"I see, then my son and I shall not trouble you two Daoist priests."
"I'll be paying for these three bowls of noodles today, as thanks for saving our lives. If you ever find yourselves in trouble, you can come find me at the Zeng residence."
Zeng Mo bowed and thanked Shi Jian and Mao Xiaofang, with Zeng Cheng following behind.
He then approached the shopkeeper, paid the silver for the meal, and they left the noodle shop.
"It's not easy to get a bowl of noodles. Now we can finally start eating."
After watching the Zeng father and son leave, Shi Jian, Mao Xiaofang, and Zhong Bang began to eat ravenously.
Once the three of them had their fill and had just stepped out of the noodle shop, they heard a commotion from the surrounding area.
"How tragic. How could the Li family, grandfather and grandchildren, have died for no reason?"
"Who knows? Just yesterday I saw the Li family, grandfather and grandchildren, alive and well. This morning, they were gone."
Hearing the discussions around them, Shi Jian looked and saw a woman nearing thirty kneeling on the ground, crying out towards three corpses.
At that moment, the woman's cries also drew the attention of the security team.
When a few of them lifted the white cloth and saw the faces of the corpses, they quickly put the cloth back down.
"It looks like they were hacked to death with knives!"
The security team questioned the woman, learning that the three had died on Mount Sikou.
The surrounding villagers' expressions changed, showing great fear.
"Mount Sikou. As the old saying goes in Gantian Town, many Japanese pirates died there during the Ming Dynasty, which is why it was named Mount Sikou."
"I reckon the grandfather and grandchildren ran into something unclean."
"You're talking nonsense. What unclean thing? I, for one, don't believe there are ghosts in this world."
As atheists, the security team naturally didn't believe the villagers' rumors.
Unless they saw a ghost with their own eyes, they wouldn't believe in anything supernatural.
"I'm going to take a look tonight and see if there are any ghosts in Mount Sikou that you speak of."
Seeing that the security team was going to Mount Sikou, everyone hurriedly tried to dissuade them.
Among them, a white-haired elder tapped the ground several times with his cane to attract attention.
"You mustn't go, you mustn't go. There really is something unclean on Mount Sikou."
"When I was young, I was fortunate enough to pass by Mount Sikou. The mountain was truly haunted. I personally saw the figures of several Japanese pirates."
"Old man, who are you trying to scare? Tonight, I'm really going into Mount Sikou to see for myself."
With that, the security team turned and left, preparing to organize personnel to investigate Mount Sikou.
"Xiaofang, let's put aside the matter of Xuan Kui for now. We'll go to Mount Sikou tonight."
Shi Jian, having just left the noodle shop, felt that Mount Sikou was very likely haunted.
So, he decided to abandon chasing the Zombie King Xuan Kui for the moment and follow the security team to Mount Sikou that evening.
"Master, are there really Japanese pirates on this mountain?"
"I don't know. It's better to believe it than not when it comes to such matters."
The three returned to the inn and waited for some time until evening arrived.
Shi Jian, Mao Xiaofang, and Zhong Bang followed more than ten security personnel to the outskirts of Mount Sikou.
"Captain, are we really going in?"
Several security personnel gulped, gripping their guns tightly, afraid to venture further into the mountain.
"What are you afraid of? I'm right behind you."
The leading security personnel, emboldened, walked into Mount Sikou.
As the dozen or so people ventured deep into the mountain, shouts of "Kill!" echoed from the surroundings. The security team, terrified, scrambled back out of the mountain.
The next moment, more than four hundred vengeful spirits of Japanese pirates, wielding katanas, appeared before them.
"Captain, there really are Japanese pirates in this mountain!"
Dozens of security personnel shivered, aiming their guns at the approaching Japanese pirate spirits, not daring to breathe.
"What are you afraid of? They only have swords, while we have guns."
Under the command of the leading man, several shots rang out. The bullets passed directly through the bodies of the spirits and hit trees behind them.
The vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates looked at the security team before them and raised their katanas, charging forward.
Just as they were about to reach them, several bolts of purplish-red lightning flashed.
Some of the Japanese pirate spirits charging at the front were struck by the Evil-banishing Divine Lightning, dissipating into white smoke and vanishing into the mountain.
"You bunch of Eastern devils, you committed all sorts of atrocities in life, burning, killing, and plundering. Now, even in death, you disturb the peace of this region."
"Today, this humble Daoist will send you all back home!"
Shi Jian, Mao Xiaofang, and Zhong Bang appeared before the security team, repelling the Japanese pirate spirits.
"Master, don't waste time talking to them. If the vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates escape the mountain, it will be a much bigger problem."
To prevent the spirits from descending the mountain and causing trouble, Mao Xiaofang infused his Taiqing whisk with lightning techniques.
Just as Shi Jian and his disciple were about to use their lightning techniques to eliminate the vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates.
Suddenly, another group of spirits appeared in the surroundings.
However, this group of spirits was armed with a variety of weapons, including rattan shields, long shields, wolf brushes, and more.
"Master, have we stumbled into a ghost den? Why are there so many vengeful spirits on Mount Sikou?"
Seeing more than two hundred spirits appear around them, Mao Xiaofang took out several Zi Xiao Divine Lightning talismans from his bag to deal with them, but was stopped by Shi Jian.
"We don't need to act. They've already started fighting."
"It seems their obsessions in life were too deep. They refused to reincarnate after death and have remained here, fighting endlessly."
Upon hearing this, Mao Xiaofang looked up. Without him realizing it, the two groups of spirits had already begun to brawl.
Most curiously, after being struck by cold weapons, both groups of spirits could reform their ethereal bodies.
This resulted in neither side being able to kill the other!
"Xiaofang, deal with the vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates first. Be careful not to harm the spirits wearing cotton armor."
After reminding Mao Xiaofang, Shi Jian unleashed his purplish-red lightning towards the more than four hundred vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates.
When the other group of spirits used wolf brushes and the Yuanyang formation, he knew they were Ming Dynasty soldiers.
Therefore, he had instructed Mao Xiaofang to only use lightning techniques against the vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates.
And to refrain from attacking the spirits wielding wolf brushes and wearing Ming Dynasty armor.
Several minutes passed, and purplish-red lightning and blue-white lightning flickered in Mount Sikou.
The original four hundred-plus vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates were all struck by lightning techniques in a short span of time, turning into wisps of white smoke and forever denied reincarnation.
After eliminating the vengeful spirits of the Japanese pirates, Shi Jian led Mao Xiaofang to the Ming army spirits.
"Now that the Japanese pirates are dead, it's time for you to let go of your obsessions and be reincarnated."
Seeing that the more than four hundred Japanese pirates had been eliminated, the spirits wearing cotton armor cupped their fists and thanked Shi Jian and Mao Xiaofang.
Finally, their figures gradually dissipated into Mount Sikou.
"Captain, there really are ghosts in this world. That old man this morning wasn't lying to us."
The security team, hiding behind a large tree, had their legs weakened by the earlier Japanese pirate spirits. They wanted to run but couldn't.
"My eyes aren't blind. Help me up quickly."
With the help of a few men, the captain of the security team managed to steady himself.