White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 26 Dragon Boat Festival
At the age of twenty, Yao Zhengze left the deep mountain with the treasure map he had drawn. He believed that his journey through Yunze Mountain would be safe and smooth, because the God of No Form was protecting him.

On the night before Yao Zhengze left the mountain stronghold, he dreamed of the man who visited him on a rainy night.

In the dream, Bai Wuxiang stood high above the temple, never approaching him, but only saying from afar: "With the creation of this painting, your life's glory and wealth will be tied to it. Your life spans only a few decades, I hope you can maintain your spirit today."

I have a poem that I will share with the world through this painting, and I now tell you about it.

Is reality or illusion within the Xuanhuang Palace? Formless and shapeless, a body at ease.

A thousand mountains offer prayers that reach the heavens, a single lamp illuminates the dust of the world.

With a single thought, one can communicate with spirits beyond the clouds; by relinquishing resentment, one can avenge the hatred in one's heart.

As the crows caw and dawn approaches, compassion still guides people across the land.

When Yao Zheng woke up from the dream, he opened the scroll with surprise and doubt, and there was a poem on it.

On the day he left, he bowed and thanked the Wuxiang Temple outside Black Stone Village. This Wuxiang "Mountain God" was his benefactor, and he should thank him. He would remember him and never forget him.

To the people of Black Stone Village, this painter was just a passerby, and no one missed him after he left.

Life in the mountains was very peaceful, and then summer arrived, bringing the sweltering heat of May.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the yang energy of heaven and earth rose, dispelling the clouds and mist on Skull Mountain, and all the obsessions of the skeletons dissipated with the blazing sun.

Beside the pool in the White Bone Cave, rising mist spreads out. This is the miasma created when the yang energy of heaven and earth meets the yin spirit of death, such as Bai Wuxiang.

Even the crows, who usually prefer to stay in their nests, hid inside and dared not come out.

Under the shade of the locust tree, the array on the tiger bone and eagle feather also lost its effectiveness.

Numerous snakes, insects, and centipedes swarmed into the bone cave.

Bai Wuxiang also shed his human skin, using his skeletal body to cultivate and resist the intense yang energy.

In Heishizhai, every household is adorned with mugwort and calamus.

In particular, calamus was symbolized by the ancients as a sign of "slaying a thousand evils" and could protect the home and its inhabitants.

On this day in the mountains, poisonous insects and fierce beasts had a hard time, and for spirits and monsters, it was an even more cruel torture.

Bai Wuxiang once again witnessed the mystery of "human beings".

He had encountered calamus before; it was just an ordinary plant that couldn't suppress any evil spirits at all.

But it's different when someone holds it in their hand.

Especially during such special times, evil spirits will feel an extreme aversion or even fear towards these ordinary objects.

These meanings were bestowed upon humanity by its ancestors for thousands of generations. They are the manifestations of the human spirit dispersing between heaven and earth and returning to all things. They are endless obsessions and memories entrusted to these ordinary things, making them no longer mortal objects.

In Black Stone Village, every household gathered in the village's main courtyard, and more than 300 people had smiles on their faces as they happily enjoyed a grand feast.

Unaware of this, Ah Liu in the temple also placed mugwort, calamus and other herbs at the temple entrance, which made Bai Wuxiang, who wanted to connect with the statue, feel uneasy. He was distracted by these talismans and his strength was greatly reduced.

Fortunately, today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and all the evil spirits and demons in the mountains will be punished together, so there's no need to worry about anyone taking advantage of this time to do something malicious.

For Bai Wuxiang, this day in the mountains felt incredibly long. He didn't drive away the snakes, insects, and other poisonous creatures that had come to the cave to seek refuge. Before the power of heaven and earth, all living beings were like ants, and no creature was an exception.

Perhaps only the legendary immortals, those with the power to change the world and move mountains and seas, can roam freely between heaven and earth.

Unable to cultivate, Bai Wuxiang could only imagine in the cave, wondering if he could reach the realm of an immortal in this lifetime.

As the sun dipped westward, the dim sunlight shone seven feet into the cave. Bai Wuxiang slowly moved to the cave entrance, where the sunlight was just a foot away from his feet.

Fine particles floated in the light, and Bai Wuxiang stretched out his right palm, touching the light.

There was no stinging or burning sensation as I had imagined; instead, I felt nothing at all.

Bai Wuxiang was stunned. He was afraid of the sun from the bottom of his heart, but when he actually touched the sunlight, he felt nothing.
Could it be that he has no flesh and blood, and therefore no sense of pain?

He tried taking another step, and the sunlight shone on his shinbone, but there was still nothing unusual.

Bai Wuxiang took a few more steps until the sun shone on his skull, and a burning pain forced him to retreat back into the cave.

He thought for a moment and understood; it was nothing for a skeleton to be exposed to sunlight.

However, when a skeleton containing such evil and yin energy as demonic power encounters sunlight, it becomes a matter of yin and yang restraining each other, and water and fire being incompatible.

His strength decreases significantly during the day, which is a very obvious weakness that cannot be hidden. So why not try to solve it?

Bai Wuxiang sat cross-legged at the cave entrance, quietly pondering how to at least find a way to walk under the scorching sun. That way, even if he wasn't in the cave one day, he wouldn't be trapped in one place by others during the day.

Then comes the power of incense and divine offerings!

Demonic power is greatly weakened during the day, but divine power is not affected by sunlight and yang energy.

At night, he walks in his true form; during the day, he walks in his divine form.

The gods of the day shed their disguises at night, revealing their true, wicked forms.

"Hey, there's a cave here! Shall we go in and take a look?"

"Forget it, something feels weirdly sinister."

Two abrupt voices rang out, interrupting Bai Wuxiang's thoughts.
Two teenagers, who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, were looking around with curiosity. They were in the prime of their lives.

"Erniu, why are there so many bones on this mountain? They look terrifying. No wonder my mother doesn't let me come here." A thin, dark-skinned boy's legs went weak when he saw the piles of bones on the mountain.

"Hmph, coward, you're scared of this?" The burly Erniu laughed. "If you're scared, then go back. I'll go in and take a look by myself, and then I'll go back to the village and have a good talk with them."

"Who says I'm scared? It's just a run-down cave, I've been there countless times!" Zhao Dawu retorted, dissatisfied. "Come on, let's go in and see what's fun inside!"

"Haha, good. This is my first time here. Maybe if I have nowhere else to go in the future, I can come here. It's cool and no one will know." Erniu immediately stepped into the cave, and Zhao Dawu followed him in.

Unexpectedly, upon entering the cave, they found a pure white, jade-like skeleton sitting cross-legged, facing them.

As soon as Erniu looked up, he felt as if the bone was staring at him, even though the eye sockets in the skull were empty.

Zhao Dawu was startled and pointed at the bones, saying, "These bones look like those of a dead person!" "Nonsense, they're just bones, how could they be alive?" Erniu glared at him, stepped forward, and touched the bones, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Ah~"

A raven's caw echoed from deep within the cave, and a raven landed on the skeleton's shoulder, its pale eyes glaring menacingly at the two.

Erniu chuckled and said, "Why isn't this bird afraid of people? Let's catch it, take it home, roast it, and eat it!"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab the black crow.

But then the crow spread its wings and let out a strange cry, which immediately caused the two men to suffer excruciating pain in their ears. They immediately clutched their heads and ears in agony and fell to the ground, struggling incessantly.

The black crow silently folded its wings and stood on the white bone's shoulder, looking down at the two people on the ground.

Zhao Dawu got up from the ground, glanced up, and was so shocked that he couldn't speak. He pointed to the depths of the cave, his face pale with fear.

Erniu turned around, puzzled, and saw a person walking unsteadily towards them from inside the cave, each step a little faltering.

But upon closer inspection, it wasn't a person at all. It was clearly a paper-thin human skin floating towards them.

Erniu was so frightened that he lost all courage and hurriedly ran out of the cave.

Zhao Dawu had run out earlier, and the two of them fled, desperately running back the way they came.

Inside the cave, the human skin slowly fell onto the white bones. After a series of distorted double images, Bai Wuxiang put the human skin back on.

Even though it was the Dragon Boat Festival and the yang energy was strong, he still punished the two of them slightly.

Bai Wuxiang gently touched the head of the black crow with his finger. The crow's cry could make people lose their souls. For mortals, it would be as if they had lost their souls and were trapped in a certain emotion from which they could not escape.

The fog formation outside the cave had lost its effectiveness, so it was normal for ordinary people to be able to enter. But these two lads showed no respect for the dead whatsoever; they needed to be taught a lesson.

……

In Black Stone Village, Zhao Dawu and Erniu ran all the way back to the village, but they still couldn't stop their fear. They kept running around the village, shouting things like "human skin" and "ghost bones" in terror.

The villagers watched the two with curiosity. When the children's parents saw this, they quickly called for people to hold the two down and then found the second-in-command.

You Junzi frowned as he looked at the two people who were being held down but were still writhing. He took out two yellow talismans from his sleeve, bit his fingertip, dripped blood onto the talismans, and then slapped them onto the foreheads of the two people.

The two children immediately rolled their eyes back, stopped writhing, and fainted.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Lengxiang couldn't help but ask, "Second Brother, are they alright?" Zhao Dawu was also her cousin, and she had named the child herself. He was always honest and obedient, so she was naturally quite concerned.

“That’s a bit strange. I’ve already used a calming talisman, but they still haven’t woken up. They’ve probably been frightened by some evil spirit. Otherwise, let them get a good night’s sleep and see if they can wake up tomorrow morning,” You Junzi said uncertainly.

"What should we do? What if my child doesn't wake up?" Zhao Dawu's father said with a worried expression, holding his child.

Among the crowd of villagers watching, Granny Liu sighed and said, "These two children must have encountered something and been so frightened that they lost their souls."

"Oh? Grandma, you know?" You Junzi asked thoughtfully.

“Children like them have probably encountered some evil spirits in the wild and lost their souls on the way back,” Granny Liu said, shaking her head. “But these two children ran out of the village and lost their souls outside; there’s no way to call them back.”

"What? Grandma, you don't mean my child will sleep like this for the rest of his life, do you?" Erniu's mother felt like the sky had fallen when she heard this. Her child was the only bloodline of her deceased husband. She immediately burst into tears and cried helplessly, "What should I do? Erniu, if you don't wake up, how can your mother live!"

“Mountains have their leaders, and lands have their masters. We can’t find the souls of these two children, but our village’s Master Wuxiang should be able to find them.” Granny Liu comforted her, “Erniu’s mother, why don’t you go to the temple and pray to Master Wuxiang?”

"That's it! I'll go pray at the temple. The God of No Form will surely be able to save us!" Erniu's mother seemed to have found her pillar of support and hurriedly took Erniu to the temple.

Seeing this, You Junzi opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent. He suspected that this was Wuxiang's doing, but faced with the villagers' care and concern for the child, he simply couldn't bring himself to say anything.

He saw that his third sister had also gone. Most of the people in the village were simple and honest, and they helped carry the two children to the temple behind the village.

The village quieted down, and You Junzi slowly sat down in a chair, feeling quite exhausted.

"Second Master, is something on your mind?"

He looked up and saw that Granny Liu was still standing beside him, smiling as she asked him a question.

"Hehe, nothing's on my mind. It's just that the busy farming season is coming soon, so I need to think things over a bit," You Junzi waved his hand and replied.

Grandma Liu nodded and comforted him, "Second Master, you don't need to worry about everything."

There are things that even the strongest person can't reach. Just do your best, but don't push yourself to the limit in everything.

The second-in-command looks very tired lately. Although my eyesight is failing, I can still tell from his face.

Our village can't do without you.

Looking at the white-haired old woman in front of him, You Junzi was deeply moved and said with a smile, "Grandma, you are so kind. I will take good care of the village."

"Well, Second Master, you are a scholar, a great man, knowledgeable in astronomy and geography. If you are worried and powerless, then we are even more helpless."

"But I still have some strength, so during the busy farming season, they give me some work to do, so that my old bones won't become too weak to move after resting for too long." Grandma Liu stopped smiling, and the wrinkles on her face became shallower. She slowly walked away.

Only You Junzi remained, lost in thought.

When everyone arrived at the temple, it was just sunset. Ah Liu opened the temple door and saw a lot of people standing in front of it.

He asked curiously, "Why are there so many people here today?"

After everyone carried the two children to the temple, Ah Liu realized that something had happened and came to ask Lord Wuxiang for help.

Ah Liu silently returned to the main hall and watched the two children's parents weeping and bowing before the statue of the god. He stood aside and watched the scene, deciding to mind his own business.

The smoke from the incense rose slowly, dissipating into the air before the statue.

A gentle evening breeze blew, knocking down the mugwort, calamus, sachets, and other items used to ward off evil spirits that were hanging at the temple entrance.

Bai Wuxiang, who was in the White Bone Cave, was quite surprised as his mind was connected to the statue. He had not taken the souls of the two children.

The two children who had fallen asleep on the ground were indeed missing a soul each, but the crow's cry only frightened people and did not steal their souls.

Unless, it was some other kind of demon that stole the souls of these two children!

(End of this chapter)