Chapter 12: Night Exploration of Black Cloud Mountain Villa

Li Qingran left the New World Garden residential complex and immediately saw Heiye waiting there for a long time.

Heiye got straight to the point: "Boss, Ning Na recommended a residence. It used to be a private mountain villa called Black Cloud Mountain Villa.

Right at the foot of Black Cloud Mountain.

I went to check it out this morning. The location's great, the environment is quiet, and the spiritual energy is abundant.

Just a bit creepy. Broad daylight, yet it's gloomy and eerie — scary as hell."

As he spoke, Heiye rubbed his arms and shivered.

"Oh?"

Li Qingran's eyes narrowed slightly, a look of disdain on his face:

"Heiye, your Demon God Eyes are basically an upgraded version of Yin-Yang Eyes — a born exorcist, Yin-Yang master, feng shui grandmaster. And you're still afraid of ghosts?"

Heiye gave an embarrassed laugh: "If I hadn't lost my Yang Eye and only have the Yin Eye left, no ghost could touch me. Female ghosts, bring it on — I could fight three hundred rounds no problem.

Back to business. Boss, want to go take a look? It's a real headache for ordinary spirit masters, but for you, old man, isn't it just a little Caesar?"

"Tell me the details about Black Cloud Mountain Villa." Li Qingran grew interested. He cultivated the Demon God Refining Art — to him, demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters were just experience points.

Heiye explained leisurely: "Supposedly, Black Cloud Mountain Villa's predecessor was an ancient Cold Palace, where yin energy was extremely heavy."

The so-called Cold Palace is a general term for the palaces where offending concubines were confined — not that the palace's actual name is 'Cold Palace'.

Women in the Cold Palace inevitably harbored heavy resentment, and many died there.

Since Black Cloud Mountain Villa was built, strange incidents have been frequent — hauntings happen every so often.

The original owner hired spirit masters to exorcise it, wave after wave, like cutting chives — it never stopped.

By now, Black Cloud Mountain Villa has been abandoned for months. Even in broad daylight it's gloomy and eerie — no one dares approach.

The most recent haunting: an online streamer went to Black Cloud Mountain Villa at midnight to livestream for clout, and the stream suddenly cut out.

The next day, his corpse was found at the villa's entrance.

And the death was gruesome — his internal organs had been hollowed out, as if eaten by something terrifying.

The Spirit Master Bureau of Heihai City, responsible for handling supernatural incidents, gave no definitive answer either — just sealed off Black Cloud Mountain Villa, banning citizens from entering, violators bear the consequences.

This only made Black Cloud Mountain Villa's reputation grow even more sinister.

So Ning Na got it for barely any money.

"Send me the address. Tonight. I'll go check it out." Li Qingran said indifferently, then added: "You're coming too."

Heiye's face fell: "Hah? Boss, that's really not necessary..."

"Cut the crap."

"..."

Night fell, the sky dark.

Rain kept falling, but not heavily.

"Route planning in progress. Beep Beep Taxi reminds you: please fasten your seatbelt upon entering..."

Li Qingran and Heiye sat in the car, heading for Black Cloud Mountain Villa.

The driver chatted enthusiastically: "From your accents, you're not locals, right? What're you going there for?"

Heiye: "A date."

"Holy cow!" The driver nearly lost control, mentally giving a thumbs up: "Young people these days really know how to play."

"I'd advise you not to go there. That place is haunted." The driver lowered his voice, speaking conspiratorially: "Even official spirit masters can't handle it. Just last month they put up seals.

If you want thrills, why not come to my place? The three of us...

... can play Fight the Landlord together."

The driver was a genuine guy.

The road was dark, but the heart was warm.

Soon, amid a mechanical female voice, they arrived at Black Cloud Mountain Villa.

"Your destination is approaching. Thank you for using Beep Beep Taxi."

"Hey, you really won't consider Fight the Landlord? We're two short." With the driver's mindset of saving two lives being better than building a fourteen-story pagoda, he tried one last time.

Li Qingran and Heiye, carrying umbrellas, stepped into the rustling rain.

Heiye suddenly grinned wickedly: "Midnight ghost hails a cab, man carries ghost, ghost goes home, hehehehe..."

In the reflection of the taillights, the driver saw Heiye's smiling one-eyed face, and the whole man froze.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!"

The next instant, dust and smoke billowed, speed eighty kilometers per hour, the power of running with the wind...

Black Cloud Mountain sits in Heihai City's suburbs. It used to be a chaotic burial mound; only in recent years did environmental cleanup transform it into a scenic area.

But it's still sparsely populated.

Let alone at night.

From afar, the entire mountain peak holds only one structure — Black Cloud Mountain Villa — giving a desolate feel, like a gathering place for ghosts in the dark night.

A forest of gloom, incomparably eerie.

"Interesting, right, Heiye?" Li Qingran's face wore a satisfied smile. All of this — experience points.

Heiye had the Demon Eye. Even though his cultivation was only Spirit General, ordinary filth and corruption couldn't hide from his sight.

Right now, his forehead was damp — whether cold sweat or rainwater, who knew.

He wore a mournful face: "Not just interesting. Anyone who didn't know better would think they'd stumbled into a haunted house — the whole place is packed with vengeful spirits!"

"Come on. We're here, let's go see how beautiful the Cold Palace concubines are." Li Qingran walked forward on his own, entering the courtyard.

Rustle rustle rustle!

Rain mixed with the whoosh of wind through trees, adding a few more degrees of bone-piercing chill.

Li Qingran, like a competent streamer, explained to Heiye: "The surrounding temperature has dropped, something is approaching."

"Se... sensed it."

Heiye's eyes stared straight at the surroundings, filled with vigilance.

Boom!

Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

Li Qingran seemed to sense something, raised his head and looked toward the eaves directly above the villa's main gate.

He saw a white-clothed woman with disheveled hair, sitting alone there, her mouth wide open toward the sky, as if drinking rainwater.

The woman's face had not a trace of blood color, deathly pale, deathly pale; looking more closely, one could discover her belly was swollen, seemingly pregnant.

This woman was an imperial concubine during the Ming Dynasty; because she offended a treacherous minister, the minister slandered her before the emperor, saying the imperial son she carried was not the emperor's own flesh and blood.

The emperor believed the slander, cast her into the cold palace, and forbade anyone from providing her food, causing her to be starved to death in the cold palace.

Before death, she crawled under the eaves, drinking rainwater to stave off hunger.

Because her resentment was extremely great, after death she became a malicious spirit, super fierce.

"I'm so hungry, so hungry..."

Heiye looked along Li Qingran's gaze, just meeting the woman's hollow eyes, his hair standing on end instantly: "Big sis, don't look at me, I don't taste good, I have foot odor, armpit odor..."

Li Qingran was somewhat speechless.

He swept a glance over the entire Heiyun Mountain Villa, lifted his foot and stomped, a thread of demonic spiritual power drilled into the ground below, the entire Heiyun Mountain Villa seemed to tremble slightly.

An array formation surrounding Heiyun Mountain Villa revealed itself.

The next instant, Heiyun Mountain's ghostly qi churned restlessly.

"I'm so wronged!"

"I'm unwilling!"

"..."

Across all of Heiyun Mountain, resentful spirits could be seen everywhere.

Among them, the female ghosts in Heiyun Mountain Villa had the most vigorous aura, and the woman on the eaves was the most so.

Li Qingran chuckled: "Someone set up an array formation here, gathering yin qi to nurture yin spirits; if I haven't guessed wrong, this is crafting a spirit."

Artificial means, forging a guardian spirit!