The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

Chen Siyao walked forward on the beach and glanced back—the yacht was still anchored on the sea, and the captain was standing on the deck, looking this way with binoculars, his mouth agape.

She withdrew her gaze and followed Chen Hao's footsteps. At the end of the beach was a stone staircase leading to the island's forest. The stone steps were covered with moss, and the trees on both sides were tall and lush, their branches and leaves blocking out the sun. Only a few rays of sunlight pierced through the gaps, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

There was a faint fragrance in the air, not the scent of flowers or grass, but an indescribable, comforting aroma.

Chen Siyao took a deep breath and walked ahead, holding her phone. Xiaoyue ran in front, her little paws clattering on the stone steps, her tail held high like a little flag.

Chen Hao walked at the very back, his gaze piercing through the treetops and landing on the highest peak on the island. The atmosphere there felt somewhat familiar. Jingwei, it's been so long.

As the popularity of Jingwei's adventures grew, many researchers of the Classic of Mountains and Seas and historians flocked to the live stream, and the chat was flooded with comments:

[No delivery]: We're on the island! We're finally on the island!

【Yaoyao's Little Red Riding Hood】: Is this where Jingwei lives? It looks so mysterious.

[Fan Lin]: Look at those trees, their leaves are purple? What kind are they?

Chen Siyao noticed it too. The plants on the island were completely different from those she had seen outside. The bark wasn't brown or gray, but bluish-gray with a faint silvery sheen, as if it had been bathed in moonlight.

The leaves are purple, blue, and dark red, layered upon each other, weaving into a colorful dome. Unidentified ferns grow on the ground, their leaves taller than a person, their veins golden, shimmering in the sunlight.

"What kind of plants are these? I've never seen them before." Cai Jingwen squatted down and gently touched the leaves of a low shrub. The leaves were heart-shaped, with a layer of fine hairs on the surface, and felt soft to the touch, like silk.

In the live stream chat, some new faces started appearing in the comments:

[Professor Liu, Botany]: I'm from the Department of Botany at Peking University. The morphological characteristics of these plants don't belong to any known family or genus. If this is true, it would be the greatest botanical discovery of this century.

[Zoology Professor Chen]: I came in after receiving a message from a student. The ecosystem on this island completely exceeds the existing framework of biological understanding.

【I am Ying Zheng】: Professors, stop analyzing! Hurry up and follow the Supreme God, there's something even more amazing ahead!

Chen Hao walked at the front, his pace neither too fast nor too slow. Xiao Yue ran beside him, stopping every now and then to smell the flowers and plants by the roadside before catching up. The other girls followed behind, their eyes darting around, looking here and there, exclaiming "Wow!" every few steps.

After passing through a dense, misty forest, the scenery suddenly opened up before us.

The women stopped in their tracks at the same time.

Ahead lay a shallow area, but not an ordinary one. The water was a pale purple, crystal clear, and the bottom was covered with coral—not the usual white or red coral, but pale purple, pale blue, and pinkish-orange, like a spilled palette.

The shapes of corals are also unique; some resemble deer antlers, some resemble fans, and some resemble blooming flowers, swaying gently on the bottom of the water.

"This is...coral?" Yang Wanqing squatted down and put her hand into the water. The water was warm, not cold, and her fingers rippled as they passed through the surface.

"So beautiful!" the girls exclaimed in unison, their eyes filled with admiration.

Chen Siyao covered her mouth, her face full of surprise: "This is so beautiful! It's even more stunning than the scenery of the Queen Mother of the West's Secret Realm last time, it's like a fairyland!"

In the live stream:

[Professor Liu, Botanist]: There shouldn't be any corals at this latitude. Furthermore, I've never seen the color and shape of these corals in any professional literature.

【I am Ying Zheng】: Professor, could you please stop analyzing? You've said "I've never seen this before" eight times since you entered the live stream.

【Dongmen Chuixue】: Hahahaha, the professor's occupational hazard has kicked in.

Along the edge of the Coral Sea, there grew a patch of flowers. The flowers were as big as bowls, with layers upon layers of petals, their colors gradation from light pink to deep purple, and their stamens were golden, shimmering with tiny lights in the sunlight. Above the flower patch, a dozen or so butterflies fluttered.

Butterfly wings are not ordinary scaly wings; they are translucent, like stained glass, refracting iridescent light under sunlight.

Cai Jingwen reached out, and a butterfly landed on her fingertip. Its wings fluttered gently, and dappled sunlight danced on the back of her hand. She looked down at the butterfly, and a smile unconsciously crept onto her lips.

"So beautiful." Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing the little elf.

Chen Siyao pointed the camera at the butterfly for a close-up shot. The live stream chat instantly exploded with comments:

[Youyou]: Is this butterfly real? It looks like it's made of gemstones!

【Xiao Ke】: The place where Jingwei lives is anything but ordinary.

Behind the flowerbeds lay a flat meadow. Several low trees grew on the meadow, their branches laden with small, pale yellow fruits, like miniature lemons. A few birds hopped about on the branches, their feathers indigo and their tails exceptionally long, trailing behind them like shawls.

Yang Wanqing's eyes lit up when he saw the birds: "Aren't they afraid of people?"

She slowly walked over, and when she was two or three meters away from the tree, the bird tilted its head and glanced at her, but didn't fly away. She took another step closer, and the bird hopped to another branch, but still didn't fly away.

"Wow." Yang Wanqing stood under the tree, looking up at the bird. "It's really not afraid of me."

Chen Siyao also came over and took pictures of the bird with her phone. The bird seemed very interested in the phone camera, hopped down from the branch, landed on Chen Siyao's shoulder, and tilted its head to look at the camera.

In the live stream:

【I am Ying Zheng】: Has this bird become a spirit? It can even look at the camera?

【Yaoyao's Little Red Riding Hood】: So clever! Does it know it's being photographed?

【Dongmen Chuixue】: Could Jingwei's neighbor be an ordinary bird?

Chen Hao didn't stop. He crossed the grass and continued walking towards the center of the island. The girls reluctantly left the flowers, butterflies, and birds and followed him.

At the end of the meadow lies a lake.

There was an irregularly shaped stone by the lake with words written on it, clearly indicating the name of the lake. Chen Siyao asked her brother, "Brother, what lake is this?"

Chen Hao's voice, "Mirror Lake," carried a hint of reminiscence.

It truly lives up to its name, because it is like a mirror, reflecting the sky and clouds, and like a giant sunset, with the lake water shimmering with a warm orange-pink light.

The lake water was crystal clear, revealing the white sand and pebbles at the bottom and the small fish swimming around. The fish were small, about the length of a finger, and completely transparent, allowing you to see their skeletons and beating hearts. As they swam, their bodies emitted a faint glow, like tiny lamps.

In the middle of the lake is a small island, on which grows a huge tree.