Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
"Well, heh heh, I'm just a Taoist performing the Ritual," the White-Haired Elder said with a smile. It not only had awareness but also seemed capable of controlling its expressions. Its abilities appeared decent, but judging by the density of Yin Qi surrounding it, it likely posed no threat to me.
I nodded and asked in confusion, "Senior, you mentioned you had something to tell me. What is it?"
The White-Haired Yin Spirit did not answer my question but instead smiled and said, "Are you planning to take me along to the Experience?"
I nodded and replied, "Yes, we're going to the Experience. I heard there are many lost souls there; we want to check it out. Do you have business there?"
"Your team seems a bit unsettled... someone is coming. Let's talk later," the White-Haired Yin Spirit said abruptly before diving back into the object it had inhabited and disappearing.
"Liu Shidi, are you done yet?" a voice called out as Meng Biao approached, looking around in confusion.
I chuckled lightly and said, "I'm done. Let's go." My curiosity about the White-Haired Spirit grew; its constant vigilance against others suggested it didn't want me to exorcise it too quickly.
Although I wasn't sure of its intentions, our interaction indicated it bore no ill will. Therefore, I decided it was fine to keep it close. However, for safety's sake, I placed a Confinement Talisman on that object. I was fairly certain that this White-Haired Yin Spirit was the same soul that had possessed Zhou Hong; it was better to be cautious.
After sending off all the souls in the Human Cave, I still hadn't seen that Vengeful Spirit. Mao Ruiliang mentioned that the Vengeful Spirit must have been exorcised during a collective ritual. Only I knew this was impossible because I had set up the Soul Summoning Array myself; this array was specifically designed for ordinary souls and had no effect on Vengeful Spirits. Moreover, that Vengeful Spirit was indeed the White-Haired Yin Spirit currently with me.
However, I kept this information to myself. The spirit's comment about our team being unsettled clearly indicated that there were ulterior motives among us. Until I clarified things, I couldn't casually bring this up.
After a busy night, we finally resolved one concern, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, ready to rest properly. Before dawn, we gathered around a campfire and prepared a hearty breakfast as a celebration. After eating, we returned to our tents to rest.
We slept until noon and then began packing our things to head toward the Experience. Although the journey was fraught with difficulties, we managed to get through safely. Everyone's spirits were high as laughter and banter filled the air. Aside from Master Xiao and Zhang Chuanzheng continuing their playful arguments, the relationships among others seemed much more harmonious.
Yet I harbored a significant doubt: what did the White-Haired Yin Spirit mean by saying our team was unsettled? I couldn't pinpoint anyone suspicious based on current circumstances.
I wondered how this spirit could perceive such things and why it wanted to accompany us to the Experience. That place was mostly unvisited; we were only looking for wandering souls who had gotten lost there. Did it perhaps seek something?
The more I thought about it, the more perplexed I became. I decided not to dwell on it further; if an opportunity arose, I could call it out and ask directly.
Cutting Cliff lay between Baojia Mountain and the Experience—a mountain range dense with tall pine trees. Entering Cutting Cliff felt like stepping into a primeval forest; there were no signs of human activity anywhere in the mountains.
Due to the lack of paths and steep terrain in Cutting Cliff, our progress was significantly hindered; in some areas, we needed each other's help just to pass through. The mountain was teeming with birds of various kinds, and wild rabbits and pheasants were abundant.
"Let's set up camp here for today; it's getting dark," Mao Ruiliang suggested after glancing at the steep mountainside with concern. "If we push forward now, we'll likely encounter fierce beasts like wild boars. With those beasts around, we can't travel at night."
Everyone agreed with his viewpoint. After spending most of the day covering less than a third of our intended distance, our pace was much slower than anticipated. However, there was little choice; traveling at night in these mountains risked attacks from ferocious beasts.
We found a relatively flat and sheltered piece of land, gathering a lot of dry branches from the surroundings, and then built a bonfire in the middle of the clearing. The altitude here is higher, and the temperature drops at night, so we needed the fire for warmth, and it would also help keep wild animals at bay.
Spending the night in such an environment required someone to keep watch. The person on watch needed to maintain the fire and prevent it from spreading to the surrounding area while also guarding against any beast attacks on our camp.
The watch was divided into four groups, each consisting of two people. Zhou Hong volunteered to let Wang Xiaolu rest and took on the watch alone, as he was a Grave Robber and had grown accustomed to keeping watch by himself.
At ten o'clock that night, everyone began to rest. Mao Ruiliang and Liu Zhiqiang took the Midnight shift, Meng Biao and Zhang Chuanzheng took the Ugly shift, Zhou Hong kept watch during the Yin hour, while I and Master Xiao took the Before Dawn shift. After Before Dawn, it would soon be light.
Since I was on watch with Master Xiao, I thought about calling out the White-haired Yin Spirit when it was our turn to keep watch. This spirit was the one I was most familiar with; if anyone in our group was going to be restless, I would never believe it would be him. So letting him know about this matter wouldn’t have any consequences.
The first half of that night was very calm. With someone specifically on watch, those resting slept particularly soundly, and I was no exception. When Zhou Hong woke me and Master Xiao, everything around us was silent; we could even hear their rhythmic snoring. Once Zhou Hong crawled into the tent, Master Xiao and I exchanged a gesture for silence before taking out the object containing the White-haired Yin Spirit and walking toward the edge of the camp.
Although Master Xiao didn’t know what I was doing, he didn’t stop me. He sat by the bonfire, adding wood while roasting his hands over the flames, occasionally glancing toward Wang Xiaolu's tent.
I walked about twenty meters away before taking out that object. I drew two Hand Spells on it but found it puzzling that the White-haired Yin Spirit didn’t appear. I quickly tried again—strange. Why wasn’t it coming out? I whispered incantations again but still nothing. The only explanation for this situation was that the White-haired Yin Spirit was no longer within the object.
Where could it have gone? I wondered as I looked at the object; surprisingly, the Confinement Talisman had vanished. I distinctly remembered placing a Confinement Talisman on it. Could it be that this White-haired Yin Spirit managed to break free from the Confinement Talisman? If that were true, my previous judgment had been mistaken; this spirit was indeed more complicated than I had imagined.
Since it had already disappeared, there was no point in staying there any longer. I turned back to the bonfire where Master Xiao was still fixated on Wang Xiaolu's tent. I punched him lightly and said, “What do you think it means if a Spirit God can break free from a Confinement Talisman?”
As soon as I finished speaking, Master Xiao looked at me in surprise and said, “That would mean it's reached a level that even those two Old Men at home couldn’t handle together. How did you encounter such a spirit?” After asking this, he suddenly stood up in shock and exclaimed, “No way! You didn’t really come across one just now when you went out with that object!”
“Keep your voice down; I just wanted to ask,” I quickly pulled this scatterbrain back down. I hadn’t planned to discuss this here anyway since we were too close to the tents where anyone could overhear.
We waited until dawn like this; I stared at the fire while Master Xiao continued watching Wang Xiaolu's tent.
The morning air in the mountains felt refreshing; mist swirled around as dew glistened on low bushes while birds began chirping cheerfully. One by one, everyone crawled out of their tents—some went to fetch water while others prepared breakfast, bustling about happily.
“It’s been a long time since I've truly enjoyed a mountain morning,” Wang Xiaolu lazily stretched and took a deep breath.
Master Xiao chuckled and said, “Yeah, when I used to cultivate in these mountains every day... Hey, don’t walk away.” But Wang Xiaolu didn’t listen to Master Xiao’s continuation; instead, she headed toward a nearby stream to wash her face.
After breakfast was ready, Mao Ruiliang remarked, “Why hasn’t Meng Biao gotten up yet?” He walked over to Meng Biao's tent as he spoke.
“I thought something felt off; turns out Meng Biao hasn’t come out,” Master Xiao muttered.
Mao Ruiliang pulled open Meng Biao's tent flap and suddenly exclaimed in shock, “Meng Biao is missing!”
We all suddenly stood up and rushed towards Meng Biao's tent, only to find it empty inside.
Seeing that Meng Biao was missing, everyone began to shout loudly.
I grabbed Master Xiao and asked, "Did Meng Biao go out while we were on Vigil?"
Master Xiao quickly shook his head and replied, "No, his tent is right across from me. Could he have possibly sneaked out?"
I hurriedly asked Zhou Hong if he had noticed Meng Biao leaving during his Vigil. Zhou Hong also shook his head and said, "He was woken up by Zhang Chuanzheng, and when he woke up, he didn't see Meng Biao."
Hearing Zhou Hong speak, Zhang Chuanzheng chimed in, "When I was on Vigil with Meng Biao, he was perfectly fine. When the time was up, he just crawled into his tent. After that, I called Zhou Hong to take over Vigil, and then I went in to sleep."
Mao Ruiliang furrowed his brow and said, "Let's split up and search the area first; check if he's around here without going too far. If he's not found, once the sun comes up, Sister Wang, can you use your Method of Feng Shui to see if you can locate him?"
Comment 0 Comment Count