Incense
Northeast China has been vast and sparsely populated since ancient times. The rapid development of coastal China in recent years has attracted many young people from the region. Coupled with national environmental protection policies such as returning farmland to forests, vast tracts of natural areas have been able to recover, and the ecological environment has been increasingly restored.
The primary forest, which had been gradually thinned by logging and wildfires, is now recovering thanks to the emergence of secondary forests. The appearance of October, the tiger cub's mother, is the best proof of this.
Looking at Wu Fei who was parked under the tree, Li Xingzang waved to He Yishu who was floating on the treetop.
"What's wrong, boss?" After these two or three months in Xuecheng, He Yishu also picked up some Northeastern speaking habits.
"Haven't you always been afraid of Wu Fei? Watch." Li Xingzang took He Yishu and carefully retreated to a few red pines.
What are you looking at? He Yishu was a little confused. When she was wondering, she suddenly heard a heart-shaking roar. Even though she had turned into a ghost, the sound engraved in her genes still made her tremble all over.
"Shit! What the hell?!" He Yishu's pupils suddenly widened, and with a shudder, the Yin energy in his body burst out straight out, almost unable to control his instinctive counterattack.
"Pa!" Li Xingzang picked up the paper money and slapped her on the forehead.
"What are you crazy about?" She put down the yellow paper in her hand speechlessly.
He Yishu was a little confused when his ultimate move was interrupted by her. He turned around and looked at the admiration in her eyes. What kind of creature was that!
Its towering back was covered in golden fur. Sunlight filtered through the red pine forest, shimmering down on it, its golden glow threatening to burn her ghostly eyes. Black stripes were evenly distributed across its body, extending to its thick, long tail swaying behind it. He Yishu silently glanced at her arm. Hmm, a narrow victory.
"Don't you like kittens? Look, how beautiful!" Li Xingzang couldn't help but burst out with praise in his eyes. He Yishu looked at her awkwardly as she stood on tiptoe excitedly, and then looked at the forest overlord who had turned around and walked towards them.
Boss, you call this... a kitten?!
It strides gracefully, without any trace of the playfulness and cuteness of its usual little boy form. Instead, it is majestic, steady, and mysterious...
The markings on its forehead are shaped like Chinese characters, as if crowning its dominant status.
The majestic creature, once seen only on screens and in books, now stood before her, its large, gleaming eyes fixed on her, causing He Yishu to tremble uncontrollably. She didn't know if it was fear or excitement, but simply that she felt as if she had entered a dreamlike world: red pines, fallen leaves, sunlight... and before her, a beautiful Siberian tiger. Was she truly dreaming?
Wu Fei stared at her for a few seconds, then opened his bloody mouth. "What's wrong with you? Why are you trembling?"
The little boy's sharp voice was accompanied by pure Northeastern dialect...
He Yishu felt himself suddenly return to reality. He looked into its eyes again. They were gleaming and piercing, yet they were clearly filled with pure stupidity.
A pale hand reached under the tiger's sturdy head and rubbed it hard twice. Wu Fei raised his head with satisfaction, as if he wanted her to rub it some more.
"Is the person you are waiting for here?" Li Xingzang gently combed its coarse hair.
Wu Fei nodded and looked back at a big tree, "There is his scent there, I smell it." He Yishu and Li Xingzang looked over and saw obvious traces of artificial knife cutting on the rough bark.
"What is that?" He Yishu asked in confusion. Although it was simple, she did sense a hint of unusual power from the place without bark.
"That's a shrine built by humans for the mountain god."
"Mountain God?" He Yishu looked at her in surprise. "Is it for Grandma Bai?"
Li Xingzang shook his head and gently stroked Wu Fei's head. "It's for the tiger."
In the mountains of Northeast China, many people regard the forest overlord as a mountain god. After entering the mountains, they will carve simple shrines on the trees and pray for a good harvest.
"Then let's go down the mountain first. Remember to go home at night."
Wu Fei nodded and slowly walked into the forest.
"What is he going to do?" He Yishu asked in confusion, feeling that Wu Fei seemed to have something on his mind.
"He's going to find a human being." Li Xingzang carried the prepared yellow paper and various paper-made fruits, and brought He Yishu to a moss-covered shallow area by the river.
He Yishu looked at her actions in confusion, "Boss, what are you doing?"
Li Xingzang did not stop what he was doing. He quickly dug a deep pit, looked at her and said earnestly, "If you set fire to the mountain, you will spend the rest of your life in jail." After that, he simply lit the yellow paper in his hand and threw it into the pit.
The smoke quickly spread across the forest. He Yishu cried out in horror, "Boss! You didn't write your name. It'll attract ghosts!"
Not counting the knowledge he learned during the ghost repair class with Li Xingzang during this period, even with the little knowledge of metaphysics he had accumulated during his lifetime, he knew that when burning paper, he must clearly write the name of the ancestor who received the money, otherwise it is very likely to attract other things.
Li Xingzang looked at her speechlessly as she ran around in the air with her head in her hands. "Are you afraid of ghosts?"
"Of course!" He Yishu said righteously, but found that Li Xingzang was looking at her feet helplessly. She lowered her head in confusion, and it turned out that she flew into the air in a hurry.
"Uh...this..." Oops, I was stupid for a moment and forgot that I was also a ghost.
"Stay behind me. Your aura is too strong. People are afraid to come." Li Xingzang threw gold ingots while looking around, as if waiting for someone to come. [1]
"Someone?" He Yishu squatted behind her, without a trace of a ghost on her body. "Boss, is it okay for you to burn paper here?" This is neither a cemetery nor an intersection. Will it really attract the person she wants?
"Why not?" Li Xingzang also knelt on one knee, one hand lazily resting on it, looking at the pebbles on the shallows and said calmly: "Here I come."
He Yishu also looked up at the same time, and sure enough, the river began to ripple, and there seemed to be water plants floating in the water. Upon closer inspection, they were actually clumps of long hair.
The water ghosts took advantage of the terrain and were the first to grab some of the incense, but there were too many wolves and too little meat. He Yishu was stunned as he watched the wandering ghosts swarming in.
"Why are there so many wild ghosts here?"
Li Xingzang stood up, looked at the hesitant shadows behind the ghost group and said, "This is the mountain."
In the mountains, anything can happen. Stepping on a mossy pebble can lead to slipping into a turbulent river; falling into a trap can lead to becoming a prey for wild animals; even simply picking fruit from a tree can result in a stumble and a fall... The mountains hold treasures, but they are also filled with dangers.
"Boss..." He Yishu gently tugged at the corner of Li Xingzang's coat, "Am I... like this too?" She pointed at a person in the group of ghosts who was fighting for incense. Half of his face was gone, and it seemed that he had been bitten by a black bear.
Li Xingzang glanced at her sideways and said, "You are not as good as others."
He Yishu felt a little guilty. No wonder Li Xingzang had reacted so violently when he saw her. She had just become a ghost, and all she knew was that something was attracting her. But her remaining consciousness made her realize that it wasn't a good thing. Coincidentally, a more powerful force erupted from where Li Xingzang was, so she went looking for him. He Yishu hadn't bothered to hide her death. If Li Xingzang hadn't beaten her up, she wouldn't have realized how terrifying she was.
"Hey? Boss, what is that?" He Yishu happened to look up and saw a group of special ghosts walking towards her. "It's a deer!!!" She exclaimed, pulling the corner of Li Xingzang's clothes hard.
"I know, calm down." Li Xingzang took a breath silently. Why did she feel that He Yishu was even more difficult to deal with than Wu Fei? Where did that cold and indifferent young lady go?
The herd of deer, along with the spirits of other animals, stopped not far away. Li Xingzang smiled and lowered his head, "It's time for you to do something."
"What do you mean?" He Yishu's eyes were clear.
"The little ones haven't had their fill yet. We can't let these guys snatch it all away." She raised her chin. Not far away, the ghosts snatching the incense offerings showed no hidden malice in their eyes, as if they were determined to devour her flesh and blood. As for the female ghost beside her? Humph! Just a young ghost, she won't amount to anything!
"They look down on you, can you tolerate this?" Li Xingzang said leisurely, hugging his shoulders.
"Of course not!" He Yishu was wearing the red dress that Li Xingzang had burned for her. At this moment, the cold wind was blowing, more violent than the group of ghosts over there combined.
"Go!" Li Xingzang simply waved his hand, and He Yishu rushed forward with tears of blood in his eyes.
Although she has only been a ghost for two or three months, the resentment in her is not in vain. Even He Yishu herself does not quite understand why she has such strong hatred in her heart. If she had not been suppressed by Li Xingzang from the beginning, she would probably have gone out to harm others. Now that she has so many ghosts for her to vent, He Yishu feels that she is getting more and more happy.
Without paying much attention to the battlefield over there, Li Xingzang gently waved to the ghosts of the little animals, "Come." He threw the various prepared paper money into the deep pit again, and the little animals ran over with joy.
"Damn! Boss, she pulled my hair!" He Yishu yelled. Li Xingzang looked closely and saw that, sure enough, two female ghosts were fighting among the ghosts. It was obvious that He Yishu's cultivation was stronger, but the big sister on the opposite side was so quick, accurate and ruthless in her moves that she put He Yishu at a disadvantage with her excellent skills.
Li Xingzang sighed, and the suppressed ghost cultivation aura suddenly erupted. The ghosts, sensing the sunlight, looked at her in horror. What kind of monster was this? It smelled like a ghost cultivator, but its scent was different from theirs. It could actually break the barrier set up by Master Huang. They were about to dissipate in the sunlight!
Several big ghosts who had practiced for many years no longer hid, but floated out and surrounded Li Xingzang.
"What? You want to gang up on me?" Although he asked with a smile, Li Xingzang's eyes were full of coldness.
"What? Is it impossible?" The female ghost who was fighting with He Yishu sneered, "If you can't do it, you can still call for help. What should I be afraid of?"
Li Xingzang rushed towards her and pushed her to the ground. "You're quite good at pissing, aren't you? Why are you pretending to be such a jerk in front of me?" [2]
He Yishu swallowed her saliva. It was with this expression that Li Xingzang, who had beaten her up in Hecheng, appeared again.
The other ghosts were of course not convinced and were planning to fight her in a group even if it meant being unethical to compete with her, but suddenly a "wooooo" sound came from the group of small animals.
Li Xingzang smiled, the strength in his hands loosened, and he turned to look at the little guy in front of him, "Is he here?"
"Looking for me, gaha?" With its tawny fur, slender body, and pointed mouth, it was clearly a weasel. [3]
"I heard that you're quite effective in this area, so I'd like to ask for a favor."
"Heard? Who told you?" The weasel tilted his head.
"Sable." Li Xingzang betrayed her uncle without hesitation. After all, he was the lobby manager of Baishan Bath, and he still had some connections in the Northeast.
The weasel fell silent when he heard the name. There are many sables in the Northeast, but only one of them can be called a sable.
"What do you want me to do for you?"
"Help me keep an eye on the humans in the mountains. I'm looking for a group of poachers." Li Xingzang said slowly.
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