Chapter 6: Incense Money

Hearing the words "Frog Mouth" again stirred my heart. After wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth, while helping Shen Liancheng get up from the ground, I said to Captain Lang and his men: "Sir, when you went to Frog Mouth to eliminate bandits, didn't anyone tell you about the ghost stories surrounding Frog Mouth? You should inquire at Shenjiabao; even a three-year-old child knows about the haunting there."

At this moment, the sound of the wind blowing from afar seemed to have changed its tone, resembling a woman's wail or perhaps the heart-wrenching cries of a child. Hearing this, Old Dog Shen felt a chill run down his spine, and he realized he was afraid. Trembling, with a dead deer on his back and holding his bird gun that sprayed iron sand, he ran towards the mouth of the toad.

At this point, Old Nianba couldn't help but shiver as he recalled the scene from years ago when he was chased by a shadow all over the mountains. I was puzzled beside him, wondering how Zhao Old Nianba still had the courage to act as a guide after being so frightened by such memories

It was clear that I could no longer keep it hidden, so I could only recount my situation to Captain Lang. However, Lang showed no interest in these matters and interrupted me before I could finish, saying: "Stop with the useless talk, let's talk about the frog's mouth. Have you ever been to the frog's mouth? Speaking of this..."

Captain Lang pulled out his pistol, pointing it back and forth at the heads of the two of us, and said: "You two, behave yourselves and lead the way. Once we reach the Toad's Mouth and capture the bandits, each of you will receive thirty dollars. If you dare to cause any more trouble, you will be considered accomplices to the bandits and executed on the spot"

As he saw that he had already run out of the range of the toad's mouth, Shen Laogou's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. Perhaps feeling as if he had escaped to freedom, he slowed his pace. While gasping for breath, he foolishly turned back to glance at the toad's mouth. ... That single glance caused Shen Laogou's heart to stop beating instantly ...

When Old Dog Shen had lost count of how many times he had seen the pool of deer blood on the ground, he was so frightened that the hair on his body stood on end. It was the night of the full moon, and the pale moonlight cast an exceptionally eerie glow on the pool. At that moment, Old Dog Shen even had the illusion that the dead deer behind him was still moving; a cool breeze swept by, and in a daze, he felt as if the dead deer was licking his neck with its tongue

Mr. Lang clearly knew something. Upon hearing me mention the ghost haunting at Frog Mouth, his expression turned unpleasant, and he reprimanded me, saying: "Nonsense! What ghosts or monsters exist in this world? It is already the Republic of China; you are a foreign student from the Beiping Ocean Academy, do you still believe in ghosts and deities? I say there are bandits in Frog Mouth, and there are indeed bandits. The previous ghost stories were all fabricated by them, just to scare you common folks away from Frog Mouth..." I reiterated that there are bandits in Frog Mouth, and the previous ghost stories were all fabricated by them, just to scare you common folks away from Frog Mouth...

Old Dog Shen was also an experienced hunter from the Shen family fortress, although he had never passed through Frog's Mouth before. However, during the day, he had indeed taken a good look at the terrain while passing by. Frog's Mouth was not particularly large; by following a path downward, one could exit in no time. Yet, it was quite strange at that moment; Old Dog Shen had been running for over half an hour and found himself still wandering within the confines of Frog's Mouth. He understood in his heart: it was over, he had encountered a ghost wall. It was indeed strange; Old Dog Shen had been running for over half an hour and found himself still wandering within the confines of Frog's Mouth. He understood in his heart: it was over, he had encountered a ghost wall

After ascending the mountain, Old Daoist Lü led me straight to the Frog's Mouth, and then he threw all his belongings into the cave inside the Frog's Mouth. He then said to me fiercely, that I would only be released when I returned the stolen incense money.

At this moment, Old Dog Shen was completely stiff, unable to move at all. He watched helplessly as a person and a deer leisurely approached him. At that moment, the blood in Old Dog Shen's body turned cold, and just when he thought he was undoubtedly facing death, a series of sounds suddenly echoed from the frog's mouth, resembling the ringing of a bell.

Surrounding the frog's mouth were numerous white figures, and standing about ten meters behind the old dog Shen was a man completely unclothed, with skin as pale as death. The man's upper and lower eyelids were bound together with iron wire, and blood was continuously seeping through the gap in his eyelids. The dead deer that had previously been castrated by old dog Shen was now standing beside this man, its already clouded eyes fixed intently on him, as if it were seeking vengeance from old dog Shen.

In the end, it was the adjutant who stepped forward to plead, fearing that if we harmed each other, there would be no one to guide us. Relying on the ineffectual Zhao, who could not even muster a fart with three sticks, was not safe. If anything went wrong, it would be too late to return to the Shen family fortress to find someone. At that moment, Commander Lang ordered us to stop. Despite Shen Liancheng shouting threats at me earlier, when it truly came to a crisis, I did not hesitate at all and directly lunged at him, taking most of the blows meant for him on my body as a student from Peking University.

The tales of hauntings at Frog Mouth are known even to three-year-old children in the surrounding villages of Shenjiabao. The elders in the village recall that during their youth, it was said that those who went up the mountain to gather firewood or hunt occasionally caught glimpses of vague human figures near Frog Mouth. Generations have grown up listening to the ghost stories of Frog Mouth.

"Boss, you should listen to my younger brother Shen Lian on this matter. He grew up in the Erliang Temple and is one of the few who has actually been to the Toad's Mouth and lived to tell the tale." At this moment, Zhao Lao Nian, who had been hanging his head in thought, timidly spoke up.

Shen Liancheng's action of snatching his pistol startled Lao Lang, who momentarily failed to react, covering the holster with both hands and saying to Shen Liancheng: "What’s the big deal? Isn’t it just a matter of setting fire to a house? During that deployment, didn’t I burn down ten or eight civilian houses? Look at me, look at Lao Lang—old man, do you still dare to snatch my gun?"

It was only at the end that Captain Lang finally understood, and he pushed Old Master Shen aside. At that moment, soldiers from behind rushed over and pinned both of us, the uncle and nephew, to the ground. Following that, we were subjected to a flurry of punches and kicks. On the side, Zhao Laonian, a country hunter who had never seen much of the world, merely moved his lips but did not dare to step forward to plead with Captain Lang on our behalf.

For the sake of ten dollars, Old Dog Shen was willing to take the risk. He gritted his teeth and followed the elk into the toad's mouth. By that time, the sky had already darkened. It was only after Old Dog Shen had shot down the elk with a single shot and cut off more than two and a half taels of musk from its belly that he realized it was completely dark.

Old Dog Shen let out a cry of despair and, using all his strength, threw down the dead moose he had been carrying on his back. Then, he fired a shot ahead of him; the gunshot emboldened him, and he recklessly ran towards the exit of the Frog's Mouth. It was unclear whether throwing the dead moose had any effect or if that shot had frightened away the surrounding restless spirits, but Old Dog Shen actually managed to escape from the Frog's Mouth.

Although I kept signaling him with my eyes, indicating that Old Nianba should not reveal my secrets. However, he completely ignored me and continued speaking to himself: "After all these years, the only ones brave enough to go to Frog's Mouth are my brother and his master, Old Daoist Lü. The year the Xuantong Emperor abdicated, I was chasing a silly roe deer and passed by Frog's Mouth, where I saw a vast expanse of white figures. When they heard the noise, those figures came after me. If it weren't for my brother and Old Daoist Lü passing by, I, Old Zhao, would have met my end at Frog's Mouth back then... The year the Xuantong Emperor abdicated, I was chasing a silly roe deer and passed by Frog's Mouth, where I saw a vast expanse of white figures. When they heard the noise, those figures came after me. If it weren't for my brother and Old Daoist Lü passing by, I, Old Zhao, would have met my end at Frog's Mouth back then..."

After hearing Old Zhao's words, Captain Lang looked at me with a puzzled expression and said: "Aren't you a foreign student from Beiping? How do you have an old master? Clarify for me, are you a foreign student or a little Taoist priest?"

It was two months before Widow Li went to Erlang Temple to deliver money that Old Daoist Lü suspected I had stolen the incense money from the temple. He tried to intimidate and beat me several times, but he could not extract the whereabouts of that money from me. In the end, Old Daoist Lü resorted to harsher measures; he had me prepare a bundle of goods. After I had packed the dry provisions, such as large pancakes and pickled vegetables, he took me to Mouth Mountain.

Aside from the incident where Old Zhao almost died, the most recent event occurred in the year I was born, specifically in the third month after my birth. A hunter named Old Shen from Shenjiabao chased a musk deer into the Toad's Mouth. Normally, upon reaching the Toad's Mouth, one could not proceed further. However, Old Shen had his eyes set on a large piece of musk located on the deer's belly. One tael of musk is worth five silver dollars, and considering the size of the deer, it could easily yield two taels of musk.

Seeing that I could not hide my feelings, I could only let out a bitter laugh and said, "It was originally just a matter of a few dollars, but I didn't expect it to almost cost me my life..."