Chapter 233: Fate

Especially when Old Four nearly turned me into something neither human nor ghost. Now I have to work for that old witch Ma Ruolan. Truly at the lowest point of my life, anyone can bully me.

I sighed deeply and cursed, “Taoist Yi, you’re almost thirty. Can you act like a proper person and stop being so heartbroken?”

Yi Miao wiped the wood shavings from his lips and sighed, “When I left the mountain, my master told me, ‘There are skies beyond skies, and men beyond men.’ Only today do I truly understand what he meant.”

Guo Qiqing clutched her stomach, unable to suppress her laughter. Her loud giggles echoed far and wide as she said, “You two are hilarious, real brothers in misery. Could you tone down the intensity a bit?”

Her laughter reminded me of her old self. Perhaps after spending so much time with Ma Ruolan, she had changed, but now, after interacting with us, she seemed to revert to her former self.

Lian Xiaoyao also burst into laughter, exclaiming, “Oh my, I’m crying! Two grown men acting like they’re picking up soap, holding hands like that—can you be serious for once? We’re about to enter a place abandoned for over a hundred years to find a snake called the Yin Snake. Just the name alone tells you it’s no good. What was supposed to be a serious mission has lost all its gravity because of you.”

Liu Wa had never seen such a scene before. He simply watched Guo Qiqing’s radiant smile, seemingly delighted. It was the first time in his life he had seen her smile—a smile that could make one forget sorrow.

But Liu Wa must have had his own sorrows. Suddenly, he turned his gaze toward me. His green eyes were hollow, impossible to decipher what depth of emotion they held.

Yi Miao quickly let go of my hand, his forehead covered in sweat, tears at the corners of his eyes, and snot dripping from his nose. After wiping it all away, he was once again the dashing, handsome Taoist. In the distance, the sound of a waterfall echoed—a small stream plunging from a height of forty meters, the water bursting into mist that spread far and wide.

Dawn was breaking, the darkest hour of the day.

Right before daybreak is also the coldest time. Though it was already spring, the lingering chill was still biting.

Guo Qiqing pointed toward the waterfall and said, “Legend says that behind the waterfall lies an abandoned village, haunted by lingering spirits for a hundred years. There’s a snake called the Yin Snake, born in that village, and no one has ever captured it. You might not know the village’s name, but people call it the Three Ghosts Village.”

Yi Miao asked, “Why is that?”

Guo Qiqing paused before replying, “Because every insect master who went to the Three Ghosts Village never returned.”

She spoke those last words slowly, deliberately. Guo Qiqing had stayed in Camellia Valley for months and had heard many rumors about this village—how people entered to catch insects and never came back.

Yi Miao said, “Well, you guys go ahead. I’ll wait outside.”

I thought it made sense and added, “Yi Miao, you stay outside. No need to take the risk. I have the protection of Ancestor Donglingzi—I’ll be fine. The rest of you stay here too. I’ll go in alone.”

Guo Qiqing raised her hand. “I’ll go with you. The others can stay. I’m going in, and the Jade Corpse, Xiao Jian, and the kitten are coming too.”

If Guo Qiqing was going, Liu Wa would definitely follow. Seeing the situation, Yi Miao shook his head and said, “Since most of you are going, I might as well join the fun. I’ve always felt life is meaningless anyway—might as well lose myself in the void.”

At that moment, Yi Miao sounded like a philosopher, full of wisdom. Many of life’s meanings are indeed empty. He probably didn’t want to wait outside endlessly but preferred to take the risk with us.

His words were simple, but they carried deep philosophical meaning.

I reached out to high-five Yi Miao, saying, “I don’t have many friends, but you’re one of them.” Yi Miao dodged my hand and sighed, “Let’s not. Don’t you realize we’ve got two fujoshi (fangirls of BL) with us? A normal friendship between brothers will just be mistaken for something else.”

When Guo Qiqing heard the words “Brokeback Mountain,” she burst into laughter. I shook my head and laughed along, thinking of Zhen Yangzi, that Taoist with nostrils full of nose hair who loved watching *Brokeback Mountain* more than anything.

Yi Miao understood what I meant—back on Mount Sanqing, he and Zhen Yangzi had once watched the three-hour-long *Brokeback Mountain* together in a quiet room.

The solemn mood Guo Qiqing had set with her “they never returned” had now completely shifted again.

Guo Qiqing decided we should climb the cliff now. By daybreak, we’d reach the Three Ghosts Village, catch the Yin Snake, and leave immediately—no need to stay overnight. Her plan made sense, so we hurried toward the waterfall.

Suddenly, Yi Miao whispered something barely audible over the roaring waterfall—only I could hear it. He said, “At first, Guo Qiqing claimed the village was massacred by an army, that it was a rebellious settlement. But how could a village hidden so deep in the mountains be wiped out?”

His implication was clear: Guo Qiqing had lied. The so-called Three Ghosts Village might not have been destroyed by an army.

Then what? A plague of insects? A village of insect breeders ultimately devoured by their own creations?

That was also a possibility.

The spray from the waterfall was cold on my face. I wasn’t one to hold grudges, and hearing about how Guo Qiqing had suffered under the old witch’s gu for three years, unable to move freely, softened my heart. But Yi Miao’s words reminded me—Guo Qiqing might be lying.

The first time I met her was in Thailand, when I was being chased by police and Muay Thai fighters. Back then, she was still Qi Qiqing. She saved me by chance, helped me, and in the end, I realized I’d been tricked by a woman—I still hadn’t gotten that copper jar back.

I pretended to understand everything. Yi Miao, alert, asked me, “Did you sleep with her? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reacting so weakly.”

My face burned, and I stayed silent for a long time. Yi Miao seemed to understand something, patting my shoulder and saying, “It’s fine. If you slept with her, it’s only fair she tricked you a few times.” I grew flustered and muttered, “I didn’t sleep with her—she slept with me.”

I’d sworn not to tell anyone, but in the heat of the moment, I blurted it out to Yi Miao. He was even more astonished, raising his thumb in admiration.

The waterfall was small but fast-flowing, about forty meters high. We prepared ropes and hooks, but thirty meters was too high—we couldn’t throw them up, and climbing would be difficult. I looked at Lian Xiaoyao and said, “Aren’t monsters supposed to fly and teleport? Why don’t you fly up and drop the rope?” She rolled her eyes. “You’ve been watching too much TV. That’s for immortals.”

Guo Qiqing came up with a solution—have Liu Wa throw the rope up and hook it onto a tree. Liu Wa lived up to expectations, securing the rope firmly. Guo Qiqing praised him, and he beamed with joy.

Once we climbed the thirty meters, the sky gradually brightened. Birds cawed in the forest, and from the look of the sky, it would be a fine day. After everyone ascended, we gathered the ropes and left them under a tree.

In another month, hibernating insects and snakes would emerge. Along the way, we encountered no major threats—the insect-repelling incense we brought worked well, and we saw none of the legendary poisonous creatures.

At dawn, we sat down to eat. Most of us moved under the trees, where the Jade Corpse felt no discomfort, but Liu Wa carried a specially made iron umbrella to block the sunlight filtering through the leaves—no major issue.

As we walked, I noticed the red corpse aura I’d seen on Liu Wa earlier was gone. I still hadn’t figured out what kind of zombie he was.

Could he be a new breed? None of the ancient texts mentioned anything like him.

After a quick meal, Guo Qiqing suggested we rest for two hours. If anyone was too tired, they could find a spot to sleep.

She drew a circle with insect-repelling incense on a rock and sat inside to meditate. Yi Miao followed suit, finding a place to meditate and rest. I climbed a tree to sleep but soon found two venomous spiders crawling on my face. After a while, perhaps poisoned by me, they dropped dead to the ground. I fell into a deep sleep. The Jade Corpse kept watch, guarding against any lurking monsters.

By nine in the morning, I woke up to find Guo Qiqing surrounded by hundreds of venomous scorpions, frozen in place. Most girls were naturally afraid of bugs, but Guo Qiqing had no choice but to accept them.

What is fate? What does it mean to a person?

What is freedom?

I wondered—if I hadn’t taken the jade ruler from my grandfather, what kind of person would I be now?

A philosopher once said, “If not here, then where? Better to live in the present.” I jumped down from the tree and silently sensed the insects’ reactions. They were almost motionless, breathing in sync with Guo Qiqing—as if there was an unspoken understanding between human and insect.

Guo Qiqing soon woke, sensing the disturbance in the insects’ harmony. She stood up, her face flushed and full of energy. The insects surrounding her remained motionless. When I checked again, I realized they were all dead.

Guo Qiqing said, “Let’s go. If the rumors are true, we’ll reach the Three Ghosts Village in another hour.”

Yi Miao let out a sharp whistle, full of vigor. Only I, having slept in an awkward position, was sore all over—back aching, legs cramping—completely out of sorts. The deeper we ventured into the forest, the more eerie it became, as if untouched by human presence.

Xiao Jian began barking. He Qingling joined in.

Soon, a dilapidated village came into view—collapsed houses, walls covered in withered grass, wooden structures mostly rotted, fungi sprouting from the timber. The village paths were barely discernible, but the layout suggested a symmetrical settlement with a large open space at its center. There stood a black wooden statue of a dog-headed figure, carved from ebony (dark, waterlogged wood), still intact despite the years.

Yi Miao gasped at the ebony statue. “Mother of mercy! A piece of ebony is worth its weight in gold. If we could haul this out, we’d be rich!”

Ebony, also called “sinking wood,” was formed through geological processes—trees buried underground, cut off from air, petrifying over centuries into dense, durable wood. Recent news often reported farmers digging up ebony worth millions while building houses, only for the government to confiscate it as “national artifacts.”

Only sandalwood rivaled ebony in value—a palm-sized piece could sustain an ordinary person for life.

I said, “Aren’t you afraid it’s cursed? Some families place gu or hexes on their most valuable treasures. Steal it, and you’ll be bitten to death—corpse left incomplete.”

Yi Miao muttered an apology to the Taoist patriarch and dropped the idea.

As an insect master, Guo Qiqing was responsible for capturing the Yin Snake. Old Ma Ruolan had assigned me to assist her, but my only real skill was standing in the village and shouting to lure the snake out—there was no other way.

But Ma Ruoxing had rendered my method useless—intimidation and bribery only worked on weak-willed insects. Anything with a spine wouldn’t budge.

I asked Guo Qiqing, “What can I do?”

She said, “Human bait.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

She explained, “To catch the Yin Snake, we need bait—and you, as a Five Elements Insect Master, are premium bait.”

I still didn’t understand. “What does being a Five Elements Insect Master have to do with being bait?”

Guo Qiqing sighed. “Don’t you get it? I still don’t know how you somehow defeated Old Five. The Yin Snake is a snake, but not just any snake. The insect master who bred it subjected it to endless suffering, so it’s hypersensitive to Five Elements Insect Masters. If you’re here, it’ll definitely come out.”

I froze.

Was fate really toying with me? After luring water ghosts, now I had to lure a Yin Snake too?