Inside the main hall, Liang Qu sat in the upper right seat with his upper body bare, his bloody flesh wounds shocking to behold.
Behind him, a physician held a mortar, pounding herbal stems into juice to prevent the wounds from festering.
Chen Zhao'an sat in the upper left seat, hands crossed over his walking stick.
The village elders, some sitting and others standing, were all ill at ease. An occasional glance at the ghastly lacerations made them ache in sympathy.
Aside from the pained groans of injured villagers drifting in from the courtyard passageway, the entire hall remained smothered in an oppressive silence.
Chen Zhao'an swept his gaze across the room, fixing his eyes on the elder seated to his lower left. The elder caught his meaning, stood, and looked toward Liang Qu, repeating the question they had raised earlier.
"This mountain ghost was neither the large one in Pingyang Town nor the newly hatched offspring," Liang Qu concluded with absolute certainty.
The hand of the physician grinding herbs gave a visible jerk.
Such a calm, composed discussion carried an air of scraping bone to cure poison.
"Doesn't that mean there are other mountain ghosts?"
"Just one was already so terrifying, and there are two more! We were fortunate beyond measure to have Ah Shui here today. If not for him, wouldn't it have been total ruin?"
"How did they end up in Yixing? We're a full sixteen li from Pingyang Town. That's a journey of a whole shichen on foot!"
The elders exchanged glances, their hearts filled with terror.
They had come face-to-face with the mountain ghost. Those slit pupils, yellow as pus, had been more frightening than any tiger. Several elders had been so terrified they flung their canes aside, cured on the spot of chronic leg pain that had troubled them for years.
They had assumed the calamity was confined to Pingyang Town and that Yixing had little to fear. Who could have imagined they were unsafe even this far away?
Yet the facts stood plain, and Liang Qu trusted his own judgment.
A newly hatched mountain ghost was no larger than a human infant; to reach nearly the height of a grown man would take at least three months.
Lu Shaohui had been dead for less than half a month at most. The beast could not possibly be the hatchling from Pingyang Town.
Nor could it be the mature mountain ghost that had killed Lu Shaohui.
The mature mountain ghost's strength clearly surpassed Lu Shaohui's, leaving almost no trace of struggle at the scene, which meant it could crush a martial practitioner who had passed the Second Gate.
Against such power, a dozen Liang Qus tied together would not have sufficed to slow it down, let alone knock it back with a stone ball from a guardian lion's mouth.
The crowd turned toward Chen Zhao'an, the highest-ranking among them. Chen Zhao'an naturally understood their thoughts and spoke up. "Ah Shui, the other two mountain ghosts... they wouldn't be in Yixing as well, would they? Besides, it didn't appear sooner or later, so why did it show up right in the middle of our sacrificial rite today? Could it be... the river god...?"
The physician smeared the crushed herbs onto Liang Qu's shoulder, pricking his ears in secret, completely unaware that his own hands were trembling.
"Impossible!" Liang Qu flatly denied it. "A mountain ghost is an earthly spirit creature. Even if any deity oversaw it, that would be the mountain god. If it were the river god, he would have dispatched an aquatic monster. At the very least, he would have brought heavy floods or torrential rain to drown our Yixing, so why send a mountain fiend? Besides, haven't we already offered up the mountain ghost's head in sacrifice? If that were truly by the river god's decree, how could there be no sign from him at all?"
The other elders found Liang Qu's words reasonable and nodded in agreement.
As long as the river god had not taken offense, all was well.
Those who lived by the mountains lived off the mountains, and those who lived by the water lived off the water. If the river god grew angry, that would be far more dreadful than a mountain ghost; thousands of people would be forced to flee their homeland.
Liang Qu lifted his shoulder slightly. The herbal juice stung the raw flesh, making him wince. Catching his breath, he continued, "As for how the mountain ghost came here, I suspect it was drawn by today's slaughter of livestock and the massive gathering of people. The scent of blood and human breath was simply too concentrated, luring the creature in."
Mountain ghosts fed on livestock when young and craved human entrails as they grew.
The one he had slain was midway in strength between the hatchling and the mature beast—neither newborn nor fully grown.
Livestock blood coupled with a crowd's vital warmth made the finest possible bait.
"As for whether other mountain ghosts linger in Yixing, I can't say for certain. Maybe there are, maybe there aren't. But in all my years growing up, I've rarely heard of spirit creatures killing people. Now, three have appeared all at once. I suspect foul play."
A roll of linen bandage slipped and fell to the floor. The physician hastily snatched it up, too rattled to resume dressing the wound as he blurted out, "Foul play?"
One elder began pacing in agitation. "Right! Foul play! There must be foul play! If not for someone stirring up trouble behind the scenes, how could so many spirit creatures suddenly appear out of thin air? In the past, you only ever heard of someone from this household or that disappearing after venturing into the mountains or crossing the river. When has anything been as brazen as today?"
Finishing his turn, he reached out and took hold of Liang Qu's forearm. "Ah Shui, you grew up in Yixing. You can't be like those ungrateful wretches who run off and abandon their folk the moment they achieve something!"
"Ahem!"
Chen Zhao'an coughed sharply, fixing the elder with a stern glare.
The elder realized he had spoken out of turn, though he could not quite tell what he had said wrong. He could only shrink back in sheepish silence. Even among village elders, status had its ranks.
The other elders quickly chimed in to smooth things over.
"Indeed! If not for you today, heaven knows how many would have died."
"Ah Shui, you've already broken through the gate and become a true martial practitioner, haven't you?"
"Yes, just the day before yesterday."
"Incredible! Nothing like the worthless sons in my family. A true talent of Yixing!"
*No wonder.*
Standing near the edge of the hall, Li Libo and Chen Jiechang were filled with awe, marveling all the more at Liang Qu's staggering talent.
They had managed to lend a hand today, but what about the future?
They would likely drift further and further apart, a thought that left both young men feeling dejected.
Chen Zhao'an raised a hand to calm the room, speaking solemnly. "We won't let your efforts go unrewarded. You saved our lives today. Every elder present will pool ten taels of silver for you. It may not be much, but it represents our sincere gratitude."
"Quite right, quite right! We must pay."
"Agreed, I'll be the first to contribute!"
Everyone had witnessed the battle with the mountain ghost. The beast's claws were sharper than steel blades, capable of shattering flagstones with a casual swipe. Its thick hide was so formidable that blades could barely pierce it. It was far beyond what ordinary men could face; no matter how many rushed forward, they would only have died in droves.
That Liang Qu had grappled and slain such a monster was nothing short of astonishing.
Though Li Libo and Chen Jiechang had assisted during the fight, none of the elders were fools; they could clearly see who had played the pivotal role.
Liang Qu was not the only martial practitioner in Yixing, but men strove to climb higher. Anyone who truly showed promise had long since moved away. Only those who failed to make a name for themselves, or could not bear to part with their local holdings, lingered behind.
Much like the elder who owned this very compound—several of his sons and grandsons had failed at both scholarship and martial training, yet were masters of eating, drinking, and merrymaking.
Right now, the only person they could rely on was Liang Qu.
Faced with all those expectant gazes, Liang Qu felt rather awkward.
There were seven or eight elders present. At ten taels each, that totaled nearly a hundred taels of silver. Naturally, his heart stirred at the sum, but this was no longer a question of money; it was a question of capability.
Today had been exceedingly perilous. Without A-Wei's venom and the assistance of Chen Jiechang and Li Libo, the outcome of another encounter would be anyone's guess.
Yet just because he could not manage it alone did not mean others could not.
"Elders, my survival today was largely down to luck, and this mountain ghost was of ordinary strength. If I had faced the one from Pingyang Town, I would have had no chance of victory."
The elders' spirits plummeted, but Liang Qu immediately changed his tone.
"However, several of my senior martial brothers are true martial masters possessed of superb skill. They will certainly be able to handle it. Furthermore, there is something deeply suspicious about this whole affair. I must travel to Pingyang Town at once to consult my master. He is knowledgeable and widely experienced, and he may know what is happening."
A glimmer of hope returned, and the elders voiced their approval one after another.
"When do you intend to set out?"
"There's no time to lose. I'll leave immediately."
With the bandages securely wrapped, Liang Qu stood up and dressed.
"Quite right. Quickly, ready a horse!"
"No need for a horse. The overland route is unsafe, so I will travel by water. Chen Jiechang can come along with me. Where are the clothes I took off?"
Chen Zhao'an had an attendant bring over the washed cloak and robe. "Your change of clothes is right here, though they aren't fully dry yet. This attire of yours is truly extraordinary. With so much blood on it, it came completely clean the moment it was submerged in water."
"Thank you, Village Elder Chen."
Liang Qu took the clothes without further delay, stepped out the door, and leapt down from the wharf. Chen Jiechang followed right behind, boarding the vessel and taking up the long scull to shoulder the task of rowing.
The black-awning boat moved along Zeye Marsh, charting a course toward Pingyang Town.
Chapter 68