The bark that formed the face began to peel away, rustling down to the ground like an old, withered tree marching toward its doom.
When he looked again, the spot where the face had been was normal, as though it had never appeared.
Once the strange thing died, the Chinese scholar tree returned to normal, Xu Bai thought.
The little courtyard fell silent once more, no different from before. It looked utterly ordinary, and the Chinese scholar tree no longer held any power to beguile others.
Even if ordinary people entered again, they would not be affected by the Chinese scholar tree.
Xu Bai stood where he was for a while before turning and returning to his room.
The next day.
As the first ray of sunlight shone onto the streets of Sheng County, people began another busy day.
The streets gradually grew lively, changing from silence to clamor in just half an hour.
On both sides of the street, common folk still rushed about to make a living. Those setting up stalls and those opening shops were all busily occupied.
County Magistrate Zhang's execution yesterday had shaken the entire county town, but life was still life. At most, people chatted about it for a few sentences over meals.
Other than that, it had barely affected the common people at all.
Since County Magistrate Zhang's death, Sheng County had been without its local magistrate, yet this had not affected its daily affairs.
Given the efficiency of the Great Chu Kingdom, the new local magistrate was already on the road and would soon take office.
The common people had watched the excitement at the time, but as time passed, they would slowly forget about it.
Cries of hawking occasionally rang out from both sides of the street. In the middle