Chapter 17: Source of Terror
Zhang Yuanqing felt slightly relieved. He'd guessed correctly.
After fully exploring the mountain temple and dealing with the jiangshi, the cavern entrance would have opened on its own. But one of the construction team's members had taken away the Demon-subduing Awl before that point. If he hadn't seen through that particular detail and returned the item to its place, he would probably have been stuck at this step forever.
Zhang Yuanqing waited patiently, slowly focusing his mind. He dared not show the slightest bit of carelessness, because the source of the mountain temple's decay likely lay beneath the temple.
After a while, when he did not see any abnormalities at the collapsed entrance, he summoned the Red Dancing Shoes again, activating their second form. Once again, they replaced his running shoes and wrapped themselves around his feet.
Then he walked to the pitch-black darkness of the cavern and leaped down.
Thud.
His feet touched the ground lightly as the Red Dancing Shoes absorbed the impact of his fall.
Zhang Yuanqing found the Demon-subduing Awl among the scattered stones and bent down to pick it up regaining control of that powerful item.
With both the Red Dancing Shoes and the Demon-subduing Awl, he felt confident he could face whatever dangers lurked in the cavern.
Candlelight filtered down from above, illuminating only a limited area. Ahead of him lay a dark, silent corridor filled with unknown terrors.
In such an environment, advancing blindly would be extremely unwise.
Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze to the item in his hand.
The item description said this was a weapon containing the Power of the Diurnal Spirit, and that, by offering blood as sacrifice, one could obtain that power.
This should be able to dispel darkness and bring light, right? he reasoned with himself.
It was worth a try, though the "Note" section in the item's description was somewhat unsettling. Zhang Yuanqing silently exhaled and drove the sharp triangular spike into his thigh.
Sharp pain jolted through him as blood gushed out of the wound. Instead of flowing down his pants, though, the trail of blood transformed into crimson threads that were drawn into the bronze item.
Zhang Yuanqing felt a warm power surge within the Demon Subduing Awl, rushing up his arm into his body. His pupils blazed with pale golden light, transforming his eyes into brilliant golden eyes.
The Demon-subduing Awl didn't dispel the darkness, but granted him the ability to see through it.
At the same time, all the other negative effects that afflicted him—dizziness, breathing difficulties, and chest pain—vanished, leaving only the weakness due to blood loss.
The corpse poison in his body had been cleansed.
It truly was trading life for power, but it was still acceptable. He focused his vision and looked ahead. Before him stretched a spacious corridor extending further into the dark depths.
The walls of the corridor did not indicate that this passage had formed naturally. Instead, they showed signs that this tunnel had been artificially excavated.
Zhang Yuanqing walked through the corridor at a steady pace, his footsteps echoing in the silent space.
After walking for about ten seconds, he noticed plant roots appearing on the walls of the corridor, densely covering the surfaces like a web.
Suddenly, chilling cries for help echoed from the darkness ahead, mournful and pleading.
"Help me, help me!"
He followed the cries for a while, trying to find their source, when the space ahead suddenly opened up. He found himself in a massive stone cavern. At the center was a thick tree trunk that had broken through the cavern's ceiling and extended beyond, out into the outside world.
At the base of this massive trunk, roots twisted and coiled around a stone coffin.
Most terrifying of all, pale arms occasionally emerged from within the thick trunk, and on its surface, pale human faces faded in and out. They unconsciously cried out, "help me!" as the countless arms flailed about wildly, as if grasping for a lifeline.
My trypophobia is acting up, thought Zhang Yuanqing.
Still, the effects of the candlelight and the Demon-subduing Awl gave Zhang Yuanqing courage. He did not feel excessive fear, and only felt a slight tingling on his scalp.
At that moment, he heard a hoarse, weathered voice. It said, "This is the first time a living being has entered this place after all these years."
With these words, the cries for help stopped. The arms that had been swaying about like seaweed retracted into the trunk, and the faces sank back into the tree trunk in terror.
Zhang Yuanqing jumped in alarm, looking around warily.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
"Me? I'm just a tree."
An ugly human face emerged from the trunk. Unlike the faces of the other vengeful spirits, the skin on this particular face seemed to be made of tree bark, as if symbolizing the tree itself.
Is this the old banyan tree from the courtyard that somehow became sentient? Zhang Yuanqing wondered. He hadn't expected to encounter another entity that he could communicate with in such a cursed place, even if it was a tree.
He didn't dare approach it, instead choosing to probe cautiously, "Did you kill the temple disciples?"
"Not me," the tree replied. "Her."
The tree spirit's gaze fell downward, as if it were staring at the stone coffin below, though it couldn't actually see it.
"Who is she?"
"She is the Three Paths Mountain Goddess."
Zhang Yuanqing's mind went blank. He felt like he'd been struck by a club.
The Three Paths Mountain Goddess lay in that stone coffin? The powerful Nocturnal Specter who should have achieved ascension in the early Ming Dynasty?
More than that, was the source of the strangeness in this temple the Three Paths Mountain Goddess herself? Had she killed the temple's disciples?
"Why would she do such a thing?" Zhang Yuanqing blurted out.
"Because the Age of Dharma Decline arrived, making it nearly impossible for cultivators to break through bottlenecks," the tree spirit answered him. "For the sake of immortality, the Three Paths Mountain Goddess fell to the demonic path. She sealed herself in that stone coffin, using the banyan tree to imprison souls, nourishing yin with yin to preserve her flesh and primordial spirit. She is a powerful Nocturnal Specter, and Nocturnal Specters are naturally able to devour souls to strengthen themselves."
The face on the trunk sighed. "The banyan tree absorbed too many souls and consumed their will, slowly developing intelligence. That was how I came to be. Over the years, people have occasionally wandered into this place and died here, eventually becoming her nourishment. I carry the hatred and indignation of those vengeful spirits, always waiting for someone to come here and end her for me."
So that's how it is, Zhang Yuanqing thought. Does this count as triggering an NPC quest?
Something flickered within Zhang Yuanqing's eyes. "What should I do?" he asked.
"Open the stone coffin and pierce her heart with the weapon in your hand," replied the banyan tree. "That will bring an end to everything. Heh, half of her yang soul is sealed within the Demon-subduing Awl. Piercing her heart will draw the remaining yang soul from her body and seal it within the weapon. Without the protection of her yang soul, her flesh will die immediately. Then you can leave this place."
Zhang Yuanqing remained motionless, saying nothing.
The banyan tree spirit spoke slowly, "Young man, why are you still hesitating?"
"I'm thinking about a problem," Zhang Yuanqing replied.
The banyan tree spirit responded gently, "What problem?"
Zhang Yuanqing kept his distance, staring at the face in the trunk, speaking each word clearly.
"You wouldn't happen to be the temple keeper, would you?"
The cavern suddenly grew silent. After several seconds, the banyan tree spirit said in a low voice, "The temple keeper was the first person bewitched by the Three Paths Mountain Goddess. He became her puppet and later became that woman's nourishment as well. If you don't believe me, come open the stone coffin and you'll know I'm not lying."
"You open it for me, then."
"I can't open it. I'm just a tree."
The corners of Zhang Yuanqing's mouth curved upward. It seemed he'd gotten the answer he was looking for.
"Is it that you can't open it, or you don't dare?" he challenged the tree spirit. "The one lying in that coffin is the temple keeper, isn't it? And you are his guardian, or perhaps his soul."
After speaking those probing words, he entered a defensive stance, waiting for the tree spirit's reaction.
As a tech geek who was skilled at strategy games, it would be truly pathetic if he still couldn't see through the secrets of the mountain temple after experiencing so many dangers.
First, the Three Paths Mountain Goddess achieved ascension in the early Ming Dynasty. It was only after her death that local authorities built this temple in her honor. The mysterious disappearances of the temple disciples occurred during the Yongle era, at least fifty to sixty years later, spanning one or two generations.
Second, the information in the main hall indicated that the Three Paths Mountain Goddess was a righteous figure, while the banyan tree spirit's claim about her falling to the demonic path was merely a story it had offered him without any corroboration. Zhang Yuanqing was more inclined to believe the former.
Finally, and most crucially, he remembered what he had read in the journal entry: "Don't trust the master!"
The Spirit Realm had long ago provided hints as to who the real enemy was. Zhang Yuanqing just hadn't understood why the temple keeper would kill his own disciples.
Now he knew.
If the person who had desired immortality and fallen to the demonic path was the temple keeper instead, all other doubts resolved themselves.
Silence enveloped the cavern again.
The banyan tree spirit sighed. "You're too suspicious. From beginning to end, I've shown you no malice and would never harm you."
Zhang Yuanqing slowly took a few steps back.
"Is it that you won't harm me, or that you can't?" he retorted. "Hmm, let me guess. Your method of killing is by snapping your victim's neck, but that technique involves illusions and mental manipulation, right? You wanted to kill me not so long ago, but unfortunately for you, I didn't turn around."
This time, the face of the banyan tree spirit changed dramatically.
Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing knew his reasoning was completely correct.
The Nocturnal Specter whose account had been in the Taiyi Sect materials had clearly pointed out two things. First, the banyan tree was dangerous. Second, never turn back.
That was why his deep exploration of the ancient well yielded nothing. There was nothing wrong with it. The problem was the tree.
Furthermore, there was zero doubt that the female ghost had been an illusion, since the female ghost had called him "Zhang Yuanqing," not "Yuanshi Tianzun."
One final point. When Zhang Yuanqing first noticed the ancient well, he had thought of a famous horror movie from a certain island nation, which created a psychological shadow that made him afraid to peer into the well's depths. Subsequently, the female ghost had emerged from the well, dressed in white with disheveled hair and no facial features, matching the vague fear in Zhang Yuanqing's mind perfectly.
Zhang Yuanqing said calmly as he laid out the truth, "You put on an act and spoke to me kindly because your illusions can no longer deceive me, right? After all, I have the Goddess's Demon-subduing Awl, which grants immunity to illusions.
"You wanted to trick me into coming closer so you could kill me by other means. If illusions don't work on me, then it would have to be physical attacks, right?"
He glanced at the tree roots covering the corridor walls and suddenly thrust the pointed end of the awl into one of them.
