The Paranormal Streamer Chapter 8

I was curious why she was fine. She said she knew shamanism and had set up a protective array at her door, afraid this might happen someday.

"So, young man, after eating, I'll heal your leg, then you leave immediately. Go as far as possible. Never come back here."

I immediately decided.

"Ma'am, I'm not ungrateful. You saved me. I can't just leave you. I'll help you! Or let's leave together."

The woman was reluctant. After all, she'd lived here all her life. How could she just leave? Seeing she couldn't change my mind, she agreed to let me stay. I recorded recent events on my phone, then turned it off to save battery.

The woman and I began discussing strategy.

"Ma'am, that general is so powerful. How can we deal with him?"

She frowned: "There is a way. We need to find the legendary Eight Trigrams Banner used in ancient battles. With this banner, we can activate the Eight Trigrams Formation and definitely destroy that general, never letting him reincarnate."

Sounded good to me: "Then let's hurry and find it, eliminate that bastard."

She shook her head: "It's not that simple. We need a destined person to find it. Even if found, only a destined person can activate it."

I got anxious: "Either way, we should search first. Better than staying here. Maybe I'm that destined person."

The woman's eyes lit up: "Right! Why didn't I think of that? Now the villagers can be saved!"

My words ignited hope in her heart. Next she told me why the Eight Trigrams Banner had such great power.

Legend said the ancient leader and his enemy fought for many years, but couldn't defeat him. Made the leader so worried he couldn't eat. One day, he suddenly remembered a battle where his enemy pretended to retreat, and he led troops into a confusion array, getting dizzy. This gave him an idea to defeat his enemy. From then on, the leader publicly claimed he'd fight someone else instead, not his enemy anymore. So he secretly trained his soldiers in the Eight Trigrams Formation every day. His enemy respected this formation too.

Legend said whoever got the banner would rule the land, but later it was lost. Supposedly lost in this area. Nobody knew where. So the Eight Trigrams Banner plus her lifelong shamanism might have some hope.

I asked curiously, "So what's our first step?"

The woman led me downstairs. Going down felt cold and drafty. She brought me to a chair, like an old throne but worn. She told me to sit. I obediently sat down. She came over with a bowl of blood-red liquid.

She smiled: "Young man, drink this. I just killed a chicken for you. While the chicken blood is still fresh, drink it down quickly."

I looked at her doubtfully: "Ma'am, can I drink this? Shouldn't we cook it first? Won't I drop dead drinking it raw?"

She got upset: "Young man, you don't understand. You think this is ordinary rooster blood? This is from a rooster I raised for ten years. I killed it today to remove your poison. Rooster is the antidote for snake venom. Drinking its blood will replenish your yang energy and heal your leg. It's all beneficial."

Without more talk, she made me chug it down. I'd never drunk anything so disgusting in my life. Almost threw up on the spot. I saw the wound on my foot heating up, my body warming. Suddenly sleepiness hit me. I fell asleep immediately.

When the sun was setting, I woke up. I discovered my wounds had completely healed. Seemed fully recovered. The house didn't feel as cold as before. Looking for the woman, she wasn't there. The door was open. Had she gone out?

It was getting dark. Worried about her, I wanted to go find her. Just then she returned. Seeing me awake, she smiled: "Young man, you're up. Try these wild fruits I picked. They taste good."

Taking the fruit, I saw her hands covered in wounds. Were these from picking fruit? I felt so guilty.

She knew what I was thinking, just smiled and said these were minor scratches from gathering fruit. No big problem. But I still felt bad. If I got the chance, I'd repay her properly.

I was about to ask why I healed so fast when she told me I might be a descendant of the ancient leader, with a special constitution. Normal people would take days to heal—I did it in one day.

Hearing I was a descendant excited me so much. But then again, what if I wasn't? Wouldn't that be seeking death?

But there was no other way. I couldn't just watch villagers become puppets. No time to waste. We immediately set out. After dinner, taking several days' provisions, we went to search for that Eight Trigrams Banner.

On the way, I saw the woman carrying a large hemp sack with something inside. Curiously I asked what it was. She mysteriously said I'd find out later.

We kept traveling, going deeper into the village. I just followed behind her. Not far along, we started climbing mountains. The path was steep, not dirt but hard stone. One wrong step meant certain death.

We carefully climbed. Though slow, safety was most important. When we reached the top, a temple appeared before us. Looked dusty—nobody had been here in ages. Inside was a faded ceramic statue.

Though I didn't know whose image it was, I felt it had dignity. Then the woman knelt down. I was curious why. She gestured for me to kneel too. I knelt beside her. I heard her speaking a language I didn't understand. What was she saying? Encrypted communication?

Then she pulled items from the sack that I didn't recognize. Some looked familiar though—I'd watched enough supernatural movies to recognize some ritual objects.

After entering the mountains with the woman, I'd learned demon-catching techniques. Not bragging, but now if I visited dangerous places, I could easily handle those little things.

Even the woman wasn't my match anymore. Our urgent task now was finding that general. He'd been out a while but should be recuperating. The woman said if I struck him hard while he was absorbing spiritual energy, he'd be destroyed completely.

"No time to waste. We only have ten days. Pack up and let's go. If we miss this chance, there probably won't be another one."

I felt enormous pressure. On the way, the woman said: "Really don't know how that general broke the seal. It was sealed so well—why did he escape? Could someone else be involved?"

I suddenly remembered the cave I'd been in earlier with that hole. Could it be a tomb robber's tunnel? Must have been grave robbers who accidentally broke the seal while taking treasures. I told the woman everything that happened in the cave.

She was shocked: "Then the truth is clear. Someone broke the seal."