Chapter 102: The Mountain Spirit

After hearing Hou Qiankun’s conclusion, Kaleidoscope chuckled and nodded slightly. “You really hit the mark, Second Brother. This strange thing is indeed a Nuo.”

Hou Qiankun nodded in return, lighting his cigarette and calmly puffing away.

“Wait a moment.” Ghostface Zhang waved his hand from the side, interrupting Kaleidoscope just as he was about to start his analysis. “Stop pretending to be some kind of mystic here.”

Kaleidoscope was momentarily stunned, scratching his head in confusion. “Third Brother, how am I pretending to be mystical?”

Ghostface Zhang snorted coldly. “Kaleidoscope, if you say this thing is the ‘Nuo Official’ used in ancient sacrificial rites, then even if it’s a medicinal figure, how could it have survived until the Song and Yuan dynasties to be turned into such a figure? That’s at least two thousand years apart! Which Nuo Official could live that long? Don’t spout nonsense here!”

His question was sharp and to the point. If this Nuo Official was a relic from the Three Dynasties of Antiquity (Xia, Shang, and Zhou), it would have to be at least a thousand years old to have survived until the Kushan Empire, or even over two thousand if from the Parthian era. The average lifespan of commoners nowadays is over seventy, but back then, during those ancient cultures like Hongshan, Liangzhu, and Qijia, the average lifespan was only about thirty due to plagues and natural disasters. It was practically impossible for such a Nuo Official to live beyond fifty, let alone span multiple dynasties into the Kushan or Parthian eras. I silently nodded, thinking Ghostface Zhang was sharp despite his rough exterior; if it were anyone else, Kaleidoscope might have easily talked them out of it.

I expected Kaleidoscope to be caught off guard, but to my surprise, he smiled and waved his hand dismissively. “Third Brother, you’ve misunderstood. I never said this thing was an ancient sacrificial Nuo Official.” As he said this, a strange feeling crept over me. If it’s not a Nuo Official, then what could it be?

“Could it be that you’re saying this thing…” Ghostface Zhang hesitated, unable to finish his thought. His brows shot up as he frowned, staring at the corpse on the ground, broken in two at the waist.

Ghostface Zhang gave a strange smile and nodded solemnly, as if understanding. “It seems both you and Second Brother have figured it out. I never said this Nuo must be the Nuo Official that ancient ancestors played in rituals.”

“Aiyo! You’re keeping me on tenterhooks here.” Iron Crutch Liu patted his forehead, looking a bit frustrated. “Just spill it. What exactly is going on?”

Kaleidoscope glanced at the irritated Iron Crutch Liu beside him with a teasing grin, his expression a mix of helplessness and mockery. “Look, I bet everyone here from the Nine Gates already knows what this thing really is. And you’re still asking? No wonder you laborers have no brains or insight.”

Kaleidoscope’s words undoubtedly slapped me in the face. After all his talk, I still didn’t understand why this corpse could survive so long underground. So I must be equally brainless and ignorant. I had no response and silently awaited the revelation.

Iron Crutch Liu spat and was about to lose his temper, but Ghostface Zhang raised a hand to stop him. “Don’t you get it? This Nuo Official isn’t even human.”

That sentence made me gasp sharply. Not human? Then a ghost? The adage from the tomb raiding world flashed through my mind: anything can happen underground. A shudder ran through me, my head buzzing, almost overwhelmed by the tense atmosphere and the terrifying Nuo mask.

“Not human? Then it’s a ghost? Does a zongzi look like this?” Iron Crutch Liu’s face darkened as he scratched his head, then poked the Nuo’s face with his weapon.

“What else could it be?” Ghostface Zhang whispered, taking a drag from his cigarette and exhaling slowly. “Ancient texts record another meaning of ‘Nuo’ as ‘the ghost that frightens and drives away pestilence.’ This must be the ghostly creature mentioned in those old records.”

“Third Brother, that ghost sounds pretty feeble,” Iron Crutch Liu asked awkwardly.

Ghostface Zhang said nothing, but Kaleidoscope waved his hand. “You’re being misled. The ancient texts do mention ghosts, but those texts—take the Classic of Mountains and Seas as an example—are collections of strange tales. Anything unexplained was labeled as demon or monster, reflecting the ignorance of the past.”

Kaleidoscope had barely finished when Iron Crutch Liu scoffed. “Don’t say that, Kaleidoscope. Just now in the mountains, we saw the legendary ‘Ghost Chariot’ Nine-headed Bird with our own eyes. How can you call the Classic of Mountains and Seas ignorant then?”

That comment left Kaleidoscope speechless, struggling for words. The Nine-headed Bird is indeed a monster recorded in the northern section of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and its real appearance defies explanation—even Kaleidoscope is stumped.

Iron Crutch Liu, proud of having silenced the usually glib Kaleidoscope, gave him a sideways glance filled with triumph.

“All right, all right,” Hou Qiankun waved his hand. “Let’s focus on looting this tomb first. Arguing here is pointless.” Clearly, he was giving Kaleidoscope a graceful way out.

“I won’t argue about whether the Nine-headed Bird is real or not,” Kaleidoscope said awkwardly, relieved by Second Brother’s intervention. “Let’s just loot this tomb first.”

“Continuing from before, as Third Brother said, this thing underground isn’t human. To put it simply, this Nuo is a creature recorded in ancient texts, similar to a mountain spirit.”

Among folk beliefs, the term “mountain spirit” has many interpretations: some say it’s a goddess dwelling in the mountains, others call it a mountain demon or specter. If you look at Qu Yuan’s “Mountain Spirit” poem in the Chu Ci anthology, it aligns with the first interpretation—a beautiful, devoted maiden of the mountains. The poem paints a picture of the mountain spirit waiting faithfully for her lover at a meeting place despite the difficult, winding mountain path. Though the lover never arrives, she waits through rain and storm, forgetting to return home. Eventually, she returns at night, sorrowful amid the howling monkeys and raging wind. In other texts, “mountain spirit” generally refers to mountain gods or spirits not officially recognized by the heavenly emperor.

Mountain spirit? Hearing this, my mind swirled with confusion. Isn’t the mountain spirit the goddess recorded in Qu Yuan’s “Nine Songs”? Is this the appearance of the Chinese nation’s mountain goddess? Looking again at the underground mountain spirit, if you say it’s a witch, that might be close enough. But this thing doesn’t match Qu Yuan’s description at all—the goddess riding a chariot drawn by leopards, wearing a grass skirt, and accompanied by a big spotted cat.

I pondered for a long time but couldn’t find any resemblance to a goddess. I finally asked, “Master Kaleidoscope, is this the mountain spirit goddess mentioned in Qu Yuan’s ‘Nine Songs’?”

Kaleidoscope smiled and waved his hand. “No, not that goddess. This is another kind of mountain spirit. Do you know the ‘shanzhao’?”

I nodded. The ‘shanzhao’ is basically a type of gorilla. So after all this, it’s just an ugly gorilla.

“This ancient legend of the Nuo basically describes a kind of gorilla. Because it’s more evolved than other apes, ancient people called it ‘Nuo’ or ‘mountain spirit.’”