Return to the Back Mountain

The houses in the village had police tape around them. Seeing all this made me feel terrible, as it was the place I grew up in.

My Martial Uncle and I walked around the village, then headed towards the back mountain.

When we arrived, I saw the holes I had seen that night when I climbed out of the coffin. I still felt a chill down my spine.

Once bitten, twice shy. I calmed myself down and walked with my Martial Uncle, observing our surroundings.

My Martial Uncle squatted down, picked up a handful of soil from each hole, and sniffed it.

He then said there was the smell of decay, confirming that these were indeed bodies that had gone wrong.

I asked my Martial Uncle if they were the bodies of the villagers.

My Martial Uncle replied that it wasn't just the villagers, but also those buried in the past.

It felt like there were bodies from various dynasties, combined with the dense Yin energy and ghostly energy surrounding us.

This place was a convergence of corpses, ghosts, and heavy resentment.

My Martial Uncle said with a worried expression, "Tonight might be a bit troublesome."

After observing for a while with no further discoveries, my Martial Uncle said that the daytime had strong Yang energy.

He suggested we return to the village and come back at night, so we headed back.

When we reached my house, or rather, what used to be my house, it was also very dilapidated.

There wasn't even a place to sit, so my Martial Uncle and I found a clean stone to sit on and rest.

I gathered some firewood nearby and started a fire. We just waited there.

We ate some dry rations and drank some water when we were hungry. My Martial Uncle seemed preoccupied and didn't say much.

As night fell, clumps of mist began to rise again.

Soon, the entire village was shrouded in a layer of white mist, exactly like when I ran out that day.

My Martial Uncle said it was about time, and we should head to the back mountain. I nodded and put out the campfire.

Then, we followed my Martial Uncle out of my house. As we stepped outside, I heard the same sounds from before.

My Martial Uncle asked if I was scared. I said I was alright, having gone through it once already.

I was mentally prepared this time, unlike the last time when I was so terrified I wet myself.

As we walked, my Martial Uncle said faintly, "They've come out."

As soon as he finished speaking, I saw people from the village, whom I recognized and some I didn't, staring at my Martial Uncle and me eerily from all directions.

Their clothes were also different, as if from every dynasty.

I even saw someone in Qing Dynasty official attire, with a queue and a small melon-skin cap.

No, they must be ghosts. At this time and place, besides my Martial Uncle and me, there would be no one else.

Earlier, when I said I wasn't scared, I had overestimated myself. Seeing this bizarre scene now...

I was still trembling a little and moved closer to my Martial Uncle.

I looked at my Martial Uncle; his expression was calm and serene.

It was as if he never took anything to heart, even showing a hint of arrogance.

The contrast with me was too great. He was acting cool and arrogant, dismissive of everything, while I was panicking, my insides churning.

A few minutes passed, and those ghostly figures didn't make a move.

They neither advanced nor retreated, just stared at us.

My Martial Uncle cupped his fists and addressed the surroundings:

"Esteemed elders and seniors of Lin'an Village, we, your Martial Uncle and nephew, are here tonight

to understand the truth of the village. We mean no harm. We kindly request you to make way."

After he finished speaking, the ghostly figures still showed no intention of clearing a path. Instead, after my Martial Uncle spoke, they seemed to stir, as if about to pounce.

I hid behind my Martial Uncle and said, "Uncles, aunts, elders, I am A Tong from the village. Could you please be considerate and let us pass?"

It would have been better if I hadn't spoken. As soon as I did, an angry voice boomed:

"We are all from the same village, why didn't you die? Why are you alive? By what right?"

Then, a cacophony of voices – insults, roars, resentment, sobs...

All sorts of sounds washed over us, and then they lunged at my Martial Uncle and me as if they had gone mad. My lips turned white.

My Martial Uncle grunted, "You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit."

With that, he raised his hand, and dense bamboo shoots instantly appeared around my Martial Uncle and me.

Each bamboo shoot looked as if it had been cut at a slant from top to bottom, with sharp points at both ends.

My Martial Uncle said, "Go," and with a wave of his raised hand, the bamboo shoots shot out in all directions.

The sound of whoosh, whoosh, whoosh shot out indiscriminately towards those ghostly things.

The power was truly immense, passing through surrounding objects as if they were made of tofu.

Even thick walls couldn't stop the bamboo, leaving only holes in them.

They easily pierced through surrounding objects and even thick, sturdy trees.

Accompanied by the most piercing screams, the area around my Martial Uncle and me was instantly in ruins.

Broken walls and rubble were everywhere, with dust filling the air.

When everything calmed down, the ghostly things around were gone.

Even the initial layer of white mist had disappeared, and everything was quiet again.

I asked my Martial Uncle where those things went. He said they had been utterly annihilated.

Then he looked at me and said seriously, "To deal with these ungrateful, foul creatures, you must be ruthless. Don't be afraid of them.

The more you fear them, the more arrogant they become, and the sooner they'll come to kill you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the bamboo that had been shot out and stuck in all directions.

One by one, they turned into wisps of white smoke and vanished into nothingness.

I watched, dumbfounded, then asked my Martial Uncle, "Why did your bamboo disappear?"

My Martial Uncle replied calmly, "That was an attack powered by Spiritual Energy combined with my own attributes. It dissipates after the attack.

If you cultivate well, you can do it too. Don't be surprised."

I nodded, thinking that I too would have such a day in the future. I felt inexplicably happy, and the fright from earlier vanished.

Then we walked towards the back mountain. Because it was a bit dark, I took out two flashlights from my bag, gave one to my Martial Uncle, and we continued walking.

We reached the back mountain and saw several corpses swaying back and forth, aimlessly wandering in the graveyard.

Perhaps sensing our arrival, the corpses turned their heads to look at us.

After staring at us for a moment, they let out strange noises and charged at us.

I couldn't describe the sound; it was as if they were squeezing their vocal cords.

My Martial Uncle glanced at me and said leisurely, "You go try."

"Huh? You mean you want me to deal with them?"

My Martial Uncle nodded and said, "Yes, these are very low-level and slow.

Be careful, and you'll be fine. It's time to test your cultivation results. Besides, I'm right beside you, what are you afraid of?"

I nodded tremblingly and forced myself to walk forward.

The corpses also reached me. One of them lunged at me with bared teeth and claws.

As it got closer, I saw that its face was covered in maggots, which fell off one by one as the corpse moved.

Feeling utterly disgusted, I channeled Spiritual Energy into my fist and punched the corpse's chest.

With a dull thud, the corpse flew back two to three meters.

Slightly surprised, I retracted my fist and prepared to strike another corpse.

As I pulled my fist back, the smell of a dead rat entered my nostrils.

Sensing something was wrong, and it being dark, I brought my fist closer to my eyes to examine it carefully.