Chapter 44

Hai Lao stopped in his tracks, and without minding the muddy ground, he sat down directly, causing Lin Feiyu’s eyelids to twitch.

I didn’t understand why, but I could sense the gathering of yin energy around us.

"Xiao Lin, you guard the perimeter. Zhao Qian, Zhao Yi, both of you come behind me." Hai Lao quickly spread out a red cloth, placed five paper figures on the ground, took out a pen, and opened the lid to reveal a needle. He pricked his finger and began to draw strange symbols on the paper figures.

Zhao Yi looked somewhat frightened and immediately ran behind Hai Lao. Zhao Qian was also obedient and ran back.

Although I could feel the intense yin energy, I didn’t see any trace of the mountain ghost. However, soon, my sister-in-law’s warning came. I felt a breeze in my ear and turned my head abruptly, only to find a grayish-white woman standing in the woods, with several vague, beast-like spirits beside her.

Is this the mountain ghost? It feels similar to a vengeful ghost. What are those beast-like spirits?

"Here they come!" Lin Feiyu shouted, immediately taking out a handful of coffin nails. In his right hand, he held a scalpel, made a hand sign, and cut his middle finger, then clutched the bloody nails tightly.

The strange beast-like spirits suddenly pounced over. The soul jar in my pocket shook violently. Xijun seemed to sense the situation outside. These spirits were likely similar to vengeful ghosts, probably the most nourishing things for her, but I didn’t dare to let her out now.

The spirits pounced at us, and I could feel the yin energy around us boiling. If they hit us, the consequences would be unimaginable. It was astonishing that Wu Zhenghua could summon such powerful vengeful ghosts.

Lin Feiyu’s coffin nails were very powerful. When they pierced the spirits, a puff of green smoke emerged, and the spirits roared before disappearing.

Lin Feiyu remained unmarried, and the pure essence in his child’s blood would make any filthy or evil thing vanish upon contact.

Hai Lao drew the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, chanting: "Qian, Kun, Gen, Dui, Li, Kan, Xun, Zhen! Borrow metal, borrow wood, borrow water, borrow fire, borrow earth, to balance yin and yang, and shift the five elements."

With his final stroke, he transformed his hand sign into a palm and pushed forward. The five paper figures seemed to borrow the attributes of the five elements and flew out. As they landed, the beast-like spirits were startled, crashing into the woods or the ground and disappearing.

The mountain ghost cackled and vanished into the woods.

"Did you kill the mountain ghost? I didn’t see anything happen," Lin Feiyu asked in surprise. "Those five paper figures looked ordinary, and there was no unusual phenomenon when they were thrown out. How did the mountain ghost run away?"

"The things we borrow from the yin world are invisible to you, just like how ordinary people can’t see ghosts. Besides, mountain ghosts aren’t that easy to kill. Do you think I’m Zhou Xian, who can summon ghost kings? For him, mountain ghosts and mountain deities are just snacks. " Hai Lao said mysteriously.

Hai Lao had witnessed the battle with my grandmother and was greatly influenced by it. He often mentioned her techniques, but I didn’t know how powerful they were. However, if he could summon a ghost king, he must be incredibly powerful.

"Right, that’s the reason." Lin Feiyu didn’t dwell on it and put the coffin nails back in the safe.

"Mountain ghosts are a type of bound spirit, similar to vengeful ghosts. However, they have cultivated a certain level of strength and intelligence. They gather the spirits of beasts that died in traps in the mountains as their followers, managing the yin energy of the entire mountain and becoming extremely powerful. However, they don’t have specific roles and are relatively easy to control, even by slightly more skilled Mount Mao sorcerers."

"But the mountain ghost summoned at this time and under this weather is much more powerful. It would be best if it could be controlled, but if it backfires, Wu Zhenghua will be in trouble."

"This mountain ghost is very intelligent. When the ghost beasts were destroyed, it immediately ran away, showing that it’s smarter than humans."

"We’re almost at the top of the mountain. Look at the dark clouds in the sky; that old man is getting anxious." Lin Feiyu smiled again.

"It seems so. He’s about to summon lightning, but can his body handle it?" This reminder made Hai Lao look up at the sky, shake his head, and fiddle with a strange formula. His face turned pale as he looked at us, finally focusing on Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi was startled, thinking Hai Lao was looking behind him, and turned to look back. Finding nothing, he relaxed but looked at Hai Lao with confusion and fear. "Uncle Hai Lao, why are you looking at me?"

Hai Lao frowned, took out a blue paper figure, wrote a spell on it, and gave it to Zhao Yi. "Take this and go back. We’re almost at the top of the mountain, and you’re not needed here anymore."

Zhao Yi hesitated to take it but, seeing us all looking at him, said, "Why? Why should I go down alone?"

"If you don’t go down, you’ll die. Remember, don’t look back when you go down, and ignore anyone who calls you. Pretend you don’t hear them." Hai Lao glared at him.

"Do I really have to go?" Zhao Yi was scared and quickly took the blue paper figure.

"Yes, I’ve calculated that you will die if you go up the mountain. Do you believe me?" Hai Lao said.

"Ah? I believe you! Of course, I believe you!" Zhao Yi’s face turned pale. Although he had to go down alone, it was better than dying, so he ran down the mountain as fast as he could.

The remaining three of us—me, Zhao Qian, and Lin Feiyu—looked at Hai Lao with some confusion. Hai Lao shook his head and said, "I don’t trust this kid. He might have a curse from Wu Zhenghua on him and could drag us all to our deaths."

"What? You calculated that too? What else did you calculate?" Lin Feiyu asked in shock.

I was also startled. This Hai Lao was truly amazing.

"Hmph, Zhao Yi definitely has a problem. His aura has been out of sync with ours since the mountain ghost appeared. If he’s used by something, it wouldn’t be surprising if he does something we can’t imagine." Hai Lao said coldly and continued up the mountain.

"What about the blue paper figure you gave him?" Lin Feiyu asked, still puzzled as Zhao Yi’s figure disappeared.

"It’s a protective paper figure, of course. The mountain ghost didn’t fight us to the death, so it must have a backup plan. Zhao Yi isn’t a bad kid, and I can’t let him die for nothing. Besides, having one less person will be beneficial for us." Hai Lao explained.

"That’s true. He brought us here, so he deserves some credit." Lin Feiyu agreed.

In terms of sorcery, Hai Lao was a senior expert, and Lin Feiyu and I had no objections.

We continued up the mountain. The light rain started to intensify, and by the time we reached the top, fog had set in, and thunder rumbled in the distance, indicating a storm was brewing.

Hai Lao kept chanting and throwing paper figures. Each time, he threw exactly four, and he had used up most of a full bag of paper figures. The closer we got to the mountain, the more he used.

By the end, Hai Lao’s face was pale and drawn.

"Old man, when I get up there, you’d better still be alive!" Hai Lao panted, his voice weak.

I looked at the paper figures scattered along the way, not understanding.

"Brother Hai, are these paper figures to confuse the old man?" Lin Feiyu couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course. Without Zhao Yi, he can’t find our position. Look at the clouds in the sky; they’ve spread out because of my paper talismans, making them unstable. He wants to hold out with his lightning spell, but he can’t do anything to me until I run out of paper figures. He’s probably spitting blood by now." Hai Lao said bitterly. The paper figures were his hard work, imbued with human energy to summon lightning.

"Brother Hai, isn’t this method just a head-on clash? What if he’s still alive when we get up there?" Lin Feiyu was worried.

What can I do? Is the lightning spell that easy to avoid? I can dodge it, and so can you. Xia Xiaobrother probably won’t have a problem either, but what about Zhao Qian? I can’t let anyone get hurt. Also, Xiao Lin, I won’t say more, but I hope I can hold out until we get up there, and the old man is dead by then. Otherwise, it will be your turn, and that will be interesting." Hai Lao shook his head and smiled bitterly, his face pale and frightening.

"Don’t say that, Brother Hai. If you can’t do it, I’ll take over. Dealing with that half-dead old man won’t be a problem, right?" Lin Feiyu patted the safe, looking determined as he looked at Hai Lao.

"Sorry, Uncle Hai Lao, it’s all my fault for coming along." Zhao Qian looked embarrassed, realizing that Hai Lao knew her purpose and was protecting her, which was why he used such a risky method.

"Sigh, he attacked your grandfather, and when your grandfather died, you wanted revenge. If you can’t get it, your brother Zhao He will come. This is the cycle of cause and effect. I’m just doing what I can to protect you. If the rain continues, Wu Zhenghua will become even more powerful." Hai Lao shook his head, sighed heavily, and his face was completely pale.

Lin Feiyu realized something was wrong and reached out to touch Hai Lao’s trembling hand. His face turned dark when he touched it. "Brother Hai! You—"

"You’ve used too much, and the wind is against you." Hai Lao’s expression was helpless.

After throwing so many paper figures, even if we didn’t understand, we could see that "against the wind" meant he was on the brink of backfire.

"What do we do? Should you rest? I’ll go up myself!" Lin Feiyu was at a loss and said to me and Zhao Qian, "You two take Uncle Hai Lao back, and I’ll go up and kill that old man!"

"You can’t handle him. If you go up, without me, the lightning spell will kill you. That old man has improved a lot over the years. We were once equals, but now he’s a step ahead. I should have realized he wouldn’t come back without a reason." Hai Lao stopped Lin Feiyu, took a deep breath, and continued up the mountain.

"This won’t work! At least let Xia Xiaobrother take Zhao Qian down? It’s going to be very dangerous up there!" Lin Feiyu said urgently. The mountain was only a few dozen meters away, and a lightning strike would turn everything to ashes.

"Ah! Ah!"

Just as Lin Feiyu was speaking, a mix of thunder and Zhao Yi’s scream came from below. Hai Lao looked at Lin Feiyu with a "see, I told you" expression.

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