Chapter 53: Sealing Soul Valley

  The patrol team of ten people lit up a bonfire.

  Zhou Xuanzhang and her mother, Jin Shu, sat beside a bonfire. Na Ha Wu and Yao Xi were waiting on the side, but before long, these two guys started snoring loudly.

  Jin Shu's mother leaned against a small tree, hanging her head down.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang used a branch to stir the fire and said: "Girl..."

  "You promised, no more questions." Jin Shu said warily.

  Zhou Xuanzhang smiled wryly, this little girl seemed to see through his thoughts.

  The surroundings were already filled with snores, a day's march was too exhausting, these Qing troops from the plains could not adapt to mountain marching at all.

  Zhou Xianzhang grew up in the mountains of western Hunan and knew how to conserve his strength, though he was somewhat tired, but not exhausted.

  Zhou Xianzhang was not sleepy, not just because he wasn't tired.

  He felt that something was off about this mountain valley where they were camping.

  Since I set foot on Korean soil, I have been marching on mountain roads all day. Many of Korea's mountains are very steep, with thousands of peaks standing upright, straight up and down, the road is narrow, like a road dug out from the gap between the big mountains, only at noon can see the sun, after noon, the mountain road becomes dark.

  However, here, I can actually see the sunset.

  This is a valley, with open terrain and gentle slopes on all sides, where dense pine forests grow. The forest is dark and quiet, without the sound of birds or even the chirping of summer insects, making it very eerie.

  Zhou Xuanzhang had a somewhat ominous premonition, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was off about the valley.

  "Girl, what I want to ask is not about your family."

  "What do you want to ask?"

  "What place is this?"

  "I don't know either. My mom and I left North Korea by boat, we didn't come through here, my mom should know, let me ask her." Jin Shu turned around and chatted with her mom for a while, her mom looked worried and nodded at Jin Shu.

  Jin Xiu turned to Zhou Xianzhang, her eyes filled with terror.

  "What's wrong?" Zhou Xuan Zhang asked.

  "My mom says this isn't a good place."

  Zhou Xuan Zhang tensed up: "What's going on?" Gripped his gun tightly.

  "Mom said, the mountain we passed by today is called Ku Gu Feng, and where we are sitting now is called Feng Hun Gou."

  "Dry Bone Peak, Sealing Soul Valley? What kind of name is this?"

  Jin Su moved closer to Zhou Xianzhang and her voice trembled slightly: "My mother said, this is not a place where people live, it's a place where ghosts live."

  Zhou Xuanzhang burst out laughing: "Your mom is so superstitious, it's already the 21st century..."

  "What is the 21st century?"

  Zhou Xuanzhang only then realized that it was not the 21st century, but the late 19th century. At this time, the Qing Dynasty had just opened its eyes to look at the world, and Korea was even more isolated from the world. The people's thoughts were benighted, whether they were ordinary people or officials, and superstitions about ghosts and gods were prevalent.

  "What did your mother say?" Zhou Xiang asked.

  "My mother said that this place was not originally called Fenghun Valley, but Baohua Valley. A long time ago, China had a Wu Zetian who sent a general named Xue Rengui to fight against us Goguryeo people. Our Goguryeo hero Yeon Gaesomun fought against Xue Rengui here and killed many of his soldiers and horses. Xue Rengui couldn't defeat Yeon Gaesomun, so he pretended to surrender and asked Yeon Gaesomun to come to Baohua Valley to accept the surrender. Yeon Gaesomun believed it was true and sent 5,000 soldiers into Baohua Valley. As a result, Xue Rengui set fire to the valley, burning both Baohua Valley and the 5,000 Goguryeo people to ashes."

  Zhou Xuanzhang was secretly shocked, looked around, the surrounding mountains and forests were dense, the valley was wide, but the entrance of the valley was very narrow, once the entrance of the valley was closed, it would be a good battlefield for fire attack.

  "After the 5,000 Koreans died, a plague broke out in Xue Rengui's army and many people died. Xue Rengui knew that it was the vengeful spirits of the Koreans who were haunting him, so he invited a Buddhist master to use talismans to seal the vengeful spirits in the valley, and Baekhwajeong became known as Seonhwanjeong (lit. "Sealing Spirits Valley"). Later, Yeon Gaesomun led a large army to avenge the Koreans and defeated Xue Rengui's army, killing all of his soldiers in Baekhwajeong, with only Xue Rengui himself escaping."

  Zhou Xuanzhang sighed secretly. In China, whether it's orthodox history or unofficial history, Xue Rengui is a great hero, while Yeon Gaesomun is a great villain. However, in the hearts of Koreans, the positions of the two are reversed - Yeon Gaesomun is a great hero, while Xue Rengui is a ruthless and cruel executioner!

  History is evolving, and humanity is making progress. However, whether it was the prosperous Tang Dynasty of the 8th century, the late Qing Dynasty of the 19th century, or China in the 21st century, one thing has remained unchanged - national interests and national sentiments are the ultimate standards for judging a person.

  Jin continued: "Because of the talisman, those 5,000 Goryeo vengeful spirits cannot leave the valley and are unable to transcend. The Tang people who were killed by Yuwen Shu in the Sealed Soul Valley also cannot leave the valley. Their souls are still fighting in the valley, a battle that has lasted for a thousand years until now. When it's windy or rainy, you can still hear their cries of war. That's why everyone stays far away and no one dares to enter the valley. Even wild beasts don't dare to come in."

  The surroundings were quiet to the extreme, let alone beasts, even the chirping of summer insects was absent, there was only a bright moon, casting a pale white moonlight from the mountain cliffs.

  Zhou Xuanzhang felt a chill run down his back.

  "Zhou Dage, are all you Chinese people as bad as Xue Rengui?" Jin Shu asked weakly.

  Jin Shu's mother leaned against a small tree, with two beams of mournful cold light shooting out from her eyes.

  Zhou Xuanzhang was speechless. In the eyes of Jin Shu and her mother, Xue Rengui was a big bad egg, but in the eyes of Chinese people, he was a great hero who stood tall and proud.

  If every Chinese could be as bold and daring as Xue Rengui, the current Qing Empire would be in a different situation, at least it wouldn't be bullied by foreigners. But if that were really the case, the people of neighboring countries would be in trouble.

  This is a dead knot, national competition is cruel, and survival of the fittest is an eternal and unchanging rule in this world.

  Jin Xiu shook her head: "Your Great Qing Empire can't be all bad like Xue Ren Gui."

  "How did you know?"

  "At least you're a good person, Brother Zhou." Jin Shu blushed and lowered her head.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang laughed and said: "But I want to be Xue Ren Gui."

  "You're a good man even if you were Xue Ren Gui!" Jin Shu's voice was low and resolute.

  Zhou Xianzhang felt hot in his chest and throat.

  If one day he can command thousands of troops and horses like Xue Rengui, sweep across the battlefield, and roam freely in all directions, then he must be a good person! Because Jin Shu's words are orders!

  Zhou Xuanzhang stood up: "You all take a rest."

  "Zhou Dagei, where are you going?" Jin Shu became tense.

  "I'll go take a look if there are any ghosts." Zhou Xuan Zhang said with a smile. All the soldiers in the whole sentry post were sleeping like dead pigs, Zhou Xuan Zhang couldn't bear to wake up any of them, so he had to go on duty himself.

  "Don't go too far, I..." Jin Shu's face turned red: "I'm scared."

  "Na Ha Wu and Yao Xi will protect you and your mom."

  "Ah, that uncle is a good person, but I'm still scared. Brother Zhou, just agree with me, okay?" Jin Xiu regarded Zhou Xuan Zhang as her guardian angel.

  Zhou Xuanzhang smiled: "I won't go far, you sleep peacefully, be good."

  "Hmm!" Jin Xiu nodded solemnly.

  Zhou Xuanzhang picked up the 1888 Commission Rifle and walked towards the dark forest.

  The valley is high in the north and low in the south, with a pine forest to the north and a cliff to the south. To the east and west lies a rugged small road. In Zhou Xianzhang's view, danger was likely to come from the pine forest to the north, although he himself did not know what kind of danger it would be.

  This place is in northern Korea. After the Japanese army landed in Incheon, Korea, in order to take the initiative in Korea and also to put great pressure on the Korean government, all troops were concentrated near the capital of Korea. With the current strength of the Japanese army, they are not yet capable of advancing northward, and besides, China and Japan have not declared war. Therefore, there should be no Japanese here.

  As for the North Korean civilians, Zhou Xuan Zhang is not too worried. In the past few days, the North Korean people they met along the way, although their expressions were dull, their attitude towards the Qing army was generally friendly on the whole. They would not actively help the Qing army, but nor would they cause trouble.

  However, tonight, in this strange valley, Zhou Xuanzhang felt an inexplicable atmosphere that made him feel very uneasy.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang did not want to camp here, but when they arrived, the sun was setting, and the soldiers were exhausted. To make this group of hungry and weak soldiers march at night would be even more dangerous.

  Zhou Xuanzhang walked to the edge of the pine forest, gazing into it. The moonlight poured down, and the pine needles on the treetops remained motionless, emitting a silvery glow that was piercing to the eyes. Inside the forest, however, it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

  There is no wind, and the pine forest is unusually quiet.

  Zhou Xuanzhang's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly cried out in alarm!

  There is someone in the woods!

  This so-called Soul Valley, where birds and beasts are nowhere to be seen, can only prove one thing: this place has never been peaceful!

  Having been a hunter in the mountains of western Hunan for over a decade, Zhou Xianzhang knew that what could drive wild beasts to extinction were not ghosts, but humans.

  And they're not a minority, but rather a large number of people! Hundreds or even thousands!

  Only hundreds and thousands of people can make this vast valley devoid of birds and beasts.

  So many people can be here in silence, which proves that they have a very strong discipline constraint, they are not ordinary people, they should be an army! At least, it is a paramilitary organization!

  In that dense and dark forest of pines, there were thousands of pairs of eyes staring at him!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was greatly startled, his whole body broke out in goosebumps, and he suddenly turned around.

  In front of him, two white figures suddenly appeared, like ghosts who snatch people's souls!

  A pungent smell assailed his nostrils, Zhou Xuanzhang's eyes turned black, and he fell to the ground with a soft thud.