While the Mysterious Old Man was telling Jiang Qiao about the secrets of the supernatural.
Thousands of miles away, in Southern Xinjiang.
A strange upheaval was also taking shape.
The Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Along a desolate mountain trail, a middle-aged man was slowly pushing a small cart forward.
A huge vase sat on the cart.
It looked somewhat old, and the patterns on it were very different from those of the Central Plains. They instead resembled the runes on the masks worn by the local Temple Keeper during sacrifices at the Mountain God Temple.
His name was Zhang Qiang.
He was preparing to deliver the vase into a cave somewhere in the mountains.
The world was in turmoil.
Every region outside Southern Xinjiang had been invaded by Vicious Ghosts, making it difficult for the living to travel.
Yet, around the Hundred Thousand Mountains, they had miraculously avoided supernatural disturbances and could still live and work in peace.
The elderly villagers said this was because of the Mountain God's protection. No ghosts or monsters dared run wild in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Not only Vicious Ghosts.
Even living people who cooperated with monsters.
Anyone who dared cause trouble here would still be punished and pay with their life.
And they would die horribly.
At first.
Everyone was still somewhat skeptical.
Until two years ago.
A group of outsiders carrying an ominous aura came here to seek refuge. Relying on their strange and inexplicable abilities, they tried to throw their weight around and enslave the locals.
Naturally, some people refused to submit.
But as long as anyone resisted, all the men in their families would be seized and skinned alive in front of everyone.
As for the women...
Those beasts would force the surrounding villagers to take turns abusing them.
Meanwhile, they