Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

Deep in the Yanshan Mountains, the sequence of time seems to lose its meaning. Only the rising and setting of the sun and moon, the strength of the cold wind, and the ceaseless, mournful sound of the pine trees in the mountains mark the passage of time.

He Damin had been wandering in the mountains for several days.

He was like a most patient explorer, and a discerning hermit, traversing the continuous mountains, deep canyons, and precipitous cliffs. His body climbed and leaped, traversing dangerous places that were inaccessible to ordinary people; his soul, however, left his body at night, transforming into an invisible breeze, penetrating rocks, skimming over deep ravines, scanning every inch of this ancient mountain range with an almost godlike perspective, searching for that possible yet elusive "place where spiritual energy gathers."

He had seen waterfalls and deep pools, heard the howls of wolves and the roars of tigers, and traversed vast snowfields. He had also sensed a faint, almost negligible, ethereal energy of heaven and earth in some ancient ruins or places with unique feng shui. However, these places were either not secluded enough, or had thin and mixed spiritual energy, or were already occupied by powerful wild beasts, making them unsuitable places for secluded cultivation.

What he needed was a place that was absolutely safe, relatively secluded, and could provide basic cultivation resources and survival guarantees. In the early days of the Dharma-ending Age, amidst frequent wars and chaos in the mountains and forests of North China, this standard was like finding a needle in a haystack.

However, on the fifth night, as his soul drifted as usual over a remote and dangerous area in the main range of the Yanshan Mountains, a faint yet exceptionally pure "coolness," like a firefly flashing in the night, caught his attention.

That "coolness" wasn't cold, but a refreshing sensation that soothed the soul. It was pure yin-attribute spiritual energy, mixed with a faint, subtle freshness from the essence of plants. It came from a secluded valley below, surrounded by several steep, knife-cut cliffs.

From above, it resembles a deep pit carved out of the mountains by a giant with a spoon, surrounded by near-vertical cliffs hundreds of feet high, their bare walls making it difficult even for the most adept climbers like monkeys to find footing. Above the valley, a thin, milky-white mist, formed by temperature variations, lingers year-round, blending with the night and adding to its mystery. Unless one possesses exceptionally keen spiritual senses and is passing directly overhead, it would be nearly impossible to discover this place so cleverly concealed by nature.

He Damin's soul quietly descended, piercing through the thin mist, and the scenery of the valley gradually became clear.

The valley is an irregular oval shape, not very large, roughly ten acres on each side. Most striking is a hot spring, about half an acre in size, located in the eastern part of the valley's center. Steam rises from the clear water, which gleams with a faint milky white sheen under the moonlight. The rising steam carries a scent of sulfur mixed with some strange minerals. Beside the hot spring, a stream, only a foot wide, seeps from a crevice in the cliff face, making a gurgling sound. It joins the hot spring and then flows out again from the other end, forming an even smaller stream that meanders through the valley and disappears into a crevice on the other side—clearly an underground spring.

The ground around the hot spring is relatively flat, and the soil, nourished by moisture year-round, appears dark and fertile. Several enormous, unidentified ancient trees take root here, their canopies like umbrellas, their branches gnarled and twisted, likely decades or even older. The largest of these requires three people to encircle it, its trunk hollow, forming a natural tree cavity. Among the ancient trees, many shade-loving ferns and mosses grow lushly, a vibrant green that contrasts sharply with the desolate surrounding cliffs.

What stirred He Damin's heart even more was that when his spiritual sense swept over the roots of those ancient trees and the crevices of the rocks in the shade, he discovered more than one ancient ginseng! The leaves were thick and the ginseng body faintly revealed a jade-like luster, indicating that it was a precious medicine at least several hundred years old. Among them, three were of the best quality, with spiritual energy contained within, probably having been cultivated for nearly five hundred years!

"What a deadly place!" Even He Damin, with his calm and collected nature, couldn't help but feel a slight ripple at this moment.

Surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides, with the only possible "entrance" being the sky hundreds of feet above, this place would be a dead end for ordinary people. However, for someone like him, possessing lightness skills and special abilities, it was a natural, isolated fortress. Hot spring water solved his drinking and washing needs, the fertile land could be easily cultivated into farmland, ancient trees could provide shelter, and old ginseng was a rare and invaluable resource for cultivation. Although the spiritual energy here was pitifully thin, almost depleted (the faint coolness was proof of this), far from being a "paradise on earth," it was the best option He Damin could find at this stage, given his urgent need for a safe and stable base and the availability of a Taiji Space to store spiritual energy.

However, just as his soul was about to investigate more carefully, a cold, fishy, ​​and intensely hungry thought suddenly shot out from a cave covered with dense vines near the hot spring and locked onto him!

"hiss--!"

Accompanied by a teeth-grinding screech of scales, a gigantic, dark green python, as thick as a bucket and over five zhang long, slowly emerged from the cave, its menacing triangular head peeking out! Its lantern-sized eyes gleamed with a sinister green light in the night, fixedly "staring" in the direction of He Damin's soul. Its scarlet forked tongue flickered, emitting a threatening hiss. It seemed to vaguely sense the soul's presence, but its vision was indistinct; it merely relied on its beastly instincts and absolute territorial control to detect the uninvited guest.

The giant python's body was mostly hidden in the cave, with the exposed parts covered in rough scales, clearly indicating that it had been entrenched in this place for many years. Its aura was ferocious, carrying a faint fishy and poisonous smell. Judging from its size and intelligence, it was definitely not an ordinary wild beast, and was probably close to the edge of a low-level demon beast.

He Damin's soul hovered in mid-air, calmly observing. He noticed that apart from this giant python, there was no other sign of life in the entire valley. There were no birds, no pikas, and even insects were scarce. Clearly, this hungry python had already devoured all the sustenance in the valley, becoming its sole overlord. Its current state of coiling up and not emerging was perhaps due to prolonged food shortages, exhaustion, and a conservation of energy.

"A starving gatekeeper snake... saves me the trouble of cleaning it up," He Damin sneered inwardly. This python was highly venomous and ferocious; leaving it here would only cause trouble. It was a good opportunity to put it to good use.

He didn't act immediately. His soul slowly rose, avoiding the giant python's not-so-strong spiritual sense lock-on range, and began to plan carefully.

"This place is perfect as a retreat base. A treehouse should be built in the largest ancient tree, which will not only keep out dampness and insects but also provide a good view. Two or three acres of flat land below can be cultivated to plant some cold-resistant crops or herbs. The area next to the hot spring can be renovated to serve as a place for daily bathing and conditioning... As for this snake..."

His gaze fell once more on the warily coiled giant python, and a thought arose in his mind.

Now, thanks to the four advancements of the Soul Refining Banner and his recent cultivation, the effective range of his soul's manipulation of external objects has expanded to nearly five thousand meters! This is an astonishing figure, meaning he can teleport objects and cast spells from nearly ten miles away using his soul. Of course, this refers to the state of a pure soul. When the soul is inside the physical body, limited by the physical body, this distance is drastically reduced to about one-tenth, or about five hundred meters, and the precision and power of manipulation are also diminished.

"Let it die here and bury it, but that would be a waste." He Damin's thoughts raced. "This python is highly venomous, enormous, and ferocious when hungry... What if we 'accidentally' let it appear near some Japanese camp..."

A plan to fight fire with fire quickly took shape.

He could use his soul form to subdue the giant python remotely and temporarily imprison it within his Taiji Space. Then, at night, he would find a suitable, relatively laxly defended Japanese camp. He would first use the Soul Refining Banner's domain and the [Wail of Vengeful Spirits] to exert widespread mental suppression, plunging the camp into chaos and panic, weakening its organized resistance. Then, in the center of the camp or a densely populated area, he would release the hungry and frightened giant python…

One can imagine the chaos and carnage that would ensue if such a terrifying python suddenly appeared in the dead of night, when the soldiers were on the verge of a mental breakdown due to the unseen wails of ghosts! Ordinary bullets would struggle to accurately hit the python's vitals in the chaos, and its venom, strangulation, and charges would unleash a bloodbath within the camp. Even if the Japanese managed to eliminate the python afterward, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses, and the fear of this "paranormal attack" would spread further.

"That's what we'll do," He Damin decided. However, before that, he needed to physically enter this dangerous place to conduct an on-site investigation and deal with the giant python.

The soul returned to its physical body, which had temporarily taken refuge on a distant mountain peak. At this time, the east was already showing the first light of dawn.

Without resting, He Damin, after determining the direction, hurried towards the cliffside valley. He chose the steepest and seemingly most impossible cliff face as the entrance. Reaching the top of the cliff, looking down at the misty valley below, he took a deep breath, his inner energy surging.

He leaped, not plummeting straight down, but rather employing the most exquisite "Gecko Climbing the Wall" technique from the ancient Chinese folk art of "The Swallow with Three Drops of Water." Each time his toes lightly touched a protruding rock or crevice, his body slid several meters downwards, skillfully dissipating the force of the fall, his movements as fluid as walking on flat ground. Occasionally, when he encountered a smooth rock surface where there was nowhere to hold onto, he would throw out a rope he had prepared beforehand, equipped with a steel grappling hook, to snag on the rocks above, gain a little leverage, and continue his descent.

The sheer cliff, a natural barrier that would intimidate ordinary people, was traversed by him, a master of internal energy, in just a little over the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. He landed safely and stepped into the valley.

My feet sank into the soft, fertile black earth, and the steam from the hot springs mingled with the fresh scent of grass and trees. The morning sun hadn't yet fully penetrated the deep valley, but the light was already much softer than from the cliff top. Several towering ancient trees stood silently, their branches and leaves lush and verdant. From the direction of the cave not far away, came the uneasy rubbing and low hissing of a giant python; it had clearly sensed the arrival of a truly uninvited guest.

He Damin did not immediately approach the cave. He first quickly circled the valley, carefully examining the terrain, water source, soil, and the condition of the old ginseng roots. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became. Although the place was small, it had everything he needed and was extremely well hidden. As long as a few simple guard posts and camouflage were set up on the cliff top, it would be almost impossible for outsiders to discover it.

Finally, he stopped about fifty paces away from the cave and faced the deep cave entrance.

The giant python inside the cave seemed to sense the threat, its hiss becoming high-pitched and rapid, full of warning. But it still didn't rush out immediately, perhaps out of instinctive fear of the faintly dangerous aura emanating from He Damin, or perhaps because it was truly too hungry to muster the strength.

He Damin waited no longer. With a thought, the phantom of the Soul Refining Banner flashed behind him, and an invisible wave of soul power silently enveloped the entrance to the cave.

The Soul Banner Domain was not fully unleashed; it was merely applying targeted pressure. At the same time, the phantom of a Netherworld Chain was already forming in his palm.

Soul attacks are the most effective way to deal with such physically powerful but unintelligent beasts.

"Hiss—roar!"

The giant python inside the cave could no longer restrain itself, or perhaps it was enraged by the pressure of that soul power, and suddenly burst out! Its massive body brought with it a foul stench, its dark green scales gleaming coldly in the morning light, and it opened its blood-red maw, revealing its gleaming white fangs, and pounced on He Damin with astonishing speed!

However, just as it burst out of the cave and its body was fully exposed!

A cold glint flashed in He Damin's eyes, and the phantom of the Netherworld Chain shot out from his palm! It did not attack its physical body, but rather, like an invisible lightning bolt, it directly pierced into the giant python's relatively vulnerable head!

"Certainly!"

The [Soul-Eating Yin Fire] attached to the chains erupted simultaneously with the suppression of soul power! The giant python's forward momentum abruptly froze! The ferocity in its lantern-sized eyes was instantly replaced by immense pain and bewilderment. The terrifying feeling of its soul being burned and imprisoned was a nightmare its simple bestial nature had never experienced before. Its massive body convulsed and rolled violently due to its loss of nerve control; its thick tail swept down several small trees and plowed deep furrows in the ground, but it could no longer launch an effective attack.

He Damin seized the opportunity, locked his spiritual sense onto the giant python that had temporarily lost its ability to resist, and communicated with the Yang side of the Taiji space.

"receive!"

The giant python's massive body, spanning five zhang (approximately 10 meters), along with the mud and rocks it stirred up during its struggle, vanished instantly from the valley floor and was cast into a specially isolated area within the Taiji Space, imbued with multiple layers of binding runes. There, it will enter a state of stagnation similar to hibernation until it is released again.

The valley fell silent. Only the ground, ravaged by the giant python's struggle, and the lingering stench of blood remained in the air.

He Damin glanced at the deep cave, scanned it with his spiritual sense, and confirmed that there were no other dangers. He walked to the hot spring, scooped up a handful of warm water to wash his face, and felt the faint minerals and almost negligible spiritual energy contained within.

"First step, done." He looked at the largest hollow ancient tree, then at the fertile land beside it. "Next, it's time to build my new 'home.' As for the 'gift' for the Japanese devils... we'll talk about that tonight."

The sunlight finally illuminated the hidden valley completely, dispelling the last chill of the night. He Damin, in this secluded and isolated place, began to bustle about.