What is this?
Ming Zhu studied the mass of black mist before her, her eyes holding no fear of an unknown monster—only keen interest.
The gathered mist clearly hadn't expected her to suddenly wake, which was why it froze in place the moment their eyes met.
Two breaths later, it finally reacted, letting out a daunting roar from its mouth before continuing to lunge at Ming Zhu.
Watching the hollow opening in the mist above draw closer and closer, Ming Zhu raised an eyebrow and instinctively lifted her hand, pinching what appeared to be the gaping mouth of the monster before her.
Mist should have been formless and intangible, but as Ming Zhu moved, she actually touched something, forcibly sealing the hollow shut.
This sight stunned not only the monster before her, but Ming Zhu herself.
"Eat… eat you…" The mist churned, emitting fragmented murmurs. It seemed to lack clear consciousness, acting purely on instinct.
Threads of mist leaked from the hollow she had pinched, like drool. A rare hint of disgust flickered across her face before she released her grip, stepped over a branch, and used the momentum to leap backward.
The mist-formed monster gave chase, two burning flames fixed on Ming Zhu—it was watching her.
As for the fact that this indescribable monster wanted to eat her, Ming Zhu felt nothing particularly special about it. Beasts roamed rampant in Yugu Mountain, and survival of the fittest was the most natural rule—she imagined the same laws applied beyond the mountain.
Ming Zhu naturally had no appetite for this mass of black mist. As for it wanting to eat her—well, that depended on whether it had the skill. She spun the short dagger in her hand, spiritual breath flaring as she slashed through the wave of mist surging toward her, breaking free.
But the next moment, the mist gathered again and swept toward her once more. As expected, her dagger alone couldn't harm a mass of black mist.
Ming Zhu had hunted many beasts, but she had never tried dealing with formless mist. As she pondered how to resolve this, the black mist closed in with fierce momentum.
Staring at Ming Zhu, the two burning flames on its face revealed undisguised craving.
Such pure spiritual breath—if it could just eat her, it would…
The black mist instinctively realized that devouring the young woman before it would bring tremendous benefit.
Still unsure how to deal with it, Ming Zhu retreated again. But this time, the mist silently gathered behind her, forming tentacles that coiled around.
Ming Zhu instinctively raised her hand and grabbed hold.
The mist that had been scattered by her dagger was now caught in her grip again, as if it had substance. Suddenly realizing something, a fierce light flashed in Ming Zhu's eyes. If she could hit it, then there was nothing hard about this.
Using the tentacle formed by the black mist, she yanked it toward her, closing the distance. She sheathed her dagger with her right hand, clenched it into a fist, and aimed squarely at what could be called the mist's face—fast, precise, and vicious.
No—how could this be?!
The black mist, feeling pain for the first time, let out a shriek full of bewilderment. It tried to break free from Ming Zhu's grip, but her hand held firm.
Its surrounding mist trembled like crashing waves, yet no matter how the mist assailed her, Ming Zhu felt no discomfort.
The situation had abruptly reversed. What should have been Ming Zhu having no way to deal with a mass of mist had become it having no way to deal with her.
Ferociously tearing off the black mist's tentacle, she casually tied it into a knot and tossed it aside, then repeated the motion.
Was it the monster, or was she the monster?! For a moment, the mist had no strength to resist, trembling all over.
Not understanding what was happening, it finally lost the courage to keep fighting Ming Zhu and fled in a panic, practically scrambling away.
The black mist drifted off like a dark cloud, and the night undoubtedly became its best cover, concealing its tracks.
But cultivators had senses far sharper than ordinary people, and Ming Zhu even more so. She looked into the deep night, and with a single glance, determined the direction.
Without hesitation, she gave chase.
It had tried to eat her—there was no way she would just let it run off. Ming Zhu didn't consider herself that magnanimous.
Sensing Ming Zhu pursuing relentlessly behind it, the black mist, unable to shake her off, was seized with inexplicable terror. After panicking again and again, its chaotic consciousness finally remembered that this was its own territory.
It was the deity of this place—
The thick mist dissolved and spread, shrouding all the houses standing in Zhuxi Village.
Unbeknownst to anyone, the villagers who had been trapped in deep dreams one by one sat up from their beds, moving sluggishly out of their homes, their eyes vacant and lifeless.
Hearing the commotion, Gu Congshan jolted awake from his dream. He forced his eyelids open and, by the faint moonlight, saw a figure passing by through the crack in the window.
Gu Congshan shuddered in fright. There couldn't really be ghosts, could there?!
He was suddenly jolted fully awake. Swallowing hard, he sat up and cautiously peered out through the window crack.
"A'He?!"
The figure passing by the window was A'He.
So late at night, where was she going instead of sleeping?
Gu Congshan was just wondering at this when he saw Bai Zhi also follow out from the room. Unlike A'He's dazed expression, Bai Zhi's face showed clear urgency.
She grabbed A'He from behind, seemingly trying to stop her, but A'He treated her as if she didn't exist, walking on by herself.
Bai Zhi had been watching over Sang Niangzi for most of the day and was already exhausted, while A'He, accustomed to farm work, was not weak. As A'He kept walking forward, Bai Zhi couldn't hold her back, and caught off guard, stumbled and fell.
Even as slow as Gu Congshan was, he realized something was wrong. He stopped watching from the sidelines, pushed open the door, helped Bai Zhi up from the ground, and asked what was going on.
Bai Zhi explained succinctly: "I was about to boil some water when I saw A'He suddenly get up and leave. I called out to her but she didn't respond, just kept walking out as if she'd suddenly lost her mind…"
As she explained, she and Gu Congshan chased in the direction A'He had gone. Only after stepping outside did they realize it wasn't just A'He—more and more villagers of Zhuxi Village were staggering out of their homes, all heading in the same direction.
Bai Zhi and Gu Congshan exchanged a glance, looking at each other in bewilderment.
The scene before them was truly eerie. These villagers of Zhuxi seemed to have all become puppets controlled by strings, acting according to the will of some unseen puppeteer.
Bai Zhi had stayed in Zhuxi Village for several days before, and nothing like this had ever happened.
What on earth was going on?
If someone was controlling these villagers from behind, why were Gu Congshan and Bai Zhi unaffected?
Gu Congshan was a cultivator, but Bai Zhi was not.
A'He was mixed in with the crowd, and the two of them couldn't easily reach her. After only a moment's hesitation, they were swept forward by the constant stream of people surging from behind.
They all seemed to be converging on the same place…
Gu Congshan realized this shortly before spotting Ming Zhu in the crowd.
Villagers from Zhuxi Village were surging toward her from every direction, their movements stiff, their expressions vacant.
Under the night sky, the scene was utterly unnerving.
Ming Zhu, gradually surrounded by the crowd, had no choice but to slow her pace. The nearest villager had already reached out, trying to grab her. Ming Zhu frowned, the short dagger in her hand glinting coldly in the darkness.
Seeing this, Gu Congshan's heart leapt to his throat—not out of concern for Ming Zhu, but for these villagers of Zhuxi Village who had inexplicably lost their wits.
Recalling how cleanly Ming Zhu had dispatched the beasts in the Wuyin Forest, Gu Congshan immediately shouted, "Stay your blade!"
He feared that if he were a step too late, these villagers would be carved up like vegetables just like those beasts the other day.
"They must be under some kind of control!" Seeing Ming Zhu's gaze turn to him, Gu Congshan hastily voiced the guess he and Bai Zhi had formed. "Don't kill them yet!"
Watching the crowd pressing toward her, Ming Zhu neither agreed nor disagreed, only asking, "Then what do you suggest?"
"…Knock them out, just knock them out!" Gu Congshan's mind raced as he spoke, and with that, he chopped the side of his hand at the middle-aged man beside him.
The man took the blow hard and pitched forward.
But before Gu Congshan could breathe a sigh of relief, the middle-aged man who had taken his hand-chop wobbled back to his feet, stubbornly continuing his march toward Ming Zhu.
Gu Congshan's hand hung awkwardly in midair. That didn't quite work, did it…
"Tie them up!" Bai Zhi decided on the spot. Though she had no idea what was happening, this was clearly not the time to deliberate.
But tying up so many people was no simple task either…
At the critical moment, Gu Congshan finally proved somewhat useful. He channeled the spiritual breath within him, and as a hazy glow flared to life, the branches and leaves of the trees on either side suddenly began to grow, binding several nearby villagers tightly.
Bai Zhi stared in astonishment. He was a cultivator?
She had never cultivated herself, but over the years traveling with Sang Niangzi, she had gained some knowledge of such matters.
Yet this spell seemed to take a considerable toll on Gu Congshan. After binding these few, he stopped, struggling to muster his spiritual breath once more.
Bai Zhi looked at the far greater number of villagers still streaming toward Ming Zhu, her worry undiminished. Would they make it in time…
Ming Zhu watched Gu Congshan's efforts. Without needing him to say another word, her Life Star blazed to life.
Spiritual breath flowed, and the next moment, branches and leaves grew wild, surging skyward like a dense net, binding every single Zhuxi Village villager tightly in place.
Bai Zhi's expression shifted to one of stunned awe, a hint of admiration slipping into her eyes. After all, such a sight was truly spectacular.
She had never once guessed that Ming Zhu and Gu Congshan used the same kind of spell.
Though he had been crushed many times before, Gu Congshan still couldn't help feeling a pang of bitter dejection at this moment.
How could the gap between one person and another be so vast—