Chapter 155: 152. Eerie Mountain Forest

152. Eerie Mountain Forest

Chen Xiaolin blinked, staring into Li Duojin's eyes, and said, "I remember, didn't I say it already? She suffered from cancer and passed away suddenly after a flare-up at home."

As she spoke, the quick-witted Chen Xiaolin grabbed Li Duojin's sleeve and asked nervously, "Did you see something on me?"

Li Duojin paused for a second, "No."

"... You actually hesitated, so you really did see something, didn't you!?" Chen Xiaolin shrieked.

Li Duojin put on a helpless expression, likely knowing he wasn't good at lying, and said, "Fine, Zheng Yu's wife is currently following you."

"Why?" Chen Xiaolin shuddered all over. She turned her head back, feeling confused and nervous, looking around suspiciously, "Why are you pestering me, Chen Lanfang? Did I do something bad to wrong you?"

Li Duojin said to Chen Xiaolin, "It's useless. She isn't a ghost in the human sense. To be precise, she is a type of residual thought-form. If a life's consciousness has intense fluctuations before death—like obsessions or extreme joy and sorrow—it is possible for a thought-form identical in appearance to the living person to be born. If a person's mental frequency is in a position to observe thought-forms, they will perceive the existence of the thought-form, which is what we commonly call a ghost.

However, because a thought-form is not a complete human consciousness—its memories are incomplete, extreme, and its desires intense—most thought-forms basically lack the ability to think, so they won't pay attention to what you say, let alone listen to you reason with them."

"I've had the worst luck." Chen Xiaolin held her forehead, then asked Li Duojin pitifully, "What will she do to me?"

"As of now, she seems to have some malice toward you, but she hasn't taken any action..." Li Duojin's expression grew heavy as he said this, suddenly realizing a terrifying fact, "But if Zheng Yu's wife, Chen Lanfang, is here, then was the ritual Zheng Yu performed a success or a failure? Or could it be that Zheng Yu performed the ritual not to let Chen Lanfang be reborn, but with other intentions?

Is it possible that the one he wanted to resurrect wasn't Chen Lanfang, but someone else? Or is it that Zheng Yu actually knew the inside story of the ritual, and what he was actually trying to summon wasn't his lover's soul, but the Alien God the ritual truly intended to invite to descend, the 'Inverted Creator'?"

Li Duojin's self-muttering threw out a series of questions, but the more Chen Xiaolin heard, the colder she felt, "Come to think of it, what kind of Vessel did Zheng Yu place in the ritual he set up in the attic at home?"

"First, rule out that it was a human." Li Duojin sighed, "If a human Vessel had been used, the signs of struggle left in the attic shouldn't have looked like that. That was something only achievable in a non-human realm."

As he spoke, Li Duojin answered Chen Xiaolin's previous question about her own safety, saying, "Don't worry about her hurting you. If she makes a move, I will protect you immediately. After all, you have paid."

Chen Xiaolin was slightly moved and nodded silently.

The further they walked into the deep mountains, the fewer flat paths and built stairs there were, and the more dilapidated they became.

Unknowingly, the two had already walked into the mountain forest.

Without sunlight, the tree canopy blocked the sky, and the abundant vegetation brought fresh air and coolness. Chen Xiaolin felt the breeze brushing against her back, cooling the sweat on her spine and blowing the temperature into her heart.

Although there was no evidence to prove that Wang Kuishan was definitely in this mountain forest, judging by the fact that Li Duojin had become silent and solemn at some unknown moment, she guessed that Li Duojin, who could see things hidden beneath reality, must have seen something here.

Cold sweat was also breaking out on Li Duojin's head. Although he appeared to have a firm gait, Chen Xiaolin knew that he was also afraid at this moment.

Chen Xiaolin did not know what exactly Li Duojin had seen, but she knew he was suppressing his fear and not telling her so as not to make her worry or be afraid. She couldn't help but hold his cold hand, hoping her meager warmth could bring him a trace of comfort, and tried to follow Li Duojin's gaze to observe the world.

At least, let her help share some of the fear, even if this was not a very good idea.

The two walked into a section of the path on the mountainside of Jinma Mountain. Here, it was almost impossible to see any traces of human footsteps. They walked into an undeveloped area of the mountain where plants grew wantonly. Thorny vines and tree roots were intertwined and tangled, growing in a crisscross pattern on this land. Green and black were the main tones of this place; no flowers or other plant colors could be seen.

Noticing that Li Duojin's gaze swept over a dark spot in the woods multiple times, Chen Xiaolin thought to herself, what exactly is hidden in that black hole wrapped in countless weeds and vines? Why is there a hollow here? Did something crawl inside?

With a thousand thoughts, the more Chen Xiaolin thought, the more her scalp tingled. She knew well that it might be something more terrifying and eerie than she could imagine. It was she who had walked into this forbidden realm that humans should not touch without thinking or looking back, so these fears were something she had to endure.

Whether it was the panic of her emotions or her brain being swayed by irrational feelings, she suddenly caught a glimpse of two pale yellow rays of light flashing in the black hollow, like a pair of glowing eyes hidden in the dark.

Although it was a fleeting glance, Chen Xiaolin felt the emotion of those pale yellow eyes: it was absolute indifference and nihilistic dead silence.

Unknowingly, the hands that Chen Xiaolin and Li Duojin were tightly holding were already woven with sweat. Fear was like glue, sticking their hands closely together as if there were no gaps.

Suddenly, Li Duojin stopped his steps, and Chen Xiaolin looked at him.

She saw Li Duojin, who had not spoken for a long time, open his tightly shut mouth. The semi-dried saliva remaining on his lips stretched out like glue as his lips parted. Li Duojin licked his lips, pointed to the sheep-track path that appeared before them, and said, "Here."

Chen Xiaolin looked at this path, which was clearly trampled out not long ago, and her breathing grew heavy. She noticed the fabric and unidentified black mucus hanging on the branches of the plants around the path. She realized that the person they were looking for was really here now; they had come to the right place.

Biting the bullet, Chen Xiaolin and Li Duojin held hands, one in front of the other, and followed the footprints extending along the path.

After passing through the thorn-like forest, they followed the footprints to a ground fissure.

The footprints disappeared in front of the fissure, which was constantly blowing out eerie, cold wind, as if declaring to the two that someone had jumped down from here.

The two leaned over to look down into the fissure, feeling the coldness of the underground wind brushing their faces. At the same time, a whispering sound in an intricate, unknown language was being delivered to their ears repeatedly along with the cold wind, just like a welcoming horn from hell.