Chapter 216

I chased after that red silhouette, running all the way into the deep mountains and wild forest. Afterward, the red silhouette disappeared without a trace, and in the wild forest I could find no trace of her.

I chased after that red silhouette, running all the way into the deep mountains and wild forest. Afterward, the red silhouette disappeared without a trace, and in the wild forest I could find no trace of her.

Pangzi didn't follow behind me; he must have gone to pick up the turtle blood net that fell into the river. Turtle blood is cold yin; this stuff hurts the Teng She, so it shouldn't be left long near the Teng She's place.

Turtle blood is cold yin; this stuff hurts the Soaring Serpent, so it shouldn't be left long near the Soaring Serpent's place.

Thus line2: Pangzi didn't follow behind me; he must have gone to pick up the turtle blood net that fell into the river. Turtle blood is cold yin; this stuff hurts the Soaring Serpent, so it shouldn't be left long near the Soaring Serpent's place.

Looking around at the secluded, tranquil wild forest, there's not even a trace to be found right now. But I'm not a pushover; the Yin Mountain Sect's art of dispatching troops is best at finding people.

the Dark Mountain Sect's art of dispatching troops is best at finding people.

Thus line3: Looking around at the secluded, tranquil wild forest, there's not even a trace to be found right now. But I'm not a pushover; the Dark Mountain Sect's art of dispatching troops is best at finding people.

Thinking of this, I immediately took out the command flag, chanted the soldier's spell, began to open the ghost gate, and summoned wandering wild ghosts to scout the path. Just as I was dispatching a few wandering wild ghosts to my side, a mocking voice came from the deep mountains and wild forest.

We used "command flag". Could also be "order flag". Keep as command flag.

"Yo, I didn't expect you to still be able to command troops. But what the heck is this you summoned? It's so crappy even I can't stand it." Although the voice called itself grandpa, it's definitely a girl.

We need to keep "Yo" as interjection. Good.

Moreover, this tone, this manner of speaking—how familiar it feels!

Holy shit……this voice, isn't it that money‑chasing Han Duo?

We used Holy shit. Could also be "Holy crap". We'll keep Holy shit.

It seemed to prove my point; that silhouette quickly stepped out from behind a big tree. The voice's owner was indeed Han Duo, still wearing that red outfit, red boots, and a red long whip.

"Holy shit, how are you this money‑grubbing, why are you here?" Although I had a hunch, I still got a big shock.

After Han Duo came out, she crossed her arms and coldly snorted at me: "What's up, I can't be here? Oh, right, you still owe me money." As she spoke, Han Duo accurately pulled out from her waist pocket the IOU I had been forced to write, and extended her hand saying: "Hand it over."

"Uh… um, could you cut me some slack? I'm broke lately." I instinctively lowered my head in embarrassment, but after a moment, damn it, it seems I was chasing a thief, yet I ended up being chased for debt instead.

"Don't change the subject—tell me, why did you put the turtle blood net in the Yang family's ancestral grave? Is it you who placed the Yang family's ancestral grave's ruined feng shui plow‑head talisman?" I stepped back, gripping the command flag, pinching my finger seal, and stared hard at Han Duo.

Han Duo gave a snort, rubbed her nose and exhaled upward: "What plow‑head talisman? I don't know anything about it; I'm just collecting money for a job. Tonight I came here and threw away a torn net. But running into you—that's an unexpected surprise I never anticipated."

"Collecting money for a job? Whose money are you taking, and who are you working for? Speak up, or I'll have these wandering wild ghosts gang‑rape you, you man‑woman." I gave a sinister laugh, trying to make my tone even more gloomy.

Despite my threats, Han Duo showed no reaction; instead she sighed, let out a breath, and looked at me with a very pitiful gaze.

She said: "You little brat, don't threaten me with your pathetic excuse for troops and commanders. When I was playing with ghosts, you weren't even born yet."

This woman isn't old, but her tone is big. Her tone naturally infuriated me, even though I know she's an insider and quite capable. But her tone makes me want to beat her up badly.

"Don't say commanding troops is like kids playing mud; if you've got the guts, summon your troops and commanders so I can see what you've got." I stared at her, mocking.

"Sigh, how can people nowadays be so clueless?" Han Duo still had that high‑and‑mighty air, and when she spoke to me she kept that tone of "I'm not attacking because it's for your own good."

"You little brat, you better think it through—once I make a move, all you can do is turn tail and run."

"Okay, go ahead and strike—let me see if it's really as earth‑shattering as they say."

"Sigh, you really made up your mind! Do you really have to force me to act?" Han Duo's expression was torn.

Me: ……, damn it, hurry up and strike already.

"Exactly, I'm just trying to force you—look at you: in your past life you looked like you'd fallen into a money pit, in this life you're a weird sort of man‑woman, nobody's butt is bigger than yours, nobody's appearance is more hateful than yours—I'm sure, absolutely no man wants to get near you. If you don't strike, you won't even have the dignity of being human in front of ghosts!" I was fuming with anger from Han Duo, and I cursed everything I could think of.

Under my shouting, Han Duo completely lost her temper, her face flushing red. She glared at me, cracking her knuckles with a snap‑snap, and shouted "good" three times.

"Good, good, good!" Han Duo shot me a cannibal‑like glare, gritted her teeth and said: "You're the first person to make me this angry—I'll now use troops and commanders to gang‑rape you!"

After saying that, Han Duo spat a few mouthfuls of saliva, scooped up two handfuls of dirt from the ground, mixed it with saliva and smeared it on her face, then took a mask from her waist and put it on her face.

What is Han Duo doing, self‑blackening? And what kind of mask is this? Besides resembling the evil ghost yaksha often seen in movies, its look is very familiar.

Although the mask looks very familiar, I didn't think much of it; instead I continued to mock and jeer at Han Duo on my own.

"Come on, you've got guts—come on, summon a few man‑women like yourself and gang‑rape me……gang‑rape……gang‑rape." By the end my momentum waned; finally I widened my eyes, stared at Han Duo swallowing saliva repeatedly, repeating the word "gang‑rape", almost forgetting what I wanted to say.

The reason I zoned out like that is because I heard a chant from Han Duo's mouth.

"Disciple lifts eyes to behold the azure sky; disciple goes forth and mountain folk become the heaven‑shaking, earth‑moving Five Ferocious Troops; those who block the path become the mountain‑binding, person‑seizing Five Ferocious Troops; the ancestral master leads the Five Ferocious Troops; …… I obey the Supreme Elder Lord's urgent command as per law."

As the chant ended, mist began to condense around Han Duo; with each wave of mist gathering, I felt an unprecedented sense of danger rising in my chest. Seeing her upside‑down posture and recalling her previous actions, my scalp instantly tingled.

Without thinking, I immediately turned tail and ran. Damn it, Han Duo is actually a member of the Plum Mountain Master Ancestor Sect, and her cultivation level is high enough to summon the uncannily fierce Five Ferocious Troops from the ranks. How the hell am I supposed to fight? The Five Ferocious Troops are one of the strongest units in the military—aside from the Dark Mountain Sect's Killing God Soldiers, the Splendid Light's Fire Spirit Soldiers, and the Thatch Mountain's Six Jia Soldiers, ordinary wandering wild ghosts aren't even a match for them in a single round.

At this point I finally understood why, when I first saw Han Duo, a hint of fear had lingered in my heart. It turns out she really is a member of the Plum Mountain Master Ancestor Sect, and her training has advanced to the point where she can freely command the Five Ferocious Troops.

The Plum Mountain Master Ancestor Sect is a religious lineage that formed independently among ethnic minorities due to local culture. Their ethnic characteristics are extremely strong; although it is a Dharma teaching, their whole being is steeped in the aura of shamanism. They claim to be the closest to ghosts and gods, and the most able to communicate with heavenly and earthly powers of any Dharma lineage.

The chief deity of the Plum Mountain Master Ancestor Sect is the Hunting God, the overturned altar Zhang Wulang. This deity is easy to recognize: inverted body, belonging to the lower altar; disciples of the sect all revere this spirit as their ancestral master, they release ferocious troops and gather soldiers, and often imitate their ancestor's inverted stance. Although the sect's lineage comes from the Lu Mountain Sect, because the court at the time had decrees forbidding interaction with Han people and forbidding farming and herding, they had no choice but to make a living by hunting. Due to their isolated location, this gave rise to the Plum Mountain Master Ancestor Sect's alternative Daoist shamanism. Although it is a Daoist Dharma teaching, through and through it represents shamanism. Moreover, the Plum Mountain Master Ancestor Sect's Five Ferocious Troops are enough to make ordinary Dharma teachings pale at the mere mention.

Among troops, Daoists usually summon wandering wild ghosts; even vengeful spirits that have become evil are still low‑rank troops, which we generally classify as yin soldiers and yin officers.

Five Ferocious Troops are different—they refer to mountain monsters and tree spirits that died at the sites where spiritual energy crystallizes. In Dharma teachings, this type of troop is called the Five Ferocious Troops. Such troops are unruly and defiant, the hardest to control. Those who play with troops can easily be killed by these ferocious troops without even knowing how it happened.

In folk wild histories, the legendary mysterious Five Penetration Gods are a category of the Five Ferocious Troops. Any Dharma teaching that dares to mess with the Five Penetration Gods is certainly no soft persimmon to squeeze.

Aside from the Dark Mountain Sect's Killing God Soldiers and the Splendid Light's Fire Crow Soldiers, plus the Six Ding and Six Jia Divine Soldiers, there's hardly any troop that can oppose the Five Ferocious Troops. Because these Five Ferocious Troops formed at the crystallization sites, they love to feed on evil ghosts and wandering souls—truly a natural bane of ordinary soldiers and officers. My Dark Mountain Banner, however, has never undergone the cleansing of the Five Directional Killing Gods, so it's not a true Killing God Banner and can't summon Killing God Soldiers; how am I supposed to fight Han Duo?

"Damn, I should have thought of this earlier. Mei Shan God Zhang Wulang, Mei Tong Mei Yin, the disciples of the Mei Shan Master's Teaching don't like to smear mud and saliva on their faces to make them dark and grimy to indicate their identity, do they?" While running, I complained to myself regretfully.

"As early as when Han Duo was wiping her saliva and putting on the mask while doing a handstand, I should have guessed her identity. The Mei Shan Master's Teaching—damn it, this is the easiest tradition to recognize: they do handstands, learning Zhang Wulang's 'Standing Heaven Pillar,' and often like to wear the Wild God's mask during ritual ceremonies."

Hearing the wind behind me getting closer and closer, and even some strange cries of troops, I quickly gathered my breath, kicked off my shoes and ran even faster. Han Duo, angered by me, will surely not be gentle when she lays hands on me. Moreover, I only have a command flag in my hand now, unprepared with talismans or other magical implements, but in terms of military strategy, I am certainly no match for Han Duo. Therefore, I absolutely cannot confront her head-on; I can only choose among the Thirty-Six Stratagems, with retreat being the best plan.

Meanwhile, as I was running, I could see a figure approaching from afar in the distance. Upon closer look, the person turned out to be Pangzi, who was holding that turtle blood net torn in half.

"Pangzi, save me, hurry up and help, I can't hold on anymore." Seeing Pangzi, I was instantly delighted, my steps involuntarily sped up, and I ran even faster..