We chatted and laughed our way along, and with the scenery being quite pleasant, our spirits relaxed considerably.

But * had said that happy times always passed too quickly.

As we journeyed deeper into the shrine along the central avenue, a dense, emerald-green bamboo forest, like a living corridor, suddenly blocked our path.

This wasn't the worst of it; the most dreadful thing was that even before entering the grove, we saw piles of skeletal remains scattered throughout, mostly animal bones, covering the ground like a thick carpet.

Some of the bones and flesh were already yellowed and rotten, while others still clung to putrid remnants, emitting waves of stench.

There was no ambush, no conspiracy; this bamboo forest plainly warned us: Danger lurked within.

Daxiong stared at the carpet of bones on the ground and cursed, “Damn, are they growing bamboo with corpses here? No wonder these stalks are so lush.”

I looked up, and sure enough, as he said, the bamboo here was denser and taller. Untrimmed for a long time, the accumulated leaves on each stalk resembled small mounds.

Though I didn't know what kind of bamboo absorbed nutrients from dead bodies, the soil here was clearly nourished by years of skeletal matter, appearing quite fertile.

“Do you think this is a mass grave or a monster’s lair?” Nie Chuan asked me.

I shook my head and replied, “Don’t know. We’ll know once we go in.”

“Go in? What if there are ghosts?” Daxiong took a step back, his face grim.

I smiled slightly and told him, “Ghosts don’t eat people. Spirits have no physical form; where would they put the flesh they eat? So, all those stories about ghosts eating people are lies.”

Daxiong listened, thought hard, and then declared, “Alright then, as long as there are no ghosts, I’m not afraid of anything.”

I nodded to Nie Chuan, signaling that we were ready to proceed inward.

Daxiong somehow produced a Mojin Talisman from somewhere and hung it around his neck as an amulet against evil spirits.

I knew it was fake, but I said nothing.

Nie Chuan, meanwhile, took out a black donkey’s hoof, which brought back a flood of familiar memories for me.

Next was me. I hadn't brought anything at all, just plunged straight into the thicket without preamble.

When I used to appear as Nie Chuan, I always walked at the rear, but now I was *; as the most experienced and strongest fighter in the group, I had to take the lead.

Actually, leading felt quite good, because the feeling of protecting others is always satisfying.

Just as I was feeling a bit smug and signaling behind me to keep up, Daxiong suddenly shrieked, staring above my head, terrified to the point of nearly collapsing.

A chill shot through me, and I hastily looked up, seeing something white and ghostly swooping down toward me.

I hadn't expected it to attack so quickly, striking the moment we entered the woods.

The old me would have undoubtedly fallen backward in fright, but being * now, I forced myself to remain calm, executed a quick roll on the ground, and dodged the attack.

The thing completely ignored me, sweeping over my head to pounce on Daxiong. Its posture was eerily floaty, making the hairs on my scalp prickle.

Daxiong was frozen in fear where he stood. I shouted a warning from behind, but it was too late.

However, just as the thing was about to touch Daxiong, it suddenly stopped.

I found this strange, but before I could react, it seemed to turn and charge toward me with its back.

This time, I didn't roll away. I thought, You dare look down on me, coming at me with your back?

So, I drew the military knife I kept on my person and plunged it straight into the thing’s back.

I thought to myself, Whether you’re a ghost or whatever, take a stab first.

But when my knife sank solidly into the thing’s back, there was neither the expected horrific scream nor the sensation of plunging into empty air, but rather a soft, powerless resistance.

I felt puzzled, pulled the knife out, and saw small, dark granules oozing from the puncture wound.

I took a step back, thinking it was some kind of insect, but on closer inspection, it turned out to be moldy grain.

Nie Chuan, wiping cold sweat from his brow, burst out laughing and said, “Don’t be nervous, it’s just a dummy.”

Hearing him, I felt a little reassured. Looking up, sure enough, this scarecrow with disheveled hair, constructed of white cloth, was hanging from a bamboo stalk by a rope.

But this thing wasn't light; under normal circumstances, without wind, it should have hung still. Why had it suddenly swung like a pendulum?

I looked around, puzzled, and saw no one within my line of sight.

Then I circled around to the front of the dummy and saw that it was a very grotesque figure. Its belly was huge, stuffed with grain, while its head was relatively small. It had no legs. The head was covered in what looked like animal fur made to simulate messy, flowing hair, and its eyes were two small wooden buttons.

Most striking was the symbol—a red 'X' painted right over the dummy’s navel, the meaning of which was unknown.

“Look over there, there seem to be many more,” Daxiong said, regaining some composure and pointing into the distance.

We looked, and indeed, many such white dummies were hanging from the surrounding bamboo stalks, though the others were small, resembling wind chimes, swaying gently throughout the grove.

Seeing these things reminded me of the Ikkyū-san cartoon I watched as a child, which also featured similar figures.

But I never truly understood the purpose of these dummies.

I only knew that in certain regions of Southeast Asia, there existed a dark art that used effigies to curse people.

In any case, seeing these things here did not evoke the cute feeling of the cartoon; it was overwhelmingly eerie.

As I watched, Nie Chuan spoke again, “Look here, what is this?”

I quickly turned to see where Nie Chuan was pointing—it was the chest area of the large dummy, where there appeared to be a dark handprint.

Looking closely, I confirmed my guess that it was a handprint, and we noticed other handprints in various spots.

These prints weren't large; comparing them with my own hand, they were significantly smaller, possibly left by a child.

But how could there be a child in such a bizarre bamboo forest?

“There really are ghosts,” Daxiong’s pale face flushed again. “Didn’t we just see this thing swinging without anyone pushing it? I bet it was a little spirit pushing it; look, the handprint is still there.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint ch-ch sound emanated from the bamboo grove to our front left.

The sound was light and quick, likely caused by someone stepping on the bones and dead leaves on the ground while running.

“Th-there’s… someone, no, a ghost…” Daxiong backed up a step, terrified.

I exchanged a look with Nie Chuan; his gaze mirrored mine—the intention was to pursue and investigate.

So, we left Daxiong howling behind us and chased after the sound.

Seeing us leave, Daxiong stopped his wailing and hurried to catch up.

After all, being alone was more terrifying than encountering a ghost.

They say people fear ghosts, but ghosts also fear people; if humans dare to look directly at these things, they tend to hide.

So, as the three of us rushed forward in pursuit, we saw nothing; whatever it was had already fled far away.

“Gentlemen, let’s stop chasing. What good would catching up do? We should hurry through this grove and get to the main business,” Daxiong urged us.

We knew Daxiong was right. Even if this thing had been playing tricks on us, it was better not to invite more trouble.

With that thought, we stopped pursuing and instead set our direction, continuing northward.

Strangely, the animal skeletal remains seemed to be concentrated only on the periphery of the bamboo forest. The deeper we went, the fewer bones we saw.

However, since many of the older bamboo stalks had withered and died, layers upon layers of yellow leaves covered the ground. Stepping on them felt soft and sank nearly to the calf, making movement extremely difficult.

As we walked on, the bamboo ahead gradually thinned out. I felt a surge of relief, guessing we must be about to exit the grove.

But then, we saw that ahead was only an open clearing.