bit guilty.
Zhuo Wu realized that this "evil entity" was trying to explain its origins, so he closed his palm, grasping Jing Jiujiu as he walked into yet another building.
He prepared ink and brush for Jing Jiujiu and tossed him onto the desk.
Jing Jiujiu tried to lift the brush.
"Thump"
The brush flattened him.
Jing Jiujiu: "..."
Zhuo Wu: "..."
Zhuo Wu quietly clenched his fingers.
Even though it was supposedly an evil entity, it didn't act like one at all.
Zhuo Wu quietly reached out and propped up the brush.
Jing Jiujiu just sighed.
This is why it's better to be human.
He dipped his feet in some ink and started scribbling on the paper again.
Zhuo Wu tried to decipher the characters.
At this point, Jing Jiujiu jumped off the desk and pitter-pattered towards a large vat. Of course, it was only large from his perspective. Jing Jiujiu kicked the vat a couple of times, then pointed at himself.
By now, Zhuo Wu had figured out what was written on the paper.
There were many things in this world that he could learn just by looking at them once, even seeing their past and future. This was Zhuo Wu's unique innate ability.
The paper read:
I am Jiujiu.
After some scribbling and erasing, two more characters were added: Yours.
Jing Jiujiu had added those after much consideration, worried that this Zhuo Wu might not like him. Who knew what the Bai Yuhuai from a thousand years ago was thinking? It wouldn't be good if he ended up fighting with his own people.
I am your Jiujiu
Zhuo Wu was stunned for a moment, the crooked characters drawn by the little paper man firmly imprinted in his divine consciousness.
He instinctively turned his head to see what the little evil entity was up to, but before he could spot Jing Jiujiu's movements, he first noticed a trail of ink dots on his jade-paved floor.
Those were all the footprints left by the little paper man.
Zhuo Wu: "..."
Never before had anything dared to be so brazen in his dwelling!
Jing Jiujiu waited for a long time, but got no reaction from Zhuo Wu.
Could it be that his eyesight wasn't very good?
Jing Jiujiu unhappily thumped the "vat" before slowly making his way back. He had gone to all the trouble of running to the big wine jar to give him a hint. Such a long journey, exhausting for a paper man! His legs were about to do the splits!
Zhuo Wu watched as the little paper man left another trail of ink dots.
Not only that.
The little paper man swaggered over to the bamboo couch and started climbing up.
Zhuo Wu had just used a spell to clean the floor, but when he turned around, he saw that the paper man had blackened the bed as well.
This time, even the veins on Zhuo Wu's temples throbbed.
He slowly walked to the bedside, bending down to pick up the little paper man again, but the paper man lifted his foot: "Look."
Jing Jiujiu's foot flopped down limply.
It was clearly because it had been soaked and saturated with ink that this happened.
Zhuo Wu: "..."
Jing Jiujiu: "What should we do?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Can you dry me off?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Sigh."
He sighed lightly, then made an effort to lift his foot again, rubbing it against Zhuo Wu's clothes.
Zhuo Wu: "......"
When the divine attendants cautiously pushed open the door to enter the building again, Zhuo Wu had cast a spell to set up a bonfire and was holding Jing Jiujiu over it to dry.
The attendant stuttered for a while: "L-Lord Immortal, this thing... this thing is truly evil! How dare it enter your dwelling, why trouble yourself, my Lord? You even had to light the qilin fire... I'll just..."
Zhuo Wu: "Don't move."
Attendant: "Lord Immortal, I'll bury this thing at the bottom of a pot as fertilizer..."
Zhuo Wu: "...This thing, I'm keeping it."
The attendant was stunned into silence, hurriedly kneeling down, his mind in turmoil. He couldn't calm down for a long while, as if Gong Gong had just crashed into Buzhou Mountain in his brain.
Zhuo Wu shook Jing Jiujiu a couple of times in his palm, then cupped him, pinching his feet.
They were dry.
When he opened his fingers, the little paper man's feet had fallen off.
Jing Jiujiu was dumbfounded.
Oh, right, paper that's been soaked and then fire-dried becomes especially brittle.
What to do without feet?
What to do!
Zhuo Wu picked up the tiny pieces of paper, his face showing no change in emotion. He placed the paper bits on the desk, then put Jing Jiujiu there as well.
"Go to the back mountain," he said.
The still-trembling attendant slowly raised his head: "Lord Immortal?"
"Kill a chimera and collect its blood."
The attendant dazedly got up and went to the back mountain as instructed.
Soon after, the attendant returned with a branch of bay leaves and chimera blood.
By this time, Zhuo Wu was cutting paper, shaping it bit by bit into a human form, still only palm-sized.
Jing Jiujiu was very dissatisfied. Couldn't he make one as big as the paper man that was custom-made before?
Jing Jiujiu circled around Zhuo Wu's hand, pointing and gesturing.
The two of them talked at cross purposes for a while. Zhuo Wu seemed to only understand part of it, though of course, he might have been pretending. In the end, the paper man was cut to the same size as before.
However, when the attendant saw what Zhuo Wu was holding in his hand, he couldn't help but look shocked.
Zhuo Wu was skilled at painting, and his expertise was quite profound.
Once the paper figurine was cut out, he dipped his brush in mirage blood and slowly dotted on the facial features.
Jing Jiujiu immediately opened his mouth: "You're so stupid, couldn't you have made me a bit bigger?"
The divine attendant didn't understand what this "evil thing" was saying, but as he listened, he felt it sounded like it was cursing at the Immortal Lord. The attendant was left dumbfounded.
Zhuo Wu's expression remained unchanged as he reached out to grab Jing Jiujiu.
Jing Jiujiu was small and slippery, and having switched to a new body, he could run even faster. With a quick swoosh, he landed on Zhuo Wu, stomped twice for good measure, then slid down his robe.
Zhuo Wu: "..."
Behind the clouds and mist, the tips of his ears slowly turned crimson.
The divine attendant watched this scene unfold, utterly astonished.
From that day forward,
Atop Gushe Mountain, in addition to the lofty Immortal Lord, there was now another entity that could not be trifled with.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed.
The immortals once again ascended Gushe Mountain and prostrated themselves before Zhuo Wu.
Zhuo Wu still sat upon his high throne, but now there was a paper figurine atop his head, sometimes standing, and when tired of standing, sitting down.
"..." He almost thought this thing would turn into a bird and build a nest to lay eggs on his head.
"We beseech the Immortal Lord to allow us to stay here."
"The Netherworld has largely collapsed, many immortal realms have had their barriers broken, spiritual energy is leaking out, two celestial stars have fallen, and besides Qi Mountain, Kunlun Mountains, and Gushe..."
"There's nowhere left for us to take refuge."
By this time, Jing Jiujiu could understand most of what was being said.
From their words, he gradually pieced together some information—
The reason they came to pay homage at Gushe Mountain every month was, firstly, to implore Zhuo Wu's protection, and secondly, to regain some of their divine power on Gushe Mountain, absorbing enough spiritual energy to sustain themselves for a while longer after leaving.
Zhuo Wu, however, remained silent throughout.
In a place where those below couldn't see, he quietly raised his hand to steady the small paper figurine that was about to fall from his head.
"There are many rumors now, saying that the Divine Court is on the verge of collapse, and gods great and small are in a state of panic. We don't know if it's true."
"Please, Immortal Lord, give us guidance."
They continued to kneel and plead.
The one who had shattered his crown last time didn't dare wear one this time, only bowing and kowtowing.
"All things have a beginning and an end. Mortals believe that becoming immortal means eternal life. Do you believe that too?" Zhuo Wu said calmly.
Jing Jiujiu tugged at Zhuo Wu's ear.
So, Zhuo Wu wasn't afraid of death?
Zhuo Wu raised his hand again, cradling Jing Jiujiu in his palm.
On the other side, one immortal boldly raised his head.
Uh.
Why was the Immortal Lord pulling his own ear?