Chapter 654: The Old Man Who Chopped Trees

Yu Lin, taking advantage of the nice weather today, joined an outing spring‑tour group.

To avoid being hit on.

This time he deliberately changed his appearance, making his features ordinary, the kind that disappears in a crowd and can't be picked out.

He wore a gray sports jacket, old sneakers on his feet, and a backpack, looking no different from the weekend hikers out there.

The tour bus stopped at the scenic area's entrance, and the visitors filed out one after another.

The guide held up a small yellow flag, shouting, "Stay together, don't get separated."

Yu Lin blended into the crowd, following at a moderate distance.

The weather today was fine, cloudy; the sun hid behind the clouds, occasionally peeking out half‑face from a gap and spilling a warm glow.

Not sunny, not gloomy, the temperature was just right, and the wind carried the fresh, crisp scent unique to the mountains.

The mountain range ahead stretched and rolled, its highest point hidden in the clouds, the summit invisible.

The mountain was covered in layers of green—dark, light, and ink‑green—like a piece of crumpled silk.

Visitors took photos at the mountain's base, some holding up their phones,

some holding cameras, some holding selfie sticks, making various gestures at the lens.

Yu Lin didn't linger; he stepped onto the stone stairs leading up the mountain and began to ascend.

The stone steps were narrow, allowing only two people side by side.

Both sides were thickets of shrubs, branches and leaves reaching into the path, occasionally brushing against passersby's clothes.

At first the stretch was still lively, with people ahead and behind, their talking, laughing, and footsteps mingling together.

Yu Lin walked in the middle, neither hurried nor slow.

After about half an hour, the crowd began to thin out.

Some grew tired and sat by the path to rest; some thought the scenery wasn't good enough and turned back down the mountain; others were left far behind, their shadows disappearing from sight.

Yu Lin continued upward, his pace unchanged—neither fast nor slow, breathing steady, not a drop of sweat on his forehead.

Few could keep up with him.

The stone steps grew steeper, the trees on either side taller, their branches and leaves intertwining overhead into a green canopy that blocked the sunlight.

The air turned damp, carrying the scent of soil and decaying leaves.

Ahead lay a patch of lingering mist, thin as a gauze veil draped over the mountainside.

Yu Lin walked into the mist.

The mist felt cool and silky against the skin, like an invisible film of water.

Visibility dropped low, allowing only a glimpse of about ten paces ahead.

More moss covered the steps, some slick, requiring careful footing.

After another roughly hour, the mist gradually faded, the overhead foliage thinned, and light filtered down, illuminating the mountain path brightly.

Yu Lin quickened his pace; the stone steps ended, and the view ahead opened up suddenly.

He reached the summit.

The summit was broad, and unlike other mountains that have only a bald rock slab.

Here the summit was carpeted with thick meadow grass, deep green and dense, soft underfoot.

Scattered across the meadow were small wildflowers—white, yellow, purple—modest in size but blooming vividly.

Farther off lay a woods; the trees weren't tall but stood close together, their foliage forming a continuous green wall.

A wind blew from that direction, bringing the rustle of leaves and some other faint, indistinct sound.

"Huh?"

Yu Lin stood on the meadow, gazing at that patch of woods.

The sound came from deep within the woods, intermittent, like someone whispering or some implement striking something.

He felt a bit of interest and stepped toward the direction of the sound; the meadow gave way softly underfoot, each step leaving a shallow imprint.

Reaching the edge of the woods, he slipped inside.

The trees in the forest were far denser than those seen on the summit meadow; their trunks weren't thick, but they stood close, branches interlocking to block the sky completely.

The layer of fallen leaves on the ground was thick, making no sound when stepped on.

Light was dim, only a few stray beams leaking through the foliage to cast tiny spots on the ground. The sound grew clearer.

It wasn't speech; it was a chopping sound—monotonous, mechanical, one strike, then another, then another.

The sound of an axe hitting wood!!

Yu Lin passed through several rows of trees, and the sight before him made his steps falter.

In the forest clearing ahead stood a tree much thicker than its neighbors; its trunk required two or three people to encircle, its bark dark brown and fissured like the wrinkles on an old man's face.

Its canopy was large, spreading to cover the sky above, its branches draped with moss that hung down like strands of beard.

Beneath the tree stood an old man, his beard and hair all white, both long and hanging down his front and back.

He wore a gray coarse‑cloth shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows, revealing bulging veins on his arms.

In his hand he held an old axe, its blade dulled to a whitish hue, as if it had never been sharpened.

He raised the axe and struck the trunk, over and over.

At the moment the blade met the bark, it gave a dull thud, leaving only a faint white mark on the surface.

The old man was drenched in sweat, which ran down his cheeks, dripped onto his collar, and fell into the soil at his feet.

Yu Lin stepped forward.

His footsteps were light, yet they still produced a faint rustle on the leaf litter.

But the old man seemed not to hear, continuing to chop the tree with concentration.

Yu Lin stood behind him for a while, watching him lift the axe, bring it down, lift it, drop it, over and over.

"Old man, your axe isn't sharpened, you can't cut the tree."

"Huh?"

The old man's body shuddered violently, as if he'd been frightened.

He stopped his motion, slowly turned around, saw Yu Lin standing behind him, and froze for a moment.

Then he raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his face, cracked his mouth open in a smile, revealing a few yellow teeth.

"Oh dear, I grabbed the wrong axe? I'm too lazy to go down the mountain to get it; let's just cut with what we have for now."

He lowered his head to look at the axe in his hand, rubbed his thumb along the edge, then pulled back.

"Young man, I see you're strong and sturdy; help this old man?"

「This........... 」

Yu Lin nodded: "Sure, I'll lend you a tool."

He reached into his backpack behind him, felt around, and pulled out an electric saw.

Don't ask how an electric saw can come from a backpack much smaller than it; just accept that it's there.

"Old man, use this, it's fast."

The old man stared at the electric saw handed to him.

He glanced at his own dull axe, then at the electric saw, then at Yu Lin.

".......... Young man, do you want money or your life?"

"I want nothing, isn't this just helping you?"