Ghost Immortal

Outside the gate, the midday sun was blazing, making the dust on the official road steam.

The outline of Black Wind Ridge in the distance remained gloomy under the sunlight, and the mist on the mountaintop showed no sign of dissipating.

Li Feng looked up at Black Wind Ridge, unfolded the map in his hand, and said to Qiu Sheng and Qiu Lan, "There are two routes on the map to enter the mountain. One is to go directly north from the official road. The route is shorter, but it passes through the edge of the tiger demon's territory."

"The other route goes around to the west side of the mountain, passing through the gap between the Black Wind Bandits' territory and the Tiger Demon's territory. It's a longer route, but relatively safer."

Qiu Sheng said without hesitation, "Let's go far away! Far is far, it's better than running into a tiger demon!"

Qiulan nodded in agreement.

Li Feng put away the map, and the three of them continued westward along the official road, preparing to detour into Black Wind Ridge via a small path on the west side.

After walking about a mile, a narrow mountain path appeared beside the official road.

At the entrance to the path stood a broken stone tablet with two large, blurry characters engraved on it: Black Wind Ridge.

The path was flanked by dense, impenetrable primeval forests, with towering trees whose canopies blocked out the sun, yet filled with the stench of decay.

As Qiu Sheng walked, he muttered to himself, "This place is so gloomy, it's not much better than Tengteng Town."

Li Feng walked at the front, his five senses fully activated, sensing the changes in the surrounding atmosphere.

The deeper you go into the mountains, the heavier the yin energy becomes.

The soil on the ground changed from yellowish-brown to grayish-black.

The trees along the roadside were becoming increasingly twisted, with some trunks covered in black burls that resembled the grotesque faces of people who had died tragically.

Qiulan touched the black burl on the tree trunk and frowned, saying, "These trees have been corrupted by the evil energy. Normal trees don't grow such burls. The evil energy seeps into the soil, and the tree roots absorb it, causing these burls to grow. The trees will soon wither and die."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a low roar suddenly came from the depths of the dense forest.

"roar!!"

The sound was very penetrating and was exceptionally clear in the quiet mountain forest.

The three of them stopped at the same time.

"What was that sound? Could it be a tiger demon? Are we that unlucky?" Qiu Sheng's teeth chattered in fright.

Li Feng listened intently for a moment, then shook his head: "The distance is too far, I can't hear clearly. It doesn't sound like a tiger's roar, but rather like some kind of monster fighting."

The three continued walking forward, and the mountain path gradually became steeper.

After walking for about half an hour, an open space finally appeared ahead.

The open space was littered with broken trees and churned soil, clearly indicating a fierce battle had taken place.

There were fresh claw marks on several trees, deep enough to expose the bone.

Li Feng squatted down to examine the marks on the ground.

There were several clear, huge claw prints on the soil, twice the size of a normal tiger's paw.

The edges of the claw marks were slightly blackened, exuding a demonic aura.

Beside the claw marks, there were several deep marks that looked like they had been made by a blade. The plants at the edge of the soil were charred black by the evil energy of the blade.

"The tiger demon and the Black Wind Bandit are fighting?"

Qiu Sheng leaned over to take a look, his face full of confusion.

"Didn't Manager Wu say that the tiger demon and Black Wind would keep to themselves and not interfere with each other's affairs?"

Li Feng frowned.

The marks on the ground were fresh, no more than a day old.

If the tiger demon and the Black Wind Bandits really fight, it means the situation in the mountains is much more tense than Manager Wu said.

The Black Wind Bandits have been entrenched in Black Wind Ridge for many years and generally do not provoke the tiger demon.

Unless something happens that breaks the balance between the two sides.

"Let's keep going, everyone be careful."

Li Feng stood up, took out an exorcism talisman from his sleeve, and stuck it on the nearest tree as a road sign.

The three crossed the open space and continued walking into the mountains along the route on the map.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a dilapidated wooden house came into view in the dense forest ahead.

The roof of the wooden house had mostly collapsed, and the walls were covered with moss and vines, indicating that it had been abandoned for many years.

Li Feng said to the map, "This is the old hunter's rain shelter. It's marked on the map. Let's rest here for a while and use the Soul Detection Technique to sense the location of the ghost."

The three of them then went into the wooden house.

The furnishings inside the house had long since rotted away, leaving only a few wooden planks that were barely usable as seats.

Li Feng sat cross-legged, formed hand seals, and began chanting the incantation for the Soul-Searching Technique.

"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, the patriarch has appeared! I see ghosts and gods, but no people!"

The Soul-Detecting Technique recorded in the Maoshan Qi Cultivation Manual can use spiritual power to detect the aura of ghosts within a radius of three miles.

He is now at the Qi Refining stage, and the range of his Soul Detection Technique has expanded considerably.

A moment later, Li Feng opened his eyes.

"Did you find it?" Qiu Sheng asked hurriedly.

"Found one."

Li Feng pointed to the northeast direction of the wooden house.

"Three miles away, there is a mountain hollow where a lonely ghost is wandering. Its aura matches that detected by the Innate Eight Trigrams Formation, so it should be one of the two that escaped."

Qiu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally found it. Let's hurry up and collect it, then look for a second one."

Just as Li Feng was about to speak, Qiu Lan suddenly made a shushing gesture.

"Don't make a sound, there's something outside."

Before she finished speaking, her right hand had already touched the handle of the requiem bell at her waist.

The three held their breath and peered out through the cracks in the wooden house wall.

In the woods, a dark figure was silently approaching the cabin.

The shadowy figure moved with extreme lightness, making almost no sound as it stepped on the fallen leaves.

Soon, a dark figure peeked out from behind a tree, revealing half its face.

It was actually a human face.

However, his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were empty and lifeless.

The pupils in his eyes looked as if something had emptied them, leaving only two dark, empty holes.

His mouth was half-open, with dark red bloodstains hanging from the corners of his mouth, and uncongealed blood still remaining on his chin.

"Snoring...snoring!"

The thing made a low, whimpering sound from its throat.

It sounded like the vocal cords were being forcibly vibrated, completely lacking the normal tone of a living person speaking.

Qiu Sheng gasped in shock, exclaiming, "This is a changgui!"

His voice was very soft, but the ghost's hearing was exceptionally sharp, and it immediately turned its head to look in the direction of the wooden house.

The empty eye sockets seemed to pierce through the wooden planks, allowing one to see the people inside the room.

Then it spread its arms and pounced on the wooden house.

Li Feng reacted even faster. The instant the ghost lunged at the door, he had already condensed a palm lightning bolt in his right palm and blasted it towards the door.

Lightning exploded, and the ghost was blasted backward, letting out a ghostly scream.

"Croak!"

The ghost was not scattered, but the clothes on its chest were burned with black holes by the lightning and fire, revealing the rotting flesh underneath.

"Holy crap, is this for real? It can't even be dispersed by a palm lightning bolt?"

Qiu Sheng drew his iron whisk and was about to rush out of the wooden house when Li Feng grabbed him.

"Don't go out, it's dangerous outside!"

His gaze was fixed on the depths of the woods, his expression solemn.

Deep in the dense forest, more and more dark figures emerged from behind the trees.

There were more than a dozen ghosts surrounding them from all directions.

Their movements were stiff and eerie, and they emitted the same low moans from their throats, as if they were transmitting some kind of signal to each other.

Behind these ghouls, a huge black shadow was slowly approaching.

The shadowy figure gradually became clearer, revealing itself to be a huge black tiger!