Chapter 32

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In the desolate mountains, the night wind whistled through a narrow crevice, blowing towards a mountain stronghold, which was brightly lit.

Bonfires dotted the area, their flickering flames casting shadows over the figures of the mountain bandits, their faces twisted with malice and ferocity as they drank and feasted, laughing and cursing.

On the spit above the fire, freshly plundered chickens and ducks roasted, their skin turning a tempting golden brown. The enticing smell of fat dripped into the red-hot embers below, sizzling with each drop.

Someone cut half a duck and placed it on a plate, then carefully carried it to the front of the stronghold’s main building and set it on the main long table. Liu Erlong immediately tore off a duck leg and, while chewing, looked at a few minor leaders seated to the side.

“Who would’ve thought that tiny Lu Family Village would have a few hundred taels of silver? It was so easy to take. If there are any more jobs this good, I’d gladly make another run tonight, hahaha!”

The three lieutenants all laughed in agreement.

Not only did they get silver, but also plenty of chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep, enough to feed the thirty-some people in the stronghold for two or three days.

One of them wiped the grease from his mouth and remarked with a grin: “Speaking of which, that Lu Erlai didn’t seem to come back with us.”

From nearby, someone burst into laughter, slapping the table hard.

“Do we even need to guess? He’s probably been caught. But I’m not worried that he’ll rat out this place. He doesn’t have the guts!”

Liu Erlong licked the meaty residue from his fingers, curling his lips into a cold smile, revealing a set of yellowed teeth.

“And even if he did betray us, it wouldn’t matter. Those villagers don’t have the courage to act, and the closest constable, Head Constable Zuo of Fushui County, won’t interfere lightly. After all, we fall under Tongling County’s jurisdiction… If those villagers want to report us, they could only go to Tongling County, and they’d still have to pass through our mountain first.”

“Ha ha ha…”

“That’s what makes this such a great place. Nobody dares interfere!”

“We should pull off another heist soon. I’m starting to think this mountain’s a fine place to retire.”

In the flickering light of the great hall, filled with the clamor of boisterous laughter and conversation, Liu Erlong stroked the wolf fur on his grand chair with a satisfied smile. He was quite pleased with his subordinates.

Among the three lieutenants, one suddenly turned and spoke up.

“Second Master, I just remembered that we still have that Daoist we captured a few days ago at the foot of Tianshan Mountain locked up. Should we let him go? He’s just a wandering priest, he probably doesn’t have any money on him.”

Liu Erlong had almost forgotten about this person. Recently, there had been a sudden crackdown on Daoists and alchemists in Fushui County, which had pushed some of them into the mountains. On that particular day, a Daoist had fallen into their hands, and he had been locked up for several days. It had slipped his mind until now.

Thinking it over, he smiled, raised his wine bowl, and toasted to his brothers.

“Let him go tomorrow then… A stinky Daoist priest isn’t worth much. Come on, let’s continue eating and drinking!”

The three lieutenants laughed heartily, lifting their wine bowls in response.

The raucous noise faded as it moved outside the stronghold, while the bandits guarding the gate began to yawn. In their field of vision, a white, misty haze started to rise.

“Why is it foggy all of a sudden?”

Outside the stronghold, a mist began to spread, the foliage on the mountain cliffs rustling faintly, with a distant sound emerging.

The several bandits stationed at the gate exchanged puzzled looks. One of them handed a torch to a comrade. “Did you hear that noise?” As they nodded in agreement, he carried the torch a few steps forward, the flickering light illuminating the narrow gap.

Through the thin mist, a figure was staggering toward him.

With dirty feet and only one straw sandal, the figure wobbled across the valley entrance, head bowed. His stubbly lips moved continuously as if murmuring something or humming a tune.

This gave the bandit holding the torch felt a strange sense of unease.

Wah—wah—

An old crow suddenly cawed from the top of a tree, flapping its wings and taking off. As the swaying figure entered the range of the firelight, the bandit who had been guarding the gate let out a sigh of relief.

“Lu Erlai… you scared the hell out of me.”

The figure stopped swaying, and as the bowed head slowly lifted, the bandit’s face turned pale with fear. The torch he was holding dropped with a thud, and he staggered back a step, shouting “Uwa!” in terror, and then turned and fled back to the gate, practically wetting himself.

The slowly rising face was ghastly pale with a bluish tinge. The mouth was twisted wide open, the eyes rolled back with no visible pupils, and the eye sockets were surrounded by a deep blackness.

It was clear that Lu Erlai had been dead for some time.

“Your mother… it’s a ghost——”

The few remaining bandits stumbled backward, their torches on the ground glowing with a faint blue hue. The first bandit to run fell to the ground, his limbs convulsing as his face contorted in agony, blood gushing violently from his seven orifices.

A stream of Yin Qi emanated from the open mouth, pursuing the fleeing bandits and rapidly spreading throughout the area. The ten or so bandits sitting by the bonfire heard the screams and turned to see their running companions collapsing one by one, lifeless.

An icy sensation gripped their entire bodies, and their vision was obscured as if covered by a thin white veil.

In the next moment, the blazing bonfire was extinguished with a whoosh.

Even the pair of large red lanterns under the eaves of the stronghold went out instantly, plunging the entire camp into darkness. Liu Erlong and the three lieutenants in the hall stood up, staring into the pitch-black outside.

A strange and eerie silence, like ants crawling up their backs, settled in. Liu Erlong grabbed the steel saber from beside his grand chair, eyes fixed on the darkness outside, swallowing hard.

“What… what’s happening outside?”

“Could it be a ghost… Some brothers mentioned seeing a female ghost when they came back earlier.”

“…Don’t talk nonsense.”

…Clang, clang, clang, clang…

Suddenly, a series of eerie, metallic clangs rang out from the pitch-black darkness, accompanied by a haunting female voice and the faint sound of a drum, echoing from outside the door.

“…On the grave mound, crows cry mournfully. An altar table… incense smoke curls… burning paper clothes for men and women… for… you…”

The voice trailed off into silence.

The people in the hall exchanged anxious glances. The three lieutenants at the front quickly waved their hands, instructing the nearby subordinates to take their place, and cautiously stepped back.

In the silence, a sudden, piercing scream erupted from outside.

One of the retreating lieutenants, terrified, kicked over a brazier. Sparks and burning wood scattered, and Liu Erlong shouted: “What are you afraid of?!”

“Second Master, what if it really is a ghost? We aren’t Daoist priests who can catch ghosts… Daoist…” The lieutenant who spoke suddenly turned to two bandits and shouted: “Quick, bring up that Daoist priest from the dungeon! Hurry!!”

The two bandits ran hurriedly into the back hall, while those in the main hall rushed to the door, closing it and bracing it with whatever they could find. They could hear a series of frantic and eerie knocks on the door.

Moments later, the two bandits from the back hall returned, followed by a young Daoist priest with a sharp face and monkey cheeks. His shabby Daoist robes had several big holes in them and he was shouting loudly.

“I’m telling you, if it weren’t for my master forbidding me from harming ordinary people, would you mountain bandits be able to capture me? Don’t even think about it… Where is that ghost?”

As the Daoist’s words fell, the hall door burst open with a resounding crash. The people bracing the door were thrown aside, sliding several feet away. The swirling mist and malevolent aura surged into the room.

The Daoist’s eyes widened in horror. As he rummaged through the bag he had brought, he cursed at the bandits.

“This Yin Qi.. a Rakshasa ghost… you fools, how did you provoke such a powerful entity?”

Liu Erlong, already fuming, ran up behind the young Taoist with his saber in his hand. “How am I supposed to know? It just happened chaotically.”

“Little Daoist Master, what are you waiting for? Hurry up!” He shouted again as the situation escalated.

The Daoist, pulling out a few yellow talismans from his bag, elbowed Liu Erlong aside. “Stop talking, you’re in the way!” Despite his irritation, he swiftly performed his ritual. The talismans he held in his fingertips burst into flames as he chanted incantations.

“Go——”

Five burning talismans flew from the Daoist’s fingers, forming a line. They struck the encroaching Yin Qi, producing a series of ‘hissing’ sounds as black smoke billowed upward.

The Yin Qi recoiled, retreating outside the door.”Ahhh…” The sharp, piercing female screams grew louder, the swirling mist transforming into long, flowing strands resembling a woman’s hair. These strands re-entered the room, weaving through the paper windows and seeping into the hall.

“Fortunately, this fierce ghost has only recently become a Rakshasa, so there’s still a chance!”

The Daoist priest slung the bag over his shoulder, pulled out a bronze mirror, and pricked his finger to smear it with blood. “Fortunately, the items my master left me haven’t been ruined by you.”

The bronze mirror shimmered in his hands.

“Edict, Deities of the eight directions, may nothing escape your protection!”

A beam of apricot-yellow light shot from the mirror, piercing through the doorway’s Yin Qi. The instant it hit, the malevolent wind howled furiously, causing the window lattices to rattle loudly.

Within the rising and rolling mist, the ghostly figure became visible, trapped in mid-air by the apricot-yellow light. The figure struggled, its limbs flailing as it twisted its contorted face, shrieking desperately at Liu Erlong and the others in the hall.

“Behave yourself!”

The Daoist held the bronze mirror steady with one hand while pulling out a yellow silk cloth from his bag with the other. He formed a hand seal and threw the cloth towards the female ghost outside.

The struggling ghost was immediately enveloped by the cloth. As soon as the Daoist took back his bronze mirror, he rushed over and tightened the cloth around it, ignoring the female ghost protruding left and right inside, wrapping it into a ball.

“Now that’s settled. With this wrapped up, I’ll be heading down the mountain!”

Liu Erlong and the others let out a heavy sigh of relief and followed out of the hall. The fog outside gradually dissipated, revealing the pale-faced corpses scattered across the ground.

“This evil spirit has killed so many of our brothers. Daoist Priest, why not eliminate this ghost right here and let us vent our anger?”

The Daoist tossed the wrapped silk cloth in his hand and replied: “Dream on. I haven’t forgotten how you tied me up and brought me up this mountain…”

While he spoke, one of the bandit leaders standing beside Liu Erlong suddenly pointed ahead.

“The fog… why is it coming back?”

“Hmm?”

Not only Liu Erlong but also the Daoist was momentarily stunned. The fog that had previously disappeared was now reappearing, thicker and more ominous than before.

“Something’s not right… there’s no Yin Qi…”

The Daoist’s mustache twitched as he quickly looked toward the sky. The clear sound of copper bells jingled.

An old donkey slowly appeared at the entrance of the stronghold, carrying someone dressed in a scholar’s robe, holding a brush and focused on drawing on a scroll.

The young man with a handsome face slightly turned towards the Daoist priest and Liu Erlong.

He cleared his throat twice, then slowly and softly said: “Open the yellow silk cloth and release the female ghost inside.”

“Haha, this is what I caught. If you want to release it, then…”

The Daoist’s words were cut off by the sudden clamor of stones rolling down the surrounding mountain walls. The mist swirled with an enormous green shadow sliding through it.

“What is that…”

The fleeting color made Liu Erlong and the other bandits retreat once more behind the gate.

Standing under the eaves, the Daoist’s heart raced. He shone again the copper mirror in his hand, which penetrated the mist and illuminated the mountain cliff. There, he saw a long body with dark green scales the size of a human head, undulating and shifting densely.

Within the apricot-yellow light, a serpent-like tongue, as thick as a house beam, flickered past. A large vertical pupil completely blocked the light beam, even visibly contracting in response to the light.

The scalps of the Daoist Priest and even the people at the gate tightened in an instant, and the former even screamed.

“I say to you all… what exactly have you provoked with your actions!!!”