Chapter 59
Seeing that they were in low spirits, I said to them loudly, "Don't be afraid, I will help you."
I am their lifeline now.
A group of people began to praise me generously. Even if I was thick-skinned, I couldn't stand it anymore and had to send them away. In the end, I stayed at Aunt Liu's house. First, because I was familiar with her, and second, her house was very close to the village entrance, which was convenient for movement.
At Aunt Liu's house, I was contemplating how to deal with this Mountain Shadow Demon. It was terrified of my Red Lotus True Fire, but I couldn't possibly unleash a fire as powerful as its own. I simply didn't have that much mana. It simply didn't dare approach the flames, not be harmed, just like sunlight dispels shadows. And judging by our encounter last night, my Feather Stone didn't show much desire for it either.
I stayed like this until night, waiting for the Mountain Shadow Demon to arrive at the village entrance.
The night was exceptionally cold, and I gazed at the distant mountains. Though the lights were off in every village, no one was likely asleep. In the stillness of the night, I sat alone at the village entrance. A kind villager even held a lantern for me, but the bright red lanterns flickered all night, and I was also exposed to the cold wind.
The Mountain Shadow Demon did not appear at all.
Did I startle it last night?
It seems that this Mountain Shadow Demon is not simple. It hides and won't come out. I have no way to deal with it.
At this time, the villagers also came out and gathered in front of me.
"Little Master, what happened? Did you destroy it?"
"Yes, little master, are we safe now?"
I watched them talking, my face slightly red, and could only whisper: "It didn't come last night, I will continue to wait for it tonight."
The villagers did not question my ability. After all, I was fine at the village entrance for two consecutive nights. If they didn't come back at night some time ago, they would definitely die the next day and their bodies would be placed here.
I was also very depressed. I had hoped to see it again, but it didn't show up at all.
"Then I'll trouble you, little master. Please come into the house and warm yourself up first. Don't catch a cold." Aunt Liu said.
I followed Aunt Liu into her home, and soon she brought me a bowl of steaming wontons. I was so tempted by them, and after a sip of the hot soup, my whole body was warmed, dispelling the cold, and my depression was swept away with this bowl of wontons.
"Don't worry, Auntie. I won't leave until I help you catch this Mountain Shadow Demon."
When Aunt Liu heard what I said, she wiped away her tears and said, "Young Master, you have good intentions, but you feel sorry for the children in the village."
Speaking of children, I was surprised to find that there seemed to be very few children in this village.
I asked her, "Auntie, have all the children in the village been harmed by the Mountain Shadow Demon?"
Aunt Liu nodded while crying.
Anger suddenly surged within me. Although I'd always considered myself grown up, I knew those children were my own age, or even younger, and had been killed by it. Even more abominable was the fact that once absorbed by the Mountain Shadow Demon, all three souls and seven spirits dissipated, preventing even reincarnation.
My heart became heavy, and my determination to destroy this evil demon became even stronger.
Tonight, I was still the same as last night, the only difference was that they lit a fire for me at the entrance of the village, which was much warmer. But it still did not appear tonight, and for several days in a row, the Mountain Shadow Demon did not come out.
I was getting anxious because I couldn't stay here forever. I had to find a way to lure it out. I now understood its intentions. As long as I was here, it wouldn't come out. The moment I left, it would come out again and kill people. It was truly cunning.
I racked my brains and finally came up with a solution, which was to cover up my breath. It wouldn't be able to sense me and would definitely come out!
This brings me to the complete "Yin Fu Lu." Without it, I wouldn't have come up with this method. I immerse my mind in the Feather Stone, becoming one with it. I can then utilize its properties to blend completely with my surroundings. The Shadow Mountain Demon won't be able to detect my presence and should emerge.
As I expected, when I completely immersed myself in the Feather Stone, I felt the Shadow Mountain Demon's presence envelop the village again. It seemed a little confused as to why I had suddenly disappeared.
Seeing this method work, I was delighted. As I executed my finger gestures, my aura was completely obscured by the feather stone. I asked Aunt Liu to gather the villagers to gather poplar branches from around the village, preferably as thick as a little finger. I picked 108 of them. They had to be growing on the trees; those that had fallen naturally on the ground were not acceptable. Aunt Liu didn't ask what I was doing, knowing I must have a solution.
"The sooner the better!" I shouted as the old lady went out.
As for why Aunt Liu was asked to collect poplar branches, it was because "Yang" means "Yang", and poplar is the most yang thing. Fortunately, the village is surrounded by poplar trees. This is also the reason why the Mountain Shadow Demon did not dare to enter the village, otherwise the people in the entire village might have been absorbed by the Mountain Shadow Demon long ago.
By the time the villagers were ready, it was noon, and I had received 108 poplar branches, no more, no less, all freshly plucked from the trees. I wanted fresh branches because those that had fallen naturally were devoid of yang energy and would be of no use to me in what I was about to do.
I gathered a handful of poplar branches and inserted them one by one into the vast open space in front of the village. The yang energy of these broken branches slowly dissipated, but as I planted them in the ground, the rate of dissipation slowed to a negligible level. I pressed the entire branch firmly into the soil, making it completely invisible from the surface. After planting all 108 branches, I clapped my hands. Half the work was done. All that remained was to see if the mountain shadow demon would return that night.
To lure it out, I sent three more villagers out to trigger the Mountain Shadow Demon's barrier. At first, the villagers were reluctant, but finally, a strong man stepped forward and said in a resounding voice, "I'll do it, damn it."
Seeing someone leading the way, two young men came out and said, "Third brother, we'll go with you. At worst, one of us will die, so why should we be afraid of him?"
"After you three go out, stay there until nightfall. If it dares to come out, I will help you get rid of it tonight!" I pointed to the place where I had inserted the willow branches just now.
After I finished speaking, the three of them bravely walked out of the village, went to the place I pointed, and sat down there, looking as if they were ready to die.
When they touched the Mountain Shadow Demon's barrier, the evil aura instantly fell on them, but they were ordinary people and couldn't feel it. This was also good, as it saved them from being frightened.
At night, I hid among them, and now my scent was completely masked. If it found me, it would think I was the same as the other three.
The Mountain Shadow Demon was still a bit cautious. It lingered at the village entrance for a while but still didn't attack us. I didn't believe it could hold back, so I deliberately approached it.
The three people behind me saw this huge black shadow, huddled together, and trembled.
Seeing that there was no danger, the Mountain Shadow Demon finally couldn't hold back and walked towards me, who was closest to it.
I pretended not to see it and walked back to the three of them. I glanced at the Mountain Shadow Demon that followed me and couldn't help but smile. I finally fell for it!
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