The cold moon cast a desolate glow, and paper money fluttered through the air.
This was called scattering "road-buying money."
In the customs of the Divine Land, during funerals, whenever the procession passed a crossroads, an esteemed family elder would scatter paper money.
First, it guided the deceased, as the saying goes: "The dead travel west, paper money paves the way."
Second, it lured away wandering spirits and wild ghosts, keeping them from troubling the departed.
Wu Laosi had employed the art of "crossing the yin," his soul now separated from his body, leaving his flesh like an open door, attracting stray spirits and unclean things.
Legend held that these lonely ghosts, yet to enter the underworld, were far from free. Tormented by memories and obsessions from life, they endured dreadful loneliness and cold.
At dawn, sunlight would scatter their souls to oblivion.
To put it simply, it was like being on a planet where daytime burned like a molten hell and nighttime froze breath into ice, chilling the soul itself.
One could imagine how alluring a warm, living body was to such things.
Sha Lifei, a seasoned wanderer of the martial world, had seen his share of misfortune. He'd worked for wealthy families, handling weddings and funerals, and was well-versed in these rituals.
"Everyone, everyone, please, no trouble!"
He spoke placating words while vigorously tossing paper money.
Whoosh!
The paper money danced, swirling rapidly in the eerie wind, fluttering up and down before settling into stillness.
Li Yan twitched his nose. "They're gone!"
As the yin wind dissipated, the flickering oil lamp steadied.
Seeing this, Sha Lifei let out a relieved breath.
What were a few paper coins?
Wu Laosi had said three jin would do, but he'd bought eight. If it got the job done, tossing a few extra handfuls was no issue.
Of course, this was the civil approach.
If paper money didn't appease them, Li Yan's blade would.
Then, a few more stray spirits appeared.
But before they could draw near, Li Yan sensed them and gave warning.
Just then, a scent wafted from the distant riverbank.
Cold and foul.
Li Yan sprang up, gripping his Guanshan blade and stepping in front of Sha Lifei, hanging the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel on it.
Sha Lifei, puzzled, asked, "What is it?"
He craned his neck to look.
Under the moonlight by the riverbank, a snake as thick as a bowl slithered ashore, coiling into a serpentine formation, hissing with its forked tongue.
"Don't look into its eyes!"
Li Yan warned in a low voice, tightening his grip on the Guanshan blade.
The once-still tassel swayed faintly, emanating a chilling, deadly aura.
Sensing the threat of the Three Talents Coin, the snake halted, its tongue flicking hesitantly.
Yet Li Yan didn't dare relax.
He'd once heard Wang Daoxuan say that lonely ghosts were the most pitiful things in the world, weak and struggling. Even possessing a lone traveler at night required rare chance and immense effort.
Sometimes, a person spitting and cursing could scare them off.
A handful of road-buying money was enough to send them away.
Luckily, with Xianyang City's divine soldiers and the City God Temple's annual rituals of feeding spirits and releasing river lanterns, fiercer entities stayed away, and water ghosts from the nearby river rarely caused trouble.
This method of soul separation, leaving the body temporarily empty, feared not just malevolent ghosts but things with true cultivation.
Once possessed, one's actions became beastlike.
When these creatures' cultivation was low, they often seized human bodies to practice, sometimes even using corpses, burrowing into graves and coiling atop the dead.
Sometimes, when coffins were opened, snakes or foxes were found coiled on the corpse—these were the creatures cultivating.
Finally, sensing danger, the snake twisted and slipped back into the river.
Li Yan didn't pursue; guarding was his priority.
Thus, they safely passed the midnight hour.
Li Yan exhaled, glancing at the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper lamps.
After midnight, possession grew far harder.
This crossing of the yin should succeed.
But where was that evil cultivator hiding?
…
Elsewhere, in Xianyang City, at the Iron Blade Gang's stronghold.
Torches blazed, and cries of anguish filled the air.
Zheng Heibei's face was grim as he watched his men hustle about.
With Zhou Peide jailed, the White Ape Gang crushed, and Yuan Qu fled, the Zhou family faced calamity. He'd stayed at the Zhou residence to strategize.
But now, the gang had been attacked.
"Boss, it's the Tai Xing Cart Company!"
A subordinate, limbs broken, gritted his teeth. "I know that cart leader. Usually quiet as a mouse, wouldn't dare fart in my presence. Who'd have thought…"
"Who'd have thought what!"
Behind Zheng Heibei, a middle-aged man in a green robe snapped, "I told you some people aren't to be provoked, especially fellow martial artists."
"The Tai Xing Cart Company—you still skimmed their profits! In Chang'an, they're ruthless. They just didn't bother with you. Did you really think you'd grown horns?"
The speaker, Liu Jincheng, was one of the Eight Great Vajras and head of Xianyang's Changshun Escort Agency, sent to investigate.
Well-traveled and wise, he'd warned Zheng Heibei and Yuan Qu repeatedly, but they ignored him.
Now, with the Zhou family in such a state, Liu's anger flared.
Zheng Heibei, stubborn by nature, knew his peers looked down on him. Hearing Liu's mockery, he snorted, "Brother Liu, my men aren't yours to lecture!"
"Haha… hopeless!"
Liu Jincheng, exasperated, turned and left.
Zheng's words were spoken in anger, and he regretted them. Seeing Liu leave, his expression flickered.
He hadn't directly joined the child abductions but had aided indirectly.
Yuan Qu had fled, and Zhou Peide knew nothing, so the authorities hadn't come for him. But some things couldn't stay hidden forever.
More crucially, Zhou Pan!
Sacrificing even his own kin—how much less would he care for someone like Zheng, who did the dirty work?
And tonight, Zhou's unusually kind demeanor…
A chill of fear rose in Zheng Heibei's heart, but his face showed only rage as he declared boldly, "Brothers, don't worry! I'll cover your medical costs!"
"Send them all to Anren Hall Clinic."
"Rest and recover. This grudge will be avenged!"
"Boss, you're a true man!"
The Iron Blade Gang members were moved to tears.
Zheng Heibei nodded, ordered his men to arrange care, then entered a room, pushed aside a bookshelf, and opened a hidden floor compartment.
Opening the small chest inside, he froze, struck as if by lightning.
The chest, once brimming with gold bars—his savings for years, his backup plan to recruit men and turn bandit if things went south—was empty.
"You Laosi!"
Zheng Heibei knew who'd done it.
Fury burned, but he knew he couldn't stay. He slipped into a hidden passage, emerged in a nearby courtyard, changed clothes, and vanished into the dark…
An hour later, the deputy leader noticed the candles had burned out and Zheng hadn't returned. Sensing something amiss, he checked the room.
Soon, a furious curse echoed: "That coward! The boss ran!"
…
Unnoticed, the hour of the Tiger arrived.
Autumn nights grew long, days shorter. The sky hadn't yet paled, but a rooster tied to a tree paced and crowed loudly, stretching its neck.
Sha Lifei and Li Yan quickly checked the bronze bell on the tree.
Wu Laosi had said he'd awaken at cockcrow. If the bell didn't ring, the ritual had failed, and they must burn the coffin and body immediately.
But the bell stayed silent.
As they grew anxious, the hemp rope buried in the soil snapped taut, shaking the bell with a jangle.
"Quick, move!"
Li Yan and Sha Lifei grabbed shovels, cleared the surface dirt, and heaved the coffin lid open.
As it opened, Li Yan's face shifted.
A dense yin aura hit him, pure and cold.
Even without supernatural senses, the naked eye could see frost coating the coffin's inner walls, chill radiating outward.
Wu Laosi's body was frosted over, his skin deathly pale. At their calls, he slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze was hollow, dazed, as if waking from a dream.
But seeing them, he quickly rallied.
With their help, Wu Laosi struggled up, pointing southwest, his voice hoarse.
"He's there, a hundred li away, in an old tomb!"
"There are many children. If you want to save them, hurry!"
As he spoke, a premonition struck. He pushed Li Yan and Sha Lifei away, knelt respectfully southward, and said tremulously, "This junior, Wu Laosi, knows his fault and accepts punishment…"
Before he finished, he collapsed, lifeless.
"Senior!"
Li Yan, grieving yet shocked, recalled Wang Daoxuan's words: supernatural arts weren't infallible. Only those with high cultivation could sense certain things.
And just now, he'd sensed nothing!
"Brother Yan, look!"
Sha Lifei, following Wu Laosi's earlier instructions, lifted his shirt.
On his back, the blood-bruise patterns of hooks and chains had vanished.
The sight sent chills through them.
Li Yan gritted his teeth. "We stick to the plan."
"You go to the City God Temple to report and tend to Senior. I'll go keep watch to stop that demon from escaping!"
They lifted Wu Laosi into the coffin, then Li Yan mounted his horse, shook the reins, and charged into the vast darkness…
*(End of Chapter)*