Chapter 5: The Mountain Stronghold Female Ghost

  Mountain Stronghold Female Ghost

  A loud crowing of a rooster awakens the sleeping mountains. Dawn quietly raises its head from amidst the clouds, and the rising sun casts a bloody glow over the mountains, rivers, and fields. The mist rises from the valley, layer by layer, wrapping around Fengling Mountain. Anmin Village is dressed up like a beautiful paradise.

  Yun Xiang Tian got up early and walked out of the house to enjoy the picturesque scenery. A sound of footsteps came from behind him. Yun Xiang Tian turned around to see a young man approaching him respectfully. The young man said softly, "Young Master Yun, the leader has invited you. Please follow me."

  Yun Xiang Tian asked, "What's going on?" The young man lowered his head and whispered, "Wait until you see the leader. You'll naturally know then."

  Yun Xiangtian stopped asking questions. He simply took another look at the young man, who looked like he was fifteen or sixteen years old, with a clear and handsome face, red lips and white teeth, but his thin and frail body didn't match the heroic red headband on his head. Yun Xiangtian thought to himself: "There are also such delicate-looking young men among the mountain bandits." Suddenly, he felt a pang in his heart and took another close look at the young man. The young man was very dissatisfied with Yun Xiangtian's behavior, he glared at Yun Xiangtian, raised his head and puffed out his chest, saying: "Please, Mr. Yun."

  Yun Xiang Tian looked at the young man and suddenly reached out to grab the heroic scarf on his head. The young man dodged it very skillfully and asked in surprise, "Young Master Yun, what are you doing?"

  Yun Xiang Tian burst out laughing and said: "Stop pretending to be a ghost, show your true form! Who are you? What do you want?"

  The young man hummed and slowly pulled out a dagger from his waist, saying: "I am the one who takes lives, I am here to take your life today." As he spoke, he swung the dagger at Yun Xiang Tian. Yun Xiang Tian dodged the incoming dagger and started fighting with the young man. After several rounds, Yun Xiang Tian knocked the dagger out of the young man's hand, grabbed his left hand, and asked again: "Who are you? Why do you want to assassinate me?"

  The young man let out a silvery laugh, the sound of which was crisp and pleasant to the ear, making people feel like they were bathing in spring breeze. His eyes stared tightly at Yun Xiang Tian, his right hand quickly grasped towards his own face, and instantly his face became blurred with blood and flesh, the heroic headscarf on his head was also torn off, a few dry grass-like hairs scattered on the dark red top of his head, he opened his mouth which flowed with dirty blood, humming a laugh, the laughter turned into a mournful and eerie, gloomy and icy cold sound. Looking at the young man who instantly transformed into a bloodthirsty evil spirit. Yun Xiang Tian was shocked, letting go of the young man's hand, retreating several steps, he felt his scalp tingling, his heart seemed to be about to burst out of his body. He took a deep breath, desperately suppressing the fear in his heart. Tensing every muscle on his body, highly tense and staring at the opponent's every move.

  The fog grew thicker, shrouding Anmin Village in a vast expanse of white mist, and also enveloping the eerie youth. As the fog intensified, it became increasingly difficult to make out the youth's features. In a daze, Yun Xiang Tian saw that the ghostly youth was using his right hand to snap off the fingers of his left hand, putting them into his mouth which was dripping with blood, and chewing with a crunching sound. Then he used his right hand to grab his left wrist, slowly but forcefully pulling down his entire left arm, before swinging it towards Yun Xiang Tian. Yun Xiang Tian drew out the short knife from his waist, staring at his opponent with eyes that were bulging with fear.

  A long, drawn-out whistle came from the village, and as the whistling sound approached, the fierce ghost in the fog instantly disappeared, and the fog slowly dispersed. Yunxiang Tian, who was still in a state of shock, stood stupidly in place, even wondering if it was all just a dream or an illusion. It wasn't until the foolish monk rushed over to him and asked, "What's wrong? What happened?" that he finally came back to his senses with a lingering fear. He forced a smile and said, "Nothing, I've just never seen such thick fog before, it's just...it's just a bit...a bit uncomfortable."

  The foolish monk looked at him, seemingly wanting to say something, opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't speak. He glanced around and said: "Young master, Hongshan girl invites you to the assembly hall. Is it convenient for you?"

  Yun Xiang Tian smiled lightly and said, "Convenient? Of course it's convenient!" After finishing speaking, he made a silly face at Chi Yun and pulled his slightly puzzled hand, saying, "Let's go! Monk uncle, what are you thinking?"

  The foolish monk looked at Yun Xiang Tian and smiled unnaturally, saying: "Alright, alright, young master, please." He looked around again, his expression bitter as he shook his head, following Yun Xiang Tian to the assembly hall.

  Hong Shangu sat in the hall's chair, saw Yun Xiangtian come in and excitedly stood up from his seat, smiled and went forward. She pulled up Yun Xiangtian's hand and looked him up and down, saying: "Yu'er, did you sleep well last night?" Yun Xiangtian also smiled and said: "Good, I slept very well. Thank you, Auntie." Hong Shangu gently helped Yun Xiangtian sit back in the chair, returned to her original seat and continued: "I stayed up late last night, I thought you would sleep a bit longer, didn't expect you to get up so early. It's good that we can have breakfast together and talk about how you spent these 15 years." One sentence stirred up Yun Xiangtian's countless thoughts.

  Yun Xiang Tian was six years old when he followed his father, Yu Tian, to Jianghu. Many things were already unclear, but he knew that Yu Tian had fled to a friend in the jianghu and settled there. When Yun Xiang Tian was seven years old, his mother suddenly became mentally ill, hiding herself in the corner of the wall every day, saying that some unclean things were haunting her and wanted to take her life. Yu Tian invited many doctors, but they all shook their heads and left. One time, Yu Tian invited a traveling doctor who used silver needles to prick the patient's middle finger after taking his pulse. After carefully examining the blood that flowed out, he thought for a long time and said, "May I ask, do you have any enemies in this place? The lady's illness is caused by poisoning." Yu Tian felt that something was wrong and quickly asked, "No, no! Did my wife accidentally eat something poisonous? Can you cure it, sir?"

  Lang Zhong looked at the rainy sky, gritted his teeth and said: "But, but." He hesitated for a moment and said: "Before I find the poison, I can't make medicine. Think about it, madam, what special things did you eat before you got sick? I mean, something from outside this place."

  On a rainy day, he thought for a long time and suddenly felt a wave of fear. He hastily said: "She ate the longan from the south. My wife's body is weak, and a doctor told her to eat more longans, saying it can calm the nerves and nourish the blood. Is there a problem with this?"

  "Is there any more at home? Bring some for me to see." When he saw the longan that Rainy had brought, he chuckled and said, "Indeed not bad! What a clever trick!" He took out one and showed it to Rainy, saying, "Do you know what this is?" Seeing Rainy's confused face, he smiled again and said, "This is Longli, also known as the madman fruit. It looks similar to longan but has the opposite effect. After eating it, people will experience headaches and nausea. If they eat a bit more, they'll go crazy." He sniffed the madman fruit and muttered to himself, "So poisonous, so sinister! They even soaked the madman fruit in mandrake's medicinal liquid. It makes patients hallucinate when they're going crazy. How terrifying!"

  "On a rainy day, someone asked in puzzlement: 'My dog and I also ate it, why is nothing wrong?'"

  The doctor stroked his goatee and said, "The wonderful thing is that when I entered the house, I smelled the scent of sandalwood mixed with other medicines. These medicines can counteract the toxicity of the 'madman's fruit' and mandrake. But they have no effect on women, so..." Rain interrupted him and asked, "Can she be cured?" The doctor didn't mind being interrupted and smiled as he said, "Yes, yes, I'll write a prescription right away. Please wait."

  When the rain poured a thick stack of silver coins in front of the doctor, the doctor was somewhat surprised and repeatedly said: "Not so much is needed, one piece is enough."

  On a rainy day, Qian pushed the money in front of him again and said: "Sir, please take it. I only ask that if someone asks about it, just say that my wife is suffering from a mental illness and there's no cure. Alright?"

  The doctor was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "Is the lady's illness just madness? Who would ask otherwise. There is another patient here who will be diagnosed tomorrow and leave immediately, never to return to this place again. Please rest assured, madam. Your illness can be treated with medicine, just don't touch that harmful thing again." He pointed at the package containing the crazy fruit and the longan. Then he bowed his hand and said: "Farewell for now."

  After sending Lang Zhong away, Yu Tian thought about who had sent such a "generous gift" and why he wanted to harm his wife. He wondered how much this person knew about his secrets. When Yu Tian turned around and saw his wife curled up in the corner of the wall, and Yun Xiang Tian with a confused expression, he felt a pang of sadness in his heart. He walked over to them and said to Yun Xiang Tian, "Yu Er, although you're only seven years old, you must remember that no matter what, you can't easily trust others, especially those who feel like your best friends, they are often your most deadly enemies. From now on, you are no longer Yu Sheng, your name is Yun Xiang Tian. Do you understand?" Then he picked up Yun Xiang Tian's mother and affectionately called out her nickname, "Xiang Yi, shall we take Yu Er away from here? Let's find a place with beautiful scenery and live like immortals, leaving behind all worldly things. Hide in the mountains and forests, what do you think?" Xiang Yi, who was deeply hugged by Yu Tian, flashed a look of surprise in her eyes, but immediately became dull and expressionless again. She played with Yu Tian's ear and mumbled unclearly, "Immortals, mountains and forests... so beautiful!" Then she suddenly sat up straight, staring at Yu Tian with wide eyes, seemingly frightened, saying, "Ghost, ghost, is there a ghost? Ghosts are so scary!" When she saw Yu Tian tearfully crying, she leaned in close to him again, wiping away his tears while saying, "Oh oh oh, good baby don't cry. Baby's good, baby doesn't cry."

  That night, Rain Heaven left with his family. The Cloud Soaring Sky family set foot on the road of wandering again. Although Cloud Soaring Sky was only seven years old at that time, he remembered it very clearly. At that time, they left their residence and escaped into the mountains. His father carried his mother on his back and pulled him to run desperately. Behind them, countless torches chased after them, shouting out his father's name loudly. Thinking of this, Cloud Soaring Sky couldn't help but smile.

  Hong Shangu looked at Yun Xiangtian's strange expression and asked with concern: "Yu'er, what's wrong?"

  Looking at Hong Shan's kind and warm smile, Yun Xiang Tian said with some embarrassment: "No, no, just, just..."

  A person rushed in, interrupting the conversation between Hong Shangu and Yun Xiangtian. He walked up to Hong Shangu's side and whispered something in her ear. Hong Shangu was startled and looked at him saying, "Is what you're saying true?" The man nodded his head tensely and said, "It's really true."

  Hongshan girl frowned, turned around and said to Yunxiangtian: "Wait for me, I'll be right back." Without waiting for Yunxiangtian's response, she hastily followed the person out.

  Yun Xiangtian slowly got up and walked to the entrance of the hall, looking at Hong Shangu's departing figure. From Hong Shangu's tense expression, Yun Xiangtian knew that this was not an ordinary matter. He wanted to chase after her to investigate, but he suppressed his inner impulse and stood still at the door. Not far away, a familiar figure flashed into a doorway - it was Ye Zichun. Yun Xiangtian was shocked; how did he end up here? Was there a huge connection between the mountain stronghold being slaughtered, the ghost disturbance, and this place? He tried to piece together all the events that had occurred over the past few days. He had to know what role Ye Zichun played here, and what his relationship was with Hong Shangu and Wang Shan'gen. Just as Yun Xiangtian was lost in thought, a red shadow suddenly pounced on him from behind.