Chapter 207: The Mysterious Mountain Ghost Appears

Axi: "…"

Axi instantly didn't dare to pick them anymore, and instead reached for a white mushroom beside her. "Qinghuan, this one's not poisonous—it's a white mushroom."

Nan Qinghuan glanced at it—it was edible. "Be careful. Red caps and white stems are both no-gos; anything else without fungus is fine."

"Mm."

Axi firmly remembered her words, and then the two of them wove through the mountain forest. Picking mushrooms also took experience—carefully pluck them, gently place them in the basket; if you were too rough, you'd damage them, and they'd look awful.

After the rain, the forest was heavy with moisture, but the air was very fresh.

The two followed the stretch where the mushrooms grew, picking as they went. Soon, their small baskets couldn't hold any more.

Axi lifted her basket, which was nearly overflowing. "Qinghuan, it's already too full. What kind of wild greens were you talking about?"

Her people had only ever eaten meat and some fruit before; wild greens were a novelty.

Nan Qinghuan had also gathered a good amount. She lifted her basket and looked around, just about to search for traces of wild greens, when suddenly… she saw a blur of grayish something darting toward them from within the forest.

"Axi, watch out!"

"Roar…"

In an instant, that monster lunged at Axi. Nan Qinghuan dropped her basket and sprinted after it. "Axi!"

"Qinghuan!"

The monster pinned Axi to the ground and tried to kill her. Axi was terrified, crying nonstop. "It's a mountain ghost, it's a mountain ghost!"

"Mountain ghost?"

That thing—like a monkey but not a monkey—was a mountain ghost? It had a long tail, sharp claws, and a small head, its body entirely black, about the size of a full-grown gorilla. This was an ancient creature she had never seen before.

With a thud, Nan Qinghuan threw a stone at the monster, hitting it square on the head.

"Wah wah…"

The creature, in pain, dropped Axi, then turned around, baring its teeth and hissing as it charged at Nan Qinghuan.

"Roar…"

"Don't come any closer!"

Nan Qinghuan backed away step by step, holding the Fruit Knife. The creature actually seemed afraid of the weapon in her hand and dared not advance.

Seizing the moment, she told Axi to get up quickly. "Get up and run!"

"Qinghuan, there's a flute sound."

From within the forest came a broken, intermittent flute melody. The mountain ghost grew unusually agitated upon hearing it. Its body was covered in short black fuzz, with a pair of round, gleaming eyes, a very small head, and a very large rear.

It just stood there, baring its teeth and glaring at her.

Yes, that was it—it looked like an ape, but it wasn't the same species.

Last night, this very thing had gone to tear off their roof tiles. Her intuition told her this creature had a master, that it had been tamed.

"Hoo, hoo…"

The mountain ghost received the order to attack and lunged at her. Nan Qinghuan was knocked to the ground. She tried to stab the knife into the back of the mountain ghost's neck, but unexpectedly, the mountain ghost suddenly caught sight of her eyes.

Blue eyes.

The mountain ghost immediately backed off, not daring to come forward, just baring its teeth and hissing with a "hoo hoo."

"Qinghuan, what do we do?"

"Axi, run!"

The two girls ran very fast. Axi dragged Nan Qinghuan along like a madwoman, abandoning the mushrooms, desperately sprinting outward. The mountain ghost watched them run, shook its head, and then gave chase.

Nan Qinghuan was running so hard her shoes were about to fall off. "I can't go on, Axi. I'm not running anymore. You go back and tell Ying—the mountain ghost has appeared, and that person is out too."

"No, I can't leave you behind. Qinghuan, run with me. Once we leave the forest, we'll be safe. The Tulou is just ahead."

"I can't. I can't run anymore."

Nan Qinghuan felt like she was about to die. Her stamina was usually decent, but compared to this wild creature, she was at a clear disadvantage.

"Come on, I'll carry you on my back. Get on."

Axi crouched down, wanting to carry her, but Nan Qinghuan refused. Suddenly, she saw… "It's coming."

The mountain ghost leaped and landed in front of them. It was also exhausted, baring its teeth and staring at them. Axi wanted to protect Nan Qinghuan, but Nan Qinghuan pushed Axi behind her.

"Don't be afraid."

The mountain ghost was tamed. Since it hadn't received a new order, it didn't attack, but it blocked their path—they couldn't go forward, and they couldn't retreat.

The eerie flute sound came again. Nan Qinghuan clenched a handful of stones in her hand. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

The flute sound made the mountain ghost very agitated, but it seemed wary of Nan Qinghuan's eyes and didn't dare approach.

Axi also noticed—the mountain ghost seemed afraid to come closer.

"Qinghuan, it's afraid of you. How is that possible? Why would a mountain ghost be afraid of you?"

To confirm this guess, Axi boldly stepped out from in front of Nan Qinghuan. Sure enough, the mountain ghost tried to pounce, but when she hid back behind Nan Qinghuan…

The mountain ghost didn't dare come forward again.

"Qinghuan, it's afraid of you. We don't need to be scared of it anymore—it's afraid of you."

"Afraid of me?"

She had nothing right now—just a rock and a small knife. There was no reason for this creature to be afraid of her.

Axi saw the trick. "I get it—it's afraid of your eyes. You have different-colored eyes, Qinghuan. We're saved!"

"Eyes?"

Nan Qinghuan was a bit dazed, but then it suddenly clicked. Yes—when she had first gotten lost and crossed into this forest, the three-eyed Giant Python had also suddenly been afraid of her, and later she and Ying had killed it together.

She also remembered last time, when A Yue had thrown her into the snake pit, those snakes hadn't bitten her either. Could it all be because of these eyes? Were all these ancient creatures afraid of blue eyes? Should she be happy about that? "Hoo hoo…"

The mountain ghost wanted to attack but didn't dare, yet the flute sound kept urging it on. Nan Qinghuan saw her chance and had no time to waste with it.

"Axi, run!"

She had intended to run, but Axi froze in an instant.

"Qinghuan, look…"

From the depths of the Forest emerged a man; he was towering, about two and a half meters tall, taller than Ying, with a fierce, terrifying appearance, wearing Beast Skin, his upper body bare, and a wolf‑head hat on his head.

"Y‑you, who are you?"

Axi was terrified; who was this man she had never seen before? The man stepped toward Nan Qinghuan, and upon seeing her so petite, he sneered, "Who is Nan Qinghuan?"

"I am… who are you?"

The mountain spirit, seeing the man arrive, scurried to his rear; it was clear the man was its master, and the flute sound earlier had been played by him.

When the man saw the mountain spirit up to no good, he became enraged, drew a whip and slammed it at the spirit; the lash knocked the mountain spirit to the ground, trembling.

"Fool, why didn't you strike when you were allowed to kill her?"

The mountain spirit seemed to understand its master's words, whimpering, and Nan Qinghuan couldn't comprehend, nor could Axi. After hearing the spirit's words, the man suddenly turned his gaze toward Nan Qinghuan.

Those blue eyes.

"Are you a heterochromic person?"

Nan Qinghuan was stunned, then asked again, "What exactly are you, daring to come to the Tribe with that thing and cause trouble? Aren't you afraid Ying will kill you?" "Ying?"

The man laughed heartily, "He won't come to save you; this place is still far from your Tribe. Nan Qinghuan, you deserve to die."

"Why do you want to kill me? I must know the reason, right?"

"You don't know?"

Nan Qinghuan shook her head, gripping the Fruit Knife tightly, "I only save people and have never harmed anyone, so I don't know. Who exactly are you?"

"Who am I?"

A pain gathered in the man's eyes, "You killed Wolf Girl Acai."

"Acai?"

She and Axi exchanged a glance; could the man be of the wolf clan? "Are you of the wolf clan?"

"That's right, I am the Wolf Girl's guardian. Nan Qinghuan, you killed my Wolf Girl; you deserve death."

As soon as he spoke, the man brandished his whip and lunged at Nan Qinghuan. Suddenly, Axi shouted, "You cannot kill Qinghuan; she is the wolf clan's leader, you cannot kill her!"

"Leader? Hmph, I, Kudzu Root, only recognize the Wolf Girl as master; what does a leader matter?"

"Axi…"

When the two tried to flee, suddenly a hail of Long Arrows whistled from behind, raining down.

"Ambush!"

"Stop!"

Everyone looked behind and saw… "Ying"

The man wasn't hit by the Long Arrows, but his attention was scattered, and he could no longer run.

Ying arrived with the group, strode forward, and shielded her behind him, "Qinghuan, are you alright?"

"Ying, I'm fine."

"Ying, you're here; this man wants to kill Qinghuan."

Hearing that, Ying kept Nan Qinghuan protected behind him, and Nan Qinghuan silently breathed a sigh of relief; the person had indeed arrived.

Ying's sharp gaze swept the man, "Kudzu Root, did you come for the Wolf Girl?"

Kudzu Root saw Ying surrounding him, and glanced at the unafraid Nan Qinghuan behind him; he suddenly realized, "So you two were colluding, Ying, you didn't go to the river?"