Chapter 44: Mountain Spectre

Elder Hai came to a halt and, regardless of the muddy ground, sat right down. Lin Feiyu could not help but twitch his eyelids.

Though I was somewhat clueless about the situation, I could distinctly feel the gathering of Yin energy in the surroundings.

"Little Lin, protect the flanks. Zhao Qian and Zhao Yi, get behind me." Elder Hai quickly spread out a red cloth, placed five paper figurines on the ground, took out a pen, and removed the cap from the back to reveal a piercing needle. He pricked his finger and began tracing ghost-like talismans across the paper figurines.

Zhao Yi, looking rather panicked, immediately scrambled behind Elder Hai, while Zhao Qian obediently followed suit.

Although I felt the biting chill of the Yin energy, searching around revealed no trace of the mountain ghost. However, Sister-in-law's warning arrived almost instantly. A gust of wind seemed to brush past my ear, and when I abruptly turned my head, I saw a greyish-white woman materialize out of nowhere within the woods, accompanied by several hazy, beast-like spirit entities.

Was this the mountain ghost? It felt much like a ferocious ghost, but what were those beastly spirits?

"They're here!" shouted Lin Feiyu, pulling out a handful of the previously mentioned coffin nails while gripping a scalpel in his right hand. After forming a hand seal, he slashed his middle finger, tightly grasping a dozen blood-stained nails in his fist.

The eerie spirit beasts suddenly lunged forward. The soul urn in my pocket shook violently; Xijun seemed to sense the situation outside. Judging by these spirit beasts, they were likely a form of fierce ghosts and probably the most nourishing delicacy for her, though I certainly dared not release her now.

As the spirit beasts pounced toward us, I could feel the surrounding Yin energy boiling. The consequences of being struck by them would be unimaginable. To think that Wu Zhenghua could summon such powerful fierce ghosts was truly mind-boggling.

Lin Feiyu's coffin nails were exceptionally potent; whenever they pierced a spirit beast, wisps of cyan smoke would erupt, and the beast would finally vanish with a roar.

Lin Feiyu had vowed never to marry, and the pure vital energy contained within a virgin's essence would cause any filth or evil entity to instantly dissolve upon contact.

Elder Hai completed his diagram of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, chanting: "Qian, Kun, Gen, Dui, Li, Kan, Xun, Zhen! Borrow metal, borrow wood, borrow water, borrow fire, borrow earth. By the waxing and waning of Yin and Yang, command the transformation of the Five Elements!"

With a final stroke connecting the lines to the end, he lifted his brush, transformed his hand seal into an open palm, and pushed forward. Those five paper figurines seemed to borrow the attributes of the Five Elements and shot outward. The instant the paper figurines landed, the ghostly beasts reacted as if startled, plunging into the woods, mud, or rocks, and disappeared completely.

The mountain ghost let out a shrill, mocking laugh and vanished into the forest as well.

"Did you kill that mountain ghost? Why didn't I see anything happen?" Lin Feiyu asked in surprise. The five paper figurines had looked utterly ordinary, and when driven out by the palm wind, there had been no strange phenomena. How had the mountain ghost simply run away?

"What things we Yin-Yang practitioners borrow are invisible to your eyes, just as ordinary people cannot see wandering spirits. Besides, how could a mountain ghost die so easily? Do you take me for Zhou Xian, who could summon even a ghost king? Mountain ghosts and mountain deities are naturally meant to be captured and served with wine," Elder Hai said mysteriously.

Having witnessed Granny's monumental battle, Elder Hai had evidently been profoundly stimulated, frequently invoking her spells. While I had no idea just how formidable those spells truly were, being able to summon a ghost king was certainly overwhelmingly powerful.

"Fair enough," Lin Feiyu muttered, dropping the subject as he tucked his coffin nails back into his toolbox.

A mountain ghost was a type of earth-bound spirit—essentially a fierce ghost—that had attained a certain level of strength and intelligence. By taking fierce beasts that had died wrongful deaths in mountain traps as its retinue, it established its own domain and managed the Yin energy of the entire mountain, making it exceptionally powerful. However, lacking any official designation, they belonged to a category of formidable ghosts easily manipulated by practitioners of Maoshan sorcery with any degree of proficiency.

Yet, a mountain ghost summoned at this hour and under such weather conditions was vastly more potent. Being able to command it would be ideal, but if it suffered a backlash, Wu Zhenghua was bound to be in for a rough time.

Now, this mountain ghost possessed high intelligence. The moment a few of its ghost beasts were destroyed, it fled immediately, proving itself to be craftier than humans.

"We're almost at the peak. Look at the dark clouds in the sky—that old fellow is getting a bit desperate now," Lin Feiyu remarked with a renewed smile.

"It seems so. He's preparing to summon lightning, but can his body hold up?" Prompted by this, Elder Hai slowly raised his gaze to the sky and shook his head. His fingers calculated a strange sequence, but his complexion instantly paled as he looked back at us, his gaze finally resting on Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi started, assuming Elder Hai was looking behind him. He glanced back, and finding nothing there, he let out a sigh of relief before turning a bewildered and frightened expression toward Elder Hai. "Uncle Hai, why are you looking at me?"

Frowning, Elder Hai produced another blue paper figurine, hastily inscribed a spell upon it with his finger, and handed it to Zhao Yi. "Take this and go back down. We're almost at the mountain top; we don't need you here anymore."

Zhao Yi dared not accept it at first, but seeing that all of us were staring at him, he blurted out, "Why? Why should I be the only one going down the mountain?"

"If you don't go down, you'll die. Remember, as you descend, don't look back for any reason. If someone calls out to you, ignore them and pretend you can't hear, or else—" Elder Hai glared at him.

"Do I really have to leave?" Terrified, Zhao Yi snatched the blue paper figurine in a hurry.

"Yes. I calculated that if you go up this mountain, you will die. Do you believe me or not?" Elder Hai asked.

"Ah? I believe you! Of course I believe you!" With a face as pale as paper, Zhao Yi figured that descending alone was far better than death, and he bolted down the mountain for his very life.

The remaining three of us—Zhao Qian, Lin Feiyu, and I—watched Elder Hai with varying degrees of puzzlement. Shaking his head, Elder Hai explained, "I can't trust that brat. He might have a curse placed on him by Wu Zhenghua; for all we know, he could drag us all down with him at any moment."

"What? You even calculated that? What else did you figure out?" Lin Feiyu asked in astonishment.

I couldn't help feeling a chill myself. Elder Hai was simply too miraculous.

"Hmph, in any case, Zhao Yi definitely has a problem. Ever since the mountain ghost appeared, his aura has been completely discordant with ours. It wouldn't be surprising at all if he gets manipulated by something shortly and pulls off some unimaginable stunt," Elder Hai said coldly as he resumed his trek up the mountain.

"Then what was that blue paper figurine you gave him?" Lin Feiyu watched the spot where Zhao Yi's figure had vanished, still struggling to comprehend.

"It's a protective paper figurine, of course. Since that mountain ghost didn't fight us to the death, there must be a backup plan. Zhao Qian isn't a particularly bad kid; I couldn't let him die unjustly, could I? Besides, having one less person around works to our advantage," Elder Hai elucidated.

"True enough. He brought us here; if he has no merit, he at least put in the effort," Lin Feiyu agreed.

When it came to casting spells and magical combat, Elder Hai was a senior master. Lin Feiyu raised no further objections, and I had nothing to add.

We pressed on up the mountain. Along the way, the light drizzle began to intensify, and by the time we reached the upper slopes, a thick fog had rolled in. The rumbling of thunder echoed from somewhere out of sight, suggesting that thunderclouds were wreaking havoc nearby.

Elder Hai continued to chant incessantly, tossing out paper figurines. Each time, he threw exactly four—no more, no less—and his fully packed pouch was already mostly depleted. The closer we drew to the summit, the more rapid the consumption became.

By the end, Elder Hai's face was completely drained of color, his expression bitter and strained.

"Old bastard, when I get to the top, you'd better still be breathing!" Elder Hai panted heavily, his curses sounding remarkably feeble.

I stared at the trail of paper figurines left behind along the path, completely unable to fathom their purpose.

"Tell me, Brother Hai, are these paper figurines meant to confuse that old coot?" Lin Feiyu finally asked.

"Of course they are. Look closely—ever since Zhao Yi left, he hasn't been able to pinpoint our exact location. Look at the clouds in the sky; because my paper talismans are spreading out without any fixed anchor, he's trying to bottle up his lightning spell to fight us to the death. Until my paper figurines run out, there's nothing he can do to us. He's probably so stifled right now he's vomiting blood," Elder Hai said bitterly. Every single paper figurine along this path represented his vital energy and carried a trace of mortal breath, specifically used to draw down lightning.

"Brother Hai, aren't you just engaging in a war of attrition with him this way? What if you reach the top and he's still full of vigor?" Lin Feiyu grew anxious.

"What else can I do? Are lightning spells that easy to dodge? I can evade them, and you probably can too, Little Brother Xia, while Zhao Qian might manage somehow, but what about Zhao Qian? I cannot afford to let anything happen to anyone. Besides, Little Lin, I won't sugarcoat it: you'd better pray that I can hold out until we reach the summit and that old fogey is already dead by the time we arrive, otherwise it'll be your turn... and that would get really interesting." Elder Hai let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh, his complexion ghastly pale.

"What kind of talk is that, Brother Hai? If you can't make it, naturally I'll take over. Do I need you to lift a finger to deal with a half-dead old codger?" Lin Feiyu patted his toolbox, looking at Elder Hai with a measure of certainty.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Hai... It's all my fault for being willful and following you here..." Zhao Qian looked deeply embarrassed, only now realizing that Elder Hai had been well aware of her reasons for coming. He had resorted to such a desperate method precisely because he intended to protect her.

"Sigh. He targeted your grandfather, and since your grandfather is dead, you naturally want revenge. If you couldn't get it, your brother Zhao He would have come instead. This is all just a cycle of cause and effect, retribution coming due in its own time. I'm merely stepping in to protect you all while it's within my power. As for how far we'll get, we can only leave it to the heavens. If this rain keeps up, Wu Zhenghua, who excels at driving ghosts, will become even more formidable," Elder Hai sighed heavily, shaking his head without a shred of color left in his face.

Sensing something was amiss, Lin Feiyu reached out to feel Elder Hai's trembling hand. The moment he touched it, his expression darkened. "Brother Hai! You..."

"Used too many. It's backfiring," Elder Hai replied with a resigned expression.

Having thrown so many paper figurines, even if one didn't understand the craft, one could deduce the meaning. A backfire meant he was on the verge of suffering a severe backlash.

"What do we do then? Why don't you rest while I go up alone!" Lin Feiyu, out of options, turned to me and Zhao Qian. "You two take your Uncle Hai back down; I'm going up to finish off that old bastard!"

"You're no match for him. If you go up alone without me, won't a lightning spell blast you to ashes? That old fogey has improved more than just a little over the past few decades. Back then, we were evenly matched, but now he actually outclasses me! How did I not realize that he dared return so recklessly precisely because he had something to rely upon?" Elder Hai angrily stopped Lin Feiyu, caught his breath, and forced himself to resume his climb up the mountain.

"This won't do, and that's no good either! At the very least, let Little Brother Xia take Zhao Qian down! It's bound to be extremely dangerous up there!" Lin Feiyu urged frantically. There were only a few dozen meters left to the peak; if a lightning spell struck, anyone caught in it would be blasted to nothingness.

Ahhh!

Just as Lin Feiyu was speaking, the miserable shriek of Zhao Yi rang out from down below, mixed with the sound of thunder! Elder Hai cast a telling 'I-told-you-so' glance in Lin Feiyu's direction.