Mythology Returns! Starting with Folklore and Strange Tales

The strange cries coming from the withered grass instantly diluted the terror brought by the desolate mountain night. Zhang Wei raised his hand and hooked and pulled, and a chain of evil energy shot back from afar, landing in front of him like a hanging rope. Hanging from the loop was the headless corpse of a yellow demon, and red blood dripped slowly down the shiny fur and finally dripped from the tip of the huge furry tail.

The old village chief, who had been huddled behind Zhang Wei, curiously peeked out, glanced at him, and then quickly scurried back inside, continuing his self-deception.

Although he was trying to dodge, he didn't dare to actually hold onto Zhang Wei's clothes.

It wasn't that the old village chief was truly so rational as to suppress his fear and refrain from restricting Zhang Wei's actions.

However, when he reached out to touch the outer garment made of Zhang Wei's murderous aura, it felt like being pricked by needles. His palm twitched in pain, like a chicken claw. After trying twice without much hope, he simply squatted down behind Zhang Wei.

Although it's tiring, it's better than making him face the fear of the entire mountain.

This was also one of Zhang Wei's little tricks.

Although Zhang Wei had already spread a thin layer of malevolent energy to mark the area within three meters of him, he couldn't be sure what tricks the "Mountain God" had up his sleeve until he saw him in person.

The Yellow Demon is most adept at bewitching people's hearts.

Despite his advanced age and the listlessness caused by his illness, the old village chief, if truly controlled, would still be quite robust. After all, evil spirits don't operate on a sustainable basis; they only exploit resources to the point of exhaustion.

Zhang Wei spread his five fingers wide and swept them horizontally from left to right.

As he moved, the red mist that permeated the mountainside also surged and changed rapidly. From the sky, which was more than ten meters high, down to the ground where the soil was touching, wherever he passed, he would slightly grasp any warm living thing he encountered. At that moment, the loose red mist would instantly turn into something deadly.

Whether it's a streak of sword light, a chain of interlocking rings with spikes, or dozens or hundreds of blades with only the edge... the appearance of the Fiend Mist depends entirely on the agility of the creature it encounters; the more difficult it is to catch, the more effort it puts into it.

In less than a minute, as the mist swirled and dissipated, the broken corpses of more than ten yellow demons had already accumulated beneath his feet.

The distinctive stench of the Yellow Demon, mixed with the smell of blood, filled the small platform outside the main gate of this mountain temple.

Controlling the hem of his coat, he flicked the corpses at his feet. Although these yellow demons had been cleaved in pieces by the evil energy and their evil aura had been completely plundered, their remaining fur and enormous size still showed that they had lived quite comfortably on this mountain before!

Zhang Wei didn't dwell on where the hordes of yellow demons in the mountains got so much food when they had just survived the famine and had some stored up some grain.

As he turned his gaze away from the corpses scattered at his feet, he transformed back into the cold and ruthless killing machine, plundering the mountains and forests and slaughtering indiscriminately!

As he waved his hands, he kept a close eye on the small mountain temple not far away.

Do you like to hide things?

Do you like to wait?

Then you'd better be able to wait. After you've killed all the demons and monsters in these mountains, you can turn around and slaughter this old codger!

"Crunch~"

After another few dozen seconds of waiting, when the red mist had spread from the mountainside to the top of the mountain, and was hundreds of meters away from the foot of the mountain, accompanied by the faint screams of the yellow demon in the silent night, the small temple in front of the two could no longer sit still, and the tightly closed temple door slowly opened with a series of dull friction sounds from the hinges.

The old village chief, already as easily frightened as a bird, shuddered before he could even utter a word of warning.

The blood mist lingering beside Zhang Wei rose at his feet, whipping up a cloud of black residue that rushed into the half-open temple door.

In a flash, through the half-open temple door, by the light of the moon, one could vaguely see that inside the narrow temple, on the altar of the deity, the originally fierce face of the sculpture wearing civil and military robes, holding a steel fork but with a rat's head, suddenly changed.

The next moment, the black and red sand mist completely disappeared into the mountain god temple.

"Click-clack~ Squeak squeak squeak!"

Amidst the swirling blood mist, a clanging and clattering sound came from the temple, a sound that seemed to be both a yellow demon and a rat's squeak, appearing particularly panicked and helpless.

Although Zhang Wei couldn't understand animal language, he could vaguely sense that the other party was hurling very offensive insults!

"Whoosh!"

Zhang Wei made a bow-drawing gesture, and countless blood mists from the surrounding mountains and forests swept back into his hand, condensing into a large arrow more than a meter long and as thick as his wrist. After a brief aim, he released the arrow and launched it into the air!

"boom!"

As soon as a red light entered the small temple, the doors and windows of the temple exploded, and the already dilapidated temple collapsed amidst the flying bricks and tiles.

Amidst the dust and the clanging of bricks, something nearly as tall as Zhang Wei emerged from the ruins of the small temple.

As the dust settled and the blood mist dissipated, a giant weasel, standing upright, emerged from the ruins. Its clothing was not much different from the statue that had been glimpsed earlier, but compared to the statue's eeriness, the weasel before them had a sense of vicissitude, as if it had returned from the midst of gunfire.

The sleeves of his martial arts robe were mostly torn, and his fur was corroded and pitted, exposing the flesh in many places. In the moonlight, one could see black and gray dregs "devouring" the surrounding normal flesh under the corroded flesh in the bald spots.

The mountain god (weasel) had a pair of eerie eyes that turned scarlet from being bloodshot, and its pointed, monkey-like head had its mouth opening and closing as if it were saying something:

"You wicked brat! I've traveled halfway across China from beyond the Great Wall to within it, and seen so many different landscapes, but I've never encountered such evil magic as yours!"

"Whose brat is this, so ignorant as to dare interfere in your Master Huang's affairs? Call your master here to apologize, and we'll let this matter drop. Otherwise..."

"Bang!"

Zhang Wei turned around and delivered a powerful whip kick, sending the old village chief, who had been remotely controlled by the mountain god, flying into a tree. He then gathered his Qi and unleashed hundreds of sword lights that shot straight towards the mountain god.

This isn't a movie shoot, where would we find the time to chat with you?

Although he didn't understand any divine laws or Daoist scriptures, substituting one person for another and murdering a living person were not taboos, but pure evil deeds and serious crimes, which would be considered typical by the patriarch.

If you do evil, you should die. There's no need to go through all this complicated stuff!

Halfway up the mountain, watching Zhang Wei go all out without warning, the mountain god felt completely numb.

Are you not even going to discuss it?

No, you're using evil magic, and I'm a demon. We're the ones on the same path, right? Why did you have to learn the righteous way of slaying demons and monsters? Do you think the righteous would reward you for doing this?

Despite his thoughts, the mountain god dared not personally withstand the barrage of sword light.

Aside from special evil spirits, few people can directly utilize this thing. Normally, humans, gods, demons, monsters, and all kinds of living things carry a certain amount of evil energy, but the evil energy on living things has its own special characteristics.

The prisoner was afflicted with malevolent energy.

The ghosts and monsters are imbued with yin energy.

There are also the negative energies from the feng shui terrain, as well as the negative energies from heaven and earth.

The malevolent spirit is something the criminal himself creates, and it has no other effect besides making him more vicious. However, normal people will be frightened and disturbed by it. Simple fears will make them shudder every time they think about it, while severe cases can cause numbness on the spot, loss of spirit, or even death from fright.

To put it more simply and lightly, perhaps it's a matter of how the environment shapes the people?

People often experience acclimatization issues when they move to a new place, let alone something as tangible and intangible as malevolent energy.

It was just a weasel that was no more than a hundred years old. Although it had taken the position of mountain god by taking advantage of the convenience of the ghost in the book, it had neither divine seal nor official rank. In addition, the sacrifices in Xiakou Village were only held occasionally. This mountain god did not even have a proper name, let alone anything substantial.

Of course, even a proper mountain god wouldn't dare to face the blade's gleaming, malevolent energy directly; he would have to slip away and hide.

After all, this thing is not only vicious, but it also breaks magic. When it hits you, it's like an armor-piercing arrow coated with excrement, piercing both flesh and soul, causing injuries both inside and out, which is really unpleasant.

It already suffered enough at the temple, how dare it try to force its way in now?

On the hillside, the weasel mountain god did its best to use its four-legged instincts, crawling on the ground to hide from the flashing blades. At this moment, it could no longer care about its dignity as a mountain god, but even so, it was still slashed and stabbed many times. The pain from the wounds on its body, which were flowing with black blood, made its face even more distorted, but in the midst of the pain, a cunning light flashed in the mountain god's small eyes.

As the mountain god ran, gusts of yellow wind shot out from its tail, turning into clouds and mist that spread across the mountain.

This is one of its signature skills.

Originally a means for weasels to escape when facing predators, it has taken on a proactive effect after becoming a spirit. The stench of the weasel makes people dizzy and disoriented upon smelling it, and a single breath can numb their soul and paralyze them. More importantly, those who inhale its breath become its people. By taking advantage of the dizziness, the weasel can control people's minds and make them obey its commands.

But the smile on its face vanished the next moment.

Yellow wind is wind, and so is evil wind. When the naturally diffused yellow wind is swept up by the blood-red evil cloud, it becomes another accomplice chasing after it.

Of course, being a weasel, it is immune to its own evil magic.

But then again, while immunity is one thing, and a fart won't kill you, who would actually find their farts sweet, pleasant, or enjoyable?

You troublesome brat!

Cursing under his breath, the weasel twisted its four paws, changing its trajectory from circling the blade to charging straight at Zhang Wei with its large, slender body.

You're good at using evil magic, but surely your physical body has its weaknesses?

Due to its innate talent and age, it lived for nearly a hundred years without escaping the limitations of the weasel species. Even as a spirit, it mostly used methods to deceive and harm people from behind the scenes. In a direct confrontation, it was not only inferior to Chang (a python) of the same age, but it would also have to give way to adult wild beasts in the mountains.