Chapter 1 The Saintess' Tomb

Recalling what Shang Mo had said before, it was easy to guess the identity of this figure. It was Shang Zuo, or rather, a ghost disguised as Shang Zuo.

And the people who took the photos were undoubtedly Shang Zuo's parents.

It was easy to imagine that these two would meet a tragic end.

As if responding to everyone's speculation, Shang Mo nodded and said in a hoarse voice, "Later, I got these photos from the police through some means. You..." Seeming to recall the scene at that time, Shang Mo's lips turned white, and he looked more than ten years older.

Jiang Cheng reached out and took the few photos that Shang Mo handed over. What caught his eye was a sea of scarlet. The bed in the bedroom and the floor were covered with fragmented corpses.

The flesh on the corpses had been completely eaten away, leaving only skeletons, with bits of flesh still clinging to them, and blood everywhere.

Several of the younger women looked away, as if unable to bear to look any further.

Shang Mo took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "From that day on, Shang Zuo disappeared. No one has ever seen him again. What puzzled the police was that the surveillance cameras near his home were very comprehensive, but none of them captured him returning home or leaving home. Not a single shot!"

"Humans definitely can't do that, and... and you've seen the photos, right? They were obviously eaten. How could a human do that? It must be a ghost! A ghost sealed in this snow mountain!"

"It's out..."

Shang Mo's shoulders trembled as he spoke, his eyes turned red, and he became hysterical.

Compared to Shang Mo's exaggerated performance, Jiang Cheng was more concerned about what he said: "It must be a ghost, a ghost sealed in this snow mountain!"

A man in a striped shirt, who hadn't spoken before, stared at Shang Mo and suddenly asked, "You said there's a sealed ghost in this snow mountain. What's going on?"

"How do you know there's a ghost inside the snow mountain?" Huai Yi sized up Shang Mo with suspicious eyes, suspecting that he was withholding some information.

Perhaps because he was too emotional, Shang Mo grabbed the cloth bag and dumped everything inside. There were maps, compasses, some photos, and several notebooks.

Grabbing a notebook and opening it, Shang Mo said, "This is the legend about this snow mountain that I've collected. There's a Saintess' Tomb on the summit of Gawo Zhangde Snow Mountain, and this Saintess' Tomb is related to the ghost I'm talking about."

"In the local legends, a long time ago, there was a fierce ghost in the snow mountain. It was tyrannical and liked to eat meat. It often trapped passersby with blizzards, causing them to get lost in the snow mountain, and then it would eat them and their livestock."

"The locals suffered from the evil deeds of the ghost, but they had no way to deal with it, until one day, a woman appeared."

"The woman held a prayer wheel, wore gorgeous clothes, and had a pleasant voice. Her head was covered with a large wooden box, and a pair of bright eyes behind the gap seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts."

"Although they couldn't see her face, everyone was sure that the woman must be a rare beauty."

"Most importantly, she claimed to be here to help deal with the evil ghost in the snow mountain."

"The woman also stated that the evil ghost's strength was above hers. This trip was with the intention of perishing together with the evil ghost. She had no other wishes, except that after her death, the villagers could go up the mountain to collect her remains, build a tomb at the place where she died, and guard her tomb for a hundred years."

"No one was allowed to approach her tomb during these hundred years."

"The next morning, the woman left and went to the snow mountain alone."

"According to legend, since the woman stepped into the snow mountain, the nearby climate changed drastically, and a rare blizzard began. At night, some people heard very eerie cries and roars coming from a very far direction, from inside the snow mountain."

"The blizzard lasted for three days, until the fourth day, when the sky suddenly cleared. The locals hadn't seen such good weather in a long time."

"After waiting for a few more days, seeing that there was no movement in the snow mountain, several bold men tentatively entered the snow mountain. This time, the chilling and eerie coldness was gone. Everyone understood that the woman had succeeded, and the evil ghost in the snow mountain had disappeared."

"The villagers found the woman's body on the summit according to the agreement, and then buried her with the highest local standards. To thank her for her achievements, they called her the Saintess."

"That's the origin of the Saintess' Tomb," Shang Mo said, letting out a long breath.

"By the way, the locals call that evil ghost Duo Zhuo Ye Qi," Shang Mo shivered, looked at everyone, and said in a low voice, "Translated into our language, it's an餓死鬼 (Èsǐ guǐ, Hungry Ghost)."

"It is rumored that later, near the Saintess' body, the locals found the Saintess' last words, which recorded the Saintess' method of dealing with this Hungry Ghost."

"She used some method to absorb the Hungry Ghost into her body. Along the way, the Hungry Ghost conjured countless meats, trying to lure the Saintess to break her precepts. Once the Saintess ate the meat, the Hungry Ghost would immediately break free and turn against the Saintess."

"But the Saintess withstood the temptation, not only dispelling the illusion created by the Hungry Ghost, but also climbing to the summit of the snow mountain, where she sat cross-legged, not eating or drinking, until she finally passed away."

"In the end, the Hungry Ghost was unable to escape and was sealed inside the Saintess' body."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng and the others probably understood why Shang Mo was so certain that the ghost disguised as his grandson, Shang Zuo, came from Gawo Zhangde Snow Mountain.

Tyrannical and fond of eating meat, these two points matched perfectly.

Now it seemed that Shang Zuo and his group had accidentally found the legendary Saintess' Tomb, and then, it was unclear what they did, but they had actually released the Hungry Ghost.

"I must find out what's going on. My useless grandson is one thing, but my son and daughter-in-law, they are innocent!" Shang Mo clenched his fists. "I must also climb to the summit and find the Saintess' Tomb. There must be a way to deal with the Hungry Ghost inside. My son and daughter-in-law can't have died in vain!"

"Please rest assured, after it's done, the agreed-upon reward will not be reduced by a single point," Shang Mo said to everyone, in a very sincere tone.

But clearly, no one wanted to pay attention to him.

Shang Mo seemed completely immersed in his own emotional world and didn't feel embarrassed at all. He packed up his things and stood up. "I still need to prepare some things. You can all get to know each other first. Also, the equipment you need for mountaineering has been prepared in advance and is in the backpacks behind you."

"If you feel bored, you can also go out and walk around nearby, to get used to the climate here. But be very careful not to communicate too much with the people here," Shang Mo said in a stern tone. "Especially don't tell them that we plan to climb the snow mountain."