A bizarre resurgence begins with a pact made by a weasel.

The mandrill, carrying a large wooden bucket, hopped and skipped to the stream beside the courtyard.

Being a mountain spirit, even with its limbs severed, it was able to move freely again in no time. Although its posture was somewhat strange, it could walk and jump.

It scooped up a bucket of water, then pulled a handful of blood from its wound and let it seep into the bucket.

"Follow me."

It crossed the stream and came to the south bank.

As they moved forward, they splashed water from the stream in the bucket.

Xie Qing followed cautiously behind it.

After the stream water splashed onto the ground, it turned into wisps of mist that drifted around the two of them.

As they walked further, the mist grew thicker and thicker, eventually outlining a hazy, white passageway. The passageway offered no sense of direction, only the sound of flowing water.

"This is the way of God."

"It connects all the cemeteries in this mountain forest."

The mandrill urged:

"Quickly, drip your blood; it will guide us to your mother's grave."

Xie Qing made no move.

Instead, he tried to stick his arm out of the tunnel.

hiss!

A slippery sensation swept across the back of his hand, like someone licking his skin with their tongue. Xie Qing was startled and quickly withdrew his hand. As he moved, the flowing air unexpectedly created another path beside him.

Xie Qing looked inside and saw at the end of the road, a burly man with his feet scratched was lying on a grave and licking his lips seductively.

grass!!!

He quickly gave the middle finger and hurried forward.

"Don't provoke them," the mountain demon said sternly. "In the last hundred years, many corpses and spirits in these mountains have become spirits. If it's a powerful one, you might have already been dragged away by it."

"Blood, quickly draw blood."

Xie Qing remained unmoved.

"What will happen if we don't release it?"

"Then we will all be lost in this sacred path."

Xie Qing was still worried.

Blood has always been an extremely important medium.

In this world full of strange and wonderful skills, giving away blood indiscriminately undoubtedly involves taking a huge risk.

"Young master, if we don't bleed out soon, we'll both die here."

"Go ahead and put it down."

Xie Qing replied dismissively.

"Let me see where your parents' graves are first."

"It's a good opportunity to give your hands and feet to them to nourish them."

The mandrill trembled with rage.

He had never seen such a vicious person.

It was at this moment that

Jingle Bell!

Jingle Bell!

A bell rang out.

follow closely,

Ding Ding Deng!

The heavy clatter of horses' hooves echoed one after another.

The fog in the passageway churned violently, and Xie Qing looked into the distance and saw what appeared to be a troop of cavalry galloping toward them.

The mandrill knelt down without a sound. As the sound of hooves grew closer, the cavalry's speed seemed to gradually slow down, and he could even hear the sound of weapons clashing.

The next moment, the passageway formed by white mist was cut off by darkness, and more than thirty cavalrymen in black armor stopped in front of Xie Qing.

【Ding! 】

When the mountain lord travels, all spirits retreat.

[Level: Unknown]

unknown!?

Xie Qing immediately knelt on one knee, staring at the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, Xie Qing saw black hooves approaching little by little. His heart sank slightly. In the gloating eyes of the mandrill, the cold blade pressed against his chin and slowly lifted his head.

Xie Qing lowered her eyelids, letting the other person do as they pleased.

After scrutinizing him for a long time, the other person's magnetic voice finally descended from above:

"Times have changed, so why perform such a grand ceremony?"

「!?」

Eavesdropping, huh!

Xie Qing immediately thought of the general who was rumored to have been torn apart by chariots.

Only a stray dog ​​would care about the changes of the times.

He appeared respectful:

"The alternation of the old and the new is a natural phenomenon."

but,

The difference between strength and weakness, however, remains constant throughout history.

"Xie Qing is not kneeling before the past, but before you, sir."

"Hmph, all talk and no action."

The knight sheathed his longsword, and Xie Qing finally mustered the courage to examine the cavalry. They were all tall and muscular, wearing heavy armor, except for their helmets, which were unusually ornate, like a combination of a hood and a crown.

The lead knight was handsome, with a broad back and a powerful build. He rode a black warhorse with antlers, from which silver bells were tied. The sound of the bells just now came from these bells.

Behind the leader sat a woman dressed in a red palace gown, adorned with a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, her face obscured by a beaded curtain.

Where are you going?

The woman's voice was ethereal and cool, and as she spoke, Xie Qing felt that everyone's attention was drawn to her.

"Du Shenge's Tomb, I want to go to Du Shenge's Tomb."

The woman raised her arm, and thirty armored riders spurred their horses to make way.

Her pale arm slipped out from the wide sleeves of her robe, a stark contrast to her long fingernails adorned with balsam flowers. She pointed eastward: "Go forward. At the end of the road lies what you are waiting for."

In an instant, the mist surged, and a brand new passageway took shape.

"Thank you for your help."

Xie Qing looked up and expressed his gratitude.

"I wonder what kind of people you two are..."

Before he finished speaking, the warhorse in front stomped its foot, kicking up sand and gravel.

"It's time to go."

The mountain lord pulled on the reins.

"The bear is waiting for me to attend his feast!"

At his command, the cavalrymen regrouped and ran forward in unison.

Xie Qing slowly stood up only after the receding black and red had completely disappeared into the mist.

"Young master, wait for me."

The mandrill concealed its shock and quickly followed Xie Qing.

distance,

The mountain lord, who was galloping on his horse, suddenly chuckled.

"That kid was cursing me in his mind just now."

"What a hypocrite."

Swish!

Thirty white blades were drawn simultaneously.

"Take it back."

The mountain lord rebuked him.

He turned to look at the woman in palace attire. She lifted the beaded curtain, revealing pale cheeks adorned with pearls. She lowered her face and pressed it against the cold armor. The mountain lord's gaze softened.

Let's go!

·······

Xie Qing traveled eastward.

The moment I stepped out of the passageway, I felt a sudden dizziness.

After he regained his footing, he realized that he had come to a valley.

The valley is damp and prone to obstructing the flow of qi.

A stream of turbid water flows from the southeast and west into the center of the valley, where it gathers in a depression to form a pool of stagnant, bluish-brown water that emits a strong fishy smell. In the center of the pool, a round well about ten feet in diameter rises upwards.

The design reminded Xie Qing of an old Beijing hot pot on Earth—a chimney rising from a water-filled boiler.

Xie Qing scanned his surroundings.

Despite the presence of flowing water, the valley was surprisingly barren, with only jagged rocks and withered trees, devoid of any sign of life.

"Is this Du Shenge's grave?"

The mandrill laughed and said:

"To be precise, the cemetery is in that well."

"Immersed in water!?"

"good."

Even with Xie Qing's limited knowledge of feng shui, he knew that water flooding the coffin was a very bad omen.

He grabbed a few pieces of dead wood and threw them into the pool. Then, like a dragonfly skimming the water, he stepped on the dead wood to the edge of the well, with the mandrill close behind.

He stepped onto the bluestone and looked inside. He saw that the well was pitch black. Xie Qing threw a stone into the well, and soon heard a rumbling echo. There was no water in the well, but it was not very deep either.

"That's a mechanism; there's a hidden layer every ten feet in the well."

Mandrill's Opening Explanation:

"Please let me go first to open the sealed interlayer for you. This is also why Xie Lan arranged for me to guard this mountain."

Xie Qing nodded.

The mandrill burrowed inwards.

Before long, a metallic sound came from the well, followed by a series of heavy friction sounds.

"Young master, please come in."

Xie Qing's nose twitched.

He gave a slight sneer, then covered his mouth and nose and quickly retreated towards the shore.

"Young Master, Young Master!"

"Hurry inside, the treasure is about to expire!!"

Accompanied by the mandrill's calls, a thick, bluish-brown plume of smoke erupted from the well like a volcanic eruption. It shot high into the air, cooled and condensed in mid-air, turning into fine raindrops that drifted down.

Raindrops splashed into the pool, like sulfuric acid reacting with water to suddenly burst into a pungent white fumes, and when they landed on the rocks, they turned them into a puddle of liquid.

After a long silence in the well, a cold shout came again.

"Young Master, are you... afraid?"