“This is the client,” Qingzhen said, pointing to one of the men in a blue tracksuit.
"Hello." I glanced at the man and then began to ask about the situation.
"Come with me," Qingzhen said, leading me towards the village and telling the young people to go home first.
After the young man left, only the three of us remained walking on the village road.
Qingzhen led me and You through a maze of turns towards the back mountain of the village.
This village is indeed unusual; I sensed an eerie aura shrouding it.
It seems the evil spirits here are truly formidable; no wonder Qingzhen was no match for them.
Qingzhen led us up the mountain, and the deeper we went, the stronger the evil aura became.
"The monsters here had been cultivating in seclusion for many years, but in recent years, for some unknown reason, they first devoured the local guardian deity and then harmed the living beings in the village."
"Is no one in charge?" I was a little surprised. No matter how you look at it, there should be someone in charge, whether in the celestial realm or the mortal realm.
Qingzhen shook her head. "The authorities in the mortal realm are treating this as an accident, but I have no idea about the situation in the Heavenly Court."
I nodded slightly to show that I understood. It was normal for Qingzhen, being a demon, not to know anything about the Heavenly Court.
But why is the Heavenly Court under Luo's rule such a mess? So many flaws.
"Aren't we there yet?" I walked along the mountain path for a while, but I still hadn't reached my destination.
"It'll be here soon." Qingzhen pointed towards the mountaintop, and following the direction of her finger, I could vaguely see a small temple.
"In that temple?"
"Um."
Are evil spirits now so bold as to hide in temples?
“I’ve been here once before, and the monsters inside already remember me.”
What kind of demon is it?
Qingzhen shook her head. "I don't know either."
Never mind, I'll just wait and see when I get there. I'm just afraid they'll sense it beforehand and try to escape.
You held my hand the whole time. When we were almost at the temple, You suddenly tightened her grip on my hand. I turned my head to look at You, but she just looked at the temple in front of us with a calm and indifferent expression, just as usual.
"We're here." Qingzhen stood in front of us, somewhat cautiously.
The temple's mottled earthen walls are as decayed as a riverbed covered with pebbles; every movement you make causes dust to fall sparsely.
I stepped forward and pushed the door open. With You by my side, I wasn't afraid at all.
"Be careful." Qingzhen was clearly much more cautious than me.
The temple was empty except for a blurry statue of a deity placed on a dilapidated table in the center.
I looked around, and there was nothing else to cover myself with except for this statue.
The statue on the table was dull and lifeless, the paint had long since peeled off, and the features were not very clear; one could only vaguely make out that it was a small person.
What puzzled me most was that the eerie aura emanating from the temple was impossible to conceal when we were outside, but it disappeared once we were inside.
"You." I sensed something was off and instinctively tugged at You's sleeve.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
"Hmm." I nodded gently, trying to cheer myself up. It's just a small, dilapidated temple, what's so scary about it?
I refuse to believe that there are any demons or evil spirits in the human world who can defeat me.
Thinking this, I grew bolder, let go of You's hand, and went to examine the statue alone. I still felt there was something wrong with the statue.
Just as I was checking, a black, gelatinous substance suddenly flowed from the bottom of the statue. Before I could dodge, the black, gelatinous substance instantly covered the entire room.
The turn of events happened so fast that Qingzhen and I didn't have time to react. You, however, was incredibly quick, almost instantly shielding me. "Are you alright?"
I shook my head. Although it looked scary, it didn't seem to have any effect on me; it didn't hurt or itch at all.
"I...I can't move!" Qingzhen's surprised voice came from beside her.
You and I were drawn by the sounds Qingzhen was making. I went to look at her and saw that she was indeed struggling, but her feet seemed to be glued to the floor and she couldn't move at all.
"What's going on?" I looked at Qingzhen as she tried to see if she was also unable to move.
As I looked down, the statue emitted a purple mist, and then I saw a cloud of purple mist burst out of the door.
"You, You! He ran away! Go quickly!" I shouted, urging You to chase after him.
You merely glanced at it indifferently, then casually unleashed a spell, chasing after the purple mist. It was unclear whether the spell actually harmed the demon.
"You, I'm fine. I'm going to catch him before he gets away." The monster had already run away, and apart from my feet being stuck to the floor, I was indeed unharmed.
"I'm looking at you." You shook her head in refusal, stubbornly staying by my side.
I was extremely anxious, but I couldn't move. How come You was so smart and reacted almost instantly? And now You can move around freely.
"Don't move, I'll help you." You supported me with one hand, while the other hand was doing something, and the ground gradually returned to normal, revealing the painted surface.
"I can move now." I tried and my foot, which had been stuck tightly, could move.
"You, let's hurry and chase after them." I grabbed You and ran outside.
"Hmm." In contrast to my enthusiasm, You remained uninterested, looking thoughtful.
But we just wasted a lot of time at the temple, how could we possibly catch up now?
Once we left the temple, we had no idea which way the demons had gone, and the eerie atmosphere around us lingered for a long time.
My goodness, are all the monsters in the mortal realm this powerful now? That can't be right.
My confidence has been somewhat shaken.
"You, this demon seems to be even more powerful than some immortals."
You nodded. "Mm."
Well, I don't know where he's gone now. Let's go to the village and find out what's going on.
"Qingzhen, please take us to the village to find out what's going on."
"Wait a minute," You suddenly called out to stop them.
"What's wrong?"
"Come with me." As if sensing something, You pulled me along as we walked through the mountains.
You walked in the northwest direction. As I followed You, I felt increasingly cold.
This is a shady spot, with the large trees deep in the mountains completely blocking out the sunlight.
The sound of dripping water can be heard in the distance. Is there a water source nearby?
But it doesn't sound like a stream or river; it sounds more like the gentle patter of water droplets on stones or grass.
I soon found out what it was: an ancient locust tree growing on the cliff ahead.
The tree roots were exposed and intertwined before our eyes, and we couldn't tell whether the soil was supporting the tree or the roots were wrapping the soil.
Beneath the locust tree lies a huge karst cave, and the sound of water dripping from the tree's roots onto the ground is clearly audible.
The chill I felt was emanating from here; the cave was bottomless and pitch black.
"You, where is this?"
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