“Should we take our time and find a townsperson willing to sacrifice themselves?”
Tang Shifu said, frowning—a rare expression for her.
Of the four people besides Xiao Wei, the other three all felt this statement was eerily familiar.
“Better not,” Mu Bai said, massaging her temples.
“The final testament said it requires a righteous body, which means the person who completes the formation’s foundation must be truly willing. ‘Forced willingness’ just won’t work. The Daoist’s soul was corrupted and couldn’t enter the formation, meaning the entry conditions are quite strict. What if we bring someone in and end up releasing Zheng Chong instead?”
It had to be said, Fufu truly was a martial artist through and through—her way of thinking was purely that of a martialist.
Fortunately, they weren’t actually in a hurry.
They did have the time to take things slowly.
Previously, they wanted to finish quickly not only because they couldn’t find any leads, but also because they had somewhat underestimated the boss’s strength, never imagining an existence like the Daoist would fail.
Their current position was relatively safe.
The fact that the Daoist’s own body remained intact here meant the evil spirit in the Mountain God Temple couldn’t threaten this place.
Now they could straighten out the clues and gather as much useful information as possible.
If they waited until the boss fight to do this, it would be too late.
In this kind of situation, any single detail could be a matter of life and death.
They definitely had to make thorough preparations.
“Wait, if the filthy thing in the Mountain God Temple is an evil spirit, then where did the Mountain God go?”
Mo Cha asked.
Xiao Wei had obtained her Yin-Yang Eyes at the Mountain God Temple.
That evil spirit had no reason to do such a thing, so it seemed the Mountain God must have still existed back then.
They had jumped to the conclusion that the Mountain God was the culprit, which was why they hadn’t considered this direction.
If there was still a friendly force within the station, their plan to explore the Mountain God Temple wasn’t so urgent.
Mu Bai was just about to say something when she was interrupted by a dog’s bark.
“Woof!”
Xiao Huang suddenly barked at Mo Cha.
From their first meeting with Xiao Wei until now, Xiao Huang had never interrupted their conversations.
Therefore, hearing this bark, Mu Bai and the others—even Xiao Wei—were taken aback.
“Xiao Huang, what do you mean?”
Mu Bai asked, suddenly having a guess.
She squatted down and actually started talking directly to Xiao Huang.
Ever since going up the mountain, she hadn’t been treating Xiao Huang as just a dog.
It had been a mental blind spot before.
Now, looking at it, all the peculiarities about Xiao Huang could be explained by one conjecture…
Xiao Huang didn’t bark this time.
She lifted a paw and patted at the yellow paper note Mu Bai was holding in her hand.
Mu Bai immediately understood and spread it on the ground.
Xiao Huang pressed her paw on the two characters for “Mountain God,” then barked twice.
Then she moved her paw to the characters for “covered in dust” and turned in a circle.
Mu Bai’s pupils contracted.
Even though she had been mentally prepared, when her guess was confirmed, she still couldn’t hold back.
‘Seriously? You’re the Mountain God, and you’re this pathetic now?’
“Are you the Mountain God?”
Mu Bai couldn’t help but ask again.
“Woof! Woof!”
Xiao Huang barked twice as if insulted, looking indignant.
Xiao Wei took two steps back, her worldview shattering.
This child’s entire understanding of the world had just collapsed.
Mu Bai’s eyes, however, shone with excitement because the truth was now clear!
When they went up the mountain during the day, they had encountered that dismantled “Eradicate Superstition” sign, proving it was only in recent years that the townspeople had started worshiping the Mountain God again.
Before that, the Mountain God Temple should have gone a considerable amount of time without receiving any incense offerings.
The Mountain God grew weak, gradually losing power.
Being driven out of the Mountain God Temple became understandable…
And Xiao Wei was the last person to “visit” the Mountain God in those years.
It made sense for Xiao Huang to remember this girl.
Later, when she possessed the body of an injured puppy, Xiao Wei helped her, so she stayed by her side.
Zheng Chong, the usurper who stole the nest, was severely wounded or sealed by the Daoist.
To accumulate power, he tried to borrow the Mountain God’s name to receive incense offerings.
He made a group of miners contract a strange disease, using this method to force the townspeople to worship the Mountain God again, while simultaneously devouring townspeople…
Now everything made sense!
The clues could be linked together, which indirectly confirmed Xiao Huang’s identity.
If it weren’t for this, Mu Bai wouldn’t dare to easily trust a spirit possessing Xiao Huang.
Ghosts and monsters were not to be trusted!
Unless… it was the Mountain God!
Mu Bai thought for a few seconds and said,
“I’ll be blunt. Although the few of us have the ability to deal with ghosts and monsters, we aren’t confident we can defeat that evil spirit. Do you have any way to deal with it?”
A hint of struggle flashed in Xiao Huang’s eyes.
Finally, she pressed down her front paw.
On the yellow paper, the phrase she pressed was:
“—Enter the formation with a righteous body.”
The Daoist never said the willing one had to be a human.
***
They ventured deep into the Mountain God Temple and entered the inner courtyard.
Sure enough.
On the ground, strange patterns were drawn in vermilion cinnabar like blood, enveloping the innermost room that housed the ancestral tablet.
Four different corners corresponded to ritual tools like an ink line, a Bagua mirror, and a copper coin sword.
Only the very center of the formation was empty, as if something was missing.
It was like a guide, leading the one entering the formation to step inside.
The innermost room was covered by a mass of twisted shadows.
It was impossible to tell if Zheng Chong was hiding inside the room and his power was affecting its appearance, or if the filthy thing had enveloped the entire room.
After Mu Bai and the others entered the inner courtyard, the mass of shadows began to constantly change shape.
Tentacle-like, they spread across the ground and walls like ants, as if trying to swallow the living people who had entered into the shadows.
The party immediately stopped at a safe distance.
Only Xiao Huang, taking small steps, continued to move forward.
She was about to enter the formation.
“Xiao Huang!”
Xiao Wei’s call was slightly choked with sobs.
She was the only one who couldn’t bear to part with Xiao Huang.
But this was Xiao Huang’s will, and she couldn’t stop her.
Moreover, she could distinguish right from wrong—the safety of the town was more important than anything.
But she just couldn’t bear it.
Xiao Huang looked back, shook her head, and stepped into the formation.
Mu Bai patted Xiao Wei’s shoulder.
For Xiao Wei, a left-behind child, Xiao Huang must have been a very important friend.
Mu Bai herself had no family, so she could understand this feeling a little.
‘Her living environment is a bit too clear now.’
“Take it easy. Xiao Huang was originally the Mountain God and should be in the Mountain God Temple… The Daoist never said entering the formation meant death.”
Although it was highly likely she would be trapped inside the formation along with Zheng Chong, that was still much better than disappearing from the world entirely.
The world was unpredictable; who knew what would happen in the future?
At the very least, Xiao Wei could still come to the Mountain God Temple often to visit.
If Zheng Chong could devour people from outside the formation and deceive people into offering incense, maybe Xiao Huang would also know when Xiao Wei came to see her.
Shadowy tentacles gradually crept toward Xiao Huang.
Just as Mu Bai was growing worried, a white light emanated from Xiao Huang’s body.
Like a protective barrier, it completely isolated the shadows outside the range of the white light.
But at the same time, white smoke continuously billowed from her body.
Xiao Huang accelerated, charging toward the formation’s core.
A sky-blotting mass of tentacles covered Xiao Huang’s body.
At the exact moment she stepped into the core, a tablet flew out from the innermost room.
White energy mixed with black energy continuously poured into Xiao Huang’s body.
‘You borrowed the Mountain God’s name and deceived so many people into offering incense. It’s time to pay it back!’
The formation activated.
The patterns on the ground emitted a blinding light.
Two beams of sealing light shot up from the ground.
Just as they were about to soar into the sky, they seemed to be blocked by something, forming a semi-circular shell that sealed the formation inside.
They flickered constantly, becoming ethereal.