Little Stream Village

Using the firelight, he examined the giant boulder before him. It felt somewhat strange, yet it blocked their path stubbornly. Lin Jue couldn't quite figure out its purpose.

He had heard that kind-hearted Spirits and Monsters might obstruct people if they sensed danger ahead. He had also heard of Spirits and Monsters using illusions to wear people down, draining their spirit and courage before harming them.

He wasn't sure which kind this was.

Third Senior Brother scanned their surroundings.

The little fox stared ahead.

The others, however, all stared at Lin Jue.

Lin Jue pondered for a moment and stepped forward. "We are traveling to Little Stream Village tonight. Why are you blocking our path?"

His tone was neither fearful nor aggressive.

As his voice faded, silence fell upon them.

Only the crackling of the torches remained.

"There are Yin Ghosts causing trouble in Little Stream Village ahead. We are on our way to drive them out. If you are blocking us because you fear we will encounter danger if we proceed, then please leave. We are the ones seeking out ghosts," Lin Jue said after some thought. He paused again. "We appreciate your good intentions. We will pass by here again tomorrow during the day and will certainly offer incense and candles."

There was no reaction from ahead; the boulder remained.

A gust of wind even blew past.

"Whoosh..."

The torch flames flickered to the side.

"True Person, perhaps... perhaps we should go around it?" a Villager asked timidly.

Where would they go around?

If it refused to yield and they took another path, would it not follow them?

Wouldn't that put them in an even more passive position?

Lin Jue offered no explanation and ignored the question. He thought for a moment longer, then took a step forward, a hint of anger appearing on his face.

"If you do not move, I will assume you are deliberately blocking our path and intend to cause harm.

"Then you've come to the right place!

"To be frank, we come from Floating Hill Peak on Mount Yi. Of the seven types of Magic taught on our mountain, my Junior Sister here has learned the 'Crushing Stone' technique. Have you heard of it? It's the art of reducing stone to powder!"

Beside him, the Junior Sister blinked in surprise. Fortunately, her momentary lapse was internal, and her expression remained unchanged.

"As for that large tree earlier..."

Lin Jue paused again as he spoke, raising his right hand.

Something in his hand glinted under the torchlight. It wasn't a Daoist artifact for subduing demons or any other treasure, but a wickedly sharp cleaver.

"My Senior Brother enjoys carpentry. I need a bookshelf and a long bench for my room. I imagine that was good material!"

His voice, still solemn, echoed in the night. It carried an air of authority, making his words sound like both a threat and a simple statement of fact.

Everyone couldn't help but look at him, then at the giant boulder ahead.

Just then—

"Bang..."

The boulder exploded into a cloud of black smoke, instantly dissolving into the darkness. Only by the firelight could they see it slowly dissipating.

"Wind—"

As the word left his lips, a clear breeze arose.

The black smoke was immediately blown away.

"Let's go," Lin Jue said softly. He stepped forward, even taking the torch from the Villager who had been leading the way, forging ahead alone.

Everyone involuntarily looked at him and followed behind, secretly glancing around at the surrounding darkness.

They walked for several miles afterward, and the Spirit did not reappear until they were very close to the village.

"Junior Brother has great courage. I was still contemplating how to make them retreat, and you managed to drive them away with just a confrontation," Third Senior Brother finally said.

"This is how ordinary people deal with Demonic Ghosts. My Magic cultivation isn't advanced enough, so I resorted to these methods," Lin Jue replied truthfully.

"This is not necessarily weaker than Magic. Junior Sister must learn this trick from your Eighth Senior Brother. In the future, when Master is old and you leave Floating Hill Peak for other places, whether you're confronting people or dealing with Demonic Ghosts, you can't rely solely on your Magic skills. Especially when you can't discern good from evil, and a fight isn't absolutely necessary," Third Senior Brother said. "Furthermore, in combat, no matter how much Magic you learn, there are always limitations. Every Magic has its strengths and weaknesses. Unless you've mastered everything, the best way to not lose a fight is to not fight at all. The next best is to use your brain."

"Understood!"

The Junior Sister said earnestly.

She couldn't help but glance at Lin Jue ahead.

She knew how capable this Junior Brother was. He knew basic skills like Summon Fire and Summon Wind, and Wood Escape and Exhale Qi, none of which were particularly profound. In fact, she had also been pondering how to deal with the suddenly appearing Spirit.

Especially since they knew nothing about it, and couldn't even tell if it was one Spirit or two, she wondered if their Magic would even be effective.

Who would have thought that Senior Brother wouldn't use any magic at all, but would simply drive the opponent away with his aura and a "Crushing Stone" that she hadn't even learned yet.

Junior Sister pondered seriously, secretly taking note.

"You must understand that Cultivation is Cultivation, merit is merit, and skills are skills. Cultivation is the magic power you cultivate, merit is the virtue you accumulate and the temperament you nurture, and your painstakingly practiced magic and divine abilities are your skills. There's no reason in this world why higher Cultivation commands more respect, nor is there any saying that higher Cultivation guarantees victory in a fight. Most of the seniors in the deep mountains who focus on cultivating their Golden Elixirs are not good at fighting.

"Magic, on the other hand, is mutually restrictive, and there are few undefeated generals. Like the Crushing Stone you're learning, once you've mastered it, if you encounter a monster formed from a rock that relies on its natural hardness, few Daoists can do anything about it. But even if its Cultivation is several times higher than yours, it will still struggle to withstand a few of your slaps.

"Conversely, if you learn magic like Summon Wind or Paper Figures, no matter how high your Cultivation, it will be difficult to deal with an ordinary stubborn rock."

Third Senior Brother spoke as he walked.

It really felt like he was teaching them.

But as they walked and talked, he took out his wine flask for another drink. Fortunately, the wine was weak, so it was more like he was drinking for show.

Soon, they were approaching Little Stream Village.

"We're almost there."

A villager, holding a torch and peering at the bamboo grove beside them, said with a trembling voice:

"Past this bamboo grove is the graveyard at the edge of the village. If you want to go during the day, you can go around by the weir. In the beginning, we used to walk this way in the evenings too. Now, we don't even dare to go by the weir in the evenings; we don't dare to go out at all. Fortunately, it's better than this side."

Lin Jue craned his neck to look ahead.

It was a winding path, and the bamboo grove was not large, blocking the way. In the darkness, nothing could be seen.

"How far is it?"

"About two to three hundred steps."

"Then let's go through the bamboo grove first and see."

Lin Jue knew his Cultivation was shallow and his magic was just beginning. It would be good to clear out these Yin Qi remnants and souls on the road, but he was also somewhat wary.

So, he held up his torch and walked slowly forward.

He wasn't exactly leading the way; at least his little fox was walking a little ahead of him.

"Ying wu?"

The little fox called out again, stopped, and looked back at him.

At the same time, Lin Jue also heard some movement.

He cautiously took a few more steps forward and suddenly saw more than a dozen points of light ahead. Four or five of them were orange-yellow torches, and there were some pale green will-o'-the-wisps, intermingling and illuminating the night sky. Although it was a summer night, there was still mist, and the flow of the mist between the trees was clearly visible, with faint, unreal shadows swaying within it.

Shouts and curses could be faintly heard.

"As the saying goes, ghosts don't easily intrude on living residences. You things are getting bolder and bolder, daring to come into my house! And you're all former fellow villagers, bah!

"Eat my arrow!"

A faint spark of light flashed and disappeared in the night.

Then, several more followed, crisscrossing through the forest.

The shadows drifting in the mist scattered instantly, and even the mist seemed to have thinned considerably.

"If you dare to come into my house again and scare my old mother, I'll first invite my friends to dig you up three feet from the ground, and then I'll bring a pile of firewood and burn this entire forest to ashes!"

There was a mix of anger and bravado in his voice.

Lin Jue could only think of that Luo Seng.

Seeing the situation, there was no need to observe further, so he quickly walked forward with his torch.

In the forest stood seven or eight men, all young and strong. Three or four were dressed in black, carrying sabers and bows, while the others looked like villagers, carrying hoes and cleavers.

Upon seeing Lin Jue and his companions, they became alert.

"Who?"

Even bows and arrows were aimed at them.

"It's me! Zhang Da! We're back!" a villager shouted loudly, "We've invited three True Persons from Floating Hill Temple."

"Oh..."

The bows and arrows were then lowered.

Two groups of torches converged.

The leader in the forest was a man in his early twenties, also dressed in black and carrying a bow and arrow. He had been furious earlier, but upon seeing the group, he became quite courteous.

"Uncle, why are you returning on a night road? Oh my! You've really invited True Persons from Floating Hill Temple!"

"The three True Persons are all truly capable. On our way back, we encountered monsters blocking the road, and the True Persons scared them away with just a few words!"

"Is that true? Then please have the True Persons take a look quickly! This place is one of the haunted graveyards in our village. How can we drive away the ghosts? These ghosts are becoming more and more rampant, even daring to enter people's homes!"

Many torches were lowered, illuminating the ground ahead.

Lin Jue couldn't help but look down.

It was a poplar forest.

Sparse trees with straight trunks stood amidst numerous simple grave mounds, bearing signs of fire. The ground was visibly sunken in sections, revealing wooden planks in some places and exposed poplar roots or dark, deep holes in others.

"Zhang Da, didn't you say we were waiting for True Persons from Mount Yi and Mount Qi Yun? Why did you invite people here to fight ghosts again?"

"What else could I do? Didn't I tell you? Last night, a ghost actually came into my house and stood by my old mother's window, scaring her half to death! I was still on the mountain when Brother Wang Er from the village ran over. I almost thought I had to rush back for a funeral! Luckily, my mother wasn't scared to death, but she still hasn't recovered. If it were you, could you stand for it?"

As he spoke, he even walked forward and kicked a stone on the ground into the sunken pit ahead.

The villager fell silent.

Of course, he could stand for it. He didn't have Zhang Da's skills, nor did he have these strong, martial-arts-trained friends who would come to help with just a shout.

However, to be provoked into anger, to rush to the graveyard at night for his mother and curse Yin Ghosts, that showed some spirit.

No one could say anything to question it.

"But how did the ground sink like this?"

"This afternoon, I brought some firewood and set a fire here, wanting to burn them all clean. As it burned, the ground collapsed. I didn't expect that I couldn't get rid of them, and they still came out tonight. If they're coming out, this time I'll change my arrowheads to be fiery..."

Before he could finish speaking, black shadows suddenly appeared around them again.

As if angered by his words, the black shadows they had just scattered with flaming arrows suddenly regrouped, swirling around them and even charging towards them.

"Again?"

"Good!"

Zhang Da showed no fear, throwing a punch.

Ghosts were inherently ethereal. Logically, ordinary people and swords couldn't harm them. But humans had blood and Yang Qi. Some people also possessed a strong killing aura. With vigorous blood and a dense killing aura, they could indeed impact and harm ghosts.

But before he could touch a ghost, he heard a burst of flame.

"Pfft..."

Flames exploded in the woods, rushing outwards.

In a large semi-circular area ahead, the ghost shadows were almost completely incinerated.

Lin Jue looked back.

There were also three or four ghost shadows behind them. Two or three were dispersed by Junior Sister spitting Yang Qi. The remaining one was actually tackled by that little fox cub, which seemed to be able to touch the ghost shadow, clumsily biting and fighting it, emitting soft yet fierce whimpers.

It was a relatively easy situation to handle.

However, at this moment, a black shadow flashed from beneath the ground.

The shadow was extremely difficult to detect, only visible in the firelight. It emerged from underground, like a ghost, and was charging towards Zhang Da ahead.

"You damn thing!"

Zhang Da, having practiced martial arts, reacted quickly. Even though he was facing the ghost shadows, he noticed this sudden incoming shadow and immediately tried to dodge and block, even attempting to counterattack.

Unfortunately, the shadow was too fast. He was holding a bow and arrow, not a saber. Although he pushed the bow forward, there was an opening.

The black shadow slipped right through.

"Ah!"

A scream rang out, and the black shadow fled, disappearing into the night.

Looking at Zhang Da again, his chest now bore several scratch marks.