Chapter 6

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly didn't want to stay in the main hall anymore.

He felt a sense of despair, as if he were in a dire situation where no one would answer his cries for help from heaven or earth.

This place was extremely dangerous, but he couldn't seek help from the outside world; he could only rely on himself.

After much hesitation, he gritted his teeth and bent down to pull out the skeleton wrapped in the work uniform.

Rip~

As he pulled, the work uniform was easily torn, having long since rotted away over the years.

Dragging the corpse to the candlelight, he endured the discomfort and began to examine it.

Although the person was dead, the body could still speak. Understanding the cause of death could help him avoid many dangers.

"Several ribs and the sternum are broken, and there are fine cracks on the right shoulder, but they are not severe..."

The deceased had suffered severe injuries, but the exact cause of death was unclear due to the passage of time.

Next, Zhang Yuanqing found several yellow, brittle papers in the worker's pocket, which were quite old.

The papers were written in small, neat characters.

Zhang Yuanqing felt a surge of joy; the papers were clearly found by the worker in the temple, which could help him understand the situation of the ancient temple.

With the help of the candlelight, he focused on reading the content of the papers.

"Another junior brother disappeared last night. This is the third mysterious disappearance in the temple. The other disciples say that the Three Peaks are haunted, or that a powerful demon has come to catch and eat people every night. However, the disciples in the temple have their own cultivation, and our master is a renowned real person within a hundred miles. Which demon would dare to come here to feed?

"As for ghosts, my corpse-sealing talisman and spirit-summoning talisman are enough to deal with them, no need to trouble the master. I have a bad feeling, I need to discuss this with the senior brother..."

"Another person disappeared today, the fifth one. The master asked us to keep it from the pilgrims, otherwise it would affect the temple's incense offerings. He must know something. The senior brother and I plan to patrol at night..."

"Three days have passed, and three more people have disappeared. The senior brother and I haven't found any clues. The night is calm. My bad feeling is getting stronger..."

"The senior brother was very strange today. He seems to have discovered something and is very angry. I asked him, but he didn't tell me. His mood is not good, I'll ask him tomorrow."

"Today, the person who disappeared is... the senior brother. I searched the entire Three Peaks but couldn't find him. I can't take it anymore, I'm going to ask the master for the truth. The other disciples support me because they are also afraid..."

The handwriting in this part is messy, indicating that the writer was in a state of panic.

Zhang Yuanqing continued reading:

"After much questioning, the master finally agreed to tell me the truth. My premonition was right; he indeed knows the reason for the mysterious disappearances of the junior brothers. But the master said that with so many people around during the day, he would come to my room after sunset to tell me a great secret, a secret that concerns the rise and fall of thousands of years."

"After dinner, I waited in my room for the sunset. Since people started disappearing at night, I have never been so eager for night to fall..."

The content of the paper ends here.

That's it? This abrupt ending is a bit frustrating... Zhang Yuanqing grimaced.

He organized the information in the papers. In a certain year, the disciples of the mountain god temple disappeared one after another in mysterious circumstances.

The disciples were helpless, and panic spread. The temple's caretaker, their master, seemed to know the reason.

This reason was related to a great secret that had influenced the rise and fall of thousands of years.

"Is the reason for the decline of the mountain god temple unknown? If I can uncover this source, can I complete the second main task?" Zhang Yuanqing speculated.

He put the brittle papers back into the corpse's work uniform, pushed the corpse back under the table, and thought about what to do next.

"There's only so much information in the main hall. If I want to explore the ancient temple, I have to go out, which means I must face the dangers in the temple..."

"In the ghost story of the She Ling tunnel, one worker survived. Following his path might help me find a way to survive."

After much thought, Zhang Yuanqing walked to the entrance of the main hall and opened the two well-preserved latticed doors.

"Creak~"

The wooden door hinges made a grating sound.

He supported the door frame, looked around, and saw that the outside was silent and desolate, with no signs of danger.

After observing for a while, he stepped out of the threshold and followed the cobblestone path on the left side of the main hall, heading towards the back courtyard of the mountain god temple.

The moonlight was like water, and the grass swayed. After walking for a couple of minutes, a cluster of buildings appeared ahead.

These were several connected bungalows forming a large quadrangle, with black tiles and white walls, and a straight roofline. The eaves were adorned with latticed windows and doors.

The latticed doors were dusty, some open, some closed, and some tightly shut. The paper used to cover the windows was worn and torn from the ravages of time.

The moonlight was bright, like frost on the ground. He scanned the layout of the back courtyard of the mountain god temple.

In addition to the quadrangle in front of him, there was an arched door on the east side, similar to the back courtyard of a wealthy family in TV dramas, used to connect different courtyards.

In the neighboring courtyard, there was a towering tree with lush branches and gnarled roots.

"Hey..."

In the swaying grass of the courtyard, he found several skeletons wrapped in work uniforms.

He cautiously approached and carefully examined them. Each skeleton was severely damaged, with broken bones under the work uniform, but except for the one in the main hall, the shoulder bones of these skeletons were intact without any cracks.

"These people suffered terrible injuries before they died, and they died very tragically..."

A breeze blew, and the leaves rustled. In the distance, Zhang Yuanqing heard a low, mournful voice mixed in with the rustling leaves:

"Help, help..."

In the desolate and silent night, Zhang Yuanqing felt a cold sweat on his back.

He stood stiffly in place for a while. When the wind stopped, the mournful voice also ceased.

The neighboring courtyard seemed dangerous, but nothing came from it... He silently exhaled, stepped through the overgrown grass, and entered the eaves, planning to explore the quadrangle.

This place seemed to be where the temple disciples lived, with old, dusty furniture piled up, and the air filled with a faint, decaying smell.

Zhang Yuanqing explored each room one by one, finding nothing special until he pushed open the latticed door on the far east side.

"Creak~"

The door, sealed for countless years, was pushed open, and dust fell. Zhang Yuanqing brushed the dust off his shoulders and scanned the room with a cautious gaze.

In this long-abandoned room, by the window, a corpse was leaning against the wall, lying there at an angle.

From the clothing and the fallen miner's helmet, it could be inferred that this was another senior disciple.

Stepping over the threshold and entering the room, Zhang Yuanqing shivered, feeling a sudden drop in temperature.

"It's a bit cold..."

He cautiously approached the corpse, undid the tattered clothing, and examined the bones as usual. This time, he didn't see any broken bones; the skeleton was well-preserved.

But when he looked at the shoulder bone, his pupils dilated. There were exaggerated cracks on the shoulder bone, similar to the one in the main hall, but the injuries on this skeleton were more severe.

"Only the skeleton in this room and the one in the main hall have cracked shoulder bones. Is this a coincidence?" he muttered, feeling uneasy.

Next, Zhang Yuanqing noticed that the corpse's trouser pocket was bulging, as if something was hidden inside.

He reached in and pulled out a yellow, ancient book, a dusty bronze mirror, and a yellow paper talisman.

The yellow paper talisman was inscribed with twisted patterns in cinnabar, resembling a complex character for "corpse."

As he examined the yellow paper talisman, a blue message appeared before his eyes:

【Name: Corpse-Sealing Talisman】

【Type: Consumable】

【Function: Seal Corpse】

【Description: A powerful talisman created by a night spirit, it is the nemesis of all corpse-like entities. Placing it on the forehead of a corpse-like entity will seal it.】

【Note: It can only be used once.】

The blue message was similar to his attribute panel, clearly a hint from the "Spirit Realm."

This was the first time Zhang Yuanqing had seen such a hint since entering the eerie ancient temple.

"It must be an important item," he thought, folding it and putting it in his jacket pocket, zipping it up.

He thought for a moment and then unzipped it again.

He remembered a scene from a martial arts novel where a skilled swordsman liked to wrap his sword in a cloth and carry it on his back.

One day, a challenger issued a challenge while the swordsman was eating.

The swordsman was then defeated.

The cause of death was that the cloth was difficult to remove...

Zhang Yuanqing then picked up the ancient book and the bronze mirror, but no additional information appeared.

He put the bronze mirror aside and carefully opened the yellow, brittle book.

It read:

"I have been in the Three Peaks Temple for two and a half years. I have learned to read and write. The senior brother said that when the master returns from exorcising the spirits, he will formally introduce me to the temple and teach me the Moon-Swallowing Soul Cultivation Technique, the entry method for becoming a night spirit."

"The Prince of Yan rebelled, and war broke out. As the strongest night spirit of the Song Mansion, the master had to leave the mountain to exorcise the spirits. Otherwise, the war would continue, and the people would not be at peace..."

Zhang Yuanqing felt a slight ache in his shoulders and rubbed them. He initially judged that this was a diary.

The diary contained the author's experiences of cultivation and life in the temple. Based on the handwriting, this diary and the papers found on the corpse in the main hall were from the same source.

The mention of "Prince of Yan's rebellion" placed the timeline during the Jingnan Campaign.

However, he was unsure if the temple really existed in history, as the diary mentioned terms like "cultivation," "night spirit," "breathing technique," and "talisman," which seemed mysterious and powerful.

Zhang Yuanqing moved his aching shoulders, scanned the room cautiously, and listened for any sounds outside, confirming there were no abnormalities before continuing to read the diary.

Soon, he found the continuation of the content from the main hall. The first few pages were torn, and the subsequent content read:

"The sun set, and it finally turned dark. I heard a knock on the door and opened it excitedly. But it wasn't the master standing outside; it was the senior brother who had disappeared last night."

"The senior brother, who had been missing for a day and a night, returned, but I felt no joy because... he was already dead. A corpse had returned. His chest was covered in blood, and his heart had been dug out."

"The senior brother stared at me with a straight gaze and said: Don't trust the master..."

The handwriting in these sections was messy, indicating that the writer was in a state of panic.

When Zhang Yuanqing turned to the next page, he found that the diary ended there. The owner of the diary never wrote again.

"Whew... What does 'don't trust the master' mean?"

Zhang Yuanqing was chilled by this twist.

Did the caretaker kill the senior brother? Is he the culprit behind the mysterious disappearances of the disciples? Zhang Yuanqing rubbed his shoulders, put the book back in the corpse's pocket, and picked up the bronze mirror, preparing to leave.

But when he glanced at the mirror, his body suddenly stiffened.

The moonlight reflected on the mirror, showing his image. On his back, a person was crouching.

The person had a pale face, deep purple lips, and white eyes, with their head resting on Zhang Yuanqing's shoulder. The white eyes stared at him lifelessly.

......

PS: This book contains supernatural elements, but it is not primarily focused on the supernatural. Readers who dislike supernatural elements can rest assured.