Chapter 9: Creating Something Out of Nothing

  Chapter 9: The Mysterious Light on the Cliff

  Xiu Zhu was happily teasing the captured cuckoo, while Yun Xiang Tian lay in bed thinking about all that had happened today. Last night, he had been thinking about Hong Shan Gu's whereabouts and their next plan. He had taken a stroll alone in the large courtyard of An Min Village when he accidentally noticed a streak of light on the cliff wall. That was why he had found Xiu Zhu, to trick her into revealing Hong Shan Gu's location and to use bird-catching as an excuse to investigate the origin of the light.

  When they arrived at the foot of the cliff, things happened so coincidentally that right next to where he had seen the light, there was a bird's nest. He carefully examined the place where he had seen the light, but there was nothing special about it. It was just like any other place, except for a protruding rock with a few mountain vines hanging down from it.

  He found a narrow path that could barely lead him to the rock and climbed up using his excellent skills. As he approached the rock, he discovered a gun barrel sticking out of a crack in the stone, pointing at him. He felt a thrill in his heart but pretended to be frightened, slipping his foot and shouting as if he was about to fall.

  Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the crack and grabbed Yun Xiang Tian's arm, and a low voice said, "Don't be afraid, young master Yun. I'll throw you a rope, and you can climb down using it." Yun Xiang Tian seemed even more frightened, stuttering, "Y-you're human or ghost? How did you hide in the crack?"

  The voice from the crack sounded somewhat impatient, "Don't ask, just go down!" Before he finished speaking, a rope was thrown out from the crack. When Yun Xiang Tian grabbed the rope, the voice spoke again, "Don't climb up here again; not every time will be so lucky."

  Yun Xiang Tian's voice trembled as he said, "I'm scared to death! I won't come back even if you kill me!"

  Yun Xiang Tian slid down the rope, looking at Xiuzhu who was laughing to tears, and said with a resentful tone: "Laugh, laugh, laugh, have you had enough? You scared me half to death, but you're here gloating and kicking me when I'm down." He looked up at the bird's nest on the cliff and sighed regretfully: "It's just that I won't be able to climb back up to catch those little birds again, what a pity."

  The maid, Cui Yu, covered her mouth and laughed, saying: "Miss is teasing you, that's a fake bird's nest, it's for decoration. Whose bird would build a nest on a bare rock? Silly." After finishing speaking, she and Xiu Zhu laughed so hard they were doubled over. Xiu Zhu held onto Cui Yu with one hand and covered her stomach with the other, laughing loudly and saying: "It can't be helped, it can't be helped, my stomach hurts from laughing."

  Yun Xiang pretended to be angry and said, "You're teasing me! I won't catch birds for you anymore. You tricked me when I was trying to help you catch birds. You're too...too..." He turned around to leave. Xiuzhu grabbed him and laughed, "Don't be angry, don't be angry, it's just a joke. Look at how angry you are!" She burst into laughter again.

  Yun Xiang Tian pretended to be angry, with a serious expression, saying: "Joking? Is this a joke? It's deadly. Look at this high cliff, if you're not careful, you'll fall off and die or get seriously injured. And climbing so high, suddenly someone points a gun at your head, and there are eerie voices coming from the cracks in the rocks. If you don't fall to death, you'll be scared to death. My dear sister, is this a joke?"

  Look, Yun Xiang is really angry. Cui Yu said timidly: "Young Master, don't be angry. Nothing will happen, the uncles upstairs are all skilled, our young lady has played with people like this before, and every time the uncles upstairs can catch the person who climbs up in time, it's not dangerous."

  Xiu Zhu also stopped laughing, and her face was filled with anger; "How, do you want to eat me? Isn't it just a joke? Do you have to get so angry? You're so petty! Cui Yu, let's go." She pulled Cui Yu and was about to leave. Xiu Zhu had indeed played this kind of game before. But those were new recruits from the Xiao Shan gang, not to mention that nothing dangerous happened, even if something did happen, they didn't dare do anything to this young lady. They could only smile and let Xiu Zhu tease them. Today, seeing Yun Xiang get angry, she naturally couldn't take it.

  Yun Xiang Tian saw that Xiuzhu was really angry, so he hurried forward and grabbed her. He didn't want to give up the opportunity to investigate Anmin Village. So, with a smiling face, he said: "Okay, okay, I admit I was wrong. You guys teased me like this, how could I not be angry? Alright, now let's go catch birds. But you're not allowed to tease me again, deal?"

  Cuiyu also chimed in, "Yes, Miss, since you're out, why not take a stroll? Don't be angry." Yunxiang Tian's heart suddenly skipped a beat as he glanced at Cuiyu. This Cuiyu, who had just been blocking Xiuzhu from leaving the house, was now holding Xiuzhu's hand and swaying it back and forth, smiling and pleading, "Why be angry, Miss? Anger doesn't suit you! Besides, Young Master didn't say anything. Why must you argue with him? Smile a little. Our miss is the most beautiful person in the world when she smiles!"

  Yun Xiang let out a sigh and smiled, saying: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault. Alright? Not looking at the monk but looking at the Buddha's face, just to give Cui Yu some face. Originally...". He didn't finish saying "originally it was your fault", only said "originally" and then pretended to be wronged, looking at Xiu Zhu and Cui Yu. Seeing Xiu Zhu turn her head, he quickly lowered his head.

  Xiu Zhu was a bit unreasonable, speaking rapidly like a machine gun; "It's all your fault, it's all your fault. Not convinced? Hmph, if it weren't for Cui Yu pleading on your behalf, I wouldn't even bother with you. Let's go, Cui Yu, we're going bird-catching."

  Cui Yu excitedly shouted: "Oh, let's go catch birds!" Turning her head to Yun Xiang Tian, she said with a nod: "Come on, young master, accompany us to catch birds!" Looking at Cui Yu's excited appearance, Yun Xiang Tian's mind was constantly churning. He even suspected that he had some kind of illness, then shook his head with a bitter smile. He followed along, quietly asking Cui Yu: "You and your young mistress are as close as sisters, how many years have you been following her?"

  Cuiyu glanced at Yunxiang Tian and said with a smile: "That's natural, don't look at me following my family's young lady for only two years, but the young lady has never looked down on me as an inferior, let me tell you, if it wasn't for the young lady saving me, I would have starved to death long ago."

  Yun Xiang Tian looked at the girl in front of him, who was over twenty years old. Just as he wanted to ask more questions, he heard Xiuzhu's shouting voice; "Come quickly, come quickly! There is a bird's nest there, there is a bird's nest!" Xiuzhu danced with excitement, pointing to a cave above the slope. This cave had been haunted by a group of ghosts on the night Yun Xiang Tian first arrived.

  "The wind rises and the clouds surge" is the password for the mountain bandits on Fengling Mountain to alert each other of an external enemy invasion. When Ba Tianlong and others heard the warning signal, they rushed to the entrance of the cave, but only saw a few mountain bandits surrounding the entrance, nervously discussing something in hushed tones.

  Ba Tian Long said angrily: "What's going on? Who fired the shot? Who shouted and caused a stir?"

  The mountain bandits below the cave entrance shook their heads and said, "I don't know, I don't know who fired the shot? Nor do I know who shouted to stir up the wind and clouds? Just now we were on patrol, suddenly a gunshot was heard, followed by someone shouting to stir up the wind and clouds. We chased in the direction of the sound, but found nothing. On our way back, we discovered this. A corpse."

  "A dead body? Whose dead body?" Ba Tian Long asked as he and Hong Shan Yu walked into the hanging basket.

  "Yes, it's Wang Shan-gen's corpse." The person below replied in a flustered tone.

  "What about Wang Shan Gen?" Ba Tian Long asked in puzzlement.

  When Ba Tian Long, Hong Shan Gu and the others came down from the cave, they were stunned by the scene in front of them. Wang Shan Gen's corpse was leaning against the cliff wall, his eyes wide open, his face covered in blood. On the stone wall beside him, four large characters "Return my life" were written in bold letters. The words were written in fresh blood, which flowed down along the strokes, forming a series of curved and twisted bloodstains on the stone wall, shocking and terrifying to behold. Although Ba Tian Long and the others were all seasoned killers who didn't bat an eyelid at taking lives, they couldn't help but feel their hearts racing and their legs trembling at this sight.

  "Hmph, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Mountain Root, don't let the person who killed you off the hook. Haunt him day and night, make him unable to eat or sleep, then suck out his vital energy and devour his flesh and blood." She turned her head to glance at Ba Tian Hu and the others, her eyes gleaming with malice as she waved her hand and said, "Let him be pierced by a thousand arrows, let him die a terrible death. After he's dead, throw him into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, make him climb the Mountain of Knives and fall into the Cauldron of Oil. Best would be to make him unable to reincarnate for eternity, turn him into a lonely and desolate wandering ghost, unable to enjoy the offerings of the living, tormented by evil spirits every day." As soon as she finished speaking, she burst out laughing, her laughter like the sound of shattering bamboo, wild and majestic. Hong Shan Gu's words made everyone's hair stand on end, their spines chilled to the bone.

  Ye Zi's brow furrowed slightly, and he coughed a few times before saying: "Mountain village master, don't be fooled by rumors. When a person dies, the lamp goes out; how can there be talk of seeking revenge from beyond the grave? Everything we saw today was just someone trying to take advantage of Wang Shan's death to confuse people and muddy the waters. Don't fall for the villain's trickery and ruin our important matter."

  Hong Shan's face was stern as he said, "Have we fallen into the bandits' trap? Could it be that killing Wang Shan Gen is part of their plan? What do they want to do? Can you tell me, Special Envoy Ye?"

  Ye Zi Chun clenched his teeth, suppressing the anger in his heart, and said with a smile: "The Mountain Girl Village Master is joking, how would I know their plan? But we will investigate clearly. However, for now, we still need to prioritize the overall situation and discuss our joint defense of Lingfeng."

  Hong Shan said with a hum, "The big deal of defending Lingfeng? Forget it! You big masters can guard Lingfeng. I, a woman, won't go to join that commotion. I'll return to Yuquan Ridge and properly bury my brother Mountain Root. Help his soul find the avenger's family and avenge his grievances." She turned around, beckoned her followers, "Bring Mountain Root's body, let's go!" After finishing speaking, she leaped onto the horse brought by her follower, ignoring Yezi Chun's repeated attempts to persuade her, and left with her followers in a cloud of dust.

  Hongshan Gu left, and Zhen Shantiger clasped his fists in both hands and said: "You two, I still have some things to attend to in my village, so I'll take my leave first."

  Looking at the distant Hongshan girl and Zhen Mountain tiger, Yezi Chun's face was full of anger as he stared at Ba Tianlong, saying hastily: "Get me an investigation right away! See who's behind this ghostly affair! I don't believe for a second that Wang Shan Gen's corpse would fly over here on its own."

  Ba Tian Long looked at Ye Zi Chun with disdain and said, "Investigate? How can we investigate? The body was placed here in less than half a cup of tea's time, and someone even wrote a few big characters. If it wasn't him who flew over himself to seek revenge, then whose people put this here on purpose to make me uncomfortable? It's inexplicable. I really don't understand why you had to kill Wang Shan Gen. He was just an insignificant little pawn. You've stirred up so much trouble."

  Ba Tian Long's outburst woke Ye Zi Chun up, he knew it wasn't the time for him to give orders yet. He smiled and said: "Brother Tian Long, don't be offended. I was just anxious and spoke without thinking, offending you, brother. Don't be angry. Think about it, we were discussing promoting you as the commander of Feng Ling Shan, but then this strange thing happened. Isn't it obvious that someone is intentionally sabotaging us, ruining your good fortune, and then taking advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters? That's why I was anxious, wanting to find out who the traitor is, messing up our plans. Oh, right, Brother Tian Long, why did you say I killed Wang Shan Gen? Isn't that baseless?"

  Ye Zi Chun's words made Ba Tian Long feel very comfortable. He coughed lightly and said, "There is no need for Ye Te Pai Yuan to blame himself, Wang Shan Gen is just a small pawn, even if he kills a few more, it doesn't matter. I'm not afraid of them!"

  Ye Zi Chun looked at Ba Tian Long's overbearing expression and his face turned serious, saying: "Tian Long brother, Wang Shan Gen really wasn't killed by me. I had no reason to kill someone who was beneficial to me and harmless. Think carefully, isn't that right?"

  Ba Tian Long rubbed his head, his face turned extremely ferocious, and he said viciously: "Damn it, it seems that someone really wants to ruin my good deeds. I'll arrange for someone to thoroughly investigate this matter right now. Let's see which goddamn person dares to cause trouble for me, Ba Tian Long."