Chapter 157

Chapter 157

The yellow tiger licked its scorched fur, meticulously cleaning the mangled areas to reveal the pinkish-white skin beneath. Chen Ji stood before the giant tiger and mischievously suggested, "How about I shave off the fur in this area for you? It'll be better for healing. Otherwise, if the fur grows into the wound, it'll be both painful and itchy."

A low, rumbling growl came from the tiger's throat. Despite its massive, hill-like body, it emitted a sound akin to a whimper of grievance.

Chen Ji couldn't help but smile, reaching out to touch its nose. "Be good, Mountain Lord. It doesn't hurt."

The yellow tiger rolled over, exposing its lightning-scorched belly. Chen Ji understood this as permission. He retrieved some herbs he usually gathered in the mountains and, under the intent gazes of the red-clad brides, used a sickle he'd acquired from some hunter in some forgotten year to shave the old guy's belly bald.

Cat fur... oh no, tiger fur piled up into a small mound beside them. Chen Ji called out, and a red-clad bride came over with a bag to collect the fur. Although tiger fur was too stiff for most uses, it could still be used to stuff pillows or, failing that, burned for warmth in winter.

Living in the mountains, nothing was ever completely useless.

The tiger's belly was now a patch of pinkish-white skin. Chen Ji reached out and touched it. The tiger's flesh twitched at the touch. Through a nearby large gash, one could even see internal organs still wriggling... were those organs? Chen Ji blinked and looked closer. He initially thought he saw intestines, but instead, he saw tendrils of black mist, writhing and churning inside.

The good news was the color was black, lacking the visceral, bloody impact.

The bad news was, upon closer inspection, blood seeped from between the tendrils, churned into frothy bubbles by their movement. Occasionally, glimpses of organs and even human limbs obscured by the tendrils would appear... Gross!

What kind of twisted scene was this!

...Actually, that made perfect sense, considering the old Taoist had just been eaten and hadn't fully digested yet.

The yellow tiger whimpered. A tendril emerged from its belly, dripping with blood and gore, and reached out to wrap around Chen Ji's wrist. Chen Ji instantly yanked his hand back. The tiger looked at him. Chen Ji, putting on an innocent face, put down the sickle, took out the medicinal herbs, and looked back at it.

The yellow tiger: "...?"

"It's fine, it won't hurt." Even as he spoke, Chen Ji's hands had already pressed the wound edges together. He smeared on the herbal paste, covered it with a large leaf, and then bound the wound tightly with rope.

The yellow tiger lay on its back, its limbs curled up in pain, muscles twitching, yet it remained perfectly still and obedient. Chen Ji couldn't help but look at it curiously—how could it be so well-behaved? Why was the old guy he used to raise so ferocious?

The Mountain Lord closed its eyes. Chen Ji packed up his things, intending to wash his hands. Both his arms were covered in sticky blood. Just as he reached the mountain spring, several fair hands restrained him. Several red-clad brides looked at him with smiling faces, their complexions snow-white, their lips a vivid, enticing red, creating a stark contrast. Even though Chen Ji was used to them, he couldn't help but feel a twitch in his brow.

"Sisters, what is this?" What are you planning?!

One of the red-clad brides scraped some blood from his arm with her finger. "Hehe... such a good thing, why would you wash it off? Share some with me."

Another red-clad bride leaned in, her crimson nails leaving white trails on Chen Ji's arm. "Exactly... the Mountain Lord only allows you near. We sisters don't get such a good opportunity, and yet you're acting all fussy."

Chen Ji said helplessly, "Alright, alright, let me go... just get me a basin of water."

Chen Ji was powerless to stop these red-clad brides. These weren't ordinary spirits; they were ones who had laid waste to several villages and consumed who knows how much flesh and blood. If it weren't for the yellow old guy watching over him, he would have been torn apart by them long ago, becoming one of them.

After all, in their eyes, humans were so fragile. It was better to die early so they could all become red-clad spirits together, achieving eternity together.

A red-clad bride brought a basin of water. Perhaps fearing he might cause trouble, Chen Ji only needed to hold his hands over it. The red-clad bride meticulously washed the blood from his body into the water. Once the basin water turned bloody, Chen Ji was free to leave.

Before leaving, he glanced back. Several red-clad brides surrounded the basin of bloody water. Without touching it, they could see faint wisps of crimson mist rising from the basin and entering their mouths.

—So, they were just deliberately teasing him earlier.

A red-clad bride walked up behind Chen Ji, asking with a smile, "Where are you going?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "To find some food for the Mountain Lord?"

The red-clad bride covered her mouth and laughed. "Food? Dear brother, whatever food you find won't be as good as catching a few people to nourish the Mountain Lord."

Chen Ji was human, but that didn't mean he didn't understand these things.

Even if he hadn't known before, watching over the years had made it clear—absorbing the essence of the sun and moon for cultivation was one path; consuming spiritually potent creatures was another. Humans fell into the second category. For demons and ghosts, humans were roughly equivalent to medicinal herbs that had grown for decades.

However, most demons and ghosts used both methods concurrently. If there was nothing to eat, they'd absorb the sun and moon's essence; if something came within reach, they wouldn't mind taking a bite.

Chen Ji deadpanned teasingly, "There's no one left at the foot of the mountain. Where would I find people for the Mountain Lord to eat? I can't fly."

The red-clad bride giggled. "Aren't you human? Dear brother, you've lived among us for so long. Although you're alive, your body is already steeped in yin energy. Eating you would be a great tonic."

Chen Ji's first reaction was to offer his arm. "How about you try a bite, sister?"

The red-clad bride spat at him and walked away, flicking her sleeve—the Mountain Lord was protecting him.

The Mountain Lord viewed the red-clad brides as useful subordinates, but it saw Chen Ji more like a pet. If a hired hand beat the master's beloved cat, how could the master not be angry?

The next day, Chen Ji went to change the Mountain Lord's dressing. As expected of the Mountain Lord, its wound had almost completely healed. Chen Ji applied a fresh batch of herbal paste. For some reason, he felt extremely tired today, as if he couldn't lift a finger. After finishing the dressing, he lay down to rest beside the Mountain Lord. Suddenly, he felt something hard pressing against his waist, causing pain. He reached down and pulled out a wooden gourd.

Although the gourd looked like wood, it was surprisingly heavy. Chen Ji found it familiar but couldn't recall where he'd seen it. Suddenly, he heard the Mountain Lord roar a warning. In the next instant, black tendrils snatched the gourd away.

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow, asking curiously, "Mountain Lord, what's wrong with this gourd?"

The Mountain Lord, unusually, didn't respond to Chen Ji. Instead, it used its tendrils to tear open the freshly dressed wound and stuffed the gourd inside.

Chen Ji watched the herbal paste fall to the ground and slowly formed a question mark in his mind.

The yellow tiger glanced indifferently at Chen Ji and closed its eyes.

Chen Ji remembered. This gourd seemed to belong to the old Taoist from yesterday. He had been shouting something like 'enter this old Taoist's gourd' and such. Chen Ji had thought it was like the Golden Horned King's gourd from *Journey to the West*—'I call your name, dare you answer?' So why did the yellow tiger stuff the gourd into its own belly?

A nearby red-clad bride seemed to understand, telling him with a hint of mockery, "Naturally, it's because it cannot be touched."

Chen Ji: "What do you mean? Why can't it be touched?"

It was wise of Chen Ji not to show himself yesterday. With his fragile constitution, how could he withstand the old Taoist's lightning and thunder? Even looking for too long might have drawn unwanted attention. The red-clad bride whispered to him, "That old Taoist yesterday was truly formidable. We sisters had placed our hopes on him. It's a pity that even though the Mountain Lord was half-sucked into the gourd, he ultimately failed... That old Taoist was also a useless coward, despite all the work we sisters did for him over the years."

The red-clad brides weren't afraid to tell Chen Ji these things. After all, he was essentially one of them. The only difference was they were already dead, and he wasn't—yet.

After all, mother cats eat their dead kittens.

Chen Ji had already realized yesterday that the red-clad brides were setting up a scheme. As an outsider, he really had no say in the matter. Hearing this, he nodded repeatedly. "I see... So, was the gourd already half-refined? Even though the Mountain Lord escaped, something of it remained inside?"

The red-clad bride replied, "You're quite clever..."

A sudden thought flashed through Chen Ji's mind, but it was too quick, gone before he could grasp it. He felt a strange sensation and said, "Then doesn't that mean it now has an additional weakness?"

The red-clad bride giggled in agreement. But having such a weakness was one thing; it was useless. Who could open the Mountain Lord's belly and pull out that gourd?

If someone could already open its belly, what use would the gourd be anyway?

So, having it or not was pretty much the same.

...

Several more decades passed. Yunyang Village regained its vitality. Every evening, cooking smoke curled upwards. Chen Ji heard from hunters going up the mountain that the village had changed its name. The name Yunyang Village had bad feng shui, so it was changed to Shangyang Village.

The red-clad brides no longer caused trouble in the village. Previously, they caused trouble to help the old Taoist. Now, they only hoped the Mountain Lord's wounds would heal slowly, waiting for the next demon-slaying, justice-upholding person to come. Why would they catch people for the Mountain Lord to eat?

The people of Shangyang Village knew there was a Mountain Lord in the mountains. To seek its protection, they built a temple on the mountain, erected a statue, arranged for people to clean the temple, and offered incense day and night.

Several more decades passed, and the flames of war finally reached Shangyang Village. Chen Ji was up in the mountains soaking up the sun that day when suddenly three planes flew overhead, followed by several bombs dropping from the sky. After the first thunderous explosion, the Mountain Lord emerged from its lair and took the brunt of the remaining bombs.

It was gravely injured—so badly that almost its entire belly was torn open and its face was disfigured beyond recognition.

It didn’t have to be injured. But it could endure it, while the beasts and plants of Little Green Mountain could not. It absorbed those bombs with its own body, which was why it suffered such severe injuries.

It was fulfilling its duty as the Mountain Lord—protecting the mountain spirits and sheltering all living beings.

Chen Ji stared at it, at a loss for how to even begin helping. Suddenly, a pair of eyes as large as bronze bells turned toward him. He was enveloped in a scorching heat, as if his body were being consumed by flames, but the sensation lasted only an instant. The next moment, he lost consciousness.

...

Chen Ji abruptly woke from the dream, drenched in sweat.

He turned his head to look at the clock beside him.

—Only ten minutes had passed since the last time he was consciously aware of the time.

The gourd lay on the nearby table, emitting a faint, mysterious glow.

The Mountain Lord... had sensed it!