The Mountain God's Wife

At those words, Ye Qianfan hurriedly looked around the entire cavern, only to find that the place was a damned trap. Aside from the altar, there seemed to be nothing but this open patch near the entrance.

But he certainly couldn't stay at the entrance. Wouldn't the Mountain God's Wife spot him the moment it poked its head inside?!

Yet apart from that flat patch by the entrance, the cave contained only an altar.

It was tiny.

And there was nothing to hide behind except the altar!

Ye Qianfan couldn't help suspecting that this cave existed solely to house the altar.

"Hide, quick! The Mountain God's Wife is almost at the entrance!"

Seeing Ye Qianfan frozen in place, the Taoist grew so frantic that his voice went shrill.

Though Ye Qianfan was anxious too, he forced himself to calm down!

Just like back when he had been on the verge of starving to death and still couldn't get a quest, he knew that only by keeping his cool could he possibly find a way out!

The more he panicked, the more certain his doom!

"Where can I hide?"

Muttering to himself, Ye Qianfan caught sight of the low mound of earth atop the altar. His eyes immediately lit up. "Got it!"

There was a pit beneath the mound!

If he curled up inside and used the mound to shield the part of his body sticking out, it should work!!!

Ye Qianfan hurriedly climbed back onto the altar, taking care to make as little noise as possible so the Mountain God's Wife wouldn't hear him and discover him!

Just as he squeezed into the large pit behind the mound, the Mountain God's Wife appeared at the entrance!

It was a monster even bigger than the Mountain God, with human hands and feet.

Its body was long, as long as a many-legged centipede.

But rather than a centipede's segmented, armored form, it resembled a cabbage caterpillar, its soft body dragging along the ground. If not for its mass of grotesquely long legs, Ye Qianfan would have suspected that this mountain god was simply a mutated giant worm.

The Mountain God's Wife had a humanlike face, complete with narrow eyes, a human-looking nose, and large red lips.

Except long fangs jutted out of both the top and bottom of those red lips!

The mere sight of it made his skin crawl!

"Sniff, sniff~"

"Sniff, sniff, sniff~"

The Mountain God's Wife seemed to sense a human scent in the cave, so it sniffed hard.

Ye Qianfan watched its nose twitch, the sides of its nostrils contracting and expanding, reminding him of Erkang. The sight was rather funny.

Yet Ye Qianfan broke out in a cold sweat. Mainly because Erkang's nostrils could only fit soybeans, whereas the Mountain God's Wife had nostrils so huge that Ye Qianfan could probably stuff his head inside without any trouble!

"Snort~"

The human face that looked pasted onto the giant worm turned from side to side.

Then it actually poked its head into the cavern where Ye Qianfan was hiding!!!

"Rustle, rustle~"

The Mountain God's Wife was simply too huge.

The entrance to the altar's cave was around four meters in diameter, yet the Mountain God Hag still struggled to get inside. The opening was too small for its massive body, and it had to force its way through!

Ye Qianfan saw a layer of slime scraped off the Mountain God Hag's body onto the cave walls. The slime actually glowed, like luminous moss. It was quite peculiar!

But as the slime dripped down, it was also exceptionally conspicuous, drawing the eye like glowing snot.

Once inside, the Mountain God's Wife looked all around, scaring Ye Qianfan so badly that he didn't even dare breathe.

Not that he needed to breathe.

But breathing was a habit, so Ye Qianfan would always do it without realizing!

Now...

He held his breath with all his might, terrified that the Mountain God's Wife would hear him and discover his whereabouts.

Even so, Ye Qianfan still felt doomed. The Mountain God's Wife was less than three meters away from him now. If it stretched its head just a little farther over the altar, it would find him!

"Plop!"

Slime from the Mountain God's Wife fell onto the ground.

It felt like a knock against Ye Qianfan's heart, ratcheting his tension even higher!

Like the drumbeats in a horror movie, every sound landed squarely on his heart!

"Achoo!"

Just then.

The Mountain God's Wife suddenly let out a huge sneeze beside the altar. It seemed to hate the altar's smell, so it simply shook its head, turned around, and left!

Only after hearing the Mountain God's Wife retreat did Ye Qianfan finally let out a huge sigh of relief!

"Let's go!"

Not bothering to waste words on the Taoist, Ye Qianfan climbed straight out of the pit and fled toward the entrance.

But just after he had gone a short distance beyond the entrance...

He heard what sounded like scraping behind him, making all the paper scraps on Ye Qianfan's body—his equivalent of fine hairs—stand on end!

"Gulp!"

Ye Qianfan swallowed quietly, filled with an indescribable dread. "The... the Mountain God's Wife hasn't left yet, has it?"

"Surely not. If it could find us, it would've come over and eaten us already. Why would it need to lie in ambush?" The Taoist was a little rattled too, but he still feigned composure. "Why don't you shine the light behind you? I think you've just wound your nerves too tight!"

"All right, I'll check!"

Summoning his courage, Ye Qianfan extended the torch toward the cave behind him...

But there was nothing behind them except the pitch-black tunnel stretching into the distance!

"See? I told you there was nothing!" Only then did the Taoist finally relax and start boasting again. "I told you your nerves were wound too tight! You should learn from this venerable Taoist. Even with Mount Tai crashing down on my head, my expression wouldn't—"

"Plop!"

"Pat!"

While the Taoist was speaking.

Ye Qianfan felt something drip onto his paper hat with a crisp splash!

Although...

Ye Qianfan had been struck plenty of times by condensation dripping from the cave's stalactites, but those had all been individual drops. What he had just felt wasn't a drop of water, but a whole blob, as though a lump of shit had landed on him.

It felt thick, heavy, and enormous...

"Whew!"

Ye Qianfan drew a deep breath, then reached up to touch it.

His senses hadn't deceived him!

Sticky and slimy...

"Holy shit!!!"

This time, Ye Qianfan didn't even dare look up. He simply hurled the torch toward the cave ceiling...

And ran!

Ran like mad!!

Only after he had sprinted several dozen paces away.

Only then did Ye Qianfan dare turn his head and hurriedly glance back at where he had been!

"N-nothing there?"

But the instant Ye Qianfan looked back, he saw the torch's dim light illuminating the cave ceiling. Aside from some slime scraped off the Mountain God's Wife or the Mountain God, giving off little specks of blue-green fluorescence, there was nothing there.

Could too much slime have collected up there and just happened to fall onto my head?!

Looks like...

I'm really too nervous, just like the Taoist said!

My nerves are wound too tight, so...

"Ye Qianfan, run!!"

"Run, quick!!"

Yet just as Ye Qianfan breathed a sigh of relief, gradually slowed his steps, and considered the possibility that he had merely been hit by falling slime...

The Taoist's frantic scream suddenly exploded inside Ye Qianfan's belly. "The Mountain God's Wife is above your head! It followed you!!!"

"What?!"

Ye Qianfan cried out in alarm.

But the only answer he received was blob after blob of slime falling like rain!

"Plop!"

"Splatter, splatter!!"

The slime struck his body like rain hitting an awning...

Producing a dense pattering of drips!

This time, Ye Qianfan couldn't hold back. Driven by boundless terror, he involuntarily raised his head!