Monster Hunting in the Misty Mountains 1
Three hundred years ago.
After the rain, the sky cleared, shrouded in mist, and the wind rustled the leaves.
At the foot of Mount Qimin, several people were walking along the mountain path. The two men at the front had their hair tied up, wore black clothes, and had sharp swords at their waists. They looked particularly serious and stern.
The person in the middle was dressed in a moon-white robe and wore a bamboo hat, while the two at the very end led two horses and looked somewhat tired. Each of them wore a square jade pendant at their waist, on which were inscribed the words "Demon and Human Bureau".
This serves as proof of their identities.
They come from the ladyboy club, the ladyboy club in this area.
They are here today because not long ago, a group of nearly fifty or sixty people from the human and demon tribe disappeared without a trace after entering Qimin Mountain.
They came looking for them.
In fact, it wasn't just the people from this place that disappeared. There were also many people from other places that sold goods to people who lived in the area, as well as people who went up the mountain to gather herbs, chop wood, or wander into Qimin Mountain by mistake... In short, anyone who came near this place would disappear.
The locals reported this to the king, who sent additional men to search the mountain. But these soldiers also vanished. Then the king summoned a Taoist priest, who did the same.
From then on, the story of people "eating people" in Qimin Mountain spread.
Qimin Mountain was originally a sacred place and a shortcut to the Qin State. Later, the incident of "cannibalism" occurred, and it became a place of calamity that everyone avoided and detoured around.
The leader of the group from the local demon guild, Tu Yan, was young, arrogant, and thought that his skills were profound. He refused to believe in evil and insisted on taking a shortcut. As a result, he caused the entire group to disappear.
Now the head of the local transvestite association has come looking for them with a few people, and they are also forced to accept the king's secret order to come here to eliminate the scourge.
All they hoped for was that the group was merely trapped on Qimin Mountain, and not that they had died. But if they had died, they would still search for their bodies, so that they could return to their ancestral home.
The horse stumbled and cried out. The person leading the horse quickly steadied it and tried to calm the frightened animal.
"The ground is slippery, and we've been walking for quite a while. Let's take a break," the person wearing a straw hat said softly.
The man leading the horse nodded and said something. But the surroundings were all wet, and they couldn't find a clean place to rest and sit. However, they were from the transvestite organization, and they had a good idea. The man leading the horse immediately took out a wooden hut from his treasure bag.
They then found a relatively flat spot, placed the wooden house down, and in an instant, the small wooden house grew into a small pavilion that could accommodate seven or eight people.
He smiled and said, "Miss, please come in and have a seat. I'll make you some hot tea."
The man wearing a straw hat smiled and advised, "Uncle Li, please call me A-Jun. It sounds too formal."
"He's really getting into acting. He loves assigning roles to people." These words came from another person leading the horse, whom the people at the ladyboy agency called Uncle Lin.
The group chatted and laughed as they went inside to sit down. While Uncle Li was making tea, he continued what Uncle Lin had said: "I'm not just indulging in acting. Ah Jun was born into the Ruan family, she's the eldest daughter of a prestigious family, and here she's the granddaughter of the head of the household. Isn't she a precious person?"
Uncle Lin took a bite of his naan and shouted, "I agree with that. Miss Ruan is also the eldest daughter of the transvestite institute."
The person named A-Jun simply smiled slightly. She hadn't heard the name A-Jun for over five years.
A breeze blew by, carrying her thoughts back to the past. She remembered that before she was five years old, she lived in Luo'an City. She was the eldest daughter of the Ruan family, and her real name was Ruan Shiyun.
When she was four years old, her mother, Liu, passed away due to illness. Her father remarried, and Huaiwen was unhappy thereafter. A year later, she was taken back to her mother's home, which was also a place for transgender people, by her maternal grandfather, Liu Min.
After arriving at the place of demons and monsters, Huaiwen followed his maternal grandfather to learn scriptures and incantations, study Qimen Dunjia, and seek immortality. The exceptionally talented Huaiwen quickly accomplished great things.
At the age of twelve, he went out with Tu Yan, the leader of the human-demon alliance, and killed the giant rat demon who was plaguing the human world, thus gaining fame at a young age. Half a year later, he destroyed the scorpion demon, and was even more respected and loved. Even the king issued a decree to bestow upon him fame and fortune.
When the Ruan family learned of this, they held a banquet to celebrate. However, she didn't have much contact with her main family and wasn't close to them, so she didn't return. After the banquet, an immortal came to the place where the demon and the immortal lived, saying that she had immortal spiritual roots and wanted to take her into the mountains to cultivate. Liu Min knew about the immortal and let her go.
Before she left, Liu Min gave her a new name, Huaiwen. And she liked the new name Huaiwen.
Five years passed before she returned. She came back from the mountain because she learned from letters from Uncle Li and others that Liu Min was getting old and his health was failing day by day. She returned to fulfill her filial duties and also to take over the affairs of the human and demon sect.
During the time spent eating naan and drinking tea, a sudden gust of fog swept in from outside the wooden house. Two guards, each carrying a sharp sword, stood up first, listening carefully to discern the fog. Uncle Li and Uncle Lin followed closely behind, protecting Huaiwen.
Another gust of wind blew by, this time carrying the scent of rosemary. Huaiwen spoke calmly, "He's here."
Amidst the swirling mist, a pale-faced demon who had transformed into a human emerged. He floated over with a smile, and suddenly waved his hand, causing the trees on both sides to fall towards the wooden house.
In an instant, the wooden house collapsed. Fortunately, Huaiwen and the others all knew some martial arts and managed to escape. Uncle Li, however, was particularly regretful, as the wooden house was a valuable treasure.
The demon threatened, "Why aren't you afraid? I'll eat you all!"
Following his words, Huaiwen mischievously asked, "So how did you eat it? Let us see."
Others: "..."
The demon was surprised by Huaiwen's arrogant tone, so he laughed and threatened, "Fine, then I'll eat you first."
The fog thickened, plunging the entire forest into darkness, and they were all lost in the fog. They had been together, but now they were all separated. The demon intended to divide them up and defeat them one by one.
Normally, in a situation like this, ordinary people would have screamed in fear, but these people were experienced in all sorts of storms, so naturally they didn't shout. Moreover, they had a method for finding their teammates in the thick fog.
That was the jade pendant they were wearing. Pressing a small mechanism on the pendant would emit a light. This light could penetrate the thick fog and pinpoint the location of their teammates.
The demon was naturally displeased. In an instant, the group swayed violently. The ground was slippery, and they fell down. Suddenly, vines grew from the ground and took away the jade pendants from their bodies.
Having lost the jade pendant and the light, they lost the ability to locate their teammates and became extremely vigilant. Soon, the sound of clashing swords echoed through the deep forest. They could not see the people, only hear the sounds.
As the swords pierced the bodies, accompanied by a cry, blood flowed from the wounds. The two guards fell to the ground, and Uncle Li and Uncle Lin, both injured, cried out in pain.
Huaiwen couldn't help but call out, but no one answered. She called out again, "Uncle Li, Uncle Lin! Are you alright?"
"It's alright, no serious injuries."
"Be careful, he wants us to kill each other!"
"Okay. Ah-Jun, come here with us."
Huaiwen moved cautiously, listening for sounds to pinpoint their location. She walked through the thick fog and vaguely saw figures ahead, bent over, who appeared to be Uncle Li and Uncle Lin.
She tentatively asked, "Uncle Li? Is that you?"
"Good child, I'm here."
Huaiwen quickened her pace, but before she even reached him, a vine grabbed her foot, rendering her immobile. The two people in front of her transformed into one, slowly turning around. He smiled, "You were fooled after all."
Huaiwen frowned and asked, "So you killed them all?"
"I didn't kill them, they killed each other."
"You've misled them."
"So what if it is?"
"Then—" Huaiwen glared at the demon, "I'll kill you!"
With a loud "bang," the vine that had been gripping Huaiwen exploded. A beam of light shone through the thick fog, a clear sword pointing to the sky, its golden light shooting out and dispersing the fog.
Soon, enormous vines sprouted from all directions, trying to bind Huaiwen tightly. But to Huaiwen, these were like chopping down tree stumps; he sliced them off one by one, the cuts thin and even, enough for a woodcutter to take back. When the vines proved ineffective, the demon, not to be outdone, launched a barrage of blue-orange flames at Huaiwen.
Huaiwen raised the Bright Sword, his fingertips tracing its edge. All the fire the demon had thrown out was absorbed and reflected back. This startled the demon, who cursed and screamed in pain.
Entangled by vines again, Huaiwen went to deal with them, and the demon made a face and ran away. After Huaiwen cut all the vines, he landed back on the ground.
As the thick fog dissipated, Huaiwen looked down and saw several people lying unconscious on the ground. She first threw out a spirit butterfly to track the demon's trail, then it landed back on the ground and checked their breathing; everything was normal.
She conjured a clone of herself, took out a medicine bottle from her person, and handed it to the clone, asking it to take care of the group. Then, Huaiwen looked at the traces left by the spirit butterfly, his heart sank, and his expression changed.
The next instant, she darted through the woods, desperately chasing after the demon. The trail of the spirit butterfly was clearly visible. Huaiwen turned sharply, sped up, and soon caught up with the demon.
She conjured a clear sword, tossed it into the air, and it multiplied into ten thousand swords, unleashing a volley of arrows that advanced at breakneck speed, cutting through the tangled trees and slicing through the demon's body with each strike. The demon screamed in pain, still spewing out vulgar curses.
Huaiwen had already caught up. Normally, an ordinary demon couldn't withstand her relentless cutting of flesh by a thousand swords. But this demon was strange; almost no blood flowed from his body. She was so curious that she peered at him for a long time before discovering that the demon's wounds were healing at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Her mind began to search: what kind of demon in the world could heal itself like this?
A burst of cyan-orange light illuminated the forest. Huaiwen remembered; this demon was no ordinary demon. It was the infamous and wicked Yao Ri Ce Mie, infamous on the demon-hunting list.
This demon is unkillable, which is troublesome. Since we can't kill it, let's capture it first.
In an instant, the ball of green-orange fire scorched the trees around the two of them, and the mountain was engulfed in flames. Huaiwen immediately transformed the Mingjing Sword into a rope, bound Cemie, turned him upside down, and forced the demon to curse.
Immediately, Huaiwen took out a white talisman, pointed it into the air, and conjured a heavy rain that extinguished the forest fire. Fortunately, the fire wasn't too fierce, and it was quickly put out.
Now Huaiwen had time to interrogate the demon. She reached out and pulled him, and Ce Mie appeared in front of her. She asked, "Where did all those people go?"
Ce Mie teased, "Don't you know? I ate them all! Do you know what they taste like? Let me tell you—it's like crispy pork belly, and also like braised pork... Ah, I want to eat them again."
Huaiwen wasn't annoyed. Ignoring Ce Mie's irrelevant answer, she calmly pressed on, "So where did you eat? There's not even a table for you to sit and eat here."
Ce Mie was stunned for a moment. He was a little annoyed and frustrated. Why wasn't this person doing things the way he expected? So he deliberately laughed loudly: "Do demons need to sit on a table to eat people? I eat them raw!"
"If you're eating it raw... how can you taste the crispy pork belly flavor? Was it never fried?"
Ce Mie's eyes widened again. Was this guy even a normal person? He angrily defended himself: "Who said I didn't? I just cooked them over that fire! I put them on the grill, and they were cooked as soon as the fire started! They tasted delicious."
Do you eat bones?
"Only dogs eat bones."
"So...where did you spit all the bones out?"
Ce Mie felt like he was going crazy. He screamed wildly that he had encountered a lunatic. Huai Wen, watching Ce Mie's madness from the side, was quite satisfied.
After Ce Mie had gone nearly mad, Huai Wen straightened him up, flew to him again, and asked with a smile, "Well? Take me to find the bone."
"Tch—" Ce Mie said with a disdainful look.
Huaiwen remained calm. She had encountered many demons and many people. Having spent many years in the human-demon community, she knew how to deal with all sorts of people and demons.
She sighed, her face full of worry, but her eyes were smiling: "Since you won't take me, then I'll just have to roast you and try the taste of roasted pork belly."
Ce Mie immediately started cursing: "You madman! What's there to eat about me! Besides, I won't die, you can't eat me anyway!"
Hearing this, Huaiwen laughed even harder: "Then I'll see what it'll be like to burn you!"
Ce Mie had no choice but to surrender, because he knew he wouldn't die, but the burning sensation all over his body was excruciating and tingling. Left with no other option, he asked Huai Wen to release him, promising to take her to find the bones.
But that was impossible, and in the end he obediently led the way.
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