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"Well, I know. Let's discuss it properly after they find Zhou Hong, whether to take a detour or resolve this issue. It's almost dawn, so they should be back soon," Mao Ruiliang said, glancing at his watch.
As the sky began to lighten, Master Xiao and the other two returned, still without any sign of Zhou Hong. It seemed they had searched for so long without success. The three of them sat down dejectedly on a nearby rock. Master Xiao remarked, "Where on earth could that kid have gone? Why can't we find him?"
Wang Xiaolu said, "Let's not search for now. Once the sun comes up, I have a plan."
Everyone looked at Wang Xiaolu without doubt; she probably had some secret technique up her sleeve. There were too many unknowns in this world for anyone to know everything.
"In that case, let's cook first. When the sun rises, Sister Wang can use the Method of Feng Shui to look for him," Mao Ruiliang suggested.
To be honest, everyone was quite tired, but Zhou Hong's disappearance left no one with any desire to sleep. They pushed through their exhaustion with thoughts of breakfast.
After finishing their meal, as the sun rose over the mountains, Wang Xiaolu let out a sigh of relief and said, "I'll go prepare. Liu Shixiong, could you help me out?"
"Sure." No one else followed along except for me. I was curious; if it was an exclusive Secret Technique, why did she want me to come?
Wang Xiaolu first took out a piece of clothing from Zhou Hong's backpack and then grabbed her own bag. She walked over to a flat area outside Tsuchiya and laid Zhou Hong's clothes flat on the ground. Then she pulled out a hardcover book from her bag and opened it to reveal a row of colorful Paper Men inside.
"Sister Wang, you start your ritual. Call me when you need my help," I said before turning away; I couldn't bear to watch such a unique Spell.
"Okay, Liu Shixiong. Just place your compass in front of my mirror and check the direction where that Paper Man burned," Wang Xiaolu instructed as she began chanting her incantation.
Before long, I saw a blue Paper Man walk past my feet. It didn't go far—just two or three meters—when suddenly it burst into flames with a pop and turned to ashes in an instant.
"Liu Shixiong, come here. Place your compass in front of my mirror and see what direction that Paper Man burned in," Wang Xiaolu called out.
I walked over; in front of her was a round bronze mirror reflecting sunlight that shone brightly on her face. She squinted slightly as if the glare was too much but didn’t turn her head away.
I positioned the compass flat in front of her mirror and began determining the direction where the yellow Paper Man had burned.
"Due east," I announced.
Wang Xiaolu greeted softly, still not turning her face away. Instead, she took out another red Paper Man. Gripping the red Paper Man, she quickly drew a few strokes on the bronze mirror before tossing it out.
As the red figure was about to hit the ground, it suddenly sank down, its paper legs firmly standing on the ground before it dashed off in another direction. It had barely run a few meters when it burst into flames with a puff, slowly burning away until it turned into a pile of black ashes that fell to the ground.
"What about this one?" Wang Xiaolu said, still squinting her eyes.
I glanced at the compass and measured the direction before replying, "True North, Kan position."
Wang Xiaolu asked, "Liu Shixiong, did you remember the burning locations of those two Paper Men?"
"Yeah."
Only after I replied did Wang Xiaolu finally move her face away from the beam of reflected light. After blinking a few times, she took out a measuring tape from her bag and handed it to me. "Liu Shixiong, could you please measure the exact distance?"
I grabbed one end of the measuring tape and measured the distances of the two Paper Men. One was five meters away, while the other was only three meters.
Wang Xiaolu nodded and said, "Strange, how did he run so far?"
I asked in confusion, "Where is he?"
"Zhou Hong is two kilometers northeast of our camp. Let’s go find him," Wang Xiaolu said as she packed up everything on the ground.
Back at the camp, I explained the situation and left Wang Xiaolu and Meng Biao behind. The others headed towards that direction, which happened to lead to the mountain where Human Cave was located.
Speaking of which, Wang Xiaolu's Method of Feng Shui was indeed impressive. The direction was spot on; about four miles away, we really found Zhou Hong. He was dazedly spinning in place, his face devoid of any expression as if his soul had been taken.
We slowly approached him without making a sound. In this uncertain situation, waking him abruptly might lead to unforeseen consequences. We were all colleagues and understood some things without needing to say them aloud.
After observing Zhou Hong for a while, we basically figured out what was going on.
Zhou Hong was possessed, and after being possessed, he encountered the Ghost Wall. Normally, a person affected by the Ghost Wall would be fine once daylight arrived. However, someone who was first possessed and then encountered the Ghost Wall would hesitate in place even when the sun rose, as if in a sleepwalking state, completely unaware of their surroundings. If someone were to wake them directly or shake them awake, there was a high chance they would lose their soul. The solution to this situation was actually quite simple; one just needed to use some special sounds to lure them out of that area.
So, Mao Ruiliang took out a bell and gently shook it in front of Zhou Hong. The bell emitted a crisp sound, and although Zhou Hong did not open his eyes, he slowly began to move toward the bell. Mao Ruiliang continued to shake the bell while stepping back. After retreating about ten meters, Zhou Hong suddenly opened his eyes.
He looked at us and said, "Hey, how did I end up here? Are you all okay? What about Brother Meng and Sister Wang?"
We all breathed a sigh of relief. Mao Ruiliang replied, "Why did you come here? I told you to stay behind and watch the tent."
Zhou Hong looked puzzled and said, "Not long after you all left last night, I saw Sister Wang come back. She told me you were in danger and asked me to help. So I followed her, but she started running faster and faster. I chased after her, but I don't remember anything after that."
"You got possessed, brother. In the future, strengthen your resolve; don’t just chase after beautiful women. That one who transformed into Sister Wang might be an old hag in disguise," Master Xiao joked.
Zhou Hong now realized he had been possessed and muttered, "I was just worried about you all. Are you okay? Did we lose anything at the campsite?"
"No, we’re fine. Let’s head back; everyone is tired from the night. We should rest first. At two o'clock this afternoon, we’ll hold a meeting to discuss whether we should go to the Human Cave or not."
...
At two o'clock in the afternoon, after resting, we all regained our spirits and began discussing while munching on dry rations.
"Let’s talk about whether we should bypass Baojia Mountain and head straight to **Shang**," Mao Ruiliang initiated the conversation.
Master Xiao immediately responded, "Why bypass? It’s just a Vengeful Spirit; I want to settle scores with it." After saying this, he glanced at Wang Xiaolu.
"Come on! You want to settle scores? Who ran faster than a dog last night?" Zhang Chuanzheng chimed in, as he always seemed to clash with Master Xiao.
"I suggest we take a detour. Who can guarantee that there’s only one Vengeful Spirit on Baojia Mountain? If there are more than one, we definitely won’t stand a chance," Liu Zhiqiang said as he looked at Meng Biao. Clearly in his mind, Meng Biao was the strongest among us; if even he had been knocked out, then facing multiple spirits would leave us with no hope of victory.
Liu Zhiqiang looked at Meng Biao, and everyone else followed suit. Only Meng Biao had faced that Vengeful Spirit directly; everyone was eager to hear his opinion.
As everyone looked at him, Meng Biao's face turned red as he said, "That Vengeful Spirit is indeed formidable, but if I had one more helper, I would definitely not be at a disadvantage."
After discussing for a long time, opinions were still divided. Finally, Wang Xiaolu quietly asked, "So are we going to take a detour or not?" This was the only thing Wang Xiaolu said throughout the entire discussion.
"How about this: let's vote. I'll share my thoughts first. As the team leader, I must be responsible for everyone's safety. Therefore, I suggest we take a detour," Mao Ruiliang said.
"I also suggest taking a detour. This is just one of our waypoints; there's no need to waste too much time here. Our destination is the Human Cave," Zhang Chuanzheng immediately added.
Liu Zhiqiang nodded and said, "I share the same opinion as them."
Before it even started, there were already three votes in favor of taking a detour.
Master Xiao quickly interjected, "No detour! Cultivators shouldn't back down at the first sign of difficulty. It's just danger; what’s there to fear?"
I nodded and added, "Yes, Master Xiao is right. Since this is an experience, we should engage with such matters; otherwise, we lose the meaning of the experience. The Human Cave is deep in the mountains and might be even more perilous than Baojia Mountain. What will we do then if we need to take a detour?"
"Exactly! We absolutely cannot take a detour," Master Xiao chimed in with a grin. "If we encounter another spirit like that, you can just watch from the sidelines while Brother Liu and I handle it."
Mao Ruiliang turned to Wang Xiaolu and asked, "Sister Wang, what do you think?" Wang Xiaolu was sitting to my right, so it was naturally her turn after I spoke.
"I... I..." She stammered without making a decision. Meng Biao stood up and said, "Those who want to take a detour can go ahead. Xiao and Liu X, if you're interested, let's go together. I'm not going anywhere until I settle the score with that Vengeful Spirit."
As soon as Meng Biao finished speaking, Wang Xiaolu added, "Then I also suggest not taking a detour. That Vengeful Spirit attacked me too; I'm not looking for revenge. I just don't want to leave any regrets during this experience since we only have this opportunity once in our lives."
With Wang Xiaolu's statement, the vote shifted to four in favor of not taking a detour against three. The remaining member without a say was Zhou Hong. He stated that he wasn't skilled in Daoist Arts and would remain neutral on this matter. The outcome was clear: regardless of whether that mountain was a den of dragons or tigers, we would venture into it.
"Since that's settled, let's pack our things now and head out to find the location of the Human Cave this afternoon. We'll camp on that mountain tonight. But let’s agree on one thing: no one should act impulsively. I don’t want to enter with eight people and come out missing someone," Mao Ruiliang concluded as he clapped his hands and stood up to start packing.
With consensus reached, we shouldered our bags and headed toward the mountain where the Human Cave was located.
Arriving at the foot of the mountain, Master Xiao said, "Brother Liu, since you understand feng shui, why don't you find out where the gathering place of Yin energy is? Let's head straight there; I bet that Vengeful Spirit will be nearby."
"That's not wise. The gathering place of Yin energy is strong, and there could be many dangers inside. If we go recklessly, it will definitely be dangerous," Mao Ruiliang immediately countered.
I nodded in agreement and added, "Mao Shixiong is right. However, I will locate the gathering place of Yin energy. We can first operate around the perimeter and only enter once we've cleared out most of the area."
"The Human Cave is our target location. I suggest we don't spend too much time at the gathering place," Liu Zhiqiang said.
Meng Biao chuckled lightly and looked up at the mountain before saying, "As far as I know, places where Yin spirits gather can eventually become gathering places for Yin energy. I wonder if Liu Shidi can figure it out."
I nodded and replied, "Generally, the shapes of mountains and caves follow certain patterns. The Human Cave can accommodate hundreds of people, so we can be sure that this cave is large enough. From the perspective of feng shui geography, large caves usually appear on the shady side of a mountain. The area surrounding the cave tends to dip downwards. This depression can easily become a gathering place for Yin energy, so I believe that even if the Human Cave isn't located directly at a gathering place, it won't be too far from one."
"That sounds best. Why don't you first check which direction the gathering place might be in?" Meng Biao said, staring intently at the towering mountain as if he wanted to quickly find the direction of the Human Cave.
I acknowledged him and took out my feng shui compass. I climbed onto a large rock and faced the mountain ahead as I began to use the compass. After carefully calculating for a while, I suddenly realized that the largest gathering place for Yin energy was in the direction that Wang Xiaolu and I had walked last night. If we had gone another mile or two last night, we would have reached it. No wonder we encountered that White Shirt Wraith trying to obstruct us; it must have been trying to prevent us from moving forward. Could it be that ahead lies the location of the Human Cave?
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