I am Serene Mountain.

After being abandoned, Master Patio found me in the mountains while gathering herbs. He claimed to have waited by my side for three days and nights, but no one came to claim me. So he brought me back with him to the Abyssal Pavilion, where I have since lived as an orphan under his care.

Master Patio perceived me as a calm and non-fussy baby, unlike other infants who cry and make noise. He assumed that I had been abandoned because of a possible brain disorder. However, he soon discovered that I was a perfectly healthy baby. He couldn't comprehend why someone would leave me in a remote mountain area, where there is a high risk of being taken by a wild animal such as a wolf, instead of being taken in and raised by someone.

Master Patio gave me the name Serene, likely because I am quiet and rarely show emotion. Felicity often says my name sounds like that of a young girl.

Felicity used to tease me for playing with a "doll", claiming it was something only girls played with. I remember feeling upset and insisting that it wasn't a doll, but rather a puppet. At the time, I couldn't quite articulate what made the two different, but I knew there was a distinction.

As time passed, I began to understand the differences between them. While we treat dolls as if they are real people, puppets are an extension of ourselves. I control the movements and words of a puppet, using it as a shield to speak for me and face those I do not want to confront directly. Later, I explained this reasoning to Felicity, and she also found this distinction very reasonable afterwards.

The Abyssal Pavilion stands tall, its foundation rooted in the depths of the Chasm of Abyss. Surprisingly, the top floor extends beyond the edges of the cliffs that surround it. A bridge connects this top floor to one side of the cliff, where Felicity can be found working.

Felicity shared my perspective, as she regularly interacts with puppets in her line of work. These puppets, who are being controlled by unknown individuals from different places, come to her with the intent of buying WhisperCoins or exchanging them for Spirit Stones. She charges fee of 0.25% for facilitating these transactions. She finds this job mundane and doesn't have to put in much effort. In fact, she has created a runes-based system called the Runic Matrix System that enables these puppets to operate independently. Her main responsibility is ensuring the system runs smoothly during trading hours in the morning.

Unlike her, I always meet real people at the lowest level of the Abyssal Pavilion. Some are severely injured, some are anxious, some are full of suspicion, and some are haunted by resentful spirits… Oh, and the last type is not allowed to enter the Abyssal Pavilion. As part of my duties, I must immediately alert an elder of a higher cultivation level than me if I encounter someone possessed by resentful spirits. The elder will then take action to drive away or even kill the people haunted by resentful spirits.

As for the rest of them, I simply inquire about their purpose and names before granting them entrance. The lowest level of the Abyssal Pavilion is safeguarded by a powerful defensive formation. Even if they harbor malicious intent, they would not be able to destroy this building. Yet, I have never encountered anyone willing to risk their life in an attempt to destroy it. If such individuals do exist, what could possibly drive them to take such a dangerous venture and reach the depths of the Chasm of Abyss?

“The Abyssal Pavilion provides shelter for the down-and-out from all over the world.” That’s how Master Patio described it to me. Most of the people who come here are wanted by the Immortal Alliance. Some have committed murder for treasure, some have offended high-ranking members of the Immortal Alliance, and some have destroyed the protective formations of the Immortal Alliance to illegally mine spirit stones.

I’m not actually very fond of this job either. Some people haunted by resentful spirits become angry when they are denied entry and try to break through the spiritual barrier to attack me. So, I let the puppet sit there in my place, and I operate it with my natural aura from a distance. After all, I only need to do four things: ask questions, sound the alarm, register, and close the defense array to let them come in.

These puppets are poorly made, and every time I use them my vision becomes blurry. Without even realizing it, I started squinting to try and see better, but no use. After a while, I noticed my eyesight was getting worse and ended up needing glasses. It wasn't until later that I discovered I could also see the world from the puppet's point of view with my eyes closed.

Of course, I don’t have to work as the entrance guard all the time. Such a boring job is definitely on a rotation. Sometimes, I also had to take care of the Frost Jade Pines that Master Patio planted in the past. Maintaining the trees has been replaced with new responsibilities now, but I can't tell if my workload has decreased at all.

This type of pine tree takes twenty years to mature, so we sowed seeds once a year in the past. The pine trees were divided into twenty sections based on their planting time.

At that time, I only needed to check once a month for any anomalies. In October, the workload might be heavier as I had to harvest pine seeds for planting the following year. The pine needles were like shards of frost, each one a glinting edge of ice, like a row of tiny jade swords standing guard over the tree's frozen heart, emanating a chill that seeped into the very soul. During this time, the puppet was of great help to me, as it could take the brunt of being pierced with holes. Then, in March of the following year, we would plant these seeds.

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There was a strange pine tree among them. At first, I thought it was just a newly planted tree. But as the years passed, the trees around it grew tall, while it never did. There was a small piece of obsidian embedded in its trunk. I asked Master Patio if we should cut it down, but he said no. I also asked if we should remove the obsidian, and he said no again. So, I left it alone.

In the month of December, my duties were slightly different from usual. I was tasked with pouring a deadly poison into the fully grown pine trees, allowing it to travel up through their trunks and branches until it saturated all the pine needles. Then, I would chop down these trees and gather their poisoned needles. Master Patio typically gave me an antidote pellet beforehand, but in reality, I always used a puppet to carry out these tasks to avoid any contact with the poison. Still, as an extra precaution, I would take the antidote before beginning since its effects lasted for about a week.

When I was thirteen years old, an unusual event occurred during that winter, which led to the fact that I no longer needed to continue taking care of this pine forest in the future.

In the section of the forest where I was about to fell trees, the pine tree that had never grown tall and was embedded with obsidian had surprisingly become very large, taller than the surrounding mature trees. “All the mature trees must be injected with poison.” Master Patio had said. As someone who always follows orders, this tree was likely facing its inevitable demise.

The spread of the poison would take a day and a night. The pine forest was also some distance away from the Abyssal Pavilion, so after I finished pouring the poison in the morning, I practiced for a while in the afternoon and then went to sleep at night in the cabin next to the forest.

In the evening, someone suddenly started pounding on my door. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I forced myself to wake up. I tentatively asked, “Is it Master Patio?”

Outside was the voice of a little boy, who sounded about eleven or twelve years old, crying out in pain: “Save me, you have an axe, save me.”

It was a truly puzzling response, but despite that, I opened the door. Outside, in the cold winter air, stood a small boy with locks of sage-colored hair cascading down to his shoulders. His exposed arms and legs were stained a deep purple, resembling the color of the poison I needed to pour on the pine trees. The discoloration seemed to have seeped beyond his joints, giving him an otherworldly appearance.

“Save me. Please cut off my limbs! Please!” He suddenly stretched out his hand forward, and despite having taken the antidote, I involuntarily took a step back.

I stood there, frozen for a moment, believing the boy must have accidentally come into contact with the poison I poured to the Frost Jade Pines. My heart tightened with concern – no child should have to endure such pain.

"Hold still," I commanded, trying to keep my voice steady as I manipulated my puppet to retrieve the axe. The boy didn't flinch or back away, instead stretching his arm out further, his eyes filled with desperate determination.

With precise control, I brought the axe down on his upper arm. The blade met resistance for only a fraction of a second before cleaving through. But instead of blood, what fell to the ground was a branch densely covered with needles – pine needles stained the same deep purple as his skin had been.

I stared in disbelief. "Who... what are you?" I asked, my normally composed voice wavering slightly. Despite my shock, I continued with the grim task as requested, bringing the axe down three more times to sever his remaining limbs. With each slice, the same unbelievable truth was exposed - arms that were branches and legs that were trunks, instead of normal human flesh. And to top it off, everything was painted a chilling shade of purple.

The boy's face showed relief rather than pain as the last limb fell. "I am a Frost Jade Pine," he said simply, as if this explained everything. His voice was clearer now, the strain of pain finally easing from it. "The poison had spread too far through my limbs. They needed to be removed before it could reach my neck vertebrae.

If the poison were to spread to the neck vertebra, I would be dead. "

I gazed upon the two branches and two trunks, resting on the snow-covered ground, purple needles on branches a stark contrast against the white landscape. Then my gaze shifted back to the boy, who was sitting on the ground with two legs cut off, somehow surviving this bizarre occurrence. In all the time I've spent at the Abyssal Pavilion, I had never witnessed such a strange occurrence.

Although this matter was strange, I decided to complete the task before leaving. The next day, I cut down the pine trees that had been soaked in poison the day before and collected the pine needles. On the third day, I returned to the Abyssal Pavilion with this strange little boy and a large bag of poisoned pine needles. By this time, the boy’s severed limbs had completely healed, as if he had never been injured.

After seeing the little boy, Master Patio became quite emotional. He murmured, “So much like…” Then he asked the boy a few questions, but the boy knew nothing. Finally, Master Patio named the boy Lenient Pine. The meaning of “Lenient” is somewhat similar to the name of the founder of the Abyssal Pavilion, Sage of Bamboo. Perhaps Master Patio felt that the boy resembled that Sage.

I also asked the boy about the obsidian. He retrieved the carving knife I used to make the puppet, sliced open his belly, and I saw the stone embedded inside. He pleaded with me not to report this to Master Patio, but I did so regardless. However, Master Patio did not demand that the boy surrender the obsidian.

And since then, I no longer needed to go to that pine forest. Because every time Master Patio needed the poisoned Frost Jade Pine Needles, Lenient Pine would soak his arms in the poison, and then I would operate the puppet at night to chop off his arms.

Every time making poisoned pine needles, Lenient’s arms are soaked in deadly poison

, leaving him bored and seeking conversation with me. However, I am not particularly skilled at chatting and prefer to simply listen and give brief responses. Despite this, Lenient believes I am the greatest conversationalist in the world.

His words always seemed fabricated and exaggerated. "Serene is the greatest conversationalist in the world" was example for his exaggeration. As for a fabricated one, he claimed that the stone in his body could communicate with him, and he was on a quest to find a girl named Obsidian. I simply hummed in response, knowing that I had touched that same obsidian and felt nothing but an ordinary stone.

Later, he also practiced cultivation with me. It is surprising that as a tree, he has a top-tier spiritual root in the Vita Element. However, it might also make sense, as I’ve heard that top-tier spiritual roots often appear in spiritual beasts. Perhaps trees are similar, as they are closer to nature.

Recently, Master Patio wanted to obtain the treasure of the Inferno Wolves tribe, the Moonlight Bead. Although he was in charge of the Abyssal Pavilion, which was quite loosely organized, the only people he trusted were me and Lenient Pine. So, he took us along to capture Spark Lumin, the third prince of the Inferno Wolves, who was planning to go to the Celestial Sword Sect to seek apprenticeship.

We had no idea what Spark Lumin looked like, and the Labyrinth Network of Elder Blackwood couldn’t find any information about him either. So when the puppet I controlled heard a man with a low ponytail claiming to be a prince in the clothing store, Lenient and I guessed that he was Spark Lumin.

Then, Lenient suggested robbing the wolf prince's money pouch because he felt annoyingly uncomfortable seeing the prince using money to win that girl's affection. He also wanted to check how much money the wolf prince had to confirm if he was indeed a prince. I thought his idea was absurd, but I didn‘t have a better one, so I did as he suggested.

Once my puppet was destroyed, he forced me to call for Master Patio. Despite his broken legs and missing arm, I never expected him to be able to chase them here. And I vaguely felt that he seemed to care a bit about that girl.

Now, he rests peacefully on the ethereal canoe. Master Patio's expression is grim, and it appears that our mission has been unsuccessful. Master Patio was on a journey to find the Moonlight Bead in order to cultivate more pine trees with spiritual intelligence, so I guess I can postpone dealing with more troubles like Lenient Pine for a while.

I am Serene Mountain. I'm also feeling a bit sleepy now.