Chapter 51: Mountain God Manifests

That was actually a human skull!

At such close range, the visual shock made Ma Tian's hairs stand on end all over his body.

Everyone who saw this horrifying scene was already scared witless.

"Run!"

It was Yang Cheng who reacted first, shouting loudly, and he didn't forget to take Hu Xiaocao with him.

Only then did they come to their senses, terrified out of their wits, and they bolted into the mist.

They ran, gasping for air, not daring to stop.

After who knows how long, they noticed that the creature seemed not to be chasing them, and only then did they slowly stop.

Liu Siming, panting, asked: "What the hell was that thing just now?"

No one could answer that question.

This mountain forest is truly sinister; if given another chance, they would never set foot here again, but now it's too late to say anything.

Ma Tian looked around suspiciously, his face deathly pale, making a hushing gesture: "Don't speak, lest we summon that thing again."

There really are ghosts in the mountains!

After that ordeal, everyone's nerves were worn thin to the point of breaking.

Whenever they felt hope approaching, reality always dealt them a blow, continually squeezing their sanity; these people were not far from total collapse.

In the corner of his eye, Yang Cheng caught sight of Hu Xiaocao; unexpectedly, she appeared unusually calm, even leisurely glancing around.

Several grown men were scared stiff, yet a small child couldn't possibly stay so composed—in fact, she wasn't wailing in terror.

"Hey, aren't you afraid?"

Hu Xiaocao tilted her head and countered: "Why should I be afraid?"

The child before them was malnourished, yet her eyes were large, lively, and pure; her thin face had no flesh, which only made those big eyes stand out.

Yang Cheng and the others exchanged glances, looking at those black, large eyes, and suddenly felt an inexplicable, indescribable fear.

But clearly, the little girl before them posed no threat at all.

"Why be afraid?" Ma Tian lowered his voice, looking around, and said: "Because there are ghosts here!"

Hu Xiaocao gave a small smile: "This isn't a ghost; it's the Mountain God Grandfather. I told you before—who made you not believe me?"

Her childish voice sounded to Yang Cheng and the others utterly uncanny.

What she said was even more chilling.

Her innocent face, in their eyes, looked ghastly and eerie.

Yang Cheng and the others couldn't help but step back; this little girl was also quite sinister.

Just when they didn't know how to respond.

A single sentence from Hu Xiaocao made everyone's hearts sink into the abyss; she exclaimed gleefully, "The Mountain God Grandfather is right behind you!"

Everyone instinctively turned around.

But they saw the surrounding white mist finally dissipate, moonlight shining on a stone not far away, like rippling water, stirring faint ripples.

A skeleton, its back to them, sat cross-legged, facing the moon; each bone emitted a soft glow, almost holy to the extreme.

Beside the white bone lay a green snake, bathed in silver light, inhaling and exhaling the moonlight.

It was indeed the very snake they had seen earlier!

Only, this snake had no black on it, being incredibly verdant, slightly different.

At this moment, it seemed to sense their gaze.

"Crack—crack—"

The grating sound rang out again; the skeleton's body didn't move, but it slowly turned its head.

Its hollow eye sockets once again fixed on them, especially conspicuous in the moonlight, revealing an endless abyss within!

Just one glance seemed to want to swallow them whole.

As their eyes met, a freezing chill enveloped their whole bodies, making them shiver uncontrollably.

Ma Tian and the others tried to look away, but their bodies felt rooted to the spot, unable to move.

Then, the skeleton rose unsteadily, swaying as it came toward them.

Accompanied by the grinding of its joints, the sound incessantly assaulted their hearing and vision, almost enough to drive a person mad.

At that moment, they felt only creepy-crawly dread; the thread of reason in Yang Cheng's and Ma Tian's minds finally snapped completely.

It turned out that when people are extremely frightened, they truly cannot speak!

By contrast, Hu Xiaocao felt no fear, for in her view the white bone had remained seated there, unmoving, bathed in moonlight and looking exceptionally holy, her whole body like jade, with not a trace of gloom.

Seeing the snake beside the white bone, she knew the Mountain God Grandfather had manifested to save her.

Moreover, a child's thoughts are pure, and she hadn't overthought it.

Even because of Ye Qin, she naturally carried a kind of filter, so she didn't find the scene before her frightening at all.

But these traffickers harbored inner demons; their dark sides were magnified countless times, and combined with the previous strange events, it was enough to become the final straw that broke the camel's back.

And what they saw was completely different from what Hu Xiaocao saw.

As the white bone loomed near, at that moment their bodies finally could move; the four of them, like madmen, turned and fled with terrified howls, disappearing into the mist in no time.

And as they went away, where was there any image of the white bone walking?

It was nothing more than a heart-demon delusion spawned by the evil thoughts in their minds!

The white bone had remained seated beneath the bright moon from start to finish, cross-legged, back to the world, silent and lifeless.

This is the true appearance of that illusion.

But whenever each person entered this illusion, under Ye Qin's spell, upon seeing the white bone beneath the bright moon, they would produce different delusions.

If one's mind were as clear as Hu Xiaocao's, naturally they could see the truth.

Although these traffickers' hands have never been directly stained with blood, the number of women and children who have died because of them is countless.

Moreover, countless families have been torn apart because of them.

They have made a fortune from this, profiting greatly from human lives, yet they never believed in karma or retribution.

But the various supernatural occurrences have forced them to believe: could the wronged souls who died unjustly at their hands have come to claim their lives?

Heaven's way cycles, retribution is inevitable—now it has finally befallen them!

After Ma Tian came to his senses, aside from the hazy white mist, there was no one else around.

The tremendous fright just now scattered him and the other three.

"Yang Cheng?"

"Liu Siming? Where are you guys?"

"Is anyone there?"

Ma Tian's voice trembled as he called out the names of the others.

But all that came back from around him was a hollow echo.

His voice sounded strange, continually drifting in the air—like weeping and lamenting, utterly ghostly.

Frightened, Ma Tian hastily clamped his mouth shut, daring not to make another sound, lest he attract that white skeleton.

He staggered forward, trembling.

"Ma Tian—"

In the mist not far away, it seemed someone was calling his name, sounding like Yang Cheng's voice.

"I'm here!"

Ma Tian was overjoyed and followed the sound's direction.

When a person is alone, especially in such an environment, they desperately hope to find a companion.

Panic and unease assailed Ma Tian, gradually eroding his basic judgment, and he failed to notice the distortion and falseness in that voice.

Originally the mist around Ma Tian was somewhat thin, but with this movement he stepped back into thick fog.

Soon the thick fog slowly engulfed his figure, as if he had stepped onto a road of no return.

"Ma Tian—"

That voice seemed right at hand, just ahead, but Ma Tian walked for a long time without seeing a single figure, and he couldn't help but feel like retreating.

As his view was once again obscured by the thick fog, Ma Tian finally sensed something was wrong and tentatively called out: "Yang Cheng, I'm here—where are you?"

"Ma Tian—"

There was no response from the other side; it just kept calling his name.

It sounded illusory and unfathomable, faintly mixed with a hint of ghostliness—utterly unlike anything a normal human could produce.

Because of fear, Ma Tian's facial features twitched again.

He wanted to return the way he came, but when he turned around, the original path had been swallowed by the thick fog, and even the ground was indistinct.

He was completely lost in it, unable to find any direction.

(End of chapter)