The Mountain Lord’s Shadow and a Spectral Guide

Li Family Village.

Nestled on the border of Qin, it shared a boundary with the state of Zhao.

Within the village ancestral hall, a group of women knelt, led by an old woman who was none other than the Village Chief of Li Family Village.

In these troubled times, plagued by disaster, ordinary folk found themselves utterly helpless, with nothing to cling to but these ephemeral beliefs.

After performing the ancestral rites and praying for their forebears’ blessings, the Village Chief of Li Family Village dismissed most of the women from the ancestral hall, leaving only five or six behind.

“Village Chief, as for that monster…”

A sharp crack echoed.

A woman had just begun to speak, but before she could finish her sentence, the old woman’s palm struck her face, instantly swelling half of it.

“If you wish to die, do not drag our entire Li Family Village down with you!”

The Village Chief’s voice was a harsh, furious command.

The struck woman fell silent, her expression one of utter despondency.

“Village Chief, less than three days remain until the Mountain Lord’s demands are due. If we don’t make a decision soon and provide it with virgin boys and girls, our Li Family Village fears a great catastrophe!”

Just then, another middle-aged woman spoke.

“Village Chief, as we discussed before, perhaps we should go to the city and buy a few children. Though it would cost us some money, we cannot allow the people of our Li Family Village to suffer such a calamity!”

Yet another woman spoke.

Hearing these words, the Village Chief’s brows furrowed deeply, clearly lost in thought.

“What did the authorities say?”

She inquired.

“The authorities claimed they were powerless, telling us to invite an Immortal Master,” one of the women replied.

“But where would we find the wealth to enlist a true Immortal Master? Most are nothing but charlatans and swindlers. Rather than angering the Mountain Lord by seeking such help, it would be better to lose some money and avert disaster.”

A woman sighed, then spoke.

“Alas…”

The Village Chief, too, let out a sigh.

From an unknown origin, a powerful monster had appeared in the nearby mountains. Some cultivators, drawn by its notoriety, had come to slay it, but several had met gruesome ends in its maw. Their bodies hung at the mountain pass, like tattered rag dolls, swaying eerily in the wind.

The sight filled onlookers with immense dread and tension.

The authorities shunned such affairs, for officials and soldiers alike were mostly mortals, and to approach was merely to court death. As for Immortal Masters, they were rarely seen by common folk, especially in this remote border region.

Even if they knew of a nearby sect or an Immortal Master, what reason would there be for them to risk their lives for Li Family Village?

“Previously, the authorities did send me to an outpost of the Yanqing Sect. The master there said they had reported it to the main sect, but in all these days, we’ve heard no news…”

“What kind of sect is the Yanqing Sect?”

“How would I know? But Village Chief, please make a decision quickly. We can’t possibly pin all our hopes on them!”

The Village Chief gazed at the clamoring crowd before her. How she wished she could embrace their suggestion.

To buy a few children from the city and offer them to the monster—she, who had lived for most of her life, knew that like humans, a monster’s appetite would only grow insatiable.

Moreover, if they were to do such a thing, their Li Family Village would no longer be victims, but accomplices to the monster. Should the truth ever come to light, Li Family Village would surely cease to exist.

With no path forward and no way to retreat, this was the desperate plight of Li Family Village, a predicament shared by all the surrounding villages.

She looked at the sky outside the ancestral hall, sensing that rain was likely to fall that night…

****

That night.

Rain lashed against the dilapidated mountain temple, and a frigid wind, whistling through the partially collapsed eaves, poured relentlessly inside.

Qin Yan and Yu Qingxuan sat within the crumbling temple, their immediate surroundings relatively dry. Not far from them, a group of drenched women huddled, some clad in fine silks, the others bearing sabers at their hips.

They were a caravan that had just sought refuge in the ruined temple, guided there by a hunter from the mountains.

Yu Qingxuan observed the hunter conversing with the caravan, an intrigued expression in her eyes. Then, glancing at her junior brother beside her, she deliberated for a moment before remaining silent.

Only when the boisterous caravan members had quieted down did Yu Qingxuan transmit her thoughts via divine sense.

‘Junior Brother, you’ve truly toiled. To think, after all this tracking, that this monster would be here, on the border of Qin.’

‘It seems several people have already perished at the hands of this monster. I saw their corpses; they didn’t appear to be cultivators, but rather martial artists.’

Qin Yan responded with his own divine sense.

‘Pity these chivalrous souls. They knew so little of monsters, yet with a surge of passion, they bravely came to slay the demon, only to die by its hand.’

Yu Qingxuan replied with a touch of lament in her divine sense.

Having descended the mountain with her junior brother this time, she dared not assist him too much, merely playing the role of a protector.

Thus, throughout their journey, the searching, investigating, and understanding of this monster had all been Qin Yan’s responsibility.

If Yu Qingxuan had been serious, the monster would have surely died countless times over. However, she understood that this was their master’s way of training her junior brother; if she were to steal his thunder, their master would undoubtedly scold her.

Qin Yan nodded, then his gaze shifted towards the caravan members.

The news of a monster in these mountains was not widely disseminated, likely out of fear of retaliation. As for this caravan, having traveled a great distance, they naturally knew even less about the local situation.

But while they were ignorant, surely the hunter was not? There had to be something amiss; Qin Yan had noticed this peculiar detail.

After all, a normal person, knowing a place harbored something sinister, would react predictably upon seeing others approach: a kind person would urge them away, an indifferent one would feign blindness. But an overly enthusiastic one? That was highly unusual.

Thus, as Qin Yan watched the hunter engaging the caravan with such fervor, he understood that she was certainly problematic.

The hunter, in turn, noticed Qin Yan and Yu Qingxuan in the distance. A flicker of suspicion crossed her eyes before she looked at the caravan members, who were preparing to rest.

Finally, gritting her teeth, she walked towards Qin Yan.

As she drew near, Qin Yan immediately discerned the issue: the hunter’s spiritual essence was ethereal, ghost-like, appearing not as a living person’s but rather like a cultivator’s disembodied soul.

Yet, if it were a cultivator’s soul, why would it masquerade as a hunter?

Or perhaps, there was another possibility: she was a ghost!

After death, if a person’s soul harbored a strong obsession or was controlled by another, it could become a ghost. The former would act on instinct, while the latter would be commanded.

“Esteemed travelers, may I ask why you find yourselves in this dilapidated temple?”

The hunter spoke, her voice deep and robust, brimming with masculine vigor.

Having already seen through the hunter’s true identity, Qin Yan had no desire to alert her. He replied, “My elder sister and I were returning to our village to visit relatives, but unexpectedly lost our way in these mountains…”

As Qin Yan pondered his response, he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of spiritual energy nearby, as if a battle were underway.