The Strange Incident of Shifting Mountain

At this moment, Evan Yang and Brocade were searching Shifting Mountain. As soon as they entered, they were hit by a thick stench of corpses.

"Boss, this smell is really awful," Brocade said, feeling frustrated.

Evan Yang chuckled. "A lot of spirit beasts died here, so that's normal. I'm just curious—why did so many spirit beasts die here back then?"

"Yeah, it's pretty creepy," Brocade replied, feeling uneasy. After all, all the dead here were spirit beasts. Evan Yang wasn't as creeped out as Brocade, since he's human.

"This Shifting Mountain looks huge. We'll have to search it piece by piece—it'll probably take at least ten days. If we're lucky, we might find it quickly, but if not, it won't be so easy," Evan Yang said after thinking for a moment.

Brocade nodded. "Yeah, I'll follow your lead, Boss."

Evan Yang led Brocade through the mountain, searching for the herb. Night soon fell, but they still hadn't found it. With visibility gone, Evan and Brocade had to settle down somewhere for the night.

"Boss, a whole day went by and we haven't found anything. I wonder if we'll have better luck tomorrow," Brocade said curiously.

Evan Yang smiled. "There's no telling. Maybe we'll find it tomorrow."

Brocade grinned. "Boss, you're so calm about this. I'm really anxious—if we can't find it, we'll have to stay here for days."

"It won't happen, don't worry," Evan Yang said, lighting a torch and adding it to the firewood with a smile. Just then, the sound of ghostly wails and wolf howls echoed around them.

Brocade muttered, "This really is scary."

"You're not scared of even this, are you?" Evan Yang laughed.

Brocade smiled. "Boss, it's not that I'm scared—it's just seeing all those spirit beast bones makes me feel disgusted."

"True. If I saw human bones, I'd feel disgusted too," Evan Yang laughed.

Brocade smiled, but the strange sounds drew closer, like thousands of troops charging past. Evan Yang frowned and spread out his Divine Sense, but found nothing—just the eerie sounds with no visible source. Very strange.

"Boss, did you find anything?" Brocade asked, seeing Evan Yang so focused.

Evan Yang shook his head. "Nothing."

"That's so weird—the sound is so clear," Brocade muttered.

"Anyway, it's fine. Let's go check it out," Evan Yang said with a smile. Brocade agreed and followed him. They left their camp, made their way to a gorge filled with bones, and carefully approached the spot where the sound came from.

Evan Yang muttered, "This must be caused by the natural environment of this gorge. When the night wind blows through, it creates those ghostly wails and wolf howls."

"This place really is strange," Brocade muttered.

Evan Yang smiled. "Alright, nothing to worry about. Let's go."

Brocade nodded and prepared to leave. Just as they were about to go, Brocade spotted something darting by. He asked suspiciously, "Boss, did you notice? There was a little shadow just now—no idea what it was."

"I saw it—behind that big rock. Let's pretend to keep walking forward, then you look for a chance to disappear and burrow behind it," Evan Yang said.

Brocade nodded. "Got it, Boss."

The two continued walking. After a while, Brocade suddenly vanished, and Evan Yang turned around. The small figure was hiding behind the rock and let out a sudden shriek.

At the sound, Evan Yang flashed forward, his hand igniting with flames to light up the area. At the same time, Brocade, covered in dust, grabbed a little creature. The being was half-transparent, glowing blue, and looked like a tiny elf, only about half an arm long. Evan crouched down, curious. "Who are you? Why are you following us?"

The little creature babbled in a language Evan Yang couldn't understand. Evan asked, "Can you understand it?"

Brocade shook his head. "I don't understand either."

Evan Yang sighed helplessly. "Neither of us can understand you."

The creature babbled again, then pulled out a shiny orb and gestured for Evan Yang to put it in his mouth. Brocade worried, "Boss, could it be poisonous?"

"Even if it's poisonous, I'm not afraid. I'll try it," Evan Yang said. He put the little orb in his mouth, and the creature babbled again. This time, Evan understood: the being was a spirit entity, formed from the lingering souls of the dead in this place. Evan himself had once carried three such spirits—Soul One, Soul Two, and Soul Three.

"So why are you following us?" Evan Yang asked curiously.

The little spirit replied, "I've lived here for years. You two came running in, so I followed you."

"I see. Well, we're just passing through," Evan Yang said.

The little spirit made a sound of acknowledgment. Evan told Brocade to let it go, saying, "You can leave now."

Hearing this, the little spirit asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

Evan Yang thought that since the spirit had survived here for years, it might know about the object they sought. He asked, "I'm looking for a kind of herb. Here, it looks like this."

The little spirit looked at it and said, "Oh, that thing—I know it."