Chapter 45 Part 1

“So the sickness originated from Overgrown Mountain?” Zezhi sat down, twisting the Bodhi Wood Beads on her wrist. Her cultivator-like bearing reminded Zhen Hezi of someone.

Zhen Hezi’s pupils trembled slightly, but she dismissed it as mere coincidence.

Zezhi looked towards Zhen Hezi. “Perhaps the weakening of a Restriction Barrier placed many years ago is causing all these strange events now.”

That was exactly what Zhen Hezi thought. Worry in her voice, she said, “We currently have a sick guest staying here. Like you two, he came to take photos. After he went into the mountain, we lost contact with him. The next time we saw him, he was already in a dazed, soul-drained state.”

“Is that person still…” Yinyu sat down on the side, knowing the question might be unpleasant, but she still voiced it, “…alive?”

“He’s alive,” Zhen Hezi said, her brow tightly furrowed, sighing repeatedly. “But his condition is extremely poor.”

“Could we see him?” Zezhi had already stood up.

The girl at the front desk happened to arrive with paper cups of water. Seeing Zezhi rise, she wasn’t sure if she should still offer the water.

Zezhi unceremoniously took one and drank a sip, her expression unchanged.

Seeing this, the girl handed the other cup to Yinyu, forced a smile, and retreated back to her post.

Zhen Hezi hesitated, suspecting these two might be the type who won’t give up until they face the music, maybe even thinking she was spinning tall tales to scare them. Mustering her resolve, she said, “I’ll need to ask that gentleman his feelings on the matter first.”

“Thank you,” Yinyu said, collapsing her posture slightly as she leaned toward Zezhi. Looking up, she suggested, “Why don’t we stay here for the night? It’s just about to get dark.”

“We can do that,” Zezhi said, looking down at her without objection.

Seeing that the two seemed to have abandoned the idea of heading up the mountain for now, Zhen Hezi finally smiled. She turned her head and said, “Open a room for these two guests. The flooding’s just ended, and who knows if it’ll rain again tomorrow. Give them a twenty percent discount.”

“The Lady Boss is too kind.” Yinyu smiled.

The girl at the front desk clutched the mouse, clicked a few times, and asked, “Do you have your ID cards with you, guests? To register your information.”

Of course they did; any long-distance trip required proper documentation.

Once they’d gotten their room, Zhen Hezi also went upstairs and got permission from the sick guest. Coming back down, she said, “That gentleman agreed. You can see him now.”

Yinyu took the room key card and leisurely climbed the stairs, her kitten heels seemingly ill-suited for long journeys, as if she were just on vacation.

Slipping the key card into her bag, she said, “Then let’s see him sooner rather than later.”

The gentleman was staying in the room at the very end of the corridor. He seemed too weak to rise and greet them, so Zhen Hezi opened the door.

The moment Zhen Hezi pushed the door open, a dry, decaying odor surged out, so palpable it could have materialized into a menacing, clawing monster.

She was the first to face it, yet she showed no discomfort whatsoever. Stepping into the room calmly, she even lightened her footsteps upon seeing the person in the bed.

Following behind, Yinyu was overwhelmed by the stench, coughing uncontrollably. Covering her mouth and nose, she took a moment to adjust before slowly shuffling inside.

“Would you like some water?” Zhen Hezi asked.

The gentleman in the bed was awake, but he lay completely motionless. He was thin as a withered old tree, his skin sallow and waxy, looking nearly like a desiccated corpse. He didn’t even blink, just stared fixedly at the ceiling.

That putrid smell wasn’t coming from him; it emanated from a Plague Ghost clinging to him, seeking a substitute.

Yinyu spotted the Plague Ghost the moment she entered. He was dressed in tattered clothes but was noticeably plumper than the man lying in the bed, clinging motionlessly to the guest.

A wisp of greenish-white smoke was drifting out of the guest’s mouth and nose, and the Plague Ghost was devouring it entirely. That so-called white smoke was the living person’s Life Energy.

The guest lying in bed was already skin and bones. His cheeks were sunken, with barely any flesh left on his face. His Life Energy was nearly sucked dry by the Plague Ghost—how could he possibly be healthy?

“Water?” Zhen Hezi asked again.

Hearing her question, the guest struggled to shake his head. After a while, with a ghastly pale face, he used all his strength to say, “You must be the ones the boss mentioned, the ones who want to go into the mountain.”

“You fell ill just after coming out of the mountain?” Yinyu stepped forward, but her eyes weren’t fixed on the speaking guest; they were fixed on the Plague Ghost clinging to him.

“The illness came on very suddenly. On the first day out of the mountain, I couldn’t walk anymore. Later, the boss told me there used to be many people like me around here.” The sick man’s voice was faint. “They… all died.”

The Plague Ghost clinging to him paid no attention to anyone else, didn’t do anything else. It just focused entirely on absorbing his Life Energy.

Whenever the guest stirred, more Life Energy would escape, and without exception, it was all consumed cleanly.

“See, I wasn’t lying to you. You really can’t go to that place,” Zhen Hezi said bitterly.

Yinyu wanted to capture this Plague Ghost. Her hand had already moved to the Brocade Pouch at her side, but she was still a step too slow.

Zezhi reached out and flicked the Plague Ghost’s forehead. The ghost let out a strange cry as it was sent flying by that seemingly gentle force.

With the Plague Ghost thrown off, the person it had been attached to felt his whole body lighten, as if he’d suddenly come alive. Even his breathing became much smoother. Stunned for a moment, he abruptly sat bolt upright and took a huge, deep breath.

Seeing a person who had been bedridden for days suddenly sit up, full of vigor, scared Zhen Hezi badly.

Zhen Hezi couldn’t see the Plague Ghost; she only saw Zezhi’s fingers snap outwards.

Coincidentally, right after Zezhi’s flick, the man at death’s door in the bed sat up like a Koi Fish leaping from the water.

Zhen Hezi had found it strange from the start. The floodwaters had just receded, and the weather certainly wasn’t good. The sky was overcast—what nice photos could possibly be taken? Not to mention the mountain roads were muddy and difficult to traverse now. Yet these two had specifically chosen this time to go up the mountain.

The guest who sat up inhaled rapidly, looking around in terror. He could feel that the oppressive force pressing down on him… was gone!

“Wh-what’s going on?” Zhen Hezi was still in shock. Belatedly, she realized these two, so calm and collected, had clearly come prepared.

The guest was breathing too fast; perhaps saliva went down the wrong pipe, as he started coughing violently.

Zhen Hezi didn’t have time to worry about anything else. She hastily steadied the man and patted his back a few times, urgently asking, “Have some water?”

The guest was coughing furiously, his face flushed bright red, unable to respond at all.

Zhen Hezi poured water on her own accord, bringing it to his lips. Her eyes, however, fell upon the two strangers with deep fear. Trembling, she said, “Drink a little. Small sips, don’t rush.”

After drinking some water, the person who had sat up stopped coughing. His eyes, dull and wooden just moments ago, now showed a surprising glimmer of life.

Zhen Hezi was terrified. She fixed her gaze on Yinyu and Zezhi, but her mouth asked the guest, “How do you feel right now? Should we go to the hospital?”

“I…” The guest uttered an unintelligible sound, puzzled yet elated. “I feel… much better.”

Zhen Hezi saw the light in his eyes; he truly did seem better. She stared fixedly at Zezhi; her teeth began to chatter. “You two… are professionals in this field?”

The Plague Ghost was still in the room. It had only been flicked away, not obliterated to the point its soul was scattered.

Zezhi glanced sideways at the Plague Ghost and answered without much enthusiasm, “My apologies, we concealed the truth intentionally earlier.”

Her frank admission was so natural that it left Zhen Hezi with no words to say.

The Plague Ghost was clinging to the wall on all fours, baring its teeth at Yinyu. For no other reason than the fact that Yinyu was holding a copper coin in her hand.

Yinyu gripped the copper coin tightly and walked over unhurriedly. No matter how the ghost bared its fangs and claws, she showed no trace of fear. She even let out a scoff, quickly pressing the copper coin against the ghost’s forehead.

After absorbing Life Energy for some time, this Plague Ghost had grown somewhat stronger. It mostly felt an intense burning sensation in its brow point, but it wasn’t so painful that it couldn’t fight back.

Immediately, the Plague Ghost spat out a mouthful of saliva thick with Yin Energy and began scrambling across the wall on all fours like a spider, making a move to leap out the window.

“Careful,” Zezhi warned.

“A mere Plague Ghost, no need to panic.” Yinyu snatched up a piece of Talisman Paper to block the spittle.

She threw out her Red Cotton Thread, mercilessly choking the ghost by the neck. Then, with a forceful yank, she dragged it right back to her.

Zhen Hezi couldn’t see the ghost, but she saw the red thread Yinyu had cast suddenly snap taut, as if it were tightening around something. She didn’t dare make a sound, understanding now that the room held some unclean things.

“Caught him. Won’t Boss Yu praise me?” Yinyu glanced at Zezhi. In just a couple of moves, she crushed the ghost’s soul into a ball, wrapped it up in the Talisman Paper she’d used before, and let the thing stew in its own spittle.

Zezhi said coolly, “Wasn’t that a piece of cake for you?”

“Can’t compare to you. Compared to you, it’s like a minor sorcerer meeting a grand master.” Yinyu threw the crumpled paper talisman onto the table, grabbed a glass cup, and smashed it against the paper several times.

Inside the talisman paper, the Plague Ghost was dizzy and disoriented. It vomited up all the Life Energy it had swallowed.

Tendrils of greenish-white smoke slowly rose. As the sick man coughed once, that bit of Life Energy all returned to him.

Zhen Hezi was still supporting the man. She watched, absolutely stunned, as his complexion suddenly flushed red—a healthy, ruddy flush very different from the red of coughing fits.

The guest’s hands regained strength too. He eagerly took the water cup from Zhen Hezi’s hand, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and said, shocked and uncertain, “I-I seem to be… better?”

The Plague Ghost had completely expelled the Life Energy, yet Yinyu still hadn’t unfolded the talisman paper. Instead, she stuffed the paper ball into the Brocade Pouch at her hip. She was keeping it.

“Then how do you want me to praise you?” Zezhi noticed that Yinyu’s wrist had been knocked red when she smashed the cup.

What should have been a faint redness was rubbed until it deepened.

Why did she bruise so easily? And why did she keep rubbing it deeper?

“Something nice.” Yinyu extended her reddened wrist. “Will Boss Yu blow on it?”

Zezhi’s eyes lowered, her expression unreadable. Her fingertips had just twitched when Yinyu withdrew her hand back to her side.

Yinyu deliberately put her hand behind her back, rubbing it lightly against the silk fabric. Leisurely, she said, “Better save your breath, lest the Plague Ghost suck away your Life Energy.”

That comment was somewhat insulting. Zezhi just let out a very faint laugh and looked towards the guest in the bed instead. “Courage is a good thing, but one must also respect gods and ghosts. Otherwise, trouble is inevitable.”

“It was really you who saved me?” The guest looked abashed, his eyes darting away. “I-I really don’t know how to thank you.”

He stammered incoherently for a moment before adding, “So you weren’t really going to take photos, right? You were, you were going into the mountain to exorcise ghosts?”

That was exactly what Zhen Hezi wanted to ask. She recalled her earlier words trying to dissuade them and felt a little embarrassed.