Chapter 2: Stepmother

The burly man was a "Spirit Cultivator," a practitioner of this school who was accustomed to imprisoning souls and refining Yin Soldiers.

Xu Yuan pointed in a direction: "Walk three li further in that direction, and you will reach Wangxiang Village. I will not go there; there is no danger ahead. My place for gathering firewood is on the other side..."

The two exchanged a glance: Attack?

The burly man nodded; three Ghost Fiends silently lunged out from the shadow beneath him!

Eyes blood-red, ghostly aura chilling and gloomy!

Two grabbed Xu Yuan's legs, while one lunged to bite his throat.

Xu Yuan, as if because the two ghostly shadows had seized his ankles, stumbled and fell into the forest ahead, thereby dodging the fatal strike.

From the forest, things like strange snakes shot out with a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, coiling around Xu Yuan's neck, hands, and feet, and swiftly dragged him into the depths of the woods.

The two ghostly shadows pulling his legs refused to let go; those "strange snakes" suddenly opened their mouths and simply inhaled, swallowing the two ghostly shadows into their bellies. The last one hastily retreated in defeat, trembling with fear and daring not to pursue further.

"Ah!" The burly man felt a sharp pang of heartache; his mismatched eyes stared at the forest with suspicion and uncertainty, also daring not to cross the threshold.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle!"

A strange sound came from the forest, as if something was also staring at them, yet unable to leave the woods.

"Did this fellow keep guarding against us all along, or was it just a coincidence?" The mismatched eyes dared not be certain.

The burly man was still grieving his Yin Soldiers: "Why worry about so much? My Yin Soldiers were no match against these things; a mere ordinary man like him is surely doomed."

The mismatched eyes hesitated somewhat: "Should we go in and take a look? We came to Ghost Wushan to find that thing; we absolutely cannot reveal our tracks."

The burly man sensed it; the Yin Soldiers all radiated immense fear toward the forest.

"If you want to go, you go."

The mismatched eyes tentatively took a step; as soon as half his body entered the forest, dozens of black shadows lunged at him with a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. He hurriedly retreated: "That fellow is surely doomed."

Deep in the forest, Xu Yuan tore open a hidden pocket on his collar with his teeth, and the realgar powder inside spilled out.

Those "snake vines" were terrified and fled with a whoosh, whoosh.

These strange vines had always believed they were snakes, so they were very afraid of realgar.

Xu Yuan freed himself from the bonds, smeared the realgar powder on his body, and quietly crept to the edge of the forest, listening to the two men's conversation.

"What now?"

"The guide is gone; we can only go to Wangxiang Village ourselves. Fortunately, it shouldn't be far."

The two set off again with extreme caution. The burly man couldn't help but ask: "What exactly is that 'June Bug'? Even Lord Zheng, such a skinflint, was willing to pay such a huge price to have us find it?"

The mismatched eyes glanced at him and said: "Do you think that since Lord Zheng was willing to pay such a huge price, the true value of the June Bug must far exceed his offer?"

The burly man said: "It must be so."

The mismatched eyes warned him: "We take money to do a job; don't have any evil thoughts! The man surnamed Zheng is no good person. If we swallow his thing, we'll likely be hunted to the ends of the earth and sky until we die!"

The burly man fell silent. The mismatched eyes thought to himself: There is only one June Bug; how will you and I split it? Once found, I'll surely kill you and swallow it alone.

Xu Yuan, hidden in the forest, frowned; this was the third group of people he had led into the mountains to find something.

The first two groups had already died in the mountains.

There must be others in the town guiding people; the actual number will only be greater.

However, this was the first time Xu Yuan learned that the thing they were looking for was named "June Bug."

After the two merchants walked far away, Xu Yuan emerged from the other side of the forest; this was the correct direction, and those two would never reach Wangxiang Village.

They had never had good intentions from the start; they never planned to give any reward money. The burly man had even set his sights on Xu Yuan's soul.

Pity they didn't understand the people of the town. If they were so easily outwitted, they wouldn't have survived three days in the town.

Xu Yuan avoided a ghostly stream in the mountains and walked for a while longer, arriving at the foot of a sunny slope where the sunlight seemed softer and warmer than elsewhere.

The yang energy was abundant, so evil spirits detested it.

This was Xu Yuan's place for gathering firewood; the slope was covered with various kinds of miscellaneous trees.

Xu Yuan climbed all the way to the top of the slope; there grew an old walnut tree half a person thick, with a tree hole the size of a basket on its trunk.

Inside lay a small bamboo cage.

Xu Yuan took out the cage; his eyelids twitched involuntarily. Inside lay a plump white worm.

"This is what they were looking for... the June Bug?!"

The small cage was given to Xu Yuan by his stepmother.

The stepmother was four years older than Xu Yuan; originally, she had been Xu Yuan's father's disciple, and somehow had become his second wife.

Half a month ago, Xu Yuan's father passed away. After the funeral rites were completed, the stepmother inherited all of his father's assets and then found Xu Yuan this job at the inn.

Before leaving home, the stepmother handed him this cage and said ruthlessly: "After you arrive, find an old tree hole in the place where you gather firewood and put it in there. Remember to check it every day. If you catch a plump white worm, you eat it."

"What if I can't catch one?" Xu Yuan asked.

"If you can't catch one... then don't come back."

Inside the small bamboo cage, the stepmother had placed a few grains of old rice as bait.

After Xu Yuan arrived at the inn, an old man took him to gather firewood on the first day; on the second day, he acted alone, so he placed this cage in the tree hole of the walnut tree.

For more than ten days, Xu Yuan checked it every time he came to gather firewood; it had always been empty.

But those few grains of old rice inside remained; he didn't know if the worms in these mountains were different from those outside and simply didn't like to eat rice.

Before today, Xu Yuan never imagined that the people who rushed into the mountains like moths to a flame to find something were also targeting this worm!

The cage was made very cleverly; once you crawled in, you couldn't get out.

There was one thing Xu Yuan had to admit: the stepmother was indeed clever and dexterous.

The small worm, trapped inside, seemed to have given up, lying there motionless.

Xu Yuan took the worm out, opened his mouth—but felt a bit nauseous. After hesitating, he still closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and tossed the worm into his mouth.

Unexpectedly, it was actually very delicious; it melted in the mouth, and a fresh, sweet flavor slid down the tongue into the throat.

(End of Chapter)