Talismans

Qu Yong turned to Old Qin. "Old Qin, when will those Red and White Fiends roughly take form?"

Old Qin said to Qu Yong, "If my calculations are correct, about three days."

Three days... Luoshi City's reinforcements should arrive by then. Even if the timing is a little off, Old Qin and I can hold them back for a while. We just need to stall until the reinforcements arrive, Qu Yong thought silently.

"Old Qin, are there any talismans that can temporarily delay the eerie entity's movements?"

"There is a blue-grade Corpse Suppressing Talisman. It should be able to trap that eerie entity for a while."

Hearing this, Qu Yong was reassured. At the same time, he had Old Qin use a Message Talisman to send a request for aid to Luoshi City.

After the two had discussed the details, Qu Yong left the ancestral hall. Just as Old Qin was about to leave, Zhou Yi behind him called out to him.

Now that neither his martial skills nor cultivation method could be improved, he might as well learn another trade.

Thus, Zhou Yi said to Old Qin, "Old Qin, can I learn talismans?"

Old Qin looked at Zhou Yi and said, "The path of talismans differs from martial arts. It emphasizes the growth of spiritual power. Generally speaking, talisman arts can only serve as support. I can teach you, but do not neglect your martial cultivation in pursuit of studying talisman arts."

Zhou Yi nodded at Old Qin. "All right, Old Qin."

"Then come find me tomorrow."

"Alright!"

After saying that, Old Qin left the ancestral hall as well. Seeing this, Zhou Yi stood up, dusted off his clothes, and walked out through the ancestral hall gates.

Once outside, Zhou Yi headed toward home.

As he neared his house, Zhou Yi saw a man dressed in a constable's uniform standing outside his door.

Zhou Yi walked over. The constable spotted him as well and came forward to meet him.

Before Zhou Yi could speak, the constable hurriedly said, "Sir, this lowly one is Zhang San. Constable Li has already captured Shopkeeper Liu's son and sent me to inform you."

Hearing that Shopkeeper Liu's son had been caught, Zhou Yi's interest was immediately piqued. He said to the constable, "Can I go take a look?"

"Of course, sir. I'll take you there." After speaking, the constable came before Zhou Yi and led the way for him.

The two arrived at the yamen. As though he had known Zhou Yi would come, Li Yuanfang had been waiting outside the yamen early on.

Upon seeing Zhou Yi, Li Yuanfang warmly came forward. "We haven't interrogated Shopkeeper Liu's son yet. If not for you, sir, we wouldn't have known that Shopkeeper Liu actually had a son. He hid him deep indeed."

"I merely stumbled upon it by chance," Zhou Yi said with a smile.

"Then I'll take you to see Shopkeeper Liu's son. We can interrogate him together while we're at it." After speaking, Li Yuanfang watched Zhou Yi's expression. Once he saw Zhou Yi nod, he immediately walked ahead of him to lead the way.

Seeing him guide the way in exactly the same manner as Zhang San, Zhou Yi could not help but sigh inwardly. Like superior, like subordinate.

Upon entering the yamen prison, they saw a fat man bound in chains. Fierce glints flashed in the fat man's eyes from time to time.

Before even being interrogated, the fat man was already covered in wounds. The constables had clearly done it. After all, the whole affair had begun with him, and the constables could not swallow this anger.

When the fat man saw the constables who had tortured him bring in a young man—and treat that young man with considerable respect—he thought his father had sent someone to rescue him. He immediately shouted at Zhou Yi, "Why did you only come now? Hurry and get me out! Once I'm back, I won't let my father treat you poorly!!!"

The moment the fat man finished speaking, the constables throughout the prison burst into laughter. Even Zhou Yi was amused by him.

It seemed this fellow still did not know that his father was already dead. These constables had probably been too busy torturing him to tell him that his father was gone.

The smile on Zhou Yi's face gradually vanished. When the constables beside him saw his smile disappear, they immediately fell silent as well.

The fat man also sensed that something was wrong. Looking at Zhou Yi's gloomy expression, a chill rose in his heart.

Li Yuanfang, standing to the side, stepped forward and said to Zhou Yi, "Sir, at first we didn't know whether this fellow was Shopkeeper Liu's son. But who would have thought that after losing badly at the gambling house, he actually tried to take back the money he had lost."

"The people at the gambling house are no good sort. They immediately gave him a beating, and one of my subordinates happened to see it while on patrol. After asking around, we learned that this fellow was Shopkeeper Liu's son, so we brought him back."

"Oh, so the wounds on him weren't inflicted by you?" Zhou Yi asked Li Yuanfang.

"Sir, we only chained him up. We did not lay a hand on him," Li Yuanfang replied.

Only then did Zhou Yi turn to the chained fat man and ask, "Are you Shopkeeper Liu, Liu Yuantong's son?"

Looking at the person before him and realizing that this man had not been sent by his father to save him, the fat man was frightened but still forced himself to be bold. "That's right. My father is the renowned Shopkeeper Liu. You'd better release me quickly. My father knows important figures in the Patrol Team."

The constables nearly laughed aloud when they heard this, but seeing Zhou Yi's calm expression, they forcibly held it back.

After hearing the fat man's words, Zhou Yi merely gave him a cold glance before asking, "Are you really Shopkeeper Liu's son?"

Though Zhou Yi had only glanced at him, the fat man felt as though a man-eating beast had fixed its gaze upon him. Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead, and he answered Zhou Yi's question in a trembling voice, "Y-yes."

"What is your name?" Zhou Yi continued.

"Ping An..." the fat man answered.

Li Yuanfang beside him stepped forward and shouted, "Your father's surname is Liu, so why is your surname Ping?"

Startled by Li Yuanfang, the fat man still obediently said, "My father made me change my surname. He said it was to protect me."

"Then your name should be Liu An, not Ping An," Li Yuanfang said.

Zhou Yi nodded and did not pursue the matter further. Instead, he continued, "Why did you harm Jiang Yu'er?"

Upon hearing this subject, Liu An's eyes darted about as he said, "Jiang Yu'er? What Jiang Yu'er?"

Before his words had even faded, Zhou Yi slapped Liu An across the face. Though Zhou Yi had held back most of his strength, he was still a Vitality Realm martial artist. Liu An's left cheek swelled at a visible rate, and two teeth flew out.

Liu An wanted to cover his mouth with his hand, but his arms were bound by chains and could not move. He could only curse wildly, "You dare hit me? My father won't let you off..."

Before Liu An could finish, Zhou Yi slapped the fat man's right cheek again. Afterward, Zhou Yi quietly looked at Liu An and said, "I will not ask a third time. Speak. What happened to Jiang Yu'er?"

Liu An's scalp crawled beneath Zhou Yi's gaze, yet his mouth still involuntarily said, "What?"

Liu An had originally intended to keep denying that he knew Jiang Yu'er, but when he saw Zhou Yi's hand already resting on his blade, he immediately changed his words. "I only know Jiang Yu'er. I didn't harm her."

A flash of blade-light passed, and an arm fell to the ground. Liu An immediately began howling in the prison.

The constables nearby were no longer surprised. Who among those who came from the Patrol Team was not ruthless? Especially this man. The constables had not forgotten how Zhou Yi had beaten the ghost infant to death with his fists last time.

"One last chance," Zhou Yi said.

Upon hearing Zhou Yi's words amid his howls, Liu An's face turned savage. He roared at Zhou Yi, "That's right! It was her good fortune that I took a liking to that bitch! She was just a village woman. After I had my fun with her, I even gave her a hundred taels of silver!"

By then, Zhou Yi had no desire to continue the interrogation. He turned to Li Yuanfang and said, "Just keep him alive. The rest is up to you."

Zhou Yi still wanted to use Liu An to verify whether the Red and White Fiends were as he had guessed. If they were, perhaps there would be no need to seek aid from Luoshi City this time.