Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Yellow Hair sat there blankly, not moving for a long while.

I swallowed nervously, my hand frantically scratching at Jiang Haoyan’s palm.

“Jiang Haoyan, wake up.”

Jiang Haoyan opened his eyes dizzily. Seeing Yellow Hair sitting in the middle of the tent, he asked in surprise, “Qiao Moyu, why did you move over there?”

The moment he spoke, Yellow Hair whipped his head around to look at us.

Under the moonlight, his face was deathly pale. His mouth was stretched open to its widest possible extent, fixed in a bizarre grin. That massive mouth took up almost the entire lower half of his face.

I jumped in fright.

“That guy’s mouth is huge.”

Yellow Hair continued to grin, his eyes dull and glazed. He glanced at us once, then stood up and sluggishly opened the tent flap to head outside.

Jiang Haoyan was nearly scared out of his wits.

“Qiao Moyu, isn’t he dead? What is that thing?”

I comforted him. “It’s fine. It’s just a ghost. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Jiang Haoyan breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, a ghost. That’s not so bad-wait, what? A ghost?”

I glared at him, signaling for him to keep his voice down.

Yellow Hair had been killed by the Moon Fiend, and his corpse was saturated with a massive amount of yin energy. It was easy for the lonely souls wandering nearby to possess him. However, most of the spirits in these adventure spots weren’t victims of foul play; their resentment wasn’t strong, so they wouldn’t usually harm people.

I struggled to my feet.

“Let’s follow him out and see.”

With our hands tied behind our backs, Jiang Haoyan and I crouched down and crawled out of the tent. Just as we poked our heads out, we saw a small campfire still burning ahead. Two young men were sitting there, smoking and chatting.

One of the young men with a buzz cut sighed.

“Ah Kuan, I really didn’t expect Yellow Hair to go just like that.”

The man beside him, Ah Kuan, nodded and flicked his ash onto the ground.

“In our line of work, we earn money with our heads tied to our waistbands. Brother Wei said it’s two million for a death. When we get back, the boss will have someone send the money to Yellow Hair’s family. That kid’s life was worth it in the end. What else could he do to earn two million?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yellow Hair sluggishly walked over to the two men and stood there motionless.

Ah Kuan looked up and smiled at Yellow Hair.

“Buddy, it’s still early. Why not sleep a bit longer?”

The buzz-cut guy also glanced at Yellow Hair, his eyes suddenly turning red.

“You actually look a lot like Yellow Hair. You both have such big mouths.”

“Look at these eyebrows, these eyes, this-holy shit! Yel-Yel-Yellow Hair!”

“Ghost!”

The two of them scrambled away, tripping over themselves. I took the opportunity to follow, rushing up to Ah Kuan.

“Quick, untie my ropes! I can exorcise ghosts! If you wait, it’ll be too late-this ghost is incredibly powerful!”

Without a second thought, Ah Kuan pulled a short knife from his pocket and sliced through my ropes in a few strokes. Just as he finished, Yellow Hair began chasing after us.

“Ghost! Brother Wei, help!”

In a panic, Ah Kuan dropped the dagger and ran toward the tent on the far right.

I immediately picked up the knife and cut Jiang Haoyan’s ropes. Then, taking advantage of the chaos, I found my backpack, and the two of us slipped away from the camp under the cover of darkness.

“Qiao Moyu, your command token is still with Tong Wei. We have to find a way to get it back.”

I nodded.

“The timing isn’t right. I know where Tong Wei and his men are going. Let them go first; we’ll wait for the chance to strike.”

A Moon Fiend appearing in a Mass Grave… a Mass Grave was usually either an ancient battlefield or related to sacrificial rites.

Regardless of what it was, such a sinister burial ground would show its signs in the stars.

I looked up at the distance. The sky had faded from deep black to gray as the darkness curled inward, slowly retreating toward the west. The Morning Star lifted a corner of the curtain in the east, and a pale gray light began to spread.

Dawn was coming.

I oriented myself and led Jiang Haoyan back to the Program Team’s camp.

Uncle Da, the adventure expert, was on night watch. He was standing in front of a tent stretching his limbs. When he saw Jiang Haoyan and me return, he gave us a knowing, suggestive wink.

“Young people, I understand. But don’t let it happen again. Teacher Zhu was worried sick.”

Influenced by his brother, Zhu Tanjian knew a lot about archaeology. His family were also practitioners of the Zhu You Arts, so he had heard many strange tales and legends. I asked him if there were any Mass Graves nearby. Zhu Tanjian fell silent for a moment before nodding.

“There is a legend about this area.”