The northern boundary of Beiwang Town is Mount Zhongnan, while the southern side borders the road we came in on. Thus, the town proper lies sandwiched in between.
South represents yang, north embodies yin, with the basilica standing at the center. Philip's words seemed laden with hidden meaning—had he noticed something peculiar?
"Let's move. We must reach the summit before midnight, or we'll face dire consequences. And stow away your questions for now." Philip cut me off sharply when I attempted to press further.
Damn it. If he meant to keep secrets, why drop hints at all? This piecemeal revelation was downright infuriating.
Philip fell silent and led us northward toward Mount Zhongnan.
The town sat merely three kilometers from the mountain's base. At a brisk pace, we could cover the distance in about half an hour.
After ten minutes of walking, a wailing sound suddenly pierced the air from the roadside thickets. Philip motioned for us to ignore it and press onward.
The cries eventually faded, yet intermittent strange noises persisted—sometimes resembling an infant's whimper, other times mimicking a cat's screech. As we drew nearer to Mount Zhongnan, an eerie wind began howling, carrying a bone-chilling coldness that somehow didn't lower the temperature.
I wasn't alone in this sensation; Stein and the others shared it too. The unnatural sounds kept manifesting—Jeane claimed she heard the clatter of armored cavalry, as if some spectral battle were raging. "It wasn't like this during daylight," she murmured, clearly unsettled by the night's sinister transformation.
Philip explained that Mount Zhongnan was an ancient battleground where hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—had perished. "With countless ghosts haunting these grounds, strangeness is expected. Just don't engage with them... unless they attack first."
"This place harbors more than ghosts. Numerous corpses, overwhelming yin energy, and complete absence of human presence create fertile ground for demons and malevolent spirits." Philip warned us all to stay vigilant. "Our numbers are considerable—I can't protect everyone simultaneously. In crucial moments, you must rely on yourselves."
As we spoke, we arrived at the mountain's base. Tilting our heads back, we gazed up at its towering form disappearing into darkness. Shadowy figures seemed to flit among the cliffs—whether human or spectral was impossible to tell. Occasionally, crows cawed their ominous cries: "Caw! Caw!" Each rasping note dripped with foreboding.
Where death gathers, crows follow—those feathered reapers of ill omen. No wonder people loathed them as harbingers of misfortune.
There were quite a few people at the foot of the mountain, but most of them were merely wandering or studying the area. Almost none dared to climb at night—they only stood there, gazing upward. Many had died here recently, making even daytime ascents unthinkable, let alone venturing up after dark.
Rumors said those who made it back down either died on the spot or went mad, confined to mental hospitals, too terrified to speak or even look at another person.
I glanced around and realized Luna was already gone—probably starting the hike ahead of us.
Philip didn't waste time. "Let's go," he said. "Don't overthink it. The more you dwell on it, the harder it'll be to take the first step."
Stein, however, hesitated. He swallowed hard and stammered, "R-really? We're climbing Mount Zhongnan at night? Celestial Master, this... this is too dangerous. Can we talk about this? People are too scared to go up even in daylight, and you want us to attempt it now? I'm not betting my life on this."
Philip pointed up the mountain. "Mount Zhongnan is shrouded in miasma year-round. If you'd seen it during the day, you'd know how thick it gets. But look now—it's far thinner at night."
I hadn't been here in daylight, but right now, the mountain was draped in a faint, drifting mist. Was this the miasma? The only difference from ordinary fog was its color—a pale red, eerie and unnatural, cloaking the mountain like a veil of blood.
"Stein, he's right," Antonio chimed in. "When we came earlier, the miasma was much denser. At least now, we won't suffer from poisoning." Having been here during the day, he knew exactly how bad it could get.
Philip added, "But there's a time limit. After midnight, the miasma thickens again. We have to reach at least the mountainside before then—once we're past that point, it won't affect us."
I frowned. "Hey, Philip, you seem to know a lot about this place. How?"
"You think I'd bring you here without doing my research? I don't have a death wish either!" With that, he took the lead and started up the trail.
With Philip guiding us, Stein's fear lessened, and he hurried after the rest of us. Meanwhile, the people at the foot of the mountain gasped in shock, as if thinking, Another group of fools daring to climb at night!
But in truth, the miasma wasn't Mount Zhongnan's greatest danger. The real threats were the unknown ghosts and demons lurking above. Even without the poisonous fog, the mountain at night was perilous—unlike daytime, when malevolent spirits remained dormant in the shadows. Now, under the cover of darkness, they would emerge from the deepest, most yin-infested places. The horror would be no less.
Still, with a Six-Coin Celestial Master like Philip with us, the risk felt manageable. And if we could ascend while the miasma was thin—well, that was our best chance.
The mountain path up Mount Zhongnan was treacherous to climb, especially at night. All of us struggled except for the little fox, who bounded up the slopes as if playing, leaping effortlessly. Even in her fox form, she scaled the mountain with what seemed like playful rolls.
When Jeane first saw the little fox in her true form, she nearly tumbled off the mountainside in fright. Fortunately, I caught her in time. Afterwards, she said warily, "No... I never expected this girl who's been following you to actually be... a fox demon."
We all laughed at her reaction. Philip even said something that terrified her further: "There are things far more frightening than her on this mountain. If you react like this every time, you'll die of shock sooner or later."
Jeane gulped and fell silent, her face noticeably paler. She might have regretted coming here, but there was nothing she could do - Daphne was her master. Some decisions weren't hers to make, and she couldn't simply abandon her master.
After about an hour of climbing, a path suddenly appeared before us. It seemed to have materialized recently. Following it would spare us from climbing, though the trail remained rough and challenging - still, it was better than nothing.
Undoubtedly, walking upright was far less strenuous than crawling on all fours.
Another half hour along the path, we suddenly encountered corpses - none freshly dead, some already decomposing with a stench. Many were missing limbs, and some had gaping holes in their skulls where the brains had been removed, presumably eaten by something.
The higher we climbed, the more bodies we found. The surrounding vegetation was stained with blood, and corpses littered the area.
Then, just at that moment, I spotted a figure crouching among the pile of corpses...
My scalp prickled instantly. I gasped - was this a man or a ghost?