Chapter 25: Night Gui
A large mass of red light moved rapidly through the darkness.
Sixteen Spirit Hunters rode fine horses, enveloped within that red glow.
At this moment, strange mutterings faintly echoed in everyone’s ears. Although those feral gui did not dare approach the range of the red light, they could still produce illusory voices from afar to interfere with the Spirit Hunters’ minds.
However, most of the people present had experience facing feral gui at night, including the newcomer Li Lin.
All of them wore grave expressions, guarding their seas of consciousness and refusing to respond to those gui whispers.
But...
Bai Bufan seemed rather excited.
Sitting atop his horse, he looked left and right, completely resembling a young master out on an excursion.
Bai Liwei rode over and forcefully smacked Bai Bufan on the head.
“Don’t be so excited, and don’t respond to those voices.”
As he spoke, he took out a talisman from his waist pouch and stuck it to Bai Bufan’s back.
After that, Bai Bufan became noticeably less excited.
“What kind of talisman is that?”
Li Lin asked curiously.
“A Clear Mind Talisman.”
“Oh, that’s good stuff.”
Li Lin asked hopefully,
“Can you sell me two of them?”
He was thinking that if he could obtain some talismans to examine, perhaps he could learn the art of talisman-making.
Bai Liwei shook his head.
“I only have two. I need to keep one as a spare.”
“What a pity.”
After those few exchanges, no one spoke again, and they continued hurrying along.
Just as Huang Yan had said, with more than a dozen Spirit Hunters moving together on fast horses, the feral gui could neither approach nor catch up. As a result, they were unable to gather in large numbers.
The group, meanwhile, could travel safely.
After riding through the entire night, everyone’s expressions relaxed once dawn arrived.
“Everyone dismount and rest.”
Upon reaching a flat stretch of ground, Xu Saifeng shouted loudly.
Everyone swung down from their horses, led them to the roadside, then removed bags from the saddles and took out the beans they had prepared earlier to feed the horses.
Li Lin looked around, then said to Xu Saifeng,
“Patrol Hunter Xu, this place is very close to Shangtikou Village where I live. I’d like to go back and retrieve a few things.”
“Fine. Go and return quickly.”
Xu Saifeng nodded.
He was not worried that Li Lin would desert.
If Li Lin did such a thing, he could forget about establishing himself in Jin City, or even anywhere in Great Qi, in the future.
The authorities were extremely generous toward Spirit Hunters, distributing large amounts of valuable red rice.
At the same time, however, they imposed very strict requirements on the conduct of Spirit Hunters.
Li Lin patted his horse and quickly returned to Shangtikou Village. He retrieved his red-tasseled spear and the Shengxi Pills. He did not even have time to greet the Tree Immortal Lady before hurrying back to the resting point.
His main objective was to retrieve the Shengxi Pills.
Because he could tell that this was a highly dangerous mission. Bringing the Shengxi Pills might prove useful at a critical moment.
The Spirit Hunters were all wrapped in blankets, each leaning against a tree and resting with closed eyes. Hearing the sound of hoofbeats, they briefly opened their eyes, saw that Li Lin had returned, and closed them again.
After returning, Li Lin first fed some beans to his horse, then wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down as well.
Everyone was trying to seize whatever rest they could.
Around noon, Xu Saifeng was the first to sit up.
“Everyone up. Feed the horses first, then eat something, and we’ll continue on.”
About half a shichen later, the sixteen of them set out once more.
The farther south they traveled, the more desolate the landscape became. People grew increasingly scarce.
At first they still encountered merchant caravans, but two days later, grass had begun growing on the official road itself. Not a single human figure could be seen, while gui shadows seemed to be everywhere.
“It seems nobody has traveled this route for a very long time.”
Xu Saifeng slowed his horse.
“Why was Bobai Town’s situation only discovered now? Who was the Spirit Hunter stationed in Bobai Town again?”
“An Zhijian, Patrol Hunter An,” someone answered.
“He really hasn’t come to the county seat in a long time. But Bobai Town is quite far from the county seat, and he rarely came here even before. Usually he would accumulate about half a year’s worth of blood rice before coming to collect it.”
“I remember now. It was that young fellow.”
Xu Saifeng nodded in understanding.
The group continued onward.
Before long, they arrived at an open area.
Ahead stood a rammed-earth fortress.
At this moment, the fortress gates were shut, and the battlements above were eerily silent. Not a single soldier on watch could be seen.
The sixteen horses stopped before the gates.
Looking closely, they discovered that the bronze studs embedded in the gate were covered by a visible layer of dust.
“Is anyone up there? We are Spirit Hunters under the jurisdiction of Yulin County, here to investigate.”
Although Xu Saifeng was old, his voice remained extremely loud.
“Is An Zhijian present? I am Xu Saifeng. Come out and meet me!”
The echoes rang out again and again before gradually fading away.
They startled flock after flock of birds into flight within the fortress.
“Looks like there really isn’t anyone inside.”
Xu Saifeng spoke quietly.
“Old Hou, it’s your turn to show your skills. Get inside and open the gate.”
“Understood.”
A short, thin middle-aged man jumped down from his horse.
He took a pair of iron grappling hooks attached to long ropes from his saddlebag.
The hooks swung through the air and were thrown upward, catching on the edge of the battlements.
Then this Old Hou climbed the rope like an actual monkey, rapidly scaling the wall.
After a while, the winch atop the wall began turning, and the gates slowly opened.
The group rode through the gate and immediately saw that the square open area within the fortress was littered with skeletons wearing soldiers’ uniforms.
At the very center stood a shattered altar.
The expressions of everyone present darkened at the sight.
Xu Saifeng waved a hand.
“Spread out. Everyone search the area and see if you can find any clues.”
Everyone immediately got to work.
About one shichen later, the group gathered together again.
“I checked the wells inside the fortress. They weren’t poisoned.”
“Everyone was eaten by feral gui. The flesh was stripped away remarkably cleanly.”
“All the soldiers’ pay is still here. Nothing was looted.”
“I found An Zhijian’s remains. Unlike the others, his skull was badly shattered. It appears he was already dead before the feral gui consumed him. Someone likely ambushed and killed him.”
Then everyone looked toward Bai Bufan.
Bai Bufan said awkwardly,
“I didn’t discover anything. I still don’t understand these things very well.”
Everyone found that reasonable and moved past him, turning to Li Lin instead.
Li Lin said,
“I found the roster, and I also counted the skulls. Including An Zhijian, Bobai Military Town had a total of one hundred and thirty-seven soldiers. But only one hundred and thirty-six skulls were found here. One is missing!”
As he spoke, he took out the roster and showed it to everyone.
“But I checked. Before we arrived, there were no signs of anyone leaving this military town. Otherwise, the gate could not have been closed.”
Old Hou spoke coldly.
Everyone immediately tensed.
In other words...
There might still be a person hiding somewhere within this fortress.
Yet they had practically turned the entire place upside down and had not found any suspicious traces.
Xu Saifeng’s face turned icy.
“Keep searching. Even if we have to dig up every inch of this place, find that person before night falls.”
The altar within the fortress had already been destroyed.
Out here in the wilderness, once night arrived, this place would become a paradise for gui.
Yet there was still a possibility that a person remained alive and hidden here.
In that case, that person might be even more terrifying than the gui.
Everyone immediately sprang into action.