Volume 1: Ghosts of the Underworld Chapter 1: Midnight Ghostly Whispers (1)

  It's late spring, but I still can't feel the vibrant taste of spring. Maybe it's because I've been in the south for too long and my mind has gotten a bit rusty. Unlike northerners, who get excited when they see the green grass and willow trees sprouting new leaves in late spring.

  This year's spring and summer intersection is particularly cold and wet, with water droplets constantly falling from the sky. Half a month of rain has made Chen Long, who originally had a special affection for spring rain, feel annoyed. He tightened his outer garment, shrunk his neck, and lowered the umbrella in his hand.

  People on the road were in a hurry, as if there were endless things waiting for them. The passing vehicles also splashed up water flowers without any moral integrity, causing pedestrians who could not dodge to scold endlessly. Chen Long's pace was still slow and powerful, strangely, the water flowers splashed by the vehicle never splashed on his body.

  "Finally... it's arrived." Chen Long looked up at the tall building in front of him, let out a sigh, and walked inside.

  A woman in a bright red cheongsam walked towards him, probably around 23 or 24 years old. She took a closer look at the young man in front of her, who was wearing a light black backpack and holding a bag that seemed to contain a laptop. He had short hair and pale golden skin, and his height was average, about 1.7 meters tall. No matter how she looked at him, he seemed ordinary.

  "Excuse me, sir, is there anything I can help you with?" she asked professionally.

  The woman's skin was very fair, her figure was also slender, and the exposed skin still emitted a faint fragrance. Chen Long's eyes met hers, giving her a gentle feeling: "I booked a trip to Taihang Mountain today, I don't know where to wait?"

  The woman looked slightly surprised, her charming eyes blinking: "Sir, I heard that this time's Taixing trip is an adventure trip! Are you sure the one you booked isn't a regular two-day Taixing tour?"

  Chen Long smiled warmly: "How could I be wrong? Thank you for your kindness, sister. Please take me to the gathering place, okay?"

  The girl shouted "sister" to him, seemingly very happy, with a sincere smile at the corner of her mouth: "Then come with me! There are already several people at the gathering place, we'll take the elevator up, it's on the 16th floor!"

  Chen Long nodded slightly, not minding at all: "Then I'll trouble Sister."

  After getting out of the elevator and turning a few corridors, I saw a large hall on the 16th floor.

  "Alright, sister won't go in, you go in yourself!" The woman waved her hand at him, jokingly said, and then turned to leave.

  As he walked into the hall, Chen Long was surprised to find that there were already seven people present. It was only eight o'clock now, and the trip wasn't scheduled to depart until 9:30. He hadn't expected so many people to arrive so early.

  He casually found a stool and sat down, Chen Long's eyes scanned around him.

  The carpet was a medium-grade black one, and on the wall hung a very large landscape painting depicting a big river flowing ceaselessly through great mountains. The seven people who came were five men and two women; the two women chatted with their respective male companions, while two of the men stood by the window smoking, seemingly also acquainted with each other. Only one boy, black and chubby, about the same age as me, sat alone reading a book.

  Chen Long was a bit bored, so he leaned in closer to the boy who was watching: "Hey, buddy, got some time to chat?"

  The dark and chubby boy rubbed his sore eyes, looked up at Chen Long, grinned and said: "Alright! My name is Jiang Feng, people who know me call me Brother Chubby, but you can also call me Ah Feng."

  Chen Long pushed his glasses, which he didn't want to wear in the first place. Since possessing this body, its myopia had already been cured. To avoid arousing suspicion from others, he could only buy a pair of plain glasses to cover up: "My name is Chen Long, and this trip will take more than a week. I hope you'll take good care of me!"

  "Haha, don't be polite, brother, smoke?"

  Chen Long took a cigarette and used his hand to shield the lighter from Fatso's hand, lighting the cigarette.

  "Haha, brother you're really interesting, my lighter is windproof, why do you still want to use your hand to shield it?" Fatso asked in confusion.

  "It's also a kind of respect, isn't it?" Chen Long smiled ambiguously, this action he wasn't very familiar with either, only knowing that humans nowadays have some strange ways to show mutual respect, so he just learned to do it too, anyway, there was nothing wrong with it.

  At this time, the two men at the window turned around. One of them clapped his hands to get everyone's attention: "Let's introduce ourselves! We'll be together for a few days, it's also a kind of fate. My name is Yuan Hua, and the one next to me is my cousin Yuan Tian."

  One of the men and women standing in their recent place, so the man in his thirties self-introduced: "I am Cai Guozhong, this is my girlfriend, you can call her Ms. Yin." Apparently he did not intend to introduce his female companion much.

  Another couple, the man was a stout middle-aged man with a round face and many gold and silver accessories on his hands and neck, like a street thug who had made a fortune overnight. The woman looked very charming, but Chen Long thought she was too pretentious, a promiscuous woman trying to pretend to be innocent and pure, it was really nauseating.

  The fat man glanced at a few people in the hall, with an arrogant expression, and hummed in his nose: "My surname is Qiao, hers is Zhu." After that, he didn't say anything more.

  Yuan Hua shrugged and didn't mind this guy either. He turned his eyes to Chen Long and Jiang Feng, smiling: "What should I call you two?"

  Chen Long.

  Jiang Feng

  The two of them each reported their names and then didn't say much more, after all everyone wasn't familiar with each other and there was nothing to chat about.

  After a while, a woman wearing a white uniform came in with a girl who looked about twenty years old.

  "Hello everyone, my surname is Shi. I'll be your tour guide for this trip to Taihang. This is the last member of our group. Now that we're all here, let's head down to the bus downstairs!" The tour guide, a man in his thirties with a rather ordinary appearance and some freckles on his face, counted the number of people before calling out for everyone to go downstairs.

  "Hello everyone, I'm Li Yun. Please take care of me from now on!" The girl looked very nervous in front of the crowd and her face turned bright red after a simple introduction of herself.

  This girl has a lovely face, with long hair draped over her shoulders. She has bangs cut straight across her forehead, but the sides are left quite long. Her hair color is very nice, and just by looking at it, you can tell that it must feel very smooth to the touch. The only thing that detracts from her beauty is that her voice isn't particularly pleasant to listen to - it's a bit husky.

  Everyone introduced themselves again and then followed the tour guide down to the underground first floor, where two off-road vehicles used for this trip were parked.

  "This time the place we went to was very remote, so we couldn't use a large bus, and could only rely on these two off-road vehicles. This is Master Zhou, that is Master Jiang, everyone will call them that from now on."

  The tour guide pointed at the two drivers and said something to a few people.

  Chen Long and Jiang Feng got on the first car, followed closely by the two Yuan brothers. Li Yun hesitated for a moment, looked at the two couples, gritted her teeth, and also got on the first car.

  Two couples and the tour guide naturally got on the second car driven by Jiang Shifu.

  Two cars drove out of the building and sped away into the distance through the rain.

  There is a communication device on the bus, and Miss Shi's voice came from Chen Long's first car: "Hello everyone, I will briefly introduce the itinerary for the next day. Tonight we will arrive in Zhengzhou and stay at the hotel there. Tomorrow at 7:30 we will head to Xinxiang, passing through several small villages where we will take a break. After the break, we will go to Guoliang."

  As soon as he finished speaking, a recording of tourist information came out from the loudspeaker:

  "In the depths of the Taihang Mountains, 60 kilometers northwest of Huixian County, Henan Province, at an altitude of 1700 meters, there are towering cliffs, peaks and ridges, lush green mountains and clear waters, strange caves and beautiful waterfalls, deep pools and long streams. The simple stone houses, the unsophisticated mountain people, the stone mills, stone grinders, stone walls, stone tables, stone stools, and stone beds, all made of bluestone, form a unique and charming village that has attracted large numbers of tourists from home and abroad, as well as filmmakers and artists. This is Guoliang, the pearl of Taihang."

  Guo Liang is famous for its beautiful mountains and unique stone houses, and its surrounding natural scenery attracts tourists. Guo Liang Cave, 1200 meters long, has a rugged top with strange rocks, and the natural stone pillars left over from excavation form the "bright window" under the cliff. Guo Liang is located in Hui County's Wanshan Mountain Scenic Area, surrounded by many karst caves, including Red Dragon Cave, White Dragon Cave, and Yellow Dragon Cave. The stalactites inside the cave are full of shapes and poses, inspiring people to think deeply and admire their beauty. The scenery here is naturally majestic, with beautiful mountains and rivers, strange rocks and famous trees, gibbons climbing and jumping, deep valleys and high cliffs, and maple leaves turning red. It is characterized by its unique water scenery and steep canyons.

  "Wuzhi Peak is the entrance to Wuzhi Gorge, shaped like five fingers stretching out. The gorge was named after this mountain peak. Wuzhi Peak combines majesty, strangeness, danger, seclusion and beauty, with not only precipitous cliffs carved by knives and axes, but also thousands of grotesque rocks. Ancient people once described Wuzhi Peak as: 'Five steep cliffs open like five fingers, towering and majestic, standing above the dust, sudden waves rising in the clear spring water, as if clouds were rolling in to bring rain'."

  The mountains of Taihang Mountain Grand Canyon are unique and different, with immortals playing chess and tasting tea; there are majestic lions guarding their territory, the Zhoubi Peak "above the clouds and fog, not with the group of mountains", the golden rooster basking in the morning sun, each one is outstanding. There are two mountains with peculiar shapes that locals call "paper (finger) mountain". The one in the back looks like a thin sheet of paper, while the one in front looks like a finger, so they are both called "paper (finger) mountain", but represent different shapes.

  Wuzhi Gorge

  The water in Heilongtan of Wuzhi Gorge is very clear, flowing all year round without stopping. There's also an interesting saying here: it's said that when there's a severe drought, people come to this place to pray for rain, but the person praying for rain must be born in the year of the dragon or snake, because Heilongtan is guarded by a black dragon. The clear mountain stream brings joy to those who come here. Visitors can take a boat ride on the water and go rafting.

  Next to the ancient plank road carved on the steep cliff, there is a stone bridge called Xianren Bridge. It has made significant contributions to the economic and cultural exchanges between Shanxi and Henan provinces. The Xianren Bridge was built in the Ming Dynasty, 50 meters long and 25 meters high, with a rigorous structure and solid simplicity. According to legend, people from eighteen prefectures and ninety-six counties of five provinces including Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Shaanxi participated in its construction. Not far from Xianren Bridge, there is a sturdy bridge connecting it, which spans over the bridge and the connected mountain cave, leading to Longquan Gorge.

  Longquan Gorge

  Longquan Gorge and Wuzhi Gorge are two different climate zones. The good climate conditions make Longquan Gorge rich in water and grass, with abundant products. The waterfall of Longquan Gorge, with its deafening roar, splashing water, gives people a strong impact.

  Longquan Gorge has an ancient pass from Henan to Shanxi, called Dahewan Pass. Although it was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, the outline of the three characters "Dahewan" can still be seen, as well as the remains of the ancient pass, bridge and plank road. According to historical records, during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao pursued Gao Gan from here, breaking through the pass and entering the Taihang Mountains to capture Huguan.

  Kasha Slope

  Yangchang Slope was also a treacherous path that had to be taken in ancient times for people traveling between the Central Plains and Shangdang, as it was narrow and winding like a goat's intestine. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao led his troops to attack Gao Gan, who was stationed at Huguan Pass in Shangdang, and passed through this place, composing the poem "Bitter Cold Journey" to lament the difficulties of the journey: "Going north up Mount Taihang, how steep and lofty it is! Yangchang Slope is winding and narrow, and the wheels of our chariots are shattered. The trees are so withered and sparse, and the sound of the north wind is sorrowful...". The Cao Gong Fort on the mountain top is the remains of the last fortress that Cao Cao captured when he invaded Shangdang twice.

  …………

  Yuan Tian felt annoyed after listening to the intermittent introduction of these tours, turned down the volume to the minimum, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  Yuan Hua looked at Chen Long and the others with a hint of apology, but everyone just smiled back at him, so he felt relieved.

  The off-road vehicle was moving very quickly on the highway, except for stopping every two hours to let everyone use the restroom and at noon when they ordered twelve takeout portions, basically not staying in one place for a moment.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the voice of the tour guide came from the loudspeaker: "Has everyone heard?"

  "Loud and clear." Master Zhou picked up the receiver and replied.

  "Alright. We're almost at the hotel, everyone's had a tiring journey today, take a good bath and I hope you all have a pleasant sleep tonight."

  The car soon drove into an alley, looked around at the surroundings, and it seemed to be in the suburbs. The road was bumpy, and the houses were all old-fashioned residential buildings. Probably the hotels here are relatively cheap, and tomorrow's departure is also more convenient, so that's why the travel agency chose this place! Chen Long thought to himself.