Chapter 183

Chapter 183

No, it wasn't Yellow Hair!

Little Red instantly poised itself to flee, which told Chen Ji this definitely wasn't Yellow Hair—after all, they all live in the same house, and Little Red was long accustomed to Yellow Hair's presence, so there was no need to run... Besides, if it were Yellow Hair, would running even help?

Before he had run more than a few steps, Little Red let out a pained shriek and flung Chen Ji off in an instant. Several vines shot out from the soil behind Chen Ji without hesitation. Yellow talismans flew from his pocket, bursting into flame of their own accord. A flash of lightning—thin as a hair—struck the vines, causing them to abruptly retreat. But in the next moment, a bloody, shapeless mass lunged from the grass!

The thing looked like a bear, but it had no skin; muscles and tendons were exposed brazenly. Its fangs shot unhesitatingly toward Chen Ji. Chen Ji didn't even flinch. Several yellow talismans appeared around him as if from nowhere, forming a barrier based on the five-element theory. A sharp *ting* rang out as the fangs collided with an invisible shield. Chen Ji looked at the creature's dark red maw, a single drop of sweat slowly tracing down his forehead.

Chen Ji could see the veins pulsing within the bear-like creature's mouth.

Chen Ji's eye twitched slightly. Thankfully, the barrier blocked the smell, or he might have vomited right then. The bear-thing roared and lunged to bite again, its fangs crashing against the talisman barrier, which shook visibly from the force.

Something was coming... Second Grandpa?

Suddenly, the bear was yanked backward. Chen Ji looked closely and saw seven or eight wolves had sunk their teeth into its hind legs, pulling with all their might. Glancing sideways, Chen Ji saw Little Red lying motionless. He drew out a Five Thunder Talisman from his pocket: "Get back!"

The wolves, sensing his intent, released their grip. Enraged by the pain, the bear could no longer bother with Chen Ji and instead chased after the wolves. It was frighteningly fast. Chen Ji's Five Thunder Talisman had already begun to burn. Abruptly, the vines from earlier returned, immediately coiling around the bear's right leg and dragging it toward the thicket. In the span of a single breath, the bear vanished.

A burst of blood mist erupted from the grass.

A great demon.

Chen Ji saw it clearly this time. He had only felt an aura like this from Second Grandpa, Fifth Grandpa, and their ilk!

Chen Ji flung out several talismans to protect Little Red, who was lying on the ground, alive or dead he didn't know. He knitted his brows, watching the scene—why would it be *it*?

A great demon with vines that could appear suddenly, evading his detection... who else could it be but the old mulberry tree?

Among the powerful demons on the mountain, besides the old mulberry tree and that fish, he was familiar with all the others.

The aura flashed past and then was gone. The old mulberry tree had likely left.

That fleeting presence seemed intentionally released to reassure him.

Chen Ji had no intention of leaving the barrier. He looked at the wolves; they were all in spirit form. He sighed, "So you didn't pull through after all..."

These wolves were the ones Chen Ji had Second Grandpa force-feed the potent chicken soup. With such a strong concoction, he had thought at least a few would survive... he hadn't expected none would make it.

The lead wolf let out a low whine, giving Chen Ji a slight nod, then led the pack back into the forest depths.

Chen Ji sat on the ground, rubbing his temples. It was normal he hadn't detected the old mulberry tree—it was a great demon, a tree, hiding in the forest; he'd be a ghost himself if he could spot it. As for the ghost in the stream, masked by the filthy water and possessing only a sliver of power, it was also normal Chen Ji hadn't noticed. After all, most people wouldn't detect rotten food mixed into a septic tank.

More serious was that bear-zombie-like thing. Chen Ji truly hadn't sensed even a trace of its presence. What exactly was that? How did it suddenly appear here?

Just then, Second Grandpa's figure abruptly materialized beside Chen Ji. It too was warily eyeing the direction of the thicket, saying oddly, "What's that smell! So foul!"

"Second Grandpa! You're here!" Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief.

Second Grandpa still had several sacks of quicklime strapped to its back, but that didn't diminish its image in Chen Ji's eyes at that moment—it seemed like a peerless hero.

Second Grandpa wagged its tail: "What happened?"

It was looking toward Little Red.

Little Red was still lying on the ground, unconscious. Chen Ji hurriedly said, "Little Red seems to have been electrocuted by my talisman. Second Grandpa, please check on it!"

Second Grandpa walked over and examined it, then said, "It's fine, just electrocuted unconscious."

Chen Ji recounted what had just happened. Second Grandpa crouched nearby, clicking its tongue impatiently, "That kind of thing has appeared already? Tsk!"

"What kind of thing?" Chen Ji asked.

Second Grandpa explained, "There's too much death energy in the mountains. If something dies in an unlucky spot, gets invaded by evil energy, it's easy to transform into a walking corpse."

"Those are things that can move after death, their souls already gone, acting purely on instinct." After explaining, Second Grandpa felt something was off and added, "Actually, not much different from an animal in a state of extreme stress. Just carries more 'viruses,' looks scarier... It's normal you couldn't sense it. That state is between life and death—no life energy, no death energy, about the same as a rock."

Chen Ji: "..."

Hearing it put that way suddenly made it much less frightening.

Second Grandpa continued, "But why would the old mulberry tree actively save you? It usually doesn't bother with anything."

"Just now, I saw its vines wrap around Little Red. I thought it was attacking me, so without thinking, I threw the Lightning-Guiding Talisman." The situation had been too tense; Chen Ji's instinct was to save Little Red. It wasn't until the bear appeared that Chen Ji realized the vines had grabbed Little Red to prevent it from carrying him toward the bear.

Chen Ji thought to himself, Fifth Grandpa had previously told him to go find the old mulberry tree. There must be some connection there... Did Second Grandpa not know?

"Take this useless thing down."

Chen Ji snapped his fingers. Several talismans ignited without wind, turning to ash and scattering on the breeze.

"Utterly useless." Second Grandpa shot a disdainful glance at Little Red, then picked Chen Ji up by the scruff and placed him on its own back. Turning, it tossed Little Red, who had returned to its original form, into Chen Ji's arms.

Chen Ji hurriedly checked on Little Red. Its limbs were still trembling. Chen Ji touched it, feeling a tingling numbness where his fingers made contact. Somewhat awkwardly, he asked, "Little Red, are you okay?"

Little Red shivered, curling into a tiny ball and whimpering. Chen Ji quickly cradled it in his arms to comfort it.

Second Grandpa deftly unloaded the sacks of quicklime: "Tell me what to do, just say the word."

Chen Ji said, "First, use the fishing net to create a barrier upstream to filter out some debris, then pour the quicklime in... Sorry for the trouble, Second Grandpa."

Truthfully, those ten sacks of quicklime were far too little for a stream of this size, unlikely to make a crucial difference. But Chen Ji's abilities were limited; he would do what he could.

"Tsk." Second Grandpa suddenly felt those egg yolk pastries it ate earlier were a terrible bargain. It followed Chen Ji's instructions, securing the fishing net between the two banks. These dead fish and shrimp were too small to burn individually; they could only wait.

As it worked, Second Grandpa explained, "Be more careful from now on. Once walking corpses appear, there will be more and more... Too many have died on the mountain."

Chen Ji pressed his lips together: "Can't we try to persuade Grandfather Mountain? This rain really can't keep falling."

Second Grandpa snorted lightly but didn't answer—if persuasion had been possible, the rain wouldn't have fallen for four whole rounds already.

Little Green Mountain was the closest. In the past, when He had the power, He naturally protected the area. Now that He was weakened, hungry, of course He would feed on the nearest source. So the animals of Little Green Mountain suffered.

The fishing net collected debris much faster than Chen Ji expected. Soon, the net was taut. Second Grandpa couldn't be bothered to haul it in manually; it made the net fly up on its own. The net was filled with a mess of dead fish, rotten shrimp, and broken branches. It asked, "Do we still want this net?"

Chen Ji glanced at it: "...Better not."

And so, the fishing net, along with all the trash, was incinerated by Second Grandpa.

Chen Ji had intended to handle the quicklime himself, but Second Grandpa wouldn't let him: "You sit still and don't move! Be careful something else doesn't pop out from underground and skewer you right through."

Chen Ji obediently stayed put, watching as Second Grandpa directed the sacks of quicklime to the stream's edge. Invisible blades sliced huge gashes in the burlap sacks. Snow-white quicklime poured into the water. Instantly, the stream began to churn, hissing sounds erupting as dense white steam billowed up.

"Holy shit." Second Grandpa cursed under its breath: "This stuff is that powerful? The water's boiling!"

Chen Ji: "It's because the water is shallow here... This stuff just releases heat when it meets water."

Second Grandpa wordlessly stepped back a couple of paces. "So now what? Where are we going?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "If Second Grandpa doesn’t mind the trouble, could you take me to the back mountain? I just electrocuted Grandpa Sang, so I need to hurry over and apologize."

Second Grandpa thought that made sense. If it had gone out of its way to save someone only to get hit with a Thunder Summoning Talisman, it would definitely switch from saving to killing. The old mulberry tree had a good temper, but if Chen Ji didn’t apologize, he could forget about ever entering the back mountain again.

"Hold on tight." With that, Second Grandpa opened a ghost path and leaped right in. Chen Ji leaned against Second Grandpa’s back and let out a long sigh.

His eyelids kept twitching—he had a feeling something was about to happen.

The old mulberry tree wasn’t actually far away, and traveling via the ghost path made it even faster. In just two or three minutes, Second Grandpa leaped out of the ghost path, and the next moment, a mulberry tree, its leaves scorched and withered, appeared before Chen Ji.

Chen Ji stared at the old mulberry tree in disbelief, pointing at himself. "Did I do that?"

He had been afraid of accidentally hitting Little Red too, so he’d deliberately used a Thunder Summoning Talisman instead of a Five Thunder Talisman. Could that really have struck a great demon into such a state?

Second Grandpa was also stunned for a moment. It looked at Chen Ji suspiciously. "No way… Have you gotten that powerful?"

Just then, a breeze blew through, making the branches sway and the leaves rustle softly.

Chen Ji looked around again and noticed that all the trees around the old mulberry tree were perfectly fine. Suddenly realizing something, he heard a childish voice say, "So annoying! If he could strike me like that, I might as well hang it up!"

From behind the old mulberry tree emerged a little girl, about three or four years old, with chubby cheeks—adorable beyond words. She planted her hands on her hips and pointed at Second Grandpa, who stood a full 2.8 meters tall, and scolded, "You stinky thing, shut your pie hole!"

Chen Ji: "...Grandpa… Grandma Sang?"

The little girl lifted her chin with an air of aged dignity. "Indeed, it is I!"