A Wretched Death

Wu Haishan stepped forward and examined the traces. "That kid ran into Ghost Witch Mountain. I'll find a guide right away.

"We didn't know much about him before, but now we know him inside and out. We even know he's just an Enter Stream Pill Cultivator. The moment we find him will be the moment he dies!"

Wu Haishan sounded utterly confident, but the plan he came up with was still to use that same dose of his drug: control a townsman, make him their guide, and then head into the mountain to track the boy down.

Zhao's Furs Shop was the Pingtian Society's base in town. Zhao Yong and his men simply sat in the shop. When someone came to sell furs, they bought them; if nobody did, so be it.

They never risked going into the mountains, nor did they need to, so they knew little about Ghost Witch Mountain.

But they knew the town well. When Wu Haishan asked, "Who in town knows Ghost Witch Mountain best?" someone answered, "Old Man Liu's eldest apprentice, Ah Guang."

Old Man Liu was the proprietor of Liu's Village Wine, across from the fur shop. His rough, potent liquor sold well in town and the surrounding villages.

The Mountain Runners from the mountain villages always packed a gourd of Liu family wine whenever they went into the mountains.

Ah Guang often delivered it to the villages.

Wu Haishan led his men straight into Liu's Village Wine.

When the bronze cannon exploded, everyone in town had been startled. They'd all barred their doors and hidden inside.

Wu Haishan's raid on Liu's Village Wine to seize a man set off another commotion, leaving the place in utter chaos.

Old Man Liu and his wife had no children and had always raised their eldest apprentice as their own son. The old couple knelt and wept, pleading desperately, but Wu Haishan and his men were as hard-hearted as stone. They kicked the couple down, pried Ah Guang's mouth open, and poured in a dose of the drug. Dazed and vacant, Ah Guang followed them away.

The old couple cried after them, tears and blood streaming from their eyes. "You heartless fiends! May you die a wretched death..."

Saint Aunt had been waiting beneath Beauty Dam the whole time.

For some reason, those Snail Beauties were naturally afraid of Saint Aunt and didn't dare come out to cause trouble.

Saint Aunt suddenly remembered, "Why hasn't Chang Xunbei come back yet?"

Chang Xunbei was an Eighth Stream Law Cultivator, the strongest of the subordinates she'd brought with her this time.

He should've been back long ago. The official road was only a dozen li away.

Xu Yuan hadn't gone far after entering the mountain.

This wasn't a path used by woodcutters, and Xu Yuan didn't know the area very well.

Chang Xunbei's Artistic Law had indeed been unexpected. Somehow, he'd switched places with Xu Yuan, dropping him straight into the encirclement.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan's expression turned strange. "So we really did switch places..."

Xu Yuan had run out earlier, following the official road back toward the county seat.

He hadn't expected to run straight into Master Qiao!

Master Qiao usually traveled in a carriage, but this time he was alone, with a slip of paper attached to each leg. One read "Soaring Cloud," the other "Riding Wind."

With his hands clasped behind his back, Master Qiao strode along with his feet three to five chi above the ground. Each step carried him ten zhang, his robes fluttering—a picture of immortal grace.

Only his expression looked a little grim.

When he saw Xu Yuan, it grew even grimmer. "Where do you think you're going..."

Xu Yuan leaped off the road and plunged into Ghost Witch Mountain.

Master Qiao pursued him relentlessly.

Xu Yuan soon realized that Master Qiao seemed to know Ghost Witch Mountain even better than he did!

"You ungrateful wretch!" Master Qiao shouted as he chased after him. Then he clenched his teeth and rapidly wrote out a "voucher."

"Whoever captures Xu Yuan alive may claim ten people as Blood Food with this voucher."

Master Qiao flung the "voucher" into the air—as if showing it to some unseen thing.

Xu Yuan could no longer escape.

The earth ahead churned. A giant mole cricket burst through the ground and reared up, its upper body towering three zhang high!

It wore tattered armor from head to toe, but its head was a gigantic Buddha statue.

To the left lay Ghost Stream. Children's laughter rang out, high and gleeful, as one after another, pale infant heads, still covered in wisps of newborn hair, bobbed up from the water. Their eyes were blood red, their fangs protruded past their lips, and they stared fixedly at Xu Yuan.

On the hillside to the right, a huge rock shaped somewhat like a tiger suddenly shuddered. Its eyes flew open, and it tore its massive body free from the mountain before lumbering down toward Xu Yuan, step by step!

In the sky, a flock of White Bone Human-Faced Eagles circled overhead like vultures.

Xu Yuan was trapped with nowhere to run—then, with a bang, he was back in Qihetan Town!

Though Saint Aunt had laid a vast net, Xu Yuan had still escaped.

"Now I can only go around through Ghost Witch Mountain. It'll be dangerous..." Xu Yuan murmured, trying every which way to plan a relatively safe route.

But in the end, he couldn't find a single route he was confident he could make it through.

Still, Xu Yuan set off without hesitation. Neither Saint Aunt nor Master Qiao would ever let him go. Staying near town meant certain death.

Xu Yuan hadn't been gone long when Wu Haishan and his men reached the place where he'd stopped.

Wu Haishan asked Ah Guang, "Which way did that kid go?"

Ah Guang answered obediently, "That way. He should be heading for Titou Ravine."

Wu Haishan asked, "What's special about Titou Ravine?"

"First, anything in there with a human head is an evil spirit. Second, don't step onto those stone stairs under any circumstances."

"Go!"

Xu Yuan circled around in front of Titou Ravine, then hid nearby.

Soon, voices rose behind him. The Pingtian Society's men had caught up.

Xu Yuan waited for about a quarter of an hour, but not a single scream rang out.

He stopped waiting, sprang up, and darted into the depths of the mountain.

"The Pingtian Society has a guide with them. They know all the dangerous places in Ghost Witch Mountain very well." Xu Yuan confirmed it, which meant his plan to use the mountain's evil spirits to wipe out his pursuers wouldn't work.

Xu Yuan found a chance to look at them from afar and narrowed his eyes. "Their guide is Ah Guang. That's troublesome."

Xu Yuan rubbed his chin. "Ah Guang's lived in town since he was little. He knows Ghost Witch Mountain even better than I do. So where do I have the advantage over him..."

Wu Haishan kept chasing after him, but after a while, he realized the kid had led them around in a circle, then suddenly changed direction and was running back toward town!

"That little brat's making fools of us! Notify Saint Aunt. We'll block him in town!"

Saint Aunt wasn't there. She'd stayed in town because the Society's men were bringing the "bait" over today.

One of Wu Haishan's men immediately took out a crafted parrot, spoke to it quickly, and released it. The parrot flew toward town.

Xu Yuan didn't enter town. He went only as far as a ravine outside it.

There was a cave in the ravine, and an ancient vine a thousand years old grew out from its dark depths.

Centipedes, scorpions, ticks, giant ants, and all kinds of poisonous insects crawled out along the old vine.

A large rooster with gleaming feathers stood proudly on guard in the ravine.

Whenever one came out, it ate it.

It especially liked centipedes and scorpions.

Sometimes, a particularly huge "insect king" would crawl out of the cave: centipedes three chi long, scorpions as big as washbasins.

Whenever that happened, the rooster would grow excited, beating its iron-feathered wings as the comb atop its head stood straight up. It would crow and square off with the creature, then peck it to death in a few quick strikes. Gripping it in its beak, it would fly to a high branch and wave it around, showing off its spoils!

This was where the rooster hunted for wild food every day.

"Ah Hua!"

Xu Yuan called a few times. The rooster had just pecked a big scorpion to death and was showing off from a treetop. At the sound of his voice, it tilted its head and spotted Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan waved at it vigorously. The rooster reluctantly flew down, then dropped the scorpion at his feet.

Xu Yuan laughed helplessly. "Thanks for your generosity, but I don't eat that."

At that, the rooster perked up and gobbled down the scorpion in a few bites.

Xu Yuan took out some loose silver. "I want to buy a few things from Granny. Could you bring them over for me?"

The rooster gave a few low, reluctant clucks and didn't want to go back.

Xu Yuan understood. "I'll catch bugs for you here and make sure none get away. You go back and fetch the things for me."

The rooster snatched up the silver with its huge claws, tucked it beneath its feathers, and strutted off.

Xu Yuan kept watch at the cave entrance. He broke off a few bamboo branches and skewered each insect that came out.

Once he'd made a whole string, he practiced using Inner Fire to roast the insects.

At first, he wasn't very good at controlling it and charred a few. But soon he could roast each one until it was crisp on the outside and tender within.

Before long, Ah Hua came back with a bamboo basket in its beak. Xu Yuan opened it and found exactly the things he'd asked for.

Xu Yuan smiled and cupped his hands to the rooster. "Thanks."

Then he took off his outer garment, wrapped the things in it, returned the basket to Ah Hua, and ducked back into Ghost Witch Mountain.

Ah Hua eyed the roasted insects on the bamboo skewers and cautiously tried one. Hey! It was actually delicious!

Ah Hua was pleased. This kid knew how to behave.