Chapter 5

I Have Not Yet Reached Adulthood, And It Is Not Appropriate For Me To Do This

Chu Shu originally wanted the Day Patrol Officer to take Yu Pei and the others down the mountain, but she happened to be caught up in other matters, so she had to have a small official from the Day Patrol Officer’s side lead the way instead.

When they descended the mountain, it happened to be the hottest part of the day.

The blazing sun was overhead, scorching the tops of their heads, while the surrounding air was cold enough to freeze their bones.

It seemed the poison miasma had affected Jiang Yuan, as she was still half-conscious.

Every now and then, when she woke up, she would look at Yu Pei, who was supporting her, with a stunned and fearful expression, and ask, “You are…?”

After a glance at the small official leading ahead, she would mutter, “Seeing ghosts,” and then faint again.

This cycle repeated several times. At first, Yu Pei patiently explained, but in the end, she stopped speaking altogether, letting Jiang Yuan wake and faint repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Shen Zhongyu, who was at the rear, would always make fun of her whenever she opened her eyes.

“We’re almost at the ^[1]Yama Hall is a fictional or mythological place typically referring to a hall belonging to Yama, the deity who judges the dead in Chinese and broader East Asian mythology. It’s often depicted as … Continue readingYama Hall, Junior Sister Jiang. Be sure not to say anything strange.”

“Junior Sister Jiang, I still need to go find my corpse. Would you like to come? Hope you’re not eaten completely by that Spider Demon.”

After a while, he would pull out a mask of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face, handing one to Yu Pei so they could both scare Jiang Yuan together.

If she hadn’t seen his arm earlier, Yu Pei really wouldn’t have been able to tell how seriously injured he was.

Also, she still hadn’t figured it out.

There weren’t many people at the Spirit-Taming Sect who cultivated the path of a healer, but the few who did were skilled. The Shen family was a prominent family, so logically, they wouldn’t let him die from poison.

Was he dragged into something due to the power struggles of the aristocratic families?

It wasn’t impossible.

In the original book, the Shen family didn’t have the best reputation.

While she was thinking, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Shen Zhongyu stopped in time. “Junior Sister Yu, what’s the matter?”

The ghost officials and Wen Yunhe, who were ahead, also stopped and turned to look at her.

Yu Pei looked at the vast forest of lush green trees and said, “We’ve been walking for an hour.”

The small official from the Day Patrol Officer raised his pale face and asked, “What do you mean, Taoist?”

Yu Pei replied, “We’ve been walking for so long, yet it feels like we haven’t even reached the middle of the mountain.”

When they ascended the mountain earlier, it took less than an hour.

And now, they hadn’t even seen the formation gate at the foot of the mountain.

The ghost official’s voice was calm: “The paths up and down the mountain are different, so naturally the time required is also different. Moreover…”

He scanned the people in front of him one by one, his tone carrying a hint of arrogance.

“If none of you are injured and your cultivation is strong, you could certainly move faster.”

System: ? How can you tolerate this?!

“This ghost didn’t even appear in the original book. Getting insulted by him won’t increase any strategy points, Your Highness, quickly hit him!!!”

Yu Pei: …

Shen Zhongyu detected the subtle insult in the ghost official’s words, yet the smile on his face remained unchanged.

“Thank you for guiding the way, Patrol Officer. However, just now, Junior Sister Jiang and I encountered something similar at the foot of the mountain—it felt like running into a wall, as if we were stuck in a ghost trap.”

The ghost official was clearly agitated by the word “ghost,” and his expression immediately changed. “Are you implying that I am up to no good?”

“Not at all,” Shen Zhongyu replied seriously for once. “Junior Sister Jiang and I couldn’t find our way around that section of the road and later realized we had fallen into a Spider Demon trap—what Junior Sister Yu said makes sense, there are many demons and spirits on Demon God Mountain. It’s better to be cautious.”

The small official from the Day Patrol suddenly laughed, as if he had heard something very strange.

He pulled a wooden plaque from his waist. “Do you know what this is?”

Wen Yunhe took a close look and weakly guessed, “Is it the mountain entry token?”

The ghost official responded, “Wrong.”

Yu Pei asked, “Is it a demon-repelling talisman?”

The ghost official’s smile slowly faded. “What?” Was he supposed to use a demon-repelling talisman on himself?

“I believe, considering its appearance and material, if I’m not mistaken…” Shen Zhongyu thought carefully and then said confidently, “It should be the number tag from a bathhouse.”

“Absolute nonsense!” The ghost official was visibly angered. “This is a pass for the Ghost Realm! If you continue speaking nonsense, I’ll have your tongue cut out!”

Shen Zhongyu, however, showed a faint blush and said, “I have not yet reached adulthood, and it is not appropriate for me to do this.”

The ghost official: ?

What’s wrong with this person’s mind?

Is the Spirit-Taming Sect done for?

Suppressing his anger, the ghost official said, “I hold the Ghost Realm pass. How could those little demons and spirits dare to act recklessly?”

Yu Pei was not very impressed: “In both the Ghost and Demon realms, demons obey the Demon Realm’s ruler, not the ruler of the Ghost Realm.”

Moreover, the demons on Demon God Mountain were not just small demons.

Even a thousand-year-old great demon would be pursued and bitten here.

The ghost official, however, didn’t pay attention to this remark and instead asked, “Are you all still going or not? If you don’t want me to guide you, then take your own lives here and wait for Lord of Soul Capture to take you down the mountain.”

He had been following the Day Patrol Officer for many years, dealing only with souls—when had he ever guided living people?

If not for the Young Master’s orders, why would he bother escorting a few insignificant minions?

Seeing his anger, Wen Yunhe stepped forward to smooth things over: “It’s already not easy for the Patrol Officer to guide us down the mountain. With the Officer here, ordinary demons and spirits won’t dare to act.”

“Indeed,” Yu Pei, still focused on her mission, said, “but it would also be safer to open a path with the Demon Expelling Technique.”

The ghost official asked her, “Do you know the Demon Expelling Technique?”

Yu Pei shook her head.

The Demon Expelling Technique wasn’t particularly useful to her.

The ghost official snorted disdainfully, “If you don’t know, then stop talking. A few minor spiritual cultivators think that because the Young Master is reasonable, they can take advantage of the situation?”

System: 【The following is a quest for the host: Strike the ghost official.】

Yu Pei: … She actually wanted to.

The ghost official continued, “This Demon God Mountain now belongs to the jurisdiction of my Ghost Realm. Who dares to cause trouble here?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and continued walking forward.

But just as he took a step, the scene in front of them rapidly began to change.

It was as if the water of a lake had been disturbed by a stone, the surrounding mountains and forests gradually broke apart and disappeared, replaced by cold, damp stone walls.

The stone walls slanted inward, and at the top, they converged, resembling a tower.

In the blink of an eye, they had become birds trapped in a dim stone tower.

The ghost official froze in place.

“How strange,” Shen Zhongyu said, “It seems that these demons not only dared to cause trouble but also dared to do so in front of the Patrol Officer.”

He looked around, then smiled and added a further blow to the ghost official’s heart, “Moreover, this appears to be the Spider Demon’s lair—Junior Sister Jiang and I were just here not long ago.”

The spider tower was dim, with only a narrow window at the top letting in some faint light.

The tower was deathly silent, only the occasional sound of dripping water could be heard.

Yu Pei looked around and quickly noticed something odd: “There are no spider webs in this tower.”

If it’s the Spider Demon, how could there be no webs?

“It was the same just now,” Shen Zhongyu picked up where she left off, “Although there are no spider webs, there are astonishingly many spiders in this tower. Everyone, be careful.”

He had already been bitten by a Spider Demon once, so he was being much more cautious now.

The ghost official, however, was unfazed and said in a harsh voice, “A mere Spider Demon, do you dare oppose the Ghost Realm?”

As soon as he finished speaking, a cold laugh suddenly echoed from the shadows: “What is the Ghost Realm? Can it help me cultivate, or fill my stomach?”

The ghost official furrowed his brows tightly, raised his token, and said, “The Ghost Realm Token is here! Do you wish to suffer the agony of having your eyes gouged out and your skin peeled off? Hurry and dispel the illusion, and let me pass!”

The Spider Demon laughed twice: “Once I drain these people’s spiritual power, gain longevity, why should I fear those punishments after death? It’s not easy to find some food, and yet you all disturb me—this grudge has yet to be avenged.”

Shen Zhongyu turned to the ghost official and said seriously, “I think he makes a better point.”

The ghost official: “?” Which side are you on?

He put away the token, and his pale face slowly became filled with anger.

“If you are so stubborn, then don’t blame the Ghost Realm for being merciless.”

The Spider Demon snorted coldly: “If we were really talking about face, would I have set up the Demon-Suppressing Formation back then?”

Shen Zhongyu then spoke to the ghost official, “Really, why not learn from him? Don’t be shy, the three of us—”

“Shut up!” The ghost official interrupted him, his anger flaring. “If it weren’t for having these useless burdens with me, why would I suffer this torment?”

At that moment, Yu Pei, who had remained silent up until now, suddenly spoke, “The illusion has not fully formed. If we use the Demon Expelling Technique now, we can leave safely.”

She only wanted to do her duty as Head of Yu Garden and get everyone out unharmed.

Ghosts were easily provoked, and now his anger was getting the best of him.

He had already checked the cultivation levels of the others—

The spiritual powers of the other three were below his, and the spiritual power this female cultivator could sense was pitifully weak.

As expected, hers was the lowest.

His face turned cold as he said, “You don’t know the Demon Expelling Technique, and yet you talk so much. A single Spider Demon, do you really think I can’t deal with it?”

Wen Yunhe watched from the side.

He wasn’t familiar with Yu Pei, but he could recognize her attire—she was a servant disciple in the sect.

In comparison, the ghost official seemed more reliable.

But just now, it was the latter who had been more reckless.

After considering it for a while, he spoke, “Junior Sister Yu, he understands this place better. Why don’t we first hear his plan?”

The ghost official said coldly, “If you dare insult the face of my Ghost Realm, I’ll destroy this tower!”

Suddenly, faint rustling sounds began to spread around them.

Looking around, the dark walls seemed to be moving.

“It’s the spider swarm!” Wen Yunhe’s expression suddenly changed.

It was then that they realized the stone walls weren’t naturally black, they were covered with spiders the size of mosquitoes.

At that moment, a swarm of spiders surged down, like a tidal wave, rushing toward them from all directions.

Yu Pei closed her eyes.

Was that mission still valid?