My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 62 Cat Ghost
Wild Buffalo Mountain.

With the help of the people from Qingzao Village, the journey up the mountain was relatively smooth.

The path on Buffalo Mountain was indeed rugged. In many places, it could only be traversed on foot, and even horses could not walk. With no other choice, one person had to stay behind to watch the horses while the rest of the group continued on foot. In many places, the path was simply a sheer cliff that could only be climbed; horses could absolutely not walk on it.

Li Xuanba's stomach had been growling continuously; he hadn't eaten since morning.

The sun was blazing, and it was almost afternoon. Li Xuanba was starving, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.

After overcoming several more obstacles, we carefully walked along an extremely steep mountain path, and finally our view opened up.

In the distant dense forest, a large village surrounded by a simple fence came into view.

There were many people working; some were cutting down trees, some were building houses, and others were cutting bones and meat. There were quite a few of them. As soon as they peeked out, they were surrounded by several 'thieves' holding bows and arrows.

"who?"

The senior brother in charge of leading the way shouted unhappily, "I've only been gone a few days, and you don't recognize me anymore? Go and call the deputy chief here!"

When the group saw their senior brother leading the way, they put down their bows and arrows. Some of them came up to greet him warmly, while one went back to report.

Surrounded by Zhang Du and others, Li Xuanba surveyed the nascent village in the distance.

A moment later, Zhang Sengyuan led more than ten people and walked quickly toward them. From a distance, Zhang Sengyuan saw Li Xuanba hiding in the crowd. Not only him, but the people behind him also saw him. These people behind him were the ones who had been saved by Li Xuanba.

The crowd looked excited, and their pace quickened.

Upon seeing Zhang Sengyuan approach, the men patrolling around him, armed with bows and arrows, hurriedly bowed and greeted him: "Vice Chieftain!"

"Deputy Chieftain!!"

At this moment, the thief in charge of leading the way was truly terrified. The person who had come was the deputy chief of Qingzao Village! Hearing that the other party liked to eat people, what should he do?
Zhang Sengyuan led the group to them, and Zhang Du and the others stepped aside, revealing Li Xuanba inside.

Without hesitation, Zhang Sengyuan led everyone in bowing deeply to Li Xuanba.

"Greetings, Great Chieftain!!"

Seeing them bow, the men with bows and arrows around them were startled. Without hesitation, they all knelt down in worship.

"Greetings, Great Chieftain!!"

The thief looked as if he had encountered a ghost, staring incredulously at Li Xuanba beside him.

The head of the local militia. The chief of Qingzao Village?

Is your dad a cat demon?

This cat ghost was a unique folk belief of the Sui Dynasty. It was originally caused by a certain minister who was related to the empress using a cat ghost to curse Empress Dugu and the wife of Yang Su, the former Duke of Chu, in an attempt to steal their wealth. This cat ghost could cause the victim to contract a cat disease and die, which caused great panic in the local area.

To avoid being persecuted by cat ghosts, many people have started to keep them at home.

Finally, Emperor Wen of Sui was forced to exile families who worshipped cat ghosts and to prohibit people from mentioning such ghosts and spirits again. However, the more he forbade it, the more it spread, and it became the most feared deity from Guanzhong to Henan.

It's worth mentioning that the minister who first used the cat ghost to harm people was none other than Dugu Tuo, the son of Dugu Xin, and the younger brother of Li Xuanba's grandmother.
This Dugu Xin was also a remarkable man. His eldest daughter married Emperor Wu of Zhou, Yuwen Yong; his fourth daughter married Li Xuanba's grandfather, Li Bing; and his seventh daughter married Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian.

He could be described as the father-in-law of three dynasties, but that's not surprising, since all three were high-ranking nobles from the Guanlong Group.

Li Xuanba quickly helped Zhang Sengyuan up, saying, "Don't do this, get up, get up!"

Zhang Sengyuan stood up, and the others came over to exchange pleasantries, "Chief, are you alright?"

Li Xuanba greeted them one by one, and Zhang Sengyuan then invited him into the village.

"All the brothers in the village want to pay their respects to the village chief."

Li Xuanba hurriedly said, "I can't stay any longer, I have something very important to say!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sengyuan hurriedly ordered his men to patrol the area, forbidding anyone else from approaching. Then, he led his trusted men to surround Li Xuanba, asking, "Chief, what exactly happened?"

Li Xuanba quickly relayed the news that his father was preparing to attack them and would be taking action soon.

When Li Xuanba finished speaking, everyone was taken aback.

"There's no other way but to run. You all should take everyone and run north. That's where things are most chaotic, and the government doesn't have the energy to arrest people. The sooner the better. Don't hesitate. The local militias are still gathering. If the armies from various counties and townships gather, your father can command five or six thousand troops. At that time, the troops occupying the key roads will gradually press you down and wipe you all out."

"Even if they don't take action, without supplies, you won't last long."

"For now, we can only run away and hide deep in the mountains. Don't come out for the time being. I will send someone to contact you again when the situation improves."

Zhang Sengyuan's expression was quite grave. From Li Xuanba's tone, he had already discerned just how dangerous the situation was. Several men around him couldn't help but complain, "We've only just finished rebuilding the village; we're finally going to survive!"

Zhang Sengyuan shouted, "As long as we live, the village can be rebuilt. If we are greedy for our current gains, we will lose our lives. How can we lose the greater good for the sake of the lesser?"

He then looked at Li Xuanba, "If it weren't for the chieftain's risky rescue, we would probably be dead here. The chieftain saved us once again!"

"Don't worry, Chieftain, I'll have them pack their things right now and leave immediately without hesitation!"

Li Xuanba gave a few more instructions, "Don't rush to rescue people anymore. First, settle yourselves down. Don't provoke the government. Although the local militia are weak, there are plenty of capable generals in the area, as well as the Eagle Banner Prefecture."

"Here!"

Li Xuanba glanced at the sky. "I need to go back soon too."

Knowing that time was precious, Zhang Sengyuan did not invite Li Xuanba to continue the tour. Since they were leaving anyway, the group bowed to Li Xuanba again, agreed to keep in touch here, and then said goodbye.

Everyone watched Li Xuanba leave with reluctance, but there was no time for regret; they hurriedly began packing their things.

Li Xuanba led the group back along the same route.

Having successfully delivered the message, Li Xuanba breathed a sigh of relief. However, when his group returned to the place where they had left their horses, the situation changed again.

They had just climbed down the cliff when they heard a commotion not far away.

The man who stayed behind to watch the horses was named Wang Erzhi. Li Xuanba and the others heard Wang Erzhi arguing loudly with someone, as if he was deliberately trying to remind them.

Liu Chounu's hand was already on the hilt of the knife.

Li Xuanba hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's go!"

They walked quickly towards it, and Zhang Du pulled aside the branches in front of him, and the group came out.

They really are just local militia!
There were about seven or eight people surrounding Wang Erzhi, shouting and arguing loudly. Some of them were even pushing and shoving Wang Erzhi.

Zhang Du flew into a rage, shouting, "What are you doing?!"

Hearing the reprimand, the local militiamen calmed down a bit, took a few steps back, and stared at Zhang Du and his group.

"What are you doing?! Are you perhaps bandits from the mountains?"

"Bold!!"

Zhang Du reprimanded, "Can't you tell we're here to hunt? What kind of local militia are you? How dare you interfere in our affairs?"

The local militia exchanged glances. The leader, a dark-faced man, sized up the distinguished guests before him, then smiled and changed his tone. "We're just here on patrol, sirs. This mountain is dangerous; there are bandits. You'd better not hunt here."

Zhang Du ignored these people and went straight to their horses, where he mounted one of them.

The local militia didn't dare to stop them; they just stood there with smiles on their faces, watching them.

"Don't rush at any good horse you see, or next time you won't get away with it so easily!"

Zhang Du left behind a harsh remark, but Li Xuanba said nothing. He was exhausted and even speaking was difficult. After everyone mounted their horses, they hurriedly left.

Only the local militia remained, standing at a distance, while the dark-faced man continued to watch them with a smile.

They walked for a while, and then Zhang Du suddenly realized what was happening.

"its not right!"

"Third Master! Wasn't it said that the Duke was going to launch a surprise attack? How come there are local militia here? And so few of them at that? Do these local militia dare to enter Wild Buffalo Mountain?"

Upon hearing this, everyone reined in their horses and turned around together.

The spot where the local militia had been standing in the distance was now completely empty; there was nothing there.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

The thief was so frightened that he started screaming.

"It's a cat demon!"

"Cat Demon God!"

(End of this chapter)