Chapter 8: Helping the Tiger

While Jiyuan was still reeling from the fatigue and dizziness of sitting up, a voice suddenly echoed from outside the temple, drawing closer.

"Brother Shilin, Brother Shilin!"

The people inside the temple immediately grew excited.

"It's Xiao Dong! Xiao Dong is back!"

Sure enough, Wang Dong's figure quickly dashed into the Mountain God Temple from outside, instantly surrounded by a nervous Zhang Shilin and the others.

"Xiao Dong, why are you alone? Are Old Jin and the others alright? What about the scholar? Did you hear the tiger's roar just now?"

Zhang Shilin rattled off a series of questions, eager for answers from Wang Dong.

Wang Dong merely looked out of breath, his face somewhat unnatural. He didn't take the water bowl offered to him; instead, he glanced at Zhang Shilin before averting his gaze. After catching his breath, he finally began to answer.

"Old Jin, Mr. Lu, and the others are together. Digging up the Mountain King Ginseng went smoothly, but…"

"But what? Oh, Xiao Dong, aren't you usually the most talkative? Why are you hesitating now?"

"Don't interrupt!"

Zhang Shilin roared, looking at the somewhat pale Wang Dong.

"Xiao Dong, please continue."

"Hmm, the Mountain King Ginseng was on a slope. We had just dug it out when we heard a terrifying tiger's roar in the distance. Old Jin, Mr. Lu, and Liu Quan were so startled that they lost their footing and slid down!"

Hearing Wang Dong, who was slightly lowering his head, say this, Zhang Shilin and the others grew frantic.

"What? Slipped down?"

"How are Old Jin and Liu Quan?" "Was it a deep fall?"

"Xiao Dong, speak up!"

Zhang Shilin, in a panic, grabbed Wang Dong's arm and pressed him for answers.

The shaking seemed to jolt Wang Dong awake, and he began to speak more clearly.

"The slope wasn't high, nor very steep. Old Jin and the others weren't badly hurt, though their ankles are badly sprained. Old Jin told me to come back and find two or three people to help carry them back. Li Gui is looking after them there."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go quickly!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" "Count me in!"

Since they hadn't encountered the tiger, everyone felt much more at ease and eagerly offered to help.

Zhang Shilin was no exception.

"This time, I'll take Xiao Du and Ah Hua with Xiao Dong to help. The rest of you stay in the Mountain God Temple and look after our belongings."

As he spoke, Zhang Shilin and a few others had already retrieved some torches and lit them.

Jiyuan's hands and feet felt ice-cold, a chilling numbness creeping up to his scalp.

He recognized the young peddler's voice, but apart from his words, Jiyuan hadn't heard his footsteps at all when he arrived.

Moreover, when Jiyuan looked in that direction with his clouded vision, the blurred scene revealed two overlapping images of Wang Dong: one perfectly normal, and the other with its neck eerily twisted to one side, twitching intermittently.

The sight made Jiyuan's goosebumps refuse to subside.

Yet Zhang Shilin and the others beside him remained utterly oblivious.

"This is no longer human!"

Recalling the earlier tiger's roar, Jiyuan suddenly understood something.

He was, naturally, terrified. But hearing Zhang Shilin plan to leave with this 'chang gui' (tiger's ghost/victim-turned-servant), he became anxious and cast aside all caution. Besides not wanting Zhang Shilin to die, he also realized that if only five people remained in the temple, they would be in grave danger.

Zhang Shilin and the others, having lit their torches, were about to rush out.

"Let's go, let's go! Xiao Dong, you lead the way, we'll…"

"Wait!"

A sudden, unfamiliar voice startled everyone. They nervously looked for the source, only to discover it was the beggar, who had somehow managed to sit up beside the mountain god statue, leaning against it and looking towards the temple entrance.

Jiyuan's voice, however, was now clear, steady, and resonant, utterly unlike his physical state.

"Zhang Shilin, something's wrong with Wang Dong! You cannot follow him!"

In Jiyuan's vision, his words caused Wang Dong to turn his head with unnerving stiffness, sending a shiver down Jiyuan's spine.

"That beggar, what nonsense are you spouting? Brother Shilin, let's go quickly! Old Jin and the others are waiting!"

"Hmm, alright."

It didn't take much thought for Zhang Shilin to choose between trusting his companion and a mere beggar. He still stepped out of the temple gate.

"Stop! Wang Dong is dead!"

This shout instantly halted Zhang Shilin and the others. They instinctively looked towards Wang Dong, who stood outside the temple, his face obscured by the night's shadows.

"Brother Shilin, hurry up! Old Jin and the others are waiting for us. Don't listen to this rotten beggar's nonsense, don't I look perfectly fine?"

Wang Dong took a step closer, and the torchlight illuminated half of his face, revealing a smile struggling to form on his pale skin…

It was profoundly unnatural, deeply unsettling!

A chill ran through every peddler, and those who had been about to step out instinctively recoiled.

Zhang Shilin swallowed hard, looking from Wang Dong to the beggar.

"Xiao Dong, are you… are you really okay?"

But before Wang Dong could speak, Jiyuan, still seated inside the temple, immediately spoke with a chilling tone.

"A tiger's pawn, a tiger's pawn! Wang Dong is already a chang gui, just like that scholar Lu! He intends to lead you to the tiger to be devoured! If you go with him, you will never return!"

"A chang gui!"

Zhang Shilin and the others were so terrified they stumbled back several steps. Recalling the earlier tiger's roar and Wang Dong's unsettling behavior since his return, the peddlers' scalps tingled with dread.

"Brother Shilin, don't believe him! Old Jin and the others are still waiting!"

Wang Dong walked towards the temple entrance, but his voice remained strangely devoid of emotion.

"Xiao Dong, don't come any closer!"

Zhang Shilin had already raised his torch in front of him, and Wang Dong's steps halted.

He looked at the people by the temple entrance, and they stared back, unmoving. After a brief silence, the next sight nearly choked them with terror: Wang Dong suddenly blurred, and in the space of a breath, he dissolved into smoky wisps that drifted out of the temple.

"Clang…"

A machete clattered to the ground, and two peddlers collapsed in fear.

"A ghost! A ghost!" "Ah!" "Oh my god!"

"Into the temple! Get inside!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Quick, get inside the temple, grab your weapons, grab your weapons!"

The remaining eight peddlers scrambled back into the Mountain God Temple in a panic, all instinctively moving closer to the mountain god statue and the beggar.

Zhang Shilin's breathing was still erratic. He looked at the dark night outside the temple, then back at Jiyuan.

"Esteemed… esteemed master, you…"

Before Zhang Shilin could finish, Jiyuan raised a hand to stop him. Jiyuan's face was ashen, his lips subtly trembling, though the dim light in the temple prevented the others from seeing it clearly.

"Rustle… rustle…"

The wind grew stronger, making the trees in the forest sway wildly.

From outside the temple, a series of steady, powerful, distinct footsteps approached. A low, snarling hiss, punctuated by deep growls, also reached their ears.

Jiyuan swallowed hard, nervously watching the area outside the temple. In mere seconds, his back was drenched in sweat.

"Don't speak… it's coming…"