Chapter 1: The Haunted Forest of Demons (Part 1)

  The two wine guests heard the sound, their cups and plates suspended in mid-air, staring blankly at Ding Lingxiu who had jumped up from his seat.

  Ding Lingxiu was indeed too excited, and it took him a good half day to quickly walk up to the two wine guests, make a bow, and slowly say:

  "Two seniors, I'm really sorry that I eavesdropped on your conversation. I've come from afar and am very interested in the case you're discussing. May I ask if you can tell me more about it?"

  These two people saw Ding Ling's serious expression and felt very amused, exchanging a smile. But seeing his respectful attitude, they couldn't bear to refuse him, so the man in the sweatshirt nodded, indicating for Ding Ling to sit down.

  "Hey, little brother, why are you so interested in this matter?" said the man in the sweatshirt with a smile.

  "Two brothers, to be honest with you, I'm a mystery writer and I'm very interested in all kinds of mysterious cases. In my daily life, I like to travel around and look for inspiration. This time, I came to Benxi County and happened to hear about this case from you two. I couldn't help but satisfy my curiosity, so I came to investigate." Ding Lingshu said with a smile.

  "Alright, little brother, I see you're a straightforward person too. I'll tell you something, don't mind if it's not well said," the man in the sweatshirt said.

  "Please go ahead and speak freely, I'll listen carefully."

  "This case is really a mysterious thing, you may have heard many strange cases before, but the two murder cases that recently occurred in Guanmen Mountain are simply unbelievable." The man in the sweatshirt stroked his chin, took a sip of wine, and continued to say:

  "This case happened in Guanmen Mountain Park, brother, I'm telling you, when you come to Benxi for fun, there are two places you can't miss. One is the Benxi Water Cave and the other is Guanmen Mountain Park. The scenery of Guanmen Mountain National Forest Park is so beautiful, with different views in all four seasons. Outsiders even call it 'Northeast Guilin'. On this mountain..."

  "Big brother, I've been to Guanmen Mountain before and indeed experienced the beautiful scenery on the mountain. But let's talk about the case first." Ding Lingxiu said with a smile, feeling a bit embarrassed. He didn't want to interrupt, but he was afraid that if he waited for the sweaty man to finish introducing the scenery of Guanmen Mountain, he might not be able to ask anything except the ticket price.

  "Oh, right, about that case, the two cases in Guanmen Mountain happened to innocent tourists, obviously done by a psychopathic killer. The first case occurred about half a year ago, during the peak tourist season of Guanmen Mountain, when most people came to admire the maple trees and the scenic beauty. That morning, the first batch of tourists arrived at Wuhu Lake, admiring the scenery, but found three people lying on the lake shore, seemingly sleeping soundly, with what looked like fallen maple leaves covering their bodies. Out of curiosity, these tourists walked closer to take a look, and what they saw was simply horrific. Guess what? The 'maple leaves' covering those people's bodies were actually blood! The tourists were shocked, the victims' dead faces were particularly terrifying, with all internal organs removed, and even more disgusting, their bodies contained broken eggshells and bird feathers, just like a nest had been built inside them. Isn't that bizarre?"

  Ding Lingxiu nodded and pretended to be very surprised, saying:

  "This is indeed unprecedented, what happened afterwards?"

  "That day at noon, I happened to go to Guanmen Mountain for a walk and was on the scene. The police sealed off the park, and all entrances and exits of the mountain were checked. A friend told me that even forensic doctors couldn't determine what had happened, saying that the victim's internal organs had been nibbled away by some kind of creature, and it didn't look like a homicide. These damn fools are just talking nonsense, don't you think? It wasn't a murder, but rather the internal organs were eaten from the inside out... could it be that aliens have invaded Earth and laid eggs in their bodies?"

  The man in the sweatshirt got more and more agitated as he spoke, his temper flaring up like a young hothead, and he shifted the blame to the forensic doctor.

  "This isn't necessarily true either, maybe it was some kind of strange creature that killed them." Ding Lingxiu smiled and didn't comment on his words.

  "Hey, you're really something, your imagination is so rich, how is this possible? What kind of creature would live in a human body? Just thinking about it makes me feel sick." The man in the sweatshirt took a sip of wine and shook his head.

  "Yes, I was also very indignant at the time. It's clear that a small bird had pecked at the corpse, but these incompetent forensic doctors were spouting nonsense and came up with such an absurd theory. With this kind of detective work, can the real culprit not escape justice?" His friend seemed to be equally dissatisfied with the forensic doctor.

  Ding Lingxiu smiled and lowered his head, fiddling with the toothpicks on the table.

  In fact, many times in this world, some truths are not recognized by the public, not because they are difficult to accept, but because people's biases always hope that professional personnel will do unprofessional things, which gives them a chance to vent their criticism.

  "What? Big brother, didn't you say there were two murder cases? So are you saying that the murderer of the recent case you guys were just discussing also used this same method?" Ding Lingxiu asked.

  "Yes, just yesterday, two more students were killed at Guanmen Mountain, in the same way as last time. It must be that killer again. Originally, tourism at Guanmen Mountain had already been affected by the previous murder case and was somewhat deserted. Now, if they don't catch that killer, no one will dare to go up the mountain to play anymore... Hmph! These good-for-nothing officials." The man in the sweatshirt curled his lip and took a sip of mutton soup.

  "With me around, the real culprit will definitely not escape the law." Ding Lingxiu smiled confidently and slowly stood up.

  The man in the sweatshirt listened and then said with a sarcastic tone:

  "What? Little brother, you're not saying you still want to catch that psycho killer?"

  "That's exactly what I mean."

  Ding Lingxiu finished speaking, shouldered his backpack and turned to leave, the two wine guests burst out laughing.

  As a thank you, he even settled the bill for the table of Sweaty Shirt Man before leaving.

  After leaving the sheep soup restaurant, it was already pitch black outside. Ding Lingxiu found an inn to sleep for a while, even with abundant energy, there is still a time of fatigue. He lay on the bed and took out the map to take a look, finding that Guanmen Mountain is located in the southeast of Benxi City, due south of Benxi County. From the actual terrain on the map and the patterns on the tourist advertisements, Guanmen Mountain has twin peaks facing each other, one wide and one narrow, one large and one small, resembling a gate, presenting the "left auxiliary right" momentum in Feng Shui. This mountain is pregnant with beauty and hidden spirits, but generally, evil things do not dare to step foot easily, only the inner spirit of the extremely powerful Lingxiu would come here to cultivate its power.

  Ding Lingxiu looked at the map with a pleased heart, it seemed that this trip was not in vain, and the entrance to the nest must be within Guanmen Mountain.

  But he suddenly realized something, and the joy in his heart was instantly swept away.

  "Heavens, I actually forgot about this." Ding Lingyu furrowed his brow tightly, recalling a very serious matter.

  Guanshan Mountain has had two consecutive murder cases, and the park will definitely not be open for a short time. The police may also seal off the mountain for inspection. It's hard to even get in, let alone catch birds inside. And if you sneak in, you might be caught as a suspect.

  Although this lockdown won't last long, Ding Lingxiao still had other things to attend to and wouldn't waste too much time on Nei Que.

  Ding Lingxiu couldn't help but scratch his head, hesitating about whether to give up. But the temptation of the inner bird was too great for a demon hunter.

  He finally decided to give it a try, and the next day he polished his gear, simply packed up his luggage, equipped himself, and set off again, heading straight for Guanmen Mountain National Forest Park.

  Due to the impact of the murder case, the shuttle bus from Benxi County to Guanmen Mountain also looked empty, and with the early hour, there were even fewer passengers. Ding Lingxiu found a seat in the back row, took out the demon-seeking compass, and the needle pointed due south, which was the direction of Guanmen Mountain. The surface was still flashing with blue light, indicating that the demonic energy was highly concentrated, and the level of the demon was below that of a powerful demon. Ding Lingxiu felt slightly more at ease, having confirmed the location without error, and put the compass back in his bag, turning his head to look out the window at the scenery.

  Just as he was gazing out of the window in a daze, someone gently patted his shoulder, and then a clear voice entered his ears:

  "Venerable Master of the Infinite Heavens, we meet by chance like floating water plants. Is it fate that brings us together? May I, a humble monk, sit beside you?"

  Ding Lingxiu raised his head and found a fashionably dressed young man standing in front of him.