Chapter 59: I’ve Got a Sack Full of Those Things.

“This is just the first day. I expect there’ll be plenty more to come,” Li Yanchu said.

“My eyes are going blurry after just this one day. Are you sure this method is really going to work?” Bai Hongtu rubbed his eyes.

“First, we spread the word across the entire city. Let the people know about the dangers of blood money to keep more of them from falling victim. After that, we wait and see what happens,” Li Yanchu replied in a low voice.

“You mean...” Bai Hongtu furrowed his brow. “You’re hoping to see if whatever’s behind this blood money will make a move?”

“Exactly.” Li Yanchu nodded. “As long as the thing behind it doesn’t slip up, there’s really nothing we can do about it. We can’t spend the rest of our lives checking every coin to see if it’s stained with blood.”

“Alright. But if I ever find out what’s behind this blood money, I swear I’ll skewer it with a flying sword,” Bai Hongtu said through gritted teeth.

“To use such an indirect method to take lives... Whatever’s behind this either isn’t strong enough yet, or it’s restricted somehow, unable to kill directly,” Li Yanchu reasoned.

“Good point.” Bai Hongtu’s eyes lit up.

Glancing down at the blood money on the ground, Bai Hongtu frowned in frustration. “What are we supposed to do with this stuff? We can’t carry it around forever.”

Although it had been officially accepted as evidence by the

yamen

, it was still an ominous item, and worth only a little over three hundred coins. In the end, the yamen had simply let Li Yanchu and Bai Hongtu take it back with them.

“I’ve got a way,” Li Yanchu said with a light chuckle. “Since we can’t use this blood money to trace the thing behind it, I figured we might as well find a way to cleanse the bloodstains.”

“What kind of method?” Bai Hongtu asked suspiciously. “You’re not going to just wash it with water, are you?”

“...” Li Yanchu’s smile froze, and he shook his head helplessly.

“You sure can imagine things. Of course not.” He pulled out a plain yellow talisman from his robes and smiled. “With this kind of talisman, I can cleanse the bloodstains from the coins.”

As he spoke, he placed the yellow talisman on top of one of the coins. A faint sizzling sound followed, and the talisman began to heat up. When he removed the talisman, the blood money had already returned to its normal appearance.

“This is just a regular yellow talisman, and it can cleanse the bloodstains?” Bai Hongtu was momentarily stunned.

“I’ve tested it, and one yellow talisman can cleanse the bloodstains from three copper coins. After that, it burns up and turns to ash,” Li Yanchu said with a smile.

“But with this many coins, you’d need over a hundred talismans. Where are we supposed to get that many on short notice?” Bai Hongtu frowned.

He glanced at Li Yanchu and waved his hand. “Don’t look at me. I’m slow at drawing talismans, and my techniques are more attack-oriented. I doubt they can dispel evil like these yellow talismans can.”

Li Yanchu chuckled, then bent down and dragged a burlap sack out from under the bed. When he opened it, the mouth of the sack revealed a full bag of yellow talismans.

“This is... Holy crap, where’d you get so many!?” Bai Hongtu exclaimed in surprise.

Li Yanchu laughed lightly. “I drew them myself. I practice talisman drawing whenever I have spare time. Over time, I’ve stockpiled this many.”

“.....” Bai Hongtu looked at Li Yanchu with admiration.

These yellow talismans contained very little spiritual power, so they were far too weak to handle real malevolent forces. Bai Hongtu, who wielded Flying Sword Techniques, usually paid no attention to such ordinary talismans.

But sheer quantity had its own kind of power. And for this particular situation, these talismans could play a crucial role. Li Yanchu had discovered that using a talisman to dispel the resentment from blood money earned him one merit point per coin. So once he finished purifying all the blood money they had gathered that day, he gained over three hundred merit points.

After Bai Hongtu left, Li Yanchu took out a Five-Lightning Talisman that he had previously enhanced. He had two of these in total. One had already been used once to kill the long-haired female ghost in the Feng residence. The other one he had enhanced after invoking a Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman.

Now, Li Yanchu wanted to test whether the Five-Lightning Talisman could be enhanced a second time.

“Decree of Bestowal!” Li Yanchu imitated the voice of the Great Dao echoing in his mind.

But this time, the familiar tide of the Dao did not come, and the Five-Lightning Talisman remained unchanged.

“It doesn’t work?” Li Yanchu frowned slightly.

Was it because he didn’t have enough merit? Or was it simply impossible to enhance the talisman a second time?

Li Yanchu shook his head and chose not to dwell on the issue.

***

After nightfall, Li Yanchu burned incense and bathed, once again preparing for his primordial spirit to leave his body. This time, as his spirit exited his physical form, he brought along three spiritual talismans.

The Five-Lightning Spell was the embodiment of pure yang qi between Heaven and Earth, and as threads of that blazing yang aura seeped into his soul, Li Yanchu felt enveloped in warmth. Not only did the Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman shield his spirit, the Five-Lightning Talisman also served as a guardian.

He was planning to roam Wei City by night, hoping to uncover the force behind the blood money. Passing through walls and rooms with ease, he soon arrived at the main street.

The scene was still bleak and desolate. After nightfall, Wei City had an eerie, hushed stillness about it. This sense of unease had only deepened since news of the blood money began to spread, casting a more sinister pall over the city.

But in his current state, Li Yanchu’s spirit felt like a blazing sun cloaked in thunder and fire. There was no feeling of dread, nor was there any fear.

The qi of pure yang thunder from the Five-Lightning Talisman constantly influenced him, imbuing his spirit with righteous intent. According to

The Yellow Court Classic

, the Five-Lightning Spell is the purest yang force of Heaven and Earth, and it was supremely righteous and incorruptible.

When demons, malevolent spirits, or wicked individuals with evil intent were exposed to thunder spells, they instinctively felt fear and were unable to meet the gaze of such divine justice.

Li Yanchu’s spirit wandered through Wei City for a long time, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Recently, the Wei City authorities had increased their manpower, and security was relaxed on the outside, but tight within. Even in some ordinary residential homes,

yamen

officers might be lying in wait.

They were all equipped with powerful crossbows, and if they discovered any suspicious individuals, they didn’t need to report it and would just kill on sight. As a result, even small-time thieves who used to sneak through doors and windows had become rare in Wei City after dark.

Burglary wasn’t a capital crime in itself, but if someone got caught during the current government lockdown, they were likely to be shot on the spot. Thus, it was not worth the risk.

Suddenly, a

clang

of a gong rang out by Li Yanchu’s ear.

An Underworld ghost official

, Li Yanchu thought, his heart stirred.

He immediately followed the sound in pursuit. Normally, Underworld ghost officials were supposed to strictly maintain the local yin-yang order. With blood money appearing in Wei City, draining the three souls and seven spirits of the living, the local Underworld shouldn’t be unaware of such a thing.

No matter what, I have to question a ghost official this time

. Li Yanchu’s spirit moved quickly toward the source.

Before long, he saw an official dressed in garb unlike that of the Kingdom of Qian’s, holding a copper gong in one hand. Behind him trailed a group of pale-faced, lifeless-eyed departed souls. With a quick glance, Li Yanchu spotted a well-dressed young nobleman’s ghost with blood still matted in his hair.

That looks like the second young master of the Xu family, who died from a fall off a horse

, Li Yanchu thought. The ghost seemed familiar to him.

The lead official took notice of Li Yanchu and greeted him with a respectful nod. “Ah, it’s the Daoist friend. We meet again.”

Li Yanchu recognized the official. It was Jiang Tong, the one he’d encountered the other day.