Chapter 1618: Heaven's Mandate Seven: Monster‑Hunting Log 09

Slow down——

Slow—

Again, a mouthful of wind was blown into him.

Jin Chen grabbed the edges of the small stool with both hands, his whole body blown backward by the wind, nearly lying flat on the coffin; each time he was about to open his eyes, a sudden branch scraped him.

So where did all these trees in this town come from! And there are so many of them!

The hemp-clad ghosts, as if in a hurry, kept lifting the coffin and drifting forward into the darkness; the movement inside the coffin grew larger again, thumping nonstop.

Seeing no response, Jin Chen bent his elbow to block his face, opened his eyes to assess the surroundings, and his expression changed slightly.

This is clearly the mountain a few li outside West Ling Town; they passed here when they came during the day.

Logically, the ghostly influence should only be able to control West Ling Town, so how can its range be this large?

【Host!! Your hand!】

Jin Chen was still pondering what to do next when Ling Gun Gun's shout startled him into looking down, and he suddenly realized that the hand originally gripping the edge of the stool had, unbeknownst to when, uncontrollably reached for the white paper lantern hanging at the front of the coffin.

Jin Chen clenched his teeth, pulled his hand back, and slapped his right hand with his left, 'What are you doing?!'

He then lifted his gaze to the hemp-clad ghost beside him; its originally stiff, dead expression showed a hint of regret, but when it saw him looking, it turned its eyeball back.

Jin Chen tilted his head and stared: 'What are you looking at?'

The hemp-clad ghost remained silent.

Tsk.

Jin Chen rubbed his face, stiffened by the cold night wind, 'Boring.'

If he let these ghosts keep drifting, who knows where they'd end up, and his face would practically fall off.

Jin Chen propped himself on the coffin with one hand, turned and jumped down, landing steadily.

'No more, no more, this jostling is making my butt sore.'

But the instant he landed on the coffin, the hemp-clad ghosts collectively stopped, their eyeballs slowly turning toward him, and that damp, sticky, chilling ghostly aura slowly reappeared.

【Host!】 Ling Gun Gun burst out laughing, '【You look like you got your face scratched by a branch just now.】'

Jin Chen started, touching his face which felt a little stinging.

My face is ruined!

Jin Chen, indignant, rolled up his sleeves and raised a hand to set up a barrier.

After the time it takes to burn half an incense stick.

The coffin crashed to the ground; within the barrier, the hemp-clad ghosts, their faces covered in bloodstains, had their ghostly aura dissipate, vanishing without a trace like moonlight.

Jin Chen withdrew the barrier and immediately stepped back half a pace.

The hemp-clad ghost appeared again under the tree, lifting the coffin and slowly turning its eyeball.

Never ending.

Four words popped into Jin Chen's mind; it seemed he needed to first break this mysteriously appearing forest.

【The Main God has arrived!】 Ling Gun Gun reminded.

Jin Chen touched his face again, where blood threads showed, then turned and ran toward the source of the movement.

The hemp-clad ghosts rushed to lift the coffin and give chase, but they could barely keep up with Jin Chen's speed.

'Senior Brother, Xiao Chen is over there…' Xu Qie hadn't finished speaking when she could no longer see Rong Zixu's back.

Xu Qie pressed her lips, smiled, retracted her shadow‑chasing mirror, and followed after.

'Senior Brother! Senior Brother!' Jin Chen shouted as he ran, and threw himself straight into Rong Zixu's arms, burying his face in his chest.

My face is ruined!

Seeing this, Rong Zixu soothed him by patting his back, 'Let me take a look.'

'No.' Jin Chen held on tighter, deployed the aggrieved tactic, and wiped nonexistent tears from Rong Zixu's shoulder.

But the hemp-clad ghosts drew ever closer; Rong Zixu gave a cold, stern glance, then softened his voice: 'Then go to Fifth Senior Sister.'

'No either.' Jin Chen covered his face and stepped out of his embrace, revealing only slightly red peach‑blossom eyes, 'They can't be killed; it's endless.'

That look was truly aggrieved; Rong Zixu's heart softened, and he couldn't say anything else: 'Xiao Wu, bring the lantern.'

Okay.

Xu Qie nodded steadily, lifting the red lantern that Congcong had brought; when the red light reached the mourning‑clad ghosts, their movements indeed slowed considerably.

Jin Chen realized, 'No wonder.'

'Perhaps the nearby villagers discovered that darkness can make the coffin disappear.' Rong Zixu said helplessly, 'It's also my fault for believing too easily.'

Jin Chen clung to his arm, 'It's not your fault.'

Then he couldn't help but ask, 'What about Fourth Senior Brother? Did he stay at the noodle shop?'

Rong Zixu grunted, that strange feeling deep inside resurfaced faintly; Xiao Chen seemed overly concerned about the nameless one—could it be… the first stirrings of love?

Jin Chen immediately noticed, stepped close, and locked eyes with Rong Zixu: 'What are you thinking, Senior Brother?'

'……' Rong Zixu instinctively stepped back, but was held so tightly he couldn't retreat.

'Senior Brother is hiding something from me.' Jin Chen finally lowered his hand from his face, suppressing his smile and looking ever more pitiful.

Rong Zixu suddenly turned serious: 'What's going on!'

He reached to touch Jin Chen's injured face; aside from the faint scratches from the branch, there were also mysterious black lines, as if they too had been scratched.

Jin Chen hadn't seen his own face; seeing his reaction so strong, he assumed he was truly disfigured: 'Fifth Senior Sister! Do you have a mirror?'

'Don't move.' Rong Zixu cupped his face, his fingers gliding over the black lines, easily picking them up, rubbing them between his fingertips to examine.

'It looks like… charcoal dust.' Rong Zixu found it strange.

'Huh?' Jin Chen blinked, then reached out and touched as well: 'Where did this charcoal dust come from?'

He then grabbed those branches again, and indeed his hand came away full of ash.

"Could it be that this mountain was once burned?" Xu Qie asked upon seeing the situation, handing the mirror to Jin Chen.

Jin Chen glanced, then lifted his gaze to the endless darkness; his pupils flickered with a hint of dark blue, then instantly returned to normal.

"This isn't a mountain."

"It might be a realm within a realm."

This is trickier than Ghost Mountain.

Jin Chen's fingertip, hanging at his cuff, twitched slightly; as soon as his Spiritual Power was exerted, a force tried to suppress it, and his expression instantly turned a bit cold and harsh.

"Xiao Chen?" Rong Zixu saw him turn sideways without moving, "Let's go, let's look ahead."

"Okay."

Jin Chen regained his smile and, taking the opportunity, grabbed Rong Zixu's hand.

Rong Zixu's heart stirred, he shifted his gaze away, yet did not break free.

【Detected villain triggered Heartbeat Value, Heartbeat Value +10, total 10!】