Chapter Ninety-Four: The Cave of Resentful Ghosts, Where the Spirits Call to the Living (Please Subscribe, Please Vote Monthly)

By the time they returned to the gathering place, the first pale light of dawn was already beginning to show.

Naturally, people had risen before them and were busy kindling fires and cooking breakfast.

What they were preparing was, fittingly, the flesh of the black bear demon.

The billowing steam, together with the rich fragrance rising from the great cauldron, made everyone swallow their saliva.

One had to know that the flesh and blood of such spirits were treasures of great nourishment, immensely beneficial even to those who practiced martial arts.

So many people lingered around the cauldron.

When Chen Yushu came back, of course people took notice. He merely brushed off their questions with a vague answer, and when they pressed him further, he deflected them with the excuse that he had gone to answer the call of nature.

Only when Liu Qingyan came over did he speak plainly, saying he had merely taken a turn about the area. Liu Qingyan did not say much in response, only reminding everyone that they would soon be entering the shaded side of Tianyuan Mountain, where the danger would greatly increase. No one was to wander off again and risk being separated.

Chen Yushu nodded in agreement.

Soon the meat was done.

At Liu Qingyan’s signal, everyone quickly ate and drank alongside their dry provisions and thick porridge.

Chen Yushu also filled himself a large bowl. The chopsticks were simple bamboo ones made on the spot. With the first bite of meat, he immediately felt warmth spreading through his body, as vast amounts of vital energy and nourishment were rapidly absorbed into him.

It was the same for everyone else.

Especially for those martial artists who had reached the stage of internal refinement: their organs had been strengthened, so digestion was even faster, and almost each of them ate three or four bowls.

Fortunately, the black bear spirit had been huge, with plenty of meat to spare. The whole group ate until their bellies were round and taut, and then, to burn off the surging vigor, some of them even began to practice their martial arts.

Chen Yushu also trained to expend some of his energy.

First came the Medicine King Stance, then the Medicine King Force-Locking Art.

As he practiced, waves of steaming heat rose around him, and before long a faint mist seemed to spread in a ring about him.

Still, no one trained for too long.

Their goal had not yet been achieved, and no one knew what dangers might appear along the road. They needed to preserve their strength in case of emergencies.

So, at a call from someone, the group set off again at once.

The two men from Qian Family Village had also eaten black bear spirit meat that morning, and were brimming with energy. The old herb gatherer in particular looked much rosier than before, as though he had grown several years younger overnight, and so he worked with far more enthusiasm. Not only did he lead the group at the front, he also pointed out dangerous places from time to time.

For instance, if they took a different mountain path, they would find the lair of a black python; if they went north, there was a lone wolf as large as a calf; not far to the west lay a stretch of black forest where, in years past, almost no herb gatherer who entered had ever come out alive, save for him, Qian Yungen, the only one to survive.

By his account, a strange tree grew within, one that devoured people.

Although such dangers were perhaps not terribly serious for Chen Yushu and the others, after all everyone present was a martial practitioner, and several among them had even reached the level of internal force, with a geomancer like Lu Yizhi among them, they still chose to detour in order to avoid any possible trouble.

A little over half an hour later, they successfully reached the summit, then quickly descended the other side.

They had barely walked for the time it took to burn an incense stick when everyone’s expressions turned slightly grave.

It was obvious that the air around them had grown much colder.

Even without wind, chilly gusts kept seeping into their bodies.

“Straight ahead and downward, that vast sunken stretch of forest is the Wailing Ghost Cavern.

We don’t dare go any farther. There are vengeful specters hidden inside, and in all the years our village has come here, no one who got close has ever returned alive.

We agreed beforehand that we would only escort you this far, then turn back, so...”

Once again, it was the old herb gatherer who spoke. Staring at the dense woods ahead, he no longer dared take even one step farther.

Beside him, the hunter Qian Hu also said, “This place is forbidden ground for our village. No matter what, we can’t go in.”

“All right. From here on, we’ll go on our own.

You may return whenever you wish.

For the rest of your payment, go to Shopkeeper Xu and collect it yourselves.”

Liu Qingyan nodded, not the least bit concerned.

These two had only been brought along to show the way; if danger truly arose, no one could possibly rely on them.

Thus the two of them turned back on their own, while Chen Yushu’s party continued downward.

By then, as the group pressed onward, the hour had already nearly reached the ninth, around nine in the morning. By rights, this should have been the time when daylight was at its brightest.

Yet here, the deeper they went, the darker their surroundings became.

After only the time it takes to burn an incense stick, it seemed as though evening had already fallen. Looking up, the sky was a pale, milky blur, as if covered by a veil of mist through which no sun or daylight could penetrate.

By then, Chen Yushu no longer saw the drifting shadows that had occasionally floated about earlier.

Even Xiao Yin had become unusually quiet, clutching his hand tightly as she followed him step by step.

“Yushu...”

At that moment, Qian Qian, who had been walking beside Chen Yushu all along, suddenly stopped him. An expression of embarrassment and unease crossed his face as he lowered his voice. “Why do I feel like someone’s calling me?”

“Hm? No one’s speaking,” Chen Yushu said, startled. He was certain no sound had come just now.

Once they had reached this place, everyone had been extremely wary, fully focused, and no one had been speaking at all.

“There is. It sounds a bit like my mother...” Qian Qian nodded at once, clearly having heard it again.

But he also knew something was probably wrong, so he dared not answer, and yet he was a little frightened too, wanting to say something to someone.

“Hey...”

At that moment, someone nearby answered aloud, as if replying to someone unseen, and even his footsteps came to a stop.

Then came a second voice, then a third.

One after another, several people answered.

“Yushu, Chen Yushu...”

And just then, Chen Yushu felt a voice sounding right beside his ear. It was soft and seductive, honeyed as though its throat had been coated in syrup. It made his ear tingle unbearably, and stirred in him an almost involuntary urge to turn and respond.

“Do not answer,” Chen Yushu said sharply.

“Don’t answer!

Wake up everyone who answered me!”

“That’s ghost-calling. It’s a spell cast by a ghost. Once you answer, it’s as good as being ensnared by the art. Your mind will be bewitched, and you’ll follow it without even realizing it. By the time you die, you won’t even know how it happened!”

At that same moment, Lu Yizhi, who was ahead of them, shouted loudly.

At his words, everyone’s hearts lurched. Very quickly, someone rushed forward and slapped the several martial artists who had answered back, waking them at once.

“This is the Wailing Ghost Cavern. The name alone should tell you how sinister this place is.

So all of you keep your wits about you. No matter what you hear, do not reply.

Even if the one speaking is someone from our own side, you must first make sure before answering.”

Doctor Liu Hexuan, who stood among the crowd, also spoke up. The older he grew, the more he understood. Even if he had never personally seen such things, he had heard plenty about all manner of sinister and uncanny affairs.

The group answered in unison. Even though voices still occasionally called out in their ears, they all gritted their teeth and refused to respond.

Chen Yushu walked among them, glancing around. The woods were dense and overgrown with weeds, and he could see no ghostly figures anywhere. Most likely they were hiding within the undergrowth, or lurking in some shadowed corner.

Ghosts were formless and intangible. They could change shape, take possession of the living, and if they truly meant to hide, even someone with keen spiritual senses would have difficulty finding them.

So Chen Yushu’s gaze sharpened as he cast his Air-Viewing Art.

At a glance, a completely different scene appeared before him.

Boundless yin energy nearly covered the entire mountain forest. In some places, it was shrouded in thick layers of fog; in others, something seemed to coil there, with faint shapes stirring within it.

“Those should be the ghosts in hiding. Fortunately, there’s no crimson glow. They ought to all be at the level of baleful ghosts.”

Chen Yushu let out a small breath of relief.

But he also noticed that as they went deeper, the number of ghostly beings around them kept increasing.

What’s more, the voices that drifted into his ears grew ever more alluring and tender, as though he were lying upon a soft bed while three or five young women around him bared their breasts and half their shoulders, smiling sweetly with coy laughter...

Of course, none of that affected him in the slightest.

The stronger one’s spiritual power, the greater one’s resistance to such bewitching voices. Not to mention that the realm of his concentration was already one of profound stillness. These successive enticements were no more troubling to him than a passing breeze, or a coquettish smile shown to a blind man.

But while he was unaffected, those beside him were not so fortunate.

Several people already had unmistakable looks of struggle on their faces. Some had grown so red in the face that they seemed about to burst, clearly wanting to answer but too afraid to do so.

It seemed they would not be able to hold out much longer before speaking again.

And indeed—

“I’m here!”

One person standing not far from Chen Yushu could no longer resist and answered.

It was a servant from the Liu Family Pharmacy in Jianghuan Town, named Ji Xiong.

Though he had worked in the Liu family’s pharmacy for ten years and his martial skills had reached the level of flesh and sinew training, his will was relatively weak.

He had been easily beguiled by the black bear spirit and the bear matron before, and now it was only natural that these baleful ghosts would likewise succeed in bewitching him.

The next instant, he stopped moving. Lifting a foot, he started to walk toward a tree off to the side.

From Chen Yushu’s perspective, just as he headed that way, a ghostly shadow was also lunging toward him at tremendous speed.

“Hmph.”

Chen Yushu gave a cold snort. With a flick of his hand, a talisman appeared at once. But after a moment’s thought, he put it away again, instead sweeping his eyes over the ground, where he could faintly make out strands of earthly energy rising upward.

Earth energy was everywhere.

Some places contained small nodes, others larger ones; some were denser, others thinner.

Chen Yushu identified the thicker stream of earth energy, stepped forward, then took a second step, a third...

After six steps in succession, he immediately felt a peculiar current gathering around his feet. These currents were precisely the earth energy, and they could be controlled by his spiritual power.

It was as though, at that very moment, invisible currents of earth energy swirled all around him, waiting only for his command.

Then, with his final step, he said in a low voice, “Go!”

Boom!

Countless threads of earth energy surged at once toward that baleful ghost.

The ghost, which had just rushed near, felt as though it had slammed into a wall, its speed dropping sharply.

And just as it tried to struggle free, Chen Yushu’s hands flashed rapidly, forming one seal after another in a peculiar sequence. He then stepped forward again, thrusting his hand out toward the ghostly shadow and pressing down.

With a muffled crack, a burst of peculiar power erupted. The baleful ghost’s entire body seemed to melt away like snow under the sun, rapidly fading until it turned to wisps of blue smoke, which were blown apart by the wind and vanished without a trace.