Chapter 13: The Wooden Mallet Becomes a Spirit

  Suyou was in a predicament, and Jiongsheng wasn't much better off. At least when Suyou came to, he was still lying on the ground, but what about him? As soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself stuck waist-deep in a dwarf pine that had grown out of a rocky outcropping! He tried moving his body and struggled to turn his head upwards, feeling like he'd seen a ghost.

  Why did he start doing a free fall from about two kilometers high and still land intact? Even if he landed on a tree, it's barely considered a soft landing, isn't it?

  This is unscientific!

  But then again, who wants to be unlucky, and Jing Sheng didn't want to curse himself with broken limbs. So he just thought about it for a moment, and then started using his hands and feet together, trying to rescue himself from the predicament of being suspended in mid-air. With the dim light, he barely made out that he wasn't too far from the ground, and climbing up was much easier than going down.

  Below was a small circular clearing. Jing Sheng was fully dressed when climbing the mountain, from the hat with a flashlight to the waterproof jumpsuit to the hobnail boots, now except for being covered in a layer of ash and having several mouthfuls torn out, it was basically intact. He was secretly marveling at this while feeling his feet touch the ground.

  "Really?"

  Jing Shenggang turned his head and suddenly took two steps back, almost tripping himself. It wasn't that he was timid, but whoever saw a person's arm turn into a withered branch, especially when it was someone they knew to be a beautiful woman, would likely be even more shocked than him!

  To his reaction, Mulin herself didn't mind. "You know now that what we said is true, right?" She swung her other intact hand, "Anyway, I knew you never believed us."

  "Do you know that you're still standing here to scare me on purpose?" Jing Sheng looked at the other person, who didn't seem to have any intention of coming forward, and patted his chest, somewhat annoyed. "Women are usually good at deceiving people, especially beautiful women." His words now sounded like they had a hidden meaning.

  Mulan smiled slightly. "Since you're fine, let's go."

  "Where are you going?" Jing Sheng reflexively looked up at the sky again and suspiciously stared at Mu Lian: "Just you alone?"

  Mù Lián sidled over and revealed the person who was being blocked in the corner. Mù Hé was lying there silently, as if he were already dead.

  Jing Sheng felt that his little heart had been greatly shocked. "Why do you look like your problem is bigger than mine?" In theory, shouldn't he be the one who's more miserable, after all, they were ghosts or demons!

  "Normally it wouldn't be like this," Mulian said, her face expressionless.

  Although this seemed like a reason, Jing Sheng inexplicably felt that he had heard something else. He looked down at his hands and feet, asking uncertainly: "Why do I feel like you're implying the opposite meaning?" For example, the reason why such things happened was because he was abnormal?

  "You've always been perceptive." Mu Lian smiled slightly. "No wonder..." She didn't finish her sentence, but instead turned around to follow Mu He.

  "Hey!" Jing Sheng was displeased, "What does it mean to say one half and leave one half?"

  But Mu Lian obviously didn't want to answer him. She had one hand that was not good for use, and could only use the other hand to pull Mu He onto her back, which looked very difficult.

  Jing Sheng stared at her with wide eyes, and finally had no choice but to go over and offer a helping hand. "Just the three of us?" he asked persistently, "What about the others?"

  "Not three, but four." Mu Lian said calmly.

  Jing Sheng followed her gaze and finally fixed on the dwarf pine that had been hanging his. He suddenly guessed something, stuttered: "That... won't be... Shi Song, right?"

  "Shi Song is an alias." Mu Lian said.

  This epiphany was already enough for Jing Sheng. His gaze wandered back and forth between the dwarf pine and the withered arm of the wooden lotus, feeling that he had begun to approach the truth: "You are all wood spirits?" This could explain why they couldn't leave Paiyun Mountain, and also why they had to seek help from outsiders after Qinggong died! "And what about your true form...?" Name?

  "Alright, let's hurry up and go." Muliyan stepped forward, "My spiritual energy is limited, you didn't bring any food. If we can't leave the mountain in time, the only outcome will be starving to death, it's the only option."

  "Wait..." Jing Sheng wanted to say wait a minute, what's this thing in front of him, and then realized that no matter what it was, he could only move forward, because his current physical strength was absolutely impossible to climb up from above. Then he also wanted to ask Shi Song what to do, but looking at Mu Lian's expression, it seemed that leaving him here was better than pulling him out by the roots. Finally, he also realized that Mu Lian's nature was not shyness, but aloofness.

  But all of that doesn't matter now. Looking at the back figure in front of him, Jing Sheng touched his nose and quickly followed up.

  Let's talk about Su You from here. Du Ying led the way, circling around a long winding tunnel. Inside, there was nothing strange, just that the height was too low, and Su You had to bend his waist to move forward. He also carried the soft and fluffy Jiang Siqi, which made it even more troublesome. The surroundings were all yellow earth walls, with occasional rock formations protruding out, the air was stifling, and the humidity was obvious.

  "What's this place for?" Su You finally couldn't help but ask after walking for more than half an hour. "Even if it's a tomb path, it's brighter than this!"

  Du Ying turned his head and glanced at him, his pupils shining brightly in the dimly lit background. "This is already very good."

  Su You seemed to have understood something else. "What are you talking about?" He suddenly felt a sense of foreboding, "What do you mean by 'good road'? Are you comparing it to the road behind us?"

  Du Ying smiled slightly, apparently in agreement.

  "......Hey!" Su Yu was shocked. "Then why did you bring us here?" He thought for a moment, realizing he had already asked this question before, and changed his words: "What's behind us?"

  Du Ying turned back and continued to walk forward with a small waist. "We are now heading towards the Qin Temple. Legend has it that it was built according to the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching; in order to prevent thieves from peeping, there are eight doors in total. In other words, when you enter the door, what you see is not the person being worshipped, but various mechanisms. If you fail halfway..."

  Su You listened and her head spun, only understanding one thing: "Are you saying we're going to navigate the maze later? With a high chance of death?"

  "It's almost that way." Du Ying continued to explain, "But the Qin Temple was built for the purpose of communicating with heaven, and there must be a way out in the center, it can't be sealed off completely."

  Su You was about to lose his temper. Gossip and the like were completely beyond his knowledge reserve! "That's to say, even if there are mechanisms on the road, you also know how to walk?"

  "No, I've just heard it said." Du Ying negated, "Qin Temple is a sacred place, our kind cannot intrude rashly."

  "...You won't make me find my own way out, will you?" Su You said incredulously, "Do you want to trap me underground until I die?"

  "The usual saying is that even if I want to get out of there, I have to rely on you." Du Ying's voice was still calm. At this time, the narrow tunnel suddenly opened up ahead, and he quickened his pace, "We're here."

  "What's 'rely on me' supposed to mean?" Su You muttered to himself, feeling that this really wasn't a good phrase. But as soon as he lifted his head, he was instantly stunned by what he saw -