It's usually not in the nature of mountain spirits to bother passersby, but today, Zhou Huan had brought Little Yan'er and the others, and these nuisances actually sought trouble, clearly aware that Zhou Huan and his group were no ordinary individuals, yet they persisted in their insolence.

"Master, the sheer resentment you carry is so potent; the cold chill is making me shiver all over." Tian Xiong felt an icy presence, unlike the mere chill of the deep night, penetrating his bones rather than just his skin. As soon as Tian Xiong finished speaking, cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

Zhou Huan lit a stick of incense, grabbed a handful of realgar, and handed it to Tian Xiong. "Hold this tight and don't drop it. Rub the realgar into a ball and stuff it up your nostrils." He then took a handful of cinnabar and sprinkled it over Tian Xiong’s body. Turning back, he affixed an exorcism talisman to Little Yan'er’s back; after all, she was a child, and if any malevolent, lonely spirit sought possession, it would likely target the child first.

"Aaargh!" a howl erupted, and Shi Bingyuan’s arm began to tremble violently. Zhou Huan shone his flashlight over and saw that Shi Bingyuan was in a worse state than Tian Xiong; frost was crystalizing on his arm, intermittently emitting blasts of cold air, and his whole body gradually started to shake, resembling a patient racked by fever, his complexion turning increasingly ashen.

"Master... save me..." Shi Bingyuan spoke in broken gasps, his entire body going limp, slumping to the ground, breathing rapidly, his constricted pupils fixed on the sky.

Zhou Huan was instantly stunned. Shi Bingyuan’s arcane arts should have been formidable, yet even he was... Suddenly, Zhou Huan felt waves of coldness wash over his body, creeping up from his feet like an encroaching glacier, slowly reaching for his brain. Zhou Huan shuddered violently, immediately realizing the gravity of the situation—these vengeful spirits were clearly not amateurs; there had to be a soul among them with exceptional ghost techniques. He swiftly produced a gold-cast needle, aimed for the Hegu acupoint on his palm, and plunged it in fiercely. He then pulled out a prepared Soul-Striking Talisman, ignited it, and swallowed the resulting ashes. At this moment, Zhou Huan’s body was a chaotic mix of hot and cold.

"Uncle Zhou..." Before Little Yan'er could finish the second word, the child had collapsed onto the ground, her body beginning to tremble as well.

Zhou Huan gritted his teeth, snatched up the golden needle, approached Shi Bingyuan, and used the same method, forcing the Soul-Striking Talisman ashes down Shi Bingyuan’s throat.

Shi Bingyuan gradually began to regain some composure. Though alternating between hot and cold flashes, he could at least manage to move stiffly.

"Master, are we, hiss..." While speaking, Shi Bingyuan sucked in a sharp breath.

"If I’m not mistaken, this group of vengeful ghosts hails from the Ice Hell, but why the sudden attack on us?" Zhou Huan paused, said nothing more, and pulled out his compass to search the surroundings for specters.

Shi Bingyuan drew his peach-wood sword, pricked his finger, and drew a Soul-Breaking Talisman, which he ignited with a spark. In the darkness, the peach-wood sword burst forth with brilliant red light that spread across the night: "Master, you guide, I’ll fight!"

"Good, you must be careful. Our soul senses are extremely impaired right now. What I gave you earlier was the Soul-Striking Talisman, just to temporarily slow the cold invading us. We have only one shichen [two hours]; otherwise, our entire bodies will freeze solid, leaving us immobile, at the mercy of these vengeful spirits." Zhou Huan spoke as he worked, the needle of his compass snapping rhythmically as it pointed in several directions.

Shi Bingyuan’s sword light danced everywhere, and with each swing, a low-ranking ghost would emerge, dissolving into a puff of black smoke before falling apart.

Fortunately, Tian Xiong had the talisman applied early by Zhou Huan, and the affliction did not worsen. He was desperately trying to tend to Little Yan'er. Another crucial factor was the stick of incense he held; having come from Mount Wutai, he carried a residual aura of Buddhist light, which allowed him to hold out longer.

Zhou Huan and Shi Bingyuan, caught in the alternating chills and heat, temporarily drove back the surrounding vengeful spirits, but the bone-piercing cold remained, shrouding the entire mountain—the trees, the ground, and all objects exuded that chilling sensation.

"Master, this... this one too... hiss!" Completing a sentence was proving difficult for Shi Bingyuan at this crucial juncture.

Zhou Huan rubbed his cheeks, then his mouth, turned back, and asked, "How are Tian Xiong and Little Yan'er? If they’re fine, let's leave quickly; we’ll be safe once we enter the cemetery!"

Little Yan'er, wrapped in Tian Xiong’s jacket, gradually regained consciousness: "Mama... Mama..." The child constantly yearned to see her mother, though truthfully, she had never seen her, only in a photograph. Whenever others mentioned 'mother,' she would retreat dejectedly into a corner.

"Heaven and Earth Vajra Seal!" Zhou Huan formed the hand seals, turning both palms outward, the heels pushing forward, thumbs spread wide, and the other four fingers curled inward. He pushed both palms simultaneously toward Shi Bingyuan.

Two streams of heat shot from Zhou Huan’s hands toward Shi Bingyuan: "This should help you somewhat... hiss!" Zhou Huan also sucked in a sharp breath, but quickly recovered: "Apprentices, hurry up and move! If our Soul-Striking Talismans wear off, it will be disastrous."

"Ah!" The three of them broke into a run. Tian Xiong, carrying Little Yan'er, was panting heavily even while running.

They hadn't gone far when they heard a rustling sound in the woods, followed by the chaotic rhythm of footsteps.

"Shh, don't speak, watch your footing." Zhou Huan lowered his voice, and the group slowly bent their waists, gradually crouching down.

The undergrowth in the forest trembled. This time, the approaching presence didn't feel like the biting cold; it was a familiar aura, and Zhou Huan's compass spun with steady precision.

Shi Bingyuan seemed to sense something, his hand already prepared with a talisman, waiting only for Zhou Huan's signal to rush out.

"Tian Xiong, take good care of Little Yan'er; you don't need to worry about us two!" After instructing Tian Xiong, Zhou Huan exchanged a look with Shi Bingyuan. They both leaped up and darted toward the bushes. Reaching the edge of the thicket, they simultaneously ignited the talismans Zhou Huan provided—a handful of talisman ash and a scattering of cinnabar were thrown into the foliage.

The bushes erupted in another flurry of activity, and in an instant, a large pile of shoes flew out, some left, some right, eventually lining up to form a veritable shoe formation. Even if these shoes were taken to a shoe market, they would take at least ten days or half a month to sell.

"Roar! Roar!"

"You guys..." Zhou Huan started to speak but realized the shoes looked incredibly familiar—weren't these the spirits from the hospital? A sudden thought struck him: "Why are you here again? Are you looking for more trouble?"

A pair of extra-large leather boots hopped out, estimated to be a size sixty or larger.

"Master Zhou, don't say we didn't warn you. This is our territory. You've been affected by chaotic soul miasma, so we didn't intend to trouble you and were hiding in the brush. But you attacked us without hesitation; now we have something to discuss." Before the pair of boots finished speaking, another shoe darted out from behind them.

This shoe was even less polite, leaping out and aiming a kick directly at Zhou Huan.

Seeing the shoe coming, Zhou Huan gently deflected it with both hands, sending the shoe flying. Then, Zhou Huan said, "It was one thing to cause trouble at the hospital the other day, but now you intend to block our path again. Do you honestly believe you are in the right?"

"Roar! Roar!" These shoes scraped their soles against the ground, emitting hissing sounds.

After a long pause, the large pair of boots finally spoke: "Fine. Since neither side has suffered casualties, we’ll let today's incident go. Hurry up and leave; don't linger in our domain for too long."

Zhou Huan smiled faintly upon hearing the words of the large shoes: "That sounds reasonable enough. Alright, I won't argue with you."

Just as the master and his two apprentices were about to leave, Zhou Huan noticed a pair of red-and-white cloth shoes among the pile. These familiar shoes remained utterly silent. What was this... Zhou Huan walked into the mass of footwear, pointed at the singular pair of red-and-white canvas shoes, and asked, "With all these leather shoes, you're the only cloth shoe here. Aren't you afraid they’ll toss you out?"

They were non-human entities, indeed; their intelligence and observational skills were lacking. Such a unique pair had been mixed in their ranks for so long, and they hadn't even noticed.

"Roar! Roar!" The pile of shoes turned, and all attention focused on the red-and-white pair.

The shoe that had spoken earlier chimed in again: "Master Zhou is truly meddlesome. But thank you this time. However, this involves a matter within our Shoe Clan, so we wish to handle it ourselves. Can you please leave?"

"That won't do!"

"What?" Zhou Huan’s simple reply completely drained the energy from that shoe.

The crowd of shoes redirected their focus toward Zhou Huan and his group.

"This pair of shoes is closely tied to the matter we need to attend to; I absolutely cannot let him go just like that," Zhou Huan stated firmly.

The leading shoe burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! Nonsense! When did our affairs ever become your concern? Brothers, deal with these bastards."

The shoes leaped up one after another, flying toward Zhou Huan and his group. Truthfully, seeing a large swarm of shoes flying in the sky was quite a spectacle.

But Shi Bingyuan and Zhou Huan gave them no chance to perform. A punch, a kick, a sword strike, a talisman—as the flying shoes came down, they landed pattering on the ground, emitting muffled roars.

"It seems you truly have no shame. We retreated, yet you insist on driving us to a dead end," the large shoe declared.

At this moment, the red-and-white cloth shoe darted forward, standing before the assembled footwear: "Let's stop fighting. The Ghost King's territory is not far ahead. They have already annihilated a contingent of ghosts just now; we should be thanking them instead. Otherwise, these newly arrived lone spirits will eventually consume our domain."

The leading shoe pondered for a moment, its sole gradually softening. "What he says has a point. Fine, I’ll listen to him this once. I won't pursue the matter with you."

"Cease!" As soon as Zhou Huan gave the order, a fierce gale whipped up from the direction of the cemetery, the wind roaring with a powerful sound that battered their eardrums.

"Master, no! Hell Qi!" Tian Xiong suddenly uttered these words, seeming to recall some past experience.