Chapter 48: The Five Elements Reversed, the Fox Takes a Bride!

Whoosh~

An eerie wind swept through the mountain forest, rustling the leaves.

Zhang Hao gazed into the distance, watching the embers of the setting sun dye the western sky.

Calculating the time, it should be getting close to six o'clock.

He could not afford to delay any longer.

With this thought, he set off, heading down the slope beneath his feet.

The mountain forest gradually darkened. Starting from the east, the gloom enshrouded the place bit by bit, like some invisible entity relentlessly pursuing and devouring everything in its path.

Leaning on his walking stick, Zhang Hao walked at a steady, unhurried pace. From time to time, he raised his head to check the marks he had left on the surrounding trees, and occasionally lowered his gaze to inspect his straw sandals for any signs of wear and tear.

Walking in the mountain wilderness, if the straw sandals on one's feet showed signs of damage, it meant that the traveler was being toyed with by mountain spirits and wild monsters, or that their current state had turned somewhat ominous and they were encountering misfortune.

However, judging by the current situation, everything seemed to be fine.

Walking on like this, he followed the remaining markers deep into the dense forest, where thick weeds and lush trees abounded. Before him lay a winding path stretching deeper into the woods.

Zhang Hao had specifically scouted this path two days prior.

Along this trail, he had found numerous fox-like footprints. Following these prints for a long time led him to that clearing.

Based on the records in ancient texts, that clearing was most likely the place where foxes held their weddings.

Therefore, centered around that clearing, Zhang Hao had arranged five collected items.

Each of these five items had its own unique and wondrous purpose:

The executioner's blade, representing Metal, was placed in the true East.
The grave-site timber, representing Wood, was placed in the true North.
The widow's tears, representing Water, were placed in the true West.
The ash of ten households, representing Fire, was placed in the true South.
The shroud, representing Earth, was placed in the true Center.

This was the method of the Five Elements Reversal, which could force the practitioner's vital life energy out of the body, allowing malevolent yin energy to enter and nourish the physical form.

To put it simply, it would temporarily turn Zhang Hao, a living human, into a "dead person"—or rather, someone devoid of any aura of the living.

This was merely one of the functions of the Five Elements Reversal method; the crucial part lay elsewhere, though it was not yet needed. Still, having these five elemental objects served as a tremendous safeguard, capable of playing a vital role at the critical moment.

As for entering the deep mountains ahead of time and staying there for a prolonged period, it was to allow his body to absorb the aura of the mountain forest, helping him blend better into the mountains and become a member of the forest, tricking the mountain spirits into mistaking him for one of their own.

Now, through these preparations of his, he had absorbed enough of the mountain's aura and gained the approval of the mountain spirits.

With the addition of the Five Elements Reversal method, he could truly transform from a living human into a spirit of the mountain.

Of course, this was not a fundamental change in essence, but rather an external and temporary one.

As long as Zhang Hao subsequently disrupted or removed the Five Elements Reversal arrangement, his means of concealing his aura would become useless, and he would remain a living human as before.

And his purpose in doing this…

As his thoughts raced—

Whoosh~

In the mountain forest, a sudden eerie wind swept by, rustling the leaves and flattening the weeds to the ground.

The dense forest, which had previously been only dim and grey, instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness, so absolute that one could not see their hand before their face.

Gloomy, tranquil, and utterly devoid of sound, it was as if he had been cast into a silent world, an entirely newly carved-out realm.

Seeing this, Zhang Hao showed no panic whatsoever, nor any surprise.

This is…

The thought had just arisen.

Right before his eyes, several ineffable green flames flickered to life.

It was abrupt, yet somehow it felt as though it was meant to be.

Zhang Hao took a deep breath, remaining completely motionless as he stood quietly in place, his breathing growing very faint.

Immediately afterward, those green ghost fires expanded outward, flashing into existence unpredictably.

In fact, three ghost fires popped up in succession right beside Zhang Hao.

Instantly, Zhang Hao held his breath, a film of sweat beading on his forehead.

Suddenly.

Those green ghost fires transformed into raging infernos, surging upward abruptly.

And the green ghostly flames turned into ordinary firelight!

No… wait… how could ghost fires turn into normally burning flames?

These ghost fires were the flames ignited during the foxes' wedding processions, used to guide the way and also to detect whether any living humans were present along the route.

If a living human was present, the foxes would direct the mountain spirits and wild beasts to drive them away, or even trap them completely within the mountains.

Normally, barring any anomalies, the ghost fires would not change color; they would only alter when they detected the presence of living humans nearby.

By all logic, with the ghost fires wrapping around his body, there should not have been any changes at all.

Because he had already laid down the Five Elements Reversal method, setting the anchor point right beneath his feet, and the ritual was already active, he ought to be classified as a "dead person."

Yet these ghost fires…

If that pack of foxes appeared and laid eyes on the flames surrounding him, it would undoubtedly attract their attention.

By then, not only would his plan be completely ruined, but he himself would be in grave danger.

Could it be that there was something on his person?
Or perhaps…

Just a brief moment later, the flared ghost fires suddenly returned to normal.

Huh?

This…

How did they go back to normal?

Zhang Hao still held his breath, not daring to relax in the slightest.

Whoosh~

The eerie wind swept through the mountain forest, and the rustling sound of the leaves seemed to transform into a bizarre melody, echoing through the gloomy and treacherous woods.

At the very end of the winding path before him, a mass of mist materialized out of thin air.

That layered, rolling mist arose, intangible and impenetrable, looking like a gate leading to another realm, or perhaps a passage to the wheel of reincarnation and death.

Thump, thump, thump…

In the eerie, tranquil forest filled with the unknown, Zhang Hao could hear his own heartbeat, growing faster and stronger in rhythm.

He controlled his breathing as much as possible, preventing himself from exuding too much of the aura of the living.

His eyes stared fixedly at that mass of fog, as if something ineffable might burst forth from it at any second.

Tap, tap, tap~

At that moment, footsteps suddenly sounded.

Something seemed to be stirring within the fog, causing the mist to disperse toward the surroundings.

His eyes widened, his expression stern.

Two foxes.

The first to emerge from the mist were two foxes walking on their hind legs!

The pair of foxes wore red garments and red hats on their heads. One fox held a miniature Suona horn in its paws, while the other clutched a miniature set of gongs and drums. Thus they walked out from the fog.

The hairs on Zhang Hao's body stood on end, his pupils constricted, and his heartbeat accelerated so rapidly that he almost lost control of his breathing.

These two foxes were just like humans, save for their sharp-mouthed, monkey-faced features covered in orange-yellow fur, and their paws holding the musical instruments.

From their demeanor and posture down to their every movement, they were identical to human beings!

This was quite literally the ultimate scenario capable of triggering the "uncanny valley" effect in humans!

Zhang Hao forcefully suppressed the astonishment in his heart, along with the terror he was desperately holding down. Without shifting his gaze, he continued to watch the mass of mist.

And right at that moment.

The two foxes suddenly halted their steps, positioning themselves separately on either side of the winding path.

The fox holding the Suona raised the instrument with both paws and placed it to its mouth.

The fox holding the gongs and drums gripped its instruments, having already readied itself.

Dili-dala~
Guangdang-guangdang~

The next second, the sound of a Suona horn resounded through the mountain forest, accompanied by the festive clatter of gongs and drums.