Chapter 1: The Haunted Yōlin (Part 1)

  When making wishes under the stars,

  It's already been delayed by several million light-years

  That star has long since died.

  Just like your wish...

  Ding Lingxiu, 49th generation successor of the Ding family.

  He was born into a mysterious demon-hunting family, the Ding family, who possessed extremely strong spiritual power and innate yin-yang eyes, generation after generation fighting against the demons and monsters of the world.

  The stars have shifted, and human society has undergone a tremendous change. Demons and monsters have become even more cunning and malevolent, manipulating people's minds and forcing them to commit heinous crimes. They disrupt the order of the world, causing turmoil and chaos. And it is for this reason that demon hunters exist as a special group, maintaining balance in the world.

  Just like the cycle of life and death, the struggle between the Demon Slayers and the Demons has been ongoing for a long time.

  They are close to the alchemists but different, they do not make a living by refining demons into pills or treasures, but by directly capturing the demons that are wanted by the Demon Hunter's Guild and bringing them to justice, thereby obtaining high rewards. Moreover, unlike other Qi people, demon hunters can accurately say the name, habits, and weaknesses of each demon, so two unfamiliar demon hunters will immediately know each other's profession as soon as they talk about the same demon. Ding Lingxiu also guessed Xia Xianyao's identity by recognizing her rain girl demon aura at once.

  In 1991, the year of Gengwu in the lunar calendar, Ding Lingxiu was born. It was also this year that his father, Ding Lin, obtained the Qinglong Bai Gui Tu.

  Is the Blue Dragon Hundred Ghosts Picture real? One of the remaining volumes of the Hundred Ghosts Picture, during the Ming Dynasty, a demon hunter who had completed the Blue Dragon Hundred Ghosts Picture hid it in the Goddess Peak of Ancient Spirit Mountain. As time passed, the demons and ghosts in the picture had long since escaped. When the person who discovered it arrived here, it was already an empty picture.

  But the person who discovered the Hundred Ghosts Painting was not Ding Lingxiu's father, but a man named Guo Wangchuan.

  Guo Wangchuan is another descendant of the Guo family, a demon-hunting clan. He had gone through great difficulties to find this "Green Dragon Hundred Ghosts" painting and should have treasured it greatly. However, fate played a trick on him - what was once gold became iron, and what was once iron became gold. Unfortunately, people's lives are predetermined, and Guo Wangchuan was a competitive person who lost both his life and the painting in an unexpected gamble.

  The origin of this bet must start with Ding Lin's father. Guo Wangchuan and Ding Lingxiu's father, Ding Lin, were both friends and enemies when they were young. Although they were both demon hunters, their techniques and styles were different. As the 48th generation heir of the Ding family, Ding Lin's demon-hunting skills were better than Guo Wangchuan's, so he often made Guo Wangchuan lose face in their competitions. However, Guo Wangchuan knew that his skills were inferior to others, but he was not willing to be inferior, so he tried every means to find a powerful demon-hunting artifact.

  Finally, heaven did not disappoint those with good intentions. Under a coincidence, Guo Wenchuan obtained the Qinglong Bai Gui Tu.

  When Guo Wuchuan obtained the Qinglong Baigui Map, his personality changed greatly, and his life underwent earth-shaking changes. He used the Baigui Map to subdue a demon called Rain Girl in Jiangnan, greatly increasing his own strength. As a result, he became complacent and began to bully Ding Lin everywhere, often interfering with Ding Lin's demon-hunting actions.

  Finally, in a demon-hunting operation in Guangxi, Ding Lin, who had been repeatedly obstructed, could no longer bear it and found Guo Wangchuan, deciding to teach this arrogant demon hunter a lesson. However, he did not expect that this small punishment would eventually lead to the deep-seated feud between the two families of Ding and Guo that was difficult to resolve.

  At that time, Guo Wangchuan was in the teahouse with his fellow demon-hunting masters, bragging about how he had gone through great difficulties to obtain the Qinglong Baigui painting and how he had subdued the Rain Girl. Just as they were all excited and cheerful, Ding Lin walked over after checking his equipment, politely cupping his hands and saying:

  "Brother Guo, since I got this Qinglong Bai Gui Tu, I really have to reevaluate my opinion of you. I didn't expect you to steal the show again today."

  "Now, a good horse deserves a good saddle, this hundred ghost diagram is a gift from heaven. If I didn't have such extraordinary skills, how would I be chosen by the heavens?" Guo Wangchuan said with great satisfaction.

  "Oh? I didn't know that. So, Brother Guo can subdue the demon without using the Hundred Ghosts Diagram?" Ding Lin intentionally made a disbelieving expression.

  Others also burst out laughing, although it wasn't really something that made them happy, but Guo Wangchuan's usual arrogance had already annoyed many people.

  "What's with your tone? Don't you believe in my abilities?" Guo Wangchuan caught the underlying meaning and became enraged.

  "This..."

  Ding Lin's face was full of awkward smiles as he looked around at everyone, and everyone else was also smiling at each other.

  "What did you say? Are you not convinced and dare to try?" Guo Wangchuan slammed the table and stood up, staring angrily at Ding Lin.

  "Brother Guo, calm down. I didn't mean anything else. Your level is clear to everyone. However, you've repeatedly obstructed everyone's business, which doesn't make sense either emotionally or rationally." Ding Lin replied calmly.

  "Cut it out, this is a matter of individual skill when eating. You're not as good as others and yet you blame me? Whoever feels discontented, let's have a contest to see who's better." Guo Wangchuan said proudly with his head held high.

  As soon as this was said, all the demon hunters present changed their faces, and several ill-tempered demon hunters rolled up their sleeves.

  "Damn it, I've had enough of this! You think you can catch demons with just that Hundred Ghosts Picture? It's laughable. If you're so capable, then don't use the picture!" A relatively robust demon hunter stood up and said angrily.

  "Is that so? Is that so? What's the big deal with your Hundred Ghosts painting?" Another person chimed in.

  Ding Lin secretly smiled in his heart, and things were indeed developing in the direction he had expected.

  Ding Lin saw everyone starting to make a ruckus and hurriedly waved his hand to signal them to stop, saying slowly:

  "Hey……this is not right, our purpose for this trip is to subdue the demon, everyone shouldn't let small things ruin the harmony, no need to test me, Guo brother is after all a descendant of a feng shui family, questioning his abilities like this is indeed not right. I personally still admire Guo brother, but since everyone has doubts, why don't we do it this way, let me be the host and set up a wager, let Guo brother use his abilities to convince everyone, what does everyone think?"

  "Alright, alright, since Master Ding has said so, let's do it as Master Ding says." Someone in the crowd echoed in agreement.

  Everyone nodded in agreement, Guo Wangchuan looked at everyone and then turned to Ding Lin and said:

  "Oh? Since you've decided to make a bet? Then tell me, what's the betting method?"

  Ding Lin smiled and asked:

  "Brother Guo, what is the specialty of a Demon Hunter compared to other extraordinary individuals?"

  "What's there to ask? Know yourself, know your enemy, win every battle. The best thing about being a demon hunter is using the habits and weaknesses of demons and monsters to defeat them in one hit." Guo Wangchuan gave him a white eye, disdainfully answering.

  "Oh? Since Brother Guo knows, then I won't keep it a secret either. I'm making this bet, I wonder if Brother Guo dares to take it?"

  Ding Lin took out a white paper and wrote down the contents of the bet:

  Two people agreed that if Guo Wangchuan dared to spend a night safely in the empty land of Xiaoshan Village in Guangxi legend without using any spiritual tools or instruments, then Ding Lin would announce that the Ding family would retire from Jianghu and no longer engage in the profession of hunting demons. If Guo Wangchuan escaped halfway or unfortunately died, then Ding Lin would obtain this Qinglong Baigui map.

  Guo Wangchuan finished reading the betting agreement and burst out laughing, gladly accepting the challenge. Although the Guo family was a half-bred demon-hunting family with a background in Feng Shui, through their own efforts, they also had a good understanding of the habits, characteristics, and weaknesses of various demons and monsters.

  Zombies, these evil spirits, are indeed frightening, bloodthirsty and carnivorous, with cruel methods. However, they differ from other evil spirits in that most of them were originally humans who died with a violent temper, their souls leaving their bodies while their corpses were still occupied by malevolent energy, thus becoming zombies to wreak havoc. But they do not possess independent consciousness, in other words, they are like machines, making them the easiest kind for demon hunters to deal with.

  This quiet mountain village was suddenly stirred up by zombies, and it is said that several outsiders who had a car accident near the mountain village were not resentful, and every night they would harm living people. In less than half a year, the few residents of the mountain village escaped cleanly, and this place also became a famous ghost village.

  Guo Wangchuan, being familiar with zombies as well, had also made some preparations. Although they agreed not to use spiritual tools or artifacts, there was no rule against using other objects. He set up a metal cage in the designated area of the village, using steel bars as thick as thumbs and leaving only half-inch wide gaps between them. He also borrowed a double-barreled shotgun and a flashlight from a local hunter.

  In this way, he can observe the surrounding situation and ensure that he can spend a peaceful night.

  Based on his understanding of zombies, these demons could find themselves by smelling the blood gas, but they would not use tools or cooperate. In any case, it was impossible to break the iron cage with that body.

  That night, after the other demon hunters had left, he sat in the center of the cage, holding a double-barreled shotgun. Even if zombies really came, they couldn't get through the iron cage and could only be shot by him.

  He set up his camera and recorded his actions to prove that he had indeed spent a night in this cage.

  At midnight, with a gloomy wind blowing, he was startled awake by the commotion around him.

  The zombies are wandering outside the cage and will be coming over soon.

  He smiled and picked up his gun, ready to take care of these zombies properly.

  But when he saw the situation in front of him clearly, he suddenly froze, wanting to cry but having no tears.

  Then dialed the last phone call in life to Ding Lin:

  "Damn it! Why didn't anyone tell me that these zombies were flattened when they were alive?!"