Ning Caichen, a scholar, naturally had no backbone when facing Lin Yueru. Just seeing that shiny sword made him nearly wet his pants. Fortunately, Zhao Ling'er couldn't bear it and held Lin Yueru back; otherwise, who knows what Lin Yueru would have done to him.
It wouldn't have been impossible for him to be tied up and whipped.
Ning Caichen was also sent here to collect debts. But unfortunately, the people here didn't have any money to give him. As they had told Fang Zheng earlier, all their money was given to those "wise men" to exorcise yokai. And with their unstable lives, how could they bother with a poor scholar?
But Ning Caichen was also stubborn; he wouldn't go home without receiving payment. So when people got fed up, they simply said, "The one with the money is up in the mountain, if you've got the guts, go ask him!" (Although this was also a fact, given they all died on the mountain.)
So this stubborn fellow really went up the mountain.
