The friendly stranger suggested they hunt some wild game to fill their stomachs before discussing the matter further. Mo Xi had no objection and went to hunt two snow rabbits. When he returned, he found the friendly stranger had already started a fire. He was quite the gentleman at this moment, taking care of everything else without Mo Xi having to lift a finger.
He pulled a small glass bottle, about the size of a snuff bottle, from his pocket and sprinkled it over the skinned rabbit meat, saying, "This contains salt, cumin, black pepper, and minced garlic." After sprinkling it evenly, he placed the skewered rabbit meat on a tree branch rack to roast. Mo Xi was greatly impressed by his habit of carrying seasonings with him. Judging from his efficient and orderly movements, he must have considerable experience in wilderness survival.
Soon the meat was fragrant and glistening with oil. The man, seemingly familiar with the place, pulled out a dagger he carried with him and sliced off layers of rabbit meat, placing them in a wooden bowl and handing it to Mo Xi, saying, "Miss, please try my cooking." The dagger was unlike any ordinary one; it resembled a miniature curved blade with a row of tiny barbs along the blade. The silver hilt was inlaid with a row of pearls and emeralds. The pearls had yellowed slightly, but this did not diminish the dagger's exquisite and luxurious appearance. The wooden bowl was still brand new, likely carved directly from a thin tree stump, yet the knife work was extremely delicate; the rim of the bowl was perfectly smooth, and the surface was flawlessly clean. This was undoubtedly a precious knife capable of cutting through iron like mud.
Besides the wooden bowl, it even came with a pair of chopsticks carved from a tree branch. Mo Xi quickly ran his fingers over the chopsticks and found that there wasn't a single prickly spot. He thought to himself: He would definitely be good at carpentry.
The overly friendly man offered Mo Xi a bowl and chopsticks, but he didn't bother with such formalities, simply eating the remaining rabbit meat with his hands.
"Where are you headed on this journey?" Mo Xi decided it was best to get straight to the point.
He smiled knowingly and said, "I'm going to Mount Shu."
Mo Xi sighed, knowing she couldn't shake him off, and remained silent. Given the current situation, she wasn't afraid of him poisoning her. If they were to fight, although she wouldn't win, escaping unscathed wouldn't be difficult. Therefore, she wasn't too worried. She'd see what he intended to do.
After the two finished eating, they set off to find a place to stay for the night. But just as they got up, they heard a thud not far away.
Mo Xi lagged behind, following the familiar-looking man towards the sound. Knowing that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and with this man, whose martial arts were superior to hers, in front of her, she decided to remain a coward.
It was a hunter-like man who had fallen flat on his face in the snow. His clothes, a patchwork of cloth and fur, had a wild, animalistic style. He didn't know martial arts, so he hadn't noticed that Mo Xi and her companion were right in front of him. He was still trembling with fear, his hands covering his head, repeatedly muttering incoherently, "Little lady. Spare me, spare me..." His voice was shaking uncontrollably from extreme terror.
He said familiarly, "Brave man, we will not harm you, you don't need to be afraid."
When Mo Xi heard him call this hunter a strongman, he knew what the fellow was up to, but he was happy to see it happen.
The hunter loosened his grip on his head slightly, opened his eyes a crack, and saw the familiar face about to relax. But then he glanced up and saw Mo Xi standing behind him. Reflexively, he buried his head back in the snow, muttering, "You, you be careful, she, she's right behind you..."
The man, however, said, “This brave man seems to have misunderstood something. This young lady is my friend, and we have no ill intentions.” His voice was warm and mellow, and in this desolate mountain where birds had vanished, it carried a calming power.
Sure enough, the hunter slowly raised his head, glanced at Mo Xi, and seeing that she was only a teenager and still dressed like a young girl, he completely relaxed. But as soon as he relaxed, his limbs felt even weaker, and after struggling a few times, he still couldn't get up.
With a gentle lift, the hunter finally stood up, brushed the remaining snow off his clothes, looked the two men up and down, pointed in the direction where they had started their fire, and said gruffly, "No one has come here for a long time. I saw smoke over there, but you two scared the crap out of me." He paused, then covered his mouth with his hand and whispered, "This mountain is haunted. And it's a female ghost. You two be careful."
"To be honest, sir, we two would like to stay the night. Would you be so kind as to do us this favor?" With that, he gave the hunter a piece of silver.
"Young man, you're too kind. Please come with me." The hunter stroked the small piece of silver, quite pleased. Seeing that these two, especially the handsome young man, didn't seem like bad people, and being penniless himself, he had nothing to worry about.
The hunter's home was a thatched hut resembling a farmhouse, barely enough to keep out the wind and snow. Inside, the temperature was almost the same as outside.
The hunter ushered them inside, saying, "My house is like a doghouse, and I don't have a wife to tidy it up. Please excuse my poor house, and make do with it for the night."
They actually brought them both to the same room. The hunter was a little embarrassed, scratched his head, smiled sheepishly, and said awkwardly, "Young man, you just said this girl is your friend, and I know it's inconvenient for the two of you to be together. But I don't have any other room at home. I need to sleep in the last room too. You two will have to make do."
Mo Xi suddenly spoke up and asked, "Brave warrior, you just said this place is haunted, what's the story behind that?"
“Young lady, you may not know this. Five miles west of here, there is a place called Yama's Slope. You two have probably seen it; it's sparsely populated. Those who died because of the female ghost are buried there. At first, people in the village died mysteriously, but no one paid much attention. After all, birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural course of life. Who knew that the number of deaths would increase so much later. It wasn't until two years ago that the number decreased, but because some died and others fled, the place was almost deserted. Everyone said that Yama, the King of Hell, sent this female ghost to claim lives, so they buried all the dead in one place and named that place Yama's Slope, hoping that Yama, considering how many people have already been taken to the underworld, would show mercy.” After saying this, he shrank back with lingering fear, as if he were terrified that he would be the next one to be claimed by the female ghost.
"What's with that female ghost demanding souls?" In her previous life, Mo Xi would never have believed in such supernatural and bizarre things. But now, strictly speaking, she herself could be considered a prodigy.
“I’m not entirely sure either. The older generation says that this female ghost was originally from the village. Although she was a peasant girl, she was quite beautiful and considered the daughter of a respectable family. But later, somehow, she had an affair and became pregnant, and her father almost beat her to death. When asked who the man was, she refused to say no matter what. The villagers wanted to drag her to be drowned in a pig cage, so she ran away that very night. Her father constantly lamented the family’s misfortune and was always being pointed at and gossiped about by the villagers. In addition, his only daughter had run away, and he was old and had no one to take care of him. Not long after, he died of grief. About a year later, people started dying one after another in the village. Everyone said that this woman had died outside and returned as a vengeful ghost to take revenge.” As the hunter recounted this, the wind howled outside, and the cold wind whistled into the thatched hut, creating a truly eerie and sinister atmosphere.
"Why do you say it's haunted? Did those dead people have any injuries?" Mo Xi then asked.
"I don't know about that. Everyone is afraid of bad luck associated with the dead. Even if someone brave enough collects the body and buries it, they wouldn't dare to look at it closely."
"Everyone else has moved, why haven't you? I saw you were really scared just now, why are you still living here?" After being quiet for a while, the overly friendly person finally got a chance to speak.
“Back then, my family was poor, and the imperial court came to conscript men into the army, so my eldest brother went. I was afraid that if I left, my brother wouldn’t be able to find me when he came back.” He then sighed heavily.
He comforted her, saying, "I heard that the Northwest Army has been allowing people to go home to visit their families these past few days. Your older brother might be back soon."
The hunter sighed heavily again, "Don't even mention it. My brother came back a few days ago. As soon as I told him about my sister-in-law's disappearance, he's been frantically searching for her everywhere. It's been years; it's not that easy to find her now." He paused, then added regretfully, "Actually, it's all my fault. When my brother joined the army, I was afraid people would gossip about my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's affair, so I moved here to avoid suspicion. I didn't take good care of her; I'm so sorry, brother."
Mo Xi and the naturally outgoing man exchanged a glance and asked in unison, "Is your older brother injured in the shoulder? Are you two brothers surnamed Luo?"
The hunter asked in surprise, "How did you two know? Did you run into my elder brother outside?"
"No, I just overheard a few soldiers mentioning it," Mo Xi said.
"Alas. My elder brother served in the army for so many years, only to end up wounded and discharged. His wife has also disappeared. He's over thirty, yet he doesn't even have a child." The hunter sighed softly, then added, "I didn't dare say this to my brother. My sister-in-law might have already been harmed by that female ghost. The older generation often says that this female ghost probably died before giving birth to her own child, so she's particularly jealous of pregnant women and specifically seeks their lives. My brother passed away while my sister-in-law was pregnant."
"What's this about female ghosts specifically targeting pregnant women to take their lives?" the overly familiar person asked.
"In earlier years, men, women, and children died mysteriously in the village. Later, for a while, most of the deaths were of pregnant women, and their deaths were extremely gruesome. They were cut open and their unborn children were taken out and killed." The hunter's voice was hoarse as he spoke, whether from cold or fear.
The familiar-looking woman said, "That's strange. Everyone says ghosts are afraid of pregnant women. Because every time a pregnant woman gives birth, it means a ghost in the underworld is reincarnated, so pregnant women have the ability to ward off evil and break spells. But once a pregnant woman gives birth, her yang energy is greatly weakened, which makes it possible for her to attract ghosts. How dare this female ghost specifically target pregnant women who haven't given birth?"
The hunter listened with puzzlement, but seeing that the two had listened to his rambling for so long without showing the slightest fear, he knew that the man and woman he had encountered in the snow were no ordinary people. Seeing that it was late, he carried some tattered cotton wool for them and returned to his house.
Without saying a word, the man lay down on the ground. The thatched hut was very simple, and the ground was just dirt. In the dry winter, the dirt was cold and hard.
Mo Xi lay in bed, pondering the hunter's words. Could the desolation of Fenglingdu be related to the sparse population here?
Suddenly, the familiar face lying on the ground said, "How about we go to Yanwangpo tomorrow?"
“Alright.” Mo Xi usually disliked meddling in other people’s business, but since the desolation of Fenglingdu was related to Chengying, and she was determined to get this sword, it wouldn’t hurt to visit it along the way.
The two did not speak to each other all night.
Yanwangpo
( ) These two men had exactly the same sleeping habits. It wasn't that they weren't asleep, since their breathing was much longer and more even than when they were awake. They were also sound asleep, as neither of them moved an inch throughout the night. If they hadn't both been sleeping on their sides, they would have looked like corpses.
The next day. Morning.
Mo Xi and the two naturally outgoing people got up early. The hunter next door heard the noise and got up as well, knocking on the door and entering shortly afterward.
"Gentlemen, we really don't have much to offer, but these are fresh out of the pot. You can eat them to warm yourselves up before you set off." With that, he handed over a large, chipped, rough porcelain bowl containing four steaming cornbread buns.
He politely accepted the shovel, saying, "Thank you, sir. May I borrow your shovel?"