After the nightmare on the bus, I didn't dare to sleep again. The memory of Stein and the others with their faces covered in blood unsettled me. Could this be some kind of bad omen?
I shivered and forced myself to stop thinking about it. The bus continued its journey toward Mount Zhongnan. I glanced at Stein and my companions, then let my gaze drift out the window. Perhaps this trip would turn out to be a robbery in disguise!
Mount Zhongnan was a long way off. We spent over two days on the bus. Taking the train would have been faster, but the little fox didn't have an ID card, making train travel impossible. Even this bus was unlicensed - the kind that picks up passengers along the way. Strangely, we weren't worried about being robbed.
We disembarked near Mount Zhongnan, in front of a small, remote village called Beiwang Town. Though tiny and isolated, its proximity to Mount Zhongnan - only about three kilometers away - made it a natural resting place for those preparing to ascend the mountain.
By the time we reached Beiwang Town, it was already past eight in the evening. While Mount Zhongnan wasn't exactly a tourist hotspot and visitors were few, Beiwang Town boasted numerous decent hotels to accommodate travelers. Don't let the village's small size and remote location fool you - it had all the necessities, and the hotels were surprisingly well-appointed, comparable to small establishments in more urban areas.
We chose the largest hotel we could find. As Philip pointed out, in small places like this it doesn't pay to go cheap - you'll only regret it later. That's why we opted for the biggest hotel available.
The owner, a forty-something man with a goatee, introduced himself as Mr. Qin. We all addressed him as Boss Qin.
Boss Qin welcomed us warmly but issued a stern warning: we shouldn't leave the hotel at night, and under no circumstances should we venture beyond Beiwang Town's boundaries. "If anything happens," he said, "you'll be on your own."
This piqued Stein's curiosity. When he pressed for details, Boss Qin glanced nervously at the darkening sky and explained, "There have been sightings of Ghost Soldiers around Mount Zhongnan recently. If you value your life, stay indoors after dark. I won't be responsible for what happens otherwise."
Ghost Soldiers? Could they be the headless phantom warriors from "Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts: Make Way for the Ghost Soldiers"? Mount Zhongnan had long been rumored to be haunted by headless spectral sentinels who patrolled the mountains, spiriting away anyone unfortunate enough to encounter them.
At the mention of Ghost Soldiers, Stein's face paled. "Wouldn't catch me going out there at night," he muttered, smacking his lips nervously. "I plan to live long enough to get married someday."
Boss Qin added that besides the Ghost Soldiers, there had been sightings of living dead around Mount Zhongnan recently. These creatures were neither fully human nor ghost - cunning and sinister. If you had money, they would try to extort you. If you were a woman, they would trick you into becoming their wife. Rumor had it some living dead had three or four wives already, though they couldn't father children due to their overwhelming yin energy.
Wasn't this the Ghost Police Esteban had told me about? Weren't they supposed to operate only in the Yin-Yang artifacts market? What were they doing here? Esteban had even given me a business card from a living dead named Libanio - I wondered if it might prove useful later.
"Boss Qin," Philip interjected, "as far as I know, living dead usually only appear in the Yin-Yang artifacts market. Why would they come to Mount Zhongnan?" Philip seemed more familiar with living dead than I was - not surprising since he was a Celestial Master and naturally knew more about these matters.
Boss Qin shrugged. "No idea. Recently there's been an influx of outsiders. Practically every day there are long lines of people going up Mount Zhongnan. Don't know what they're after. In all my years here, business has never been better - though very few come back down intact. Most who return have gone mad." He waved dismissively. "Not my concern though - business is booming!"
Large crowds coming to Mount Zhongnan? Why? What were they all doing here? I'd thought it was just Daphne or Mr. Lam we were dealing with, but according to Boss Qin, the mountain was swarming with people queuing up daily. Were they all... searching for the secret of immortality?
But how did so many people know about it? That didn't make sense. You'd think such knowledge would be closely guarded.
Philip and I exchanged puzzled glances. Neither of us could make sense of it, and Boss Qin didn't have any details beyond noticing the increased traffic.
Exhausted from the long, bumpy journey, we lacked the energy for further investigation. We hastily booked three rooms to rest and recuperate: one for Stein and Antonio, one for me and Philip, and one for the little fox.
But then Philip objected. Pointing at the little fox, he declared, "I want to share a room with her."
I was taken aback. "Brother, no! She may be a demon, but she's still female. What kind of arrangement would it be for you, a male Celestial Master, to share quarters with a female demon?"
Philip brushed off my concerns. "Don't interfere. I'll sleep on the floor and let the fox have the bed. But I'm rooming with her regardless."
I understood Philip's reasoning - he feared the little fox might harm someone if left unsupervised at night and wanted to keep watch over her.
At this moment, the little fox tugged timidly at my coat from behind and whispered, "Master, I don't want to share with him. He's terrifying!"
To the little fox, a Celestial Master of Philip's caliber was naturally a frightening presence. He could destroy her with just a snap of his fingers. But I trusted Philip - and I trusted the little fox too.
"It's okay, go with him. He's my friend - he won't hurt you," I reassured the little fox instead, telling her there was no need to be afraid.
The truth was, to dispel Philip's suspicions about the little fox, she needed to prove herself trustworthy. Sharing a room with Philip might be the best way.
Since I'd given my approval, the little fox had no choice but to pout and reluctantly follow Philip upstairs. Stein and Antonio's rooms were also on the first floor, while mine remained on the ground level.
I entered my room and collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. I'd fallen asleep immediately, only to be awakened around midnight by loud noises. Checking the time, I saw it was past one in the morning. Who could be checking in at this hour?
I cracked the door open slightly and peered through the gap. Who the hell was making such a ruckus in the middle of the night? If they wanted to check in, they should do it quietly - didn't they know they were disturbing others?
Through the narrow opening, I saw a man dragging a woman toward the front desk. The woman's hands were bound with thick rope, which the man held tightly as he pulled her along. She struggled violently, screaming curses at the top of her lungs.
I couldn't see the woman's face clearly, but she appeared quite young with a good figure. Even if she wasn't a beauty, she probably wasn't bad-looking.
The man, however, was another story - not only bald and ugly, but his face was as white as flour, with greenish lips and disgusting yellow teeth. Under the white lights, he looked exactly like...
"Living dead!" I gasped inwardly. Wasn't this exactly how Esteban had described the living dead?
This was my first time seeing such a creature. Now I finally understood why they were called "living dead" - truly neither human nor ghost, just looking at him made my skin crawl.