Chapter 39: Mountain Monsters and Forest Fiends
The sun had set behind the western hills, and night had fully fallen. After dinner, Li Yanchu and Bai Hongtu rode side by side on horseback, heading toward the gates of Wei City.
“Yanchu, if some evil spirit appears and attacks you, don’t act rashly. I’ll be waiting to support you at the forest’s edge,” Bai Hongtu said once they exited the city gates. He was clearly a bit uneasy and repeated his instructions as they would split up from here.
Li Yanchu replied calmly, “Don’t worry.”
Bai Hongtu wasn’t concerned that Li Yanchu might be killed by a malevolent being, he was worried he himself wouldn’t be able to resist intervening and stealing Li Yanchu’s moment of glory. With a light tug of the reins, Li Yanchu headed into the woods under the tranquil night sky.
Back atop the city wall behind them, a middle-aged man in official robes with a stern face was watching the pair intently. It was none other than Magistrate Xu of Wei City.
Behind him, the assistant magistrate and registrar stood silently, their postures tense and their expressions betraying undisguised anxiety.
“Clip-clop... Clip-clop...” Li Yanchu urged his horse forward into the forest, the sound of hooves echoing steadily.
The forest was deathly silent; only the rustling of the wind and the soft brushing of leaves could be heard, like the eerie sound of ghosts clapping their hands.
Li Yanchu rode along the narrow forest path at a calm, steady pace. He had dabbed a few drops of aged corpse oil on his body, masking his own yang qi. Tonight, he wasn’t wearing his usual Daoist robe, but a refined scholar's long gown.
After applying corpse oil, the vigorous blood and qi of a martial artist on his body were concealed. Li Yanchu had controlled the amount carefully, so he now looked just like someone down on their luck, with weak fortune and bad luck following him. And such people were the easiest targets for malevolent forces. He was using himself as bait, luring the evil out into the open.
Li Yanchu wasn’t entirely sure if this malevolent entity would be bold enough to strike in the woods just outside the city.