Chapter 102: The Undying

Page (1/3)

A flash of anger and fear crossed Li Yue’s face. The few men cursed loudly as two of them strode toward me and Li Yue, while the other three tried to shove people into the river.

Those who had fallen into the river moments ago were already climbing out.

I took a deep breath and spoke in a low, firm voice, “What’s your father’s name?”

The little girl looked fearfully at the men but still shouted out, “Liu Guangwei.”

Squinting my eyes, I shouted loudly toward the bamboo raft on the other side of the river, “Liu Guangwei, if you don’t want to bring death to your wife and child, don’t come back! The one who killed your family will be punished! You don’t belong on this river anymore—you should move on to your next life!”

As soon as I finished speaking, the bamboo raft on the other side of the river trembled. The corpse standing on it suddenly collapsed.

The people gathered on the riverbank all turned pale with shock.

I stared coldly at the men, my voice hardening, “Did you see that? Who still wants to kill recklessly? Don’t you understand how Liu Guangwei died?”

At that moment, some onlookers by the shore, their faces full of rage, began to approach.

But this time, they weren’t coming toward me or Li Yue.

Li Yue quickly ran to the shore and pulled the little girl up from the bamboo raft.

The Liu family’s daughter-in-law, her face drawn and voice trembling, said, “What the child says can’t be trusted, it can’t be trusted.”

Li Yue’s expression shifted, and this time she couldn’t contain herself. She scolded sharply, “How can you be a mother? You’re going to be killed, your daughter is about to be killed, and yet you speak up for the one who wants to kill your husband?”

More people gathered along the riverbank, while those men had already fled without a trace.

Xiaoyu’s face was full of grievance.

“Mom… Grandma and Grandpa don’t care about our lives. Why must we all die and not speak the truth?”

Li Yue held Xiaoyu tightly.

The Liu family daughter-in-law sat on the ground, crying.

The onlookers came over to comfort her, telling her not to cry and offering to take her and Xiaoyu to the village chief of their settlement, assuring her that in Yalong Mountain, no one would recklessly kill or allow someone to die with their spirit unrest.

But she shook her head through tears, “You don’t understand, you know nothing. Where else could Xiaoyu and I go? If I die alone, she might live well, but with both of us gone, we have nowhere to live. My parents would also be left homeless if harmed.”

Anger darkened Li Yue’s face.

I furrowed my brows and told her to put the girl down.

Once Xiaoyu was on the ground, I squatted before her and said softly, “Xiaoyu, listen to your brother. Take your mother and follow the people in your mountain village. Do as they say. That way, your mother won’t be afraid anymore.”

Xiaoyu stopped crying and looked up wide-eyed, “Brother, really?”

I stroked her head and handed her a small folded paper, whispering, “If anyone tries to harm you or your mother, throw this at them. But remember, only if they truly want to kill you. Otherwise, don’t use it.”

She carefully tucked the paper inside her clothes.

The crowd grew larger, and figures resembling local officials, like village chiefs and party secretaries, arrived.

The Liu family daughter-in-law and Xiaoyu were surrounded in the middle but no one approached us.

I knew well that among the crowd were people already aligned with us.

In their eyes, the “transmigrants” might even have been awakened by Li Yue.

Li Yue stomped her foot and whispered, “Why don’t we follow and help?”

I shook my head with a smile, “We already helped. These people are all hostile outsiders. Following them won’t gain us anything.”

The Liu family daughter-in-law and Xiaoyu were slowly led by the crowd toward the other side of the shore.

Page (2/3)

“What kind of talisman did you give her?” Li Yue bit her lip.

“A fighting talisman, it can harm both humans and ghosts.”

Li Yue opened her mouth slightly but said no more.

By now, the shore was deserted.

As we moved inward a few steps, Li Yue stomped again, biting her lip. “It’s all your fault. Everyone left just now, and we didn’t even manage to pull someone down to ask where Changyuan Village is.”

I stood frozen, not expecting such a minor incident to cause everyone to leave.

“Young man, young lady,”

The old boatman who had rowed the raft earlier approached from the nearby dock.

His face still bore traces of fear and caution.

Li Yue glared at him, clearly annoyed.

The old man smiled wryly, “Young lady, young man, what you did saved two lives. But the people in our mountain are far more exclusive than you think. I avoided you earlier because I still have family at home. If they got involved with transmigrants, it would be a big problem.”

I took a deep breath and softened my voice, “Sir, do you know where Changyuan Village is?”

When he came over, his eyes were clearly filled with dread.

The matter of the transmigrants seemed resolved, but what frightened him was clearly the Changyuan Village we mentioned.

His tone had shifted because the talk of transmigrants interrupted what he wanted to say.

Li Yue’s expression also softened, and she said nothing more.

The old man nodded, then shook his head. He hesitated before finally saying, “Changyuan Village isn’t on Yalong Mountain. There are no living people left in the village. I’ve heard of Zhang Chang you mentioned.”

My heart skipped a beat, mixed with suspicion.

He said that Changyuan Village had no living residents but that he knew Zhang Chang. Could it be… Zhang Chang is already dead?

Many years had passed, and Li Cangshui never said when he last saw Zhang Chang.

The funeral worker Liu had been in our village for over ten years.

Gray Auntie was in her thirties; he had been near our village for over thirty years.

If Zhang Chang had been the one who entrusted Li Cangshui decades ago, it would make sense that Zhang Chang was now gone.

But my face turned pale.

Li Yue tugged my sleeve softly, “Did you forget something?”

My heart tightened.

At that moment, the old man’s hoarse voice broke the silence, “Changyuan Village is not a place for the living. Only those who committed the ten unpardonable sins on Yalong Mountain get locked up there. Do you know where it is?”

My eyelids twitched.

Li Yue whispered, “Where?”

The old man looked down at the water beneath the boat, his voice raspy, “On the ninth day of every month, the water level of this Yinlong River drops.”

“Over there is a cliff called the Severed Head Cliff. When the water recedes, a cave entrance appears. Changyuan Village isn’t on Yalong Mountain but inside its belly. I’ve never seen what’s inside, but according to our ancestors, only those who committed the ten unpardonable sins get locked in there—they never come out. Thirty-five years ago, Zhang Chang was locked inside. I was in my thirties then, strong and young. I was the one who rowed the bamboo raft that pushed him into the cave.”

“I… delivered him into Changyuan Village.”

Li Yue and I exchanged glances.

Page (3/3)

“Sir, can you row the boat to the front of Severed Head Cliff?”

I noticed the direction the old man pointed. There was indeed a bare cliff wall there, and some boats were docked nearby.

The old man nodded and rowed toward that side.

The water in front of Severed Head Cliff was perfectly still, marking the edge of the river.

On the other side lay the forest, and beside it was the path into Yalong Mountain.

“Zhang Chang was the last person locked inside Changyuan Village. Over all these years, as the water level fell repeatedly, no new prisoners were sent in. Zhang Chang used to be the most respected elder managing over two hundred villages on Yalong Mountain. But he trained a wicked disciple who wanted his position. That disciple stole something very important and fled, causing Yalong Mountain to lose its protection.”

My pupils constricted sharply. The wicked disciple the old man spoke of—was it the funeral worker Liu?

The old man seemed lost in thought. After a long pause, he said, “Yalong Mountain once had a secret—a person who lived for many, many years, as long as this Yinlong River itself. He built the first village on Yalong Mountain.”

“Zhang Chang was the last to serve the ancestor. Because of that wicked disciple, the ancestor became angry and stopped caring for Yalong Mountain.”

“In the following years, many died suddenly and mysteriously on Yalong Mountain. The scariest part was that they seemed to age and die overnight.”

“Zhang Chang grew younger and younger. The ancestor said he and his disciple stole the secret to longevity but used it to harm lives.”

“So the villagers captured Zhang Chang and locked him in Changyuan Village.”

“Changyuan Village, deep in Yalong Mountain’s belly, is at the tail of the Yin Dragon. No one survives there. There is no food, only water, and no sunlight.”

“I advise you to leave early. Whatever this is, don’t look for him.”

I clenched my fists tightly inside, feeling a cold sweat.

Staring at the cave’s entrance on the Severed Head Cliff, my pupils narrowed again.

This spot corresponded to a rare Feng Shui position described in the White Skin Book.

If the old man was right, Yalong Mountain wasn’t sealing the tail of the dragon.

Zhang Chang might not even be dead.

I nodded subtly, “Sir, thank you for your warning. We won’t look for Zhang Chang. We’ll visit the village to see if anyone is standing up for that mother and daughter, then prepare to leave.”

The old man finally rowed the boat to shore.

After we disembarked, Li Yue looked uneasy and said, “There’s something off about that place. If Yalong Mountain is sealing the tail of the Yin Dragon as you said, there shouldn’t be such a cave. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be sealed. If it’s sealing the dragon’s head, there must be something inside. We have to go in and see to know if Zhang Chang is really dead.”

I whispered, “Let’s find a place to stay first, and don’t say too much outside.”

At that moment, the dark clouds above Yalong Mountain dispersed.

Sunlight poured down again.

Only then did I realize that neither Li Yue nor I cast any shadows beneath our feet.

Only ghosts have no shadows.

Our faces changed.

“Don’t go up the mountain.”

Li Yue and I were definitely not dead. This could only mean the mountain itself was somehow cursed.