The Night Roadblock

The villagers were middle-aged, dark-skinned, short, and thin, the typical image of farmers in these times. Whether they found summer too hot or were simply too poor, their coarse clothes barely covered them.

Senior Brother welcomed them out with courteous warmth.

"Honored guests, this is my Third Junior Brother, who knows a few spells. These are my Junior Brother and Junior Sister. They have not studied the Dao for long, but they are highly talented. Since these are merely some lingering Yin Qi and souls, it should be no great trouble. I'll have these three accompany you, honored guests, and hope they can ease your village's troubles."

"Many thanks, many thanks."

The villagers thanked them repeatedly, then looked toward Lin Jue and the other two.

Third Senior Brother had always enjoyed drinking, and carried himself with a carefree air, as if life were all for pleasure. But now, facing them, he was solemn too. He bowed and said, "I am Li Miaolin. Since you've come to us, I'll do everything I can to help."

"It's a bit far..."

The villagers lowered their heads. Their words held both the humility of people facing an expert and the worry that the expert might refuse to go because of the distance, making for an awkward display.

"The harvest's been poor this year, and the village has nothing to spare. We couldn't hire a cart for the True Person, so we'll have to walk. We might not get there until tomorrow night or the morning after."

"Then we'll take the chance to enjoy the mountain scenery."

Third Senior Brother replied, looking sleepy but serious. "Give us a moment to pack, and we'll be on our way."

"Of course, of course..."

The villagers nodded repeatedly, too deferential to say much. They guessed the Daoists needed to bring some Magic Artifacts for dealing with monsters.

But Third Senior Brother merely washed his face and took a wine gourd and a few wild mountain fruits. Lin Jue went back to his room and looked around, wondering what to bring, but found there was almost nothing worth taking. In the end, he picked up a Firewood Knife and a whistle stick from beside the wall. They could clear a path and chop wood, and also serve as walking sticks—truly handy tools.

"Are you coming with me?"

At last, Lin Jue looked toward the fox in the room.

At his words, the little fox only tilted its head and stared at him, its eyes bright, as if it couldn't understand human speech.

"Then let's go."

The little fox immediately trotted over to him.

Looking at the fox, which had grown larger and more beautiful, Lin Jue fell into thought. "I ought to give you a name, but I don't know what to call you...

"The ancients had a saying about naming beasts after their cries. You're always going 'yingying,' 'en-en,' and 'wuwu.' Hmm, no, let's not do that.

"Another way is to name them after where they came from. You came down from the mountain, so how about...

"Tsk...

"Right! When I first saw you, the wind swept across the mountain, as if you'd come riding on it. Fuyao is another name for the wind. How about I call you Fuyao for now? If your parents come looking for you one day, you can always change it back."

Fuyao meant to soar; he had come from Floating Hill Peak, and "floating" sounded like "soaring." Besides, the fox was a fox...

Lin Jue thought it was a great name, killing three birds with one stone.

"Your name is Fuyao!"

By then, he had already reached the outer courtyard.

Behind him, the fox stared blankly up at him.

The group set off down the mountain.

"I don't know what strange curse has fallen on us these past few years. Could we have offended some god in the heavens? The village only ever had one little stream flowing into it. During the busy farming season, it was just enough for everyone. A few years ago, we had a great flood that ruined a lot of fields. We went hungry that day, but we thought the little stream might become a big one, and the village might never lack water again. Who knew it wouldn't happen? The stream dried up, and we couldn't even dig water out of the wells. Without water, the crops wouldn't grow, and every year the harvest got worse."

As they walked down the mountain, the villager at the front spoke.

At first, they had been uneasy because the Daoists were so young. Two of them looked barely more than teenagers. But then they noticed the fox following behind them. In these times, foxes were the subject of all kinds of rumors, from the countryside to the cities and even among the court. Daoists traveling with a fox seemed extraordinary at a glance, and that calmed them somewhat.

"We can't get enough to eat, and we can't afford a doctor. The old folk in the village have been dying off one by one, and some of the young haven't made it either. There are fewer and fewer people, but more and more graves.

"Since the start of spring this year, black Qi has risen from the two graveyards at either end of the village every evening. At night, shadows wander around inside them. Some people recognized them as villagers who had died. At first, we were scared, but we just stopped passing by after dark. They were our own villagers, after all. What difference did it make whether they were alive or dead? We never thought they'd do anything to us.

"But after two months, the shadows started drawing closer to the village. Some even came into it. People have seen ghosts in their own homes. Some fell ill because of it, and some were even killed. They say those people died of sickness or hunger, and had suffered before they died. They couldn't let go after death, or they were terribly lonely and wanted to drag others down to keep them company."

As he spoke, the villager couldn't help glancing at the Daoists behind him.

Lin Jue and Junior Sister both looked at Third Senior Brother.

"Why are you looking at me? Our master told me to go down the mountain with you. He didn't say so outright, but I know he wants me to watch over you. He was going to send only you at first. Just handle things as you see fit. I can't be bothered to get involved."

Junior Sister then looked at Lin Jue.

Lin Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Have any villagers heard those ghosts speak?"

"Almost none. Even when someone says they have, they'll say one moment that they heard something and the next that they didn't. I reckon they were scared witless, or they were just babbling."

"Have you asked anyone else for help?"

"How could a village like ours afford that? At most, there's the village head's eldest son. He went up the mountain to learn Martial Arts when he was young, so he's got some skill. He's brave, too. Last month, he came back and saw a ghostly shadow in the village. He drew his sword and slashed at it, and somehow scattered it. Then he called over a few young men and charged into the graveyard, hacking away. They scattered all the shadows."

"And then?"

"It didn't do any good. They came back the next day. The old folk in the village say ghosts fear a bold spirit. Those men had strong vitality, and their slash really did disrupt the Ghost Qi, but it gathered again the next day. Then someone told us there was a Floating Hill Temple on Mount Yi, where the True Persons were highly skilled and kindhearted. So we asked around all the way here, hoping to invite the True Persons to help."

By then, Lin Jue had more or less understood.

He had been on the mountain for over a month, and had learned quite a bit about Spirits and Monsters and ghosts.

What the village had were probably not real ghosts, but lingering souls.

Lingering souls were weak, like candles flickering in the wind.

Martial artists were bold and full of vitality. Of course they could scatter lingering souls with a slash. But while martial artists might be able to deal with monsters, they were always helpless against Yin spirits and wild ghosts. The main problem was that blades couldn't hit them.

Before long, they had reached the foot of the mountain again.

Heat shimmered in the distance, as if someone had set a fire.

But Lin Jue knew it was the Hot Spring.

Thinking of the Hot Spring below the mountain, he also remembered the voice that had emerged from the woods to speak with them.

Only later had Lin Jue learned that many Spirits and Monsters on Mount Yi had cultivated for years. Under the Mountain God's restraint, they had never dared to cause trouble. Most simply cultivated or lived quietly in the mountains, and many found it terribly dull. They didn't dare strike up conversations with woodcutters who came up the mountain, afraid of frightening them, feeling guilty about it, or fearing punishment from the Mountain God. When they met Daoists, they knew they weren't ordinary people, and the more talkative ones liked to chat with them.

That one was probably the same.

Just as he thought of it, a voice came from the woods again.

"You two again?"

It was the same voice, clearly not human.

The villager at the front, who had been trudging along with his head down, jumped in fright.

Fortunately, with the Daoists beside them, they only exchanged glances instead of fleeing in panic.

"Who's speaking?"

Someone couldn't help asking in a whisper.

"Senior, what a coincidence."

Lin Jue merely cupped his hands toward where the voice had come from.

"I changed places today and still ran into you. Could it be that we really are fated to meet?" the voice said.

"Where are you, senior?"

"Why do you need to know where I am?"

"..."

"Since we've met, I'll give you a warning. From what I've heard, you're going down the mountain to deal with a monster. Ancient books record that places where streams have dried up, many graves have gathered, and foxes and insects have congregated are places where Death Qi lies hidden. The place you spoke of is probably one of them. If so, it will be very similar to Yin Qi and Ghost Qi, but different in some ways. You'd best be careful."

"Thank you, senior." Lin Jue wasn't afraid; he simply replied, "May I ask your honorable name?"

But no more sound came from the other side.

They waited a little, but no one spoke either.

"..."

Lin Jue had no choice but to give a slight bow, thanking the stranger for the warning.

Then they continued down the mountain.

He gradually understood why the villagers who had come to ask for help were middle-aged men. The journey was long. If they had been young, they might not have had enough experience to find the way. If they had been old, they would have been too frail to walk so far. These middle-aged villagers were probably the ones the village had chosen for their strength and their reputation for having a bit of "ability." That was how they had managed to make the journey and ask around.

And, just as they'd said, the trip took two days.

On the evening of their second day down the mountain—

They were still more than ten li from the village when the sky began to darken. There was a path that bypassed the two graveyards at either end of the village, and the villagers were in their prime, but they were still uneasy, glancing back at Lin Jue again and again.

"Come on. Don't be afraid."

They had come to drive off the Yin Qi and lingering souls, so sooner or later they were bound to encounter them. There was no need to pick another time and waste a whole day; that might only sap their courage.

They might as well keep going. If they ran into the things, all the better.

By then, Lin Jue had started studying Fire Element Magic with Second Senior Brother. Though he hadn't mastered it yet, he had raised his Fire-Repelling Technique from "intermediate" to "advanced." Now, when he spat fire, he no longer needed to draw Fire Qi from the flames and store it in his body. His body generated Fire Qi on its own, which was not only much more convenient but also meant he wouldn't run out after just a few breaths of fire.

With this skill, if he encountered that dog demon from the road again, even if it refused to submit, Lin Jue would have far more confidence in fighting it and winning.

He had also begun practicing the Yin Yang Spiritual Law. The Spiritual Resonance in his body had separated into Yin and Yang, naturally giving him strong resistance to the Yin Qi and harmful methods of ghosts. And the Yang Qi in his body countered Yin Qi and ghosts.

Naturally, he felt much more at ease.

As for what the mountain Spirit had said, it might be Death Qi. But Death Qi wasn't much different from Yin Qi or Ghost Qi, and Third Senior Brother was with them too. There was truly nothing to fear.

As they went on, night fell completely.

A waxing crescent moon hung at the edge of the sky.

The moon gave light, and light let them see the road. Still, the villagers couldn't see clearly and were afraid, so they lit two torches and carried them at the front and rear of the group.

The firelight illuminated the country lane.

Pines and cypresses grew along the roadside, their branches and leaves forming patches of darkness that neither moonlight nor torchlight could penetrate. Clumps of grass and trees often looked like people at a glance, and there were plenty of graves too. It was hard not to feel uneasy.

Lin Jue couldn't help looking toward Junior Sister beside him.

Though the girl had begun cultivating, she had only just drawn Spiritual Resonance into her body. She didn't know a single spell; even expelling the Yin and Yang Qi within her had been something the senior brothers had only taught her after dinner the previous night. Naturally, she was a little afraid now. But her fear didn't show. She wore a stern expression, kept her eyes fixed on the road, and walked without looking away.

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded.

"Ying-wu?"

In the night, where the only sounds were footsteps and the crackle of the torches, the voice rang out with startling clarity.

But it didn't come from the roadside, from the surroundings, or from anywhere else nearby. It came from among them.

It was the little fox walking in front of Lin Jue.

Even Lin Jue was a little surprised.

The fox was so well-behaved that, apart from the first few days when it couldn't find him, it never made a sound. Later, perhaps because it could always find Lin Jue wherever he was, or perhaps because it had grown more confident and was no longer so small and helpless, it had hardly made a sound at all.

Now it had not only called out, but had stopped and tilted its head toward the road ahead.

The villager carrying the torch in front kept walking for a few more steps.

Those few steps pushed the torchlight forward, revealing a Big Tree that had suddenly appeared in the road.

"This..."

The villager stopped hurriedly, his face full of fear.

The reason was simple: the Big Tree was growing right in the road.

How wide could a country lane be? It was only wide enough for one person to walk along. If two people met, they would have to turn sideways to get past each other. But this tree was as thick as a person and had grown right in the middle of the road. How could that be?

Who would build a road like this?

Who would walk down a road like this?

Everyone looked toward Lin Jue and Third Senior Brother.

"A tree growing in the middle of the road is certainly strange, but it hasn't done anything to us. It may have come here by chance, thinking no one would be around at night, or it may be cultivating here and hasn't had time to leave. Let's go around it."

Lin Jue considered it, then said.

He also lowered his head and met the eyes of the little fox, which had looked back at him. He nodded to it in approval.

This little thing had sharper eyes than any of them.

So they walked around the side.

These country lanes were surrounded by fields, and where there were fields, there were paths. It was easy enough to go around.

But they had barely taken two steps when the little fox called out again.

"Ying-wu~"

Its voice was soft and gentle. The night was simply too quiet.

They took a couple of steps forward, and by the light of the torch, they saw a huge boulder in the path ahead.

"!"

The villager at the front jumped again, already growing somewhat unnerved.

Seeing this, Lin Jue hurried over.

He lowered his head and looked—

The rock was about one zhang tall and half a zhang wide. It must have weighed countless jin, yet it rested on a path barely more than a chi wide, with empty space on both sides, and hadn't crushed the path beneath it.

Clearly, something was wrong.

He understood now that the little fox probably hadn't simply had sharper eyes than them. It really did have something strange about it.

Of course, the senior brothers on the mountain had already come to that conclusion.