Chapter 188 – Sixth Rank Enforcer Woodson, Raking in The Blood Gold - Part 2

Yan Mu hurriedly explained, “It’s not exactly his fault. Everyone at Zhu Qiao’er’s tavern went insane that day, except for him and Zhu Qiao’er.

“Zhu Qiao’er was fine because Elder Zhu had gifted her a protective talisman; that’s easily explained. But Fang Jianlong escaping unscathed? That raised too many eyebrows.

“After some heavy pressure, he couldn’t hide it anymore and blurted out that it might have something to do with a pouch he’d received from the Blood Blade Patriarch. He took it out, opened it up, but all that remained inside was a broken copper plate.

“I acted quickly and told everyone it was a protective charm I’d given you. As for where I originally got it, I said I’d stumbled across it by pure chance in the Central Plains...”

“Everyone’s got their own lucky breaks,” Yan Mu continued. “They wouldn’t really bother investigating where I got mine. So, I vouched that you had absolutely nothing to do with the undying husks, and the matter was dropped.”

Li Yuan closed his eyes in thought, then spoke in a low voice. “I never blocked his chance at fortune, yet this is how he repays me.”

This incident had certainly taught him a lesson. If he was ever going to send people out in the future, especially those affiliated with a sect, he needed to think twice before handing over anything valuable. Unless they were his own hand-picked followers, it was too risky.

Seeing Li Yuan’s mood, Yan Mu quickly poured him a cup of wine. “Uncle, don’t be angry,” he said, worried Li Yuan might kill Fang Jianlong and incur Elder Zhu’s wrath.

Li Yuan took the cup, downed it, and chuckled. “Relax. I don’t intend to take that kid’s life. What he did wasn’t honorable, but he never meant me real harm. He was just afraid of losing a lucky find. That alone isn’t reason enough to execute him.”

Yan Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Then, still curious, he studied Li Yuan’s face, peering so intently he practically counted every pore. Yet he could find no sign that Li Yuan was wearing a disguise.

“I still can’t believe it’s you under that disguise. Those undying husks really do have some amazing tricks under their sleeves.”

Li Yuan smiled. “This isn’t an ordinary disguise. It’s called Yin makeup.”

“Yin makeup?” Yan Mu echoed, puzzled.

“It can change your face, build, even your gender,” Li Yuan explained. “And it also lets you temporarily use the original person’s abilities. If I disguised myself as you, for example, I’d be able to tap into some portion of your power.”

Yan Mu was stunned. “So the undying husks can just swap faces whenever they want? How do we even fight that?”

He didn’t want to imagine how deeply they might have infiltrated their ranks.

Li Yuan added, “It’s not quite that simple. The more powers it grants, the steeper the price. But lately, these undying husks have made a fortune...”

He went on to recount the unsettling details of the ghost street marketplace, what he learned in Spring Breeze, and the many disappearances.

Yan Mu, once he grasped the scope of it all, broke into a cold sweat. Then his anger flared; he clenched his fists and said in a low voice, “Those wretched bastards! Corrupting people for profit, even trafficking them. No punishment could be too severe!”

Li Yuan poured him another cup. “Calm down. The undying husks thrive on dirty money, and that money makes them stronger.”

“They shouldn’t even exist,” Yan Mu spat, then quickly added, “I don’t mean your daughter, of course...”

Li Yuan sighed. “There really are pitiful souls among the undying husks, trapped in the cracks of this world and just struggling to survive. The ghost street marketplace itself was originally...let’s say it had its own kind of balance. Most who stumbled in were people with considerable sin already on their hands, so truth be told, it was no great loss if they disappeared.

“But now, someone’s exploiting it. And that

someone

must be terrifying. I even suspect a ghost fused with a human, because I can’t think of another explanation for such a twisted plan.”

He shared more detailed insights with his nephew, who grew ever more alarmed. Once Li Yuan was done, Yan Mu explained the situation from the martial artists’ side.

Half a month ago, Elder Zhu, Mu Hua, Yuan Zongzi, Shan Baishou, and Yan Mu himself, along with other local figures, had resolved to end things with a decisive strike. They marched straight into Newsun County, widely considered the core of Northriver Prefecture, and killed the prefectural lord there.

Only later did they discover it was a decoy.

A few days after that, they tried again, and again it was an impostor. In the process, they lost several seventh rank martial artists—major figures in the region, all seasoned veterans of the martial world.

On top of that, Mu Hua from the Holy Tree Temple and Shan Baishou from the Mountain Hall both suffered injuries. It was clear the undying husks preferred a strategy of defense and counterattack, assassinating targets of opportunity.

Compared to the martial artists, who preferred powerful strikes that could wipe out large swaths, undying husks lacked raw might but made up for it with bizarre and lethally precise methods. Several seventh rank veterans died in an instant—one moment eating hotpot and singing songs, the next moment gone—without a chance to prepare.

Every time the martial artists tried a direct confrontation, it felt like throwing a heavy punch into cotton.

With no other choice, the martial faction retreated to Eastspring County to plan their next move.

Yan Mu grimaced. “Elder Zhu practically sweeps aside everything in his path across Northriver. Even undying husk attacks tend to dissolve when they hit his shadow blood barrier. But...somehow that hasn’t helped at all.”

“Wait,” Li Yuan said, intrigued. “So undying husk attacks can be neutralized by his shadow blood, like some sort of barrier? How?”

Yan Mu continued, “Elder Zhu doesn’t need to draw on his clan’s ancestral seal. Every drop of his blood naturally carries that seal’s power. Whenever an undying husk attacks him, his blood automatically activates and defends him, neutralizing the threat.”

Li Yuan paused.

A shadow blood barrier? That sounds awfully familiar.

He decided he might as well test his own ability at some point. Then, almost as an afterthought, he asked, “What exactly is the fifth rank like?”

Yan Mu shook his head. “Uncle, I honestly don’t know.”

Li Yuan was surprised. “Aren’t you an inner disciple? And you still don’t know?”

“You only learn the secret of breaking through to fifth rank once you’ve achieved peak sixth rank and entered the sect’s forbidden grounds,” Yan Mu explained. “It’s highly classified. Still, in Northriver Prefecture, Elder Zhu is practically invincible. Undying husk attacks barely work on him. And he can fly.”

This corroborated something Li Yuan had long suspected. Moving from sixth rank to fifth rank involved some dangerous, secretive practice. With Elder Zhu that strong, it all made sense.

Yan Mu gave him a curious look. “What brings you here”

“I’m seeing if there’s a way to earn blood gold,” Li Yuan said.

“Blood gold?” Yan Mu echoed. “That’s certainly possible. Right now, we’re recruiting freelance enforcers left and right. A ninth rank volunteer gets paid in ninth rank demonic beast meat or silver; eighth rank and seventh rank are the same deal, scaled accordingly. But a sixth rank can earn blood gold.

“Trouble is, sixth rank experts are extremely rare. So far, only one has come forward, and that person’s very secretive. We don’t check anyone’s background, though. We only care if they can get the job done.”

“How’s the pay structure?” Li Yuan asked. “If I kill an undying husk, do I get a bounty for each head?”

He already had a plan in mind. He’d use his chameleon parakeets overhead for scouting. Next, he’d wield his Ghost Bow to extend his killing range. Then he’d fire blood-fueled arrows—one shot, one kill.

Even if some undying husk had a rare protective trinket, he’d likely still shoot through it. Roaming around the area, picking off targets with equipment slots to loot... It seemed like a decent arrangement.

Yan Mu, however, shook his head. “A per-undying husk bounty? Not really. Since we rarely know who’s an undying husk to begin with, a severed head doesn’t prove anything.”

Li Yuan frowned. “Then how does it work?”

“We pay by the mission,” Yan Mu explained. “A routine call-out pays 20 taels of blood gold. If you join an active assault or a raid, that’s 50 taels. On top of that, you can directly purchase sect materials with blood gold. But that’s about it.”

“Oh,” Li Yuan said, suddenly understanding. While it felt limiting, it also wasn’t too bad. More missions, more pay.

“All right, then let me ask you to introduce me.” Li Yuan gave his nephew a grin. “I’ll sign up as one of these freelance enforcers.”

Yan Mu agreed readily, then hesitated. “Actually, why not become an enforcer for the Holy Tree Temple? I can vouch for you. By the way, Uncle...what’s your combat level these days?”

Li Yuan glanced at Yan Mu’s 615~645, then thought of his own 1,140~1,890. He answered casually, “Beating you shouldn’t be a problem.”

Yan Mu blinked, then half-joked, rolling up his sleeves. “Want to spar and see?”

Li Yuan waved him off. “No need. You’d have the upper hand.”

Yan Mu was well aware that Li Yuan had stumbled upon all sorts of strange fortunes before. Over the time they’d spent together in Gemhill County the previous year, he’d picked up on quite a few of his uncle’s unusual secrets.

Li Yuan thought for a moment. “So if I become a Holy Tree Temple enforcer, I assume there won’t be many missions?”

“No,” Yan Mu replied. “As a

freelance

enforcer, you’ll get paid by all three main factions for dealing with the crisis here in Northriver. That means more work and more danger, but a bigger reward. If you stick with just the Holy Tree Temple, only we pay your wages. You’ll have fewer tasks, but it’s safer.”

Recalling the 15 copper pendants in his equipment box, as well as his own shadow blood ability, which was similar to Elder Zhu’s blood-shadow barrier, Li Yuan decided, “I’ll go for the freelance gig.”