Chapter 430: Legend of the Mountain Goblin Spirit

In a drowsy 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 unexpectedly, when the sun rose the next day, I still woke up.

Looking at my own fair hands, I pinched my face hard, and for a long time I couldn't come to my senses.

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 and placed him on a 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 spirit became refreshed.

Could it be that the poison of this withered hand is actually a great tonic, capable of cleansing the marrow and 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 matter if I didn't look, but once I did, I was thoroughly startled.

Because of the lighting last night, I hadn't fully seen the monster hand's appearance; I only felt it resembled a tree, and aside from its eeriness, I hadn't noticed anything else special.

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

If nothing unexpected, this is a hand? Well, that's nonsense; the point is, this is a Mountain Goblin's hand.

Mountain Goblin, also called Mountain Child, is a monster formed from the lingering resentment of trees, livestock, and wild beasts after death in mountains and forests; it resembles a tree, like a monkey, with only one eye. This monster hand, its skin wrinkled like the gnarled roots of an old tree, even grew rootlets, clearly being 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, before the Ming Dynasty it was already one of the famous mountains of Haojing (the old name for Aomen). Besides producing abundant wild medicinal herbs, the mountain has streams and ponds, clear waters and lush scenery, rich 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.

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

Below 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 about the length of an arm.

Knowing that a piece of wood the length of 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 away, cursed loudly, tossed the wood aside, repaired the basket, and put it back in the water.

But Chen Ji never expected that when he came the next day to check his harvest, he would find the basket just as before—no fish or shrimp, only a long piece of wood.

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

Chen Ji also grew suspicious, feeling the wood was a bit odd. 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, intending to bring it home as firewood.

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

Sometime unknown, the wood in the basket had turned into a monster, with skin like tree bark, resembling a monkey, with only one eye on its face; though it had a human face, its body was that of a clothed monkey.

It said to Chen Ji: 'I am originally a mountain god, but because I greedily eat sea shrimp and crabs, each day I slip into your basket when you set it down; please forgive me this once. 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 courage and shouted at the monster.

"You've been sneaking into my basket to steal shrimp and crabs for more than a day or two; do you know I'm just a commoner down the mountain, hoping to sell the seafood in this basket for some rice money to support my family?"

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

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, this question made Chen Ji's heart tighten involuntarily, and he extended his guard.

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

Thus, Chen Ji's heart could not help but be startled; after the fright, upon reflection he also felt something was off. If it were 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. This monster is absolutely not a mountain god, but a Mountain Goblin Spirit formed from the resentment of mountain sacred trees and monkeys.

Thinking of this, Chen Ji shouted angrily, pointing at the monster in the basket: 'You Mountain Goblin Spirit, I pitied you and didn't want to harm you, even planning 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 was burned dead a monstrous hand was left, Chen Ji thought this hand could not be anything good, so he gathered more straw, lit another fire, intending to burn the remaining arm to ashes.

But strangely, while fire can ignite straw and dry branches, when it touched the withered hand the fierce blaze 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 was originally a tree spirit, the accumulated resentment of mountain livestock after death; now that Chen Ji had destroyed its body, the resentment had only deepened. The remaining hand had gathered the Mountain Goblin's lifelong grudge, and could not be destroyed by ordinary fire.

Not long after this incident, people going up the mountain often saw the shadow of a monster hand. Moreover, many constables, villagers, and tourists were killed by this monster hand, so that Xiao Tan Shan became a forbidden mountain no one visited for a long time. Within this forbidden mountain, a legend of the Mountain Goblin Spirit and the monster hand has been passed down.

Now, seeing this monster hand's appearance, the broken end bears clear marks of having been burned by fire, and the back of the hand even grows fuzz and tree roots; obviously it is the monster hand left behind when that Mountain Goblin Spirit was burned to death back then.

However, fortunately I carry QingSongShu's Huaguang Seal on my person. This Mountain Goblin Spirit is formed from the resentment of mountain tree spirits and livestock. In the Five Elements, it is wood. Meanwhile, Great Emperor Huaguang is the most domineering fire spirit among the gods.

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

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, we won't be able to descend and will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

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

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

"Xiao Changsheng, wake up, uncle is supposed to send you down the mountain."