Chapter Thirteen: The Mountain Guardian
Liu Haoyu closed the door of the antique shop.
He then looked at the old man inside.
With white hair at his temples and a greyish-white beard, he was wearing a dark blue full-length gown.
This old man looked a little younger than Old Deng, but he should also be over fifty.
As Liu Haoyu watched him, Wu Yixuan also walked out from behind the counter and sat on the sofa.
“Sit down, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Liu Haoyu and Deng Xiaolin sat on the sofa.
“It seems that Old Master Wu knew we were coming.”
“As a ghost exorcist, to live to my age, one will have some premonitions. Moreover, Old Deng also told me about you… You are Liu Haoyu, Liu Jianjun’s son, right?”
“Correct.”
“Then the one beside you should be Deng Xiaolin. Her brows do bear some resemblance to Old Deng when he was young.”
Wu Yixuan walked towards the bookshelf, his gait very peculiar.
When his left foot landed, it seemed to be heavier than his right foot, making his footsteps very clear but not harsh or noisy.
Liu Haoyu knew very well that this should be related to Wu Yixuan’s identity as a ghost exorcist.
According to the Black Book, this ghost exorcist, in his youth, used to carry a rather heavy soul-镇魂法器 on his left shoulder year-round, and over time, he developed this habit of walking.
Wu Yixuan flipped through the bookshelf, took out a book, and then walked back to the sofa.
He looked at Liu Haoyu again, and after a long time, he asked.
“Beside you… there’s someone else, aren’t you going to introduce her?”
Hearing this, Qin Liu was stunned.
In the presence of outsiders, she usually tried her best to conceal her aura. She didn’t expect that this old man named Wu Yixuan could see her.
In this case, his strength should not be underestimated.
Just as Qin Liu was about to speak, Liu Haoyu said directly.
“Her name is Qin Liu, she is a guide, a ghost messenger of sorts. Because I was worried about scaring you, Old Master Wu, I didn’t say it explicitly. But I didn’t expect you, Old Master Wu, to be able to see her. This is due to the oversight of the younger generation.”
“A guide… Qin Liu?”
Wu Yixuan’s eyes, like those of a hawk, narrowed, as if he were scrutinizing the red shadow in front of him.
It was no exaggeration to say that in his entire career as a ghost exorcist, this was the first time he had felt such a terrifying oppressive feeling. Just facing this strange red shadow gave him the illusion of facing death.
Despite being so terrifying, this red shadow sat obediently beside Liu Haoyu, showing no malice.
Instead, it kept looking at Liu Haoyu, as if asking him what to do.
After a long time, Wu Yixuan continued.
“Looking at her, it seems that herconsciousness has been very well preserved. It’s truly incredible…”
Wu Yixuan stroked his greyish-white beard.
“A long, long time ago, I also met a guide in Jiangliu City, but she was basically like a madwoman at the time. Rather than a guide, she was more like a soul-hooking fierce ghost. She’s really quite different from the one beside you.”
“Old Master Wu, it’s not a problem to treat her as a person. Her physical body is still alive, it’s just that her soul has drifted out.”
After Liu Haoyu’s explanation, Wu Yixuan’s guard against Qin Liu was lowered.
“I understand, but if the soul is separated from the physical body for too long, there’s a high chance that it won’t be able to return to the living world. So, you should let her return to her physical body as soon as possible. Humans and ghosts have different paths. The grudge emanating from her is enough to be fatal to you.”
“The junior naturally understands.”
After introducing Qin Liu’s matter, Wu Yixuan placed the book he had just taken from the bookshelf in front of the three of them.
“I assume you are here to go to Ye Shang Peak, right?”
“Yes,” Liu Haoyu nodded and said, “On one hand, my father’s remains have not yet been found on Ye Shang Peak. On the other hand, a Night Walker that has been harming people has entered Ye Shang Peak and is hiding there.”
Speaking of this, Liu Haoyu’s expression became a little gloomy. He took a breath.
“Old Deng’s death is directly related to this ghost, so I must find it.”
“I see,” Wu Yixuan’s expression also became very serious upon hearing this. “I had a life-and-death friendship with Old Deng. I thought Old Deng’s death was due to overwork, but I didn’t expect it to be like this…”
“So, please tell us the correct way to ascend the mountain, Old Master Wu.”
Liu Haoyu had entered Ye Shang Peak many times in the past, but unfortunately, he didn’t know the real way to ascend the mountain, so he wandered for years without any success.
In response to Liu Haoyu’s request, Wu Yixuan continued.
“Before the 1990s, Ye Shang Peak was just an ordinary tourist attraction, but after the mining disaster in the 1990s, everything changed…”
“The spirit veins there were severed by the mine collapse, causing grudges to accumulate there for a long time, eventually turning it into a hidden realm within reality. You can think of it as the boundary between life and death.”
“Your father Liu Jianjun, Old Deng, and I entered the mountain to investigate this ‘hidden realm’. However, the grudge there is extremely heavy, and the number of vengeful spirits is countless.”
“Our goal at the time was to re-open the spirit veins there and restore Ye Shang Peak to normal.”
“During the investigation, we were enveloped by the miasma of resentment and completely lost in the mountain forest. It wasn’t until the morning of the next day that Deng Lao and I safely withdrew from Ye Shang Peak, but Liu Jianjun had disappeared without a trace.”
“Later, we went up the mountain again to search, but…”
As he spoke, Wu Yixuan lifted his collar, revealing a terrifying, centipede-like scar, tens of centimeters long, on his chest.
Just looking at this scar, Liu Haoyu could imagine how severe the injury he suffered was at the time.
Deng Xiaolin was even more frightened when she saw it.
“This?”
“As you can see, we searched the mountain for nearly a week, but not only did we find no clues, but we also encountered the ghosts of those who died in the mining accident that year.”
“We were surrounded, and we fought our way out desperately. I was also seriously injured. After my injury healed about 70-80%, Deng Lao and I discussed it and decided to seal Ye Shang Peak to prevent the grudges inside from overflowing.”
“This is also why you found nothing when you went up the mountain back then.”
After listening to Wu Yixuan, Liu Haoyu remained silent. He looked at the old man.
“You recognized me back then?”
“A sixteen-year-old brat who climbed Ye Shang Peak every night in the middle of the night. If I, the mountain guardian, didn’t see you, that would be too negligent,”
Wu Yixuan took out a cigarette from his cigarette case and offered one to Liu Haoyu.
“But don’t blame me. With your strength back then, if you had rashly entered Ye Shang Peak, you would have surely died.”
“Even if I hadn’t secretly protected you, you might have gotten lost in the mountain forest even if you hadn’t entered the ‘hidden realm’.”
