Chapter 41: Ghost Hanging Behind

The entire study was divided into two sections by a screen painted with a lady; the half facing the door held a square table, a side table, and a Luohan couch.

The side table leaned against the west wall, holding an incense burner and a pair of vases.

Xu Yuan set his sights on that pair of vases.

About a foot tall, with a slender neck and round belly, they were just large enough to hold one or two plum blossoms.

The beast-tendon cord unspooled from his hand, becoming as fine as a hair, and slipped through the door crack to lightly touch the vase; the vase swayed once, showing no abnormality.

Xu Yuan then turned to the other one; the moment he touched it, a pool of eerie green evil light suddenly flared within the vase!

Xu Yuan flicked his hand with lightning speed, twisting the beast-tendon cord into a bundle, and with a thud, stuffed it into the vase's mouth.

The thing inside the vase was about to burst out and unleash its ferocious might—only to be blocked right at the entrance by a strange object that was neither soft nor hard, yet both soft and hard, seemingly soft but actually hard.

Stuck halfway and unable to emerge, the thing felt utterly uncomfortable and erupted in rage inside; the evil light blazed like fire, the vase shook violently on the side table, clinking and clanging.

Xu Yuan tossed the rest of the beast-tendon cord inside; the cord whooshed and tightly bound the vase to the table.

No matter how much the thing inside struggled, it could make no sound.

Xu Yuan exhaled the fire from his belly, melting the copper lock on the door, and gently pushed the door open to enter.

The vase was likely a treasure of Spirit Cultivation, hiding a Yin Soldier inside, but Xu Yuan, quick-eyed and fast-handed, had stuffed it shut so it could not escape.

After entering, Xu Yuan conducted a general inspection; there should be only this one ambush in the study.

Only then did he feel relieved and boldly begin to loot.

He soon found an iron box in a hidden compartment of the bookshelf; opening it revealed gunpowder.

Searching further, he discovered a special set of brush and ink, a treasure of Literary Cultivation; Old Man Qiao had not taken it to Qihe Taizhen, perhaps because it was inconvenient to carry, or perhaps Qihe Taizhen had another set.

Besides that, he found four calligraphy sheets inside an ancient book.

Two sheets of the character "Seal," targeting Magic Cultivation and Spirit Cultivation respectively.

One sheet of the character "Arrow," densely filled with over a hundred "Arrow" characters.

And one small sheet, only palm-sized and looking easy to conceal, written in vigorous, gnarled Taoist brushwork with four nonsensical characters: Dragon Vigor, Tiger Might.

Xu Yuan stared at this calligraphy sheet for quite a while, quite puzzled: What did Old Man Qiao mean by writing this character...?

What use could it have?

Rolling everything up into a bundle together with the vase, Xu Yuan quietly retreated by the same path.

Emerging from Wangjing Fang, it was already late; Xu Yuan hurried back to the Golden Attire Building, where the original set of clothes he had worn was stored.

He retrieved them and changed out of the set he was wearing.

If he returned wearing this outfit, his stepmother would surely pinch his ear and scold him for being wasteful.

The clerk at the Golden Attire Building looked somewhat unfriendly; as Xu Yuan emerged in his changed clothes, the clerk bluntly said, "Guest, once you have worn our clothes, there are no returns or exchanges."

A guest buys a flashy outfit, goes out, and returns less than an hour later, carrying a heavy bundle!

What did he go do? It goes without saying.

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "No return."

"No return? Good." The clerk immediately switched to a smiling face, courteously saw him out the door, and added, "Guest, turn left fifty paces from here, and there is a pawnshop. If you have anything inconvenient to sell..."

Xu Yuan left the door and walked straight ahead without looking back.

This time Xu Yuan returned from the East Gate; Uncle Mao Si had just come back carrying a pile of carpentry tools, opened the shop door, and was organizing things.

"Mao Sishu." Xu Yuan greeted him warmly; seeing Xu Yuan, the sorrow in Uncle Mao Si's wrinkled face rarey dispersed, and he smiled very happily: "You little rascal is back."

"Yes, Mao Sishu, how has business been lately?"

Uncle Mao Si suddenly frowned and said, "Don't move." He stared intently at Xu Yuan, his palm-sized hand moving to precisely pull a chisel and iron hammer from a tattered satchel at his feet.

Then, aiming at the empty space behind Xu Yuan, he struck down with a chisel.

Clang!

Xu Yuan felt a moment of dizziness, as if he heard a piercing ghostly wail echo behind his ear.

A chill wind whooshed up from behind, and something fled away.

Xu Yuan turned around but could see nothing; instantly, a cold sweat broke out on his back: Careless!

When had this thing started watching him and hanging onto his back?

At Ghost Wushan, he had been vigilant every moment; after returning to Huicheng, feeling safe, he had indeed become somewhat lax.

Uncle Mao Si put away his tools and said, "It was a Greed Ghost; such things are naturally the hardest to detect. You... exposed your wealth?"

Xu Yuan thought for a moment; it must have been at the Golden Attire Building.

Before he could answer, Uncle Mao Si waved his hand: "Forget it, I won't ask so many questions. Go back quickly; your stepmother is probably waiting anxiously."

That was Uncle Mao Si's nature; if you asked him to help with something, he would readily do so, but as for why he should do it, if you volunteered the reason, he would listen, and if you didn't say, he would absolutely not ask more.

"Thank you, Mao Sishu." Xu Yuan bid him farewell and walked into the alley.

Xu Yuan's family courtyard was partitioned from the original stage.

The stage was three stories high, with a small square in front; this courtyard was originally part of that small square. Xu Yuan's grandfather partitioned out this small plot and built two rooms.

They had lived there ever since.

"Just came back and already running out."

The scent of food and his stepmother's complaints drifted out from the room together.

"Wash your hands clean, eat!"

Dinner consisted of four dishes and one soup, with red bean rice.

For two people, this meal was very lavish, clearly a celebration of Xu Yuan's return.

Sure enough, there was a plate of stir-fried winter bamboo shoots with cured meat on the table.

Xu Yuan sat down happily and began to eat.

Stepmother bit her chopsticks, wanting to remind Xu Yuan not to cultivate the Dan Xiu path for now.

But after thinking again, she realized she hadn't yet found a solution herself; telling him would only cause him needless worry, so she held her tongue.

She simply took out The Five Cauldrons Boiling and gave it to Xu Yuan.

"Your Wang Shen gave this to you. Cultivate it diligently, don't slack off."

Xu Yuan knew this cultivation method; holding it in his hand, he felt it was externally heavy: "Wang Shen is giving me this?"

Stepmother drew a breath and said solemnly: "You must forever remember Wang Shen's kindness. After she passes, you must wear mourning clothes and bury her with proper rites."

Xu Yuan nodded seriously: "Of course."

Stepmother thought again, then added a few more warnings: "Your Gunpowder Inner Core… seems problematic. For now, stick only to Longzhu Waidan in Dan Xiu. Your main focus must remain on Ming Xiu."

Xu Yuan nodded in agreement. The Gunpowder Inner Core was powerful, but he hadn't told stepmother all the details.

His inner core's nature was constant consumption; its danger would thus decrease somewhat.

Requesting moon tickets!

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(End of chapter)