The Lighting Method

"This..."

Looking at the black ash on the bed, it was as deep and chaotic as furnace ash.

As the red cloth bag shattered, a suffocating sensation surged into Yang An's mind, startling him.

If we assume, hypothetically, that the incense ash from White Buddha Temple was effective.

Then now the incense ash and the red cloth bag have instantly turned black and shattered.

Doesn't this mean the incense ash really worked?

Did a demon enter his room last night?!

If we assume the incense ash was useless.

The reason it ended up like this was a trick by White Buddha Temple.

Then he would have been one of the suckers, swindled out of thirty coins!

Whichever speculation it was, the outcome wasn't easy to accept.

But based on his inexplicable experience last night, Yang An leaned towards the former, and his heart turned cold.

He suddenly turned his head and carefully examined everything in the room, but found no observable traces.

Did a demon really come last night?

Now the bed was covered in black incense ash, the color had changed drastically, and it was clearly unusable again. What should he do?

With that thought, Yang An didn't have time to tidy up. He hastily pushed open the door and ran towards White Buddha Temple.

The only option now seemed to be to go and get more incense ash for protection.

But an hour later.

Yang An returned, filled only with disappointment and anger.

Today, the number of pilgrims at White Buddha Temple was exceptionally high, several times the usual, with crowds of people.

Many terrifying rumors were quickly spreading through the crowd.

They heard that many people in town had suffered great misfortune last night, killed by demons.

From their descriptions of the scenes, Yang An could already imagine the tragic fate of the deceased, just like the horrifying scenes that had made him unable to eat for days before.

Even more terrifying was that the incense ash that many people had obtained from White Buddha Temple a few days ago had all turned into black ash this morning.

Everyone present was terrified, they had immense faith in the vast powers of White Buddha Temple, and dared not imagine what fate awaited them if they were targeted by demons.

If they hadn't had the incense ash for protection, they would have met with misfortune last night, which was why so many people had come today.

Yang An also heard that as soon as it was dawn this morning, many people in town ran out of town like madmen, carrying their luggage, dragging their families, wanting to leave.

But before they could get far, they encountered bandits and mountain thieves descending the mountain.

The fate of those people was to be met by a pack of jackals and wild dogs, their bones scraped clean, not a shred of flesh left.

Various news spread among the crowd, and the situation in Jiu Nan Town became increasingly terrifying.

The people had no other choice; the only option now was to rely on White Buddha Temple to protect them.

But what Yang An didn't expect was that White Buddha Temple had once again raised its prices, with the incense offering fee increasing from thirty coins three days ago to two hundred coins now!

Damn it, why don't these bald donkeys just rob people?!

His entire fortune wasn't even that much, and in the end, he couldn't even get into the temple gate of White Buddha Temple, so he had to turn back.

The government in Jiu Nan Town was already a mere formality.

The dynasty had completely collapsed, and those who enjoyed salaries had lost their source of income. They wouldn't care about the lives of others; everyone was fending for themselves.

It was clear that they couldn't expect the government to uphold justice for ordinary people like them.

"What kind of world is this? Do ordinary people have no way to survive?"

Yang An complained. The first thing he did upon returning home was to rush to the kitchen and look at a large water tank in the corner.

In the memories left by his predecessor, something passed down from his ancestors was buried under the water tank: a fragment of a scripture recording legendary immortal arts.

Although his predecessor's father had left a dying wish warning him not to take it out unless absolutely necessary.

But now Yang An couldn't afford to worry about that, because he had already reached a point of absolute necessity.

This was the only way out he could think of!

Yang An scooped out half a gang of water with a ladle, and then with great effort, moved the water gang. The yellow earth beneath the water gang showed no signs of disturbance, clearly indicating that the item had been buried for a very long time.

He found a small hoe and dug up the yellow earth.

An hour later, from the soil about a foot deep, he unearthed a piece of pigskin that had become stiff and black.

Yang An excitedly picked it up and held it. With a little force, the hardened pigskin snapped with a crack, revealing what was inside.

It was a yellowed piece of paper, with clear traces of some kind of smudge, and uneven edges that clearly indicated it had been torn.

"Is this the legendary immortal art?"

Yang An was very curious and took the paper out.

If his father's dying words were true, this item could very well change his current situation.

As for his father's warning that it would bring disaster, Yang An could no longer afford to worry about that.

His life was on the line, how could he care about such things?

But as soon as his fingers touched the paper, before he could even examine its contents, a semi-transparent information box suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"[Lighting Method]: One of the Thirteen Arts of the Fate Crane Sect, created by Old Man Fate Crane; uses fingers as candles and blood as fire to expel demons and defilement."

"Cost of the technique: Within the illumination of the candle flame, all sentient beings will gradually fall into a state of madness, until they are driven insane."

"Status: Purifiable!"

The suddenly appearing information box displayed a lot of text, startling Yang An.

After he carefully read all the information, his heart immediately rejoiced.

He released the hand touching the paper, and the information box vanished from his sight.

When he touched the paper again, the information box reappeared.

After repeating this several times, Yang An finally felt at ease.

"Just as I thought! It seems this is my golden finger!"

He tested it, ensuring it was his ability, not only able to see the core information of the paper but also possessing a way to purify it.

Yang An's heart became incredibly excited. This was definitely a huge turning point that could change his current predicament.

However, looking at the text in the information box, Yang An felt a bit strange.

If it weren't for his father's prior warning, just by looking at the prompts in the information box, he would never have thought this was a legendary immortal technique; it seemed more like some kind of dark art.

Therefore, this must be the reason his father had warned him not to take this item out lightly before his death.

If he hadn't had his golden finger and had learned this technique without knowing its cost, the consequences would have been dire.

Without dwelling on it further, Yang An undoubtedly chose to purify it immediately.

What followed was a faint warm current flowing through the arm he used to touch the paper, finally disappearing at his fingertips.

The paper he held in his hand showed no change.

But when Yang An looked at the information box again, he found the text prompts had changed.

"[Lighting Method]: One of the Thirteen Arts of the Fate Crane Sect, created by Old Man Fate Crane; uses fingers as candles and blood as fire to expel demons and defilement, and to clear the mind and purify the spirit."

"Cost of the technique: None."

"Status: Purified!"

Seeing this result, Yang An roughly understood the function of his golden finger – it directly eliminated the terrifying cost.

In other words, the Lighting Method recorded on this paper was now a brand new Lighting Method with no cost whatsoever?!