Eighteen: Using force to feign benevolence - Part One
Yesterday, a few people were chatting, and Meng Sheng listened to some of it but didn't say anything.
"What did that evil spirit look like?" Rong Shao asked, thinking he would make a note of it with Shen Du when he got back. "The one that injured you."
"Her face was clearly that of a woman," Dugwen replied. "Ghosts shouldn't wear wigs, so she must have had a lot of hair, styled in a high bun, probably with a hairpin, but I didn't pay much attention. She was wearing a black robe over a red dress underneath."
“Maybe it’s fake?” Banri came out of the house and overheard Dugwen’s description. “I think all the ghosts are better at dressing up than we are. What’s a little wig?”
"But these things must have been bought from the market, so they must have money too?" Like master and disciple, Heng Buwei had the same idea. "Where did they come from? Do powerful evil spirits give rice to lesser evil spirits?"
"Can this be considered that the evil spirits still have any conscience?" Ming Jin was also swayed. "But before in You Ran City, it was true that they said the evil spirits had a leader."
“Those rubbings brought from Youran City,” Banrui suddenly remembered, “although other details are still under discussion, what is certain is that the master of Youran City is named Gao Lang, but the demon in charge of the city is named Gong Shaduo, courtesy name Ansheng. According to the stone tablet, Youran City was established to gather demons to carry out their activities. They seem to have mastered some methods to find newly born demons, then kidnap living people, feed the weak ones to a very strong level, and thus enhance the demons’ influence.”
"General Di has truly suffered a great injustice," Ming Jin murmured.
"Regarding the general's situation, I suspect that some evil spirits, in order to avoid complications, specifically target wounded soldiers on the battlefield and kidnap them. If it's hot, the corpses decompose quickly, making it even harder to find the bodies, and thus less likely to suspect the evil spirits," Banrui added after hearing Mingjin's words. "More importantly, Youran City was built based on a place called Yishan. In other words, there is another evil spirit city in this world, similar to Youran City, but larger in scale, older in history, and more hidden, waiting for us."
“I thought we were just chatting,” Heng said, frowning slightly, before Ban Rui, who wasn’t looking at him, slapped him on the neck.
Rong Shao had to give a lecture the next day, so Ji Zhen also asked Pei Xuanzhen in his letter to find Huang Jing and bring Rong Shao back.
Thinking there was nothing else to do, Banrui sent Heng Buwei back yesterday afternoon, so that if anyone asked, he could let Heng Buwei know he was safe.
The next morning, when Mingjin woke up, Jizhen was already up, waiting for breakfast. Mingjin splashed cold water on her face and was looking for a towel when she heard footsteps outside the door. She opened the door and found Mengsheng standing there. In the morning light, Mengsheng looked unwell. Fortunately, Mingjin had slept well all night and was now refreshed and clear-headed, immediately noticing Mengsheng's strange behavior.
“That evil spirit is the female evil spirit who injured Elder Du,” Meng Sheng said, pulling Ming Jin into the house and closing the door. “Although I’m not sure if it’s the same one, a group of evil spirits broke through the city’s barrier, killing many of the city’s elders. The one who led those evil spirits was a female evil spirit dressed in black and red. Many surviving elders remember this evil spirit, but because she never made a move and saw that the evil spirits were losing power, she decisively left with the rest of them. So we can’t be sure if it’s the same one. However, I think that in such a vast world, their similar appearances are already noteworthy.”
"What other characteristics does that evil spirit have? Do the elders of the city remember?"
"She has never made a move, so we don't know what her techniques are like. But because of this, some seniors have been able to get a close look at her appearance. Even in the most dangerous situations, those who have seen her all agree that she is an absolute beauty. She has thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a high nose. Everyone in the city is very secretive about this past event, except for me, who grew up outside the city and can remain somewhat detached. In any case, you and the elders must be careful; this may be a dangerous situation."
The three of them set off from Huicheng and first went to Kang Jiu's tavern.
The tavern was located in Kang Jiu's house. It had been there for many years, and the wooden door had a rich, mellow sheen. Kang Jiu often woke up early to prepare for opening the shop, and coupled with a recent discovery that was truly unsettling, he was exceptionally vigilant.
Ming Jin and his group didn't go through the main entrance, but went around to the back door, where Du Gewen knocked. Kang Jiu was about to open the door when he heard the knocking. He quietly moved to the door, carefully looked at who was standing outside, and then cautiously asked a question.
"I didn't expect you all to arrive so quickly." Kang Jiu felt a little relieved after confirming Yu Qiao's letter, and opened the door to invite them in. "Please come in quickly, please sit down in the inner room first. Have you had breakfast this morning?"
The three of them sat down at a table. Kang Jiu called his thirteen-year-old son to take over running the shop, and then went inside to explain the surrounding area again.
"We arrived early, and it was also a stroke of luck. Today is May 1st. On the first of every month, Yu Dayou and his group never show their faces. When asked, they all say that they have a banquet at home on this day every month. Yesterday evening, I went to take a look around and found that they did indeed have several carriages heading towards the back mountain. This is the terrain around there, and this is the main road for carriages. The main road is lined with sweetgum trees. If you want to avoid them, you can walk into the large-leaved grove."
"How many roads lead to his house?" Ji Zhen asked.
"The house had one main gate and three smaller gates on the other three sides. The road leading up the mountain was a main road that led directly to the south gate, and there were two smaller paths leading to the north and east gates. There were always guards outside the main gate, and I also guarded the side gates a few times, but I never saw anyone go in or out."
"Someone come here! Bring the wine!"
A rough, hoarse male voice came from outside the door, but no one answered. Kang Jiu knew that his son had run off to play after doing a good deed. Knowing what was going on, the three of them prepared to leave through the back door, leaving Kang Jiu to watch the stall.
It wasn't early, but the path leading to the back of the mountain was still deserted. The three chose the path closest to the flowering trees. Once inside the mountain, it was exceptionally quiet; they could occasionally hear the wind, but not even the sound of birds flapping their wings.
“I feel something is off here,” Mingjin said as he leaned on his two masters for support as they walked forward. “This mountain is too quiet. I thought I might encounter some big insects, but I haven’t even seen a bird. It was just as deathly quiet back in Youran City.”
“It might really be true,” Ji Zhen said, looking around after hearing Ming Jin’s words. “A house where evil spirits gather, plus the possibility that there are other evil spirits lurking in Baicheng, makes it quite a unique place.”
"If we come now, won't we just run into the evil spirits that were attacked before?" Mingjin said anxiously.
“That’s possible, but what’s even more unacceptable is that they’ve escaped. Let’s split up,” the group quickly made their way to the opposite side of the main gate, where they could only make out a hazy courtyard through layers of trees. “Breaking through the main gate is no good. I’ve been to the north before, so I’m fairly familiar with the terrain. Wei Zhou, you and Tian Guang go to the east to search. Take care.”
"Take care," Ji Zhen and Ming Jin said goodbye to Du Gewen and set off in two different directions.
Dugowen walked a little slower, and after hearing the two footsteps disappear, he patted a nearby tree trunk: "You've been following us all this way, come down quickly."
Then, a shadow jumped down from the tree.
"Thank you for your understanding, Brother Zongzheng," Banrui said with a smile, bowing to Du Gewen. "My spell failed to achieve its intended purpose. I only hoped to encounter that evil spirit again with you, Brother Zongzheng. I did hear some things last time, but they were unclear. I couldn't bear it and followed you. Fortunately, only you noticed me, Brother Zongzheng."
Where is Jing Yun?
“Jing Yun has indeed gone back,” Ban Rui said quickly, seeing that Du Gewen did not object. The two walked forward together. “My martial arts and magic are not good, so I learned my martial arts from my senior and junior brothers. He still has to go back to practice today. My way of doing things is indeed inappropriate. Jing Yun is young and really doesn’t need to learn bad things from me.”
“Since you know your actions are inappropriate, why not change them sooner rather than later? It would benefit both yourself and others,” Dugwen said helplessly.
“That’s my biggest flaw,” Ban Rui said with a stiff smile. “The people around me learn these qualities so easily, but no matter how much they try to teach me, I just can’t listen. Everyone has their own destiny, and maybe I’ll just live a life without these qualities.”
On the other side, Mingjin and Jizhen walked together, crossing a dry stone bridge in the green forest. However, according to the plan, they should have entered a forest of white flowers, but Mingjin looked from the stone bridge and found that between the bridge and the white forest was a forest of red flowers.
The grove was lush with branches and leaves, and the fragrance of the flowers was overwhelming. Mingjin didn't know what the original scent of the flowers was, but before she even entered, she was already wrinkling her nose and frowning at the pungent smell of fermented wine. She covered her nose with her hand, but it didn't help; she coughed several times, but this slowed her down, which she found troublesome. So, she went to great lengths and used magic to surround herself with mountains, shutting out the fragrance of the flowers.
However, Ji Zhen seemed unaffected. Ming Jin thought he was making a mountain out of a molehill, but after walking a few steps, he couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Master Ji, can't you smell this smell?"
“Smell? My nose is always a bit off around this time of year, so I really couldn’t smell anything,” Ji Zhen realized he had missed something after Ming Jin reminded him. “But Mr. Kang didn’t mention that there was a forest nearby.”
"Let's go quickly."
Mingjin felt overwhelmed by the smell and found it unbearable, but seeing the white-flowered trees ahead, he quickened his pace with Jizhen.
As she left, Mingjin carefully observed the shapes of the surrounding flowers and trees. She had grown up in Kongyun Mountain since childhood and had seen many flowers and plants over the years. However, the shape of the tree trunks in this grove was indistinguishable. The petals were somewhere between rounded and sharp, with about six petals per flower and four stamens. Several flowers were crowded on each branch, but each flower seemed to unfold gracefully in a graceful manner.
"What is this thing?" Ming Jin's already furrowed brows deepened due to the dual reasons, and he just wanted to leave as soon as possible. Fortunately, Ji Zhen wasn't walking too fast, and the distracted Ming Jin could catch up by running a few steps.
As Mingjin ran through the woods, she heard the sound of withered leaves breaking. And this seemed to be the first time she had ever noticed the existence of withered leaves.
Mingjin and Jizhen walked side by side. However, after a few steps, Mingjin looked around and unconsciously quickened his pace. When he turned his head, he realized that Jizhen was slower than him, which was not normal. So he looked back and found that Jizhen's face was pale, his lips were white, and his eyes were somewhat unfocused. He might fall forward after a few more steps.
"Master Ji, are you alright?" Mingjin quickly helped Ji Zhen up. She realized something was wrong nearby, so she helped Ji Zhen walk forward quickly.
After leaving the flower grove, Mingjin, feeling safer now, helped Jizhen sit down under a small, eco-friendly sweetgum tree.
Ming Jin carefully examined Ji Zhen's changes and realized after taking his pulse that he was poisoned, but he didn't know what kind of poison it was. He could only take out a medicine box from his pouch, take out a health-preserving pill, and make a decoction for Ji Zhen to take.
After coughing, Ji Zhen regained some clarity and immediately took his pulse: "Not good."
"What's wrong?" Ji Zhen asked anxiously.
“I’ve never seen this poison before. The health-preserving pill can only suppress the toxicity temporarily; it’s not a long-term solution,” Ji Zhen struggled to get up, but the poison had left him unable to move, and he fell against a tree trunk before he could stand. “It’s probably a poison from flowers and plants, not a common poisonous flower or plant, and not even a single poison. Perhaps it’s related to that grove of flowers we just saw, but I think it’s more likely caused by the ghostly magic of a malevolent spirit…”
Before he could finish speaking, Ji Zhen's voice, which had been gradually weakening, fell silent. Ming Jin was powerless to help and thought of asking for assistance, but Du Gewen was not very familiar with matters concerning flowers and trees, and Ji Zhen was undoubtedly the most knowledgeable about this on Kongyun Mountain. Ming Jin racked his brains and thought of someone who might be able to help him.
Hong Junyu.
However, she didn't know how to contact Hong Junyu. If she went back to find Meng Sheng, who was now pregnant, it would only make her more worried and worse.
Mingjin suddenly remembered what happened yesterday. Although he had only learned it once, he had no choice but to take a gamble and try it out.
"The heavens gather clouds, rain and snow fall in abundance. They are further nourished by the gentle rain, which is both plentiful and abundant. They are moistened and sufficient, giving birth to my hundred grains."
During his first attempt at casting the spell, Mingjin's hands trembled slightly, causing him to be unable to continue the incantation before it was finished. After failing, Mingjin was anxious and angry, but he had no other choice at the moment, so he tried his best to suppress the distracting thoughts in his mind and cast the spell again.
Soon a soft rustling sound was heard, and something quickly darted through the sprawling weeds and fallen leaves, then emerged from underneath and jumped in front of Mingjin.
"Boss Jiang."
Mingjin and Lao Jiang looked at each other.
"Why is it you, young man?" Old Jiang said, quite surprised. "Didn't Jingchun ask me to come?"
"Elder Hong taught us how to cast this spell," Ming Jin said, slightly flustered. "Boss Jiang, my master has been poisoned. Could you please take a look?"
Old Jiang turned his gaze to Ji Zhen beside him, quickly reaching out to check on Ji Zhen's condition. His expression darkened. "This isn't ordinary poison. You can think of it as a malevolent spirit's magic. This poison can be seen as a part of the malevolent spirit growing from its body, spreading across a person's body, attempting to consume them to death. It uses the fragrance of flowers as a cover, making people wary of the flower poison and forget about other dangers. I've only seen one case, where the malevolent spirit that administered the poison was directly exorcised. Although the poisoned person was consumed and injured, fortunately, the poison dissipated along with the malevolent spirit. Afterward, as long as they were slowly cared for, their condition would improve. Besides that, I don't know of any other solution."
“Since it is the work of evil spirits, then I will go and exorcise them,” Mingjin said. “However, Master is poisoned and unconscious, and I dare not leave him here alone. I would like to trouble Boss Jiang to look after him for me.”
“Since it was Professor Jingchun who taught you this technique, consider it a trust from an old friend. Leave it to me with confidence.” Old Jiang sat down directly next to Ji Zhen. “The last ghost who used this technique, while not the strongest, would probably not have been able to defeat you in a head-on confrontation. However, this technique is extremely troublesome, and you might easily become poisoned if you’re not careful. Even you, as its master, couldn’t completely resist it, so you must be careful. This ghost probably doesn’t have the ability to completely conceal its ghostly aura. If you search carefully, you’re sure to find some clues.”
"Thank you for your guidance, senior." After saying that, Mingjin got up and walked back.
Before leaving, Mingjin tried to get Yazai to find Dugewen, but after she cast a spell, she found that Yazai could not move and was just circling around in one place without moving forward.
"What's wrong?" Ming Jin used his mountain magic to look at Ya Zai's strange behavior, feeling even more pressure.
“I can’t send it over there. There’s evil magic rampant around here, and my spells can’t penetrate it.”
After saying that, Tooth Boy vanished.
Upon hearing this, Ming Jin drew a long sword, gripped it in his hand, took a deep breath, and stepped into the place filled with the stench.
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