Mass Grave

The old Taoist stopped what he was doing the moment everyone arrived.

"Come over here, all of you."

"Release a little blood each. I'm going to set up an altar and perform a ritual."

"Only your virile blood, brimming with vitality, will have the best effect against the supernatural!"

The eight of them had no choice but to keep quiet.

Qin Bo, however, wore a strange expression. He had already lost too much blood last night, and now he had to bleed again.

Still, he could hardly refuse. This was to help find Li Dong, after all.

He picked up a knife and cut open a slit. Before long, the others had filled a bowl to the brim with blood.

The old Taoist took the blood and went to his ritual altar.

Two straw figures sat on the altar, with Li Dong's and his wife's birth details written on them.

The old Taoist muttered a garbled string of nonsense, then reached into the blood and dabbed some onto the straw figures' faces.

The moment the blood touched their faces, the originally rigid straw figures began to twitch eerily.

Their mouths stretched open at exaggerated angles, as if silently baring their teeth in a vicious grin.

"Hmm?!"

"How did the virile blood work so well this time?"

The old Taoist glanced at the group, lingering on Qin Bo for a while, but he could not figure out why.

Suddenly, the veins on his forehead bulged. He snatched up the peachwood sword and plunged it viciously into the straw figure's chest.

Blood seeped from the tip and wound along the wood grain, staining the blade with eerie runes.

"By the command of the Thunder Emperor!"

"Manifest!"

With a thunderous shout, several feet of green flame suddenly surged from the entire altar and swallowed both straw figures.

Shrill screams came from within the flames. The voices sounded like the wails of Li Dong and his wife, mingled with a child's piercing cries.

Qin Bo felt a chill creep up the back of his neck.

He looked up and saw the beams of the mourning hall covered in densely packed bloody handprints. Foul, sticky fluid dripped down from them along the rafters.

The bloody handprints slowly extended from inside the room, stretching all the way out through the doorway.

"Ghost Infant Resentful Spirit!"

The old Taoist recognized the source of the bloody handprints at a glance.

"They've been bewitched by a resentful spirit. The handprints have already spread out and headed toward the back mountain!"

As he spoke, the old Taoist spun around, grabbed the bronze bell from the offering table, and shook it hard. Its crisp chimes exploded through the mourning hall.

"Come with me to save them. If we're too late, their lives may be in danger."

Before the bell's echoes had faded, the old Taoist had already sprinted out the door. Qin Bo and the other seven followed close behind.

The old Taoist remained on high alert the entire way, watching the bloody prints that continued to stretch ahead.

Gradually, the trail led toward the back mountain of Li Family Village.

Seeing this, the old Taoist asked,

"Young man! Do you know where this road leads?"

"Tao... Taoist Master, no one usually travels this road."

"After going two li, it reaches a mountain hollow. That place is... is..."

It was still Li Ergou who stammered out the answer.

"What is it?"

"It's a Mass Grave. A famine broke out a few years ago, and many people died. No one could be bothered to bury them, so they were thrown into the hollow behind the mountain."

At this, the old Taoist's expression instantly turned grave.

He took a copper-coin sword from the cloth bag he carried. The cinnabar cord tied around the blade trembled faintly.

"I see. No wonder there's a trace of Baleful Intent mixed into the smell of blood."

As he spoke, he handed several yellow talismans to the group.

"Keep the talismans close to your bodies. If you see anything unclean later, whatever you do, don't run around blindly."

The group continued along the bloody trail. At some point, the sky darkened. Thick black clouds blotted out the moonlight, and the surroundings grew increasingly sinister.

Li Ergou kept feeling as though there were rustling footsteps behind him.

Yet every time he turned around, he saw nothing besides the tense faces of his companions.

"Brother Bo, did you hear something?"

Li Ergou could not help asking Qin Bo in a low voice.

"No. What did you hear?"

"Heh-heh, I didn't hear anything either. Maybe I'm just too nervous."

Qin Bo, meanwhile, kept his eyes on the old Taoist the entire way.

Since this old Taoist dared to go save people alone, he probably had some cultivation, right?

The sky had originally been bright, but the moment they entered the mountains,

the mountain mist had already grown as thick as ink.

The old Taoist's expression was solemn as he stopped in his tracks.

"Stop!"

The others halted at once.

The old Taoist pulled a copper coin from his waist and gently pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.

The coin spun rapidly in his palm, giving off a faint, fragmented hum.

A moment later, the coin clattered to the ground. The divination showed three yin lines clamping down on one yang, like the gap of the Ghost Gate Pass leading to the underworld.

He stared at the patterns on the coin and swallowed.

"There's a soul in the mist, and Baleful Intent hides in the wind. This road... can't be taken."

"Taoist Master! What happened?"

Seeing him muttering to himself, Qin Bo could not help stepping forward to ask.

The Taoist Master's finger swept through the air above the divination. Pale blue mist curled from his fingertip. "Three yin lines lock away the yang. The yang energy is about to run out.

"When we first entered this valley, the sun was already blocked by thick clouds.

"Now even the wind carries a bloody stench. This isn't natural mist. It's yin souls borrowing the moisture in the air to take form."

"What does that mean?"

Qin Bo did not understand what he was saying.

"In other words, we've reached a gathering place of yin souls!"

The Taoist Master looked sternly at the hazy gray expanse ahead.

"Then what should we do now, Taoist Master?"

"This old man's cultivation is insufficient. I'm afraid I can't protect you. You should go back."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. Go back!"

With that, the old Taoist plunged into the thick mist without looking back.

Little did he know that he had failed to notice Qin Bo's expression.

It was one of extreme delight.

A resentful spirit! Speak of the devil, and he appears!

Just what I need to replenish my lifespan...

No, I'm here to save people. Li Dong once helped me. I'm not an ungrateful wretch!

"Brother Bo, let's go. We might lose our lives if we stay!"

Li Ergou's words jolted Qin Bo awake from his secret delight.

Only then did he realize that the old Taoist had disappeared.

"Oh... all right. Let's go out."

Qin Bo nodded and gestured for everyone to hurry out.

The others quickly turned around and left, without caring whether the old Taoist was alive or dead.

Li Ergou turned around and sighed.

"Sigh, Brother Bo, what kind of sin has the Li family committed? Uncle Li had only just left, and then something happened to Brother Dong and his wife. Could they really have encountered that supernatural thing?"

When no one answered him, he turned around and discovered that Qin Bo was no longer behind him.

"Brother Bo?!"

"Hmm? Brother Bo? Oh no!"

"Run! Brother Bo is gone! There's a ghost!!"

Li Ergou's expression changed drastically. Fear instantly surged over him like a tide and drowned him.

He frantically ran toward the village, shouting as he went.

The others heard Li Ergou's cries, and their hearts tightened. Their footsteps grew increasingly frantic.

How could they still care about Qin Bo? All they wanted was to escape this terrifying place as quickly as possible.

As for Qin Bo, the moment everyone turned around and left, he had already stepped into the thick mist.