Creak.
The old wooden door was pushed open.
Inside the Charity Mortuary, Harvey Chen and his group rushed into the courtyard at the sound, spotting the boy who had just entered. Leo Liu frowned and was the first to ask, "Who are you?"
"It's you!"
Harvey Chen, his right shoulder wrapped in gauze, saw Evan Lin and his expression changed as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Harvey, you know him?" Claire Liang turned her head curiously.
Their group had driven into Oxhorn Village, and along the way hadn't seen a single car coming the other way, let alone anyone else arriving here like them.
But the boy in front of them looked nothing like a local from Oxhorn Village.
"Just now at the cliff, the person I saw was him!" Harvey Chen took a deep breath. As soon as he spoke, Leo Liu and the others looked surprised and suspicious.
But then Leo Liu frowned, "You mean that lucky bastard?"
"Harvey, you probably missed with that arrow and hit some mountain savage instead. Otherwise, how could this kid have survived?"
Zane Wang nodded slightly, sizing up Evan Lin before speaking: "This whole Jingnan Mountain area is cut off from the world. People who live in the mountains mostly hunt with bows and arrows. I once met a wild man in Shennongjia whose bow was made from black bear bone—absolutely deadly. That arrow earlier probably came from someone else's bow."
As soon as Zane finished, Leo Liu and the others relaxed a bit.
That reverse-flying arrow was terrifying. If the skinny kid in front of them had really shot it, they wouldn't dare underestimate him.
But just as Zane said, to shoot an arrow like that, you'd need a monster of a bow. Otherwise, there’s no way you could shoot it up into the sky and still punch clean through Harvey’s arm from so far away.
Bella Xiao glanced at Evan Lin, her expression calm, those autumn-water eyes quiet and steady.
Zane Wang stepped forward, stood in front of Evan Lin, and nodded slightly. "We're from Oceanport City, just here for a trip to Jingnan Mountain. Are you traveling too?"
The group all looked at the boy in front of them, standing inside the Charity Mortuary.
Evan Lin glanced over everyone’s faces, as if he hadn’t heard Zane Wang at all. He walked right past him, stood in the courtyard, and stared at the eight coffins arranged in the pattern of the Big Dipper.
Seeing Evan ignore him, Zane was momentarily stunned, then frowned in mild annoyance.
"Young Master Wang is talking to you—can't you hear? Are you deaf or something?" Leo Liu, seeing Zane get ignored, couldn't help but step forward and block Evan's way.
To him, this kid looked totally ordinary, not a single thing on him worth noticing. But ignoring everyone like this just pissed Leo off.
Leo reached out, ready to shove him, but before he could, Zane grabbed his wrist and shook his head slightly. "Don't start trouble."
Only then did Leo reluctantly pull his hand back, glaring at Evan with a hostile look.
Evan glanced at the coffins, then walked straight into the main hall on his own.
The mortuary hall was spacious and empty, with just a square table, a few burnt-out incense sticks on top, and a wooden box nearby holding some old, blackened copper coins.
Evan picked up the copper coins, turning them over in his hand. Faint, crooked patterns—almost like writing but not—could be seen on the surface.
"Incense-Offering Coins?"
The coins were icy cold in his palm. Evan paused, a bit surprised.
Incense-Offering Coins are formed from human wish-power, a type of energy coin used to feed yin soldiers and worship ghosts and gods.
These Incense-Offering Coins are useless for ordinary people, but for ghosts and spirits, they can boost their cultivation.
Holding two incense coins, Evan glanced around as if searching for something.
"Hey, what are you looking for, wandering around the moment you come in? We found this mortuary first. If you want to stay here, you should at least ask us." Claire Liang walked over, looking tired and a little annoyed at Evan.
Evan ignored her, heading straight to the fifth wooden pillar inside. He extended a finger and casually poked a hole in it—dark red blood immediately began to flow out.
"What the hell is that?"
Leo Liu and the others stared in shock as blood oozed from the pillar.
Evan didn't answer. He looked up at the top of the pillar, where a hollowed-out skull was embedded, and hanging beneath it was a jet-black cow's tongue.
"Yinfiend Seven-Stars Formation. If I'm right, at midnight the yin gate will open here—one of the shortcuts into Jingnan Mountain."
Evan muttered to himself, finally turning to the group and speaking coolly: "What time is it?"
Hearing Evan's question, Leo reflexively checked the time. "Eighteen fifty-five."
After answering, Leo Liu suddenly froze, not understanding why he'd just obeyed this kid.
"You guys have five minutes to get out of here."
After speaking, Evan walked over to a meditation cushion, sat down cross-legged.
"Hey, you're the one who should leave! Quit acting mysterious, kid. Listen, we've trekked through rainforests before! And you—what are you, some kind of mountain shaman?" Leo Liu scowled, getting more annoyed.
Harvey Chen glanced at Evan, frowned, then turned to Zane Wang and took a deep breath. "Forget about this kid for now. Let's clean up and get some food ready."
"Everyone's tired after a long day. We need to eat and rest. Who knows what'll happen in Oxhorn Village tonight. Let's just get through it first."
Claire Liang shot Evan Lin a glare, then the group started unpacking their supplies.
Bella Xiao raised her DSLR to take a shot of Evan Lin, but just as she was about to press the shutter, she saw through the lens that Evan, eyes closed a moment ago, was staring straight at her. Startled, she quietly put the camera away, frowning slightly.
Five minutes later.
A layer of white mist rose around the mortuary.
In the village, the elders guarding the coffins straightened up. As the mist thickened, they stepped out of their houses, faces wooden, then knelt and knocked their foreheads to the ground, trembling.
A faint black shadow drifted slowly from the east end of the village to the west. As it passed, the white mist rippled, and several elders vanished—coffins and all.