“Then, Zhang Ergou returned home. Nothing happened that night, but the next day, that sound rang out again.”
Afterwards, Changning Village hired several Taoist priests to exorcise the evil spirits, but to no avail. Even when Zhang Ergou traveled to the city to buy things, the annoying noise still appeared at night.
“We were miserable because of this. A few days ago, we even invited some Taoist priests and monks over, but then that thick fog suddenly appeared, and all of them got injured.”
Aunt Li sighed involuntarily as she spoke. She looked at the lonely house beside her, her eyes full of helplessness. “At this point, there happen to be a few Immortal Masters here. Although only folks like us country bumpkins believe in all these ghosts and spirits, the Immortal Masters should have their own insights. But we really have no other options…”
After bidding farewell to Aunt Li, the three casually found a big tree to rest under.
“How do you judge it?”
Huo Yuanyao shook her head. “Most likely it’s a strange beast. What people call ghosts are just evil Qi at best. Some Demonic Cultivators can perform similar techniques, but those kinds of cultists are usually after wealth or killing people. It wouldn’t be strange if this went on for so long, yet only a few cows have died so far.”
Lin Nan agreed with Huo Yuanyao’s reasoning, especially after seeing that bizarre altar in the forest. Her interest in this anomaly only deepened.
She wondered if this roaming ghost had something to do with the altar.
Qingyun Shen Yuer held a handful of melon seeds and peanuts in her left hand, and a handful of osmanthus cakes in her right. Her little mouth chewed nonstop.
Such a cute little girl, adorable but a bit absent-minded.
She blinked. “What if there really is a ghost?”
…
Tonight was darker than ink.
A gust of earth-scented wind swept past the fence of Zhang Ergou’s house, emitting a “woo-woo” sound.
Lin Nan clenched her unseen blade, her fingertip brushing the slightly cold metal. Her jade-green eyes scanned the peeling wooden door in the dim light.
“Are we really going in?” Shen Yuer’s voice was very low. “Aunt Li said that last time Old Li went in, he didn’t dare turn off the lights for three days.”
The sword tassel behind Huo Yuanyao swayed gently. The sword tip slanted toward the ground, the sword Qi slicing through the fog to reveal freshly turned earth near the wall. “This courtyard has been dug up recently. It’s not Zhang Ergou’s style.”
Looking up, wisps of hair at her temples fluttered in the wind. “Aunt Li said he’s too lazy to dig—only his vegetable patch isn’t too overgrown.”
Lin Nan reached out and pushed open the wooden door. The “creak” of the hinges was especially sharp in the night. As she stepped over the threshold, her shoe sole crushed a small stone and suddenly paused.
“Watch your step.” She bent down and picked up a wolf hair—dark brown, coarse and stiff like a needle, exactly like the wolf hair found in the forest.
“This hair is tainted with Demon Qi, but it’s lighter than the altar’s.”
“Lighter?” Shen Yuer leaned in, condensing a layer of Water Magic mist in her palm. “Demon Qi has degrees of intensity?”
“Demon Qi is like an orange peel—you can roughly gauge its depth and strength.” Lin Nan tossed the wolf hair to Huo Yuanyao. “Smell it.”
Huo Yuanyao pinched the hair and brought it to her nose, frowning. “I don’t smell any orange peel, but… why do I sense a hint of… rouge fragrance?”
“Rouge?” Shen Yuer took the wolf hair and fanned the scent toward her nose. She was startled. “It’s really there!”
The three exchanged glances, each seeing the seriousness reflected in the others’ eyes.
Zhang Ergou was a confirmed old bachelor; rouge fragrance was absolutely out of place in his home.
Could it really be a female ghost?
The “creak” sound from the inner room rang again, closer than before. It sounded like someone breathing over the door crack.
That sticky, wet sound mingled with the wooden creaks—the kind of delicate breathing that would normally make a young girl blush, but here, it sent chills down their spines.
Shen Yuer instinctively moved behind Lin Nan, but Lin Nan pressed her shoulder down. “Don’t be afraid. The sound is fake.”
She pointed to the Eight Immortals Table in the main room. “The porridge on the table hasn’t cooled, and the chopsticks are neatly placed, meaning the owner just left. But look at the dust on the table legs—this house hasn’t been properly lived in for at least half a month.”
Huo Yuanyao suddenly raised her hand, and her sword Qi slashed through the door curtain.
The red cloth curtain split in two, revealing a pitch-black kang hole. The “creak” sound didn’t stop; instead, it emerged from the kang hole, circling around their ankles like invisible hands tugging at their trouser legs.
“On the beam!”
Lin Nan snapped her head up and saw a black shadow crouching at the center of the crossbeam. Its glowing green eyes looked down. A sweet, cloying scent wafted in the wind stirred by its flapping wings.
That was definitely the rouge fragrance.
Huo Yuanyao’s sword flashed like lightning, sword Qi brushing past the shadow and cutting through half the beam.
The shadow startled and fluttered down. Shen Yuer’s binding incantation quickly wrapped its wings, finally revealing a dusty gray parrot. Its left wing was stained dark red, and it chattered incoherently, “My lord… eeya… lightly…”
“How is it a parrot? Who taught it that?” Shen Yuer’s cheeks flushed pink. She was too embarrassed to listen any longer.
The parrot struggled against the water chain, flapping wildly, but its cries suddenly changed tone. No longer seductive moans, but sharp, crying wails. “Blood… so much blood…”
Lin Nan’s heart sank.
She approached the parrot and parted its bloodstained feathers with her fingers. That wasn’t rouge—it was coagulated wolf blood.
“It’s been to the forest,” the girl’s gaze darkened. “It pecked at the altar’s wolf blood and absorbed Demon Qi. It mixed the things it heard, which were then amplified by something. That’s how this so-called female ghost was born.”
“Just as I suspected,” Huo Yuanyao sheathed her sword. “But this parrot doesn’t seem to be a strange beast, just an ordinary bird. How does it have Demon Qi?”
Before Lin Nan could answer, footsteps sounded outside. Zhang Ergou’s cursing grew louder. “Old Li lied to me! Where’s the female ghost? Watch me tear down this damn house!”
The three quickly hid behind the door.
Zhang Ergou staggered drunkenly into the yard, raising an axe. He caught sight of the parrot tangled in the water chain, the embarrassing sounds spilling from its beak. Suddenly, he laughed. “You little beast, you’ve gone bad! Were you the one playing tricks in the house?”
He raised his axe high, ready to chop it down.
Lin Nan stepped out from behind the door to stop him. “You can’t kill this bird.”
Zhang Ergou shivered under the gaze of her jade eyes, sobering up considerably. “Immortal Master… what’s wrong with this bird? Why are you at my house?”
Lin Nan didn’t answer but pointed to the wolf hair on the ground. “The Demon Qi in its mouth will attract something.”
She seemed to realize something and asked, “By the way, who dug the earth in your yard?”
Zhang Ergou’s face suddenly turned pale. He stammered, “A-a few nights ago, I kept hearing noises inside. I thought there was a thief, so I dug up the soil to bury some talismans…”
“What talismans?” Huo Yuanyao pressed.
“It was from a man in a gray robe. He said it could protect the house…” Zhang Ergou’s voice grew faint. “He also said that if the bird cries, I should kill it and bury it in the yard…”
Lin Nan’s heart jolted sharply.
The man in the gray robe was most likely from the Danxia Sect.
But this was too coincidental. They had just met Sun Qi at the altar, and now this gray-robed man appeared. Would Danxia Sect people be so foolish?
If they were truly behind breeding a Monster tribe—a crime the righteous would never allow—would they leave so many traces?
Suddenly, Shen Yuer tugged her sleeve and pointed at the parrot. “It seems like it wants to say something.”
The parrot stopped flapping and tilted its head, staring at Zhang Ergou. Then it called out clearly, “Cellar…”
Zhang Ergou’s face instantly drained of color. He turned to run, but Huo Yuanyao’s sword Qi blocked his way.
“What’s in the cellar?”
The sword was pressed against his throat.
As if understanding, the parrot suddenly cried out sharply, “Blood… it’s full… about to overflow…”
Zhang Ergou collapsed on the ground, tears streaming. “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you! In the cellar… it’s Widow Liu! I saw that gray-robed man drag her down there. I even heard her crying…”
The three exchanged shocked glances.
Lin Nan took the parrot and headed toward the cellar. Shen Yuer’s glowing talisman lit the way, illuminating the steep stone steps.
The deeper they went, the stronger the metallic sweetness mixed with rot filled the air, making it hard to keep their eyes open.
At the cellar’s end lay a pile of dry grass. Moving it aside revealed a loose stone slab.
Huo Yuanyao used her sword to pry open the slab, and a suffocating wave of blood stench spilled out. Beneath the slab was not the cellar floor but an earthen pit. The soil was freshly turned, and half of a blood-stained skirt was buried inside.
The parrot suddenly struggled violently, flapping its wings against the bamboo cage, screaming sharply, “Wolves… so many wolves…”
Lin Nan’s soul-locking ring burned intensely. The golden flames inside jumped wildly, as if warning her.
She recalled Zhang Ergou digging in the yard and the wolf hair mixed in the soil.
It wasn’t the parrot that had been to the forest altar; someone had buried wolf blood here, using Widow Liu’s corpse as a “bait” to let Demon Qi spread through the earth veins, nurturing the parrot.
Or rather, nurturing Widow Liu?
“They’re not just breeding beastified Monsters,” Lin Nan’s voice turned cold. “They’re creating a ‘Monster Nest,’ using villagers’ lives as fertilizer. They even intend to breed artificial Monsters.”
Huo Yuanyao’s sword stuck in the earthen pit, the sword Qi clashing with the Demon Qi with a sizzling sound. “This is only the beginning.”
Shen Yuer covered her mouth, her eyes red. “What about Widow Liu…”
“There’s still hope.”
Lin Nan pointed at the grass roots at the pit’s edge. “The grass is still alive, which means she was buried not long ago.”
She looked at Zhang Ergou. “When did the gray-robed man arrive?”
“F-five days ago…” Zhang Ergou trembled. “He said when the bird cries the loudest, bury it. Then… then good things will grow from the earth…”
The parrot suddenly fell silent, tilting its head to look at Lin Nan. Its glowing green eyes reflected her white hair, then it called softly, “King…”
Lin Nan’s heart jumped violently.
That single word was so light, like the wind gently blowing through a wind chime.
Outside the cellar, the moonlight suddenly dimmed, dark clouds covering most of it. Only a pale shaft of light shone on the wolf hair beside the pit, giving off an eerie silver glow.