Chapter 156

Chapter 156

This time, however, they didn't just leave the person and go. Nearly the whole village had gathered, led by the village chief, who was already seventy years old, with white hair and a sorrowful expression. A dozen or so strong men carried cooked pork, beef, and mutton, placing them before the giant rock.

The scene was eerily strange, as everyone had yellow paper pasted on their foreheads, covering their faces.

Chen Ji knew what this was—it was used to mask their life force as "living humans."

People held festive silks, decorating the surrounding trees with red and green decorations. Others picked up sheng, xiao, drums, and suona, playing and singing. Beyond that, no one spoke. As the music played, a red sedan chair was carried forward. The wedding attendant helped the beautiful bride step out of the sedan.

The bride lowered her head, her expression solemn, as if this were not a ritual sacrifice.

She was led, shuffling in small steps, to the edge of the rock. She climbed onto it, towering above the crowd, her downward gaze seeming to overlook everyone. The village chief led the villagers in kneeling, holding incense sticks as thick as a finger high above their heads. The bride neither spoke nor moved, silently accepting their obeisance.

"How terrifying..." Suddenly, a faint, ghostly voice whispered in his ear.

Chen Ji glanced sideways and saw that, at some point, over a dozen brides in red had appeared among the trees. They watched the bride on the altar and the villagers below, letting out laughter that was half-sob, half-chuckle.

Chen Ji nodded and whispered, "The Mountain Lord will come, right?"

A bride in red tilted her head slightly, her perfect smile growing increasingly eerie on her face. "Of course..."

Chen Ji was also thinking about this. If the tawny tiger only ate because people were delivered to its doorstep... then these people here better...

Before he could finish his thought, a sinister gust swept through, rustling the yellow paper on everyone's faces. The villagers exchanged glances; beneath the wind-lifted yellow paper were their delighted faces. They remained kneeling in place.

A black mist effortlessly swallowed the area. Chen Ji sighed and turned to leave.

"Aren't you going to watch?" a bride in red called out to stop him.

"There's nothing worth watching," Chen Ji replied before leaving the scene.

As he walked away, women's shrieks and men's cries erupted behind him, mingling together. The thick stench of blood and the sound of frantic footsteps suddenly burst forth. Someone shouted, "The Mountain Lord is enraged!"

"Run! The Mountain Lord is eating people!"

"Run—! Ah—!"

Chen Ji returned to the lair and sat down in his own small niche, idly weaving a curtain of grass beads.

Not long after, a blood-tainted wind stirred outside, and the strong smell of blood made Chen Ji look up. He saw a giant tiger, its fur smeared crimson with blood, slowly walking in. It looked lazy and quite satisfied with the feast it had just enjoyed.

The brides in red also returned. Chen Ji silently counted in his mind... seventeen... eighteen... that was it.

The bride from earlier had not transformed into a new red-clad tiger-ghost.

Perhaps because she was willing, or perhaps because she saw those who sent her to her death die before her eyes, she didn't hold such deep resentment.

"You came back early just to weave this?" A bride in red entered, grabbing a string of the grass bead curtain to play with. Her eyes were redder than before, her lips as bright as if dripping with blood, and she exuded a murderous aura. She smiled and said, "Such a rare spectacle, why didn't you watch?"

"Missing it is truly a pity."

The bride in red retorted, "How is it different?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment, a hint of amusement still in his voice. "After all, I'm not dead yet... You all stayed there to feast. If I stayed and couldn't resist taking a bite, what then? That wouldn't be good."

The bride in red burst into manic laughter. Chen Ji paused and then asked, "Now that your revenge is pretty much done... aren't you leaving?"

"Leave?" The bride in red pinched Chen Ji's cheek. "Why should we leave? Those who harmed us are finally dead... Why would I head to the underworld? Following the Mountain Lord, practicing cultivation here, isn't it better than being reborn as a woman again, thrown into mountains or rivers? Even if I survived, wouldn't I just be a workhorse by day and a wife by night? How could that compare to the liberty I enjoy now?!"

Chen Ji said slowly, "But now there aren't many people left in the village... Soon, these people will either die or leave. Then you'll have no one to eat."

"And the Mountain Lord will have no one to eat either."

The bride in red smiled cryptically. "People will always come..."

Her smile was meaningful, but Chen Ji didn't understand.

The sound of snoring came from outside. Chen Ji glanced out, then quickly averted his gaze with an expression of utter disgust. "He... the Mountain Lord... really can't take a bath? Doesn't He mind being dirty?!"

The bride in red was taken aback, then laughed so hard she doubled over. The other brides in red outside also laughed. They all shared a look of disdain toward the tawny tiger before returning to their own places to rest.

Thankfully, they were all ghosts and didn't have to put up with that stench.

Chen Ji soon understood why the bride in red had smiled so meaningfully before.

***

The village was almost deserted, with only the elderly, weak, women, and children remaining—most of whom could hardly move. The brides in red didn't spare them. On a full moon night, they led the tawny tiger to slaughter the village.

The brides cleaned up the village, erasing all traces of the massacre. Within three or four months, people discovered the place. Without needing guidance, settlers gradually moved in... Chen Ji watched from afar as cooking smoke gradually increased in the village, deep in thought.

Soon, Little Green Mountain had hunters again.

Perhaps because Chen Ji had spent too much time with the brides in red, he was becoming more like a ghost himself. When he stood in the forest, hunters couldn't even detect him. He overheard their conversation and learned that they were originally outlaws from a mountain to the southwest. Now that they were older, they wanted to leave their life of crime. Coincidentally, the villagers of this small mountain hamlet had all died, so they moved in, took their names, and continued living as before.

It was said that when their chieftain robbed a passing old Taoist priest, the priest offered a divination in exchange for safe passage.

Chen Ji shook his head. Wasn't this just pushing people toward their doom?

The brides in red naturally showed no mercy, but they were tired of playing games of catching people one by one. A pair of breathtakingly beautiful brides appeared before the outlaws. Before long, rumors spread in the village that there were beauties in the mountain, phoenixes in human form, who could be taken home to bear children—but only if one went up the mountain to seek them on the fifteenth of each month.

The outlaws were all men without wives. Wasn't going straight all about having a wife, children, and a warm home? After one person brought back a bride, on the next full moon night, almost all the villagers went up the mountain.

Another massacre ensued. The Mountain Lord and the brides returned to the lair, satiated. One bride in red even left a heart for Chen Ji, smiling as she told him to eat it, saying it would boost his cultivation.

A few more years passed, and the village was once again full of people. This time, they were villagers fleeing a disaster, guided by a wise man to escape famine. Seeing the fertile land and existing fields, they settled there.

That night, the brides planned to trick the villagers into going up the mountain again. Chen Ji tried to stop them, saying, "Last time, they were outlaws—they deserved to die. But this time, they're just refugees. Why must you do this?"

The brides giggled. "Refugees? What does that have to do with us? Tigers eat people—it's only natural... Besides, if they weren't greedy, how would they die?"

Chen Ji said helplessly, "Ordinary people can't find their way back if they encounter a phantom barrier either."

The brides ignored him and went on their way.

...

Ten years passed like this. Chen Ji had grown accustomed to it. If communications were more developed, no one would come to Yunyang Village, no matter how good the land was—maybe Uncle Zhao would have had it bulldozed.

If it were him, he'd bulldoze it too.

A thick fog enveloped Little Green Mountain, seemingly isolating it from the mortal world. Chen Ji knew what this was—it was demonic aura.

Another year or two passed, and a Taoist priest in yellow robes entered the mountain. Chen Ji happened to be picking mushrooms in the woods behind him when he suddenly heard the old priest shout, "You're a living person! Why are you here?"

Chen Ji thought he was calling someone else and paid no attention. Unexpectedly, the old priest walked straight toward him with pinpoint accuracy. His reflection was visible in the priest's pupils, proving that the priest could indeed see him.

The old priest said sternly, "There are evil spirits in this mountain! Staying here risks your life! Leave quickly!"

Chen Ji blinked. "Master Taoist, if you know there are demons here, why have you come?"

"This old Taoist has naturally come to rid the world of evil and defend the Dao!" The old Taoist stroked his chest-length beard and pointed out a path for Chen Ji. "Follow this trail to go down the mountain. Go quickly!"

Chen Ji felt a sudden dizziness in his mind. When he snapped out of it, he found himself back at the Mountain Lord's cave—this path did not lead down the mountain.

Seeing him dazed, one of the red-clad brides chuckled softly, figuring he ought to be dead already.

He should have died long ago. Who knew why he had lived until now? He seemed only a breath away from death, and the sisters were just waiting for him to exhale that final breath.

He lay down on the bed made of straw and fur, when suddenly he heard someone outside shout, "Demon! You have plagued this place! This old Taoist will capture you today!"

Next came the furious roar of the yellow tiger, followed by the continuous sounds of incantations and spellcasting. Peering out, he saw the red-clad brides standing motionless and silent, intently watching the battle between the yellow tiger and the old Taoist. Suddenly, he understood why they hadn't fled.

They wanted the yellow tiger dead too.

Several bolts of lightning flashed through the cave, enveloping the Mountain Lord. Deafening roars and piercing shrieks echoed within. Chen Ji heard the old Taoist laugh triumphantly, "I've nurtured you, this vile beast, for ten years! Finally, you've grown powerful enough! Quickly, enter this old Taoist's gourd!"

Chen Ji abruptly turned his gaze to the old Taoist... No wonder people had continuously moved into Yunyang Village over the past ten years.

The Mountain Lord ultimately broke free from the lightning's restraints and snatched up the old Taoist in its jaws. The old Taoist roared in disbelief, "How could you! How could you—! Ah—! This old Taoist miscalculated!"

The yellow tiger bit down. Blood splattered, and the old Taoist's limbs scattered across the ground. It glared with ferocity at the surrounding red-clad brides. The brides wailed and knelt down. Without taking any action, it stalked out of the cave and let out a long, skyward roar.

The mist around Little Green Mountain grew thicker.

After being called 'Mountain Lord' for so long, He had finally become the Mountain Lord.