Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

Mo Hanyu felt somewhat relieved, but more sad.

The girl is dead.

Even though the boy was alive, saved, and getting better, he was still unhappy.

Mo Hanyu's eyes were dull, but he still followed the boy out of the room.

After leaving the house, I found that there was a tribe outside.

Mo Hanyu opened his eyes wide and looked at the people surrounding the boy and Mang Ling.

Among those people there were skinny old people and skinny adults with pale faces and thin bodies. No matter what, they all had one thing in common: they were thin.

"Wha...what? The Gu doctor died? How could that happen? Then what should we do?"

The old man with dark eye sockets grabbed the boy and stared at him.

"Is it because of you? The Gu doctor told us... there were two children in the family, a girl had already run away, and there was only one boy left... it was you, right? You killed her, didn't you?"

The old man came very close, staring at the boy intently.

The setting sun was as red as blood, making the old man’s gloomy face even more eerie.

The boy didn't know what to do. His wrist was grasped by a pair of iron-like hands and he had no way to break free. He was also very weak and could only watch the old man getting closer and closer to him.

"If she dies, you can just find another one." Mang Ling's cold voice sounded.

“No… there’s nothing we can do.” The old man raised his head suddenly, his desperate eyes filled with hatred. “It’s all because of you… that’s why we’re all going to die. She’s the only one willing to take us in and treat us… it’s all because of you.”

"Why can't you just listen to the Gu doctor? Why did you kill her?" A sallow-faced man grabbed the boy's neck and stared at him. "What should we do? Without her Gu worms... we will die soon."

Gu insect?

Mo Hanyu suddenly understood something and his face became extremely ugly.

As the man spoke, he took out a twisting poisonous insect from somewhere and threw it in the direction of the boy.

When the boy saw the poisonous insect, he shuddered all over and instinctively wanted to escape, but the man held him down and threw him on top of him. He felt the long and thin insect crawling on his skin and couldn't help but get goose bumps all over his body.

"I told you to look for it again, can't you hear me?" Seeing this, Mang Ling frowned in disgust and slapped the man and the bug away.

"No one will come to save us! Only that Gu Master——"

The people around were shouting, angry and sad.

The overwhelming negative emotions almost drowned Mo Hanyu.

"Why can't you sacrifice for us?"

"That's what I mean... He's just a child, his days are still ahead of him, and we haven't lived enough..."

"The Gu Master is right. Her children are indeed ungrateful. They even teamed up with outsiders to kill her..."

"Without the Gu Master, we won't survive much longer. What should we do?"

"You ask me, and I will..."

"The boy... that boy, catch that boy! We can use him to cultivate Gu worms like a Gu Master, so that we can continue--"

The noisy voices pierced Mo Hanyu's ears with chilling information. In the words of these people, Mo Hanyu suddenly realized one thing.

That is--

These people clearly knew how that woman treated the two children, but no one objected. On the contrary, they accepted the poisonous insects cultivated with the flesh and blood of the two children with peace of mind. Even now, they still wanted to continue doing so -

Mo Hanyu simply couldn't stand it.

Even if it's for myself, even if it's for myself...

This can't be the case...

Mo Hanyu lowered his head, feeling extremely conflicted.

If these people will die without the poisonous insects cultivated with flesh and blood... doesn't it mean that the boy has to make a choice between him and these people?

So many lives... and the life of a child...

No, it's not fate.

The child will not die.

But life would be worse than death.

Mo Hanyu was in panic and stared at Mang Ling anxiously, not knowing what choice he would make.

Mang Ling obviously also heard the news from the crowd. He frowned and looked a little gloomy.

"If you can't survive without those bugs—"

Mo Hanyu's heart almost rose to his throat.

"Then just go die, why are you talking so much?"

Mang Ling's matter-of-fact tone made Mo Hanyu stunned.

Obviously it was not just Mo Hanyu, but also the people around him, even the boy behind him.

Mang Ling was unmoved: "If you keep surrounding me, I will kill you all. Anyway, according to what you said, you all have to die, so I can give you a quick death now."

As Mang Ling spoke, he raised his hand and a grey light appeared in the palm of his hand.

"Want to try?"

As soon as Mang Ling said this, a large open space suddenly appeared around him.

Seeing this, Mang Ling sneered and stepped forward.

It was the first time the boy saw the outside world and he didn’t expect it to be like this. He was a little hesitant for a moment.

"Follow me."

Mang Ling didn't even turn his head or pause, and his voice, so cold that it seemed to be without any emotion, echoed in the boy's ears.

The boy was stunned and stood there shrinking, as if he didn't understand what he meant.

Mo Hanyu suddenly remembered that the boy had not learned the meaning of the language. He probably didn't know what Mang Ling was saying, but he could feel the malice of the people around him and Mang Ling's cold tone.

When the people around saw the boy stop, after someone reminded them, several rough hands reached out to grab the boy. Before they could touch him, a burst of black air passed by, and the people who stretched out their hands instantly fell to the ground, dead.

The people around were shocked and took a few steps back, staring at the boy in confusion.

"Don't you understand?" Mang Ling stood in front of the boy without him noticing, frowning, as if a little impatient.

The boy didn't realize what was happening yet. He only saw those devil-like minions that had just reached out to him fall to the ground, motionless, and stare blankly at Mang Ling.

Mang Ling stretched out his hand towards him. His hand was slender, pale, and had distinct joints. At first glance, he looked like a dead person.

The boy was not afraid. He stretched out his hand tentatively, and when he saw that Mang Ling did not show any disgust, he gently held his hand.

so cold...

This thought suddenly popped up in Mo Hanyu's mind, and the boy must have sensed it.

Just as Mang Ling and the boy were about to leave, those people surrounded them fearlessly again.

"You can't go!"

"What are we going to do when you leave?"

"We're all going to die anyway... If we succeed, at least there's still hope of survival!"

The crowd was noisy and suddenly burst into anger in extreme fear, pointing fingers at the two people.

"Leave the boy alone!"

Seeing such a fierce crowd, Mo Hanyu became worried again and looked at Mang Ling hesitantly. If so many people came together...

People from this community came out one after another. They were no longer just the elderly and middle-aged men. Mo Hanyu saw women and children among them. There was even a baby still in his mother's arms.

so many people……

Big and small... old and young...

For some reason, Mo Hanyu suddenly felt a sense of sadness in his heart.

People held torches, and the flames burned the sky red, illuminating the black mountains under the setting sun like a ghostly fire, as if the desperate anger in people's hearts was materialized. The flickering torches reflected red in Mo Hanyu's pupils, and he stared blankly at the crowded crowd.

He couldn't see their faces, but he could see the torches they held high in their hands.

He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could hear their shouts.

……what to do?

Just as Mo Hanyu was at a loss, a cold voice pierced straight through his soul and reached his ears.

"He is indeed very ill."

Mang Ling remained indifferent, his expression did not change at all. He looked at the flames all over the mountain, gently pulled the boy into his arms, and picked him up with one hand.

The boy's breathing hitched and his whole body froze.

Mang Ling waved his hand, and the torch went out immediately.

What was extinguished were not only the torches, but also the flames of life of those people.

Sound and life are reset to zero at this moment.

Everything went dark.

The sun set in the west, and darkness enveloped the earth, leaving only the scarlet gloom before the moon rose.

…are all dead.

Including...the newborn baby.

Mo Hanyu's mouth twitched, and for a moment he didn't know what expression to use.

Mang Ling didn't even raise an eyebrow. After taking away these noisy lives, she carried the child back.

Mo Hanyu's eyes blurred and the surrounding environment changed again.

This time it was in the dark mountains. For some reason, this lush mountain felt a chill that penetrated deep into the soul.

Mang Ling casually dropped the boy off halfway up the mountain, gave him a few instructions, and then disappeared.

...Is it so casual?

Mo Hanyu had just recovered from the shock, and when he saw this scene, he couldn't help but complain. He turned around and looked around, and suddenly his whole body felt cold.

I saw blue-green will-o'-the-wisp fires burning between the dark trees. The will-o'-the-wisp fires flickered, sometimes far away, sometimes near, hanging in the air, emitting a strange aura.

The boy's eyes were blank, and he obviously hadn't recovered from what had just happened. He sat on the grass blankly, not moving at all.

"Eh? Kid?"

A sharp female voice came, with a hint of surprise.

Mo Hanyu turned his head and saw a woman holding a red umbrella and wearing a red wedding dress who had appeared here at some point. She squatted down and stared at the boy.

The boy finally responded, his eyes slightly focused, and he looked at the woman.

Mo Hanyu couldn't help but gasp when he saw the woman's face.

I saw that the woman's eyes were dark, with two streaks of blood and tears on her face. Her face was pale without a trace of blood. The hands holding the umbrella were pale, and her nails were black.

Mo Hanyu then discovered that the woman had no feet, but was hanging in the air.

The woman reached out and her fingers went straight through the boy.

The woman was stunned for a moment, then suddenly screamed: "Child?! A living child!!"

In an instant, the sharp sound almost pierced Mo Hanyu's eardrum.

"What what? Kid?"

"Are you lost? Why are you running to Mangshan in the middle of the night?"

"Lost from your parents?"

"Why are you so careless? Where are his parents?"

"It's been a long time since I've seen a living person in Mangshan. People in the surrounding towns say this mountain is so scary. Why would anyone bring a child here?"

As the woman screamed, strange sounds rang out around him. The ghost lights that were originally far behind the trees suddenly appeared around the boy and transformed into human figures.

"It's so noisy." said a tall ghost.

Mo Hanyu looked at him, but saw that the ghost was wearing phosphorescent armor, the heart guard on his chest was stained with blood, and he had a wide scarlet belt around his waist. The silk ribbon moved without wind, and his scale robe was flashing. One could even hear the rustling sound of his scales when he took a step.

The ghost had no head, with black air coming out of its neck and filled with murderous aura that seemed to be about to solidify into a solid entity.

Mo Hanyu couldn't help but take a few steps back and stand in front of the boy, but the ghost shadow went straight through him, stopped in front of the boy, and squatted down.

"Are we going to send him out of the mountain?" The woman holding an umbrella next to them stopped screaming and asked softly.

——She spoke normally, but her voice was as gentle as a nightingale, and she asked in a soft voice.

The ghosts around him were thinking about it. Suddenly, a man with half his head chopped off stretched out his finger and had an idea.

"How about we keep him?"

As soon as the man finished speaking, the woman with a long tongue hanging out next to him slapped him on the back.

"He has parents, so we must give him back—"

"He didn't."

Mang Ling appeared behind the ghosts at some point and said in a calm voice.

"Mountain God..."

The ghosts quickly made way for him.

Mang Ling did not move: "You guys can raise it from now on."

"..."

"???"

"what??"

"I, we??"

The woman holding the umbrella pointed to her dark eye sockets.

The headless ghost didn't say anything, but his aura was obviously weak.

"But... I've never raised a child." The female ghost spread her hands.

"Yeah, we haven't raised one yet."

"I never had a perfect partner until I died."

"I...I don't even have a fiancée."

"I've never even touched a man's hand!"

"Me, I also... I have never even held a girl's hand..."

"It's okay, come on, we can just get together and hold hands."

"okay."

Then, Mo Hanyu watched a man with scars on his face and a one-armed woman holding hands.

Mo Hanyu: ...

"Although I have thought about having a baby...but I have never given birth?" The woman holding the umbrella raised her hand to cover her mouth, leaving only her dark eye sockets exposed.

Mang Ling looked at them with a calm expression.

"So what you mean is...I gave birth?"

Suddenly, there was dead silence.

The atmosphere suddenly became joyful.

The headless male ghost raised his nonexistent head and said, "Not really..."

"It's decided then." Mang Ling made the final decision and turned to leave.

"By the way, who is this child? Since you picked him up, there must be a status for him, right? Or should he be treated the same as us?" asked the female ghost holding an umbrella.

Mang Ling paused and glanced at the boy who had been staring at him since he appeared: "What do you humans say?"

"You can call me Master! As the saying goes, once a teacher, always a father." The male ghost with cuts all over his body spoke, showing his bloody teeth and smiling.

"I'm uneducated. What does the master mean?"

"Then let's put it this way." Mang Ling waved his hand casually, not caring about these empty names or the meaning behind them. "Then he is my...disciple, right?"

"Yes, yes." The male ghost who had just been yelled at immediately raised his face and showed a proud smile, but he looked extremely scary.

Mang Ling glanced at the boy calmly and touched his head: "You will follow them from now on."

The boy tilted his head slightly, turned his gaze towards the ghosts who were trying to smile kindly, and blinked as if he understood.