The sage was determined to die.

The old woman raised an eyebrow, looking at Ji Bai with great disbelief, and said, "You arranged this?"

Ji Bai never expected to run into Yan Ming and his group here.

...Upon closer reflection, it seems he did receive protection money from these people.

Ji Bai did not answer, a slight change appeared on his face, but he still remained calm and said, "Not really."

It doesn't really count, but it does count to some extent.

As if she had discovered some secret, the old woman looked Ji Bai up and down, her face flushed, and asked, "How do you plan to sneak in?"

Ji Bai whispered a few words in her ear.

After listening to the conversation, the old woman looked at Ji Bai with some curiosity.

While Yan Ming and the others were still wandering around like headless flies, Ji Bai came to a pond, squatted down beside it, and looked at his own reflection in the book. He was about to wash his face when he suddenly turned to look at Granny Tanxin and said, "Men and women should not touch each other."

The mother-in-law was successfully disgusted by this sentence and went through a whole process.

However, she didn't forget to sarcastically remark, "Even if you wash your face clean, so what?"

Ji Bai ignored her.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't worried. Ji Bai took a deep breath, submerged his entire face in the water, and rubbed his face vigorously.

Fortunately, he was lucky.

Ji Bai was just trying it out; he never expected that his face would be so easily whitewashed.

He patted his cheeks, trying to appear awkward and inexperienced, as if he were a complete novice.

He called his mother-in-law over for a heart-to-heart talk.

When the old woman approached Ji Bai again, her voice unconsciously rose a few decibels as she asked, "Is your face fake?"

Each of the guards on the mountain of books has a patch of red skin on its body, which can be large or small, and is like a brand.

Ji Bai rolled his eyes at her first, then quickly lifted his collar, revealing a patch of red skin that she glanced at briefly, before calmly saying, "What's the panic? If I'm going to infiltrate, can't I prepare in advance?"

He maintained his aloof and superior attitude.

Although her skin color had changed, her annoying demeanor remained the same, and the old woman even overlooked some of the oddities for a moment.

Ji Bai said irritably, "Do you still want to escape from the mountain of books? If you do, then continue to do as I say."

The old woman scoffed, "Aren't you afraid of being exposed in front of them?"

Ji Bai said incredulously, "So what if we're exposed? We're examiners of the Book Mountain; do we have to be afraid of a few students?"

The mother-in-law was speechless for a moment during the heart-to-heart talk.

……

Yan Ming and his companions wandered aimlessly through the puppet forest, exhausted, without ever leaving the forest or encountering any other living beings.

"Are we going to be trapped here?" someone asked worriedly.

Yan Ming felt a little uneasy. For some reason, as soon as he arrived in this forest, he had a bad feeling. This unpleasant feeling was like being sold out and then having to count the money for the seller.

Just as Yan Ming was about to say something, a rustling sound of footsteps suddenly came from the woods.

The group of people who were already close together immediately huddled together, instinctively pushing and shoving each other, and Yan Ming was pushed to the very front.

An old woman with a hunched back and an eerie aura appeared before them.

After a long pause, the old woman suddenly revealed a set of yellow teeth, and her bark-like, withered face suddenly relaxed. She spoke in a low, sinister voice:

"You're here to participate in the literary talent competition, right?"