Chapter 40: Bright Eyes, Night Vision, See Ghosts and Gods

"... The examination begins at the Wu hour and ends at dawn of the Mao hour."

"Everyone carry a second-tier Soul-Luring Lantern and patrol. The area covers the Lake District, the Bay District, and the thirty-two wards of the docks."

"The examination content is to pacify drowned souls and other wandering ghosts."

"Those who pacify ten souls without invoking 'Summon the Divine' shall be graded Superior."

"Those who pacify five souls without invoking 'Summon the Divine' shall be graded Upper."

"Those who pacify three souls without invoking 'Summon the Divine' shall be graded Middle."

"If you cannot pacify even a single soul, you must invoke 'Summon the Divine' as soon as possible. Do not ruin the peace of the local folk for the sake of your grade."

"If you invoke the Divine, the examination ends early. Is that clear to everyone?"

"Understood."

"There's still plenty of time to prepare. Go find your own spots."

"Yes, my lord Meng."

As Meng Yun, the Hall-Warding Master of Ceremonies, finished speaking, the clerks scattered to prepare for the upcoming examination.

Zhao Xing activated his Bright Eyes and saw that Meng Yun was carrying a bundle on his back.

Inside the bundle was actually a two-foot-tall figure.

It had a ruddy complexion, held a miniature crescent moon blade, and wore an expression of stern righteousness.

Its eyes had been closed, but suddenly opened, and it even gave Zhao Xing a smile.

Bright Eyes, Night Vision, See Ghosts and Gods!

He hadn't seen any ghosts yet, but had first seen the Yin God enshrined in the temple.

Zhao Xing cupped his hands in a salute, then quickly withdrew his art. Looking with the naked eye, there was only an ordinary sandalwood statue on his back.

"Hm? Why has the True Lord awakened?" Meng Yun seemed to sense something and looked back.

Zhao Xing had already looked away.

"Good heavens, he even brought the Earl of East Lake out. If any souls really come ashore, with this one holding the fort, a whole cartload wouldn't be enough for him to chop through."

At the current stage, wandering souls generally posed little threat. To ordinary people, at most they could disturb one's dreams, leaving one drained and listless for a few days.

Unless someone was deliberately raising souls—but that was a grave crime, and anyone caught would be branded an Otherworldly Heretic.

Moreover, with the Hall-Warding Master of Ceremonies carrying out a divided spirit of the Earl of East Lake, even if Zhao Xing jumped into a pile of souls and danced, those souls wouldn't dare touch a single hair on his head.

After all, he was the man the Earl of East Lake had once asked to stay!

"Young Master, what are you looking at?" Xu Lao Ba looked at Zhao Xing in confusion. Why had he suddenly stopped walking?

"Oh, nothing. I thought I saw someone familiar—probably a mistake." Zhao Xing brushed it off casually.

"So should we keep wandering around, or go somewhere to work?" Xu Lao Ba couldn't help but urge him along.

They had already been wandering for over an hour, yet this master showed no sign of stopping.

The money came too easily, and Xu Lao Ba felt uneasy about it.

Two taels and five qian was no small sum.

"No rush, no rush. Let's eat something first." Zhao Xing walked into a stall and casually ordered a few skewers of roasted meat. "Help yourself to whatever you want, it's all on me. Skip the wine though, we don't want to bungle the job."

"Alright, thank you, Young Master." Xu Lao Ba didn't stand on ceremony and ordered several dozen skewers in one go. Seeing Zhao Xing show no reaction at all, he immediately felt this Young Master was truly generous. He resolved in his heart that tonight he would absolutely not let him return empty-handed.

Several dozen skewers of roasted meat, plus a few bowls of noodle soup and four grilled fish, came to a total of just one qian of silver. The flavors were authentic and the portions generous—a fine bargain.

Xu Lao Ba stopped eating at seventy percent full, because he still had to go into the water later.

Zhao Xing was only half full, so he kept ordering more.

Xu Lao Ba watched and clicked his tongue in secret amazement: "This master looks tall and thin, but who would have thought his appetite was so huge? I'm already seventy percent full, and he's eaten about as much as me, yet he can still eat? Could he be a martial artist?"

Zhao Xing was not a martial artist, but at the third stage of Qi Gathering, his physical condition far surpassed Xu Lao Ba's, and his appetite was naturally enormous.

Just as he was eating his grilled fish, suddenly—

"Whoosh~"

A gust of wind blew past the stall.

"Hm?" Zhao Xing stopped what he was doing. He was very sensitive to wind—this inexplicable gust was clearly no ordinary breeze.

"It's a Yin wind? And it carries some moisture... Has a water ghost come ashore?"

The advanced direction of the Wind-Raising Art is 【Yin Wind Soul Assault】, and generally only the Military Agricultural Officials are qualified to learn it.

Zhao Xing discerned that this was not a man-made Yin wind, and sensing the dampness it carried, immediately understood: a water ghost had come ashore.

He saw a dripping wet ghostly shadow darting through the street, dressed in silk, plump of build, wandering aimlessly.

He checked the almanac—there was no warning—and calculated the time. The Ding Mao quarter was nearly upon them.

"Wait here for me, don't wander off. I'll come find you later." Zhao Xing then settled the bill and followed.

"Huh? Young Master... where'd he go?" Xu Lao Ba was a bit dumbfounded. Zhao Xing hadn't seemed to be walking fast, yet in the blink of an eye he'd vanished into the crowd. "So very strange."

Wind sprang up beneath Zhao Xing's feet as he quickly caught up with the plump wandering soul and walked alongside him.

The Nine Revolutions of Bright Eyes could see ghosts and gods, and naturally could communicate with them as well. After observing for a while, Zhao Xing asked: "Uncle, what are you looking for?"

The plump wandering soul in silk turned his head. His wet hair clung to his forehead, his lips pale: "I'm looking for the way home."

Zhao Xing cupped his hands and asked: "May I ask where your home is, Uncle?"

The plump ghost muttered: "I am a man of the western part of the prefecture. My home is at the Jia residence in Chengnan of Dangyou County."

Western part of the prefecture? Dangyou County? Zhao Xing was still mulling over where this place was, when he heard the plump ghost say blankly: "But I can't find it no matter what, I can't find it..."

At this moment Zhao Xing came back to himself. Dangyou County had been a lower county; twelve years ago it had been merged with another lower county called 'Pingshan' and renamed 'Youshan County'.

No wonder you can't find it—your corpse has drifted all the way from the western part of the prefecture to the southern part!

If that's the case, this man has been dead for at least twelve years?!

Zhao Xing thought for a moment, then continued: "Uncle, you want to go home. Is there something you need to attend to?"

The chubby wandering ghost nodded: "Yes, I want to tell my Lady at home that I'm already dead, so they can fish my corpse out of the water. I also want to tell her that I have a stash of silver packed in a box, buried at…"

"Buried where?"

The chubby wandering ghost suddenly turned his head, ghost fire flickering grimly in his eye sockets: "Why should I tell you? You're not my family."

"…"

Fair enough, perfectly reasonable.

After saying this, the chubby wandering ghost continued to wander aimlessly, muttering: "I'm a person from the west of the commandery, my home is at the Jia residence in Chengnan, Dangyou County. I want to go home, but where is home? I can't find it…"

Zhao Xing was about to try communicating again, when suddenly he heard a clear shout from ahead: "Soul, return!"

Then he saw a flash of Jin Guang shine upon the chubby wandering ghost, and the ghost stopped muttering and involuntarily walked toward the source of the golden light.

Others could not perceive the sound or the strange sight of the golden light, but Zhao Xing both heard and saw it. There ahead was a figure holding a soul-summoning lantern — it was one of the clerks from the Divine Hall examination.