Chapter 168

Liu Ermazi is a First Grade Intermediate Martial Artist; under normal circumstances, the three Yang Fires on his head and shoulders can protect his body, preventing contamination by Yin Souls.

Moreover, as a Martial Artist's strength increases, their perception grows stronger; although they cannot directly see Yin Souls with mortal eyes, they can vaguely sense their presence.

A First Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist can sense the approach of a Yin Soul within one meter around their body.

A First Grade Intermediate Martial Artist can sense the approach of a Yin Soul within two meters around their body.

A First Grade High-Level Martial Artist can sense the approach of a Yin Soul within three meters around their body.

Therefore, it is not easy for a Yin Soul to silently kill a Martial Artist.

Liu Ermazi is a First Grade Intermediate Martial Artist; logically, if Fang Cheng appeared within his two-meter range, he should have sensed it.

However, Liu Ermazi is now fully engrossed in his exertions; in this state, his Yang Qi dissipates, the three Yang Fires dim and lose their luster, and his perception drops significantly; Fang Cheng has already been admiring him from the bedside for a moment, yet Liu Ermazi remains unaware, still varying his tactics and exerting himself vigorously.

"Hey! Hey!" Fang Cheng let out a cold laugh, deliberately revealing his form, stretching his neck, and blew a breath of Yin Qi onto the Yang Fire on Liu Ermazi's right shoulder, causing that Yang Fire to flicker like a candle in the wind, constantly swaying, as if it might go out at any moment.

Liu Ermazi was in the throes of passionate exertion when suddenly he felt a chill wind around him, his body as if plunged into an ice cave, chilled to the bone, and he involuntarily shivered; then he heard a fluctuating voice: "Liu Ermazi... return my silver..."

Liu Ermazi startled, turned his head, and saw Fang Cheng with blood streaming from his seven orifices, standing behind him, his bloody right hand touching Liu Ermazi's head and lightly tapping it a few times, like a melon farmer checking if the watermelons in the field are ripe.

"Ah..." Liu Ermazi screamed, and his lower parts instantly went limp; he did not know whether, after being frightened so badly, he would suffer psychological trauma, or whether that thing would still be usable in the future.

The beauty beneath Liu Ermazi, with a skirt on her head, was in the throes of ecstasy when Liu Ermazi suddenly froze and screamed loudly; the beauty thought Liu Ermazi was up to some mischief again, and somewhat dissatisfied, she said: "Brother Mazi, don't stop, I still want more."

"Repay the money... repay the money..." Suddenly, that beauty also heard the strange voice; she froze, lifted her skirt, and looked outside, seeing Fang Cheng with bulging eyes and a ferocious face, demanding money; the beauty was so frightened her eyes rolled up and she fainted.

Another beauty was even worse; upon seeing Fang Cheng's figure, she was so frightened she lost control of her bowels and bladder, the whole room filled with the smell of urine and feces, plus the special fishy odor from the man and woman; these smells mixed together, making one want to vomit just from smelling them.

Fang Cheng grinned, ignored the two beauties, and said to Liu Ermazi with a smile: "You owe me five taels of silver; when will you repay it?"

Liu Ermazi swallowed his saliva, steadied his mind a little, and said: "Fang Eldest Brother, aren't you dead?"

"What's it to you? I'm dead, so you want to welch on the debt; if you don't repay the money, I'll drag you down to keep me company." Fang Cheng said coldly, his bloody hands already gripping Liu Ermazi's neck, as if he wanted to twist the other's head off directly.

"No, no, Fang Eldest Brother, little brother will repay the money, right away, just five taels of silver; it's not worth taking little brother's life; little brother will get you the money now." Liu Ermazi, terrified, said: He had also heard people say that a Martial Artist's three Yang Fires can dispel Yin Soul hauntings.

But now Fang Cheng's Yin Soul has already gripped his neck, yet it is not being burned by the Yang Fire; this can only mean that even if Fang Cheng has become a Yin Soul, he still possesses formidable strength, enough to overwhelm Liu Ermazi.

Liu Ermazi was quick with his hands and feet; he soon pulled out five taels of silver from the clothes beside the bed and carefully handed them to Fang Cheng.

Fang Cheng instinctively reached to take the silver, but the silver passed through his hands; only then did he remember that he is now a Yin Soul Body.

Although a Second Grade Ghost Soldier has a condensed soul body, being ultimately a Yin Soul Body, he can barely flip pages, let alone pick up five taels of silver.

Fang Cheng shook his head helplessly and said: "Take these five taels of silver and give them to Wang Qiang's family at the east of the city; in life, I owed him five taels of debt; this time, consider it repaid."

"Alright, Fang Eldest Brother, rest assured; I'll go repay the debt as soon as it's light." Liu Ermazi answered honestly, then added flatteringly: "Fang Eldest Brother is truly particular; even as a ghost, he hasn't forgotten his lifetime debts; truly a model for us; little brother will certainly take Fang Eldest Brother as his example from now on, and never owe money again."

"You little rascal, all smooth talk; now that the debt is cleared, I have official business, so I'll go first; you carry on, just pretend I never came." Fang Cheng laughed, turned, and was about to leave.

Liu Ermazi wanted to cry but had no tears; the two beauties were both frightened into unconsciousness, one even frightened into losing bowel and bladder control; the bed was a mess; what more is there to do?

Moreover, Liu Ermazi was suddenly frightened badly, his lower parts were startled, and he doesn't know if they'll still work in the future; he figures curing this might cost at least several dozen taels of silver; had he known the consequences of owing Fang Cheng silver would be so severe, he'd rather die than borrow from Fang Cheng.

When Fang Cheng reached the door, it seemed he remembered something, turned back, and walked over; this frightened Liu Ermazi into trembling, and he hurriedly said: "Fang Eldest Brother, now that you've become a ghost, I'll buy more gold ingots and paper money tomorrow to burn for you, so you'll have silver to use down there."

"You motherfucker, burning paper to fool ghosts?" Fang Cheng swore loudly.

Liu Ermazi dared not reply, but in his heart he muttered: "You were already a ghost; burning paper money for you—isn't that just fooling ghosts?"

"Don't burn paper money to fool me; I ask you: you usually loiter around the streets; have you ever heard of where the Three Great Gangs store grain?"

Liu Ermazi thought for a moment, as if suddenly recalling something, and said: "Fang Eldest Brother, the night before last, I came out of Zuihua Pavilion, wanted to take a shortcut home, and saw a large crowd pushing carts in the small alley south of the city, moving something mysterious."

"At that time, I still wanted to get closer to look, but was blocked by the Three Great Gangs' thugs guarding the intersection; they wouldn't let me near; now, thinking back, they were definitely moving grain."

Fang Cheng was excited; he had only asked casually, not expecting to actually gain something; he smiled and said: "You little rascal, not bad; in the future, living in the city, pay more attention to your surroundings; who knows, I might still come to you for information."

Liu Ermazi is a peddler who walks the streets and alleys; he used to be Fang Cheng's informant, but since Fang Cheng died, this line was cut off, and Liu Ermazi never expected Fang Cheng would come again to ask for information; now he bowed and scraped, saying: "Rest assured, I will pay attention to changes in the city from now on."

"Haha, you're not bad; I'll go first, not delaying your good times." Fang Cheng said, his body turning into a wisp of Yin Qi, which floated out through the door crack.

Fang Cheng floated before Meng Yifan, respectfully saluted, and told Meng Yifan the information he had gathered from Liu Ermazi.

Meng Yifan felt joy in his heart, collected the ghost soldiers and ghost generals into the Ghost Head Blade, and with Meng Dayong, hurriedly ran toward the south of the city.

Next, only a careful search of the southern area of the city is needed; the range has narrowed considerably; they should soon find where the Three Great Gangs store grain.