Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Ghost Hunting
Xu Guang stretched lazily, poured out a few elixirs from the gourd, mixed them into General Wei’s food, and watched him eat it.
"Eat more."
General Wei was somewhat dissatisfied; the taste of Eighth-Grade candies was far inferior to that of Seventh-Grade ones.
But what could Xu Guang do, Seventh-Grade elixirs were rarely available outside and expensive, and he could now refine them himself.
He had already commissioned Su Yan to find treasures like blood coral that could be used to refine Seventh-Grade elixirs, but he hadn’t received a reply from Su Yan yet.
Last time, refining the Blood Calming Pill was sheer luck, given that the age of that blood coral wasn’t very high. Now, lacking the main ingredients for refining Seventh-Grade elixirs, his alchemy skills, no matter how advanced, were helpless.
For now, he could only use Eighth-Grade elixirs to fool General Wei. Moreover, he himself was only consuming Eighth-Grade elixirs.
Although General Wei was somewhat dissatisfied, when it came to food, he accepted whatever came his way. Dissatisfied with the quality, he could only make up for it in quantity.
In the following days, Xu Guang oversaw the Iron Workshop, only occasionally going out to meet Su Yan for transactions.
There were several times when Su Yan did not show up in person; the Sheep and Deer Generals conducted the transactions with him.
Occasionally seeing Su Yan, the woman seemed preoccupied. She didn’t speak, and Xu Guang naturally didn’t ask.
He had enough on his plate with the matters of the Iron Armor Sect.
...
The black market.
Su Yan’s eyes were slightly bloodshot, looking at the strange woman appearing opposite in the black market.
She discovered this woman more than half a month ago.
The woman was carefully dressed, looked about thirty, was somewhat of an aging beauty, dressed provocatively, always liked to stop men at her door, like a half-covered door.
Such a person normally wouldn’t attract her attention, but she was really... too peculiar.
At first, she didn’t intend to intervene.
Until one of her tributors couldn’t resist the woman’s beauty and approached her.
She finally made up her mind to deal with this woman, at least to drive her away, as it was already affecting the black market’s business.
Over more than half a month, she watched as the woman transformed from an aging beauty pushing forty to now looking in her twenties, while every man leaving her house looked exhausted.
But whether it was those two tributors, or the subsequent deployment of the Sheep and Deer Generals.
Unexpectedly... they all appeared as if their essence had been drained.
It was only then she realized the extraordinary nature of the woman opposite and witnessed her process of rejuvenation.
More importantly, Sheep General provided an extremely terrifying hypothesis.
"Yan Gu, that woman is not human! She’s a monster that can absorb a person’s essence!"
...
In the afternoon, Xu Guang met someone.
Su Yan.
"Here’s what you asked for."
Xu Guang glanced at the box, with a decent amount of items inside, most notably, two blood corals of excellent appearance and that pile of turtle shell fragments!
"Thank you, Workshop Master."
One of the turtle shell fragments was exactly what he needed!
He remained calm, with this fragment, only one piece was missing.
Seeing Su Yan looking exhausted, Xu Guang hesitated before asking softly.
"Is Master Su facing some trouble?"
Su Yan looked at Xu Guang, thought for a moment, and said solemnly.
"The black market... might be haunted!"
What caught Su Yan off guard was that when she finished speaking, she had expected Xu Guang’s face to show terror, since it was an evil ghost, something only rumored in legends.
But Xu Guang remained calm, even with an unfamiliar... joy in his eyes?
Why was he so happy at the mention of a ghost?
Xu Guang was indeed happy. He switched to being a Feng Shui Master to deal with ghosts, and he always had a notion to try whether a wild ghost could be physically exorcized by General Wei.
Now having finally refreshed a wild ghost, he was naturally excited.
"Is this true?"
Su Yan didn’t know what Xu Guang was excited about, but she nodded, looking serious.
Upon hearing this, Xu Guang immediately said, "I’ll take a look."
"You..."
Xu Guang understood Su Yan’s hesitation; she had invested much in him and had yet to gain profits, naturally not wanting him to get into trouble.
"I’ve recently made some progress in Feng Shui studies. I’ll take a distant look, and with General Wei’s protection, even if unable to handle the fierce ghost, I’ll help observe the Feng Shui."
Having said this much, Su Yan couldn’t refuse, feeling a sense of sentiment.
She had always thought Xu Guang was feigning loyalty for his persona, but now she found that perhaps every action was genuine; he truly wanted to help her.
...
Under the guise of visiting Fang Cheng, Xu Guang arrived at the black market.
This was Xu Guang’s first time at the black market, and he initially imagined it to be deeply hidden among the people, but to his surprise, it was in an abandoned grotto in the eastern part of Qingshuo County.
Long ago, Qingshuo County had a small salt pond; eventually, after all the salt was mined, it left a massive grotto.
The black market was located here.
As he approached the black market entrance, Xu Guang frowned.
A very thick locust tree about a hundred meters away caught his attention.
In Feng Shui, the locust tree is a very special tree; although it’s ’yang’, it converges ’yin’. This locust tree had grown for so many years that even before entering the black market, a distinct chill could be felt, like the touch of a deceased woman’s hands on one’s back.
"This locust tree..."
"It’s always been here. It’s said to be over a thousand years old, a symbol of the black market. Since taking over, I haven’t had it removed. Why, is there a problem?" Su Yan spoke.
Xu Guang nodded, took a deep breath, and asked with some doubt, "Have you never invited a Feng Shui Master to examine the black market’s Feng Shui?"
"The previous Black Market Master did invite a very famous Feng Shui Master from Rongchuan County to see it. That Feng Shui Master said that this locust tree has a spirit born, offering endless benefits."
While speaking, Su Yan pointed to some red ribbons on the tree, "Every year, many people worship this great tree. After all, living for a thousand years isn’t easy."
Xu Guang rubbed his temples, said nothing further, and continued forward with General Wei.
Soon, they arrived at where the woman was.
Xu Guang observed with ash-grey eyes, analyzing the qi there.
The yang qi on General Wei was akin to the blazing sun, turning into a turbulent current, spreading as he walked.
Within that courtyard, swirling black qi shattered continuously with General Wei’s steps.
Yet, the courtyard seemed capable of generating yin qi, as the black qi broke but did not dissipate, merely flickering like embers in the wind, extinguished yet reigniting in an instant.
"General Wei, charge in."
At Xu Guang’s command, along with an [encouragement], General Wei let out an excited shout, promptly stepping forward, sprinting toward the nearby courtyard.
In an instant, like a bulldozer, the fragile courtyard wall couldn’t withstand even a single charge from General Wei.
Xu Guang’s speed was too quick for Su Yan to stop him in time, as General Wei charged, the overwhelming aura rendered Su Yan speechless.
This was her first time witnessing the might of General Wei up close when launching an attack.
She was wide-eyed, unable to suppress rising peculiar emotions, the charge of such a colossal beast was truly heart-shocking.
She even more ardently thought about obtaining another great beast.
The Sheep and Deer Generals widened their eyes further, incredulously watching the destruction caused by General Wei. Though they prided themselves on their extraordinary power, compared to General Wei, they weren’t even as good as kids.
They even recalled how they once wanted to challenge General Wei’s strength, and now in hindsight, it really felt a bit embarrassing.
If they could withstand a single charge from General Wei, they should be laughing proudly.
But soon, everyone’s attention was drawn to everything inside the courtyard.
In the courtyard, everywhere was covered in mud, yet different from the aftermath of a rainstorm, it carried a richly eerie aura. Just a glance gave the impression of overwhelming resentment, involuntarily nurturing a sense of vindictiveness.
However, these emotions quickly vanished with General Wei’s entry.
Screams that could be either male or female suddenly resounded in the broad daylight.
As if anticipating this, Xu Guang opened his package on the elephant’s back, containing various jades and weapons, which in Feng Shui terms, are called suppressing objects.
These were the most yang-laden objects among Feng Shui suppressing items, especially weapons previously used by martial artists.
"Petty tricks dare show off!"
Seven or eight weapons clattered to the ground, seemingly chaotic, yet actually balancing the yin and yang of the universe.
In the world unseen by Su Yan, there was a sudden stillness in the surrounding black qi.
Yet she could sense that the resentment effecting her mindset seemed to diminish significantly.
She stood outside the courtyard, astonished by Xu Guang’s methods.
He had genuinely mastered the techniques of a Feng Shui Master.
Perhaps even surpassing the Feng Shui Master from Rongchuan County she’d heard of.
But how long had Xu Guang been involved in Feng Shui study? This... how could it be possible?