37: Mountain God Festival (4)

"Ha! You three really make one love and hate you at the same time!" Star raised an eyebrow, looking completely disgusted.

Du Wenqing hurriedly took out some floral water from her backpack and sprayed it on Star a few times. "Brother Gang Zi, don't be angry! Don't be angry."

Star held out his right hand. Du Wenqing immediately understood and obediently handed the floral water over. "Here!"

"Hmm, that's better!" Star applied it to his mosquito bites. "Hiss... that feels so good!"

"Hehehe!" Jiang Yi and Yun Song exchanged a smile, each taking one side to massage Star's calf muscles. "Brother Gang Zi, in the future, you must put in a good word for us in front of Department Head Hei Jing."

Star pointed to his calf. "Use a little less force!"

Jiang Yi and Yun Song hurriedly lightened their touch, asking as they kneaded, "Brother Gang, does that feel good? Do you want us to use a bit more force?"

"No need, this is just fine!"

"Whoa! Brother Gang, your skin is amazing! What skincare products do you use?" As Jiang Yi kneaded, his eyes stared straight at Star's collarbone.

"Get lost, I only like women." Star kicked out, sending Jiang Yi sprawling onto his back, landing in a standard duck squat position.

Jiang Yi landed on his butt on the small pebbles, grimacing in pain. "I was just curious!"

"I just wanted to ask if you have a secret to becoming more handsome and fair-skinned."

Star retorted irritably, "Natural beauty is hard to discard!"

"Born this way—I just make my living off this pretty boy look!!!"

...

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the sound of wedding procession music—pipes and drums—already echoed around the Mountain God Temple.

At this moment, four figures were crouching with their butts in the air, hiding in the dense bamboo forest opposite the Mountain God Temple.

"Is this really the Mountain God taking a wife? They're actually using paper figures to carry the sedan chairs!" Du Wenqing couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

"My god! Even in broad daylight, it's still so terrifying!" Star widened his eyes and took out his recording equipment. He stared fixedly at the few bridal sedan chairs moving slowly forward, afraid of missing a single detail.

Jiang Yi muttered to himself, "These sedan chair carriers are actually all paper figures that look like the townspeople!"

"Am I seeing things?"

"Brother Yi, you aren't seeing things. They really are paper figures that look like the townspeople!" Du Wenqing nodded, her expression grave.

"The paper figure playing the suona at the front of the wedding procession looks exactly like Grandpa Jiang."

"Damn it!" Jiang Yi gripped the soil tightly, witnessing those bridal sedan chairs, surrounded by paper figures, moving step by step toward the Mountain God Temple.

The entrance to the Mountain God Temple was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and bright, eye-catching red wedding ornaments were hung everywhere.

With a "clang," just as those bridal sedan chairs were about to reach the temple entrance, they suddenly dropped without warning.

Due to the distance and the obstructed view, the four of them couldn't see clearly what exactly had happened.

They could only vaguely see a large group of paper figures that had previously been light and nimble, suddenly appearing as if they had lost their support, turning into yellow paper money fluttering all over the sky and scattering to the ground.

Immediately after, a burst of angry cursing came from inside the silent Mountain God Temple: "You useless things... truly incapable of accomplishing anything, only good at spoiling things..."

A puff of white mist drifted over, and the yellow paper money turned back into paper figures.

This time, the paper figures were much more agile than before, and they were even covered in a layer of paper armor.

The paper figures went back to carry the bridal sedan chairs, appearing to use a great deal of effort to lift the chairs up again.

But their steps forward were extremely difficult, literally shuffling inch by inch, until they finally managed to reach the temple entrance, preparing to cross the threshold.

The two paper figures in front had already lifted their feet, but for some reason, they fell to their knees on the ground with a "thump."

Yun Song observed carefully; the brides sitting in the sedan chairs estimated to be no more than a hundred jin, and those paper figures had been reinforced by the paper craft master.

By all logic, they should have been able to carry them, so how could they be pinned to the ground, unable to move?

Suddenly, a demonic wind struck, blowing the bridal sedan chairs until they swayed precariously.

Star steadied his camera, attempting to capture more footage.

At this moment, a black shadow descended from the sky, blocking the front of the bridal sedan chairs. The four of them held their breath and looked; it was actually a black eagle about three meters long.

It spread its wings and whistled as it charged toward the paper figures. The paper figures were instantly thrown into a panic, fleeing in all directions.

The black eagle seized the opportunity to attack the bridal sedan chairs, tearing them into shreds.

The paper figures instantly had their heads severed, their ghastly white faces turned upward; there were two cherry-red spots on their cheeks, inexplicably radiating an eerie vibe!

"Bald-feathered eagle, what are you doing! Disturbing my little ghosts' wedding." An old man leaning on a cane walked out of the Mountain God Temple.

"Old Man Gu! Uncle Gu!" Jiang Yi covered his mouth in disbelief.

"Old Man Gu, those who see it get a share!" The black eagle flapped its wings and landed on the stone lion at the temple entrance.

"Hand over two of the brides nicely!"

"No! This Lord wants three!" The black eagle looked full of arrogance.

"You're courting death! You wicked beast!" Old Man Gu's eyes widened in anger; he bit his finger and dripped blood onto a piece of yellow paper, chanting incantations.

"...The God of the Underworld is above, recite the Fire Incantation... Wicked spirit, reveal your true form, Fire Art to capture the monster... Go!" Before Old Man Gu's voice had even faded, the yellow paper ignited without a flame, transforming into several streaks of fire that shot toward the black eagle.

The black eagle couldn't dodge in time; its right wing was scorched by the flames, and it shrieked in pain.

"Pain... pain..." It glared at Old Man Gu, beat its wings, and flew high, circling in the air.

"How dare you hurt me, Old Man Gu, you just wait! My boss will come to settle scores with you!" The black eagle threw down a harsh threat and flew away.

"Ha! Useless trash. Just wait until my little ghosts absorb the yang energy of all the townspeople and break through to the fourth rank!"

"Next will be the Black Eagle clan of Beishan."

"Jiang Yi! You guys, hurry and keep up!" Star, wearing high heels, shouldered the camera and chased after the black eagle.

"Don't be afraid! Department Head Hei Jing secretly slipped me other talismans to save our lives."

"The black eagle should be the key to breaking this situation!"

Du Wenqing and Yun Song exchanged a look and also hurriedly followed.

After the group traveled three miles through the bamboo forest, they finally discovered the trail of the black eagle at an abandoned dry well.

It was standing beside a corpse, pecking at it.

Jiang Yi panted heavily and leaned in to look; the deceased was a young woman with a beautiful face, but her complexion was as pale as paper.

"This... this..." Jiang Yi recognized the woman; she was the youngest daughter of Uncle Qin Liu next door.

Star and the others were shocked, their faces turning pale, and they knelt halfway on the ground, vomiting up all their breakfast.

"Ugh..."

Just at this moment, the black eagle sensed someone approaching and raised its head vigilantly.

"Not good, everyone get down!" Star shouted, not having time to wipe the vomit from the corner of his mouth.

He activated the micro-teleportation array that Department Head Hei Jing had left on the back of his neck.

The black eagle flapped its wings and swooped down toward them.