Chapter 281

Bai Yuanshan is the holy mountain of Gao Mu, but in recent years, every night, the once-pure white peaks of the mountain exude a sinister aura, causing nearby residents to avoid looking toward its depths.

It is not merely psychological; every year, hundreds of backpackers who climb the mountain vanish into Shenshan, their bodies never found, alive or dead. Subsequent rescue teams' path analyses show all disappearances occur at midnight, deepening the terrifying atmosphere surrounding Bai Yuanshan at night.

Rumors spread wildly—of heavy yin energy within the mountain, demons lurking, and spirits that absorb the souls of the living only at night.

Better to believe than to doubt; as the tales multiplied, residents of surrounding villages and towns developed taboos.

For instance, in Bai Ling Village on the western side of Bai Yuanshan, villagers close all doors and windows before eight p. m. and never step outside again.

Didi didi.

Hearing the alarm, Jin Shiya, as usual, called her husband inside to finish his last cigarette, but when she looked into the yard, she saw he was not at his usual smoking spot.

Could he have gone to a neighbor's house?

With the time growing late and eager to shut the door, Jin Shiya went to search for her husband and urge him home.

Bai Ling Village is a mountain village; Jin Shiya's home sits at a lower elevation, and as soon as she stepped outside, she saw several young people rushing toward the higher central area of the village.

She called out casually: "It's so late—where are you all going?"

Villagers knew each other well; they laughed and replied: "Going to watch the show. Heard a crew came to the village today to film something tonight—everyone's going to see."

Hearing this, Jin Shiya followed the group toward the village center.

Her husband loves spectacles—he must be there.

After climbing dozens of stone steps to the elevated open space in the high part of the village, Jin Shiya saw the area packed with people; the husband she sought stood at the edge.

She moved closer, about to ask why he hadn't come home, but her words died in her throat at the sight before her.

The gloomy Bai Yuanshan was now illuminated by countless lights, their glow stretching like endless dragons winding from the mountain's outer rim deep into its interior.

The lights advanced and scattered visibly before the eye; thousands upon thousands of glowing points, densely packed, as if the starry sky had fallen straight into Bai Yuanshan.

"What's going on?" Jin Shiya asked.

Her husband, sensing her arrival, replied: "Heard a film crew came in the evening, said they'd be filming tonight and told everyone not to enter the mountain, for fear of injury."

Jin Shiya asked curiously: "What kind of show needs this many people? There must be over a thousand."

Her husband shrugged: "Heard it's a sports program—with physical combat."

Boom—

A deep roar erupted from within Bai Yuanshan; a mushroom-shaped flame surged upward, triggering gasps and shouts from the crowd.

Jin Shiya's voice hesitated: "Is this part of the show too?"

Her husband replied offhandedly: "Probably some new kind of firework. What's to worry? Can't be a bomb."

Soon after, the clusters of lights converging into Bai Yuanshan began dispersing in all directions.

Some moved toward the western side of Bai Yuanshan—the direction of Bai Ling Village.

A gust of wind blew, carrying faint cries and pleas—sharp, agonizing, chilling.

Jin Shiya remembered the ghost stories, her face turning pale: "Is this part of the show too?"

Her husband muttered to himself but said aloud: "Probably just special effects—modern shows go overboard these days."

The lights drew closer to Bai Ling Village; after ten minutes, some had reached the village's edge.

Suddenly, several men in pure white robes, resembling devotees, burst from the forest, charging wildly toward Bai Ling Village, screaming: "Help! Murder!"

Before the villagers could react, a black-clad teenager sprinted after them, leapt high, and delivered a flying kick that sent the white-robed man crashing to the ground.

Two more black-clad figures emerged from the forest; all three swung their metal rods, surrounding the white-robed man and beating him without mercy.

Each black-clad man held a high-intensity flashlight, blazing like starlight in the night.

The metal rods left afterimages; each struck at least six times per second—within two or three seconds, the white-robed man stopped struggling and collapsed unconscious.

Two of them slapped tags reading "ELIMINATED" onto his body, dragged him back into the forest, while the third entered the village, borrowed a shovel, and buried the bloodstains in front of the village.

As he returned the shovel, he added to the crowd: "Don't mind it—all just show effects."

Witnessing it all, Jin Shiya gripped her husband's sleeve and asked: "Are show effects really this realistic now?"

Meanwhile, from the direction of Songquan Village, Wu Chang waited until his subordinates had all entered Bai Yuanshan before slowly walking into the mountain himself.

He was the boss—not some schoolyard thug in a brawl. Who ever leads from the front?

By the time he entered, the front lines were already locked in combat with extremist Xinyuzhou Sect followers; the motorcycle gangs, riding off-road bikes, had broken through and reached the enemy's stronghold, planted explosives exactly where he ordered, and detonated them.

With a massive explosion, the faint mist within Bai Yuanshan dissipated, revealing the mountain's true form.

According to Song Zhenxian's confession, the frequent mists in Bai Yuanshan over recent years were caused by extremist Xinyuzhou Sect followers, who used the mountain's terrain to construct a special occult ritual, further obscuring their activities.

Song Zhenxian was one of the ritual's architects and knew most of the array's nodes; Wu Chang, using his Breaking Law Eye and occult knowledge, deduced the positions of all core nodes and ordered his men to detonate them.

The results proved his calculations were highly successful.

As they advanced deeper into the mountain, they saw Xinyuzhou Sect followers, bloodied and weak, being dragged out; few Starlight Gang members were injured.

This was normal—the extremist followers entrenched in Bai Yuanshan were mostly gang members or outlaws. They sounded terrifying, but their actual quality was pitiful.

The reason was simple: anyone with real skill had already joined the Starlight Gang.

The Starlight Gang is the largest gang in Gao Mu, backed by conglomerates, with close ties to numerous government officials—high salary, high benefits, promising career prospects. Far more respectable than joining the Xinyuzhou Sect and hiding in the mountains doing dirty work.

Gang members and outlaws with ambition and ability could not refuse the Starlight Gang.

With such a disparity in quality and inferior numbers, the one-sided outcome was inevitable.

Wu Chang looked at Cui Chengze beside him and said: "You've looked like you wanted to say something since earlier—go ahead."

Cui Chengze hesitated, then asked: "Director Li, launching such a large-scale attack—aren't you afraid they'll harm the hostages?"

Wu Chang stared at Cui Chengze in confusion: "Rescuing hostages is the government's job. What does it have to do with the Starlight Gang?"

"My men didn't believe your little speech—surely you didn't?"

Wu Chang's gaze seemed to question Cui Chengze's basic common sense, making the older man blush.

"Even ignoring ordinary people, there's still Ms. Li Yubin among the hostages—aren't you…?"

Wu Chang cut him off immediately: "I have no relationship with Li Yubin—don't smear her reputation. Besides, she's no damsel in distress. The louder the chaos outside, the more the extremists' attention is distracted, the more room she has to act."

Cui Chengze knew Wu Chang was right, but he couldn't let go—he still asked, "Director Li, why won't you let that deity act, and instead leave Her in the village?"

Cui Chengze, connected to the Sea God General, understood the gap between deities and humans; if the deity acted, tonight's matter could be easily resolved, without putting the hostages at risk.

Wu Chang heard what Cui Chengze meant—his desire to save the hostages was noble, but what did it have to do with him?

"Tonight is destined to see deaths, destined to see many deaths. She is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see people die; the dirty work must fall to me."

Aileen was raised from childhood as a holy maiden, deeply shaped by the Church; mercy and compassion were carved into her bones, and even now that she has regained all human emotions, they cannot be changed.

For example, when facing You Feipeng, if it had been Wu Chang or He Yun, even if they wanted to spare his life, they would first break his limbs, leaving him no room to act.

This is Aileen's weakness, yet also her defining trait.

Afterward, Aileen once asked him if she needed to change, but he believed she did not.

The world has two sides, like virtue and evil, twin-born and interdependent; losing either would shatter the balance. Not everyone can be decisive in killing, able to judge an enemy as deserving death from a single glance or gesture, and to kill without blinking is not necessarily good.

You can demand this of your subordinates, but he raised Aileen as his daughter—he wanted her to live according to her own will, not forced to do anything.

He named her Eternal Purity's Light precisely so she would remain forever pure, untouched by the abyss.

When he completed a dungeon and hundreds or thousands died because of him, he wanted to see Aileen's pure smile cleanse his soul, not a face that had just blasted ten thousand people to dust with holy magic, colder and more heartless than his own.

If all he needed was a killing tool, he might as well go after Leyman.

Hearing Wu Chang's answer, Cui Chengze wisely did not press further.

Wu Chang sensed Cui Chengze's disappointment, but he didn't care.

The old man had lost his hidden side quest, and he wasn't a beautiful girl like Aileen or He Yun—who cared whether his approval rating rose or fell?

Huh~

A mountain wind blew, carrying cold snowflakes that stung the face.

Wu Chang looked up and saw the once-clear night sky now turning gloomy.

It seemed Jin Canyun had sensed something was wrong and was making a desperate last stand.

!

Seeing this, Wu Chang borrowed a mountain bike from one of the motorcycle gang members and, using his Master-level mechanical driving skill, raced toward the outpost where the followers were stationed.

Cui Chengze followed suit, borrowing a bike from another motorcycle gang member—but when he mounted it and looked up again, Wu Chang's taillights had already vanished.

Deep within Bai Yuanshan lies a mountain called Tan Mountain, shaped like an inverted jar; legend says Tan Jun was born here, and the mountain gave him his name, hence Tan Jun.

Tan Mountain also has another local name among surrounding villages: Thousand Ghost Mountain.

Legend says when Tan Jun's father, Heng, descended to earth, he brought three thousand ghosts; these ghosts were inherited by Tan Jun, and before his death, fearing they would bring calamity to humanity, he sealed them within Tan Mountain, forbidding their emergence.

Night winds frequently rise around Tan Mountain, howling through the trees like ghostly shrieks, hence the mountain's other name: Thousand Ghost Mountain.

At this moment, the interior of the jar-shaped Tan Mountain has been hollowed into a vast cavern, where Jin Canyun and his extremist followers have activated a long-prepared esoteric ritual.

Inside the cavern, the two villages' kidnapped villagers sit in a circle, their gazes vacant, seated on the ground as if bewitched, staring fixedly at the altar placed at the center.

On the altar lie thirteen artifacts steeped in history; each one, if displayed publicly, would be a national treasure of Gao Mu.

Some were taken by Jin Canyun when he left; others had been there since before.

Among the thirteen artifacts, the square bronze plaque suspected to be the Sun Immortal Seal rests at the center.

As the esoteric array activates, faint white smoke rises from the heads of the seated villagers, flowing into the other twelve artifacts, excluding the bronze plaque.

The artifacts tremble softly, emitting a hum like struck tuning forks.

The sound echoes within the cavern—normally it would fade—but under the Sun Immortal Seal's influence, the hum grows stronger.

With the hum, cracks split the cavern walls, and twelve clouds of mist surge forth, absorbing the white vapor from the villagers' heads and taking shape as grotesque, smoke-like monsters.

These twelve monsters are the twelve great generals of Tan Jun's original ghost army.

Each monster bears a human face; when compared to mythological illustrations, their features vaguely resemble famous generals from Gao Mu's history.

Seeing the twelve ghosts take form, Jin Canyun's face lit up with joy—he shouted excitedly, "Good! Good! Good! It truly worked!"

The preparations within Tan Mountain began long ago.

Bai Yun Mountain Range is Gao Mu's sacred mountain; Tan Mountain is its holy mountain. Centuries of faith have accumulated immense faith energy here, catalyzing a being akin to a mountain deity.

The state of the Tan Mountain deity resembles the early stage of the Sea God General, even more diminished.

Had it encountered the Warrior Star Lord like the Sea God General did, the Tan Mountain deity could have awakened consciousness and become a native deity.

Unfortunately, it encountered not the Warrior Star Lord, but Leyman.

Followers of the Xinyuzhou Sect have long used esoteric rituals to siphon energy from the mountain deity to empower their high-ranking members.

The supernatural abilities within Zheng's father and daughter, Jin Canyun, and Song Zhenxian were all drained from the Tan Mountain deity; the very act that shattered the dimensional barrier and allowed Leyman to descend one eye relied on Tan Mountain's power.

The faith energy accumulated by Tan Mountain was so immense that even after the Xinyuzhou Sect consumed and stole from it, less than one or two percent was depleted.

According to the original plan, after sacrificing the Xingyue, completing the terrestrial divine realm, and bringing Leyman's descent, Leyman would come to Tan Mountain and devour the remaining Tan Mountain energy.

At that point, Leyman's projection would not only gain immense power but also be recognized as a native deity, breaking free from dimensional restrictions.

If that happened, not even Wu Chang's manipulation of the terrestrial divine realm to summon Aileen's projection could match Leyman—even if Aileen's true body arrived, she would be no match.

Then, with the Silent Passage as a springboard, Leyman would gradually erode the Wasteland Realm; if he entered another world's dungeon, the Four Major Organizations and the Light Society would have no say left.

Unfortunately, Leyman's projection never returned alive to the surface, so the Xinyuzhou Sect's plan lost its next step.

At first, the Xinyuzhou Sect attempted negotiations with all sides, but after seeing Cui Chengze subdue Zheng Chengxun, and then Zheng Chengxun's suicide in prison, Jin Canyun could no longer sit still.

He knew that if he delayed further, the Xinyuzhou Sect would be gradually dismantled by Cui Chengze, losing all hope of a comeback.

So he gambled everything on today's operation.

He intended to use the previous esoteric array and the folk faith of Gao Mu to draw out Tan Mountain's power and "reawaken" the twelve ghost generals.

The twelve ghost generals were not the true commanders of the three thousand ghosts from myth—they were merely the people's imagined figures based on the legends.

They resemble native deities, but far weaker, their strength approaching the Fallen Monsters of the Shengge Corporation's dimension.

They possess a trace of divinity—but not much.

They can slaughter mortals effortlessly and, thanks to their divinity, are immune to most high-tech weapons.

With these twelve Ghost Generals, Jin Canyun could take back the Xinyuzhou Sect and even bring the upper echelons of Gao Mu's nation under his control.

By then, he would be able to rearrange the ritual and summon the true god Layman.

Having learned from failure, this time his actions would be faster, and more successful.

Everything had been going smoothly, but the infuriating thing was that Lee Jaese, who had ruined their plans once before, refused to stay dead — not only had he come back to life, but he kept causing trouble, trying to sabotage their plan once again.

But it didn't matter — Lord Zheng Ruiyuan must have failed only because he hadn't had time to perform the Earthly Kingdom ritual, and that was why that brat had ruined things.

He, Jin Canyun, was different — he had already summoned the twelve Ghost Generals, and however that brat had come back to life, that was exactly how he would make him die again!

What a pity he couldn't let that little bastard live until the god Layman's descent, otherwise the god Layman would surely rain down divine punishment and torment him terribly.

As Jin Canyun activated the formation, the twelve Ghost Generals shot out of the cave mouth; their mist-coalesced bodies swelled against the wind, condensing into twelve enormous figures above Altar Mountain.

Each body stood a hundred meters tall, and the villages and towns around Mount Baiyuan could see them from very far away.

The instant people saw the twelve Ghost Generals, an immense fear welled up in their hearts, and they could not help but shiver uncontrollably.

In the crowd of onlookers at White Ridge Village, Jin Siya clutched her husband's arm tightly and asked in a small voice:

"Honey, is this the holographic drone projection that's trendy right now?"

Jin Siya's husband was also trembling, and only by forcing himself to stay upright — so as to be a pillar for his wife — did he manage not to collapse onto the ground.

"I don't know either."

Wu Chang, who had already ridden his mountain motorcycle to the outskirts of Altar Mountain, whistled at the twelve Ghost Generals in the sky, took out his phone, and dialed Ailin's number.

"Miss Ailin, it's your turn to take the stage."

(End of this chapter)