Chapter 8：North Cascades

Finhas' words terrified me. I said, "But we succeeded, didn't we? Why is my family still damned?"

He snorted, 'Didn't that old fool explain it to you clearly? You thought destroying the sorcerer's magic power for ten years would be enough? Even killing him wouldn't work, because the sorcery had already been cast."

I was shocked. I said, 'What's going on? Are you guys messing with me?

I really didn't expect this outcome. I made a deal with Ana's guru: I would raise his daughter for ten years and he would save my family. But Finhas still said that my family might not be able to come back to life!

"You are so naive, thinking that if the old fool succeeds, your family will come back to life? If sorcery could be broken so easily, who would still practice it?"

Finhas mocked me. I was filled with anger and said, "What the hell do you guys want then?

Finhas shrugged his shoulders and said, "Everything that needs to be done is in the letter. Just do as I say. Whether you can save your family depends on you."

What he meant was that they couldn't help me?

I felt more and more like I'd been tricked. It seemed that Ana's guru and Finhas were both doing something for the urn, and I was just a pawn.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Finhas had abandoned me and went to light incense again.

I grit my teeth and go downstairs. There is a landline on the first floor. My phone has long since run out of battery and there is no way to charge it. Now I have to use the landline to make a phone call.

Luckily, I had written down Ana's phone number just in case, so I quickly use the landline to call Ana.

It takes a while before she answers. She speaks first: "Ryon, are you okay? What's the situation now?"

I say I'm fine, but I don't trust your guru or Finhas. How is it going on your end?

Ana sounded a little surprised. "My guru went into Nidam's house, and I've been waiting outside. I could hear strange noises coming from inside, like a building being demolished. I snuck in to take a look a while ago, and the coffin you mentioned has already broken open, and there are many broken urns on the floor, which should be my guru's. But there's no one inside anymore, my guru is gone."

Ana's guru really went to fight the sorcerer? I was relieved. At least he didn't lie to me about that.

I looked upstairs and whispered, "Forget about him for now. You said that your guru tried to harm you back then? Finhas spent the whole day looking at that urn and ignored me completely. I think he and your guru are up to something."

Ana was taken aback, but she didn't know what the plot was either. She could only urge me to be careful and to run if things got really bad.

That was all there was to it. I was now the fish on the chopping board, with the initiative in someone else's hands.

We hung up, and I felt more and more uneasy. At that moment, Finhas came downstairs, frowning and staring at me: "Were you on the phone?"

I hurriedly said no. He snorted and said directly, "You are going to go and do your job tomorrow. This is the way to save your family. If you don't go, you'll just die."

Now I won't just do as I'm told. Both he and Ana's guru are too weird. I calmly said, "I won't do what you say until things are made clear. If it comes to the worst, we can part ways. I'm sure the urn needs me, right?"

I stared at him intently to see his reaction. Sure enough, his expression changed, and then he angrily shouted, "You're threatening me? Old Goyo and I have been kind enough to save you, and you don't trust us?"

Old Goyo must be Ana's guru, and he keeps calling old fool.

I looked calm and said that I just wanted to know what you were doing, that was my only request. I needed to know if my family could be saved.

Finhas' face took on a menacing expression, and then he cursed, "You're quite stubborn, kid. Let me tell you this: that sorcerer wanted to turn you into a ghost. Your loved ones' role was equivalent to a sacrifice. Now your family's spirits have been summoned back, and they're on top of the tomb nail. Whether they can return to their bodies depends on you."

I frowned and said, "Really?" He said, "Really." I asked again, "What about the tomb spike?" He shrugged, "Put it in the urn, otherwise the spirits of your family will dissipate. Now do you understand? The urn is a treasure that you should cherish."

I was about to believe him, but the last thing he said went back to the urn. I felt a chill in my heart, and after all that talking, he still wanted me to accept the urn from the bottom of my heart.

I remained silent and skeptical. Finhas gave me a look and a sigh, then he pulled out the crumpled letter.

I was a little puzzled. He came over with the letter, but it again blocked most of the words, only a small part was visible to me: "You see for yourself, old Goyo has written it all down."

The handwriting was a bit messy, but I could still make out the words: Gwenny will keep his family's spirits safe, and she will tell him what to do so that his family can be saved...

I wanted to read more, but Finhas already took it back: "See? It's clear what's going on. We are indeed helping you, so stop complaining."

I said, "Who is Gwenny?" Finhas's face twitched slightly, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "She's old Goyo's daughter, Gwenny."

I said, 'Where is she? Is she a person or a ghost?"

Finhas waved impatiently, 'That's enough. We're helping you and you're still complaining. Tomorrow you'll go to the North Cascades with my apprentice. We can't waste any more time."

I said, "What's the point of going to the North Cascades?" Finhas said, "To find something, something that will be useful to me."

I asked what it was. Finhas scratched his head, "Fuck, can you trust me for once? You'll find out when you get there. What if you let slip by accident? Watch out for eavesdroppers!"

He glanced at the outer wall and said, "Look at the evil spirits sitting on the wall, staring at this place all day. There are a lot of bad people and a lot of evil spirits."

After that, he ignored me and just told me to get some rest, because tomorrow we had real work to do.

I looked at the wall and saw no one sitting there.

I didn't sleep very well that night, still too worried about my family and also worried that Ana's guru and Finhas were taking advantage of me.

I slept until the early morning, and when I woke up, Finhas woke me up. I saw that he was carrying a basket, which contained a lot of dried food and, of course, the urn.

I glanced at it twice, and then he gave it to me: "This is your luggage. This trip is long and dangerous, and I don't care if you starve or get thirsty, or encounter something dirty. In any case, you must not lose the urn, remember that."

I nodded and said I would remember, and he told me to carry the basket properly before leading me out of the house.

He even had an Audi, and drove me away from here.

I didn't know where I was going, and although I was very sleepy, I dared not sleep. I just kept staring outside. After a while, the car stopped. This was still the Lingshui County area, but it was considered the outermost area. There were high mountains nearby, and there was no sign of people.

There was no road in front of us either. Finhas told me to get out of the car and led me further ahead.

After walking for about half an hour, we arrived in a small jungle, where there was a small stream and a thatched hut next to it.

When I arrived here, I could smell the strong smell of herbs again, but it wasn't herbs. When I went over to take a look, there were stone plates outside the thatched hut, the kind used for grinding soybeans, but smaller ones.

In addition, there were also many bottles and jars placed nearby, basically made of ceramics, and of course there were also many pestles and medicine rods, so it was clear that people often pounded medicine here.

What kind of place is this? I was full of doubts. Finhas shouted into the house, "Quimya, are you up yet?"

As he finished speaking, a young girl of eighteen or nineteen ran out, her long hair falling in disarray, her face pale and tender, and she smiled at Finhas, saying, 'guru."

I was a little dazed, and a word came to mind: 'She's a knockout."

This was indeed a knockout girl, without a trace of vulgarity.

I was surprised to feel better, and the girl had already run over, looking at me with confusion. Finhas pointed at me and said, "This brat is going to the North Cascades, and you're going with him. Where's your senior?" I need to tell him something."

As soon as he finished speaking, a man about my age came out from behind the thatched hut. The man had a gloomy face, and he called out dryly, "Guru," without looking at me.

Finhas opened his mouth and scolded him for being rude. He didn't care: "I'm just getting paid to help you make medicine, and you really think you're a guru?"

Finhas's face turned red, and I secretly felt good inside. Good, good scolding. But what's the situation of getting paid to make medicine?

The three of them then went inside and whispered for a while, and Finhas came out quickly. He just walked straight away, and as I watched him, he pointed at my basket and said, "Remember, you mustn't throw away the urn, or you'll deserve to die!"

I nodded, and he clapped his hands and left. The young girl came over enthusiastically and spoke to me, "What's your name? I'm Quimya, I'm at university. You look young, are you also at university?"

Huh? I was confused for a moment and smiled apologetically, "My name is Ryon, I've already graduated, and you...what are you doing here?"

While we were talking, her senior also walked over. I smiled at him to show my goodwill, but his face remained gloomy: "Where did all that nonsense come from? Hurry up and go to North Cascades to take care of business, it's annoying."