Chapter 12: A Half-Many Yaoguai and Ghost Deceive People on the Road

On the gravel road, there was often mud splashed up by horse hooves.

After the rain, it was barely passable.

One certainly had to hurry to finish the night journey.

Lin Jue calculated the distance and looked at the sky; estimating he couldn't cover much ground, and seeing many merchants traveling the same way, he felt at ease.

Not long after setting off, the sky darkened.

It gradually reached the point of being dim and hazy.

The merchants and travelers who had set off together earlier had gradually moved ahead or fallen behind due to differences in their pace. However, in the dim world, one could still vaguely see human figures. Although the bamboo forest by the roadside was deep and the evening mist blocked one's vision in waves, the sound of bells on mules and donkeys still rang out clearly, echoing through the mountains, which was reassuring.

At the very least, it meant he wasn't the only one on this road.

Ever since Lin Jue began practicing the Qi-Nurturing Method, the aftereffects of the breath exhaled by the monster at the Wang Family Ancestral Hall had gradually faded, but he still felt somewhat uneasy. Coupled with the unsettling things he had heard from the merchants while sheltering from the rain at the tea stall, he ultimately had some concerns.

Thus, he stretched his neck to look ahead and behind, wondering whether to quicken his pace to catch up or slow down to wait; in any case, he wanted to find someone to travel with.

Previously, at the Wang Family Ancestral Hall in Heng Village, it was to save his uncle's life, but now, without a reason to risk danger, who would willingly encounter demons or ghosts?

Lin Jue soon found a companion.

This person was ahead of him, also alone, and like him, was craning his neck to look around, seeking someone to travel with.

This person simply stood by the roadside, motionless.

Lin Jue soon caught up to him.

Before Lin Jue could speak, he heard the man's voice first.

"Oh! A scholar!" This man was quite handsome and young; as soon as he saw Lin Jue, he said, "Unfortunately reduced to traveling at night, I wonder if we might travel together to bolster our courage?"

"That is exactly what I was hoping for," Lin Jue said.

"You speak very elegantly."

"Not at all."

"May I ask how to address you, young master?"

"My surname is Lin, given name Jue."

"You haven't taken a courtesy name yet, have you?"

"I am not yet of age."

"I thought as much." The man paused, then added, "My surname is Huang, with the single name Quan—'Quan' as in 'wholehearted,' so don't misunderstand. I am older than you, so just call me Brother Huang."

"Brother Huang, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure, a pleasure!"

Huang Quan walked forward with him, perhaps out of fear and a need for courage, his mouth never stopped as he chatted incessantly: "Why are you traveling alone at such a young age?"

"My family is poor, so I am out seeking an education."

"Seeking an education is hard, especially for children of common families like ours. Finding a renowned teacher is truly difficult, and if you can't find one, it's hard to pass the exams," Huang Quan sighed.

"Who can say otherwise?" Lin Jue echoed.

"The world is not peaceful these days either."

"Indeed."

"I heard from the people ahead that there are demons and ghosts on this road!"

"I heard the same at the tea stall."

"Is Brother Lin brave?"

Huang Quan looked at Lin Jue with some trepidation, as if, should Lin Jue say he was timid, he would pull him to a stop and wait for a few more people to join them.

"I am reasonably brave."

"Then I am relieved. Haha, actually, I am quite brave myself; I could cover the sky." Huang Quan gave a dry laugh. "But the night road is lonely; finding someone to chat with and look out for each other is quite good. Regardless of whether we encounter ghosts or bandits, even if the road is uneven and one accidentally trips, having someone to help pull you up is not bad."

"Brother Huang speaks the truth."

Lin Jue saw through him but did not expose him.

Humans are indeed social animals; most fear and anxiety come from being alone and isolated. Once someone is traveling with you and chatting, some of the previously unsettling thoughts temporarily vanish.

Although this Huang Quan was timid and cared about his image, he was a talkative person, and having often traveled this road and drifted outside, he was quite knowledgeable. As Lin Jue walked and chatted with him, they found themselves quite compatible, and he gradually became interested.

The loneliness and boredom of the night journey, as well as the anxiety and fear, were all cast aside at this moment.

"Where is Brother Lin's destination?"

"First, I am going to Mount Qiyun."

"Ah? Mount Qiyun?"

Huang Quan seemed somewhat surprised by this.

"It seems Brother Huang has heard of it?"

"Hahahaha, the Immortal Mount Qiyun—it is famous like thunder; how could I not have heard of it?"

"Is it that famous?"

"Naturally." Huang Quan said, "There used to be man-eating monsters on this road, and after many teachers failed to remove them, it was the Taoist priests from the Immortal Mount Qiyun who came and eliminated them."

"Really?"

Lin Jue was very interested.

"Naturally."

"What immortal arts and Taoist techniques do the priests of Mount Qiyun possess? How did they eliminate them?"

"I don't know the specifics. I didn't dare run over to watch, but I only know the commotion was quite large; it seemed they fought fiercely, and in the end, I heard a divine official descended to the mortal realm and killed the monster with a single strike."

"It was like that..."

"Yes!"

"Then I must ask Brother Huang: after passing the Dan'gu County ahead, how should I go to Mount Qiyun? How high is Mount Qiyun, is it hard to climb, and are the priests on the mountain easy to deal with?"

"Mount Qiyun is to the north, and Dan'gu County is also to the north; once you reach Dan'gu County, you naturally continue north." Huang Quan paused, but did not answer the remaining questions, instead continuing to look at Lin Jue, still surprised, "Brother Lin is a scholar out seeking an education; why go to an immortal Daoist temple instead of those academies presided over by famous teachers and scholars?"

At this moment, the sky darkened a bit more; at night, there was only a faint light, and one had to rely on different colors to distinguish the road surface. Huang Quan turned to face him, his eyes shining somewhat in the darkness.

"To tell you the truth..."

Lin Jue did not elaborate, simply stating the reason he often gave: "Because of some matters, I encountered a monster in the ancestral hall at night and was exhaled upon by it. Later, at a temple fair, I heard that the Profound Heaven Temple on Mount Qiyun was very efficacious and famous, so I thought I would go and see for myself."

Lin Jue was not lying.

"So that's it!"

Hearing this, Huang Quan blinked, very surprised, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "Brother Lin has actually seen a monster?"

"You could say that."

"And you weren't harmed?"

"That demon-ghost did not harm me."

"That counts as a good monster, then."

"Yes." Lin Jue paused and asked, "Brother Huang is knowledgeable; what is your view on 'seeking immortality and asking about the Dao'?"

"Brother Lin has a heart for seeking immortality and asking about the Dao?"

"I have some thoughts on it."

"Haha, people in the world mostly yearn for immortal longevity, so having these thoughts is normal. However, since ancient times, those who seek immortality and visit famous teachers are countless, and while there are often famous and elegant scholars, few truly find it. This is enough to prove that walking this path is not easy." Huang Quan spoke to him with great composure.

"Your words make sense..."

Lin Jue thought carefully and deeply agreed.

"It is said that besides opportunity, there is also mind and nature, character, and talent—none can be missing, and it all ultimately comes down to the word 'fate'."

"How so?"

"I am only repeating what I've heard; how could I understand so much?" Huang Quan smiled. "However, Brother Lin has seen a monster, so your experience already exceeds that of many people."

"It was all coincidence."

"I wonder what the monster Brother Lin saw looked like?"

"To tell you the truth, I never saw its true appearance."

"Hmm?"

"I truly didn't see it clearly."

"That is truly a pity."

Huang Quan lowered his head, as if pondering.

"Then, Brother Lin, look at me?"

A sinister voice came from beside Lin Jue.

Thinking it was a joke, he turned his head, only to see Huang Quan slowly lift his head; in the dim light, it was shockingly the face of a monster—

A fierce face with a long snout, interlocking fangs, and eyes emitting green light.

"!"

Lin Jue was suddenly startled.

That face suddenly leaned toward him.

*Deng deng deng*—

Instinctively, Lin Jue retreated several steps.

At the same time, a breath of fire had reached his throat.

Looking at the monster again, with a *bang*, it turned into a cloud of smoke, then turned and quickly disappeared within the smoke.

"This?"

Lin Jue was both shocked and suspicious.

This person was actually a demon-ghost?

Are there really demon-ghosts on this road?

Where did it run off to?

*Gulp... *

Lin Jue swallowed his saliva and looked around; seeing it was empty, and not wanting to waste it, he swallowed the fire breath back down.

He took a small knife from his book satchel and waited vigilantly for a while, but there was no movement around him.

It was as if it had completely departed.

Lin Jue still looked left and right; in his eyes were the barren mountains and dark night, the boundless bamboo forest, and the moonlight appearing after the rain, illuminating the gravel road like white jade. The barren mountains and bamboo forest were outlined, but they did not appear bright because of this; under this cold light, they seemed even deeper.

A lonely person in the mountain night, with silver ripples in the puddles on the road.

For a moment, he was uneasy whether to walk or stay.

Lin Jue listened intently and discovered that, at some point, the merchants and travelers walking ahead had already gone far away; the sound of their bells was so faint it was almost inaudible. He immediately realized that catching up to them would likely not be easy.

After another while, he suddenly heard a scream from behind:

"Many Yaoguai!!"

The voice was full of fear, as if the throat were about to tear.

That kind of fear seemed contagious, making one feel cold.

Did others encounter a monster too?

He only heard a burst of footsteps moving forward.

Lin Jue hurriedly gripped his small knife; the feel of the handle and the weight of the blade made him feel much more at ease.

Gritting his teeth, the youth's blood surged; under deliberate control, he felt as if he could transform all the shock and unease in his heart into the anger of being intimidated and threatened.

The village elders often said that when people die, they become ghosts, and ghosts are weaker than people. If mountain monsters attain the Dao, unless they were originally fierce beasts or have attained a very deep level of cultivation, they aren't much stronger. Even if foxes become spirits, they fear fierce dogs; if rats and rabbits become spirits, they still fear cats and hawks; if centipedes and snakes become spirits, they are ultimately overcome by chickens and ducks. People are not inherently weak, so most demon-ghosts harm people either by taking advantage of their vulnerability or by luring and deceiving them; hence the saying that demons arise from people.

Lin Jue's heart was calm, his blood was vigorous, he was free of illness and disaster, and he had even been practicing Qi-nurturing for two months. At this moment, as anger surged and he deliberately controlled his thoughts, his heart immediately settled.

This method was truly effective, almost immediate.

He even wanted to look around and ask, where is the monster causing trouble here? Does it dare to come out and fight me?

Compare whose claws and fangs are sharper, or whose blade is sharper?

*Ta ta ta... *

A burst of hurried footsteps and horse hooves.

Lin Jue turned his head to look; by the moonlight, there was no monster, only a traveler who had also been frightened by the monster, running near him but not daring to go further, half-hidden in the swaying shadows of the bamboo forest.

"Who... who is it?"

That person also saw Lin Jue and shouted in a panic.

"Me! I am a human!"

Lin Jue answered loudly.

"You are a human?"

"I am a human!"

"There is... there is a monster in this mountain!"

"You saw it too?"

Lin Jue stood very steadily, staring at this person.

This person also kept his feet still, not daring to approach him easily.

The two talked from a distance.

"You encountered it too?"

That person was as surprised as Lin Jue.

"That's right."

Lin Jue felt no fear at this moment, so his answer was decisive: "That monster disguised itself as a human to travel with me, and while we were chatting, it suddenly revealed its true form to intimidate me, likely wanting to shatter my courage. Seeing it didn't succeed, it suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke and temporarily left."

"That's what I encountered too! Exactly the same!"

That person subconsciously took two steps toward Lin Jue, but hurriedly stopped, still retaining some vigilance: "Are you really a human?"

"I am truly a human."

"Where do you live?"

"In the neighboring county, Shu Village."

"Shu Village? I've been there!"

"You've been there?"

"Is it the one where everyone in the village is surnamed Shu, and there are three bridges?"

"Hmm? Shu Village is indeed a village of the Shu surname, but the whole village is built across a stream, with bridge planks everywhere; where are there only three?"

"Whew..."

That person seemed to have succeeded in testing him and breathed a sigh of relief, but continued to ask: "What is your name?"

"Surname Lin, given name Jue."

"Wrong!" The vigilance in his words rose again, "Shu Village has the Shu surname; why is your surname Lin? Wrong, wrong!"

"We are outsiders who had ties with the village elders of Shu Village, and only settled in Shu Village in the end."

"..."

"If you don't believe me, I'll clear the way and let you go first."

"Still wrong!"

"What now?"

"I encountered a monster and was scared out of my wits; you also encountered a monster, why didn't I hear your scream?" That person was very suspicious, seemingly having been scared out of his wits. "And I'm suspicious of you; why aren't you suspicious of me at all, and why didn't you ask me anything?"

"To tell you the truth, I have always been brave. Besides, I have seen monsters before and know that although they have strange powers, if one becomes particularly afraid of them because of that, it would instead make oneself fall into a weak position."

Lin Jue paused, his tone suddenly deepening:

"The reason I don't suspect you or question you is that I feel meeting by chance in the mountains is fate. Since I want to travel with you, I should retain some trust! If you are also a human, I will have no doubts and will walk this night road with you! But if you are not a human, this knife in my hand will see the blood of a monster tonight!"

The last two sentences were said almost through gritted teeth.

In a trance, he also had some of the spirit of those people in the village elders' stories who, after encountering evil on a night road, were not only unafraid but dared to fight the demon-ghosts.

"..."

That person hesitated for a moment, but finally walked up.

Now it was finally clear: he was a short, middle-aged man with three strands of beard, holding a rein in his hand and leading a mule behind him.

"My name is Yao San, and my home is just ahead."

"You are..."

Lin Jue asked while vigilantly observing him.

"I had inkstones produced at home, and today I was taking them to sell to a merchant caravan. They took them to the capital and Jiangnan to sell, and insisted on keeping me for a few drinks. Coupled with this rain, I ended up traveling at night." That man regretted, "If I had known I would really encounter a monster, I would have preferred to turn back!"

"So that's it."

Lin Jue observed the mule he was leading again.

"And you? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Mount Qiyun."

"Where is Mount Qiyun?"

"I haven't been there either; they say it's to the north."

"Why are you traveling the night road alone?"

"Aren't you alone too?"

Lin Jue turned to look at him; this was the point where he was most suspicious of this person so far.

"Where am I traveling alone? I had long heard that people had encountered monsters on this road, and when I was at that tea stall, I waited for a few local merchants to travel together. Who would have thought that halfway through, a gust of evil wind blew, and when I looked again, I was the only one left, and then I encountered that monster. At first, it also pretended to be a human and chatted with me, even talking about the price of inkstones."

Yao San observed Lin Jue quietly while speaking.

There was a hint of worry in his eyes.

"So that's it..."

Lin Jue nodded, generally accepting it.

What this person said had no problems, and coupled with knowing about the tea stall and leading a mule—at least in the strange stories told by village elders, one rarely heard of monsters being able to transform mules and horses; generally, they could only transform within limited ranges and conditions.

Having this ability was already considered quite powerful.

"Then let's go."

In any case, staying on this barren mountain road at night was not a good choice; one had to walk eventually.

Thus, the two walked one after the other, moving forward.

The sound of the mule's hooves behind was clear, with occasional snorts.

"Alas, why did you encounter a monster, and I encountered a monster? How many monsters are there on this road?" Yao San sighed and complained.

"Are there many people who encounter monsters on this road?"

"It's not many, but it's not few. I'm just a countryman who picks up grindstones and inkstones; how many people do I know?" Yao San said with a trembling voice, "I just occasionally hear of such things."

"What about the monster?"

"I don't know. It's hard to say. It's just that I don't seem to have heard of anyone being eaten by a monster on this road. That monster doesn't seem to eat people; it just scares people on the road, and it's always at night." Yao San still had lingering fear while speaking, "I don't know what kind of monster it is. When I first encountered it, I also had some suspicions, but it chatted with me, not only knowing the situation of every village around, but also knowing about ink and paper and which merchant caravan was leading the trade route, so I let down my guard."

"Doesn't eat people, only scares them?"

"Yes. But then again, this road is also an important trade route nearby. If there really were monsters eating people, even if only at night, the government would probably think of a way to clean it up."

"That makes sense."

"Trouble... trouble, little brother, help me lead the mule."

"Why?"

"I... I need to pee."

Yao San had an expression and tone that was hard to speak of, as if he were about to pee in his pants.

"..."

Lin Jue took the rein and pulled the mule.

The sound of water being released soon rang out beside him.

And the sound of Yao San finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Speaking of which, little brother Lin, did you see clearly what that monster looked like just now?"

"The sky was too dark; I only saw a rough outline."

"Did it have fangs?"

"It did."

"Did it have sharp claws?"

"It seemed so."

"Is it like this?"

Yao San lifted his leg and placed his foot on a tree by the road, suddenly turning his head to face Lin Jue; his appearance had changed, with a fierce face, long snout, interlocking fangs, and eyes emitting green light—it was truly the appearance of a monster.

"Hiss!"

Lin Jue couldn't help but be startled again.

Seeing this, the monster immediately grinned.

"Hehe..."

On the barren mountain night road, there was actually the sound of snickering.

At the same time—

"Poof..."

A cloud of smoke exploded in front of him.

Lin Jue was stunned for a moment, instinctively wanting to retreat, but after retreating half a step, he stepped back forward.

"You thing!!"

In order to guard against monsters, he had been intentionally holding onto that breath of anger in his heart; it was hard to say whether this anger was true or false, but as it surged to his head, it was still directed at the person.

"Again!"

Lin Jue was shocked and angry, staring and gritting his teeth.

"Swish!"

One hand suddenly reached out!

Through the demon mist!

Before the monster could leave, it was grabbed by the collar.

His knuckles turned white from the effort. ===== CHAPTER 13 =====