25 W-Where are you taking me...

Several hours passed until it was late sunset. The sky was coated in pinks, reds, and oranges, the upper portion already turned a midnight blue. Lai Yiteng and Xian Wu got off the wagon.

Lai Yiteng bowed his head and said, "Thank you for taking us this far."

"What?" grumbled the old man. "Didn't catch that."

Lai Yiteng's voice was smooth and gentle by nature even when he was saying the most callous of things, not the most useful against those hard of hearing.

Xian Wu said loudly, "Thanks for the ride!"

The old man cackled and waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. You Daoists do a good job. I ain't seen no ghosts around in years."

"No ghosts, huh…" said Xian Wu with thoughtfulness. "Then is there anything else strange going on that you've heard of?"

The old man seemed to be thinking hard.

Xian Wu probed, "People going missing or…"

Finally the memory can back to the old man. "Oh! Well, actually, there's been quite a few wild animal attacks that made a few people go missing, I heard, at other villages west of here. Figure a pack of wolves moved in. They been sending out hunters to get rid of em'. But that don't have much to do with a Daoist's work."

Lai Yiteng just shrugged and glanced at Xian Wu. He of course hadn't seen the corpses in the forest with strange wounds and bite marks.

Xian Wu just nodded. "Okay, thanks again."

They finally went onto the last stretch of the journey. If they traveled all night, then by morning they would make it to Deathly Howling Mountain.

Although Xian Wu knew they had passed Baihu village, he wasn't particular with the thousands of rural places throughout the areas, so he still had little understanding of where they were. He just assumed that Lai Yiteng would probably take them out to a secluded and quiet place that was near a tiny village like Baihu. Which, that didn't have a bad sound to it at all.

It would be relaxing and peaceful, he could even consider it a vacation from his usual duties as sect master. Xian Wu smiled to himself when he thought of that.

But it was getting late now.

He'd been following Lai Yiteng for an hour or so before saying, "I guess we better set up camp for the night."

Lai Yiteng paused, giving him a look like 'what, why?' before remembering that Xian Wu could not see. He coughed lightly and said, "Now is the perfect time to finish our travels, we will make it there by dawn. Rest assured, I have food and water."

Xian Wu knew that taking the angle of 'but you're injured and should rest' wouldn't work.

He instead said, "No no no, I'm really exhausted. You realize I ran all the way to catch up with you, right? Can't we rest for the night?"

"Aren't you a martial artist? A few mere hours without rest should not harm you at all. Moreover, you are probably exhausted because of a hangover."

He'd actually hit the nail on the head in a way that it hurt, but Xian Wu forced out more words as he took another step forward, "Yes, but…you also have to take the detoxifying agent."

"Is that so," said Lai Yiteng. He was skeptical. "How long is it going to take for me to be healed? Hasn't it been long enough?"

"Uh…well. Maybe a few more days."

Lai Yiteng turned to him angrily. They were the only ones left on the road in the dark, and an owl was hooting off in the distance. "You're the poisons expert, why don't you know?!"

Xian Wu shrunk back.

"Hahaha…of course I can't know every single poison in the world! There are sooo many…"

At this point he'd really spread a web of lies.

One was about the poison.

Another about his connection to Graceful Dragon Sect.

Third was about Mildew.

Would it come back to bite him sooner or later? Yes probably.

Well in any case, he argued and pestered Lai Yiteng for about half an hour before they settled down for the night to camp under the stars. They ate a simple meal and gained a few hours of sleep, then set off again the next morning.

Since Xian Wu was blindfolded, he did not immediately notice when the trees began to become sparser, nor when the grass and flush wildflowers switched into weeds and dried debris. He could only tell that the air was somehow turning more stale and murky the further they walked, and that they hadn't gone by another traveler in over an hour.

It was daytime, so even if the road was less used they were still bound to see someone, making the current situation entirely strange…he was about to ask when Lai Yiteng spoke first.

"That crow is still following us. I wonder how it was able to find us in during the night?"

Xian Wu immediately said, "Weird. I have no idea. Anyway…did we reach like a deserted town or something?"

Lai Yiteng did not answer.

They kept on walking in silence.

The first thing that caught Lai Yiteng's gaze was a large dead tree that seemed to been have struck by lightening multiple times. It was black, split, and charred, errie creaking noises sounding out as the wind beat against it. Beside it was a large sign with evil-repelling talisman plastered all over that said, 'Border of Deathly Howling Mountain, keep out if you value your life'.

He stared off into the distance.

The land beyond had wimpy trees, the shape of mountains were getting closer, tall and towering with greatness. And the mountain nearest to them looked browner and deader compared to the other mountains next to it.

It was definitely 'Deathly Howling Mountain'!

Next, Xian Wu heard the sounds of wind shifting loose dirt and an entire murder of crows cawing up in a tree. But this was not the worst of it. There was this low, shrill whistle that was gradually growing louder. It was almost like a frightened cry, and he did not know where it came from.

Even with a blindfold Xian Wu could tell something was horribly, terribly wrong.

"Yi'er…w-where are you taking me...?"

"You're wearing the blindfold exactly because I don't want you to know. Don't bother asking."

"…" Okay but this is getting a little ridiculous. He was just wearing the blindfold to play along with Lai Yiteng's insecurities and specifically told him not to lead him anywhere too terrible. Now he heard a low growl and shambling feet. "Um, Yi'er are you listening? So I was thinking that maybe you should reconsider our path of travel-"

"What's your problem?" snapped Lai Yiteng. "We're both martial artists, there's nothing to be afraid of. Anything in our way, we will destroy."

"….." Xian Wu disliked this answer even more.

To be fair, Lai Yiteng was actually reconsidering his earlier decision of coming here, but he still held out some hope and was at least going to check it out. After all, a few minor evils posed no threat to them and could even provide a training opportunity. He still believed that this could be a great place to hide out. After all, who would expect that he'd go and hide in such a terrible place? And it was FREE.

The shambling noise grew closer, then a raw and croaking groan sounded from the nearest tree line, telling of the creature that was approaching them.

Lai Yiteng drew his dagger.

Xian Wu also sensed something amiss and put his hand on his saber.

"A ghoul?" he asked.

From behind a dying tree, a lifeless body ambled out.

It was a woman, or what used to be a woman.

These evils were termed 'ghouls'. A very low kind of evil that sprung up in areas rife with death and chaos, from those who were wronged before death or not buried properly. Usually they would be cleared away by martial artists right away, but not in this abandoned death zone.

Here they were left to wander until their bodies decomposed to the point they were immobile.

Hair covered her face, all matted, and her body was a mix of dried skin and bones that poked out. Her throat only emitted raw groans and gurgles from a destroyed windpipe.

What's more, she wore tattered orange and white clothing with an emblem—a martial artist from another sect, no doubt. One who had wandered here for whatever reason and met their demise.