Chapter 58 Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will protect you.

Upon entering Daughter Village, Lang Jiuchuan sensed a subtle shift, as if the maple tree they had just passed served as a threshold separating this peach orchard from the outside world, relaxing her mind considerably.

Even Shen Qinghe and the others felt as though they could finally breathe a little easier.

The further they walked toward the center of the village, the more they heard the uniquely charming and crisp laughter of young maidens. Following the sound, they saw three girls playing with a colorful feathered shuttlecock in front of a wooden house. Noticing the arrivals, they all stopped and stared at them with large, limpid eyes.

Among the guards were some unmarried men. Seeing that these maidens showed not a shred of maidenly shyness and instead boldly stared back at them, their earlobes inexplicably flushed crimson.

Shen Qinghe gave a heavy cough and cast a sidelong glance. The men hastily withdrew their gaze and looked toward Lang Jiuchuan, little knowing that she was enjoying the view far more than they were, even offering a critique.

"True to its name, Daughter Village. These lasses are naturally radiant, possessing a pure spirituality tinged with a hint of wildness. Quite alluring."

The crowd: "..."

Do you even hear what you are saying? You are a young woman yourself!

Lang Jiuchuan added another remark: "To die beneath the peony flower, even as a ghost one remains romantic—that probably describes this very sentiment."

Hearing this, the group suddenly grasped the implication. Their legs tightened involuntarily, and they dared not spare the maidens another glance, as terrifying as if those girls were amorous, seductive ghosts waiting to snare their souls.

Lang Jiuchuan then spotted a dilapidated wooden house. A woman clad in dark red stood at the doorway holding a child, staring blankly straight ahead with numb eyes.

In the dark corner of the doorway sat an elderly person with drooping head, utterly lifeless.

Lang Jiuchuan heard the clinking of chains. Looking toward the west, amidst a swathe of black mist, a soul-reaping emissary dressed in a black robe walked out from within. The emissary drifted toward the old man, throwing out a soul-snaring chain that instantly looped around him.

Thud.

The old man collapsed to the ground, his soul already ensnared by the emissary's chain. Turning as if to leave, the emissary seemed to sense a gaze upon him. With a cold and gloomy look, he met Lang Jiuchuan's eyes.

The soul-reaping emissary: "!"

Recognizing Lang Jiuchuan, the emissary's expression changed instantly. Dragging the old man, he darted into the black mist in a flash.

Lang Jiuchuan blinked and sighed, "Truly, people walk and tea goes cold, ghosts walk and ghosts are heartless. When we meet, not even a greeting is offered."

Walking beside her, Shen Qinghe heard this muttered remark and asked, "What did you say?"

"Nothing much." Lang Jiuchuan looked back at the numb woman. When she heard the commotion caused by the old man, she had paused, stared fixedly for a long while, and then, as if finding a sense of release, began shouting loudly at the doorway.

She spoke in the local dialect of their village, which Lang Jiuchuan could not understand, but seeing the doors of the surrounding houses open and people coming out toward this side, she guessed what had happened.

Without meddling further in the idle business, Lang Jiuchuan followed Shen Qinghe upward.

Ahead, Elder Ke had evidently heard the commotion as well. Walking down expressionlessly, he came up to them and fixed a cold stare on Lang Jiuchuan.

Lang Jiuchuan flashed a smile. "Someone died."

Elder Ke clutched the bone flute hidden in his sleeve, looked at Shen Qinghe, and said, "My lord has already visited the Mountain God Temple, so this old man will not act as a guide. Remember not to act presumptuously at the Mountain God Temple, otherwise..."

He, too, wore an unfathomable smile, leaving his sentence unfinished before walking past them.

"With the situation still unclear, why bother provoking him?" Shen Qinghe asked with a trace of helplessness.

Lang Jiuchuan replied, "If we don't provoke him, how would he make a move?"

A knot tightened in Shen Qinghe's heart. "Is he the heretic you mentioned? Is he manipulating the evil forces?"

"He doesn't have that kind of capability." Manipulation might be an overstatement, but he was certainly tied to the evil, and at the very least, he was not innocent.

The group continued their ascent toward the Mountain God Temple. Suddenly, a woman of sixty or seventy rushed toward them. Her teeth were nearly all gone, her white hair was a tangled mess, and she wore ragged, thin garments.

"Sinful, all sinful. It is the Red Maple Village people committing sins that caused all the men to die out." The old woman chuckled, sucking on her finger as she swayed her body and looked at them. "The Mountain God will rage, you will all die, you will die..."

As she spoke, her expression turned to one of terror as she hugged her head and screamed, "It's not my fault, it's them! Honglian, Honglian..."

Lang Jiuchuan and Shen Qinghe exchanged glances. She stepped forward and asked gently, "Who is Honglian?"

"Honglian, beautiful." With a sharp cry, the old woman dropped to the ground and rolled about. "It's none of my business, not me."

Shen Qinghe tapped his belt, his mind racing.

"Granny, why did you run out?" A young girl rushed over quickly, casting a wary glance at the people before her, then pulled up the rolling old woman and said, "Granny, back to the house. It's cold."

"Eat, eat."

"Alright, alright. Aduo will cook sweet potatoes for you." Coaxing her, the young girl glanced back at Shen Qinghe and the others, pressed her lips together, and lowered her voice. "You should leave quickly. It's going to be dark soon."

Dark?

It had only just passed noon, and the Hour of Shen had barely begun. Why would it be getting dark already?

They looked up at the sky and froze in bewilderment. What was happening? Just a moment ago it had been quite bright, yet now the sky was growing somewhat dim, and suddenly it was so biting cold that frost was even clinging to their eyebrows.

Lang Jiuchuan's eyes turned frosty.

It was not the sky that was darkening, but malevolent Qi. It was spreading across the top of the village, attempting to blot out the sun and sky.

With a flick of her wrist, Lang Jiuchuan summoned the Judge's Brush into her palm, motioned for the men to step forward, and swiftly drew a talismanic rune across their foreheads.

The group shivered violently, instantly feeling their minds clear. When they looked at her hand, however, nothing was there. Was it just an illusion?

"What is it?" Shen Qinghe was the calmest of them all, merely rubbing his arms.

Having just exerted her cultivation, Lang Jiuchuan looked pale as she said, "Entering its territory is like walking into a tiger's den. Without vigilance, one will be devoured. You lot shouldn't be too reckless. But rest assured, my lord, I will certainly protect you."

Shen Qinghe touched his own ribs, feeling as though the thing she intended to protect was that stubborn backbone she always talked about.

At that very moment, a majestic tiger roar echoed through the air, deafening and enough to make everyone shudder.

"Are there beasts here too?" Luo Tian stepped up beside Lang Jiuchuan, scanning the surroundings vigilantly with his hand resting continuously on the curved blade at his waist.

Elder Ke, who was currently dealing with matters regarding the passing of his clansman, also heard the tiger roar. Emerging from his house, he frowned, a sense of unease gripping his heart as his lips pressed into a thin line.

In the spiritual realm, Lang Jiuchuan summoned Jiang Chi. Having been gone for so long, it must have finished scouting everything by now, right?

At that moment, Jiang Chi was in the deep valley's precipice devouring the fierce, malevolent Qi. It let out a satisfied burp, and upon hearing Lang Jiuchuan's summon, it licked its paw, cast a disdainful glance at the piles of deep white bones at the cliff's bottom, and leaped upward. Its spiritual consciousness scaled the mountain like a physical entity, arriving before a cavern entrance.

A massive surge of demonic and evil Qi rushed straight toward it.

Oh no, it was an ambush!

"Damnable woman, come quickly and save me! The Mountain God Temple!" Jiang Chi let out another tiger roar, unleashing a powerful wave of lethal intent from its spiritual consciousness that directly struck the evil Qi.