Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Dust billowed in the air, stirred by the blast. The leech-like creature writhed, its head riddled with five or six bullet wounds. Thick, viscous pus—a mixture of red, white, and yellow—oozed from the holes, and one could even see the wounds expand slightly, expelling a chunk of yellow fat.

A thick, putrid stench overwhelmed everyone’s nostrils, nauseating them.

Second Brother, Third Brother, and Fifth Brother had already donned the gas masks hanging around their necks. Second Brother raised his shotgun and, without flinching, fired five more rounds. This time, he aimed not at the head, but at vital points of the human body—the heart, lungs, spine, and neck.

"It hurts so much... hee-hee..." A voice, both crying and laughing, distinctly female, echoed. Second Brother didn’t even flinch, emptying the entire magazine.

The scene before them was so bizarre it shattered their worldview. Anyone would be more inclined to think they had accidentally ingested or inhaled some hallucinogenic substance, causing them to see Fourth Brother transform into this monstrous state and hear the female voice. But since they had already opened fire, they had to ensure this thing was dead.

Whether it was their hallucination or truly Fourth Brother himself.

Suddenly, they heard a crisp, metallic clink. The three looked towards the source and saw a bullet fall to the ground. Before they could react, the leech writhed again, and from the bullet holes, silver shell casings flashed. A series of incessant clinking sounds followed.

"Kill it," Second Brother said coldly, his eyes fixed on 'Fourth Brother.' If this were open terrain or ordinary woodland, they might have a chance to escape. But given the narrow, deep passage they had just crawled through—which had taken considerable effort—they couldn’t gain speed.

They had no chance of escape. The only way out alive was to kill this thing before them.

"Hee-hee... You can't run... It hurts so much... but it's okay... hee-hee... Devouring you will restore me... hee-hee..." The woman's laughter echoed in their ears.

The three felt a sudden heaviness in their heads, accompanied by a slight dizziness. Almost in unison, they bit down on their tongues, using the sharp pain to maintain clarity. Fifth Brother reloaded and was about to fire when Second Brother’s expression changed abruptly. "Behind us!"

Fifth Brother and Third Brother turned to look. Unnoticed, a rustling sound had started emanating from the cliff cave. Within two seconds, a black tide surged out from the cave!

They arched their bodies and sprang forward, looking like fleas but far larger. Like a rising and falling tide, a closer look revealed they were all mountain leeches! Countless mountain leeches!

An icy dread shot up their spines. How could there be so many mountain leeches? Was it an illusion? Or real? In such a confined space, with so many mountain leeches, where could they run? They’d probably be exsanguinated and die.

By now, 'Fourth Brother' had completely shed its human disguise. A giant leech, thicker than a human waist, stood bipedal like a person. Its gray-brown body was covered with bright yellow vertical stripes and circular patterns. It writhed, watching them as if enjoying a show.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Fifth Brother cursed.

"Hee-hee... Delicious humans... delicious men..." The female voice continued to echo in their ears. "My children, eat them! Hee-hee... Mother wants to give you the best... Mother will only eat one, the rest are for you, hee-hee..."

As the voice spoke, the swarm of mountain leeches leaped forward faster. Fifth Brother set down his gun, pulled a tubular canister from his leg pouch, twisted off the cap, and sprayed its contents forward. Then he threw a lighter. With a *whoosh*, flames shot up. The pungent smell of gasoline temporarily overpowered the stench. Countless mountain leeches thrashed and writhed in the flames, quickly turning to char.

But it was no use!

The mountain leeches were too numerous. They surged forward relentlessly, layer upon layer, trampling over the corpses of their fallen brethren to charge at the three men. Fifth Brother and the others retreated until their backs were against the wall. Gritting his teeth, Fifth Brother threw out every incendiary item he had. For a moment, flames erupted everywhere, but the female voice still laughed in their ears: "Kill, kill! How can they be worthy of being my children without being tempered?! Hahaha..."

"Struggle! Struggle!"

The giant mountain leech remained stationary, watching them. Though it had no visible eyes, it was clearly observing them.

As their supplies dwindled, Fifth Brother stared ahead resolutely. "Second Brother, Third Brother, you go. I still have some things left. I’ll hold the line for a while!"

"My family—I leave them in your care from now on!"

He said he would hold them off for a while, but in reality, he was sacrificing his life to buy time.

Third Brother and Second Brother didn’t hesitate. They immediately scrambled into the cave. With leeches surging in such overwhelming numbers, it was impossible for anyone to hold their ground. Earlier, they hadn’t tried to run because they wanted all three to escape together. Now that Fifth Brother was willing to stay behind, they could use the time bought with his life to flee.

There were mountain leeches there too!

It was truly an inescapable trap!

Second Brother immediately retreated. The moment Third Brother turned around, mountain leeches poured out of the tunnel. In the blink of an eye, countless leeches covered his entire body, wrapping him completely. Second Brother and Fifth Brother saw a human-shaped figure standing, but within a few breaths, it collapsed, revealing Third Brother’s desiccated husk underneath.

In the next instant, countless leeches burrowed into Third Brother’s body. The shriveled corpse bloated anew, its yellow skin now occupied by squirming black shadows, and soon it turned completely black.

"So impatient... hee-hee..." the female voice laughed. "You can still eat one more... Good children, do you want the heftier one on the left? Or the leaner one on the right?"

The heftier one was Fifth Brother; the leaner one was Second Brother.

"You’re eating too roughly... Mother taught you to dissolve their flesh with digestive enzymes, eat slowly. The brain is the most delicious, the eyes are tasty too. The bones are troublesome—they take a long time to dissolve—but the marrow inside is also delicious... It’s not easy to catch a few humans, why are you so wasteful?"

The female voice spoke words that sent chills down their spines.

Second Brother stepped in front of Fifth Brother, shielding him. Suddenly, Fifth Brother raised his shotgun and aimed it at Second Brother. "Second Brother, want to end it together?"

Second Brother didn’t turn around. "Suicide is for cowards."

"You’re right." Fifth Brother redirected his shotgun toward the giant mountain leech. Muzzle flash erupted from the barrel, and the gunshot echoed deafeningly in the narrow cave. Second Brother also stopped hesitating. Killing one was breaking even; killing two was turning a profit. They might die here, but they would not be eaten without a fight!

The mountain leeches seemed to have finally made a decision. They surged toward Second Brother—the plumper one would be left for Mother to eat! There was no way to defend against such a sea of leeches. In almost no time, dozens had reached Second Brother. He felt a chill on his exposed skin—leeches had already latched on. Just then, a torch burst into flame. It was Fifth Brother, igniting a flame!

"Second Brother! Here!" The torch was thrown over. Second Brother caught it and immediately brought the flame close to his body. The leeches that had attached to him but hadn’t yet pierced his thick jacket were scorched and dropped away. A leech on his finger had already embedded halfway into his finger, but Second Brother had no time to care. He swung the torch, keeping the leeches at bay.

"Hee-hee-hee..." The female voice laughed loudly, assailing their minds into a daze. Fifth Brother, disoriented, was suddenly slammed aside by a tremendous force. The torch flew out of his hand. He fell to the ground, but no leeches approached him. Instead, the giant mountain leech arched its body and leaped toward him!

It’s over!

It’s all over!

He struggled to look back. In his blurred vision, he saw a flicker of light still dancing. Second Brother…

Suddenly, he felt a cold gust of wind blow in. The next moment, the dark cave was flooded with brilliant light. Something had opened within the heavy darkness!

Abrupt purple light spilled from that spot, and someone seemed to shout, "Five Thunder Talisman, break!"

As the purple light spread, the leeches unanimously halted their attack. Faint arcs of electricity seemed to paralyze them all. Fifth Brother strained to look and saw a blindingly white figure leap out from where there should have been no passage.

Then came a somewhat familiar voice: "Celestial Thunderfire, rise!"

Flames traced a circle around Fifth Brother and Third Brother, protecting them in the center. Fifth Brother suddenly felt a surge of energy.

Someone had come! Someone had come to save them!

It was the white tiger!

And on the tiger’s back sat a person—it was Chen Ji! The Temple Keeper Chen Ji!

The giant mountain leech, which had been about to claim its meal, raised itself and looked at Fifth Brother, now encircled by flames. It turned its head, voice unwilling: "Oh, why are you here?"

It wasn’t clear who it was talking to.

Chen Ji was slightly out of breath, but his expression didn’t change as he surveyed the scene. "I told you before—no catching humans to eat. Didn’t you know?"

The mountain leech swayed. "Ah... Don’t you know? We need to eat too! Just one or two, hee-hee... They have plenty of lives to spare... You can’t only favor humans and not care for us..."

The white tiger’s blue-green eyes coldly watched the leech. As for Chen Ji—Chen Ji was about to vomit.

He hadn’t expected such a scene, especially the smell—excrement blended with the reek of insects and blood. He kept a straight face only to avoid throwing up.

The mountain leeches began to writhe again, as if Chen Ji’s presence offered a new choice. But with the white tiger there, they hesitated, eager but cautious.

The white tiger glanced around in disgust, then suddenly, a ring of bluish-green flames spread out from it as its center. The voice of the giant mountain leech abruptly grew tense: "Hey, hey, hey! Have mercy! I worked so hard to produce so many offspring—if you burn them all, what am I supposed to do? Please, spare them! Please spare them!"

In truth, the mountain leech made a fair point, but Chen Ji hadn’t come for these two men—he’d come for this disobedient mountain leech. He had just dealt with Mountain Lord, made his promises, and now the little monsters below were disobeying one after another. What was he supposed to do?

He couldn’t possibly have Little Red and Second Master Huang act as bodyguards every time tourists came to the mountain, could he? How many monsters were on the mountain? How many could be intimidated? How many could he actually command? It simply wasn’t enough!

The best way to deal with these little fiends was to make an example of one—disobey, and die.

If Mountain Lord had any objections, Mountain Lord could come talk to him. If Mountain Lord actually showed up, he’d ask why these monsters weren’t listening to Him, nearly getting him eaten and forcing him to seek Xiangxiang’s help just to survive! Just look at what kind of Mountain Lord He was—might as well call Him the Useless Snack of the Mountain from now on!

As the mountain leech spirit pleaded for mercy, the bluish-green flames burned even fiercer. Chen Ji, still seated on Xiangxiang, said, "Take the people away. I'll handle the rest."

Xiangxiang glanced back at him, and immediately, an entrance to the Ghost Path appeared beneath Second Brother and Old Fifth within the fire ring. Both were swallowed by the Ghost Path. A head poked out from the Ghost Path—it was Black Impermanence: "Whoa, your side is disgusting... Got the souls, okay okay, delivery complete."

"Good, toss those two into my temple for me," Chen Ji responded. Five Thunder Talismans between his fingers ignited without wind, bluish-purple lightning spilling from his fingertips. In the blink of an eye, it filled and pierced the entire cave. Countless dark shadows struggled and thrashed within the purple lightning and cyan flames. The mountain leech spirit let out a piercing shriek, without even having time to plead, and was swallowed by the purple lightning in the next instant.

Black Impermanence: "Damn! Could you not give me a warning? I almost got electrocuted there!"

"Sorry." Xiangxiang had already carried Chen Ji back into the Ghost Path. Chen Ji broke out in goosebumps. After the Ghost Path entrance closed, cutting off the strange roasted smell, he finally realized it was the smell of leeches being electrocuted and cooked...

Yuck—!

Chen Ji turned aside and dry-heaved twice but quickly suppressed his instinctive reaction. He asked Black Impermanence, "Any more assignments for me?"

Black Impermanence shook his head: "Nah, everyone who died on your side today had their souls dispersed... The rules here are under that family member of yours' jurisdiction..."

Chen Ji instinctively looked at Xiangxiang. Black Impermanence: "Not the one you're riding, the one back home."

"Understood." Chen Ji thanked him, and Black Impermanence waved before leaving, leaving behind Second Brother and Old Fifth—originally meant to be carried back for Chen Ji, but Chen Ji returned too quickly, and Black Impermanence hadn’t had time to leave.

Black Impermanence’s meaning was clear: these two wouldn’t die today. If they died again, their souls would scatter, and there’d be no need for hell guards to pick them up.

After all, when Zhou Yunfan died here last time, Black and White Impermanence had specifically come to collect him. Since there were no orders, it meant that even if they died, there was no need to collect them.

Chen Ji used a talisman to levitate the two men. Second Brother and Old Fifth had already fallen unconscious—normal people would pass out from the Yin energy when entering the Ghost Path.

Chen Ji didn’t ask Xiangxiang for help, nor did he let the two men get close to him... They were still covered in mountain leeches. Though most had been roasted until crispy by Xiangxiang, Chen Ji still refused to go near.

He’d been bitten once and had PTSD.

The spirits and monsters in the Ghost Path intentionally or unintentionally avoided them. Seeing this, Chen Ji couldn’t help but give Xiangxiang’s neck a rub: "Xiangxiang, you’re so impressive."

The white tiger didn’t look back—this time, they weren’t afraid of it, but of Chen Ji.

After all, a human radiating such intense lightning energy—even mindless, senseless spirits would instinctively avoid him.

No one wanted to die again.

Chen Ji, seated on the white tiger, suddenly leaned forward. The tiger grunted "hmm" and slowed its pace. Chen Ji whispered, "Can we talk safely here?"

"Mm." Chang Xu’s voice sounded by Chen Ji’s ear.

Chen Ji said, "Leave this cave alone. Let it ‘let the smell carry for miles’... Let’s see who dares to disobey again."

"Wait, how many more disobedient monsters are there on this mountain?" Chen Ji asked again.

Chang Xu replied, "Many, but few have become powerful."

"And this counts as powerful?" Chen Ji retorted.

After all, a monster that could be killed with a few Five Thunder Talismans didn’t seem all that impressive.

Chang Xu was silent for a moment: "...I'd say it's fairly powerful?"

That mountain leech spirit wasn’t exactly powerless, but with those five Five Thunder Talismans Chen Ji used, even Second Master Huang would have suffered greatly.

How could it not be?

When he’d dealt with Second Master Huang before, aside from his own cleverness and not falling for Second Master Huang’s tricks, it was largely because Second Master Huang had underestimated him—using food as temptation and Mountain Lord as a threat, plus enhanced lightning attacks, to coax Second Master Huang into signing on the dotted line.

But Second Master Huang was cunning. It probably figured that since Chen Ji was the temple keeper’s successor and served Mountain Lord, if it, a minor monster, messed with the temple keeper, Mountain Lord might not hold a grudge, but what if He did? Why invite trouble unnecessarily?

If Chen Ji were to die, even if Mountain Lord was weakened, killing one Chen Ji would still be easy. Why should Second Master Huang get involved?

Chang Xu didn’t answer. Chen Ji pulled its fur: "Baby, why aren’t you answering me?"

Chang Xu remained silent.

"Baby?" Chen Ji was puzzled. "Baby? Xiangxiang? Mimi? Chen Xiangxiang? Chen Mimi? Chen Milktea? Chen Hot Pot? Chen..."

Chang Xu interrupted: "...Stop calling me that."

Suddenly, Chen Ji heard an unfamiliar laugh. He turned to look and saw a red figure quickly passed by, covering its mouth while chuckling.

Chen Ji suddenly realized that even though they could talk freely, it didn’t mean the spirits passing through the Ghost Path were deaf... Probably, Xiangxiang didn’t want anyone knowing it had so many nicknames.

Chen Ji made a zipping gesture over his mouth, indicating he’d stop. Whether Xiangxiang saw it or not wasn’t his concern.

Chang Xu said, "Go back and save them first. I’ll handle the rest."

"Okay." Chen Ji agreed. Suddenly, the light of the human world poured in from ahead. Xiangxiang stepped out—right into Mountain Lord’s temple!

Chen Ji was surprised. Wasn’t it afraid of Mountain Lord going crazy? No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the air in the temple swirled chaotically—Mountain Lord had noticed. Second Brother and Old Fifth flew out of the Ghost Path. Xiangxiang set Chen Ji down, cast a challenging glance toward the main hall, then turned and re-entered the Ghost Path without looking back.

Chen Ji immediately switched to acting panicked: "Little Red! Little Red! Quick, bring me my phone! Hurry! Second Master Huang—!"

Soon, Second Master Huang jumped down from the beam, and Little Red ran out from the chicken coop. Second Master Huang: "What’s wrong?! Don’t panic, don’t panic!"

Little Red let out two whimpers, looking up at Chen Ji.

Chen Ji said with urgency, "Hurry, they were tricked into the cave by the mountain leech spirit! If not for Xiangxiang, I wouldn’t even know they’d been reduced to ashes! Second Master Huang, Little Red, save them!"

"It’s only the first day with tourists, and one’s already dead! If this gets out, who would dare come burn incense to Grandfather Mountain again?! Huh?!"

The chaotic lines in the temple froze, then gradually stabilized.

Second Master Huang and Little Red simultaneously stepped forward to check. Seeing the few black leeches on Second Brother’s arm, Little Red actually opened its mouth, plucked them off, and ate them without spitting them out.

Crunch crunch—strangely aromatic.

Chen Ji: "Agh! Why did you eat that?! Spit it out—!"

Little Red tilted its head cutely, placing its paws on Chen Ji’s knees, whimpering as if to say: Yummy.

Second Master Huang burst into laughter: "Hahaha, let it eat. It is pretty fragrant—I’ll take one too... What’s there to treat? Xiangxiang already roasted all the leeches. They’ve just lost too much blood—just make sure the wounds don’t get infected... I remember you have iodine and erythromycin ointment in your medical kit. Disinfect them, and if needed, take them to the hospital for antibiotics!"

Such a simple, straightforward treatment.

Chen Ji immediately went to fetch the medical kit. Second Master Huang lowered his head and snatched up a crispy, aromatic leech. Blood oozed from the wound, but Second Master Huang couldn't be bothered to look at it—these leeches had sucked human blood, and honestly, they were quite delicious. But Second Master Huang wasn’t particularly interested in eating them and didn’t want to pick them out one by one. So, he called over the other little animals to help remove the leeches—and have a snack while they were at it.

The little ghostly spirit and Little Translator appeared without a second thought, happily nibbling on the treats. The monkey and the hedgehog also tried to approach, but Second Master Huang kicked them aside with a single swift motion. Puny bodies but tremendous strength. Second Master Huang said coolly, “Didn’t you hear what Chen Ji said? Don’t cause him any trouble.”

“You two useless creatures! If you want revenge, settle it yourselves later. If anyone dares to cause trouble in the temple, I’ll eat them on the spot!”

The hedgehog and the monkey tumbled into a heap, trembling as they hid in a corner. The little ghostly spirit and Little Translator, being clever and perceptive, carefully picked out the leeches one by one and placed them in front of Second Master Huang. They even thoughtfully laid a clean leaf as a makeshift plate. Second Master Huang took a few casual bites, then lifted his head arrogantly and called out to the groggy System Cat, who had just woken up and was wandering over: “Fat cat, come eat!”

The System Cat, thinking it was something delicious, trotted over. But upon closer inspection, it saw a pile of small, crispy insects that smelled oddly fragrant. Then it noticed the two men lying nearby, covered in bloody holes—clearly, that’s where the insects had come from.

It: “Yuck—!”