The Protagonist's Entrance Always Draws All Eyes

In the dense forest, a sharp snap suddenly burst from the campfire in the clearing. The men huddled together, their expressions dazed.

They had been locked in this stalemate for the span of half a cup of tea, unable to make up their minds.

During the day, everyone had seen Chunsheng get carried off by the tiger with their own eyes.

They all thought he had already perished in the beast’s jaws.

Constable Zhang had even sworn to high heaven that he would skin that tiger to avenge him and slit its belly to retrieve a complete corpse.

Who could have guessed that he would actually return alive?

Yet no one knew whether the person standing before them now was truly Chunsheng, or a chang ghost controlled by the tiger.

And what about Constable Zhang?

He was somewhat strange as well.

He looked as if he had just been fished out of a pool of blood. Beads of blood dripped down from his lips and beard, splattering into tiny crimson pits at his feet.

He claimed that while out hunting, he crossed paths with the fierce tiger, fought it, and barely escaped with his life to come back and warn everyone.

Upon closer inspection, however, Constable Zhang had no wounds on his body aside from the bloodstains.

This made everyone even more skeptical.

Having seen the massive size of the tiger earlier, let alone one Constable Zhang, even ten of him would be no match for the beast.

Seeing him soaked in blood yet completely unharmed—

Could Constable Zhang be the ghost instead?

“Wh-which one of you is the ghost?! Who’s human!”

“Chunsheng, h-how did you escape from that tiger!”

“And Constable Zhang, why are you covered in blood!”

Like startled birds, the crowd squeezed tightly together, as if that was the only way to find any sense of safety.

“I am a living person, of course! Have you forgotten? You were the ones who came to my house today, saying there was a man-eating tiger in the mountains and that we needed to hunt it down.”

Chunsheng pointed to his injured leg and gave a bitter smile:

“I’ve been hunting with my father since I was a boy and learned how to hold my breath and play dead. When that tiger snatched me today and gnawed on the flesh of my thigh against a boulder, I broke out in cold sweats from the agony, but I didn’t make a sound.

“Believing I was dead, the tiger licked me twice, tossed me aside, and left. If I weren't alive, how could this wound still be dripping blood!

“That tiger has become a demon—it can command chang ghosts to clear its path!

“Look, it's afraid of the fire you lit, so it sent this ghost to deceive you and lower your guard—

“Constable Zhang died long ago! Half his body was gnawed away, and his stripped corpse is hanging from a tree! If you don't believe me, I can take you to see it!”

Chunsheng’s description was so vivid that chills ran down everyone's spines, as if they could already envision Constable Zhang’s half-devoured corpse.

Subconsciously, the men edged farther away from Constable Zhang.

“You blind fools! Can't you even tell the difference between me and a chang ghost working for that beast?!

“When I clashed with that tiger just now, the rabbit I hunted got ripped apart by its iron claws, drenching me in rabbit blood!”

Constable Zhang was so enraged he raised his foot, about to kick someone:

“That beast is cunning indeed! Its leg was wounded by an arrow, so it's recuperating in the woods right now, waiting to trap you all here in the mountains until daybreak to snatch and devour you one by one!

“This Chunsheng is the ghost! If you don't believe me, have him step closer and check if he has a pulse!”

The men hesitated for a long moment, their eyes darting back to Chunsheng.

Trapped in the middle of the crowd, Nan Yi stared back and forth between Chunsheng and Constable Zhang, a glimmer of understanding surfacing in his eyes.

Yet he kept silent, merely lowering his gaze and subtly glancing toward the other side of the forest.

On one side, Chunsheng desperately pleaded his case:

“This fellow isn't Constable Zhang at all! He's a chang ghost scouting for the tiger!

“The chang ghost comes first, and the tiger follows! Make up your minds quickly and follow me while we still have time!

“Otherwise, once that tiger catches up, not a single one of us will escape!”

On the other side, Constable Zhang cursed furiously:

“Haven't you realized it yet?! Navigating these mountain paths at night is treacherous! If you follow him, you'll either tumble off a cliff and break your necks, or end up strangled by withered vines in the trees!

“Draw your blades and fight for a way out! Follow me back down the mountain the way we came!”

As the flames grew smaller and the campfire was on the verge of dying out, the men were caught in an agonizing dilemma.

Both sounded completely convincing, yet they dared not trust either.

Just as they were paralyzed with indecision, a rustling sound echoed from the distant thickets.

It approached from far to near, exceptionally swift and stirring up immense commotion, as though some massive predator was hurtling toward them.

Could it be that the tiger had really caught up?

Despair washed over their faces.

Heaven is truly bent on destroying us.

Under immense psychological pressure, the remaining men gripped their sabers with resolute expressions, prepared to make a desperate last stand against the beast.

Even if they died, they would slash it once first!

The thicket suddenly burst open as a silhouette leaped out. To everyone’s utter disbelief, the newcomer was no fierce tiger, but a young woman.

What was more, she was a dark, sturdy young woman clutching a butcher's knife.

“It’s Lady Nan, the one who catches ghosts!”

“Nan Yi’s elder sister!”

“It’s Big Sister Nan!”

Everyone cried out in unison, coming close to bursting into tears of relief and rushing to cling to her legs.

Meeting an old acquaintance in a distant land or receiving rain after a long drought could not compare to the sheer euphoria of seeing a living human at this exact moment.

Especially a living human capable of catching demons and subduing ghosts.

...

The protagonist’s entrance is always in the spotlight.

However, the situation on the ground seemed rather peculiar.

Nan Zhi plucked a stray leaf from her head and asked sincerely:

“What... is going on here? Could someone explain?”

After entering the dungeon area, she had charged straight ahead at full throttle. Finally bursting through the boundless thickets, she leaped out toward the man-made firelight.

Fortunately, she made it in time.

Yet the moment she came face-to-face with the group, the first thing she noticed wasn’t her brother Yi, but this bizarre three-way standoff.

A red-faced, burly man stood on one side, drenched in blood.

A short hunter shrank into the bushes on the other side, his flesh torn and lacerated.

A cluster of yamen officers huddled together in the middle like quails, shivering violently.

The moment Nan Zhi appeared, all eyes turned to her.

Weeping tears of joy, the officers looked at her as if looking at their savior:

“Lady Zhi is here!”

“Hurry, come over! Between these two, one is a chang ghost kept by the tiger, trying to trick us into becoming tiger feed!”

“Lady Zhi! Quickly take a look, which one of them is the chang ghost?!”

—Among them, an officer whose daughter was older than Nan Zhi by several years was also earnestly addressing her as “Lady Zhi.”

“A chang ghost?”

After listening to the whole story, Nan Zhi walked into the clearing.

By the flickering firelight, she looked closely and saw that Nan Yi was unhurt, finally letting out a sigh of relief:

“Brother Yi, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I knew all along that Big Sister would come.”

Nan Yi shook his head, a faint smile breaking across his pale face.

Nan Zhi shifted her gaze back to the two men.

On her way here in the donkey cart, she had specifically looked up information on 【Mountain Lords】 and 【Chang Ghosts】.

In ancient times, chang ghosts referred specifically to those who had been eaten by tigers.

Having been devoured by a tiger, their bodies were incomplete, preventing them from reincarnating. Even their souls were bound and driven by the beast, turning into chang ghosts whose sole purpose was to lure living humans for the tiger to feed on.

Controlled day and night by the tiger, their souls could never find peace. If they wished to be freed, there was only one way:

They had to lure another living human to become the tiger's new chang ghost, which would finally allow them to attain release.

In 《Notes from the Calloused Studio》, it was recorded that an old man’s eldest son, daughter-in-law, and elderly wife were all eaten by a tiger.

One day, the old man’s youngest son dreamed that his deceased mother visited him, claiming that a jar of gold was buried under a certain tree in a certain place, telling him to dig it up to support his father.

In reality, the woman had already become a chang ghost; her words were merely a ploy to lure the youngest son to feed the tiger.

In other words, the eldest son had died first and lured his wife to be eaten so he could be freed.

The daughter-in-law had then lured the mother-in-law to move on to reincarnation.

In the end, the old woman chose to lure her youngest son to be devoured by the tiger, all to secure her own release.

It was somewhat similar to a water ghost finding a substitute, yet chang ghosts who aided the tiger were far more detestable.