Staring at the tangled maze of narrow paths before me—on this sprawling, jagged expanse of Mount Shade—the terrain was impossibly complex. At first, we arrived at a small trail on the outer slope, halfway up the mountain. I’d been here before; if you follow this path long enough, you’ll see Limbo. That’s the road I took to return.
But the place we needed to go was to the left of Limbo, a region of shifting peaks shrouded in mist, where it was impossible to tell direction.
Any ghost still surviving here was mentally unstable. Only a rare few, like Old Wei and Red Poem, kept their wits—and it was even rarer for them to pursue anyone back to the living world.
Most ghosts here had no hope at all, wandering the mountain aimlessly. We had barely walked a few steps before stopping—up ahead, a ghost in tattered clothes with tangled hair squatted on the path. I was about to walk past when Lord Shenyan shook his head.
"Don’t bother with the ones here."
"What are you doing?"
Suddenly, the ghost lifted his head. Lifeless eyes stared at me, his cheeks shriveled like dried bark.
"Counting stones."
I stood up with a brief "oh," not planning to waste words on him. We could only walk for a while until we reached the open summit to get our bearings. Xiao Xi didn’t follow; she seemed afraid of this mountain and muttered warnings as we left, almost as if she was cautioning us about danger.
Suddenly, the Stone Counter ghost grabbed my foot from behind. When I turned, I saw a trace of amusement in his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
I checked again—though his face was expressionless, there was definitely a hint of a smile in his eyes. I wasn’t mistaken.
The ghost gripped my foot with one hand and stretched the other toward me, clutching a pile of stones. His face suddenly erupted with excitement.
"I finally found it! This is gold—give it to me, the thing you promised, give it to me..."
Everything was fine one moment, then I jumped in shock as the ghost suddenly shrieked. I tried to pull my leg away, but his grip only tightened. What startled me most was that he was a Blue Wraith—wisps of ghostly green aura seeped out, his strength increasing, nearly crushing my leg.
"If you don’t let go, I won’t be so polite."
I threatened him harshly. Just then, Lord Shenyan walked over, holding a glittering stone—it was gold. I stared at him in surprise.
"Look, the gold is here. What you’re holding is just a stone."
Lord Shenyan raised the gold in his hand. The ghost immediately let go of my foot, laughing and standing up. The stones he’d been clutching scattered across the ground. He reached out, eyes full of longing, but Lord Shenyan suddenly tossed the gold far away.
"Go pick it up. There’s plenty more gold over there!"
With a whoosh of green light and a burst of manic laughter, the ghost vanished before my eyes.
"Let’s go. We don’t have time to mess with these guys—fighting them would take too long."
I followed Lord Shenyan, who kept checking the path as we climbed. The mist made it hard to find our way, and we couldn’t just fly to the summit—no ghost had ever seen the top of Mount Shade. Only by walking could we reach the short stretch of road without fog, and from there, we’d be able to find the direction to Shade Crossing.
Suddenly, I saw a ghost standing on the left path ahead. His eyes were vacant, and he wore a red outfit—tattered, but the vivid color stood out starkly against the mountain’s bleak grays and blacks.
Lord Shenyan kept observing the road, sometimes crouching at each fork to examine something. I sat on a stone and watched the Scarlet Ghost; he noticed us too, staring and grinning vacantly.
I turned my head away, determined not to pay attention to any ghost here.
Suddenly, the pale-faced, almost handsome ghost thrust his face close to mine.
"What do you want?"
I glared at him, and he glared back at me.
"Let’s move, Ethan Zhang."
Lord Shenyan confirmed the path, and I got up to walk. The Scarlet Ghost followed; I glanced back, and he glanced back too.
"Out of sight, out of mind, Ethan Zhang."
Lord Shenyan reminded me again. I nodded and kept walking. We wandered, stopping and starting, for who knows how long, until we reached a larger crossroads. According to Lord Shenyan, the fogless stretch at the summit was very short, and a wrong turn would be trouble.
"By the way, Lord Shenyan, your subordinates have been here so long—haven’t they been affected somehow?"
Lord Shenyan shook his head.
"That bunch won’t be."
At the five-way fork, Lord Shenyan lingered for a long time, carefully searching for something.
The Scarlet Ghost kept following, giggling vacantly from time to time. I finally couldn’t hold back and asked:
"Why are you following us?"
The Scarlet Ghost giggled, then glanced around and blinked.
"You took the wrong path."
Lord Shenyan whipped around, staring at the Scarlet Ghost, but his eyes were puzzled.
"Brother, if you know the way, please tell us."
Lord Shenyan clasped his fists and bowed. The Scarlet Ghost immediately returned the gesture.
"I wanted to tell you earlier, but you thought I was a fool, so I let you wander for a while."
I blinked, anger rising in my chest, and grabbed the Scarlet Ghost.
"Heh, kid, didn’t expect that, did you? I’m not like those lunatics—just lately, a lot of people have come through here, trying to find that fogless stretch, but most of them are pretty rough."
I looked at the Scarlet Ghost in confusion. He grinned, then pulled a green mask from his coat. My eyes widened instantly.
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"The Immortality Society."
The mask was already damaged. The Scarlet Ghost spoke with a smug look.
"Count yourselves lucky. If you’d been as rude as those people, you’d end up just like these masked ones."
"How many came? Can you tell us?"
Just then, the Scarlet Ghost suddenly thrust his face close again.
"You’ve got a special aura about you! Heh."
"Brother, thank you for telling us. Fate brought us together—if you’re willing, could you guide us up the mountain?"
The Scarlet Ghost took off the mask, twirling it in his hand, then sat down.
"If you help me with a little favor, I’d be happy to lead you up."
"Of course, brother—what do you need from us?"
"Follow me."
The Scarlet Ghost led us back along a distant path, but at a fork, he took the left side, diverging from the route where we’d first met him. I watched him warily, full of suspicion.
Lord Shenyan placed a hand on my shoulder, smiling with ease. I didn’t understand what he meant.
Soon, I saw a small stone hut. The Scarlet Ghost stopped and pointed at it. We looked inside, and I staggered back—a skeleton lay there, dressed exactly like the Scarlet Ghost.
"That’s my corpse. Sadly, I still can’t touch it. Could you help me destroy the remains?"
I stared in shock at the skeleton. Normally, the bones of the dead remain in the living world, and what’s left goes to the Underworld. But his bones were here for one reason: he came here as a human and died here.
Lord Shenyan walked over and waved his hand. A streak of red flame swept out, crackling as it burned the bones to ash. The Scarlet Ghost seemed relieved, and his earlier disdain was gone.
"Impressive. You must be a big name in the ghost world."
"You flatter me. Brother, please lead us onward."
The fire Lord Shenyan conjured was just dense ghost energy transformed into flame, burning the bones to ash with ghostfire—truly impressive.
"With your skills—and that companion of yours, though he’s not quite as strong—it would be easy to subdue me. Why..."
"Whether you’re a person or a ghost, walk a straight path, act with honor. Courtesy before force."
The Scarlet Ghost gave an "oh," then hurried ahead. Soon, he led us back to where we’d first met him, and guided us down the path from that junction.
We followed the Scarlet Ghost without pause. Soon, we reached a stretch with no fog at all; I could see distant peaks shrouded in mist, but some mountaintops were visible.
"Thank you, brother."
"Not at all. May I have your name, so I can repay you when I return to the living world?"
Lord Shenyan shook his head.
"If fate wills it, we’ll meet again."
With a whoosh, Lord Shenyan floated upward. I nodded to the Scarlet Ghost, and he nodded back.
I followed Lord Shenyan, drifting quickly. On our right, I saw Limbo—it looked close, but crossing or flying there would actually take a long time.
Gradually, I saw a raging river ahead, its gray-black water surging. We landed on a gravelly bank, where a huge black boulder bore three bright red words: Shade Crossing.
"We’ve arrived."
But I was puzzled—though I could see the outline of the river from afar, up close at the bank, nothing was visible. It was like a sideways-flowing ocean, with no sign of the far shore.
"Don’t cross, Ethan Zhang."
Just as I was about to float over and investigate, Lord Shenyan called out.
"That’s Styxwater. If you cross, you’ll never come back."