Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 24: The Origin of the Mountain God

Fang Xiu casually picked up the Luoyang shovel and drew an incomplete circle around Fourth Master’s pile of flesh. Then, he removed the hair ring from his finger and buried it at the missing corner of the circle.

With only one arm left to work with, Fang Xiu’s movements were a bit clumsy, but his expression remained focused. Despite the rain soaking the paper money at his feet and the wails of evil spirits nearby, none of it seemed to matter.

“Bai Shuangying, the best part of the show is about to begin. Want to enjoy it with some snacks?” Fang Xiu asked cheerfully after finishing his task.

Bai Shuangying accepted the invitation. With a flick of his hand, he pulled Fourth Master’s soul out and found a nearby gravestone to sit on. The soul transformed into three milky-white orbs, which Bai Shuangying held in his arms as if cradling popcorn, ready to watch a movie.

He tore off a small piece and popped it into his mouth, savoring the rich flavor, realizing that Fourth Master must have carried the weight of many lives and blood debts.

“Delicious,” Bai Shuangying said with a pleased smile.

“Eat as much as you want. There’s plenty more where that came from,” Fang Xiu said, wiping his nose, looking quite content.

Then, turning to Cheng Songyun, he said, “Cheng Jie, touch the corpse’s hand. The item should be nearby.”

Cheng Songyun, barely able to think, mechanically obeyed.

As soon as her hand touched the corpse, she realized something was wrong. The skeleton’s shoulder joint had an odd fork, and near the neckbone, there was a noticeable growth, like an underdeveloped skull. And indeed, in the hands of the skeleton, she found something.

The corpse’s three hands were clasped together at the chest, as if the deceased had been holding it with great care at the moment of death. What she found was an icy-cold bead, about the size of a marble, blackish-red in color, dirty, and completely dull.

Even without any knowledge of metaphysics, Cheng Songyun could feel that this object was special.

…This was the “E” of Weishan Village.

Right, she had to destroy the “E” quickly.

Cheng Songyun lifted the Luoyang shovel and brought it down hard on the bead. There was a sharp sound, but the shovel merely vibrated in her hands, and the bead remained completely unscathed, not even showing the slightest mark.

Fang Xiu approached the bewildered Cheng Songyun, bent down, and picked up the bead. He examined it closely and even sniffed it.

“Well done, kid—!” Shan Hunzi laughed wickedly upon seeing that the “E” had been found. “I knew you were up to something! Nicely done, really nice!”

He pulled out a strip of cloth covered in scriptures and casually threw it into the air. The cloth unraveled and formed a glowing golden protective circle. The vengeful spirits outside tried to breach it, but they were repeatedly repelled by the glowing light.

“This Silk of Merits can hold them off for half an hour. Now, give it to me,” Shan Hunzi said, extending his hand. “To destroy the ‘E’, you have to understand its true form before you can take the right action. We don’t have time for research, but I’ve got a Samadhi True Fire talisman that can burn it up.”

“No,” Fang Xiu refused flatly. “Fourth Master was in such a rush to destroy the ‘E’ himself. That must mean there’s some benefit to doing it personally.”

Shan Hunzi’s eyes flickered, and he suddenly changed the topic. “Alright, then explain what just happened. According to you, the mutated people weren’t live sacrifices, but the Gods of Weishan… How did they become the Gods of Weishan?”

“Mai Zi shared survival tips with us, Doctor provided food and treatment, and Cheng Jie always stood up to protect others… They all insisted on being kind to others, and then they transformed to look like the gods,” Fang Xiu explained confidently. “If something looks like a god, acts like a god, and bad things happen when you offend it, then isn’t it a god?”

Shan Hunzi: “?”

Wait, the statue of the god looked like that, and you just assumed they were good gods?

“Apparently, becoming a God of Weishan isn’t that complicated. You just have to accumulate virtue. The shrine has that couplet, ‘Refrain from all evil, and practice all good deeds.’” Fang Xiu paused. “The spirits here reverently worship the gods, so to the ‘E’, the concept of the God of Weishan is crucial… Cheng Jie and the others didn’t break any taboos, so they became part of the taboo itself.”

Shan Hunzi chewed over his words but couldn’t detect any deceit.

So, becoming a god was about accumulating virtue? No wonder Fang Xiu was so keen on letting Cheng Songyun become a god. This kid hadn’t done much good at all, and even he, a seasoned villain, was a bit taken aback by Fang Xiu’s behavior.

Thinking this, Shan Hunzi glanced surreptitiously at the protective circle, noted that the spirits’ attacks had weakened his talisman, and the golden glow was growing dim.

He shifted his gaze back to Cheng Songyun. “But what about the ‘offending the God of Weishan’ part? Nothing happened when Fourth Master pushed her.”

“Cheng Jie is indeed a God of Weishan,” Fang Xiu said. “But so is the one buried in that grave.”

Shan Hunzi was shocked. “Even the dead ones count? But I took Mai Zi’s weapons back then…”

“The ‘E’ operates on strict rules and can’t distinguish intent. It only recognizes actions like discarding gifts, arson, or theft as inherently rude and offensive.”

Fang Xiu looked at the open coffin. Rain was soaking the skeleton inside, making the bones wet and shiny.

“Mai Zi wasn’t buried. You took her weapons but didn’t disturb the corpse. The ‘E’ couldn’t tell if it was theft or you helping to clean up her remains. That kind of ambiguous action doesn’t violate the taboo.”

“But digging up graves and exposing corpses definitely does.”

At the mention of “grave digging”, Cheng Songyun shivered.

“It’s okay, Cheng Jie,” Fang Xiu reassured her. “Even when Doctor cut off his own limbs, nothing happened. The God of Weishan comes with exemptions.”

“But we can’t destroy the ‘E’. It’s indestructible. What do we do now…?” Cheng Songyun was in disbelief that the two of them could still chat so calmly while the vengeful spirits outside were furiously attacking the protective circle. After just five or six minutes, the golden light of the cloth was already fading.

Old Man Fu clung to the edge of the protective circle, barely ten paces away from them. The cracks on his face had turned into large holes, and the characters for “Blessing” on his robes had changed from black to bright red.

“The Blessing have fallen—” he wailed in a piercing voice.

“We have to hurry!” Cheng Songyun couldn’t bear to look anymore and urged Fang Xiu.

But Fang Xiu acted as if he hadn’t heard her. He rubbed the jade Buddha on his chest and continued his conversation with Shan Hunzi. “Since we still have time, I’ve got two questions for you. In exchange, I’ll let you handle the ‘E’.”

Shan Hunzi cursed under his breath.

If not for Fang Xiu wearing that jade Buddha and Cheng Songyun being protected by the taboo, he would have already killed them both. But now, he couldn’t touch either of them and had no choice but to negotiate.

No matter. He had already made his plans.

He’d said the protective talisman would last half an hour, but it wouldn’t hold out for even fifteen minutes. Once the barrier collapsed without warning, Fang Xiu would have no choice but to hand over the ‘E’ to survive.

Lying tricksters like this brat needed to have their rhythm disrupted and be given no time to think.

“First question: Why are the spirits so obsessed with mimicking the villagers?” Fang Xiu asked calmly, unfazed by the impending danger.

Fang Xiu still cared about that? Shan Hunzi thought. Perfect, just the distraction he needed.

“For humans to ascend to immortality, they must cultivate virtue. For ghosts to ascend, they must cultivate an ‘E’. Spirits can’t follow the righteous path, so they have to rely on what already exists.”

“The ‘E’ is like the finest spiritual artifact. If it doesn’t recognize you as its master, it’s useless. But if it does, you can use it however you want.”

Shan Hunzi glanced at the protective circle again, deliberately slowing his speech.

“Spirits can’t understand human nature, so they can’t grasp the true cause and effect of the ‘E’. That’s why they strictly follow its rules, painstakingly acting their parts. The first one to be fully accepted by the ‘E’ will ascend to become a ghost immortal.”

“So, the spirits are all pretending to be the dutiful children, hoping to inherit the old man’s estate?” Fang Xiu asked.

Shan Hunzi: “……”

Shan Hunzi: “Something like that.”

Fang Xiu chuckled. “So it’s a scam. No wonder they’re so angry.”

After all, Old Man Fu had tricked his way into becoming the village chief. He must’ve put a lot of effort into it. Cutting off someone’s path to immortality is like killing their parents, and in this case, it was cutting off their divine ascension.

“Second question: Once the ‘E’ is destroyed, will the survivors be protected by the underworld? These spirits don’t look like they’ll let us off easily.”

“There’s definitely protection. These bodies are specially made by the underworld, like disposable spiritual vessels.”

Since it was about what happened after the ‘E’ was destroyed, Shan Hunzi saw no point in lying.

“As soon as the ‘E’ is gone, the bodies will activate, and no spirit will be able to harm us.”

“Thanks for the answers. But since you set me up from the start, trying to force me to hand over the ‘E’, I won’t be giving it to you.”

Fang Xiu smiled. “And stop staring at the protective circle. It’s pointless. I know how to destroy the ‘E’.”

Shan Hunzi’s gaze hardened. “Kid, this ‘E’ destroyed the entire Weishan Village. Its core must be incredibly evil. What makes you think a newbie like you can destroy it barehanded?”

Something’s wrong. Shan Hunzi thought, What has Fang Xiu figured out?

Shan Hunzi desperately tried to recall every detail. From the three taboos to the eerie atmosphere of the festival. The couplets in the shrines were more terrifying each time, and the spirits along the way grew more and more sinister… Fang Xiu’s lies to Fourth Master were half-truths. There had to be a clue in his words…

“Don’t bother thinking about it.”

Fang Xiu toyed with the round ‘E’ in his hands, his gaze sweeping over the furious Old Man Fu just a few paces away.

“You and Fourth Master assumed a tragedy happened in Weishan Village, believing the brightest ‘Eastern Shrine’ was the beginning and the darkest ‘Southern Shrine’ was the end. But from the very start, you had the direction reversed.”

“I just played along with your assumptions and spun the truth ‘upside down’. That’s all.”

Fang Xiu’s smiling gaze shifted to Bai Shuangying.

Under Bai Shuangying’s curious watch, Fang Xiu slowly raised the ‘E’ to his mouth and bit down gently.

Crunch.

“It really is candy,” Fang Xiu muttered. “Strawberry-flavored.”

He had caught a faint scent of artificial flavor earlier. The inheritance of a beautiful story, after all, wouldn’t be too bad.

As Old Man Fu roared in shock and anger, the ‘E’ shattered in Fang Xiu’s mouth. A violent storm of dark energy erupted from him, pinning everyone in place.

The wind whipped up the books and papers inside the coffin, and one decayed piece of paper was caught by the gust, flying out of the coffin.

Bai Shuangying remained seated on the gravestone, his long hair unmoved by the storm. He lowered his head, watching the burial paper drift down.

It landed in the mud, slowly soaking through with rainwater. The words were slightly smudged, but the contents were still readable.

You know that mountain spirits are also gods. At the foot of Weishan, the trees grow dense and somber.

Pitiful abandoned children, discarded like an old shoe, ascends to immortality, dressed in blue robes.

The village’s boys and girls are its guests, honored ones inside and outside the shrine.

Upholding virtue and punishing evil with clear judgment, and henceforth, justice is seen in the hearts of men.

—A gift from Village Chief Sun Ruyi to the God of Weishan.

Fang Xiu saw this poem in another way.

The moment he bit down on the ‘E’, the countless karmic threads it carried rushed into his mind—its creation, its memories, and the day everything began.

For a moment, Fang Xiu could hear the cicadas of midsummer.

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