8. Helping a Tiger Commit Evil

While Ji Yuan was still caught in the dizziness and weakness from sitting up, a voice suddenly came from outside the temple, growing closer from afar.

"Brother Shilin! Brother Shilin!"

The people inside the temple instantly grew excited.

"It's Little Dong! Little Dong is back!"

Sure enough, Wang Dong's figure soon ran into the Mountain God Temple from outside, immediately surrounded by Zhang Shilin and the others, their faces tense.

"Little Dong, why are you alone? Are Old Jin and the others okay? What about that scholar? Did you hear that tiger roar just now?"

Zhang Shilin fired off a string of questions, eager to get answers from Wang Dong.

Wang Dong just panted heavily, his expression somewhat unnatural. He didn't take the water bowl someone handed him, glanced at Zhang Shilin, then looked away. After calming his breathing a bit, he began to answer.

"Old Jin and the others are with Mister Lu. Digging up the Mountain King Ginseng went smoothly, but..."

"But what? Ah, Little Dong, you're usually the most talkative—why are you stammering now!"

"Don't interrupt!"

Zhang Shilin barked, looking at Wang Dong, whose face had turned pale.

"Little Dong, go on."

"Yeah, the Mountain King Ginseng was on a slope. We'd just dug it out when we heard a tiger roar in the distance—it was terrifying. Old Jin, Scholar Lu, and Liu Quan got so startled they lost their footing and slid down!"

Hearing this from Wang Dong, who kept his head slightly lowered, Zhang Shilin and the others panicked.

"What? They slid down?"

"How are Old Jin and Liu Quan?"

"Was it high?"

"Little Dong, just say it already!"

Zhang Shilin grew frantic, grabbing Wang Dong's arm and shaking him.

This jostling seemed to snap Wang Dong back to clarity, and his speech became smoother.

"The slope wasn't high or steep. Old Jin and the others aren't badly hurt, just their ankles are twisted pretty badly. Old Jin told me to come back and get two or three people to help carry them back. Li Gui is looking after them over there."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Right, right!"

"Count me in!"

Since they hadn't run into the Great Beast, everyone felt a bit more at ease and eagerly offered to help.

Zhang Shilin was the same.

"This time, I'll take Little Du and Ah Hua back with Little Dong to help. The rest of you stay in the Mountain God Temple and watch the supplies."

As he spoke, Zhang Shilin and a few others had already taken out several torches and lit them.

Ji Yuan's hands and feet were ice-cold, a numbing chill creeping straight to his scalp.

He recognized the voice of this young traveling merchant, but aside from his speech, Ji Yuan hadn't heard the sound of his footsteps approaching at all.

Moreover, when Ji Yuan looked over with his ashen eyes, his blurred vision showed two overlapping images of Wang Dong—one normal, the other with its neck twisted at a grotesque angle, twitching occasionally.

This sight made Ji Yuan's goosebumps impossible to shake off.

And yet Zhang Shilin and the others beside him were completely oblivious.

This was no longer human!

Recalling the earlier tiger roar, Ji Yuan suddenly understood something.

He was naturally terrified, but hearing that Zhang Shilin planned to take people out with this Ghost Servant, his panic overrode everything. Besides not wanting Zhang Shilin to die, he also felt that if only five people were left in the temple, it would be dangerous.

Over by the door, Zhang Shilin and the others lit their torches and were about to rush out.

"Let's go, let's go! Little Dong, you lead the way, we'll—"

"Hold it!"

A sudden, unfamiliar voice rang out, startling everyone. They turned nervously to look and found it was that beggar, who had somehow sat down by the side of the Deity Statue, leaning against it and staring toward the temple entrance.

Ji Yuan's voice at this moment was completely different from his physical state—clear, steady, and resonant.

"Zhang Shilin, there's something wrong with Wang Dong. You can't go with him!"

In Ji Yuan's eyes, his words made Wang Dong turn his head stiffly, sending a prickling numbness through the back of Ji Yuan's skull.

"You beggar, what nonsense are you spouting? Brother Shilin, let's hurry—Old Jin and the others are waiting!"

"Yeah, alright."

Trusting his companions over some ragged beggar was a no-brainer. Zhang Shilin stepped one foot out of the temple door.

"Stop!! Wang Dong is already dead!"

This shout immediately made Zhang Shilin and the others freeze, instinctively looking at Wang Dong. The latter stood outside the temple watching them, the night's shadows covering his face.

"Brother Shilin, come on! Old Jin and the others are waiting for us. Don't listen to this rotten beggar's nonsense—I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?"

Wang Dong took a step closer, the torchlight illuminating half his face, revealing a forced grin beneath his pale skin...

It was jarring, utterly wrong!

Every traveling merchant felt a chill dart up their spine, and those about to leave instinctively pulled their feet back.

Zhang Shilin swallowed hard, glancing between Wang Dong and the beggar.

"Little Dong, you... are you really alright?"

But before Wang Dong could speak, Ji Yuan, seated inside the temple, cut in coldly.

"Playing the tiger's jackal, playing the tiger's jackal. Wang Dong is already a ghost servant, just like that Scholar Lu before—luring you to the fierce tiger to be devoured! If you go with him, you won't come back!"

"A ghost servant!"

Zhang Shilin and the others stumbled back several steps, recalling the earlier tiger's roar and the oddness of Wang Dong's return. The traveling merchants all felt their scalps tingling.

"Brother Shilin, don't believe him. Old Jin and the others are still waiting."

Wang Dong walked toward the temple gate, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.

"Little Dong, don't come any closer!"

Zhang Shilin thrust the torch forward, and Wang Dong's steps halted.

He stared at the people by the temple gate, and they stared back at him, frozen. A moment of silence passed, then a sight so horrifying it nearly stopped their breath—Wang Dong suddenly blurred, dissolving into wisps of smoke that drifted away from the temple.

"Clang..."

A woodcutter's knife hit the ground. Two traveling merchants collapsed in terror.

"Ghost! A ghost!"

"Ah!"

"Oh, heavens!"

"Into the temple! Into the temple!"

"Right, right, right, hurry inside! Grab your weapons, grab your weapons!!"

The remaining eight traveling merchants scrambled and crawled back into the Mountain God Temple, instinctively huddling near the Deity Statue and the beggar.

Zhang Shilin's breathing was still ragged as he looked from the darkness outside to Ji Yuan.

"This, this master, you..."

Before Zhang Shilin could finish, Ji Yuan raised a hand to stop him. Ji Yuan's expression was grim, his lips trembling faintly, though the dim light hid it from view.

"Rustle, rustle... rustle, rustle..."

The wind picked up, grass and trees swaying wildly in the forest.

In his ears, a steady, heavy set of footsteps drew closer from afar, accompanied by the low growl and snarl of a beast outside the temple.

Ji Yuan swallowed hard, staring tensely at the temple entrance. In those few seconds, his back was drenched with sweat.

"Don't speak... it's here..."