Goo goo goo!
Goo goo goo!
The eerie bird calls reverberated through the deep mountains, and those pairs of strange eyes in the large trees flickered with an uncanny green light.
"What is a death-heralding bird?"
Under the gaze of those green eyes, Luo Xingfa felt his scalp tingle with fear.
"The death-heralding bird, also known as the ghost owl, is a type of owl. There's an old saying: 'Do not fear the hoot of an owl, but fear its laugh.' When this bird laughs, it is often accompanied by death, which is why it is called the death-heralding bird," Master Xiang explained in a deep voice.
"In fact, it's because this bird has an extraordinary sense of danger. When they make such a sound, it indicates that there is something very terrifying ahead!"
"What could it be?" Luo Xingfa shivered.
"I don't know. There are many strange things in the deep mountains and old forests," Master Xiang said with a bitter smile.
The difficulties of this job had far exceeded his expectations.
Lu Fei waved his hand and took out the lightning-struck jujube wood stick: "Just be careful. We are here to find that old man, so we should avoid other things if possible. If it really gets serious, who knows who will be afraid of whom."
"You're right, malevolent spirits usually do not actively provoke cultivators."
Master Xiang seemed to remember something and took out a cinnabar bracelet from his bag, telling Luo Xingfa to wear it for protection.
Lu Fei pasted another ghost-repelling talisman on his back.
He finally felt a bit more reassured.
Under the dim, watchful gaze of countless pairs of green eyes, the three people and one dog cautiously made their way around the base of the big tree, heading deeper into the mountains.
The silence in the mountains was entirely different from that of the city.
The sound of a single withered branch snapping underfoot was exceptionally clear.
As the mountain breeze blew through, rustling the leaves, it seemed as if ghosts were wailing.
Luo Xingfa, full of trepidation, followed Lu Fei, stepping unevenly as they traversed the eerie, dark forest.
For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease, as if something was following them. He couldn't help but look back, only to see swaying shadows or birds flying by.
"Don't worry about those, we need to find Luo Youliang!"
He suppressed his unease and closely followed Lu Fei's footsteps.
Right at this moment, he felt something grab his foot.
"Ah!"
He jumped up in fright.
"What's wrong?"
Lu Fei and Master Xiang turned to look at him simultaneously, each holding their own ritual instruments, ready for anything.
"There, there's something!"
Luo Xingfa pointed to the ground with a trembling hand.
The flashlight beam revealed a gray, furry object lying in the grass, seemingly some sort of animal.
But it didn't move at all.
Lu Fei moved closer and realized it was an animal's corpse, already shriveled and deformed. It must have been its claws that caught on Luo Xingfa's pants, making him think he had been grabbed.
It was a false alarm!
"Sorry, I overreacted." Luo Xingfa wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling very apologetic.
"It's okay." Lu Fei gave him a reassuring smile.
For an ordinary person, to dare to enter this deep and old forest is already very brave.
Everyone followed the small black dog, continuing forward.
Unexpectedly, they encountered many animal mummies along the way.
"So many mummies, it must be abnormal!"
Lu Fei and Master Xiang exchanged a glance, both having a bad feeling.
He put on his pawnshop gloves, picked up an animal mummy, and examined it carefully under the flashlight.
To his shock, he found two small blood holes on the neck of the mummy!
Lu Fei frowned and picked up a few more mummified corpses to examine. Without exception, all of them, regardless of what animal they were in life, had two very small blood holes on their necks.
"These animals all died from being drained of blood!"
Lu Fei threw away the mummified corpses, put away his gloves, and squinted as he scanned his surroundings.
"Bloodsucking! Is it a monster or a zombie? Could it be related to that mole?"
"Whatever it is, it's probably not going to be easy to deal with!" Master Xiang's face grew even more somber.
Any malevolent spirit becomes even more dangerous once it has tasted blood.
Now, they could only hope that it hadn't drunk human blood yet.
Everyone mustered their courage and continued forward. It wasn't long before Lu Fei heard the rustling of birds in flight again.
There seemed to be an unusually large number of birds along the way.
Birds are creatures that return to their nests at night. For them to be flying around wildly in the dead of night...
Lu Fei felt something was amiss, and his flashlight followed the movement of a few birds, vaguely catching a glimpse of something.
He quickly raised the flashlight, and his pupils shrank involuntarily.
In the dense foliage of the large tree, there was a figure that appeared and disappeared intermittently.
What was frightening was that...
the figure was upside down, with its head pointing downward and legs upward.
The body seemed to be floating, swaying back and forth in the dark shrubbery with the wind.
"What is that?" Luo Xingfa's voice trembled, and the hair on his body stood on end.
Master Xiang and the assistant also looked very pale.
"Don't mind it. As long as it doesn't bother us, we don't need to take the initiative to act.",
Lu Fei was very cautious, motioning for Xiao Hei to continue leading the way.
But after just a few steps, Xiao Hei suddenly stopped, glaring viciously ahead with a threatening growl.
"Is there one in front as well?"
Lu Fei quickly shone his flashlight over, and indeed saw an upside-down figure between the trees ahead.
"Mr. Lu, there's one behind us too, and one on the right!"
Master Xiang swallowed hard.
Now, there was an upside-down figure to their left, right, front, and back.
This was definitely not a coincidence.
These hanging figures had deliberately surrounded them!
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are just passing through this place and have no intention of disturbing you! Please give us a way out, so we can all get through this peacefully."
Lu Fei cupped his hands respectfully toward the eerie figures.
Courtesy first, force later.
But the figures of those hanged men swayed lightly and moved through the trees, getting even closer to them.
Their feet stepped on the trunks as if they could walk upside down.
"What in the world are these?"
Master Xiang, who had been reading feng shui for decades, had never seen such bizarre and malevolent entities.
He clung to his assistant's back, already holding a few copper coins in his hand.
The assistant's body was tense. Although he had not complained along the way, his face was starting to show strain.
Luo Xingfa clung tightly to Master Xiang, as if only this could keep him from fainting with fear.
"Since you won't listen to our advice, don't blame us for being ruthless!"
Lu Fei, gripping the lightning-struck wood, charged at the approaching hanged figures.
"Little Umbrella, protect them!"
The red flowers flickered in and out of sight, the black umbrella flew out from the backpack, and with hair fluttering, it hung menacingly by the side of Master and his two companions.
Lu Fei moved swiftly and had already rushed under a hanging figure.
Shining the flashlight, the face of the figure appeared especially terrifying, with empty eye sockets devoid of pupils, and only a pair of tiny red dots.
Two pale hands reached out fiercely toward Lu Fei.
Boom!
Lu Fei raised his arm and struck with a rod.
Brilliant electric light flashed.
The hanging figure convulsed violently; its hands, now charred black, quickly withdrew into the dense treetops.
Even the most powerful evil spirits fear heavenly thunder.
Lu Fei shone his flashlight, his gaze tightly following the inverted figure.
This one, having suffered a loss, cowered high up and did not dare to come out again.
"Be careful!"
There was a commotion towards where Master Xiang was.
Luo Xingfa let out a terrified scream in panic.
"Help me—"