Chapter 1619: Heaven's Mandate Seven Kids: Monster Hunting Log 10

That kid is still drawing.

Yang Yu crossed his arms, yawned, walked to the window, and said to Chang Wuming, who was sitting in meditation, "He draws and erases over and over, and I don't even know what he's drawing."

Chang Wuming opened his eyes, glanced at the desk below, which was covered in charcoal dust; the mute girl seemed to sense something, timidly meeting his gaze, then quickly lowered her head to continue drawing, black lines intertwining across the floor like endless branches and leaves.

"Senior Brother." Chang Wuming suddenly grabbed Yang Yu, who was about to rest, and whispered, "There's a person in her drawing."

Not just one.

The drowsy Yang Yu suddenly widened his eyes, squinting to decipher a heap of ghostly talismans on the ground, then said solemnly, "You actually can read them?"

Awesome, my little four!

Chang Wuming: "……"

—

The group of mourning-cloth ghosts still followed behind them.

Jin Chen held Rong Zixu's hand, swaying the lantern; the mourning-cloth ghosts behind them followed, moving their eyeballs back and forth, finding some amusement in it.

"Someone's watching us." Jin Chen suddenly said, shaking Rong Zixu's hand, "On the slope to the front-left."

Xu Qie looked up upon hearing that, his heart leapt; two people stood on the slope staring motionlessly, as if fixed there.

"Are they human?" Xu Qie dared not say for sure, "Or are they wooden stakes set up to scare away birds and beasts?"

Rong Zixu: "Not wooden stakes."

But they might not be human either.

The mountain path wound; the road beneath their feet had no pattern at all—perhaps a wide trail moments ago, suddenly thickets sprang up, a few steps later a puddle, forcing them to backtrack.

It seems the master of the Ghost Domain isn't familiar with this mountain.

Jin Chen remarked, "Otherwise it wouldn't be so chaotic."

As he spoke, Rong Zixu nodded in agreement, "Perhaps they were townsfolk who only came here once or twice, yet left an obsession here."

Just as his words fell, the road before the three changed again; Xu Qie's breath hitched, his voice trembling, "Those two people are now behind us."

Just behind to the left, deep in the woods, the two stood still, unmoving; it was the forest shifting their position, like someone with a poor memory repeatedly editing it.

And the hemp-cloth ghost that had been closely following them, carrying a coffin, finally vanished, making the woods even more deathly silent.

This time, being closer, we could faintly hear their muttering.

"We need to go back…"

"We need to go back, we have medicine!"

"The road—there's no road left, where is the road…"

The two spoke word by word, repeating.

Jin Chen stepped forward to ask, "You… ow."

The two turned around, each missing half their face, as if worn away in a dirt pile, their hanging mouths still speaking.

After a few glances, Jin Chen grew accustomed and asked, "What road are you looking for?"

The older elder said, "Ah, youngsters, how'd you come up the mountain? A landslide's coming this way—watch out."

The middle-aged man echoed, "Right, brothers, later I and my father will go pick some herbs; follow us down the mountain—this path is rough!"

Suddenly it felt normal, like an ordinary encounter and casual greeting in the mountains.

Jin Chen turned and exchanged a glance with Rong Zixu, "They seem…"

Rong Zixu squeezed his hand, signaling not to speak; Xu Qie quietly stepped back and used a mirror to reflect.

Sure enough, the mirror showed only Rong Zixu and Jin Chen's reflections, plus two dark masses.

White spirit, black grudge—these two ghosts' obsessions linger, they only repeat the day they died.

Xu Qie's face grew grave as he took back the mirror, then continued listening to Jin Chen's probing.

Jin Chen asked, "Big brother, we're just passing through; this mountain is dangerous—why did you still come up?"

"Eh, there's no choice." The middle-aged man sighed, his half‑blurred face forcing out a hint of helplessness.

He raised his hand, wiping his face through the flesh, bringing away a bit of debris.

Jin Chen retreated half a step without changing expression, afraid to get it on his clothes.

Rong Zixu's lips curled slightly; knowing Xiao Chen had disliked blood and grime since childhood, he reassuringly tightened his grip.

The middle-aged man didn't notice their small gesture, looking exhausted: "My daughter ran a fever these past days; the town's only doctor… alas, his medicine, the only one sold, costs more than gold; we can't afford silver, so we had to come up the mountain to gather herbs."

"Gathering herbs, we must… Xiao Hua is so little—what if the fever ruins her?" The elder's herbs in his hand were also stained with blood; he didn't notice, trembling as he showed them to Jin Chen.

"Look! I'll bring this back for Xiao Hua to eat; once she eats it, she'll be fine, the fever will go."

Father and grandfather went up the mountain to gather herbs and never returned…

Jin Chen almost instantly thought of the mute girl.

Is this the mute girl's obsession?

Thinking of that timid little girl, the three felt their hearts weigh down a bit,

"Well…" Xu Qie choked up a little, clutching his folded hands, then asked, "Do you know how to get down the mountain?"

The elder and the middle-aged man turned again, gazing toward the town, murmuring, "We need to go back… we need to go down the mountain."

The middle-aged man's obsession ran deeper: "We can't let Xiao Hua lose both mother and father."

The oppressive atmosphere grew thick enough to suffocate.

Jin Chen tried to comfort: "It's fine; I have no father or mother either."

Middle-aged man: "……"

Rong Zixu's heartbeat skipped half a beat; he couldn't bear to hear Jin Chen say such things, being the only fellow disciple who remembered what Jin Chen was like when he first arrived at Tianming Mountain.

In the ice and snow, he wore only a tattered cloth, so small he nearly couldn't be saved.

He tightened his grip on Jin Chen's hand, his gentle tone tinged with reproach: "Why say that?"

Who comforts others by stabbing themselves?

Jin Chen leaned against his shoulder, smiling and said, "Just saying it offhand—I have a senior brother, a master, and other senior brothers and sisters; that's enough."

Other senior sister Xu Qie frowned strangely, gave Jin Chen a somewhat complicated look; she understood the reasoning, but why did the eldest senior brother have to single it out?

"It's time to go down the mountain." The middle-aged man suddenly said.

Thereafter, at a speed visible to the naked eye, he returned to his ordinary appearance.