My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

While it was still light, several merchants were delayed in a mountain gully.

That ravine is called Leech Gully. There are tall and short shrubs on both sides, and the ground is covered with a thick layer of decaying leaves. It feels soft and spongy underfoot, like stepping on the belly of some living creature.

The leader's surname was Ma, and his name was Ma Desheng. He was in his forties, with a round face, short beard, loud voice, and quick temper. He had been running this route for more than ten years and could walk it blindfolded without ever getting lost.

He told his companions that taking a shortcut through Leech Gully would save them an hour of walking.

His accomplices believed him and followed him into the ditch.

As a result, the road in the ditch was washed away by the torrential rain a few days earlier, and they had to go around in circles, which took them two extra hours.

By the time they climbed out of the ditch, the sun was already setting.

"Old Ma, it's all your fault!"

The speaker was a skinny man surnamed Zhou, nicknamed Zhou Laoqi. He was a spirit medium, with little flesh on his face, high cheekbones, and deep-set eyes, making him look like he wasn't alive.

He was the only one in the group who knew the ins and outs. He didn't talk much, but when he did, it sent chills down people's spines.

He rarely spoke at this moment, and his voice was so shrill it sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

"I told you not to take the shortcuts, but you insisted on doing it anyway. Now look what happened, it's almost dark."

Ma Desheng wiped his sweat but did not refute.

He knew he was wrong, terribly wrong.

When traveling through the mountains, the worst thing is to not reach your destination before dark.

Some of those outposts were inns for transporting corpses, while others were territories occupied by some neutral evil spirit.

If you offer it sacrifices, burn paper money for it, and pay it protection money, it won't eat you.

But you have to get there before dark; if you're late, the door will be closed and no one can get in.

"How much further?" another accomplice asked.

This man's surname was Wang, and his given name was Wang Laoshi. He did indeed look honest, with a round face and thick lips, and he looked very unassuming.

He was a medicinal herb dealer, and it was his first time on this route. He knew nothing about it and just followed Ma Desheng.

Ma Desheng glanced at the sky, then at the road ahead, and swallowed hard: "If we take a shortcut, we can get there before dark."

Zhou Laoqi sneered: "Taking a shortcut?"

Ma Desheng fell silent.

The group walked forward in silence, heads down, without uttering a word.

Footsteps echoed on the gravel road, rustling and whispering, as if something was following behind.

The sun slowly sank below the horizon, and the shadows gradually lengthened.

When they reached the end of the path, the clouds on the horizon had been dyed dark red, as if someone had splashed a basin of blood in the sky.

Ma Desheng stood at the intersection, looking at the path half-hidden by bushes, and hesitated for a moment.

He knew this path; he had walked it years ago and it saved him a lot of time.

He hadn't walked that path for years, and he didn't know if it was still there.

He looked back at the people behind him. Zhou Laoqi had a gloomy face, and Wang Laoshi looked nervous.

There were two other helpers, one surnamed Zhang and the other surnamed Li, both of whom were taciturn and had been with him for several years without ever complaining, but at this moment their faces were also pale.

Ma Desheng gritted his teeth and stepped onto the path.

The path was narrow, with dense bushes on both sides. The branches stretched out and scratched my face, stinging painfully.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves. Stepping on them made no sound, only a soft, unsettling feeling.

They walked quickly, without speaking, only the sound of their footsteps, rustling like countless insects crawling.

After walking for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the road suddenly disappeared ahead.

A large rock was blocking the road. The rock was huge, taller than a person, and bluish-gray, covered with moss. It looked like it had been there for quite some time.

Ma Desheng stopped, looked at the stone, opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

Zhou Laoqi walked over, glanced at the stone, and his expression became even more unpleasant.

"This is the shortcut you were talking about?"

Ma Desheng didn't speak. He walked around the stone and looked ahead. There was still a road behind the stone, but it was blocked by the stone, and people couldn't pass.

He thought for a moment and said, "Go around it."

Several people followed him, disappearing into the bushes beside him.

The bushes were very dense, and the branches stung my face.

They went around in a huge circle before finally getting back to the path.

By the time they were back on the road, it was already dark.

It didn't gradually darken; it was a sudden "snap," like someone blew out a light, and suddenly you couldn't see anything at all.

Only a few stars overhead twinkled coldly, as if someone had poked holes in the sky.

Zhou Laoqi's face turned even paler.

He took out a cloth bag from his pocket, opened it, and inside were some yellow paper, incense ash, and a few withered yellow grasses.

He folded the yellow paper into a small figure, sprinkled incense ash on it, stuffed the few blades of grass into its belly, then closed his eyes and muttered something in a low voice that was hard to understand.

After he finished reading, he buried the little figure in the soil by the roadside, stood up, and dusted off his hands.

"Let's go, we can hold out for a while."

Ma Desheng asked, "How long can it last?"

Zhou Laoqi didn't answer, he just kept walking forward with his head down.

Several people followed behind him, but none of them dared to speak.

It was dark and quiet all around, with only the soft rustling of their own footsteps. But as they walked, they realized that the footsteps sounded wrong.

It wasn't the sound of five people's footsteps, it was the sound of six.

There's one more.

Wang Laoshi's legs began to tremble. He didn't dare to turn around, but quickened his pace.

The others quickened their pace, their footsteps becoming more chaotic and their voices more mixed, making it impossible to tell how many people were following them. They could only sense something was getting closer and closer behind them.

Zhou Laoqi suddenly stopped.

He squatted down, groped the ground, stood up, and brought his hand to his nose to smell it.

His expression changed.

"We've walked this road before."

Ma Desheng was stunned for a moment: "What?"

Zhou Laoqi stretched out his hand in front of him and let him smell it.

Ma Desheng leaned closer and smelled a faint scent of incense ash.

"This is where I buried the effigy. We've come back here."

Everyone was stunned.

They were clearly moving forward, so why did they turn back?

Zhou Laoqi squatted down, felt around on the ground a few times, and found the pit where the voodoo doll was buried.

He dug it out; the yellow paper inside was already wet and had melted into pulp. The incense ash and withered grass were mixed together, sticky and gooey, like a lump of mud.

He glanced at it, threw the lump of mud on the ground, and stood up.

"Being trapped in a maze" or "being surrounded by ghosts".

Wang Laoshi's legs trembled even more violently. He grabbed Ma Desheng's sleeve, his voice shaking, "Old Ma, what do we do?"

Ma Desheng didn't know what to do either.

He had been roaming the Ten Thousand Mountains for over a decade, but all his skills lay in the knife. He was adept at slaying monsters, but when it came to these strange and unpredictable creatures, he really had no way to deal with them.

He looked at Zhou Laoqi, hoping he could come up with a solution.

Zhou Laoqi did not look up.

He remained silent for a while, so long that Wang Laoshi thought he had fallen asleep.