Meng Dongge

There was a certain art to patrolling the mountains and guarding the path.

The locations where the disciples were stationed were not assigned at random. They had all been arranged around key points along the trade routes leading into Ghost Ridge Palace from the outside world.

The main purpose of this arrangement was to protect the trade routes.

Ghost Ridge Palace lay deep in the mountains, and most of its resources had to be brought in from the outside world.

Once the outside supply was cut off, the Black Market would cease to operate, and Ghost Ridge Palace would find itself in an extremely difficult position.

The disciples sent out to patrol the mountains and guard the routes had cultivation no lower than the second layer of the Spirit Nurturing Realm, and their legs were far stronger than those of ordinary people.

Even while traveling through lofty mountains and deep valleys, they did not move slowly.

As time passed, disciples continually reached their stations and left the procession, and the long, dragon-like line grew shorter and shorter.

They had set out in the morning, and by sunset, fewer than ten teams remained.

"That's Niujiao Ridge."

Su Jie passed through a narrow gorge riddled with ravines, and two small mountains, standing like opposing horns, appeared in his field of vision.

"We finally made it."

Panting heavily and drenched in sweat, Sun Zhihai braced his hands on his knees before dropping onto the ground. The journey had nearly exhausted his frail body.

"Black mountains and white waters, twin peaks like horns, a Baleful Intent piercing the heart. A perilous place, a perilous place indeed!"

As he gazed at the terrain around Niujiao Ridge, Gu Weinan rubbed a string of prayer beads in his left hand and muttered under his breath.

Su Jie looked over curiously. "Brother Gu, you understand feng shui?"

Gu Weinan gave a self-mocking smile. "I know a little of the basics. I couldn't improve my cultivation realm, so I could only learn more odds and ends."

Su Jie's group and Chen Yun's group, six people in all, headed toward Niujiao Ridge. As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw wooden cabins built among the trees at intervals of several hundred meters. However, people were already stationed here.

Six disciples were waiting there, watching Su Jie and the others approach with considerable warmth.

The leader of this group was an elegant, scholarly-looking middle-aged man. The moment he saw them, he happily stepped forward and said, "You're from Old Daoist Qiu's branch, aren't you? We received a letter from the Command Hall two days ago. We've been waiting for you. My name is Meng Dongge. I arrived twelve days before you and belong to Elder Zhong's faction."

"Meng Dongge is at the fifth layer of the Spirit Nurturing Realm. I heard he offended an inner disciple. It looks like that rumor is true. Otherwise, with his strength, why would he have been exiled to this place?"

Gu Weinan spoke softly to Su Jie. He had lived in Ghost Ridge Palace for many years and could uncover plenty of obscure gossip.

"Fellow Daoist Meng, we were ordered to come here and take up residence."

Su Jie produced his token and spoke in a rather formal tone.

"Brother Meng, it's nice to meet you. We've just arrived, so sorry for the trouble."

Chen Yun was quite courteous as she spoke, representing her Household.

Meng Dongge's eyes flickered. He seemed to notice that Chen Yun was the strongest among the six, and his tone grew especially warm.

"Of course, of course. I'll take you to your station first. Having more people around makes things feel much safer. You have no idea—I haven't had a good night's sleep once in the half month since I came here."

"Thank you."

"Come on, let's head over together."

The group made their way to the temporary station. Before long, Su Jie and Chen Yun's groups were each assigned an adjacent wooden cabin on the mountain peak to the left of Niujiao Ridge. They were roughly two kilometers away from the peak on the right, where Meng Dongge and the others were stationed.

Meng Dongge distributed some daily necessities among them and reminded them of several points they needed to watch out for before turning and leaving.

"He really is a good person! Much more pleasing to the eye than that fellow Chen Koudang from earlier."

Watching Meng Dongge leave, Sun Zhihai sighed. Among the cold and heartless disciples of Ghost Ridge Palace, someone this sincere was a rare sight.

Gu Weinan nodded. "When Meng Dongge said he hoped our arrival would help share the burden and allow them to resist the threat of Strange Ghosts together, that was only human nature. He seems like a rather sincere person."

"Right?"

Seeing that someone agreed with him, Sun Zhihai turned his gaze to Su Jie. "Brother Su, what do you think?"

"Rather than discussing that, we should clean the cabin first."

Hearing Sun Zhihai, Su Jie did not say much more.

In any case, he felt that finding a genuinely good person in a demonic cultivation sect like Ghost Ridge Palace was no ordinary challenge.

As they talked, Su Jie stepped forward and pushed open the three-story wooden cabin in front of him.

Cabins like this had not been built temporarily. They had been there for a long time.

Normally, when disciples went out, they would sometimes stop here for a temporary rest. The cabins contained dried rations and simple beds.

But such occasions were relatively rare. Since the cabins were only used for brief rests, nobody cleaned them, and they were generally filthy and disorderly.

Creak!

The thick wooden door opened with a teeth-grating groan, and Su Jie entered first.

Contrary to what he had imagined, the cabin was not filthy or disorderly. Instead, it had been arranged very neatly.

Su Jie lightly wiped a finger across the tabletop and rubbed his fingertips together. There was no dust buildup.

He raised his head. There were no cobwebs on the ceiling, either.

It seemed that someone had lived here and cleaned it not long ago.

Su Jie looked at Gu Weinan and Sun Zhihai, who had entered behind him. "Someone should have been stationed in this cabin before we arrived. Did anything mention whether disciples besides Meng Dongge's group had been stationed at Niujiao Ridge?"

Gu Weinan froze. "How would I know? The records of disciple assignments can only be checked at the Command Hall. But if you're not an inner disciple, no one there will even bother with you."

"Perhaps some disciples cleaned it when they were temporarily stationed here. That saves us the trouble."

Sun Zhihai put down his bundle, pushed open all the doors and windows, and then began choosing a room for himself.

"Brother Su, what are you thinking about?"

Seeing Su Jie's slightly furrowed brow, Gu Weinan was puzzled.

"Meng Dongge only said that he was afraid of the threat from Strange Ghosts. But I remember they never encountered any Strange Ghosts, did they?"

"No. I don't think he ever said that. Is something wrong?"

"Did you notice? Meng Dongge's two teams were completely intact—six people, not one more or one less. If a team had been stationed in this cabin before we arrived and something happened to them after they encountered Strange Ghosts, yet Meng Dongge and the others remained safe and sound, with all their members accounted for, wouldn't you find that suspicious?"

Su Jie voiced some of his suspicions. After all, they were now all in the same trench. This was no time for riddles. Every additional fighter meant another layer of protection.

Gu Weinan was an old fox. With Su Jie's reminder, he immediately became alert as well and could not help saying, "Are you saying we've fallen into a trap?"

"I'm not certain, but it's possible. After all, Meng Dongge was the one who chose this cabin for us."

The crease between Su Jie's brows relaxed, and he continued, "I'm going to look for another station. Whether or not it's a trap, it's better to be cautious."

As the saying went, a gentleman did not stand beneath a dangerous wall. Su Jie did not want to take risks, especially risks that concerned his life.

"Right, right. We should change places."

To have survived to such an advanced age in a brutal sect like Ghost Ridge Palace, Gu Weinan might not have had much talent, but in nicer words, he believed that caution could keep a ship afloat for ten thousand years. Put less kindly, he was simply greedy for life and afraid of death.

After hearing Su Jie's words, Gu Weinan, now suspicious as well, wisely decided to follow him.

At that moment, Sun Zhihai came down from upstairs after choosing a room and asked strangely, "Hey, aren't you two going to choose rooms? I'm taking the room on the left side of the second floor. Pick another one."

"Brother Sun, we plan to change stations."

As soon as Gu Weinan saw him, he told him Su Jie's suspicions.

"Huh? Couldn't you be overthinking it?"

Sun Zhihai was reluctant. They would have to clean another cabin if they went elsewhere.

"I'm leaving regardless."

Su Jie glanced at him, picked up the bundle on the ground, and turned to leave.

"Brother Sun, you'd better come with us."

Gu Weinan kindly reminded him, then picked up his bundle and hurried after Su Jie.

"Hey, wait for me! I'm coming too! Don't leave me behind!"

Although he was somewhat unwilling, Sun Zhihai was even more afraid of being left alone.

Seeing the two of them move away, he hurried back to pack up his bundle before catching up with Su Jie and Gu Weinan.

There were several similar wooden cabins around Niujiao Ridge. Su Jie did not go very far, stopping after finding one roughly seven or eight hundred meters away.

"This one. Let's clean it first."

Su Jie pushed open the wooden cabin he had chosen. The moment he entered, a musty smell hit him. The tabletop and floor were covered in a thick layer of dust, making it obvious that no one had lived there for a long time.

"Brother Su, about Chen Yun's group... I was wondering whether we should go over and warn them..."

Gu Weinan hesitated before speaking haltingly.

"I'm not that petty. But the others might not believe us or be willing to move."

Su Jie neither agreed nor disagreed. In this day and age, being a good person was no easy task.

Gu Weinan patted his chest. "Don't worry. I'll go tell them."

"Then hurry back."

Su Jie glanced at the sky. The sun was already sinking gradually beyond the mountain peaks.

Although Strange Ghosts now appeared day and night, nighttime was still when they were most active. Going out alone at night was simply too dangerous.

"Fine, I'll go now."

Gu Weinan immediately set off. After all, it was not far away.

Su Jie and Sun Zhihai began cleaning the cabin as well. They did not do anything too meticulous, merely sweeping away the dust that had accumulated in the rooms they intended to occupy.

Afterward, Su Jie set up several simple bell traps. They might not be useful against Strange Ghosts.

Strange Ghosts were not beasts. Their intelligence was extremely high, and they knew how to avoid ordinary traps.

The true means of keeping watch was the dozen or so dragonflies Su Jie released. The panoramic vision of these tiny insects made reconnaissance and vigilance far more convenient.

Besides the dragonflies, Su Jie also released several small moths. Dragonflies had poor vision at night, while moths, being nocturnal insects, could make up for that shortcoming.