75: Delving into Western Hunan to trace old footsteps
Western Hunan, the Hundred Thousand Mountains, a land of clouds and mist.
Li Muchen transferred from a train to a bus, then to a local "motorcycle taxi," and finally traveled on foot. After several days of journeying, he finally penetrated deep into the heart of these vast mountains covered by primeval forests.
The air was humid and fresh, mixed with the thick scent of decaying vegetation and a certain inexplicable, ancient earthy smell. The mountains were steep and jagged, with layer upon layer of peaks, appearing seemingly endless.
Towering ancient trees blotted out the sun, with vines entwining among them like giant pythons. The cries of birds and roars of beasts echoed from deep within the dense forest, making it feel even more profound and mysterious. The sky here seemed lower than outside the mountains; clouds and mist lingered around the mountainsides year-round, dressing the peaks like a fairyland, yet also like a ghostly realm.
Based on the vague clues provided by Wu Yuanshan and his own cautious investigation using Spiritual Sense along the way, he roughly narrowed his target down to a continuous mountain range on the border between Western Hunan and Eastern Guizhou. It was a place almost unmarkable on maps, known by locals as "Old Bear Ridge." Rumor had it that those secretive, secluded "special individuals" mostly frequented such deep mountain desolations.
Li Muchen did not rush into the core area of Old Bear Ridge. Instead, he first found a temporary place to stay in an ancient Miao village built against the mountainside at the edge of the range.
The village was named "Black Stone Village." Most of the houses were ancient stilt houses built with thick logs and dark gray stone slabs; having weathered many storms, they appeared primitive and aged. Most of the villagers were of the Miao ethnic group, wearing traditional indigo-dyed clothing. Their eyes held a natural wariness and aloofness toward outsiders beneath their simple honesty.
Using some high-quality Yunnan Baiyao and cooling oil he carried with him, he obtained permission to stay for a few days from an elderly Miao Grandmother with chronic rheumatism in her legs, and gained some simple information about the surrounding mountains and forests.
"Young man, are you here for the medicinal herb business?" Grandmother asked in Mandarin with a heavy accent, carefully putting away the medicines that were very precious to her.
"Something like that. I'm also here to experience the local culture and see the scenery," Li Muchen said, following her lead. He handed over a folded, somewhat blurry portrait of a monk clipped from an old newspaper. "Grandmother, you've lived in these mountains for a long time. Have you ever seen a monk from outside who looks like this? Or have you heard of any strange outsiders entering the mountains recently?"
Grandmother squinted and brought the portrait close to the oil lamp to look. She shook her head: "A monk? In these great mountains of ours, we haven't seen a monk or a Daoist priest in many years. There are outsiders, though. A while ago, I think I heard the young men who go into the mountains to pick mushrooms say they saw a few unfamiliar faces over at Wild Boar Gully. They were dressed strangely and didn't look like good people. But whether it's this person in the portrait, I couldn't say."
Wild Boar Gully... Li Muchen noted the name.
During the few days he stayed in the village, he spent his days active in the surrounding forests under the guise of an herb gatherer. In reality, he projected his Spiritual Sense, cautiously perceiving the unique "aura" of this land.
The mountains of Western Hunan were completely different from Yuntai Mountain.
The earth energy of Yuntai Mountain was clear and balanced. Although not rich in Spiritual Qi, its meridians were distinct and easy to sense and regulate. Here, the flow of the earth veins was more ancient and complex, faintly carrying a lingering sense of "Yin" and "turbidity." It wasn't purely sinister Yin energy, but a heavy "Earth Yin" that had settled over countless ages, mixed with the cycle of Reincarnation, Gu beliefs, and even some unspeakable things.
The flora and fauna nurtured in such an environment all carried a hint of unique wildness and spirituality. He did indeed find many rare herbs, some even possessing faint Spiritual Qi, and picked a few along the way.
What caught his attention even more was that in some rarely visited deep valleys or shaded mountain streams, he occasionally detected extremely faint residues of... corpse Qi, almost merged with the Earth Yin energy. It wasn't recently generated, but rather like traces settled over many years, like ink seeping into ancient Xuan paper.
"Corpse Drivers... they really did frequent these mountain paths once."
Li Muchen understood in his heart. Those legendary "ancient corpse-driving paths" might be hidden within these seemingly pathless dense forests and canyons.
On the evening of the third day, he returned to the village from a remote mountain stream. As he passed a mass grave area on the mountain behind the village, his footsteps paused slightly.
This graveyard was located on a shaded slope. The graves were disorganized, mostly just simple mounds of earth marked with rough stones or wooden plaques. Many had collapsed and were overgrown with weeds and shrubs. In the deepening twilight, it appeared exceptionally desolate and eerie.
The village elders had warned not to approach this place after dark, especially not to come alone.
Li Muchen was not afraid. Rather, his keen Spiritual Sense captured that the Earth Yin energy of this mass grave was exceptionally heavy, and mixed within it were several strands of extremely faint "thoughts" that were not naturally formed.
It was a collection of residual conscious fragments mixed with resentment, bewilderment, and a trace of instinctive attachment to the world of the living. They clung to some decaying bones or grave soil, like candles in the wind, liable to dissipate completely at any moment.
These were wandering souls and wild ghosts that had not found rest and were too weak to cause trouble—or more accurately, they were residual souls and lingering thoughts about to scatter entirely.
Just as he paused to sense them, an old, raspy voice abruptly sounded behind him:
"Young man, it's almost dark. This place... is not clean. Do not linger."
Li Muchen felt a slight chill in his heart. With his spiritual perception, he actually hadn't noticed anyone approaching! He turned around calmly and saw a stooped old man wearing tattered black cloth clothes and a heavy turban on his head. He had appeared at some point under an old tree several yards away.
The old man's face was deeply wrinkled as if carved by a knife, and his skin was dark. However, his eyes were unusually bright in the twilight, quietly staring at him.
This old man did not have the vigorous blood and Qi a living person should have. Instead, he emitted a gloomy feeling that faintly harmonized with the Earth Yin energy of the mass grave. Yet, he was definitely not a ghost; he was truly a living person.
"Thank you for the reminder, elder," Li Muchen said with a cupped-hand salute, his tone calm. "I was just passing by and will leave now."
The old man slowly walked a few steps closer. His gaze swept over Li Muchen's face and body, lingering for a moment on the cloth-wrapped thunder-struck wood on his back and the inconspicuous earth vein suppression talisman at his waist. A trace of indiscernible surprise flashed in his eyes.
"An herb gatherer?" the old man asked, his voice still raspy.
"Yes."
"These days, there aren't many Han Chinese youths who dare to enter Old Bear Ridge alone to gather herbs," the old man's tone betrayed no emotion. "Seeing your steady steps and clear eyes, you don't look like an ordinary herb gatherer. You're... carrying things on you?"
Li Muchen's heart tightened, but his expression remained unchanged. "Traveling through mountains and forests, I just carry some items for self-defense. Are you from the village, elder? I don't believe I've seen you before."
"Me?" The old man grinned, revealing a few yellowed teeth; his smile was somewhat strange. "In a way, yes; in another, no. I live far away and rarely come down the mountain. Young man, take my advice: deep inside Old Bear Ridge, things haven't been peaceful lately. Don't entertain thoughts you shouldn't, and don't look for people you shouldn't. Before it gets completely dark, hurry back to the village."
Having said that, without waiting for Li Muchen's response, the old man turned around. His steps seemed faltering, yet in a few blurs, he disappeared into the shadows where the dense forest and twilight intertwined, as if he had never appeared.
Li Muchen stood where he was, his brow furrowing slightly. This old man was definitely no ordinary mountain dweller. He could vaguely feel that eerie aura on the man, closely linked to death and Earth Yin, yet he wasn't purely a malevolent entity. Was he a hidden eccentric living here? Or... related to the lineage of Corpse Drivers?
The elder's final warning was clearly pointed. "Thoughts you shouldn't entertain," "people you shouldn't look for"... was he warning him not to delve into certain secrets? Had he perceived his purpose for coming here?
It seemed the waters of Old Bear Ridge were deeper than he had anticipated, and... it appeared someone had already noticed him, the outsider.