Chapter Fifty: Capturing Ghosts on Turtle Mountain and Meeting an Old Friend

Shadowy mountains and dark waters, jagged rocks looming.

“Hurry up, Senior Sister!” The young girl hopped along the rugged path, urging the woman in blue behind her.

Li Jingxun smiled gently, her tone calm. “It’s not that I should hurry, it’s that you should slow down. Wandering in Turtle Mountain, be careful not to lose your way home.”

She gazed toward the distant Turtle Mountain, shrouded in black mist and heavy clouds. This was a place of great calamity; one careless step and one might never return.

Zhou Yan’er declared with righteous fervor, “Senior Sister! We cultivators of virtue take it upon ourselves to vanquish monsters and uphold the righteous path. The vengeful spirits here wreak havoc, kidnapping women from the villages. If we don’t hurry, something terrible could happen.”

Zhou Yan’er was from the Sect of Virtue, as was Li Jingxun, both belonging to the same lineage. Innocent and naïve, Zhou Yan’er was making her first journey down the mountain, and Li Jingxun accompanied her out of concern for her safety. The two wandered the mortal realm, and accidentally encountered an old woman attempting suicide.

Upon inquiry, they learned the woman’s young daughter had been seized by villagers to serve as a sacrificial offering. Despair drove the mother to attempt to end her life.

Zhou Yan’er volunteered boldly, promising to rescue the old woman’s daughter. Thus, the two sisters set out for Turtle Mountain, not far away.

Turtle Mountain resembled a great tortoise bearing a monument. Its undulating terrain had once made it a treasured burial site for ancestors. But decades ago, a vengeful ghost appeared out of nowhere, plaguing the area. Fierce winds and black clouds gathered, and the mountain became a place villagers dared not enter, even for burials.

Recently, the vengeful ghost developed a lustful desire, demanding the villagers below provide a virtuous woman for a ghostly marriage. If denied, he threatened to destroy their ancestral graves. Left with no choice, the villagers sent Old Lady Qiu’s young daughter up the mountain.

A ghost marriage was originally a custom for grieving parents of unmarried, early-dead daughters, pairing them posthumously in hopes of companionship in the afterlife. But the ghost’s demand meant killing the Qiu girl, seizing her soul for his own company.

Fearless and eager, Zhou Yan’er dragged Li Jingxun to Turtle Mountain to catch the ghost.

As they entered the mountain, Li Jingxun suddenly sensed an unnatural chill and quickly called Zhou Yan’er to a halt. “Wait. Something’s wrong with the climate here.”

Zhou Yan’er was unconcerned. “Mountains are always chilly. You said this place is a gathering of ghostly yin; unusual weather is to be expected.”

“No. This is the profound yin summoned by a cultivator’s art.” Li Jingxun’s expression grew grave as she took out her Jade Book of Virtue. A golden page flew from the treasured tome, circling the two, emitting blue smoke and radiant light, forming a protective barrier against the creeping gloom.

Li Jingxun then looked up toward Hopeless Peak.

Above Hopeless Peak, wind and cloud surged, frost like a dragon, ice and snow entwined with demonic winds and dark clouds in endless turmoil.

“Is there a cultivator battling on Turtle Mountain?” Li Jingxun held her Jade Book of Virtue. Another golden page flew out, and a mystical technique activated, manifesting a pair of yin-yang swimming fish above her head.

The fish formed a taiji, swirling profound white and dark energies, with divine light and auspicious clouds continually emanating. Li Jingxun pointed. “Go!”

The taiji diagram soared above Turtle Mountain, casting down five-colored radiance. It swept across the mountain, dispersing demonic clouds and chilling winds, revealing two figures locked in combat.

This taiji jade diagram was a secret passed down only within the Sect of Virtue, their fundamental treasure. The sect studied the “True Classic of Virtue,” cultivating both virtue and the Dao, perfecting their conduct and harmonizing with heaven and earth. Ultimately, they sought unity with the Dao itself. The taiji diagram was a profound tool for observing the root nature of all beings, discerning good from evil, right from wrong.

The taiji enveloped the two atop the mountain. On the left stood a figure with a single horn, crimson face, black teeth, clad in corpse robes and wielding a bone hammer, surrounded by gusts of demonic fog. Above his head hovered a gray, dissipating cloud of luck, entangled with countless vengeful souls—a mountain of blood debts.

A closer look revealed his corpse robe was made of human skin. He’d taken a patch from the chest, sewn together a thousand skins to craft what was known as the “Thousandfold Blood-Resonance Spirit Robe.” His bone hammer was forged from the skulls of six boys born in yin hours and six girls born in yang hours; twelve skulls, twelve celestial stems, six yin and six yang, refined into a ghostly weapon called the “Six Ding Yin-Yang Nether Hammer.”

These two wicked objects alone stirred murderous winds and exposed chilling malice, with countless cultivators perishing on Turtle Mountain.

“This man’s luck is exhausted, burdened by karmic debts—surely the vengeful ghost king of this place.” Li Jingxun pondered, then looked to the other combatant—and recognized him.

Tall and graceful, clad in azure robes, golden crown upon his head and silk sash at his waist. Twenty-four emerald pearls gleamed atop his head. He summoned heavenly thunder, unleashing profound yin divine lightning that froze everything, ice pillars and frost exploding, forcing the vengeful ghost back step by step. The merit light surrounding him was even richer than Li Jingxun’s own, and it was this protective merit that made him fearless of the ghost’s malice.

“Qinghong Senior Brother?” Li Jingxun exclaimed in surprise. “Why is he here?”

Zhou Yan’er, hearing this, quickly asked, “Senior Brother? He’s from our Sect of Virtue?”

“No, he’s an independent cultivator of the Mystic Gate, though also of our Supreme branch.” Li Jingxun explained, and Zhou Yan’er clapped her hands, eager to rush forward. “Since a fellow cultivator is here, he must also be slaying demons for the righteous path. Senior Sister, let’s go help!”

“Wait…” Li Jingxun quickly pulled her back. “You always make trouble. Qinghong Senior Brother has the upper hand; if we interfere, we’ll only hinder him. His thunder arts may not restrain the ghost, but they do affect living beings like us.”

Li Jingxun was puzzled: When did Qinghong Senior Brother learn this thunder art? It appeared to be derived from the Gui Water Divine Thunder, but colder and more deathly, similar to the Ice Soul Divine Thunder. Such thunder was effective against the living, but less so against ghosts and spirits. How could Senior Brother be so unwise as to use it?

As the thunder art raged, Hopeless Peak was transformed into a domain of pure white snow, ice drifting with the wind, the mountain shining with silver, a beauty beyond compare. Only Ji Feichen’s immense power allowed him to continually suppress the vengeful ghost, preventing any counterattack.

Li Jingxun watched a while, then leafed through her Jade Book of Virtue and produced a page inscribed with a true verse: “The gate of the mysterious female is the root of heaven and earth; continuous and enduring, used without depletion.” The page floated out, forming a portal of golden radiance above Hopeless Peak, with ancient sigils appearing, vast vitality slowly spilling forth.

“Is this a Sect of Virtue technique?” Ji Feichen sensed something, glancing down the mountain to see Li Jingxun performing her art.

Li Jingxun’s keen insight quickly discerned the ghost’s origin and the proper countermeasure.

“This vengeful ghost is born of deathly energy, most fearful of vitality, most terrified of life force. This portal—must be the Gate of the Mysterious Female?” Ji Feichen held back some of his power, secretly assessing the technique.

The Gate of the Mysterious Female differed from the All-Wonders Gate used by Lu Xuanji not long before.

The All-Wonders Gate, mysterious upon mysterious, belonged to the Profound Dao, the backbone of the Great Dao. Immortal Dao was known as the Mystic Gate, and the “mystic” character was derived from this.

The Gate of the Mysterious Female, however, was the gate of creation, the gate of vitality—the origin of all things and the root of heaven’s way. Enduring and ceaseless, forever generating. Thus, Li Jingxun’s portal was the best counter to ghostly arts.

Once the portal appeared, its grand golden radiance and vitality suppressed Turtle Mountain. A divine dragon danced, a colorful phoenix soared. The dragon breathed the breath of longevity, the phoenix fanned the energy of immortality. The qilin bestowed auspicious virtue, the turtle offered blessings of longevity.

These dragon, phoenix, turtle, and qilin were the four auspicious spirits of the world. Their manifestation in the sky instantly dispelled all ghostly energy.

The vengeful ghost let out a shrill scream, curling into a ball in the golden light, his ghostly aura dissipating.

Seeing this, Ji Feichen pointed, and the emerald tide pearl shattered the ghost, leaving only a true spirit to flee into the netherworld.

“May you find a better fate in your next life.” Ji Feichen swept his sleeve, shattering the corpse robe and bone hammer. He held no interest in such wicked treasures forged from remains.

After a moment, Li Jingxun and Zhou Yan’er approached to greet him.

Ji Feichen said, “Thanks to you, Junior Sister, I was spared much trouble.”

Li Jingxun declined any credit, modestly demurring. She surveyed the frost-covered ground and asked, “Why are you here, Senior Brother Qinghong?”

“I was traveling east and happened to pass by. I heard a maiden’s cries and found she’d been taken for a ghost marriage by the vengeful ghost. So I stepped in to catch the ghost and put an end to the evil.” Ji Feichen spoke with upright spirit, seeming to be a righteous cultivator from a reputable sect.

Ji Feichen had left Moon Sun Garden, searching for Nine Nether Water under the pretext of demon-slaying. The vengeful ghost here was naturally one of his targets. Moreover, he had calculated he would encounter cultivators of the Mystic Gate during this journey, intentionally delaying to await them. He hoped to use the opportunity to boost his reputation, but it turned out to be Li Jingxun, an acquaintance.

Li Jingxun understood, about to say more, when Zhou Yan’er shivered. “Senior Brother, could you remove the frigid yin energy here?”

Ji Feichen shook his head, pointing to the frozen corpses in the ice pillar forest nearby. The bodies were lifelike, all sealed in ice by his arts.

“That vengeful ghost was truly wicked. He dug up all the buried corpses in the mountain, forging an army of corpse soldiers from a thousand remains. Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t stand a chance against such a horde.”

“So, Senior Brother used profound yin thunder to freeze the area, not only to suppress the ghost, but also to seal the movements of the corpse soldiers?”

“Exactly.” Ji Feichen’s face was filled with compassion. “Think of the mortals who come to honor their ancestors, only to find their forebears’ bodies stolen and turned into corpse monsters—how could they bear it? My intent is to re-bury these remains. With you two here, could you help?”

Bury the corpses? Zhou Yan’er went over for a look; many corpse soldiers were terrifying, their bodies mottled and bloody, eerie and sinister, making her uneasy. Yet her kind nature won out; thinking of the villagers below, she nodded firmly. “We can.”

She agreed with the air of one condemned, making Ji Feichen and Li Jingxun struggle not to laugh.

Ji Feichen said to Li Jingxun, “I’ll go rescue the girl; please arrange the feng shui here and alter the mountain’s layout.”

Turtle Mountain, shaped like a spirit turtle gazing at the moon, should have been an ideal burial ground. Now, however, it was a lair of evil, plagued by vengeful ghosts. Ji Feichen intended to remodel the site, preventing future calamities.

Li Jingxun had no objection. The three busied themselves in the mountain.

Of course, Ji Feichen had an ulterior motive—he led the two away, then slipped into the ghost’s cave to search for Nine Nether Water.