The group finally, after much difficulty, passed the area that had collapsed and entered the resort on the mountain peak.
Si Mountain Ridge’s resort was built on a gentle slope near the top of the mountain. Because it had a high-class concept, all the villas in it contained little gardens and pools. Due to the fact that the previous rainstorm had caused many basic facilities to collapse, the entire resort had no electricity. The mountain was pitch black. Only one emergency lantern hanging outside a villa door was still providing light. It gently swayed in the night.
Ming Peiran held up his flashlight and asked, “Religious masters, has anyone discovered anything?”
The religious masters had been holding onto their compasses, magical equipment, etc. the entire way, trying to find clues. However, they hadn’t discovered anything at all. Now that they were here, they still had no leads whatsoever. All of their brows were furrowed as they solemnly shook their heads.
Ming Peiran revealed a confused expression. “Could it be that the drought demon has already left the Si Mountain Ridge area?”
“No.” Daoist priest Mu shook his head. “The water levels in Si Mountain Ridge are still decreasing. There are no signs of drought anywhere else either. The drought demon should still be in this area.”
Ming Peiran was bewildered. “But we’ve already checked everywhere around Si Mountain Ridge and found no sign of the drought demon. If it’s not at the mountain peak either……How could this be explained?”
Daoist priest Mu’s expression instantly became serious. “That can only mean that this drought demon has already surpassed all of us in skill.”
The other religious masters nodded in agreement. Expressions grave, they said, “This mission might be very difficult.”
The atmosphere suddenly became very dismal. Ming Peiran didn’t look scared, though. Instead, he asked confidently, “Then what should we do now?”
Daoist priest Mu: “Naturally, we still need to locate the drought demon first.”
Ming Peiran stared at the religious masters who all looked helpless despite the magical instruments in their hands. He furrowed his brows. “How else can we locate it?”
Everyone stared at each other. Daoist priest Mu pondered a bit. “We can only try to set up an altar to cast a spell.”
This was already their last resort. Ming Peiran was just about to order his employees to prepare the objects necessary for spell-casting when he heard Yu Zhengdu suddenly say, “I think that the drought demon should still be on the mountain.”
Everyone turned in sync to look at him. A monk muttered a Buddhist incantation before saying, “Little almsgiver, this is a serious situation. You absolutely cannot make uninformed judgements.”
Though no one else had said anything, their gazes contained similar suspicions. This actually wasn’t their fault. It was mainly because Yu Zhengdu had been leisurely following behind all of them during the entire trip up. Aside from playing on his phone like an Internet-addicted youth, he hadn’t done anything else. Without using any magical instruments or divination, it couldn’t be possible that he was making judgements based on gut instinct, right?
Ming Peiran was a bit more cautious though. He asked, “Did you discover something?”
“Uh, something small.” Yu Zhengdu held out his hand. There were a few wilted leaves resting on his palm. “These are the leaves I plucked from a tree at the bottom of the mountain.”
He then used the flashlight to illuminate the ground under their feet. “Now look at the grass here.”
Because they were looking for a drought demon, which was basically a monster, everyone had been focused on looking at their compasses and divinating on their fingers. Though they had somewhat observed their surroundings, they hadn’t paid too much attention to them. Additionally, the sky had darkened – they had started solely focusing on if monsters were appearing. Why would they take close looks at the plants under their feet?
When Yu Zhengdu said this, nobody understood what he was trying to say. However, they still reflexively looked at the grass. A slightly more dull-witted individual even asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Yes.” Ming Peiran plucked a handful of grass from the ground and held it out next to Yu Zhengdu’s hand. In comparison to the leaves in the other’s hand, everyone instantly reached a realization.
Though the leaves Yu Zhengdu had plucked at the bottom of the mountain were very wilted, they were still green, at least. It looked like they were still struggling to survive. The grass on the mountain, though, had already completely withered into a dull yellow.
Everyone exchanged eye contact. Someone expressed their suspicions: “This can only prove that the drought demon once appeared on the mountain. Perhaps it’s already left?”
Yu Zhengdu waved his hand around. “I compared the local reports that Captain Ming sent everyone to the biological specimens in those areas. In the afternoon, the plants on the mountain peak hadn’t become like this yet.”
Because of the sudden drought, many places had been severely affected. The relevant department had transferred over an enormous amount of resources to monitor the area around Si Mountain Ridge in real time. Additionally, they would periodically send the newest reports and updates to the special department. However, everyone had only been nervously paying attention to the water levels. No one had been as detail-oriented as Yu Zhengdu.
Because the reports hadn’t been sent over in real-time, Ming Peiran momentarily hadn’t noticed this anomaly.
As such, after being reminded by Yu Zhengdu, Ming Peiran hurriedly opened his reports and looked over them carefully. As expected, the plants at the top of the mountain had looked different in the afternoon. He went on high alert. “Boss Yu’s analysis makes sense. Seems like we’re going to have to work at the top of the mountain.”
The religious masters, who had originally been preparing for spell-casting, all looked at Yu Zhengdu with conflicted expressions on their faces. They silently put their compasses and magical tools away.
Honestly speaking, after several decades, they had already gotten used to using magical instruments and magic to find monsters and evil creatures. This was the first time they were encountering such a scientific locating method…… Though they felt a bit reluctant, they still had to admit that Yu Zhengdu’s explanation truly seemed very logical.
Additionally, there was a traitor in their midst. Little Daoist priest Yuan Qing’s voice was filled with praise. “At such a critical moment, science is still the most powerful!”
Yu Zhengdu said with a smile, “You can’t say that either. It’s only that it’s easy for everyone to get stuck in the same mindset.”
“Right right right.” Yuan Qing nodded like a chick pecking at food. “This is why Daoists can’t only do things according to traditional methods. We still need to increase our knowledge in all regards, so we can think more openly!”
The religious masters’ faces all flushed red after hearing this. Someone couldn’t help opening and closing his mouth a few times. He honestly wanted to make a rebuttal, but ultimately couldn’t manage to say anything.
Daoist priest Mu said, “If the drought demon is still on the mountain, that makes things a lot easier. We can set up an altar and cast a spell to lure it out.”
Ming Peiran was relatively familiar with the way the religious masters worked. Upon hearing this, he nodded and replied, “We’ve already prepared the location in advance. Please follow me, everyone. We’ll rest a bit first before setting up the altar.”
Yu Zhengdu glanced at an area nearby. It was the only villa that had an emergency lantern outside of it. As expected, Ming Peiran led everyone in that direction. While walking, he said, “Right now, there’s no water or electricity on the mountain. It’s also inconvenient to transfer equipment up here. We’ve only prepared this villa. Everyone will just have to make do.”
Daoist priest Mu waved his hands around. “Official business is what’s important. Everything else is trivial.”
They reached the villa very quickly. The fence to the little yard was open. Everyone directly walked in. The flowers and grass in the garden had already completely withered. There was no water in the pool either.
At the main entrance, Ming Peiran pulled out a key to unlock the door. However, after sticking the key in and twisting it around for a long time, he wasn’t able to open the door. He asked in confusion, “How strange. Why can’t I open it? Did I bring the wrong key?”
“Let me try.” An employee grabbed the key out of his hands, but also failed to unlock the door. However, he was more perceptive. “It seems to be locked from the inside?”
“Locked from the inside? Impossible. There’s nobody on the mountain anymore.” Ming Peiran waved his hands around. “Looks like we’ll have to break the door down.”
Just as he said this, the door opened with a creak. A young woman dressed in cyan clothing poked her head out. “Who’s outside?”
Ming Peiran took a step back. He guardedly inquired, “Who are you?”
“I got lost and saw that there was a light here, so I came over,” the girl in cyan replied. She scanned the group of people outside. “Are you guys the owners of this house?”
“Lost?” Ming Peiran didn’t respond to her question. Instead, he looked at her in suspicion. “Why did you climb up the mountain at a time like this?”
The girl in cyan blinked. “I never went down.”
“You never went down?” Ming Peiran furrowed his brows. Only now did he notice that the girl in cyan’s clothes were wrinkly and covered in quite a bit of dirt. Her eye sockets were slightly sunken in and looked a bit dark, almost as if she hadn’t been able to rest peacefully. Thus, he tentatively asked, “Could it be that you’re a tourist who got trapped on the mountain by the rainstorm?”
The rainstorm before the new year had trapped a lot of tourists. Many of them who had been outside during the rainstorm had almost gotten lost. Later, the rescue crews had spent a lot of time and energy before managing to recover these people. Could it be that someone had gotten left behind?
The girl in cyan thought about it. “Yes. It was raining so hard. And then, I got lost.”
Ming Peiran scanned the girl in cyan from head to toe. After confirming that nothing was wrong, he finally said, “We’re taking over this villa. We need to go in right now to rest.”
“Okay.” The girl in cyan opened the door widely and sorrowfully said, “But there are only lights outside. There aren’t lights inside.”
“Because you don’t know where the emergency lights are.” Ming Peiran ordered an employee inside. The employee found the emergency lights that had been placed there in advance and turned them on. The girl in cyan immediately became happier. “This is great.”
Only now did Ming Peiran clearly see what she looked like. She was impossibly skinny: not only were her eye sockets sunken in, but her face was incredibly thin too. Her entire being looked dry and frail. Her skin that was exposed was covered in tiny cuts. This matched her story of having been trapped on the mountain for several days. A feeling of sympathy rose up in his heart. He placated, “Don’t worry. As soon as the sun rises tomorrow, I’ll find someone to take you down the mountain.”
The girl in cyan revealed a delighted expression. “Okay.”
Everyone piled into the villa. This was truly a high-end vacation resort. Though there wasn’t water or electricity, the villa’s interior was still very classy. They were all exhausted from hiking for so long. Thus, nobody bothered being polite anymore. They all rushed to sit on the couches and chairs. Those with no places to sit directly sprawled out on the carpet.
Ming Peiran found someone to write a record of what had happened to the girl in cyan. He also notified the rescue teams at the foot of the mountain. Then, he ordered his employees to hand out food and water to everyone while discussing the arrangements for the spell-casting with Daoist priest Mu and the others.
Yu Zhengdu couldn’t bring himself to fight his seniors for a chair. Thus, he sat criss-crossed on the carpet and looked down at his phone.
A while later, Ming Peiran finally mostly wrapped up his planning meeting. As such, he raised his voice and told everyone, “Rest for fifteen more minutes, everyone. Adjust yourselves. If there’s anything you need to tell me, make it quick. If there aren’t any problems, we’ll start in a bit.”
Everyone agreed. The religious masters closed their eyes and started meditating, saving energy for later.
Yu Zhengdu had hesitated for a long time during the trip. Now, he finally made up his mind. He stood up to seek out Ming Peiran. Then, he handed his phone to the other and said, “Captain Ming, I think that you might want to tell the higher-ups to have the relevant department conduct a thorough investigation on Si Mountain Ridge’s religiosity.”
Ming Peiran watched the video on Yu Zhengdu’s phone. His brows instantly furrowed together. “What’s this?”
Yu Zhengdu answered, “‘Where Are We Going, Mom?’”
Ming Peiran temporarily couldn’t react. “What?”
Yu Zhengdu: “The variety show recordings that the local Si Mountain Ridge village committee distributes to everyone. In actuality, they might all contain this content.”
“What?” Ming Peiran was shocked. The video was clearly showing some strange scriptures overlaid with an audio recording. Later in the video, there was also a man, whose face couldn’t be clearly seen, describing some strange doctrines.
Yu Zhengdu: “I suspect that Si Mountain Ridge isn’t atheist at all. Instead, they’ve started becoming secretly religious. It’s very likely that this is because they can’t let the outside world find out about what they’re worshipping.”
Ming Peiran watched as the man in the video incessantly repeated the words “piety, worship, focus, secret” and more. A chill ran up his spine. This video’s contents truly did satisfy the unique characteristics linked to the spreading of cult beliefs. However, the cult itself wasn’t what caused him great shock. Instead, what terrified him was – if what Yu Zhengdu was saying was true, it was very likely that the entirety of Si Mountain Ridge had always been under this cult’s control, even the cadre units. Additionally, this had probably been going on for a very long time. What kind of power did they hold?
“What religion is this?” Ming Peiran stared at the video. The special department had a basic understanding of all the varying cult organizations in the nation, but there were no records about the one mentioned in this video.
Yu Zhengdu shook his head. Coincidentally, Daoist priest Mu was nearby too. He watched the video for a while as well and revealed a confused expression. “It seems that they’re worshipping the Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu.”
Yu Zhengdu furrowed his brows. “The Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu?”
“Didn’t you ask me about Luofeng Mountain in the past?” Daoist priest Mu asked. “The Great Emperor of Fengdu is the owner of Luofeng Mountain. He’s the supreme ruler of the entire Underworld.”
There were many historical records about the Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu. According to legends, he was the owner of Luofeng Mountain and the ghost city of Fengdu. He controlled the entirety of Hell and the Underworld. There were ten Yamas under his command and he could order around ten thousand ghosts.
When he had initially joined Luofeng for work, Yu Zhengdu had already looked up the history of Luofeng Mountain. He naturally knew about this previous owner of Luofeng Mountain. According to legends, after the collapse of the Heavens and Hell, the Great Emperor of Fengdu and the ten Yamas had all disappeared. This was also the reason why all of Hell’s current operations in the mortal realm were being taken care of by Shang Que, who had previously been the Ghost King.
As Daoist priest Mu spoke, he revealed a confused expression. “Since ancient times, Si Mountain Ridge has worshipped ghosts instead of gods. They’ve always worshipped the Great Emperor of Fengdu and the ten Yamas. Technically, there’s no need to make everything so mysterious?”
Ming Peiran was completely lost after hearing this. “Daoist priest Mu, do you mean that Si Mountain Ridge worshipped the Great Emperor of Fengdu in the past too?”
“Yes.” Daoist priest Mu explained, “Si Mountain Ridge would also send representatives to attend the National Religious Assembly conferences in the past. The god they worshipped was the Great Emperor of Fengdu. Later on, the religious world went through a period of unrest. After regaining order, though, everyone still acted in the same way they had in the past. Only, Si Mountain Ridge never appeared again. Everyone assumed that the Si Mountain Ridge area had completely given up on their previous religion. Seeing the current situation now, though, it seems like they’ve actually still been remaining faithful?”
“There must be something wrong if things have fallen off the original path,” Ming Peiran said in his deep voice. “After taking care of the drought demon, I’ll immediately report this to the higher-ups.”
Though Daoist priest Mu had explained the contents of the video, Yu Zhengdu’s inner suspicions became even greater. Just as Daoist priest Mu had stated, if Si Mountain Ridge had worshipped the Great Emperor of Fengdu since historical times, there was absolutely no need for them to suddenly start doing so in secret.
He recalled those terrifying human face sores. Could this be related to those things? But Shang Que wasn’t back yet. He wasn’t sure if he ought to tell Ming Peiran about the sores.
Just as Yu Zhengdu was deep in thought, the voice of the Wuqi citizen suddenly sounded out from next to him. “Yi? Aren’t these the prayer scriptures for the Great Emperor of Fengdu?”
Yu Zhengdu turned to look at him. He discovered that the Wuqi citizen had sat down next to him at some unknown time and was in the middle of secretly eating some dirt now that nobody was paying attention to him. He was also peeking at Yu Zhengdu’s phone screen.
Yu Zhengdu looked at him. “You recognize these?”
“Of course. Si Mountain Ridge has always worshipped the ghosts of Luofeng Mountain,” the Wuqi citizen offhandedly replied. “However, they just weren’t very dedicated. When I first got to Si Mountain Ridge, they were still worshipping the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain. They only started worshipping the Great Emperor of Fengdu and the ten Yamas later, when the Ghost King got sealed away in a joint effort by the three realms.”
Yu Zhengdu’s temple throbbed. His fingers slightly tightened around his phone. Calmly, he continued asking, “This place used to worship the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain?”
“Yeah. How much incense fire did the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain receive from the mortal realm back then? It isn’t too much to say that he was the most popular among the gods and ghosts. However, this was normal too. The Ghost King had been born of the evil energies under Luofeng Mountain. From birth, he had limitless magical powers. He could control the ten thousand evil ghosts and was the true ‘son of Luofeng Mountain.’ It wasn’t strange at all that Si Mountain Ridge would worship the Ghost King.”
Yu Zhengdu: “Then tell me what happened when the Ghost King got sealed away by the three realms.”
He thought of the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain, who had suddenly disappeared from all legends and records of the mortal realm a thousand years ago. Had he actually been sealed away?
“Well I’m not sure about that.” The Wuqi citizen held his hands out helplessly. “How could I, an extraordinarily ordinary citizen, have known anything about a decision the Supreme Ones had made?”
Yu Zhengdu’s tone was filled with suspicion. “Extraordinarily ordinary citizen?”
“Wuqi citizens are ordinary citizens!” The Wuqi citizen resolutely answered. He scratched his head. “Ey, I normally lived in a cave, thus I don’t really know too much about what happened in the mortal realm back then either.”
Yu Zhengdu fell silent briefly. “Think some more. If you can remember anything, I’ll teach you a method to publicly eat dirt in the future and not be treated as a monster.”
“There’s such a method?” The Wuqi citizen instantly widened his eyes. As expected, he started seriously racking his memory.
At this time, the girl in cyan had finished being questioned too. She started walking aimlessly around the room. In the end, she stared at the Wuqi citizen – the only one who was wearing a dress like her – and sat down next to him with no hesitation at all.
“Aaah, I can’t remember!” The Wuqi citizen yanked at his hair in agitation.
Yu Zhengdu calmly said, “Keep thinking.”
“I really don’t know much about the events related to the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain.” The Wuqi citizen’s eyes darted around. “How about this. I can tell you a horror story from back then. Do you want to hear it?”
Yu Zhengdu side-eyed him. “Horror story?”
The Wuqi citizen rubbed his arms. “Yes. It’s super horrifying! Aiya, I still get goosebumps thinking about it now!”
Upon seeing how serious he was being, Yu Zhengdu hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Okay, tell me and we’ll see.”
Thus, the Wuqi citizen scooted a bit closer. He whispered, “Just a little time before the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain got sealed away, I encountered a woodcutter on the mountain. At the time, he didn’t notice me. Halfway through cutting some wood, he suddenly rolled up his pant leg. Wow, that almost scared me to death……Did you know? There was actually a human face growing on his leg.”
Yu Zhengdu’s expression instantly changed. He silently stared at the Wuqi citizen.
While patting his own chest, the Wuqi citizen instinctively pulled out a piece of dirt to chew on.
Yu Zhengdu was just about to ask for more details when he abruptly heard the girl in cyan ask curiously, “What are you eating?”
The Wuqi citizen was still trembling. Without thinking at all, he offhandedly handed a piece of dirt to the girl in cyan. “Do you want to try?”
“Okay.” The girl in cyan accepted the piece of dirt that the Wuqi citizen had carefully picked out. With a crunch crunch, she bit into it twice. She chewed it a few times and swallowed, then commented, “I don’t find it very tasty.”
Yu Zhengdu: ?!!!
Sister, is this only a matter of whether or not it’s tasty?