Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Chen Ji's hands were bound, a gaudy bow tied right at his wrists. His captors seemed overly confident; Chen Ji's phone hadn't been confiscated, but when he tried it, there was no signal.

This room was noticeably more luxurious than the one he'd occupied that afternoon, and two guards stood outside the door.

The System Cat shrieked frantically: "[So how did you get yourself abducted again, and again, and again? Are you truly incapable of escaping? One point, I'll handle the electrical discharge, and you handle the getaway! Whoever tries to stop you, I'll electrocute them to death! It'll be an absolute accidental death, completely unrelated to you!]"

"[It's not that dire,]" Chen Ji retorted. "[Haven't you noticed? It's already here.]"

"[What's here?]" The System Cat exclaimed, "[I think you have a death wish, don't you!]"

"[Go wait over there.]" With that, Chen Ji's head slumped to the side, and he simply lost consciousness, collapsing softly onto the bed.

"Chen Ji……"

"Chen Ji……"

Chen Ji's eyes fluttered open, clearly seeing his own physical body lying on the bed.

He seemed to still be in the same room, but it was now enveloped in darkness. Only his physical form and soul on the bed were outlined in gray-white lines, while everything else was an abyssal, bottomless black.

Chang Xu had mentioned that the Mountain Lord couldn't manifest physically in reality. Chen Ji had assumed the Mountain Lord would visit him through a dream-entering ability, but from the current situation, it appeared his soul had left his body.

He lowered his gaze to his hand, gently flexed it, touched his fingertips to his palm, and slowly pressed down hard—there was pain, indistinguishable from his real body.

"Chen Ji." A voice emanated from the void, this summons particularly distinct.

Chen Ji felt a sudden, sharp pain in his waist and abdomen. A black mist coiled around his waist, yanking him violently backward. Almost powerless to resist, Chen Ji was pulled into a frigid embrace.

—There was no bleeding from the seven orifices, no headache, no skin splitting. Neither in his physical body nor his soul.

Chen Ji remained silent, seemingly dazed, instinctively reaching out to touch the human-arm-like black mist around his waist.

The black mist still felt icy to the touch, imbued with a peculiar sense of nothingness, yet his tactile senses confirmed he had indeed touched something akin to an arm.

"Chen Ji," the voice whispered, pressing close to his ear: "Chen Ji, why did you flee……"

Chen Ji felt as if he'd been jolted awake from a nightmare, an inexplicable chill tracing down his spine. He gripped the Mountain Lord's 'arm' in panic, murmuring as if his sanity had fractured: "Mountain Lord……"

The black mist coiled around Chen Ji's ankles, slowly ascending. His fair skin was constricted and raised, leaving dark red marks. The voice inquired again: "Chen Ji, why did you flee?"

Chen Ji felt a subtle dizziness. He maintained his detached tone: "I wasn't trying to flee…… Mountain Lord…… how could I flee…… I merely went down the mountain to seek treatment for my eyes and was captured……"

Chen Ji lowered his gaze, observing himself on the bed: "I was simply captured…… forcibly brought here…… I wasn't trying to escape……"

A gaze seemed fixed on the physical body on the bed. Even with his soul disembodied, Chen Ji felt that intense sensation of being watched—perhaps his soul was also under scrutiny.

He sensed eyes on him from all directions.

Perhaps nothing had truly changed; the room lights were still on, but the Mountain Lord's presence had enveloped the entire space.

"Is that so?" The voice brushed past his earlobe. A fine prickle of goosebumps involuntarily rose behind Chen Ji's ear. An icy, damp sensation landed on the tip of his ear, probing into his ear canal. Chen Ji instinctively wanted to turn away, but in the next instant, he restrained himself.

He was currently in a 'detached' state; avoidance or resistance would be out of character. He said, his voice ethereal: "Serving the Mountain Lord is my duty…… the Mountain Lord protected me…… Little Green Mountain is my home…… I have no need to flee my own home……"

The black mist entwining him suddenly loosened, then tightened around him even more densely. His limbs and entire body felt immobilized within this mass of black mist. Chen Ji experienced a profound unease, as if forced to appear naked before others, as if every aspect of him had been laid bare for scrutiny.

He recalled the sensation of drawing talismans, emptying his mind.

The voice continued, even tinged with an eerie laugh and damp chill: "I thought you had left with Chang Xu…… abandoned me."

Chen Ji's face registered confusion: "No…… strange…… he…… also feels very familiar to me……"

"He's fake! He's fake!" The voice grew shrill and piercing. Chen Ji felt a sharp pain in his right ear as warm fluid trickled from his ear canal—it must be his blood. From the corner of his eye, he saw a gray-white, solidified trail also sliding from the right ear of his physical body on the bed.

The next moment, an icy, slippery sensation glided up his neck, stopping only at his right ear. A sticky, wet sound reached his ears. Chen Ji tried to suppress his instinctive reaction but was too late, still trembling slightly.

Laughter echoed in his mind. The voice declared: "I am your Mountain Lord."

These words didn't enter through his ears but appeared directly in his mind. Chen Ji nodded blankly, repeating: "You are my Mountain Lord…… you are my Mountain Lord……"

A soft, slick sensation brushed past his eyes. Chen Ji was compelled to close them. The feeling was as if someone were licking his delicate eyelids with their tongue tip, soon pressing against the seam, drilling into his eyelids.

His eyeballs were being licked by the Mountain Lord.

Chen Ji's breathing grew rapid; he dared not move a muscle. No one knew what this deity might do next—perhaps directly gouge out his eyeballs and devour them?

It wasn't impossible…… If his soul's eyes were gouged out, he would likely be completely blind, wouldn't he?

The Mountain Lord spoke to him: "Remember what you said…… come back, return to Little Green Mountain."

Chen Ji repeated: "Return, return to Little Green Mountain."

"Yes, return to Little Green Mountain," the Mountain Lord almost murmured: "Return to Little Green Mountain, and I will protect you……"

The next instant, his vision exploded with light. Chen Ji felt as if he'd been hurled from a great height, a sudden sensation of falling and weight. He groaned softly, realizing he had returned to his physical body.

His hands were still bound. His ears still retained the sticky, slippery sensation. The areas that had been entwined now pulsed with a strange, hot itch. Everything before his eyes was still composed of lines, but far clearer than before, as if the resolution had suddenly upgraded from 360P to 1060P, becoming dazzlingly vivid.

Uncomfortable, he closed his eyes, as if utterly exhausted, and drifted into sleep.

System Cat: "[Damn it! He survived!]"

"[Mm,]" Chen Ji responded calmly. "[Check body.]"

The System Cat reported a string of data, similar to before, but based on traditional Chinese medicine and metaphysical theories, it added some information: "[It shows your vitality has decreased somewhat, and spiral-shaped bruise marks have appeared on your skin, which will turn into bruises within two hours.]"

Chen Ji said: "[Open blackboard.]"

The System Cat instantly conjured a blackboard in Chen Ji's mind, where Chen Ji's thoughts began to write:

1. Assuming all suspicious black mist he encountered in the Mountain Lord temple was the Mountain Lord. The first time he dreamed of black mist entangling him, corresponding marks resembling Fire Dragon Coil appeared on his body; the second and third times were the same. And in those several dream-within-dreams, due to the Mountain Lord's intervention, he suffered great harm.

Considering the current situation, it can be determined that there were key factors in those two dream entries. If the Mountain Lord he contacted now is in State A, then the Mountain Lord in the dream entries is in State B, and State B causes far greater harm to him than State A.

The Mountain Lord that just appeared was State A, causing only slight harm.

Question 1: Based on previous experiences in the Mountain Lord temple, the Mountain Lord could directly contact him without making his soul leave his body. Why did it make his soul leave his body this time?

Question 2: From the current state, the Mountain Lord doesn't seem intent on killing him. Given that the Mountain Lord's behavior just now was overly intimate, unless this is just the Mountain Lord's habit, consider that the Mountain Lord has feelings for him beyond normal superior-subordinate or deity-worshipper relations—and it seems easily appeased with sufficient reason.

In summary:

Answer 1: Excluding the Mountain Lord's own attitude as the deciding factor. Considering that the Mountain Lord isn't the only deity in the world, and Qingjing clearly stated before that the Mountain Lord's influence is limited to the Little Green Mountain area. He is currently in S City, so the Mountain Lord's power might be affected by geographical location.

Answer 2: The Mountain Lord is the mountain deity. The mountain deity's main duties are protecting the mountain, safeguarding the environment, controlling weather, and protecting living beings. It shouldn't engage in sexual relations with worshippers, so its current behavior likely indicates extraordinary feelings for him. Additionally, the Mountain Lord is relatively simple and easily tricked.

As for Q3, Chen Ji started a new blackboard and meticulously wrote down everything that happened surrounding the first dream. His sixth sense told him that the key must be hidden within the dream.

Before the first dream, he encountered Chang Xu and had several interactions with him.

In the dream, he was chased by red-clad figures, which should be memories recounted by his grandfather. The crucial moment came when he was about to be killed: the first time, Chang Xu saved him; the second time, Chang Xu didn’t appear at that moment—instead, the Mountain Lord appeared. What did it mean that the dream kept getting interrupted at this critical moment?

The next part must be crucial... Both dreams shared the same phenomenon: the Mountain Lord appeared. What if the Mountain Lord was supposed to appear all along?

He could directly conclude that it was indeed the Mountain Lord who saved him back then. There were no other deities on the mountain, he was being chased by red-clad figures, and his grandfather was nearing the end of his lifespan. Who else could they turn to besides the Mountain Lord, who was close by? It was impossible to go all the way to the county town to seek help from the City God—they would have been killed a hundred times over on the way.

In both dreams, once Chang Xu appeared first, followed by the Mountain Lord; the other time, the Mountain Lord appeared first, and then Chang Xu came to save him. Both times ended with them fighting.

After Chang Xu appeared the first time, the Mountain Lord followed immediately. The Mountain Lord pulled Chen Ji aside and had dozens of red-clad figures surround Chang Xu. He struggled and resisted, so the red-clad figures started attacking him as well—suggesting that before this point, the Mountain Lord only intended to enter the dream for other purposes, not to kill him. It was because he tried to help Chang Xu that the Mountain Lord decided to kill him too.

Based on Q2, a wild conclusion could even be drawn: the Mountain Lord probably just wanted to see him through the dream, but then his archrival Chang Xu showed up... and of course, the two started fighting.

Chen Ji looked at the covered blackboard and suddenly felt the urge to slam the table and curse.

—What kind of nonsense is this?!

System Cat: "[...What the hell is this?! Is this even reasonable?!]"

Chen Ji suppressed his anger, let out a long breath, and returned to the main topic, gathering clues.

The key point isn’t why the two fought, but why the Mountain Lord fell into a period of silence after the first dream. What did he do? What did Chang Xu do?

That dream was incredibly violent. Chen Ji clearly remembered every detail: he used a Five Thunder Talisman to break free from the Mountain Lord’s control. The talisman struck the Mountain Lord, who angrily released him and vowed they would all perish together. The red-clad figures attacked him, so he attached a Tongxuan Talisman to a stun baton, inflicting real damage to the red-clad figures. Then the baton’s battery exploded, and he set fire to the Mountain Lord’s temple, waking from the dream.

There were only two key factors: he injured the Mountain Lord with the Five Thunder Talisman, and he burned down the Mountain Lord’s temple.

Which of these two factors caused the Mountain Lord to enter the period of silence? 1 or 2? Or both?

Chen Ji switched back to the first blackboard and re-examined the three previous questions.

The Mountain Lord only caused symptoms like bleeding from the seven apertures and skin cracking open when he was in his B state during the dreams. Compared to the A state during ordinary contact, Chen Ji believed the B state was more representative of the Mountain Lord’s true nature—after all, to fight Chang Xu, he must have used his full strength.

So, is the B state the Mountain Lord’s true appearance?

If he injures the Mountain Lord in the B state, does it cause real damage to him?

Chen Ji added a period to the blackboard.

Although many questions remained unanswered, he could test them one by one.

The System Cat hid the blackboard: "[...Chen Ji.]"

"[Hm?]" Chen Ji responded. The System Cat then cautiously said, "[Has anyone ever told you... that your hostility toward the Mountain Lord might be excessive?]"

Step by step, Chen Ji’s reasoning was leading toward how to harm the Mountain Lord—or even kill him.

Chen Ji’s tone was chilling: "[If it’s possible, why not?]"

"[I just think...]" the System Cat said, "[if the Mountain Lord truly has special feelings for you, couldn’t you try to coexist peacefully? You have no power to oppose him—your life and death are in his hands. What if you provoke him one day and end up dead?]"

"[Have you really not considered just living a normal life? If you like that wretched tiger, just keep it outside. The Mountain Lord can’t do anything to it anyway...]"

"[Actually, I wanted to say this earlier: your analogy sounds like I’m keeping a concubine behind my lawful wife’s back, and the wife can’t do anything about it.]" Chen Ji suddenly said, "[Have you forgotten why I’m returning to Little Green Mountain?]"

The System Cat asked puzzledly, "[Aren’t you going back to complete tasks for me?]"

"[That’s one reason to humor you.]" Chen Ji chuckled lightly and was about to explain when the room suddenly grew cold. Chen Ji’s phone, placed nearby, rang abruptly. Despite having no signal, it rang inexplicably. Chen Ji normally couldn’t see the screen clearly, but now he saw black lines swirling around it, with crimson lines forming a number in the center: 444-4444-4444.

System Cat: "[Holy shit! What kind of filthy thing is this?! Back off, back off, back off—!]"

Chen Ji pressed the answer button and heard a cold, eerie voice: “Chen Ji...”

“I’m here.” Chen Ji didn’t even blink.

Suddenly, a slender, pale hand emerged from the screen, followed by crimson sleeves with intricate embroidery... and a ghostly pale face.

Zhang Cheng settled beside Chen Ji and, noticing the bow tied around Chen Ji’s wrists, couldn’t help but tease, “You’re getting pretty adventurous. Did I interrupt something?”

Chen Ji raised his wrists to show him. The rope seemed to be silk, quite high-end—soft in appearance but already cutting into his wrists. He suspected that if it lasted much longer, his hands would be permanently damaged.

He had tried to struggle free before the Mountain Lord arrived but failed.

Chen Ji might look frail, but he wasn’t weak. After spending months in the mountains—climbing up and down, chopping wood, carrying water, even moving bricks and building walls—he had gained considerable strength. Yet he couldn’t break this silk ribbon, suggesting it was something special.

“Brother Zhang, stop joking around and help me untie this,” Chen Ji said with a helpless smile.

Zhang Cheng moved his dagger-like nails toward the ribbon, sliced through it lightly, and the ribbon that Chen Ji couldn’t break tore apart easily.

The sudden rush of blood flow made Chen Ji’s hands sting. As he rubbed his wrists, Zhang Cheng noticed Chen Ji’s disheveled shirt—the pattern wasn’t something Chen Ji would choose, and it carried a familiar energy from head to toe. Crossing his legs, Zhang Cheng smiled and said, “Did someone target you? Need help?”

Chen Ji replied, “No, I’ll handle it myself.”

Zhang Cheng nodded, then reached into his sleeve. Chen Ji thought he was going to pull something out, but instead, Zhang Cheng produced Second Master Huang from his sleeve.

Chen Ji: “...?”

Zhang Cheng casually tossed Second Master Huang into Chen Ji’s arms: “Snuck him out... Take Brother Huang with you. If anything happens, he’ll have your back.”

Zhang Cheng was too conspicuous—a prominent red-clad figure like him standing around would easily trigger tags like “demon slaying” or “righteous enforcement,” attracting a crowd of self-righteous types. Second Master Huang, though not much better, was at least a legitimate monster. He used to work under the Mountain Lord and could be considered a minor celestial being with proper credentials, so people generally wouldn’t provoke him unnecessarily.

Second Master Huang clicked his tongue but didn’t speak. Chen Ji found it odd: “Second Master Huang, why aren’t you talking today?”

“We’re on someone else’s turf—should maintain a low profile,” Zhang Cheng answered for Second Master Huang.

Since they were in someone else’s territory, everything had to follow causality. There had to be a cause for there to be an effect. If Second Master Huang suddenly went out and bit someone, it would be his fault. But if someone kicked him unexpectedly and got bitten, that person would deserve it.

Chen Ji understood Zhang Cheng’s meaning and asked curiously, “Then what about you, Brother Zhang...?”

“I used to live in S City!” Zhang Cheng happily produced a mirror to check his makeup. “S City is like my second hometown. What’s wrong with me being a bit arrogant? Can’t a guy come home?”

“...” Chen Ji was momentarily speechless.

Satisfied with his makeup, Zhang Cheng said to Chen Ji, “Alright, I’ll head out if there’s nothing else. There’s an event tonight—I’m going to have some fun!”

Chen Ji instinctively asked, “What event?”

“A costume parade at W Mall! I even prepared some special stuff. I'll blend right in with the crowd!” With that, Zhang Cheng vanished.

Chen Ji: “...”

He wasn’t too keen on attending similar events in the future.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside the door. Second Master Huang’s eyes darted around, and he slid under the covers, hidden by Chen Ji’s legs—no one would notice the lump there. If anyone tried to push Chen Ji down and squished Second Master Huang, the old tiger would certainly retaliate!

Since the rope on his wrists was already broken, Chen Ji didn’t bother hiding it and simply sat there. Three people entered the room. This time, Chen Ji could clearly see their faces: one was Yun Shaoyang, who had come with Zhao Chengying before; the other two were unfamiliar but he recognized from the banquet.

Yun Shaoyang saw that Chen Ji was already awake and chuckled, "You woke up pretty fast."

"It's you?" Chen Ji shot back, "Why did you tie me up here?"

He still held a grudge from last time!

Chen Ji fell silent for a moment, "...Don’t tell me you’re all taking out online loans just to overspend on credit?"