My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 396 Forbidden Land
Jiang Xinghuo looked intently at the black shadow on the tree branch. From its appearance alone, it looked somewhat like a monkey in the mountains, but its face vaguely resembled that of a human. It had a pair of sharp claws, and was holding a burnt animal leg and biting it, while constantly making strange laughs.

"Mountain ghost..."

Seeing the figure crouching on the tree, Jiang Xinghuo narrowed his eyes and prepared to take action.

A small pupil also slowly emerged from the right eye, and corresponding information appeared in Tathagata's field of vision.

"Mountain Ghost (Excellent), made from the corpse of a mandrill, and bred with the secret method of the Altar God Religion. Not only is it extremely powerful and invulnerable to swords and guns, but it also understands human nature, and its claws and fangs are extremely poisonous."

Altar God Cult?
Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyebrows slightly. He had actually seen this name once when he was exploring the game.

It is said that it is also a big force in the secular world, scattered among the people and in the countryside. The ghost and god worshipped in the religion is "Altar Goddess", but he is not very clear about the more specific information.

But the Peach Blossom Spring is a small cave opened up by the Kitchen God, so there shouldn’t be any other monsters or demons existing there. So how could these mountain ghosts appear here?

Jiang Xinghuo was thinking about these things when he heard a scream that resounded through the night sky. The mountain ghost crouching on the tree branch actually abandoned the burnt animal leg in his hand, and like a strange giant bird, it waved its sharp claws and swooped down towards Jiang Xinghuo!

Moreover, the speed was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, the mountain ghost was already close, and a strong, smelly wind blew in his face!

next moment.

Wind and thunder surge!

A brilliant white ray of blazing lightning spread out, quickly interweaving into a huge lightning net that wrapped the mountain ghost's body.

But in a moment, the mountain ghost turned into a piece of charcoal without even uttering a scream.

A slight mountain breeze blew by, and the mountain ghost's body completely disappeared, leaving only a little black bone residue.

But Jiang Xinghuo found something shiny among the mountain ghost's bones.

"Huh? What is this?"

Jiang Xinghuo frowned slightly, took out an iron claw from his magic bag, put it on his hand, and then dared to pick up the thing.

The mountain ghost's body contains a deadly poison. Although he is resistant to the toxin, he doesn't want to get it on his hands. This iron claw can come in handy.

This was the equipment he had found when he was opening a coffin in Kanto to gamble for treasure. There was nothing particularly surprising about it, its only feature was that it was sturdy and durable.

Jiang Xinghuo picked up the glittering object and took a closer look, only to find that it was a rusty piece of iron with a strange talisman engraved on it.

"Altar God Corpse Control Talisman (Excellent Item), one of the 18 secret talismans of the Altar God Cult. If you implant it into a dead body, you can issue various commands to the body."

"The corpse-controlling talisman of the Altar God Cult is different from the corpse-controlling talismans of other sects. The corpse controlled by this talisman is no different from a living person. Not only can it reproduce on its own, but it can also automatically repair the damage to the body."

Looking at the information on his retina, Jiang Xinghuo was also a little surprised. He also understood the methods of driving and controlling corpses, but compared with the altar talisman, it was a bit dwarfed by the giant.

However, Jiang Xinghuo was not very interested in the talisman and just threw it into the storage space casually.

Now, I have finally gotten rid of all the redundant skills. I can no longer learn every one I see. I have to be selective.

Deal with this mountain ghost.

Jiang Xinghuo continued walking along the mountain road. The strange laughter coming from afar became louder and louder, as if there were many mountain ghosts partying.

The smell of alcohol and grease in the air became stronger and stronger.

Soon, Jiang Xinghuo arrived at the top of the mountain behind. Looking down from the top, he could see an open flat land below the mountain. Hundreds of mountain ghosts gathered at the foot of the mountain and laughed wildly. Many large wild animals were roasting on the bonfire.

However, what attracted Jiang Xinghuo the most was the dilapidated temple behind the group of mountain ghosts. The temple had been abandoned for a long time. With the curling firelight on the open space, one could vaguely see three big characters "Kitchen God Temple" written on the plaque of the temple.

Several mountain ghosts kept coming in and out carrying wine and meat, as if there was some important person in the temple.

"It's really the Kitchen God Temple..."

Jiang Xinghuo narrowed his eyes and confirmed his previous guess that after the Kitchen God's disciples fled here, they also built a Kitchen God Temple here.

At that time, these mountain ghosts should not have existed, otherwise the Kitchen God Temple would not have been built here. The village was the best choice. After all, someone had to manage the temple. You couldn't just build a temple and then leave it there, letting these inhuman monsters destroy it.

Therefore, there should have been no mountain ghosts here when the temple was first built. However, for some unknown reason, the mountain ghosts appeared in Taoyuan and occupied the Kitchen God Temple on the back mountain, which is the village’s ancestral temple forbidden area.

This time can be traced back to before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and even to the era of the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms.

Because according to the old man, mountain ghosts have existed since his grandfather's generation.

Perhaps, these mountain ghosts were brought in by the fisherman described by Mr. Wu Liu in Peach Blossom Spring.

The timing is right anyway.

Jiang Xinghuo hid in the dark and pondered these things, and then looked at the mountain ghosts below. There were hundreds of mountain ghosts here. He guessed that this was the mountain ghosts' nest.

But it is not an easy task to kill all these mountain ghosts in one go.

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a long time and found that the simplest way was to incite thunder from the sky to carry out carpet cleaning.

This is a quick and convenient way to do it. With my current magical power and the power of limb splicing, it is not a particularly difficult thing to do.

But the key to the problem lies in the Kitchen God Temple.

This temple is an ancient building that is thousands of years old. In addition, no one has repaired and maintained it, so it has long become a "dilapidated building".

Not to mention being struck directly by the thunder, even if the thunder fell on the mountain ghost nearby, it would directly collapse the Kitchen God Temple.

"Alas, I can only attack head-on... Let's try Xiaoyao Mengdie first... and see if it works..."

Jiang Xinghuo sucked his teeth and sighed softly. The acupuncture points on his body sparkled, and the crystal clear Xiaoyao Mengdie gently flapped its wings and flew downwards.

Xiaoyao Mengdie's innate ability can drag people into an illusory dream. Now, these mountain ghosts are completely unprepared, and it is a perfect opportunity to attack.

I don’t know whether Xiaoyao Mengdie has any effect on the monsters and demons that have evolved from these corpses.

The night is dark.

The body of Xiaoyao Mengdie was almost invisible, and with the bonfire jumping across the cave, no one noticed its trace at all.

Under Jiang Xinghuo's control, Xiaoyao Mengdie flew behind the mountain ghosts, and soon some of them fell into a coma.

"That works!" Jiang Xinghuo's eyes lit up. Xiaoyao Mengdie really worked. It seemed that he could save himself some trouble.

But the good times didn't last long, as the mountain ghosts also noticed something was wrong. One or two of them might have fainted from drunkenness, but when hundreds of their companions fell asleep, something was not right.

The intelligence of these mountain ghosts is not much less than that of humans, and they immediately became alert. The larger mountain ghosts in the middle should be the leaders, and they immediately let out angry roars.

"boom!"

A mountain ghost leader had sharp and vicious eyes. He just caught a glimpse of Xiaoyao Mengdie's figure flashing by, and directly swung his sharp claws at Xiaoyao Mengdie, just in time to smash a huge rock.

Seeing this, Jiang Xinghuo no longer hid anything, and the other acupoints on his body began to glow.

The Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Devil, the Black and White Impermanence, and the Dragon-Swallowing Silver Mother, six huge monsters flew out of the cave, carrying with them a tremendous negative energy like a tsunami, and killed the numerous mountain ghosts in the open space.

At this time, Xiaoyao Mengdie lost its place to perform, flapped its two glass-like wings and flew back, entering the acupoint to rest and recuperate.

Xiaoyao Mengdie's abilities are limited. When dealing with one person, he will naturally use all kinds of methods. But if he drags a hundred or so mountain ghosts into his dream, the cost will be extremely high.

Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyes and looked down the mountain. Although the mountain ghosts had the advantage in numbers, the six big guys were too ferocious.

Except for those mountain ghost leaders who could barely resist, the rest of the mountain ghosts were no match at all.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Jiang Xinghuo slid down the hillside and came to the Kitchen God Temple.

But those mountain ghosts seemed to be possessed, roaring and rushing over, trying to stop him.

Jiang Xinghuo just waved his hand casually, and a blazing lightning spread out, killing several mountain ghosts on the spot.

The remaining mountain ghosts were also stopped by the Black and White Impermanence. The two big guys blocked the outside of the Kitchen God Temple like door gods, not allowing anyone else to cross the line.

When Jiang Xinghuo walked into the Kitchen God Temple, the first thing that caught his eye was the worldly antiquity standing in the corner.

shrine.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the dusty and dilapidated shrine, walked over and placed his hand on it, and a voice immediately appeared in his mind.

"You have lit up the shrine of Peach Blossom Spring."

"The transmission function is blocked..."

"This shrine is located outside the secular service area. The teleportation function cannot be activated for the time being. Please wait for the subsequent version to be opened..."

This is another shrine located outside the service area.

Jiang Xinghuo now understood how the Medicine King came to Peach Blossom Spring. He must have been teleported here through the shrine.

But now the shrine is closed.

Afterwards, Jiang Xinghuo looked around the temple again. When he moved his gaze to the statue of the Kitchen God on the altar, he shuddered and almost cried out.

A dying bald old man is curled up in the arms of the Kitchen God statue. His body is like a dry skeleton with only a layer of skin covering the bones. His breath is weak and his eyes are half open and half closed, as if he may die at any time. Perhaps because too much time has passed, the old man's flesh and bones have grown into the Kitchen God statue.

The two are indistinguishable from each other and look extremely terrifying.

"who?"

Jiang Xinghuo shouted in a low voice.

The old man, who was barely breathing, barely opened his eyes. After seeing Jiang Xinghuo, a light flashed in his cloudy eyes, and then he immediately looked at the shrine standing by the wall.

When he saw that the shrine was not activated, the light in his eyes quickly dissipated, and he became old again, and much weaker than before.

"I... I don't know... who I am... Please kill me... Please... kill me..."

There was a hint of pleading in the old man's turbid eyes.

Jiang Xinghuo also expressed his understanding of his thoughts. If a person becomes like the other person, it would be better for him to just die.

But Jiang Xinghuo came to solve the problem, and he would not do anything to this person until the problem was solved.

He told the old man the purpose of his visit. After hearing it, the old man's expression twisted, as if he was crying and laughing, as if he had seen something funny.

"I... I am... the Great Elder of the Altar God Cult... Now that you know my identity... you can kill me... and let me be free, right?"

The old man's breath was extremely weak and his speech was intermittent.

Jiang Xinghuo felt it was strenuous to listen, so he simply used the dead tree coming back to life to give him a sigh of relief through the air. At least his words didn't seem so forced.

"You are the great elder of the Altar God Cult? Then those mountain ghosts outside are your masterpieces?"

Hearing the old man's words, Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyebrows, turned around and looked outside. Those mountain ghosts had been almost cleared out. Although the remaining few were still holding on, the Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Demons were just playing tricks on them.

"It was me who did it. This is why I ended up like this. To use the words of your world, I am tying myself up in knots."

The old man's spirit had recovered a little, and he was not panting so much when he spoke. Perhaps it was because he had not communicated with others for a long time. Before Jiang Xinghuo could even open his mouth to ask, he told her everything like a bamboo tube pouring beans.

The story was similar to what the fire-removing woman said. After the Kitchen God mysteriously disappeared, his disciples were hunted down, and the Altar God Sect was one of them.

This old man was the great elder of the Altar God Sect. By chance, he discovered the shrine leading to the Peach Blossom Spring in the secular world, and successfully arrived there, where he massacred the surviving followers of the Kitchen God.

However, Peach Blossom Spring is a small cave opened up by the Kitchen God, which has a strong repulsive effect on other lineages of Dharma, so the old man cannot stay here for a long time.

Therefore, he transformed all the mandrills under his command into mountain ghosts, intending to have these mountain ghosts slaughter all the descendants of the Kitchen God's disciples.

As a result, something went wrong along the way. Before dying, the ancestors of Taoyuan Village used a secret method to activate the statue of the Kitchen God, forcibly trapping him here. They also deliberately spared his life, wanting him to die slowly in long despair.

The old man, who initially held out hope of escaping, gradually became desperate, and because of the effect of the Kitchen God's secret method, it was impossible for him to commit suicide even if he wanted to.

Of course, the most important thing is that he subconsciously does not want to die. He hopes that one day someone will find the shrine leading to the Peach Blossom Spring and rescue him from despair.

But in the blink of an eye, thousands of years have passed.

(End of this chapter)