"Young man, don't wander too far, lest you truly can't get out," the old man cautioned.
In truth, he had only heard about the recent events from neighbors who had also moved out with him, and the old man himself harbored some disbelief.
Yu Daohan walked along the old street, his gaze falling on the red painted "Demolish" characters on the walls. The more he looked, the more unsettled he felt.
"Times these days, truly... sigh," Yu Daohan mused.
A wisp of mist suddenly appeared ahead. Yu Daohan stopped. "This is it."
He then took out three sticks of incense from his backpack, lit them with a lighter, and stuck them into a crack in a stone in the middle of the road, chanting, "Incense offered, gate of ghosts, open!"
As soon as Yu Daohan finished speaking, mist began to rise ahead. In the blink of an eye, the surrounding buildings had completely changed, and people began to pass by sporadically.
Before Yu Daohan had taken a few steps, pedestrians dressed in Republic of China era clothing on the street all looked at him.
Yu Daohan frowned, only then realizing he hadn't tied a white cloth strip to his arm. He quickly took one out of his backpack and tied it around his arm.
Yu Daohan walked directly into Ghost Street. Before long, he saw a擂台 (leitai - fighting stage) set up not far away, with Liao Wensheng sitting cross-legged in the center of it.
Yu Daohan walked to the side of the擂台. Liao Wensheng slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Yu Daohan arrive, he smiled, "Brother Yu is here."
Yu Daohan nodded. Liao Wensheng leaped down from the擂台.
"Brother Liao, what are your chances?" Yu Daohan asked, noticing Liao Wensheng's face was still somewhat pale, indicating his injuries had not fully healed.
Liao Wensheng sighed, shaking his head, his expression becoming complex. "Hard to say. If it's included, I'd say about forty percent."
As he spoke, Liao Wensheng patted the large axe on his back.
Yu Daohan glanced at it. If he wasn't mistaken, this large axe likely used the same mysterious stone as the Kang Long Jian.
Before Yu Daohan could ask, Liao Wensheng's expression suddenly turned serious as he looked in the direction they were coming from. "They're here!"
Yu Daohan froze for a moment and turned his head to look.
Two figures were walking towards them. Yu Daohan observed them.
Both were dressed in black. One wore a wolf mask, and the other wore a tiger mask.
Seeing Yu Daohan there, the two men frowned. The man with the wolf mask lowered his voice, "Why is she here? Wasn't I told to keep an eye on her?"
The man with the tiger mask beside him was equally bewildered. "I don't know she'd come here either. Besides, I'm here to support you; when would I have time to watch her? Good thing you prepared a mask in advance."
"No, I can't use the Kang Long Jian, or my identity will be exposed," the man with the wolf mask said.
The man with the tiger mask's expression turned serious. "Don't joke. Without the Kang Long Jian, do you have the confidence to defeat this guy? I'll handle the Kang Long Jian matter."
The man with the wolf mask remained silent. If he had confidence, he wouldn't have come to borrow the Kang Long Jian.
The two men approached Liao Wensheng and Yu Daohan. The man with the wolf mask spoke, "Let's begin."
With that, he walked towards the擂台. Yu Daohan looked at the man with the wolf mask before him, his expression growing serious, because this guy's eyes were exactly the same as the mysterious person who had injured him in the shop that day.
Liao Wensheng beside him also looked puzzled. "What's going on with this guy? He's wearing a mask, and his voice has changed too."
Yu Daohan followed his gaze to the Kang Long Jian at the wolf-masked man's waist and was stunned. He confirmed it was his Kang Long Jian and looked incredulous. Did that guy borrow the Kang Long Jian just to borrow it from him?
"Wait, how did my Kang Long Jian end up with you?" Yu Daohan's expression changed. The only possibility was that this guy had snatched the Kang Long Jian from that person.
Liao Wensheng was even more confused. He had thought Yu Daohan had lent the Kang Long Jian to this guy, but seeing Yu Daohan's expression and his question, it was clear he didn't know how the Kang Long Jian ended up in this guy's possession.
The wolf-masked man did not answer Yu Daohan's question and walked directly onto the擂台.
Seeing that the wolf-masked man had no intention of answering, Yu Daohan could only wait until after the match.
"Be careful, Brother Liao. That guy's strength is terrifying," Yu Daohan said, looking at Liao Wensheng, who was about to step onto the擂台.
Liao Wensheng nodded, a smile appearing on his face. "Thank you for the warning, Brother Yu."
On the擂台, the wolf-masked man snorted lightly at the conversation between Yu Daohan and Liao Wensheng.
"Fellow Daoist Yu is probably worried about your friend, aren't you?" the tiger-masked man, who had been silent until then, suddenly asked.
Yu Daohan instinctively touched his lower back, only then realizing the Kang Long Jian wasn't on him. He then drew the Zhen Hun Shi short sword from his waist. "What do you mean, sir?"
Yu Daohan could feel that the man before him was very strong, and his body instinctively entered a combat state.
The tiger-masked man breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his voice-changing trick had gone unnoticed.
"Fellow Daoist Yu, rest assured. Your friend is my friend, and this Kang Long Jian was lent to me by him," the tiger-masked man explained.
Yu Daohan did not put away the Zhen Hun Shi short sword. This guy's strength was too terrifying; he could be instantly killed with the slightest carelessness.