Chapter 62: Demon Vanquished, Mystery Deepens

Li Yanchu raised his golden mace and struck down the false City God on the spot. “Enough with the nonsense!”

The chilling qi that had filled the City God Temple was completely dispelled, returning the place to normal.

Then, Li Yanchu’s primordial spirit swiftly returned to his Daoist temple. When his spirit reentered his body, he opened his eyes. Even after the battle, he was still full of vigor and energy.

This had been his first true primordial spirit battle. He hadn’t expected that, with just the aid of the Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, he’d be able to completely dominate the fight.

The talisman in his possession had dimmed by a third, mirroring what had happened with the Five-Lightning Talisman previously. His total merit points had now reached 3,810.

Reflecting on the events of the night, Li Yanchu frowned slightly. He had originally assumed the culprit would be some eccentric practitioner skilled in ghost-rearing, or perhaps a demonic monk or sorcerer.

But to his surprise, the enemy had appeared in the guise of Wei City’s City God, and the evil spirits under his command had mimicked judges and ghost officials of the Underworld.

Could he actually be the real City God of this region?

The thought suddenly flashed through Li Yanchu’s mind.

But he quickly shook his head, dismissing it.

Tonight, he had gone to the City God Temple and answered many of his earlier suspicions. Yet now, a new question had emerged. Was what that false City God said about the origin of the blood money true?

“He tried to use me to destroy Lady Qingyi’ statue and tear down her temple... they’re clearly not on the same side. That makes most of what he said highly questionable.”

A contemplative glint appeared in Li Yanchu’s eyes. Yet he didn’t fall into the trap of thinking

“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”,

and so, he did not dismiss his suspicions about Lady Qingyi.

In his view, there was another very real possibility: that Lady Qingyi truly was of the Demonic Dao, and was using the blood money to absorb the three souls and seven spirits of the living.

Was it a case of

dogs biting dogs

between two evils? One demonic being trying to use him to eliminate another?

Li Yanchu sat at the table, deep in thought. The issue of the blood money hadn’t been resolved with the destruction of the false City God, instead it had only become more confusing and murky.

Having fought a primordial-spirit battle tonight and slain the false City God, he gave up his original plan to visit Lady Qingyi’ temple. Her temple was not like the City God Temple; the people of Wei City heavily worshipped her, and her incense offerings were flourishing.

That level of incense-fueled faith created a powerful spiritual field, which could exert immense pressure on the primordial spirit.

Li Yanchu chose not to act recklessly. He had already visited the temple once during the day and used his Qi Sight, but found nothing unusual. He figured that even if there was something wrong with Lady Qingyi, it might not be visible on the surface.

***

The next day...

Li Yanchu and Bai Hongtu resumed inspecting the blood money. Since this operation was organized by the government, the work progressed quickly. By the end of the day, they had found over two hundred more bloodstained coins.

Even Bai Hongtu, a wealthy young master, now found himself going cross-eyed from staring at so many copper coins every day. Since they had to carefully pick out the ones stained with blood, it demanded full concentration.

Head Constable Wang had specially arranged for people to prepare chrysanthemum tea and cassia seed tea for them, as they were herbal drinks known for clearing internal heat and improving eyesight.

The real challenge was that many coins were strung together in bundles of a hundred, so each had to be examined with precision. The two of them were now truly experiencing what it meant to “count money until your hands hurt.”

Li Yanchu, once the sole Daoist of Qingyun Temple, an outsider quietly living among the common people, was now getting a real taste of the notorious nine-to-five grind.

At day’s end, Bai Hongtu sat with a frown, rubbing his eyes and yawning nonstop.

Li Yanchu chuckled and said, “What’s wrong? Counting money till your hands go numb, and you’re

still

not happy?”

Bai Hongtu stared blankly. “I’ve completely lost interest in money.”

Hearing this, Li Yanchu blinked, then smiled. “How about the entertainment district, then? My treat.”

However, Bai Hongtu stood up and left without a word, his expression blank.

Li Yanchu was momentarily stunned.

What’s gotten into him today?

After taking two steps, Bai Hongtu turned his head and asked with a puzzled look, “Come on, what are you standing there for?”

“...” The corner of Li Yanchu’s mouth twitched slightly.

It was dinnertime, and the two silently agreed

not

to go to the Taiping Inn. If the innkeeper found out that Li Yanchu had gone to an entertainment district, she likely wouldn’t be too happy with him.

So instead, they made their way to a small restaurant tucked deep in an alley and enjoyed a hearty meal. The restaurant’s hot pot, especially the thinly sliced meat, was incredibly flavorful. It was the kind of unassuming place that turned out to be a hidden gem.

After eating and drinking their fill, they finally set off for the entertainment district in Wei City.

“You really invited me to the entertainment district tonight out of nowhere. What gives?” Bai Hongtu asked with his cheeks slightly flushed, giving Li Yanchu a curious look.

“I’ve never been to one before,” Li Yanchu replied with a smile. “Thought I’d go take a look.”

Bai Hongtu squinted at him suspiciously. “That’s it? That simple?”

Li Yanchu said slowly, “I want to try my luck. Entertainment districts are known to be places where all sorts of people hide in plain sight, right? I want to see if I can find the paper effigy maker who’s been hiding in Wei City.”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Bai Hongtu burst out laughing. “That’s the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever heard.”

Then, Li Yanchu frowned. “And

your

reason is?”

Bai Hongtu replied with pride, “I enjoy the bustle and warmth of the mortal world.”

Li Yanchu’s eyes lit up, and he nodded. “Good one. I’ll use that next time.”

The two of them chatted and laughed as they walked toward the entertainment district of Wei City. Li Yanchu really

was

curious about the entertainment district, but this time, he truly was going to test his luck.

In the case of the Five Lakes Gang’s silencing, there had been not only a strange expert skilled in ghost-rearing, but also a paper effigy maker. There was, of course, one more figure to consider: a master of the art of disguises and skin-changing, though what role they played in all this remained unclear.

For now, the false City God who reared ghosts and harmed the living had been eliminated, but the paper effigy maker was still missing.

Li Yanchu had already requested Head Constable Wang to lead the city’s officers in a full sweep, targeting every spirit-candle shop, paper effigy workshop, coffin shop, and the like.

But nothing had turned up. Even when Li Yanchu had left his body in spirit form and searched himself, visiting many places including the city’s charity gravehouses and other areas thick with yin qi, he found nothing.

Then, just yesterday, a sudden idea had struck him:

What if the paper effigy maker is a woman, and a beautiful one at that?

He came to this thought because back when Gongsun Chong brought a woman back with him, his personality had changed drastically. So even though the idea felt a bit far-fetched, not at all what one would expect from the usual image of a paper effigy maker, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

And where would there be a large number of women, with the added benefit of being easier to investigate? Naturally, the entertainment district.

Of course, this could also just be the excuse Li Yanchu was telling himself deep down for wanting to visit the entertainment district and listen to some music. Whatever the case, he figured that there was no harm in taking a look.

To get from the restaurant to the entertainment district, they had to pass through several winding, narrow alleys. The two of them, being skilled and confident, showed no signs of fear.

Ordinary people walking this route at night likely wouldn’t dare set foot in these alleys. Since they needed to reach the entertainment district before curfew, they chose a shortcut.

Soon, they entered a particularly deep and narrow lane. Both sides were lined with tall and lush pagoda trees, their canopies stretching over and shading parts of the street. It looked... distinctly eerie.

Among the common folk, pine, cypress, pagoda, elm, and juniper trees were often referred to as the Five Yin Trees. These five types of trees were believed to carry heavy yin qi.

And it was clear from one glance that the pagoda trees lining both sides of this alley were quite old.

Meow

!

A stray cat suddenly let out a sharp, eerie cry and bolted from the alley entrance with its fur standing on end.

Hearing this, Li Yanchu looked up toward the mouth of the alley, which was pitch black. Then, a stranger’s old and raspy voice suddenly came from behind him, “Young man... Do you know the way to Guhe Town?”