“Who is the mountain god coming for?”
Upon hearing this news, I almost jumped out of my skin.
Despite the word "god" in its name, the mountain god was actually a mountain spirit that had achieved considerable cultivation. Judging by its ugly, demonic face, it was a particularly fearsome one among its kind.
Its strength was beyond question; it could easily annihilate all of us. However, what was most troublesome was its characteristic of holding grudges.
Li Zuoquan had injured it through a stratagem, and I had scared it away with the Heavenly Retreat Seal. To it, this was an unbearable humiliation. If it didn't seek revenge, it wouldn't be a mountain spirit.
Thinking of this, my legs began to tremble. But I didn't want to show it to Bai Ling'er. After all, she was my spirit beast, and if she knew her master was afraid of such a thing, I didn't know what she would think of me. Though her impression of me had never been good.
I chuckled awkwardly and asked softly, "Ling'er, is Fifth Princess also on Qingfeng Mountain?"
My words made Bai Ling'er perk up her head, looking at me nervously. "How would I know if Fifth Princess is on Qingfeng Mountain? Why are you asking this?"
Although she didn't answer directly, I could tell from her demeanor that Fifth Princess was indeed on Qingfeng Mountain, perhaps even near me.
"Ahem... I was just asking casually, showing concern. Why are you so nervous?"
Bai Ling'er retorted impatiently, "You're such a scaredy-cat. Hurry up and leave with that big傻大个子. I'm leaving."
This time, Bai Ling'er left with great decisiveness, not giving me a chance to ask further questions. With a "whoosh," she vanished. Su Dan Novel Network.
I smiled wryly, wondering when I could truly gain this little creature's trust. Otherwise, my future days would be quite arduous. As I turned to head back to the tent, two blinding beams of light shone towards me.
"Who's there?"
Immediately after, the sound of a firearm being cocked reached my ears.
"What are you so nervous about? It's Song Qingyun, I'm just out for a piss."
"Oh, it's Mr. Song. My apologies, I thought you were an outsider."
As the flashlight beams moved away, I finally saw that they were the night guards arranged by Fang Huixin. I didn't know how they were guarding, as I had seen them sleeping soundly when I came out earlier, and now they were already up again.
Back in the tent, Zhang Dabiao was sitting in his sleeping bag, waiting for me.
"How is it? Did the little fellow tell you anything?"
I frowned and told Zhang Dabiao everything Bai Ling'er had told me, even sharing my own speculations.
After listening, Zhang Dabiao didn't speak immediately. Instead, he lit a cigarette and started puffing on it.
I knew this was his usual habit. Although he liked smoking, he rarely did so in front of me because I disliked it. He only smoked when he encountered something he couldn't figure out.
He quickly finished a cigarette, stubbed out the butt, and said gravely, "Things are probably not as simple as Bai Ling'er said."
Seeing my puzzled expression, Zhang Dabiao continued, "Do you remember how those people died?"
"Of course, I remember. Most were impaled through the chest with wooden sticks, and a small portion had their bodies torn apart..." As I mentioned their bodies being torn apart, something seemed to click in my mind, yet nothing concrete emerged.
Bodies torn apart? Impaled through the chest with wooden sticks, didn't this seem somewhat similar to the mountain spirit's methods?
When I explored the valley with Fatty Kang, we were chased all over the mountain by a mountain spirit, which used broken branches as javelins.
"Are you saying this was all the mountain god's doing? Were we also ambushed by the mountain spirit that day?"
"Precisely. The mountain god is the deity of this area. What do you think it would do if outsiders suddenly appeared in its territory?"
I replied without hesitation, "What's there to ask? It would definitely drive them away and then reign supreme..."
"So, it's not that Fifth Princess didn't want to leave this cursed place, but that the mountain god didn't want her to leave. If that's the case, then it wasn't me who scared away the mountain god, but Fifth Princess who scared it away?"
Zhang Dabiao was silent for a moment, then said, "That's likely the case. Bai Ling'er said the mountain spirit was trapped in the valley. In my opinion, that's not necessarily true. Fifth Princess might have forced it into the valley, leaving it with no escape. It then went mad and slaughtered the entire mountain spirit pack to restore its strength. Perhaps our arrival caused it to awaken prematurely, so it's very likely that we've stirred up trouble."
Hearing Zhang Dabiao's explanation, I felt a chill down my spine. No wonder Bai Ling'er said it took so much effort to get you out, and you just came back like this. Who do you think you're fooling!
After figuring things out, I discussed with Zhang Dabiao and decided it was best to quickly gather everyone and leave this place. Otherwise, if the mountain god really came out, even with Fifth Princess's intervention, we might not be able to escape alive.
When I stepped out of the tent again, I felt that the black mist before me had thickened by another layer. Although it wasn't so dense that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, I couldn't see more than five steps ahead.
"Why is there such thick fog? This is too strange."
"Be careful. When I came out just now, the fog wasn't this thick. Something might be at play," I explained.
"Let's split up to call everyone. You go to the tents above, and I'll go to the tents below. Try not to make too much noise, so as not to attract the attention of nearby malevolent spirits."
I nodded, indicating my understanding.
Following the directions from memory, I first made my way to Xu Yi's tent. Peeking through the tent flap, I found he wasn't inside. Touching his sleeping bag, it was still a little warm, indicating he had left not long ago.
"Strange, where did this guy run off to?"
Not far after leaving the tent, I felt something under my foot. I looked down and shone my flashlight, only to see a human leg. Bright red blood was gushing from the fracture.
This made my heart skip a beat. Could it be this fast? Had the mountain god already found us?
At this moment, regardless of whose leg it was, I hurried towards the other tents. I checked three tents, and they were all empty. The last tent was filled with a pungent smell of blood, mixed with a foul odor.
"What on earth is doing this? How can there be no sound at all?"
After turning off my flashlight, I continued towards Fang Huixin's tent. This was the last tent on my side. If she was also missing, I would have to quickly rendezvous with Zhang Dabiao to save my life.
As I approached Fang Huixin's tent, I vaguely saw two figures emerge from it. One was taller, and the other was slightly shorter. Just as I was about to ask if it was Xu Yi and Fang Huixin, someone grabbed me from behind.
As I was about to shout, my mouth was covered, and Xu Yi's voice echoed in my ear.
"Brother Song, it's me!"