Cold sweat dripped from my forehead.

But thinking of the importance of tonight’s spirit guiding ritual, I didn’t want to make the situation worse. I gritted my teeth and endured.

It took me a long while to steady myself.

Shakily, I bent down to pick up the scattered spirit money, explaining to them,

“When you live by the mountains, you rely on them. I work here as a guide and gather some goods, and sometimes I burn spirit money for the dead in these hills.”

Hearing that, they became even more excited.

“Then we have to go deeper. With a local leading us, this is going to be even better!” Ryan Brooks said, tossing my guide badge back to me.

My heart sank again.

I had miscalculated — I’d hoped to scare them off.

In the mountains, time slips away quickly.

The moon was already brushing the treetops, the air alive with the sound of crickets and night birds.

The moment for the ritual was almost here. Before I left, Master Daniel had warned me not to miss it — the spirits coming tonight carried particularly strong dark energy, and I’d need to burn extra offerings.

I hesitated, wondering if I should just leave them here. We were close to the foot of the mountain; they wouldn’t be in much danger.

But before I could decide, Ryan suddenly snatched the eternal lantern from my hands and headed straight toward the deeper forest.

The other three followed him, laughing.

Panic shot through me.

“That’s not something just anyone can handle — give it back, now!”

I swung the sack over my shoulder and jogged after them, trying to reclaim it.

Ryan refused, tossing it to Jake Miller, who then tossed it to Emily Carter. The four of them began throwing it back and forth like a game.

I was left running in circles between them, begging each in turn, like a dog chasing scraps.

When Ryan grew tired of playing, he threw it high into the air. The eternal lantern crashed to the ground, shattering into glowing shards.

My heart clenched in horror — this was a disaster.

Without the eternal lantern, I couldn’t break through the veil of dark energy, and they would soon be haunted by restless spirits.

The shards glimmered faintly, then began to fade.

I bit my finger and crouched, trying to gather them, but my injured left hand was useless.

I could only watch as the pieces sank into the soil and vanished.

Clenching my jaw, I glared at Ryan.

“You’ve just caused a catastrophe. Keep this up, and you’ll all die.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow, smirking.

He kicked me to the ground and gripped my chin.

“You’ve really pushed me this time. No one has ever told me ‘no’ this many times in a row, let alone threatened me.”

He gestured, and the two women closed in.

I backed away quickly, only for Jake to block my path.

“What are you doing? Get away from me! Stay back!”

The women exchanged a knowing smile.

They yanked off my shoes and socks, stripped away my jacket, and tossed it over the cliff’s edge.

Ryan crossed his arms, grinning with malice.

“Just a little punishment. Defy me again, and I’ll strip you bare and make you run down the trail like that.”

I clenched my guide badge in my fist, glancing at the moon overhead — already high in the sky. The time for the ritual was nearly here, and my chest felt heavy with despair.

Jake gave me a hard shove.

“Stop standing there like an idiot. When you had the chance to guide us properly, you didn’t. Now look — barefoot on a mountain trail. You asked for it.”

It seemed I had no choice now but to take them along while I worked.

The deeper we went, the quieter it became, until even the sound of our breathing was sharp in the still air.

Without my jacket, the chill cut deep. I gripped the sack on my back more tightly.

The forest was growing darker, and without the eternal lantern, the veil of dark energy was thickening all around us.

I walked in front, guiding the way, murmuring incantations to dispel the veil of dark energy. Behind me, the four of them chatted and laughed, their flashlights sweeping the forest, completely unaware of the danger surrounding them.

The moon climbed higher until it hung over the treetops.

A chilling wind swept through the mountains.

Ryan Brooks, irritated by my slow pace, went out of his way to find a branch covered in thorns and lashed my back with it.

The pain burned hot, my shirt tearing under the strike.

The trail was covered with sharp stones; my bare feet were already bloody, and I could barely walk straight.

“Hurry up,” he barked. “My livestream’s already running thirty minutes late. You owe me at least fifty, sixty grand now!”

I regretted not learning more self-defense from Master Daniel. I had assumed I’d rarely deal with hostile people, but now I saw how wrong I’d been.

I could feel the currents of air shifting around me — the time for the spirit guiding ritual had come.

With no choice, I stopped, knelt respectfully, and bowed to the ground. From my sack, I took out spirit money and cast it into the air.

The paper drifted upward, transforming into golden light before vanishing.

Ryan and the others watched, laughing so hard they could barely stand.

They even pulled out their phones to film.

I didn’t care — they wouldn’t capture anything on camera. Even if they did, it would just look like empty darkness.

I continued leading the way, scattering more spirit money as we went.

Seeing they’d stopped causing trouble, I felt my tension ease.

But after we turned down a few narrow paths, Ryan called for a stop. He and the others said they’d found the perfect spot to set up camp for the night.

My chest tightened.

This area was too low-lying — a place where dark energy pooled. Staying here for long would be dangerous, and I doubted I could handle it alone.

I spoke carefully.

“This spot is low ground. We should find somewhere else.”

Ryan cracked the branch against me again.

“Shut up.”

The blow made me flinch, and I stumbled to the ground.

The spirit money scattered once more.

Ignoring me, they busied themselves setting up their livestream equipment.

Bright lights flared, forcing me to close my eyes.

When I opened them again, I saw the dark energy already drifting toward them, the veil creeping closer.

The forest around us was illuminated, revealing several shadowy pits in the ground. Under the cover of leaves, they looked especially ominous.

The burning pain in my back was a constant reminder of their cruelty toward me.

For a moment, I thought, Let them face the consequences themselves.

But I was a practitioner. Letting someone die when I could prevent it would damage my spiritual merit — and Master Daniel would never forgive that.

So I forced myself to try again.

“This place is dangerous. Please, let’s move somewhere else.”

Ryan’s hands stilled. He frowned and slowly stepped toward me.

“Are you itching for another beating?”

I had no choice but to reveal part of the truth.

“I’m a practitioner. I can see things… and this place is truly dangerous.”

Jake Miller burst into loud laughter.

“This woman must be crazy! She’s been acting weird all night — probably escaped from a psych ward.”

Emily Carter clapped her hands mockingly.

“Yeah, maybe that ‘Guide 001’ badge she has is actually a patient number!”

With that, the four of them exchanged looks and began closing in on me, their expressions turning sinister.

I swallowed hard, backing away step by step.

“What are you doing? Don’t do anything stupid. I really am a practitioner!”

“You don’t listen to me, and you’ll get yourselves killed!”

Emily Carter frowned in irritation, then suddenly grabbed a fistful of my hair and slapped me hard across the face.

“Chatter, chatter — you’re so damn noisy!”

Ryan Brooks shot a look at Jake Miller.

Jake reached into his pack and pulled out a length of rope.

They were actually going to tie me up.

I pleaded with them to let me go, but the more I begged, the more they laughed.

Ryan stared straight at me.

“You’re a lunatic running around endangering society. I’m doing a good deed here — tying you up until we’re done streaming, then I’ll send you right back to the psych ward!”

They kept advancing. I backed away until there was nowhere left to go.

The four of them surrounded me, trying to grab hold.

I wasn’t about to wait for it to happen — I kicked Jake hard in the leg and bolted forward.

Ryan caught my hair, yanking me back and slamming me to the ground.

My chin struck the earth, splitting open; blood covered my face.

Dazed and reeling, I lost all strength to resist.

They tied me to a tree and stuffed a foul-smelling sock into my mouth.

“Sit tight. If you ruin our stream again, we’ll toss you off the cliff!”

They started their broadcast, carefully angling the professional camera to avoid me, showing off the surrounding forest.

“See? We told you we’d make it deep into the wilderness. Look at this — awesome, right?”

The two women called out for donations, their voices full of fake excitement.

They were having fun — but I was panicking like an ant on a hot griddle.

I could already see two masses of black mist drifting toward them, the dark energy swirling so thickly it curled the leaves of nearby trees.

The spirits I was meant to guide tonight had arrived.

Jake rubbed his arms and shivered.

“Why is it suddenly so cold?”

The two women pulled their jackets tighter.

Ryan was still engrossed in his livestream, not paying attention.

The black mist lingered around their feet, slowly climbing to their knees.

Ryan finally seemed to feel the chill.

Still, the four of them kept their eyes on the camera, chatting with viewers.

Then, without warning, the two women screamed and clung to each other.

I widened my eyes as they dropped the camera to the ground.

All four began packing up their gear in a panic, bumping into each other in their haste.

I strained against the gag, forcing out muffled sounds to get their attention so they’d untie me.

Jake, dizzy with fear, glanced my way — and his expression lit up like he’d just seen salvation.

He scrambled over, untying me and yanking the disgusting sock from my mouth.

“You said you’re a practitioner. Please, save us!”

His grip on my wrist was desperate, eyes filled with hope.

I didn’t understand the sudden change in attitude — it was jarring.

Ryan noticed Jake freeing me and strode over quickly.

“What the hell are you doing wasting time on this nutcase? We need to get off this mountain!”

The women’s faces were pale as paper. They kept urging Ryan and Jake to hurry.

But Jake still held onto me tightly, turning to Ryan.

“Last resort — she knows the way down.”

From their frantic, fragmented talk, I pieced it together.

During the stream, viewers had been flooding the comments saying there was someone standing behind them. And in the footage, they themselves had seen a faint, shadowy figure.

Glancing at the black mist swirling around them, I understood.

After all, my task tonight was to guide these spirits to the underworld and send them to their next life.

I quickly found my sack and pulled out handfuls of spirit money, scattering them into the air.