Ancient Stele

I started the car and drove towards Liancheng Mountain.

The road wasn't in the direction of the city's development, and it was quite desolate. The road to Liancheng Mountain was not easy to navigate and felt eerie, a bit frightening.

Fearing that I wouldn't be able to defend myself against any spirits that might appear on the road, I released the little fierce ghost. The little fierce ghost was very excited when she came out of the soul urn. Seeing that no one else was around, she started looking around curiously.

She touched this, touched that, and didn't stay still for a moment. I worried that her yin energy might cause some part of the car to malfunction, potentially leading to us falling into the river. So, I stopped her from running around.

She was a little unhappy, but soon, like a half-grown child, she climbed onto my shoulder again. Although she looked about seven or eight years old, her figure was very slender, and she didn't seem heavy. In fact, she had no weight at all.

"What's your name?" I asked, feeling a bit bored while driving. I couldn't understand ghost language, but she could understand what I said. Plus, after our recent interactions, we had become much closer, so it was necessary for me to know her name.

Besides, I didn't want to be like characters in some cartoons, shouting, "Come out, Pokémon!" That would be embarrassing and lower my standing.

She looked around, her gaze settling on the mineral water next to me. Then, the characters "cherish you" appeared on the storage shelf in front of the passenger seat, written with the mineral water.

"You're Xijun? That's a very classic and nice name. Can I call you Xijun from now on?" I said.

Her reply was a nod, clearly happy that I liked it.

Although this stretch of road wasn't long, there were quite a few spirits on it, all coming for me. I could imagine how heavy my yin energy must be.

Now I understood why Xijun always liked to hug me. Even though she didn't possess my body, she was particularly fond of my yin energy.

As I was driving, suddenly there was a "thump-thump" sound at the car window. I frowned and looked towards the passenger seat. But when I saw it, I almost peed myself from fright!

A green-faced old woman with milky white eyes was running and knocking on my car window!

"Young man, you hit me..." As I looked at her, those words echoed in my mind. Of course, if I were an ordinary person, seeing this situation would probably make me slam on the brakes immediately, swerve to the side of the road, and end my life.

But since I had seen such things before, I just stepped on the gas and fled as fast as I could.

"Old woman, don't blame me for not warning you. If you keep following me, you'll be finished," I muttered, focusing on the road.

But the old woman didn't seem to understand what I was saying and kept chasing me.

Most fierce ghosts lack thought and act on instinct, pouncing on food like a moth to a flame. Those like Xijun, who can understand human speech and possess some level of thought, are on another level. They generally devour other fierce ghosts to increase their strength.

The old woman was still lunging at me when Xijun reached out, grabbed the ghost's hair, and bit off half of her head.

I thought Xijun's taste was a bit heavy sometimes. Why did she eat everything, and without much grace? Usually, even though she wasn't demure, she seemed like a curious little princess. Why was she so unconcerned about her image when eating?

She devoured the fierce ghost old woman in no time. Xijun giggled like a child, which gave me goosebumps. I said, "Just wipe your mouth after you're done, don't laugh so terrifyingly, okay?"

That ghost old woman was quite formidable. She was probably quite old, or she wouldn't have tried to snatch food from Xijun's mouth.

I parked the car at the Liancheng Mountain shooting range. There wasn't a soul around. The nearest thing was a ticket booth for a mountain climbing attraction. Everything was dark.

Nature called, so I got out of the car and quickly found a quiet place to take care of personal business.

Xijun, the curious little princess, was sitting on my shoulder and had no intention of coming down, always wanting to look down.

I couldn't pee, so I said, "Xijun, you should stand further behind me. I'm peeing, and you're still young, you can't watch."

Xijun pouted and climbed down, standing behind me.

The thought of a fierce ghost little girl standing behind me made my urge to pee disappear. I asked her to stand next to me, facing away.

Xijun agreed, which made me relax a bit. But as soon as I took it out, she turned her head.

I expected this and immediately turned around, almost spilling urine on my shoes.

Xijun was about to fly over triumphantly, but a cold wind suddenly blew from behind me, scaring her away as far as she could run, not daring to act up again.

"Heh heh, Sister Wife still has the best plan," I thought, and peed with peace of mind. But then I snapped back to reality. If Sister Wife had been by my side all these years, wouldn't she have seen me urinate and defecate? And when I watched Japanese adult films...

Thinking about this, my old face turned red, and I almost fell headfirst into the urinal. A miscalculation! I should have asked Grandma back then how to subdue the Ninth Princess.

But later, I felt these worries were unnecessary. In my memory, Sister Wife always kept her eyes closed. And with her tsundere personality, she would never do such dirty things. She wouldn't allow others to do what she wouldn't do herself. And whenever I watched Japanese adult films, I would inexplicably feel a chill all over my body; I couldn't get aroused at all.

Sighing with relief, I pulled up my pants and walked towards the shooting range. The open, field-like area in front of me had many white shadows, and near the foot of the mountain, many eerie figures were walking around.

My arrival seemed to make these fierce ghosts smell delicious food, and they all looked at me. However, because Xijun was on my shoulder, they didn't make any further moves.

With Xijun holding the fort, my courage grew, and I walked towards the area with the heaviest yin energy. I discovered that while there were many fierce spirits at the shooting range, the place with the most intense yin energy wasn't there but near the foot of the mountain, towards an ancient bridge leading to Paotai Mountain.

Perhaps I hadn't seen the details of this place clearly when looking down from the mountaintop. I remembered Zhao He telling me this was Xunyang Mountain. Before the Sino-French War, there was a village with about ten households here. But then, for some reason, the village disappeared, and the ancient bridge lost its purpose and fell into disrepair.

I walked to the side of the ancient bridge and looked under it by the moonlight. There was no water flowing anymore. The dry riverbed was full of pitted rocks, strangely shaped and chilling.

In the distance, I saw a small desolate graveyard with several very old tombstones. I was very interested and planned to cross the bridge to take a look.

But the moment I stepped onto the bridge, Sister Wife tugged at my clothes. It seemed there was danger ahead, and I immediately stopped.

After all, Xijun was still on my shoulder. If Sister Wife could tug at my clothes, it meant there was something ahead that I couldn't handle.

I frowned but decided to move forward. After all, Sister Wife's tug wasn't very forceful, indicating danger, but not fatal.

I admit I'm not very brave, but every time I think of Grandma in Yinfeng Town, I can't help but feel uneasy. If I don't take risks, I'll never break the Blood Cloud Coffin.

The Ghost Raising Dao passed down by my Grandma was completely different from others. Others' methods were about controlling ghosts to harm people, while Grandma's Ghost Raising Dao was about using one tiger to devour another, which was entirely different.

Moreover, Xijun was different from other fierce ghosts; she had intelligence. I found that after letting her eat several fierce ghosts, she became smarter. If she ate more, she might even develop more unusual abilities. So, I didn't mind letting her eat more.

Besides, most fierce ghosts have lost their minds and spiritual intelligence and missed the cycle of reincarnation. Keeping them around only causes harm. My actions could be considered a form of saving people.

I pushed aside weeds taller than my head and arrived at the abandoned graveyard. I stood before one of the ancient tombstones. I saw the inscription stated it was from the Daoguang era, meaning it had a history of over two hundred years. The entire tombstone was made of stone, quite sturdy, and the tomb's occupant must have been from a wealthy family with high status.

The weeds were very tall, which was why I couldn't see clearly from the mountaintop. Coupled with the darkness, it made it even harder to see my surroundings now. However, guided by the strong yin energy, I walked towards another ancient tomb.

Sister Wife suddenly tugged on my clothes. I stopped in my tracks and came to my senses. Many white phantoms were swaying nearby, seemingly staring at me with predatory intent.

Xijun jumped down from my shoulder and stood in front of me, her mouth split into a grin that reached her ears as she stared fixedly at the tombstone, naturally obscured by weeds.

The ancient, dilapidated stele was bleak and desolate, but the intense Yin energy sent a chill down my spine, making me shiver uncontrollably.

A few meters in front of the ancient stele, right by my feet, was a tomb-robbing hole that had been dug by human hands. A gust of Yin wind blew out from it, carrying a strong, fishy stench.

My body trembled involuntarily. In the moonlight, I saw piles of soft soil next to the hole, indicating it had been recently dug. It probably hadn't been too long ago. Coupled with the smell of rotten fish, I suspected the person who dug it had already met their end in the underworld. A murder had definitely occurred here recently!

Furthermore, there were other strange, uneven pits and hollows near the hole. It seemed many had attempted to rob graves here over the years, but none had succeeded. All of them had encountered problems, big or small, making the tombs here appear incredibly menacing.

I took a step back, pulled out a prepared bundle of incense from my pocket, lit it, bowed forward, and said, "I'm just passing through and mean no offense. Please accept this incense as an apology. I've lost my way and will leave now, offering all my wealth for peace."

After speaking, I stuck the incense into the ground, scattered the ghost money I had in my arms, and fled back the way I came without looking back.

Behind me, sharp, eerie sounds echoed. I didn't dare to look back. Xijun stayed close behind me, but I still couldn't stop trembling and nearly fell to my death on the way.

Back in the car, I gasped for air. Although I didn't know what kind of ghostly entity was hidden ahead, it was definitely not something Xijun could handle.

Of course, that entity probably also feared Xijun and didn't dare to attack me directly. My burning incense and scattered money were a sign of weakness, indicating that we should not interfere with each other.

This trip was just for reconnaissance. Naturally, I wouldn't give up just like that. I still had to confront that ghostly entity, but it seemed that would have to wait until Xijun's strength improved.

I drove back to Longyuan Residential Area. It was already 2:30 AM. The lights in my house were still on, which made my brow furrow.