The Rural Doctor of the Mountain Spirit

  I learned from Wu Xianyi's mouth that the lantern was called a Soul-Hooking Lantern.

  This lamp is called a soul-snaring lamp, and it's used to snare souls. Once the lamp is lit, all souls within a hundred miles, whether they belong to living or dead things, will be drawn into the lamp.

  Today, Wu Xian asked me to go and see if the Hook Soul Lantern was extinguished or not, just to see if the person who lit the lantern had made a move.

  If the light hasn't gone out, it means he has already made his move and harmed someone. If the light has gone out, it means he has withdrawn.

  Today when I followed that person running out, his lamp had been on all the time. So, once he left, all the animals in our village died out, this is because their souls were taken away.

  At this point, Wu Xianyi also told me some methods for making soul-capturing lanterns.

  The method of making this soul-snatching lantern is also extremely cruel. The lamp oil is made from human corpse oil, the wick is made from hair, and the lantern is made from human skin with bamboo strips woven on it.

  Either corpse oil or wick or human skin, all require a dead body with an extremely tragic death and extreme resentment.

  Such corpses are sometimes very rare. The people who make lanterns will choose a person and torture them to death to obtain such materials.

  After hearing the method of making the soul lantern, I felt a slight shock in my heart, and a surge of anger rose to my head. What's the difference between such people and beasts? Even worse than beasts.

  Making a soul-snatching lantern is already an evil act that goes against the principles of heaven and earth, and after it's made, it will be used to harm heaven and earth. My fists clenched involuntarily, crackling with energy.

  Wu Xianyi, who was standing beside me, sighed and said: "You must remember that many things are not in your control, do everything calmly and within your ability."

  At that time, when I heard Wu Xianyi's words, I couldn't understand them immediately. But later on, those words saved my life many times.

  I stood beside Wu Xianyi with a puzzled expression, waiting for his next instruction. Wu Xianyi looked at me and sighed.

  This is the first time I've heard Dr. Wu sigh since I met him. And today, he's already sighed more than once.

  Moreover, I seem to feel that Wu Xianyi has a kind of fear for the person carrying the lantern, or it can be said as a kind of reverence, or perhaps a guilty conscience.

  Wu Xianyi finally spoke out his instructions after a sigh.

  The first clue is to find the Soul Lantern, because the Soul Lantern can only attract souls within a hundred miles. And today, all the livestock in the village died. This means that the lantern must be within a hundred miles. My task is to find it and bring it back.

  The second instruction, Wu Xianyi asked me to go to the ancestral hall in the village to fetch a drum. After fetching the drum, I had to beat it non-stop all the way back. The final thing would be left to Wu Xianyi.

  Following the instructions, I carried a lantern out of my house. Along the way, I carefully observed my surroundings. However, in the dark night, all I could see was a mountain forest in the darkness, and nothing else.

  I didn't give up, but instead climbed to a more remote mountain farther away from the village. These mountains are very dangerous at night, with wild dogs and venomous snakes as well as other wild animals lurking inside. If I accidentally ran into these things, I would have no choice but to die.

  I plucked up my courage and started searching on the mountain, with my eyes looking more carefully around.

  However, after a long search, I still haven't found anything, nor have I seen that lantern.

  I'm getting anxious, this is the first time Wu Xian has actively asked me to do something. But unexpectedly, I couldn't even do this small thing right. My impatient body started sweating profusely, and I became even more reckless.

  As I walked and walked, I suddenly stopped. Because I saw from afar that on a mountain slope not far away, there seemed to be someone standing.

  I'm a bit puzzled, what is this person doing standing here so late at night?

  I suddenly remembered the man who was hitting the lantern during the day, was that person on the barren slope him? This guy actually still stayed in our village, didn't leave?

  As I thought of this, I crept quietly towards that person. And as I walked, what I saw became clearer and clearer.

  On the slope there was indeed a person, standing with his face towards the village. Seeing his figure, I became even more suspicious, that man was the one who walked with a lantern during the day.

  I unconsciously quickened my pace, getting closer and closer to him.

  Suddenly, I stopped again. Because, I felt that something was off about that person. What was it?

  I saw that the man's shoulders were actually hunched, this posture was as if the person was hanging in mid-air, rather than standing on the ground. In addition to this, I also vaguely felt that the person's feet were off the ground. I got a bit of goosebumps and wanted to walk over to take a look, but didn't dare to.

  After a long internal struggle, I gritted my teeth and finally walked over. Gradually, I got closer and closer to that person. When I was less than five meters away from him, all the hairs on my body suddenly stood up.

  This time I saw clearly that the person was really not standing on the ground. Because I saw, under the feet of that person, it was a cliff.

  On this cliff stretched a branch of tree, and the man was hung on it.

  I was so frightened that I almost fell to the ground, but although I was young, my character was very resilient. I gritted my teeth and finally got up from the ground. I ran back to the house in one breath, telling Wu Xianyi everything I saw with fear.

  But Wu Xianyi listened and remained indifferent to me. His expression was very calm, as if nothing had happened.

  "Are you scared like this just because of such a small thing? How can I dare to entrust the burden to you?"

  I was scolded by Wu Xianyi, I thought when I came back Wu Xianyi would comfort me a couple of sentences, but unexpectedly the result was like this. At that time, my heart felt extremely uncomfortable, and I ran out of the house in a hurry, once again heading towards that mountain ridge.

  Before leaving the house, I shouted loudly at Wu Xian: "I'm not afraid, I won't be afraid again, you wait for me!"

  A somewhat weak voice came from inside the house: "Don't talk big now, don't come back crying later."

  I ran to the mountain again, and saw that cliff again. But strangely, when I came back to this cliff, the person who was hanging on the tree before had disappeared.

  I couldn't help but feel a little dazed, and with a sense of fear, I continued to approach the tree. But when I got closer, I still didn't see any sign of that person.

  I rubbed my eyes, was it just my own dizziness?

  Next, I continued along the mountain slope to look for that soul lantern. The mountain in front of me was constantly changing, and it was also my first time coming to this mountain slope so late at night.

  At first I felt a little empty in my heart, but after getting used to it a bit, I didn't feel anything.

  After walking for a while, I didn't find that soul-snatching lantern, but the lantern in my hand became somewhat dim, and the candle inside was about to be completely extinguished.

  I quickened my pace and started sprinting between the woods. But even so, I still couldn't find all the hills around me before the lantern in my hand went out completely.

  In an instant, the whole world turned pitch black, and the trees in front of me were swaying ominously, very frightening.

  My heart is racing, and I'm almost unable to control my emotions. It's as if the balance scale, which was originally balanced, only needs a single hair on one side for its balance to be disrupted.

  I'm now like a seesaw, as long as I hear any sound around me, I'll run back and forth with all my might.

  But I remembered Wu Xian's words when I went out, and the unyielding spirit in my heart came again. I gritted my teeth and walked forward in the forest, suppressing my fear.

  After walking for a while, I unknowingly walked into a dense forest. The surroundings had completely darkened, and when I looked up, I could only see the stars in the sky through the gaps between the leaves.

  I looked around in all directions, but nothing could be seen in any direction.

  But at this moment, I felt exceptionally clearly that there was someone beside me.

  Why does it feel so exceptionally clear? Because I feel like this person is stuck right next to my ear, blowing air into my ears.