The Earless Ghost

The silver moon hung high, casting a misty radiance, adding a layer of pale white filter to all things in the mountains.
Occasionally, a bird or beast cried out, startling Sha Chuan so much that he couldn't stand firm, his legs trembling. Several times, he almost missed a step from a high place, tumbling straight down the stairs.
In truth, there was no vengeful ghost causing trouble, but he was too timid, thus he was overly paranoid, always feeling footsteps behind him. Seeing a stream, he thought of ghosts; seeing a tree shadow, he also thought of ghosts.
He quickly became disheveled from scaring himself. His clothes rolled in the mud and water, and his face was scratched in several painful places by branches. The crisp sound of branches under his feet was enough to make him wonder if a terrifying incident was about to occur.
He felt he could single-handedly fight a vengeful ghost, just as some people feel they can take down a tiger with a single kick.
But... it was only because those vengeful ghosts hadn't appeared directly in front of him!
Otherwise, he would charge forward with a punch!
Sha Chuan thought, self-deceivingly, his hand instinctively reaching into his pants pocket, searching for the courage-enhancing sachet Qi Gu had given him, but he felt only emptiness.
His face turned pale, even more ghastly than a ghost.
It's gone, how could it be?!
He quickly remembered that he had changed into a different set of clothes. Could it be in those clothes?
Sha Chuan hadn't thrown away the wet clothes; he had kept them in his backpack—after all, they were branded clothes given by his ex-girlfriends, and he wasn't that extravagant yet.
Thinking this, Sha Chuan's mind settled slightly. He pulled out the wet clothes and felt the pockets.
"Why is it still empty? No way, this can't be!" Sha Chuan turned his backpack upside down and shook it vigorously, trying to shake out a non-existent sachet from inside.
All these efforts were, of course, futile.
Sha Chuan gasped for breath, his face twisted as he angrily threw his backpack at a tree trunk, resentfully saying: "Hmph, it must be Qi Gu's doing. He stole my sachet while I was unconscious!"

But the path down the mountain still had to be continued.
Sha Chuan continued forward, quickly reaching that long, towering stone staircase. If he remembered correctly, Mu Xing Chen was pushed by an invisible force right here.
The cold night wind blew, rustling the leaves. Coupled with Sha Chuan already sweating profusely, he quickly shivered violently.
Standing more than ten meters from the stone steps, Sha Chuan moved his feet with difficulty, but quickly pulled them back.
He dared not gamble his precious life, more valuable than ordinary people's, on this.
"What to do, what to do? If someone can help me safely descend the mountain, I am willing to pay any price!" As soon as Sha Chuan whispered these words, the rustling of wind and grass suddenly ceased. The moonlight, pale as cut paper, and a hazy white mist enveloped him.
A twisted, red-veined mass of flesh, invisible to Sha Chuan, extended from the vast mountaintop, precisely latching onto his head.
"Hiss..." Sha Chuan felt a tingling numbness on his scalp. He instinctively wiped his head, then felt his body, unknowingly, floating upwards. The solid ground of Qingji Mountain beneath his feet turned into a dark cliff face, rising higher and higher.
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!" Sha Chuan screamed tragically, but could not stop any of this from happening.
He didn't understand what was happening, only that he seemed to be dying quickly.
On the brink of life and death, he was both in pain and filled with regret.
If only he had known, if only he had known he wouldn't have participated in this show. If he hadn't, he would still be Sha Chuan, famous across the internet for his looks, high caliber, top-tier appearance, and three girlfriends who, though not easy to fool, were all beautiful and wealthy...
As this thought crossed Sha Chuan's mind, he felt the skin on his entire body loosening and aging.
Immediately after, the upward movement suddenly stopped. Before Sha Chuan could rejoice, he felt the numbness on his head disappear.
Immediately afterward, he plummeted downwards at an unimaginable speed.
Bang!
Flesh and blood blurred, a messy mix of red, white, and yellow.
But he had indeed reached the foot of the mountain—the Wish Ghost had fulfilled his wish in its own way.
*
Old Li was originally a photographer. If he couldn't go down the mountain, he naturally took on the job of holding the camera steady.
His heart was anxious. While completing his work, he couldn't help but look at Qi Gu and ask: "Grandmaster Qi, do you think I can still be saved?"
Aging five years was truly unsettling. At first glance, it was only five years, but Old Li clearly felt his bodily functions had declined significantly.
He originally could walk hundreds of meters ahead of Qi Gu and Lan Han Zhi, but now he could only be slightly faster than them.
He clearly felt a profound sense of powerlessness.
Qi Gu's calm voice echoed through the mountains: "This is simple."
Old Li:!
As expected of Grandmaster Qi!
Just as Old Li was arranging his words to express sincere gratitude, Qi Gu slowly said: "Kill it, and its influence on you will naturally dissipate invisibly."
Old Li:???
Didn't they say it was a Wish Ghost with enough power to affect an entire area?
Why do you talk about killing it as if you're killing a fish!
Old Li was greatly astonished. On the other side, Jin Chan and Mu Xing Chen immediately began to flatter.
"Don't worry, brother, with my Master here, defeating that kind of trash isn't easy?" Mu Xing Chen's mind was filled with images of superheroes blasting opponents away, burning with excitement to the point of explosion.
As for Jin Chan, it simply loved to flatter: "As expected of Grandmaster Qi, even that level of evil ghost can be easily defeated. Your strength is truly extraordinary, you are a war machine in the world of cultivators..."
Pu Bu Ge Sang, who knew the true situation: "..."
No, are you all that confident?
Lan Han Zhi showed a gentle smile, as if it was finally his turn to show off, looking at Qi Gu with an especially sweet smile.
Then, because he laughed with his mouth open, he inhaled a mouthful of cold wind and coughed violently.
This body is truly weak; even after nurturing it for so long, it's still like this.
Through everyone's continuous efforts, they finally reached a position about one-third of the way down the mountain at exactly 12 o'clock. It was unclear if it was an illusion, but every time they stepped onto a certain step, the surroundings immediately became incredibly quiet, as if everywhere were black sound-absorbing sponges, containing all sounds within.
"What's wrong?" Mu Xing Chen instinctively asked.
But he couldn't hear his own voice. — He seemed to have suddenly gone deaf.
He showed a frightened expression, threw Jin Chan out of his arms, and gestured wildly at Qi Gu.
Qi Gu was too lazy to gesture, directly pulled out his phone and typed for him to see.
Mu Xing Chen: "Ah, what do we do now qAq!"
Pu Bu Ge Sang: "This isn't simple, of course, we find it o-o"
Old Li: "What does it look like? I'll go find it right away."
Lan Han Zhi: "I seem to have accidentally stepped on it just now; it grabbed my ankle *-*"
Mu Xing Chen: "Then why are you so excited?"
Lan Han Zhi: "My apologies, slippery hand. It's this /(tot)/~~"
Lan Han Zhi: "Ah ah ah ah ah ah ~ Help ~ whisper ~"
Qi Gu: "..."
No need to exaggerate that much.
A flash of spiritual light from Qi Gu immediately struck the seemingly ordinary stone under Lan Han Zhi's feet. That stone didn't even dodge, just honestly stood still and took the hit.
Immediately, Qi Gu drew out the ghost's form.
The sound that had disappeared immediately returned, exciting the viewers who had originally found these background sounds extremely terrifying.
After all, no sound at all is much scarier than having some sound!
The vengeful ghost looked relatively normal, human-shaped, except that both sides of its head were empty, without ears. Its features were delicate, and its expression looked extremely weak and wronged.
"This is an Earless Ghost. They are people who, when alive, were often scolded with 'don't you have ears?' and transformed after death. After dying, they cannot hear sounds, so their main ability is to inflict their suffering on others, making them also unable to hear sounds, and then die in silence and absolute quiet, their spirits collapsing." Qi Gu introduced dutifully.
"However, this one seems a bit foolish... it didn't even run when it saw it was about to be hit." Qi Gu paused, adding another sentence.
Fortunately, the Earless Ghost couldn't hear, otherwise, it would definitely protest loudly that it was stepped on by the mortal Lan Han Zhi, stepped on so tightly that it couldn't move!
It was unclear where this seemingly weak man got such great strength.
Qi Gu typed: "Tell me a little about your criminal psychology." and handed the phone to the Earless Ghost.
The Earless Ghost took it, quickly typed, and held it up.
It clearly showed four large, bold characters: "Grandmaster, spare me!"
Hmm... it seems to be very much in common with Jin Chan.
Something seems wrong... The Earless Ghost thought for a moment, then blurted out: "Wait, I can talk, I just don't have ears!"
Qi Gu: "...Force of habit."
The Earless Ghost's tone was resentful, its attitude firm: "I was captured, all because the Wish Ghost forced me. I am a great, great good ghost who doesn't harm people! It said if I didn't do well, it would eat me, %&*
*%￥&
Zhou Ba Pi, I hate him to death, even more hateful than the exploitative boss who caused my sudden death!"
Tears shimmered in its eye sockets, looking extremely simple and wronged.
"Wuwuwu, I was originally lazy and happy on this Qingji Mountain. Normally, I would just go to the public cemetery at the foot of the mountain to bask in a bit of incense smoke from filial sons and daughters; at least I wouldn't starve to death. But now it's good, as soon as Zhou Ba Pi arrived, I directly worked 007 all year round without rest and was even required to achieve merits, I absolutely had to find people for him, haha."