Chapter 34.3: Mountain Village.

Chapter 34 Part 3

Along the way, Xi Jia was leaning against Ye Jingzhi’s chest, and he held him as he flew. At times, Xi Jia really wanted to say: Master Ye, I think it’s also okay for you to carry me on your back. It’ll be really embarrassing for the two of us if you keep on holding me like this, ah……The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say it aloud no matter what.

Ye Jingzhi was suffering even more. Before, he didn’t really think much of it. But once he realized he was actually holding Xi Jia and even holding him this closely, his red ears were a small matter, but his entire face gradually became red. Fortunately, the more the white smoke flew, the more it strayed to the side, leaving the city center. There was little light in the darkness along the path. Otherwise, perhaps Xi Jia would’ve noticed his blushing face already.

The white smoke flew from the train station towards the suburbs. The more it flew, the faster it went. Since they had been rushing about the entire day and also chased the white smoke for a few hours, Xi Jia finally couldn’t hold it anymore as he leaned into Ye Jingzhi’s chest and quietly fell asleep.

Ye Jingzhi’s pace beneath his feet suddenly paused.

Because they needed to chase after the white smoke, Ye Jingzhi’s walking speed was at a level so fast that they couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. So fast that the speed made the wind violent. The wind blew against Xi Jia’s hair so that he couldn’t help but turn his face, burying it in Ye Jingzhi’s chest.

Ye Jingzhi’s eyes softened. He used his hand to cover Xi Jia’s face, blocking the violent wind. Then, he looked up and continued to chase after the white smoke with a stern look.

The white smoke didn’t always fly at high-speed. Sometimes, it would suddenly stop, swinging its tail at a rock.

Here, Pei Yu had been here before.

Each time the white smoke lingered at a place, Ye Jingzhi would carefully survey the fluctuations in magic power and check to make sure they’re on the correct path.

By the time the sun rose, Ye Jingzhi had already carried Xi Jia from the train station in the city into the middle of the deep mountains.

The endless hills and slopes of the great mountains hid the sky and covered the earth. Thick clouds and mist wrapped around the mountain peaks without dispersing. Lush forest decorated the mountain top, making it appear a dark green. The city noise was incapable of transmitting into the quiet mountain forest, and this blanket of silence was quiet enough to frighten people.

Xi Jia’s eyelashes fluttered, rubbing his eyes as he woke up. He looked down and suddenly shrunk back in horror.

Ye Jingzhi quickly held his wife tighter, fearing he would fall down.

This time, he didn’t need Ye Jingzhi to hold him. Xi Jia firmly grabbed onto Master Ye’s body of his own volition, “……Flying?! We’re flying in the sky?!

Ye Jingzhi blankly nodded his head: How strange, wife didn’t know that he can fly?

That’s right, Xi Jia already knew that Master Ye could fly. At that time in Chang’an, that group of unreliable masters of the Xuanxue world directly flew into his room from the air, making it so cramped in the bedroom that not even a drop of water could trickle through. Later, Xi Jia also saw Ye Jingzhi fly. However, seeing others flying was one thing, him flying was another thing!

Master Ye could fly, correct. But he couldn’t fly at all, and he also had some fear of heights!

The more he thought, the tighter Xi Jia held onto Ye Jingzhi, wishing he could tie himself to his body.

Being held so firmly by his wife, Master Ye blushed so hard that he could bleed. He endured with great difficulty and said, “Fellow Daoist Pei and them had already left the train station for more than four days, and finding them is extremely difficult. Last night at the train station, I casted a spell. I think that since they were at the train station, they might’ve left some magic fluctuations. Fortunately, I really found some magic fluctuations. Since Wu Xiang Mountain is overseeing G Province, besides Poyang Ghost Market, very few fellow daoists of the Xuanxue world would come to G Province. That magic fluctuation was left recently a few days ago. I think it should be Fellow Daoist Pei’s, so I used a spell to follow the trail.”

Xi Jia held onto Ye Jingzhi and curiously asked, “Master Ye, would you Xuanxue world Celestial Masters all leave magic fluctuations wherever you go?”

Ye Jingzhi became silent. After a long time, he said, “No. Magic fluctuations are only left when spells are used.”

Xi Jia’s heart trembled, “Do you mean Pei Yu had used a spell at the train station? Why would he need to use a spell at the train station? Wasn’t he only there to get off and take a bus to us?”

Ye Jingzhi’s voice was calm and collected, “They might have run into trouble at the train station.”

The train station was a place where people come and go, and Pei Yu actually ran into trouble. How could this be possible?!

Xi Jia remained perplexed despite much thought.

It wasn’t necessary for him to think too much. The white smoke rapidly flew in front of them. When it flew in between part of the mountains, it suddenly stopped. Then, it dispersed in a flash.

When Xi Jia saw this, he didn’t know the reason why. Ye Jingzhi said, “Fellow Daoist Pei’s last magic fluctuation is in between these mountains.”

Ye Jingzhi looked down, surveying the surroundings. His gaze carefully swept through each mountain. He hadn’t finished looking through the second mountain when he sensed his chest being gently poked a couple times. Master Ye blankly lowered his head, only to see Brother Jia, who had a slight fear of heights, looking up at him with slightly red eyes, “Master Ye, Can we……go down first?”

The pretty young man’s reddened eyes was pleading, and Ye Jingzhi was dumbfounded at once. After he returned to his senses, he quickly held his wife and flew down.

With both feet touching the ground, only then did Xi Jia have some sense of security. He heavily exhaled a breath, and the cowardice in his heart disappeared. Your Brother Jia was still your Brother Jia, and Brother Jia observed his surroundings with a cool-head.

Observing on the ground was definitely more difficult than observing from the sky, but Ye Jingzhi had flown to highest summit so he could take in the whole scene at once.

Their gazes met, and they each chose a side to check. Xi Jia carefully looked around. He saw a lot of yin energy, but it was all very weak yin energy. After many animals had died, they would also form into yin energy, and probably to this extent.

In the end, the two of them didn’t gain anything. After a mutual glance, Xi Jia said, “Master Ye, I saw two villages over there. Should we go there and ask, maybe they would know the whereabouts of Pei Yu and his junior sister?”

Things had already progressed to this stage, and this was the only option left.

Ye Jingzhi held Xi Jia as he quickly flew to the nearest mountain village.

They landed about a mile away from the village and headed toward the village together. When they had arrived at the village entrance, they saw three or four children playing at the entrance. These children all appeared to be around seven or eight years old. Maybe due to inadequate nutrition, they weren’t tall enough and might not actually be this age.

Seeing Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi, the children hid behind the trees one after another, poking their heads out to sneak a look at them.

Xi Jia originally wanted to ask a child if there were any adults in this village, but these children ran after seeing him and simply didn’t give him a chance to speak. Just as he was hesitating, Xi Jia distantly saw a middle-aged woman carrying firewood walking over from the mountain path.

Xi Jia walked forward, “Aunt, hello, I want to ask……”

His voice suddenly came to a stop. The woman widened her eyes, looking at Xi Jia in horror. Then, she picked up a rock on the ground and threw it at him. Ye Jingzhi’s expression became cold, and he reached out to block.

After the woman with messy hair and a dirty face threw that rock, she quickly carried the firewood and fled. Xi Jia watched the woman’s back at a loss. The two of them stood at the village entrance. From time to time, there were people secretly watching them from a distance, but no one came up to them to talk.

It wasn’t until evening did a white haired old man and a middle-aged man came up to them.

The man opened his mouth and asked, “Where are you from?”

This man spoke in a thick dialect of G Province, and Xi Jia completely didn’t understand it. Ye Jingzhi replied, “Poyang.”

The man creased his eyebrows, his yellowed face was full of vigilance and impatience, “What’re you doing here?”

Ye Jingzhi said, “Looking for someone.”

The man and the old man mutually glanced at each other. The man originally raised a fist as if he wanted to beat up someone, but the old man blocked his way. The man looked at the old man in confusion. With an eerie gaze, the old man stared at Ye Jingzhi, and then stared at Xi Jia. In the end, he strangely began to smile, “Our village doesn’t have the person you are looking for. But, if you want to look, we won’t object.”

The man immediately called out, “Dad!”

The old man turned around, hinting at Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi to follow.

Xi Jia coldly stared at the old man and the man. He didn’t see any yin energy on their bodies, and he turned to look at Ye Jingzhi. Ye Jingzhi lightly nodded his head and whispered, “They really aren’t ghosts or evil spirits. They’re people.”

This time, Xi Jia became a bit more at ease. They followed the man and the old man into the village.

Along the way, every house and every family quietly opened their doors. After a creak, the small wooden doors revealed a pitch-black crack. A child or a woman would hide behind their door, covertly looking at Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi.

Every one of them was dressed very poorly with dark mud on their faces and hands. Their two eyes fixed their attention on Xi Jia. Their gazes had a unadorned implication, frank and cold. Being looked at like this, Xi Jia felt uncomfortable all over.

He had once been at the center of Poyang Lake being stared at by tens of thousands of wild ghosts, but his heart didn’t tremble like it was now.

Xi Jia wrinkled his brows in discomfort, and Ye Jingzhi suddenly pulled his hand. Xi turned to look, only to see Master Ye pointing to the roadside. Xi Jia took a look, and he was shocked in place.

On this roadside, rows upon rows of gravestones were densely packed!

Each raised mound were arranged together, and crude gravestones were haphazardly inserted on top. At a glance, there were actually at least 30 gravestones!

The last sunlight hurriedly fell below the west mountain, and the earth sunk into the night in an instant.

Xi Jia slowly turned to old man who led the way and the man. His expression gradually became colder, and he slowly balled his hand into a fist. At this moment, he saw the old man also turning his head over and grinning at him. His yellowed teeth were exposed, “Do you know why we won’t let you enter?”

Blood-red yin energy twisted around Xi Jia’s fingertips. In the next moment, Ye Jingzhi stepped in front of Xi Jia, staring coldly at the old man and the man.

Who expected the old man to laugh miserably. He reached out his hand and pointed at the densely packed burial mound at the roadside, “Because within two months, we lost 23 people in our Yuanjia Village!¹ 23 people! You two strangers have suddenly come here, just what do you want to do!?”

The voice fell, and the doors in the village were opened with a bang. Dozens of women and children rushed out, holding shovels and hoes. All of them stared at Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi with hatred. There were only a few men in the middle. They acted as the main force and stood near the old man’s side, firmly glaring at Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi.

The hateful and desperate gaze made Xi Jia’s scalp numb. The night at the mountain village also officially started.

The Author has something to say:
Mirror: Today, I hugged wife. Wife even fell asleep in my arms (*´ω ` *)
C+: Isn’t the most important point right now the situation at this village, Master Ye?!!!

Translator’s Notes:
¹ Yuanjia Village 袁家村 – Yuan Familiy/Clan Village. Didn’t translate Jia into family/clan because it seems like most villages like these are translated this way in English. The residents share the same last name, but might not neccessarily be related. ↵