Ladies, never hike up a mountain on your own!

During a holiday, I've received a request for help from an Internet user. Apparently, a young woman has gone missing after she's gone on a mountain hike.

A quick session of divination tells me that the woman is already dead. To make things worse, her corpse is stuck at the moment.

Having taken on the request made by the woman's parents, I enter the mountain and start looking for her.

In the end, I'm able to locate her body in a cave. Not only is her belly swollen with pregnancy, but… but her belly is also moving due to fetal activity.

What's scarier is that there's something even more terrifying being hidden beneath her corpse…

Headlines of a missing young woman dominated the news. She had chosen to go hiking in the mountains to avoid the holiday crowds.

Her family members looked haggard as they cried their hearts out in front of the cameras, praying to anyone and everyone to give them a clue of her whereabouts.

The search and rescue team scoured the mountains for days, but they couldn't find the woman.

She had ventured into the mountains alone. She had been missing for a week, and there were wild beasts prowling around the forest.

Unless there was a miracle, it was likely that tragedy had befallen her.

…

I noticed that I had lots of notifications when I logged into my social media account.

Everyone had tagged me, asking me to locate the woman's whereabouts.

I was slightly stunned as I stared at the sprawling mountain range in the video. I then did a quick divination to determine the woman's location.

Unfortunately, she had already departed from this world as I'd expected, but I was still able to locate her body.

"Venture into the valley in the mountains. Look for a place with water and rocks where the light doesn't reach."

My reply was immediately pinned to the top of the comments section. The netizens then began to tag the woman's parents, urging them to take a look.

I had just wrapped up a big case. I hadn't slept in days and was struggling to keep my eyes open.

I placed my phone down and immediately fell asleep.

I slept for two days before I was jolted awake by the sound of my phone ringing.

"Ms. Clearwind, we searched the area according to your instructions and found my daughter's backpack in a cave."

After using a few seconds to clear the haze of sleep from my mind, I finally realized that the person on the other end of the line was the woman's father.

Their current location was near the place I had described. The woman was definitely inside the cave, so they should be able to locate her body.

However, I had a feeling that the situation couldn't be that simple since they had decided to seek me out.

My voice was still thick with sleep when I asked, "Did you find her? She should be inside the cave."

The man on the other line fell silent for a few moments. He probably didn't expect the famous shaman, Clearwind, to be a young woman.

He quickly regained his composure. He sounded devastated and exhausted when he answered, "There's a deep pit inside the cave. There's the smell of rotting corpses coming from it. They told me that Soleil's body was in the pit.

"But the pit is too deep and dark. We couldn't find her even after searching for two days. The shaman told us that she's been trapped in the pit. Can you please help us?"

It wasn't surprising that there were strange creatures lurking in the old forests in the mountains.

I rubbed my puffy eyes before doing another divination. As expected, something was trapping the woman, Soleil Barton, in the pit. Not only that, but whatever that something was, it was going to be troublesome to deal with.

If it refused to let go of Soleil, they wouldn't be able to retrieve Soleil's body no matter how many people they sent into the pit.

I had planned to take a break for the next few days, but it seemed that I would have to start working again.

I asked Soleil's father, Ashton Barton, for some information about her. He sent it to me almost immediately after he hung up.

I frowned as I scrolled through the information on the screen.

Soleil Barton was born on July 15th. Unfortunately, she was born under an unlucky star. As a result, she was fated to attract evil spirits. It was also why her parents named her "Soleil", hoping to ward off these spirits.

Soleil would have led a safe and peaceful life if she had stayed in bright places with positive energy. But if she strayed to places like cemeteries, mountains, cliffs, and bodies of water, she would become an easy target for malicious spirits.

In fact, I noticed that Soleil had been accosted by evil spirits multiple times as she was growing up, but she had been lucky enough to escape with her life each time.

She was haunted by a spirit when her parents took her to a funeral when she was only a few months old.

She nearly lost her life to a drowned spirit when she was playing near some water when she was five years old.

When she was ten years old, she ran off to play in a cemetery and was trapped there for three days. She had been teetering between life and death when her parents finally found her.

Ashton told me that my divination was accurate when I sent my results to him. He also told me that Soleil only managed to slip through the clutches of death so many times because there had been a powerful shaman in their village.

They enjoyed an extended period of peace after they moved to the city, but they didn't expect Soleil to suddenly develop a taste for adventure after she grew up.

Soleil was extremely brave. She often made plans with her friends to go bungee jumping and hiking. They also frequented abandoned buildings with rumors of paranormal activity.

At first, Soleil hadn't planned to go hiking through the mountains herself. However, her friends already had other plans for the holidays. On top of that, the mountains were too far away.

It was why Soleil had ventured into the mountains alone. She had even lied to her parents because she was worried that they would stop her.

When her parents realized that she wasn't with her friends and had gone missing, they swiftly contacted the police and began searching for her.

They had no idea that they would receive such terrible news.

"We just want to get Soleil back since the situation has already turned out like this," Ashton said.

"Alright. I'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon," I replied.

Ashton thanked me profusely when he realized that I was willing to help them out. He then told me that he would send me the exact address later.

I lowered my gaze as I typed, "No need. I know where it is."

In fact, not only did I know where the mountains were, but I was also quite familiar with the location.

I never thought I would return to that place again, but the world was a small place.

I took a late-night flight to the town where Soleil had gone missing. I would still need to be on the road for about half a day before I reached the mountains.

I arrived at the foot of the mountains at 12:00 pm.

It was a wonder that Soleil had managed to find such a remote place to go hiking.

There was a tent set up near the foot of the mountains.

A man and a woman hurried toward me when they spotted me and politely shook hands with me.

The search and rescue team had given up. Only Soleil's parents, Charlotte Clark and Ashton, were still determined to find her and bring her home.

The man who'd come out to greet me was Ashton. He had cut a piece of Charlotte's clothes as I instructed.

"Thank you so much for your help, Ms. Clearwind. We'll definitely pay you handsomely if you can bring Soleil back to us."

I didn't care too much about the compensation. I just wanted to do the right thing.

I tucked the piece of cloth away, avoiding Charlotte's eyes that were brimming with sorrow.

I knew that Charlotte was in an emotionally precarious state after wallowing in despair for so many days, so I asked Ashton to accompany me into the mountains.

At first, Ashton led the way. However, after a few moments, I silently took the lead and led him down a shortcut.

I knew the way, but I couldn't carry Soleil's corpse, so I needed Ashton to do the heavy lifting.

I glanced at the dark shadows around us before pulling out a few talismans and attaching them to the trees, preemptively preventing the spirits from causing any trouble.

The evil spirits in the forests had been multiplying in the last few years.

I was born with enhanced vision, so I could see things that other people couldn't. Not wanting to scare Ashton, I refrained from telling him that.

"Why are you so familiar with this place, Ms. Clearwind?" Ashton asked curiously.

I looked at the sun-dappled flowers and answered lightly, "I've been here before."

"No wonder you're more familiar with the paths than me," Ashton said with a smile. "We can save a lot of time with this route."

I smiled but didn't continue the conversation, not wanting to reminisce about the past.

This place was called Mt. Ghost Maiden. The entire mountain range looked like a coiled dragon with a valley in the center. Water flowed down from the higher areas and pooled in the lowest point of the valley, creating a shallow lake with pebbled shores.

The scenery was quite beautiful, but it was also a place where evil spirits loved to gather.

According to geomancy, an area like this would be considered a land of abundance, making it the perfect place for one to bury the deceased to bless their descendants.

It was why there was a rather large cemetery in the valley.

We headed toward the cave, which was tucked away in a secluded corner below the lake.

"We never would have found this place without your guidance, Ms. Clearwind," Ashton said gratefully.

He then stepped forward, wanting to take the lead again before I stopped him.

"No need. You can just wait here. All you need to do is carry your daughter later."

Ashton looked like he had more to say upon hearing my words. Finally, he mumbled, "Truth be told, when the search and rescue team found this place, they also found a lot of bones that belonged to children.

"They already got rid of them because they were worried that the mountains' reputation would be affected. They also forbade us from telling anyone else.

"It's so horrible. I heard that the villagers who lived nearby would abandon their baby daughters. How could they do such a cruel thing…"

Ashton let the rest of his sentence trail off, but I could tell that he wanted to ask me if the tragedy that befell Soleil was related to the abandoned babies.

I subconsciously tightened my grip on my backpack as I thought about the past. I said, "There used to be a tower here that suppressed the spirits of the abandoned babies. Someone destroyed it. But I don't think those children are responsible for what happened to your daughter. Wait here."

Ashton nodded. He then sat down on a nearby rock, his expression a mix of despair and anticipation.

The cave was located in the lowest point of the valley, which was also where the negative energy was the strongest. Not only were there tombs everywhere, but there were also countless baby spirits.

Evil spirits loved gathering in a place like this.

Countless evil spirits had surrounded me the moment I stepped foot into the mountains, acting as if they were welcoming me home. They led the way after I entered the cave and stopped in front of the pitch-black pit.

I retrieved a roll of rope from my backpack and secured one end to a rock before descending into the pit.

Another benefit of having enhanced vision was that I could see even in the darkest of places.

The pit was deep, but my rope was the perfect length. There were lots of rocks and flowing water.

Following the scent of rotting corpses, I eventually came upon a pile of bricks.

It was what was left of the tower that was meant to suppress the spirits of the abandoned babies.

The search and rescue team had only seen the skeletons on the outside. They had no idea that there were countless baby spirits in the pit. The villagers had abandoned all their unwanted baby daughters there over the last few years.

Not wanting the abandoned babies to take revenge on them, they built a small tower and carved runes all over it to suppress the spirits. However, the villagers' fear of vengeance also prevented the innocent babies from being reborn.

The tower lost its power after it was destroyed, so it was nothing more than a pile of broken bricks now.

No one could see the babies' spirits traversing gleefully all over the mountains, playing pranks on everyone who stepped foot into the area.

I kneeled down next to the broken tower and asked, "Can you let me take Soleil home?"

The babies' spirits giggled eerily as they floated around me in a circle.

I knew what they were trying to tell me. "No, Mommy will get angry."

They were more willing to listen to their "Mommy" than me.

I let out a regretful sigh and pulled out my blessed sword that was carved from a tree that was struck by lightning.

"You leave me with no other choice then," I said.

The babies' spirits scattered, not daring to get in my way. Instead, they stuck their tongues out at me from afar.

After all, I used to be their leader, which also meant that I still intimidated them.

Since they weren't willing to disclose Soleil's location to me, I would simply have to look for her myself.

I searched through the entire pit, but I couldn't find Soleil's body anywhere.

I sighed as I stood outside the tomb that had a dragon carved on the entrance, not wanting to enter.

"Do we have to do this? He doesn't like it when people enter his home uninvited. Besides, his people are the ones causing trouble. If you come out now, we can still talk about this. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to go inside."

It seemed that I was out of options when the silence stretched on with no reaction from within.

I gritted my teeth and entered the tomb, ignoring the fact that the owner once told me that he would eat me if I dared to return.

However, he should be able to understand why I broke my promise, knowing that I had no choice but to do so. But truth be told, he shouldn't even be aware of my presence, considering the fact that he was no longer there.

I didn't smell the tomb owner's scent even once when I returned this time.

I navigated past the rooms with familiar steps, dawdling until I made it to the main room. I couldn't help the slight twinge of frustration that bubbled in my chest, wondering why Soleil had to hide here of all places.

As expected, I found Soleil lying in the casket in the main room. Her corpse showed no signs of decomposition, but there was a strong, rotting stench wafting from it.

Her stomach was extremely swollen. Her shirt had ridden up to her chest, exposing her entire belly. The surface of her stomach was covered in green veins, and she looked like she was seconds away from giving birth.

In fact, I could see her stomach moving.

I frowned, feeling fury bubble within me. Still, I suppressed my anger and politely asked, "Are you going to come out by yourself? Or do I have to extend an invitation to you?"

Soleil didn't say a word, but the negative energy in the tomb grew thicker, as if we were in a freezer.

I had obviously angered it.

Still, I tried reasoning with it. "Don't you know that you're crossing the line by lying in someone else's casket? Also, you're not supposed to behave this way. You've been perfectly fine all this time staying here and playing your role as the spirits' mother, no?"

With the existence of a tower to suppress the spirits of deceased babies, there would most certainly be a ghost mother.

A ghost mother who lost her child was a perfect match for abandoned babies, after all. The presence of the babies allowed her to become stronger, while the babies were given a mother.

Unfortunately, the ghost mother had crossed the line by getting a human involved. She was even trying to use Soleil's body to return to the human realm.

I didn't take action immediately. Instead, I pulled out the piece of cloth that belonged to Charlotte and set it aflame along with a talisman.

"She's not an unwanted child. Her parents are waiting for her," I said.

Soleil suddenly bolted up into a sitting position, staring at me with dark eyes.