Chapter 158: The Legend of the Mountain Goblin Spirit

In my dazed sleep, I seemed to feel a warm current slowly flowing over my body; I thought I had dreamed a dream from which I would never wake, but to my surprise, when the sun rose the next day, I still woke up.

Looking at my fair hands, I pinched my face hard, yet for a long time I remained dazed.

But I had indeed woken up; not only was I not poisoned to death, my whole body was filled with an indescribable vigor.

Xiao Changsheng lay on my back, seemingly asleep; I dared not wake him, gently lifted him up and placed him on the nearby straw mat.

Afterwards, I stood up and casually stretched my limbs; with a few casual shakes, my wrists emitted a series of crackling sounds, and my whole body felt invigorated.

Could it be that the poison of this withered hand is actually a great tonic, capable of cleansing the essence and purifying the marrow, fighting poison with poison?

Thinking this, I lowered my head and looked toward the place where I had fought the previous night.

It wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't looked, but once I did, I was utterly terrified.

Last night, due to the lighting, I couldn't get a clear look at the monster's hand; it only felt like a tree to me, eerie but with nothing else I could analyze.

Now seeing this withered monster hand, the broken end bears a burn scar, the hand is covered in fine hair, and the skin resembles the withered roots of an old tree; I finally recalled its origin.

If there's no mistake, this is a hand? Well, that's nonsense; the point is, this is the hand of a mountain goblin.

Mountain goblins, also called mountain children, are monsters formed from the grudges of trees and livestock that die in mountains and wild forests, resembling trees and apes with a single eye. This monster hand, its skin wrinkled like the gnarled roots of an old tree and even sprouting rootlets, is clearly one of the mountain goblin's arms.

I am so certain not only because it is recorded in books, but also because during my time in Aomen I heard a story about Xiao Tan Shan.

Speaking of Xiao Tan Shan, even before the Ming dynasty it was one of the famous mountains of Haojing (today's alternative name for Aomen). Besides producing abundant wild medicinal herbs, the mountain has streams and ponds, clear waters and lush scenery, rich in resources; since Aomen is originally an island, the mountain's ponds and streams also connect to the sea, and occasionally sea fish and shrimp flow into the ponds.

Therefore, villagers often brought baskets up the mountain, placing them in the ponds to catch the fish, shrimp, and crabs that flowed in from the sea.

And at the foot of Xiao Tan Shan there was a villager named Chen Ji, who was one of those who regularly carried baskets up the mountain to catch fish and shrimp.

One day, Chen Ji went as usual to the ponds of Xiao Tan Shan to check his harvest. When he lifted the basket and looked, he was stunned: the basket he had left in the pond the previous night had a large hole torn in it, and inside there were no fish or shrimp, only a piece of wood the length of an arm.

Know that a piece of wood as long as an arm is also as wide as a bowl; if the basket had merely broken, it could not possibly have such a large hole. Clearly, this was done deliberately by someone.

Immediately, Chen Ji angrily threw the basket aside, cursed loudly, tossed that piece of wood away, then repaired the basket and put it back in the water.

But what Chen Ji did not expect was that when he came the next day to check his harvest, he found the basket again empty of fish and shrimp, containing only a long piece of wood, just as the day before.

After several days like this, the situation showed no improvement, and the piece of wood continued to appear in Chen Ji's basket each day on schedule.

Chen Ji also grew suspicious, feeling that the piece of wood was somewhat strange. Suspicious, this time he did not take the wood out and throw it away; instead, he sealed the basket, placed it on a carrying pole, and prepared to bring it home as firewood.

When Chen Ji was carrying the basket and had gone about half a li down the mountain, he suddenly heard a movement inside the basket behind him; the puzzled Chen Ji turned his head, and instantly his scalp went numb, his eyes nearly popping out from shock.

Sometime unknown, the wood in the basket had turned into a monster: it had bark-like skin, resembled an ape, had only one eye on its face, and though its face was human, its body was that of a clothed monkey.

It said to Chen Ji: "I am originally a mountain god, but because I greedily ate sea shrimp and crabs, each day I would slip into your basket when you set it out; I hope you will forgive me this once. Please release me, and I will surely repay you well in the future."

Seeing that the monster could actually speak human language, Chen Ji was stunned for a moment, but seeing the monster trapped in the basket unable to move, he gained confidence and began to scold it.

"You've been sneaking into my basket to steal shrimp and crabs for days; do you know I'm just a commoner living at the mountain's foot, relying on the seafood in this basket to earn rice money to support my family?"

After scolding the monster heartily, Chen Ji looked at its pitiful appearance, his heart softened, and he kindly prepared to open the basket and release it.

But when Chen Ji's hand reached halfway, the monster's words made him jump awake, even breaking out in a cold sweat.

Because, while begging for mercy, the monster kept asking Chen Ji what his name was, not just once or twice.

Although the monster spoke in a coaxing tone, saying it would surely repay Chen Ji in the future, this question made Chen Ji's heart tighten involuntarily, and he felt a strong sense of wariness.

Because only mountain monsters and demons will persistently ask for a person's name; once they know the name, they can follow that person home and harm them.

Thus Chen Ji's heart could not help but be startled; after the fright, he thought carefully and felt something was very wrong. If it were truly a mountain god, why would it daily sneak into my basket to steal the fruits of my labor and do such disgraceful deeds?

In an instant, Chen Ji understood the monster's identity. It was certainly not a mountain god, but a Mountain Goblin Spirit formed from the grudges of sacred trees and apes in the mountains.

Thinking of this, Chen Ji let out an angry shout, pointing at the monster in the basket and saying: "You Mountain Goblin Spirit, I pitied you and hesitated to harm you, even wanting to release you, yet you are so vicious, asking my name, dreaming of harming me after I set you free."

After scolding, Chen Ji ignored the Mountain Goblin Spirit's wails, lit a fire, and fiercely threw it at the shrimp-catching basket.

Although the Mountain Goblin Spirit was burned to death by the great fire, one hand remained. Seeing that after the spirit's death a monstrous hand was left, Chen Ji thought this hand could not be anything good either, so he gathered more straw, lit another fire, intending to burn the remaining arm to ashes.

But strangely, while fire could ignite straw and dry branches, as soon as it touched the withered hand the fierce flames instantly went out. After trying several times with no success in burning it, Chen Ji dug a large pit and buried the arm there.

Chen Ji did not know that the Mountain Goblin Spirit itself was a tree spirit, the grudge of the mountains' livestock that had died and become entwined; now that Chen Ji had destroyed its body, the grudge had only intensified. The remaining hand had gathered the Mountain Goblin Spirit's lifelong resentment, and could not be destroyed by ordinary fire.

Not long after this incident, people going up the mountain often saw the shadow of a monstrous hand. Moreover, many constables, villagers, and tourists were killed by this monstrous hand, causing Xiao Tan Shan to become a forbidden mountain that no one visited for a long time. Within this forbidden mountain, legends of the Mountain Goblin Spirit and the monstrous hand were passed down.

Now, seeing this monster hand's appearance, the broken end bears clear traces of having been burned by a great fire, and the back of the hand even grows fine hair and tree roots; it is obviously the monstrous hand left behind after that Mountain Goblin Spirit was burned to death years ago.

Fortunately, I happen to carry QingSongShu's Huaguang Seal. This Mountain Goblin Spirit is formed from the grudges of mountain tree spirits and livestock; in the Five Phases it is wood. Meanwhile, the Great Emperor Huaguang is the most domineering fire spirit among all deities.

Therefore, the attribute of the Huaguang Seal happens to be a natural counter to this Mountain Goblin Spirit. Even if the seal's spiritual power cannot match that of the Mountain Goblin Spirit, this innate counteraction remains something the spirit's severed hand cannot withstand.

After putting the seal away, I glanced at my watch; it was already past one in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Xiao Changsheng was still sound asleep on the straw mat.

Perhaps I should send him down the mountain now; otherwise, if we wait until dark, none of us will be able to go down, and we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Besides, I came here to seek Huangjing, and bringing a child along is also quite inconvenient.

Thinking of this, I walked over to Xiao Changsheng's side and gave him a gentle push.

Xiao Changsheng, wake up, Uncle ought to send you down the mountain.