When I pointed it out, they all noticed Zhang Sheng was missing.
Zhang Jue, who had been calm until now, suddenly panicked and turned to leave, presumably to search for him. I quickly stopped him. "No one should act alone right now. Let's look together."
At this point, sticking together was the only safe and efficient option.
But just as I finished speaking, Huang Lianfang stormed over and shoved me to the ground. "It's all your fault! Ever since you showed up, Mo Xiangqi disappeared, and now Zhang Sheng is gone too!"
Girls these days could be unbelievably unreasonable. I was trying to help them find their friends, and this is how I got treated?
"I've tolerated your baseless accusations long enough. If you don't trust me, I'll just leave." I dusted off my clothes and turned to go.
No matter how angry I was, I couldn't bring myself to retaliate against a girl.
As I turned, Zhang Jue walked up beside me. "I'll go with you."
Then Mo Yun also stepped forward. "Brother Liu, you promised to help me find my sister."
Seeing their only sources of support siding with me, the two girls hesitated but eventually followed as well. This sudden turn of events caught me off guard.
And so, it became a six-person search party.
Since they insisted on staying, I figured it was necessary to explain the gravity of the situation.
"If you're all determined to stay, I need to tell you the truth. You may not have believed in ghosts before, but you should now. This place is haunted by a malevolent spirit. It needs the souls of a man and a woman to perform a ghost marriage. Once the ritual is complete, the spirit will devour their souls and transform into a twin ghost—a being immune to sunlight and yang energy. If that happens, none of us will make it out of this mountain alive."
Silence.
They all stood there, saying nothing. Assuming they were scared, I added, "Our only option is to destroy the spirit before it becomes a twin ghost."
Still no reaction. When I looked up, they were all staring at me like I was an idiot. Their expressions irritated me. I was telling the truth, yet they looked at me as if I were delusional.
"Brother Liu, are you feeling okay?" Mo Yun asked, his face full of concern.
I frowned. "So, you don't believe me? How else do you explain Zhang Sheng and Mo Xiangqi's disappearances?"
After a moment of silence, Huang Lianfang spoke up with an answer so absurd it nearly made me laugh.
"Maybe there are bandits in the mountains?"
Bandits? Did she think we were in some kind of TV drama? Who in their right mind would set up camp in this godforsaken place?
"You just don't believe in ghosts, do you?" I said, exasperated. I hadn't believed in them at first either, but I had a way to make them believe now.
"Ye Cha, a little help?"
"And what makes you think you can order me around?" Ye Cha's tone was full of irritation.
Even after spending so much time with her, I still couldn't figure out her temperament. But one thing was clear: she was definitely proud and stubborn.
Inwardly, I tried again. "Goddess Ye Cha, they don't believe in ghosts. If something happens later, they'll blame me, and I can't just leave them to die. If I end up in danger, I'll need you to save me anyway. Isn't that more trouble for you?"
This time, Ye Cha didn't refuse immediately. The next moment, a vivid red filled my vision.
"Watch closely."
Before Mo Yun and the others could figure out where Ye Cha had appeared from, she raised her hand lightly, and they were all lifted into the air as if gravity had ceased to exist.
"Since you don't believe, you can all die!"
The parts of Ye Cha's face not covered by her mask began to crack, revealing black lines and bloodshot eyes. Even I had never seen her like this. She was always commanding and unstoppable—was this her true form after death?
"Ahhh—"
The two girls fainted from fright, while Zhang Jue and Mo Yun turned pale as sheets, barely holding on.
"Now do you believe me?" I asked.
After much coaxing, I managed to get Ye Cha to leave. I woke up Huang Lianfang and Fang Qinghua, and we all began searching downhill.
For their safety, I stayed at the back of the group. At the same time, I kept an eye on them in case they tried anything. After all, I had learned my lesson in the morgue, where someone I trusted had stabbed me in the back. These people were just strangers I was helping to ease my conscience.
"Brother Liu, is it true that the twin ghost will be immune to sunlight?" Mo Yun asked cautiously.
I had never encountered a twin ghost myself, but if the books were accurate, it was probably true.
"I haven't seen one in person, but that's what the books say. And since you've already seen ghosts, you know even a regular ghost can kill us. Imagine what a high-level ghost could do. Let's just find the others and get out of here."
We searched for about half an hour, following the path to the edge of a cliff—but we never reached the bottom.
The two girls were too exhausted to continue.
"I can't do this anymore. Let's rest for a bit. We've been walking forever, and we're not even close to the bottom. If this keeps up, the ghost won't need to get us—we'll die of exhaustion," Huang Lianfang said, collapsing onto the ground.
I glanced at Fang Qinghua. She looked equally worn out. Checking my watch, I realized we had been walking for two hours. It made sense that they couldn't keep up anymore.
I was about to suggest taking a break when Zhang Jue spoke up.
"Doesn't this seem strange? The mountain's elevation is only about 1,400 meters. Even though it stretches for miles, we covered over 800 meters during the day. With what we've walked since, we should have reached the bottom by now—unless the bottom is underground."
His words made me pause. If the mountain was only 1,400 meters high, we should have reached the bottom long ago. And if the cliff's base was below sea level, there should be water—either a river or a stream. Yet, we hadn't heard a single sound of running water.
If neither scenario was true, then what was going on?