“We need money.”
As soon as I spoke, the surroundings fell silent. Even the insects stopped their buzzing. It was quiet, eerily quiet.
Old Master Fang’s small eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets. His lower jaw trembled, his lips parted as if to speak, but for a long time, no words came out.
The sleeping Daoist lost his sleepiness. He became alert, his eyes also wide, and he asked again in disbelief, "What did you just say?"
“We need money.”
“Ha… haha… you guys continue, pretend I’m not here.” Wu Yun chuckled twice, then felt it was inappropriate. She stifled her laughter, but her heaving shoulders betrayed her. Clearly, she was amused. She had seen people ask for money, but never at a time like this.
Zhang Dabiao, who had just walked over, stumbled when he heard me ask for money, nearly falling. After steadying himself, he quietly gave me a thumbs-up, his lips moving. Though I couldn’t hear him, I could tell he was saying something like, "You're truly something else."
Hu Sixi’s face first flushed red, then turned black, then red again, changing several times. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, “Kid, don’t you think you’ve gone too far?”
“Too far? How have I gone too far?” I feigned ignorance and then looked at the sleeping Daoist with a hint of grievance. “Daoist, you see, I told you, being a good person doesn’t always pay off. This is the rule of the Yin Gua. He insists I break it. If that’s the case, we shouldn’t proceed with this divination.”
The sleeping Daoist resumed his usual drowsy demeanor, but his eyes gleamed with sharpness. He asked with a hint of suspicion, “Since when did the Yin Gua have such a rule? I’ve never heard of it.”
My heart skipped a beat. I thought, "This is bad. How does this old Daoist know about the Yin Gua? Could he be very familiar with my master?"
Though I was panicking inwardly, my expression remained unchanged. “This rule was set by my master. If you don’t believe me, senior, there’s nothing I can do. Perhaps you could ask my master.”
The sleeping Daoist cursed with a smile, “Where am I supposed to find your master? You cunning kid, aren’t you just giving me a hard time?”
I pursed my lips and remained silent, appearing completely at your mercy.
“Alas! Daoist Hu, since this is the rule of the Yin Gua, then what do you say…”
“I’ll pay. Kid, name your price.” Hu Sixi asked through gritted teeth. He understood perfectly that I was extorting him, but he had no choice. If it were just a simple case of a lost soul, Hu Sixi could have handled it himself. But now, he suspected that Hu Yuan’s soul might have been captured by an evil entity, otherwise, why couldn’t it be found?
“This…”
I hadn’t expected Hu Sixi to be willing to be extorted by me just to find out the cause of Hu Yuan’s death. After much deliberation, I held up five fingers.
“Fifty thousand? You’re still reasonable, kid. Give me your bank account, and I’ll have the money transferred to you now.” Hu Sixi’s already sallow face eased slightly. He took a phone from his disciple and prepared to transfer the money.
“Fifty thousand? Do you think I’m begging for scraps? I want five hundred thousand!” Actually, I wanted five million. But then I thought about the sleeping Daoist and Old Master Fang being present. If I asked for too much, they might think I was a greedy opportunist. So, after much hesitation, I said five hundred thousand.
“Kid, do you think the money of my Hu family grows on trees?” Hu Sixi’s face darkened. He turned to the sleeping Daoist and Old Master Fang and said, “Fellow Daoists, you’ve seen it yourselves. This kid is just extorting us.”
Old Master Fang and the sleeping Daoist both frowned, falling silent. They seemed displeased with my exorbitant demand.
Seeing this, I knew I had to explain. “Fellow Daoists, I’m not asking for an exorbitant amount. There’s a reason for this.”
“What reason?”
“Fellow Daoists, you are both scholars. You know there’s a difference between finding the soul of an ordinary person and finding the soul of a cultivator. For example, finding an ordinary person’s soul can be done with a simple spell. But for someone in the Yin path, we need to communicate with the underworld, bribe minor spirits guarding the path, and only after obtaining permission from the underworld can we find them. Doesn’t every step require money? I can’t possibly pay out of my own pocket, can I?” My words, half-true and half-false, caused the sleeping Daoist and Old Master Fang to fall into silence.
Different professions have different secrets. The sleeping Daoist might know the general rules of Yin Gua divination, but he certainly wouldn’t know the specifics, as that falls under the scope of master-disciple lineage. Therefore, even if the sleeping Daoist had doubts, he couldn’t voice them, as it would be going too far.
At this point, further argument was meaningless. So, Hu Sixi readily transferred five hundred thousand to me and asked me to find Hu Yuan’s soul immediately.
I gave him a big eye-roll and said, “If you can find his soul right now, I’ll add another zero to the amount you’ve given me. Don’t you know that souls can only be found after dark?”
Hu Sixi was speechless. In his haste to find Hu Yuan’s soul, he had completely forgotten that souls are afraid of sunlight.
“Hmph… I hope you don’t play any tricks, kid.”
I had grown numb to Hu Sixi’s threats. Even if the sleeping Daoist and Old Master Fang weren’t on my side, at least they wouldn’t stand by and watch me be persecuted by Hu Sixi.
Wang Defa’s group of ordinary people who had helped carry the luggage into the mountains were almost all dead. Those who survived were too terrified to continue. Even if they were paid more, they wouldn’t dare to enter the mountains. After all, what was the point of earning money if you couldn’t enjoy it because you were dead? Moreover, we still needed to find Hu Yuan’s soul, so we had to stay another night.
This time, Wang Defa didn’t let everyone stay in their current location. He drove back a short distance to prevent another attack from the mountain sprites.
“Take these people back and bring more people. It would be best to buy some weapons from the black market. I’m afraid the mountain sprites will attack again once we enter the mountains.” Wang Defa arranged for his subordinates to go back for reinforcements and prepare firearms.
“Understood.”
After the ordinary people left, only our groups remained in the camp. From Longhu Mountain, apart from Old Master Fang and Fang Niubizi, all other disciples were sent back. Initially, Old Master Fang thought this would be a good training opportunity for them to gain some experience. Now that so many had died, he realized this trip was not about training but a deadly business, so he abandoned the idea of letting them continue.
The sleeping Daoist from Maoshan was the same. He kept one disciple whose cultivation was similar to Fang Niubizi’s, and sent the other younger disciples back with the vehicles. After all, training was about gaining experience, not risking one’s life.
Seeing that the other two big shots had sent their disciples back, Hu Sixi also had to send back his remaining few disciples, leaving only himself.
Since we had been busy all night, after sending them off, everyone ate something casual and found places to sleep.
With many people and few cars, it was almost one person per car. No one slept in tents anymore. Who knew if the mountain sprites would attack again during the day?
Exhausted from the night, I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. When I woke up, the sky was already darkening, with only a sliver of the setting sun hanging on the mountaintop.
Wang Defa, as the leader of this group, took charge of everyone’s food and drink. A bonfire was lit on the flat ground, and the old guys were chatting around the fire. Sudancn.com
“Awake? When can we summon the soul?” I appeared, and Hu Sixi immediately noticed and asked directly.
“What’s the rush? The Yang energy is strong now, we can’t break through the Yin. Let’s wait until midnight!”
Time passed quickly, and it was midnight in the blink of an eye.
I took out the iron bowl I carried with me, set up the altar, lit the incense, and began to perform the divination.
“Seeking soul incense, finding Yin and Yang, night brings ghosts and spirits, do not hesitate… The divination begins to seek the soul…”
As a gust of Yin wind blew, a blurry image appeared in the iron bowl. It was a dark figure completely shrouded in black energy, with only a pair of eyes glowing crimson. Before I could pinpoint its exact location, a red light shot out from the figure’s eyes.
“Pfft…” I suddenly felt as if I had been hit by a car in the chest, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.
“Little brother…” Zhang Dabiao quickly supported me, asking with concern if I was injured.
“It’s nothing. The evil entity’s cultivation is higher than mine. It discovered me.”
“Then what kind of evil entity is it?”
To prevent me from playing any tricks midway, Hu Sixi had been standing beside me the entire time I was performing the divination. The other two Daoists were also present, so they all saw the image in the iron bowl clearly.
“Mountain Sprite Ghost King.”