A figure sat upright at the center of the great tree, his armor looking as though it had been woven from tree roots.
His eyes snapped open.
"Chen Sanwa, it's me," Li Qingxian said.
The scarlet in Chen Sanwa's eyes slowly turned black. He hurried to his feet and said, "The tree guardian greets his master."
"How have you been here?" Li Qingxian asked.
Back in the Eerie Village, Chen Sanwa had been chosen as the tree guardian. They had also met in the Eerie City.
"I just sit here cultivating. There's not much else to it." A hint of dejection appeared on Chen Sanwa's face.
"Your family is doing well," Li Qingxian said.
"Thank you." A faint smile appeared on Chen Sanwa's face.
"A friend of mine, Shen Xiaoyi, was dragged into an eerie ground by the Grim-Faced Spider. Could you find some way to help? Or could you ask the Weird Mother whether she has a way?"
"If it were you who needed saving, the old madam would certainly act," Chen Sanwa said. "But she probably wouldn't bother caring about anyone else."
"True..."
Chen Sanwa thought for a moment, then said, "Is this person a close friend of yours? Tell me roughly what he looks like, and I'll see if there's anything I can do. I saw Xiang Nanny before, and she mentioned you. Perhaps she could pass along a message or something."
"All right," Li Qingxian said. "His name is Shen Xiaoyi, but to make traveling easier, he likes dressing as a man. He's so pretty that one look is enough to tell he's a woman. I've never bothered exposing him..."
Before Li Qingxian finished, Chen Sanwa said, "I know how to get the old madam to act."
"How?" Li Qingxian asked.
"Tell her Shen Xiaoyi is