Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Encounter in the Mountains

Li Yan Er froze. “Didn’t you say we’d stay two more days? Why are we leaving now?”

She glanced at the sky outside. It was already evening; in another quarter hour, it would be dinner.

“Can’t we eat first, then go?”

Gu Shi Yi shook her head. “We don’t have time. Niu Da’s whole family was killed two days ago.”

Li Yan Er and Great King both jolted. Gu Shi Yi quickly told them what she’d heard.

“If the Clear Spirit Guard has mobilized,” she said, “then whoever did it wasn’t some ordinary monster or ghost.”

Their region was remote; the spiritual qi here wasn’t rich. The spirit creatures that formed in such places were rarely powerful. At most, there were resentful ghosts like Niu Da’s daughter-in-law, or mountain spirit creatures like Great King. It might have a thousand years of age behind it, but it didn’t know any lethal spells. If it ran into a Daoist cultivator with even a little ability, it would only have one choice—burrow underground and flee.

Gu Shi Yi and the old Daoist priest had lived here for years. They knew the nearby monsters and ghosts inside out. That was why she was sure the ones who killed the Niu family had come from elsewhere.

Monsters and ghosts usually had strong territorial instincts. Unless something huge happened, they didn’t leave their true body for long. Great King’s true body, for example, was still on the ridge behind the ruined temple. What traveled with Gu Shi Yi was only a strand of essence-soul it had entrusted to her. If that strand was damaged, at worst it would need a hundred years to recover—and later it could produce a new one.

So the odds that a local spirit creature did it were small.

The odds that a heretical cultivator did it were far bigger.

Gu Shi Yi’s thoughts slid to the mystic profundity bright mirror hidden inside her body.

“So Master told us to leave in three days because he calculated this,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone. “Once the treasure mirror’s secret leaked, they’d come hunting us down.”

If it had been a righteous sect arriving, that would be one thing. But judging by the method—dismemberment, a whole family butchered like meat—it looked like heretical cultivators had gotten there first.

The image of the Niu family’s death made Gu Shi Yi’s skin prickle, her spine turning cold.

“We need to get away,” she said. “Now.”

Li Yan Er and Great King stared at her, stunned.

One had lived more than twenty years in a peaceful world, and the worst she’d seen was people yelling at each other online. The other had lived deep in the mountains. It could be tyrannical, sure, but humans walking in and carving a family into pieces? It had never seen anything like that.

“Go, go, go!” Great King hissed. “We leave now!”

Gu Shi Yi finished packing, went to settle the bill with the shopkeeper, then returned to the back courtyard. She hitched the old horse—fed for several days now, but still painfully bony—to the cart, and rattled out of the inn toward the edge of town.

“Shi Yi,” Li Yan Er asked, clinging to her collar as the town shrank behind them in the sunset, “where are we going?”

Gu Shi Yi thought for a moment. “We’re going to Xuan Cheng. But not by the main road. We’ll take a small path. It’s harder to travel, but there are fewer people.”

The path was rough and winding, mostly cutting through empty wilderness where spirit creatures sometimes appeared. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare walk it, but Gu Shi Yi had spells and Dao skill. She wasn’t afraid.

She drove along the main road until dusk deepened. Once the road’s traces thinned and the world turned dim, she turned right and slipped onto a narrow track hidden under weeds.

She didn’t know that while she was listening to gossip in the inn, a streak of escaping light had flown in from afar and descended on the neighboring town. It didn’t stop until it hovered above the Niu family’s wine shop.

The light flared. A jade token floated out and drifted down before the yamen runner guarding the door. The runner caught it, looked closely, and hurried forward to bow.

“Greetings, Spirit Guard Official!”

“Mmm,” a gentle voice answered.

The escaping light lowered, revealing three men in dark-and-white robes. The leader was slightly plump with a round face. His features weren’t striking, but he had naturally peach-blossom eyes. When his lips curved into a mild smile, he looked like a man who’d offer you tea and ask after your health.

Yet when the yamen runners met his gaze, fear rose in their hearts anyway. They couldn’t explain it. They simply lowered their heads and didn’t dare look too long.

Only the constable captain, used to such pressure, forced himself forward and saluted.

“Spirit Guard Official, the crime scene is inside. Please.”

The constable captain moved to lead them in, but the leader glanced at the shop and spoke softly.

“No need. All of you, step back.”

The yamen runners froze, then hurried away. Once the mortals had withdrawn, the leader lifted a hand and cast a spell. Within three zhang of the wine shop, a white flash appeared, forming a faint barrier. It sealed off everything inside; whatever happened within that space, the mortals outside would never know.

“Hundred Captain,” one of the three men said, clasping his hands toward the leader. “Allow this subordinate to go in and take a look.”

The leader considered, then nodded with a smile. “Then I’ll trouble Brother Wen.”

The man surnamed Wen stepped inside.

The stench of blood still clung to the air even after several days, thick enough to sting the nose. He blinked. When he opened his eyes again, silver threads flickered through his pupils.

He scanned the hall and saw dense killing aura drifting like smoke. At the darkest point, several shadowy figures wavered.

He snorted and lifted his hand, fingers curling like claws as he grabbed at the air.

From the thick killing aura, a phantom stepped out.

With a beckoning gesture, the phantom drifted before him. It looked exactly like Niu Da’s father—same face, same build—but its eyes were dull, its expression twisted and savage.

It was Niu Da’s father’s soul.

The moment it saw the living, red light flared in its eyes. It lunged, hands outstretched to claw.

Brother Wen sneered. He pulled out a small bronze bell, muttered under his breath, and gave it a light shake.

The red in the soul’s eyes slowly faded. It went slack, face blank, gaze empty.

Brother Wen studied it, then made a series of strange sounds in his throat. The soul began to sway. After a moment, it answered with the same strange sounds.

They “spoke” like that for a while.

Then Brother Wen summoned another soul—Niu Da’s mother’s—and repeated the process. One by one, he drew out the souls of all five members of the Niu family, questioned them, then pulled a small cloth bag from his waist and collected the tainted souls inside.

Only then did he step back out.

“Hundred Captain,” he reported, bowing. “All five had their hearts taken out alive, and their souls were imprisoned in the blood aura. If we hadn’t come, once seven days passed, they’d become blood fiends and start harming the town.”

The leader frowned. “That’s the Yin Fiend Sect’s handiwork.”

The Yin Fiend Sect was a heretical sect from White Horse Prefecture, notable even there. Why would they come to a nameless town, kill a few mortals, and imprison their souls in blood aura to nurture killing aura?

Brother Wen continued, “I questioned the souls. The killers were five people. They entered the tavern asking about an old Daoist priest and a woman. The Niu family told them the Daoist priest and the woman lived in the nameless mountain behind town. The five ate and drank—and later, for some reason, one of them suddenly snapped. Ten sharp blades grew from his hands. In a few breaths, he dismembered them all.”

“An old Daoist priest? A woman?” the leader repeated, peach-blossom eyes narrowing slightly, as if turning over a familiar thought.

“Yes,” Brother Wen said. “They came for the old Daoist priest and the woman. They even asked for directions into the mountain.”

The leader nodded. “These souls are already tainted by blood fiend aura. They’ll need separate purification. Have you secured them?”

“Secured.”

“Good,” the leader said. “We go.”

The three turned into a streak of escaping light and shot into the sky.

Outside, the yamen runners posted near the shop suddenly heard a gentle voice in their ears.

“Matters here have been handled. You may prepare the bodies and bury them.”

“Yes!” they answered quickly.

When they looked up, the streak of light was already far away, flying toward the mountain behind town.

On Gu Shi Yi’s side, she was driving the old horse and creaking cart deeper into the back path. The road was rough and uneven; sometimes big stones blocked the way. Progress was slow and miserable.

Luckily, Gu Shi Yi had some spiritual power. When a boulder blocked the track, she gathered her qi and shoved it aside, then coaxed the cart through.

She wasn’t rushing. She moved steadily, carefully. After three li, the sky had turned completely black.

“We’ll spend the night here,” she said.

She guided the cart into a small valley where the ground was relatively flat. A stream murmured a few zhang below. She filled a waterskin with clear water, sprinkled some onto Great King in the broken jar, and unhitched the old horse so it could graze and drink nearby.

Then she built a fire.

The glow pushed back the mountain chill. Gu Shi Yi warmed a piece of dry flatbread and smiled at Li Yan Er, who sat on a large rock nearby.

“Good thing you and Great King don’t need to eat or drink,” she said. “It’s just me. Think of all the silver I’m saving.”

Li Yan Er smiled, but the expression carried a quiet loneliness.

“I’ve forgotten what food tastes like,” she said.

Gu Shi Yi saw it and softened. “Once you find a suitable body, you can eat as much as you want. Pick someone rich. Then you can devour rare delicacies until you scare the kitchen staff.”

Li Yan Er’s smile brightened a little. “You’re right… one day I’ll eat every good thing in this world.”

They were still talking when the old horse suddenly let out a sharp neigh.

Gu Shi Yi jolted and turned.

The horse snorted, hooves clattering as it bolted toward the fire. It was clever—whatever it sensed, it didn’t want to face it alone. It hurried behind Gu Shi Yi like a cowardly child hiding behind a parent.

Gu Shi Yi’s brows lifted. She sprang to her feet and grabbed her bundle. From inside, she pulled out the old Daoist priest’s peachwood sword.

“What is it?” Li Yan Er whispered, instantly tense.

She slipped close to Great King. Great King wriggled, voice thin and sharp.

“Gu Shi Yi. There’s a spirit creature nearby.”

Gu Shi Yi’s gaze swept the darkness. She nodded, calm but alert.

“I feel it too. Don’t panic.”

A lone traveler in the mountains was an invitation. She and the old Daoist priest had met mountain spirits more times than she could count.

Her eyes settled on a patch of pitch-black forest ahead. She curved her lips slightly.

“It’s fine,” she murmured. “Doesn’t feel very strong.”

She sat back down as if nothing had happened, took a few bites of warm flatbread, and watched the grass ahead with steady eyes.

Great King snorted. “It’s just a tiny spirit creature. And it dares act bold in front of this Great King!”

Gu Shi Yi rolled her eyes at it. “Shut it. There are spirit creatures in these mountains with a few hundred years of cultivation. You may have lived a thousand years, but you’re a pine tree spirit. Besides bullying other plants and stealing territory, what can you do? You’re the one who shouldn’t be acting bold.”

If other spirit creatures targeted it, its only move was to slip underground and run. If it met another one that knew Earth Escape and got caught, this strand of essence-soul would become someone’s midnight snack.

Great King went stiff, thoroughly stabbed in its pride. It immediately stopped boasting and stood there without moving.

Li Yan Er peeked from behind the jar, nerves tight. A fine rustling came from the grass—something was coming closer.

“What is it?” she whispered.

Great King swayed. “A grass spirit. Don’t bother with it.”

Then, perhaps remembering it had an audience, it added quickly, “But… you should be careful. If it grabs you and stomps you to pieces, you’ll have nothing to possess. You’ll become a wandering ghost.”

A wandering ghost had it rough. If it met a ghost king with deep cultivation, it could be turned into a ghost thrall and enslaved—forever, unless its soul scattered.

Gu Shi Yi shot Great King a look, then soothed her frightened friend.

“Don’t worry. Plant spirits fear fire. As long as the fire’s burning, it won’t dare come too close.”

The rustling stopped. Something had halted in the grass near the fire.

A moment later, something dark poked its head out.

Li Yan Er looked closer—and her breath caught.

A lumpy, vaguely human-shaped thing crawled out of the grass. It had a head, a body, and four limbs. The firelight revealed a round “head” with a few blades of grass sticking out of it like messy hair. It had no eyes, ears, mouth, or nose—just bumps on bumps. It was only about the size of a palm.

“It’s so small…”