Yang Xiao is now eighty percent sure that the problem lies within that mountain. Beiyu Ye also ntioned that he felt sothing was wrong with it.
"What is the na of that mountain? Are there any legends or rumors about it?" Qingshui Cangjie apparently realized this too and asked.
"The na... seems like there isn’t one. It’s just a wild mountain with no legends I’ve heard of, but when I was very young, my family warned not to go deep into that mountain, saying so people went in and never ca out again."
"When I grew up, I asked my parents about it, and they didn’t know why either; they just said they heard it from their parents, my grandparents, and it’s been passed down from generation to generation," Lin Tian Jianci recalled.
That’s all the clues there are; asking further wouldn’t yield anything new. With the journey too far, rushing back was necessary, so Yang Xiao and Qingshui Cangjie had to bid farewell and leave. However, Qingshui Cangjie left behind Lin Tian Jianci’s phone number, agreeing to communicate promptly if any new situations arose.
After leaving Lin Tian Jianci’s doorstep, Qingshui Cangjie imdiately dialed Heize Lin’s phone, but it wouldn’t connect, "They must have gone into the mountain!" Qingshui Cangjie’s heart tightened instantly.
Judging similarly to Yang Xiao, he also realized the problem lay within the mountain.
The two promptly left Xijin City and drove back to the hotel. Halfway there, Qingshui Cangjie’s phone rang, displaying Heize Lin as the caller.
The call connected, and Heize Lin, in an excited tone, reported an important clue. They had entered the mountain not long ago, and led by Beiyu Ye, they found an extrely concealed cave. The cave was on the mountain’s shaded side, and vegetation concealed it, making it very hidden, even if walking nearby.
Inside the cave, they discovered a wondrous sight—a ruined small temple with a divine statue enshrined within.
The statue’s appearance was already dilapidated, but faintly discernible as a woman.
As their exploration deepened, they found many piled bones in a corner of the temple. The bones were deliberately stacked together, and judging from the skeletal structure and clothing, the bones covered a wide range of historical periods; the oldest dating back hundreds of years, even the most recent were over twenty or thirty years old.
Even more startling was finding Jiangmu Shendao Society’s Soul Suppressing Talisman within the ruined temple. The talisman was affixed to the statue’s head and reinforced with a wooden nail, along with talismans for transcending spirits, placed in a wooden box before those bones.
The evident deliberate collection and assembly of these bones occurred recently.
Inside the cave was very damp, and the footprints of previous visitors remained, still quite clear.
In the traces, Beiyu Ye keenly identified a pair of boot prints, deducing that the boots’ owner was the Jiangmu Shendao Society’s important figure, izhen Quan Gongsi, invited with a hefty sum for Evil Exorcism.
This character indeed had so skills, also discovered this cave deep in the mountains. From the traces left, it can be confird that this place is the source of all problems, and the suppressed statue using talismans is likely the female ghost in Ghost Dream harming them.
Near the statue was a stone tablet, recording the background of this cave and ruined temple.
The woman enshrined had no na, simply called Village Guardian Tide Woman. She was a villager from the mountainside, waiting on the mountaintop for the return of her seafaring husband.
One late night, the woman descending the mountain suddenly saw many ships approaching the shore with no lights, like a ghost fleet sailing fast towards the coast.
The woman imdiately realized they were pirates, who had harassed nearby villages, and she lit her fishing lamp, shouting, warning villagers of incoming pirates.
The woman’s tily alert gave villagers a chance to escape, but she was less fortunate, captured by enraged pirates, brutally tortured. To commorate her heroic deed, the surviving villagers pooled resources to build the small temple in the mountain.
The story sounds moving, but Yang Xiao instantly noticed issues—firstly, protagonists in such stories should have a na, not just four words Village Guardian Tide Woman. Secondly, the temple’s location was problematic, built deep inside the cave, on the shaded side, more like suppression than worship.
This Village Guardian Tide Woman is definitely not simple, her death likely has hidden truths.
From Heize Lin, inford that bones in the temple showed no external injuries, presumably murdered within the Ghost Dream, these people likely lost within the mountain, unconsciously entering the cave, killed by the female ghost.
Not exactly, perhaps influenced by sothing, losing their way in the mountain and drawn here, murdered in Ghost Dream.
Due to the Village Guardian Tide Woman’s sheer resentnt, a Resentful Eye manifested here, forming a supernatural event after losing control.
The bones’ owners t supernatural death due to this event; Asakura Yodou, initially lost in the mountains, should be similar, drawn here. However, he wasn’t killed, and accidentally acquired the Resentful Eye.
Such an artifact was beyond his control, soon suffering backlash from the Resentful Eye, unable to prevent it. Helplessly watched people around him cursed, murdered by the female ghost.
Ultimately, the bla fell on Asakura Yodou, leading to his tragic live burial.
"Go to the village, find Principal Suzuki, gather precise intel about the Village Guardian Tide Woman." Qingshui Cangjie instructed Heize Lin and Beiyu Ye.
About an hour later, Qingshui Cangjie received news that Principal Suzuki didn’t recognize the Village Guardian Tide Woman; unaware of a temple in the mountains or Jiangmu Shendao Society’s expedition, finding the temple.
No way out, seeing the stalemate, Qingshui Cangjie decided to go all out, risk calling Scarred Man, probing for izhen Quan Gongsi’s actions to extract clues.
Scarred Man didn’t directly agree, barely spoke before ending the call.
Yang Xiao was also nervous; they weren’t sure if the matter was fortune or disaster. If Scarred Man got furious, possibly bringing people to eliminate them all.
"Don’t worry, he won’t act rashly." Qingshui Cangjie appeared very calm, "Viewing izhen Quan Gongsi’s arrangents in that ruined temple, this matter’s quite severe. Solving it toughly might be costly, exceeding Jiangmu Shendao Society’s capability, using us substitute victims."
"I’ve so insight into their affairs; we’re certainly chosen, implying selection, not random picks. If we all die, temporarily regathering suitable people proves hard."
"That’s why we’re valuable. They may kill one or two to establish dominance, but not eliminate us all—it’d thwart their plan, helping no one."
"Our value is the key, surely, he’ll assist us," Qingshui Cangjie’s tone firm.
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