Chapter 12 Death Pact

As the voice faded, a blurry white figure appeared in front of me. It reached out its hand and opened up the woman’s mouth. Once I was freed, I was told to move aside.

I had no clue who the white figure was and why would he save me. To my surprise, it was actually the Mountain God!

I thought he was dead? How was he still alive?

I felt like I had just fallen into a wolf’s nest after escaping the tiger’s mouth. The Mountain God looked rather upset and was just wearing a raggedy white innerwear instead of his usual classy robe. He was covered in bloodstains and had messy hair, looking rather like a prisoner from the olden days.

Liu Longting and I had destroyed his human vessel a few days ago—we set up a trap and he fell for it. I figured I was pretty much dead at that point and would probably experience a death that would be harsher than before. I was so desperate to escape that place.

Mountain God held on to the woman’s head by his hand. Suddenly, a tail as thick as a water bucket emerged from behind and headed in our direction. Mountain God quickly pinned me against the floor while taking cover himself. The tail moved so fast that I could hear the sound of the wind that followed.

“Do you not intend to save your husband? If you do not act now, he’ll die soon.”

The Mountain God then released the woman’s head. After hearing what he had said, the head turned its attention to the second floor. It looked as if it sensed danger was approaching. The woman’s head suddenly transformed into a snake’s head. It then hastily left the place. The surrounding fog slowly faded as it left the area.

There were only the Mountain God and I at the scene. I wondered why the Mountain God saved me. Could it be that he wanted to kill me with his bare hands?

“The almighty Mountain God, thank you for saving my worthless life.”

I bowed at Mountain God as a sign of appreciation. I figured that if he wanted to kill me, he would have done so already. Unexpectedly, he collapsed as soon as the head had left. His skin turned pale and he looked weaker than before.

I was initially wondering how I could deal with Mountain God so I was rather relieved to see him in this weakened state. He seemed to be struggling to keep himself alive, and I figured I needed to return him a favor for saving my life.

Guided by my conscience and as a gesture of appreciation, I approached him and asked what had happened to him and how did he appear from my body?

Mountain God then weakly responded, “Actually, I knew that you were sent by the villagers to kill me when I first saw you. After I took the medicine developed by the Liu Family, my human vessel was destroyed. If it was not for my level of shamanism, my soul would’ve been shattered together with it. So, in order to stay alive, I hid in your body. I hope you don’t mind.”

It finally made sense to me. Initially, I found it hard to believe that he was dead. I struggled to believe that Liu Longting had defeated him given that Liu Longting had only cultivated for a mere few hundred years. It did not cross my mind that it was the effects of the Anaesthetic Pill that caused this. I first thought the pill was just a normal anaesthetic and did not expect the pill to have such a poisonous property. It only took half the pill to destroy the Mountain God’s human vessel.

“Since you already knew the potential consequences of taking the pill, why did you still take it anyway? Were you looking for death?

“It was all part of my plan. If both you and Liu Longting failed to kill me, the villager wouldn’t let me go so easily. I had done too many bad things and the consequences will eventually catch up with me. So, rather than wait to get killed, I took a leap of faith by taking the pill instead.”

The Mountain God did not appear to be as bad as I imagined; at least he still had a little conscience inside of him.

“How do you intend to survive now?”

Mountain God then said, “Come closer and lean your ear toward me. Let me tell you something.”

I was not interested in knowing how he intended to live. On the other hand, Liu Longting and the others were fighting with the giant snake on the second floor, so I doubt they would pay any attention to me.

I found Mountain God to be rather suspicious. After a short deliberation, I leaned toward him to hear what he had to say.

“I know that you’ve been wanting to free yourself from Liu Longting’s control, I can help you deal with Liu Longting, but my Spiritual Energy has been severely injured. If you let me recover in your body, I’ll repay you by getting rid of Liu Longting and grant you your every wish once I recover.”

Get rid of Liu Longting? I felt a little excited hearing his offer. I thought to myself that if I was no longer under Liu Longting’s control and could be living peacefully and happily at my home then.

“Really?” I responded. If Liu Longting heard our conversation, Mountain God and I would probably be dead.

“Even though both you and Liu Longting had set up the trap to hurt me, I did manage to escape only because I hid in your body. In a way, you’re considered my savior so I’ll never break my promise.”

“Okay then, I agree to help you.”

As I agreed, my heart sank a little. For a moment, I was not sure whether I really wanted Liu Longting dead.

I then wanted to ask Mountain God to give me a little more time to consider, but as soon as I agreed, he had transformed into a cloud of green fog and dissolved into my body.

I yelled for him, but there was no response.

As the surrounding fog faded, I was able to see the chairs and tables again. The second floor was dead quiet, so I quickly ran upstairs and opened each and every door to search for Liu Longting. Did anything happen to him?

I came across a door decorated with a Hello Kitty ornament. As soon as I opened the door, I found Liu Longting standing not far from the door. He was holding a yellow talisman with a rune’s spell drawing on it. It seemed to be drawn using cinnabar. The talisman was attached to the corner of his lips while he was chanting a spell.

Ma Guojian was taking cover at the corner of the room with his daughter. He covered his daughter’s eyes with a blanket. On the floor, I could see two black snakes twisting and turning around and their heads appeared to be attached with yellow talismans.

While Liu Longting was chanting his curse spell, the talisman he was holding burst into flame. The two snakes then transformed into human beings. They appeared to be wearing black clothing. One of them was a woman with long hair, red lips, and covered in dark, smokey makeup. She also looked a little like a hipster. The other was an ugly-looking, short-haired man who seemed to have scabs on his head. Both of them appeared to also be snakes but I wondered why they looked so different from Liu Longting.

“Both of you don’t even have 200 years worth of cultivation. How dare you guys come out and hurt other people. Given that you guys are aware of your mistakes, I’ll let you live. If both of you surrender to me, I’ll give you guys jobs and also burn incense for you. What do you say?”

When Liu Longting was done talking, both of them knelt on the floor, bowing toward Liu Longting. They thanked him and called him their ancestor.

Given that Liu Longting had cultivated for roughly seven to eight hundred years, those snakes were right in addressing him as their ancestor. Liu Longting then asked me to bring him a paper and pen. He proceeded to write the names of the two snakes on one piece of paper. The man was named Chang Batian and the woman was Chang Cuihong.

Liu Longting then passed me the paper. Ma Jianguo quickly came over and thanked both of us. He offered us a car and money to show his appreciation for our help.

Liu Longting let out a slight sigh and asked Ma Jianguo to be prepared for bankruptcy as the benefits he had been receiving from the two snakes had come to an end. He also told Ma Jianguo in an uncompassionate manner that he would need to move out of the villa in the next two days.

On the way back, Liu Longting was still giving me the cold shoulders and it made the atmosphere rather awkward. As I thought about that pact that I had made with Mountain God, I felt a little guilty. Even though I caused the death of his wife, he did not kill me. On the other hand, it was me who wanted to kill him. Were all human beings so selfish?

Just when I wanted to start a conversation to break the awkwardness, Liu Longting asked, “When you were downstairs, did Chang Cuihong cause you any trouble?”