Golden Finger

At dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the courtyard, draping everything in a faint golden hue.

Xia Qi'an and Xiao Cao sat before the stone table, enjoying a peaceful dinner.

On the stone table sat a plate of pickles, three steamed buns, and two bowls of thin rice porridge—simple and plain.

This month, Xia Qi'an had needed to consume large amounts of meat to practice martial arts, and his expenses had flowed away like water.

The original fifty taels of silver he had possessed were now almost gone.

Once his entry into the Wei Dao Si was confirmed, he would have to find a way to earn some silver.

Otherwise, in a few days, his family would have nothing left to cook.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle."

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the elm tree beside the courtyard.

Xia Qi'an looked up and saw a slender, short-haired woman standing on a branch, sizing him up.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties. She wore a strange smiling mask over her face, concealing her features.

"Little brother... I was wondering when you'd finally notice me!"

Seeing that Xia Qi'an had failed to spot her all this time, the woman couldn't resist deliberately making a little noise.

"Um... Sister... are you a Snake Guard of the Wei Dao Si?"

Xia Qi'an had actually spotted her long ago.

With Crimson Pupils, the qi and blood of martial artists looked to him like blazing furnaces.

It was difficult for him not to see them.

But Xia Qi'an did not want to reveal his special ability for now, so he simply pretended not to have noticed her.

"Sister, have you eaten dinner? Would you like to come down and eat with us?"

The woman gently shook her head and replied with a tactful smile, "No... no... Your household's food is too poor. I wouldn't be able to stomach it!"

"Hehe!"

Xia An laughed awkwardly twice, unsure how to respond.

"I came on Lord Chu's orders to assess you!"

The woman abruptly changed the subject and got straight to the point.

Xia Qi'an immediately asked, "If I want to officially join the Wei Dao Si, what procedures do I still need to go through?"

"You currently count as a candidate of the Wei Dao Si. To become an official member, you must pass an internal examination and selection!"

"However, before that, I should introduce you to the Wei Dao Si's organizational structure!"

"The Wei Dao Si is divided into four divisions: the Kirin, Tiger, Hound, and Snake divisions."

"Newly recruited martial artists are usually assigned under the Hound Guard or Snake Guard according to their cultivation, specialties, and so on.

The duties of the Hound Guard are quite similar to those of constables in secular dynasties. They are public law enforcers and must possess considerable martial strength.

The Snake Guard, meanwhile, specializes in all sorts of unorthodox arts: hidden weapons, poisons, medicine, sorcery, commerce, and more. Talents in these fields are generally assigned to the Snake Guard, which is mostly responsible for gathering intelligence."

Thus, the Hound Guard and Snake Guard were also the Wei Dao Si's largest divisions.

The Tiger Guard consisted of personnel devoted solely to combat, specializing in dealing with powerful monsters and demons.

However, the Tiger Guard was also selected from among the Hound Guard and Snake Guard. It held the authority to dispatch both divisions.

The Kirin Guard commanded all Wei Dao Si members within an entire province, including the Tiger, Hound, and Snake Guards.

It was the highest authority of the Wei Dao Si in that province.

Seeing that Xia An was listening intently, the woman asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

"Are martial arts techniques and cultivation resources provided?"

That was all Xia Qi'an cared about at the moment.

The woman was not surprised. Most martial artists joined the Wei Dao Si for precisely those things. She answered, "Of course! You only need to complete the missions issued by the Wei Dao Si, earn contribution points, and exchange them for techniques and cultivation resources."

"Understood."

Xia Qi'an nodded.

"Any other questions?" the woman continued.

"When does my examination begin? And what does it involve?"

"This examination is also your first official mission! Upon completion, you'll receive a corresponding reward in merit points!"

"Ten li south of the city, there is a haunted house. Our investigation found four Fierce Ghosts occupying it. You must go there and eliminate them." With that, the woman tossed Xia Qi'an a scroll and a mission token.

The scroll contained detailed information on the haunted house and the origins of the Fierce Ghosts.

"After completing the mission, report my name at the Wei Dao Si branch, and I will come verify it myself! My name is Liu Qing!"

"Becoming a member of the Wei Dao Si is hardly a cushy job! Missions where you face nine deaths and one life are commonplace! Take care of yourself..."

With that, Liu Qing stepped backward, seeming to melt into the darkness before vanishing without a trace.

She must have left just like that.

At noon the next day, the sunlight was at its fiercest.

After hurriedly eating lunch, Xia Qi'an rushed nonstop toward the haunted house south of the city. To be safe, he had deliberately chosen noon, when yang qi was at its strongest.

After all, he had no experience dealing with the eerie and truly had no confidence.

Thus, he had spent the entire night preparing black-dog blood, virgin's urine, a black donkey's hoof, glutinous rice, and other items, seeking peace of mind.

However, when Xia Qi'an saw the dilapidated haunted house, he could not help stopping in his tracks.

In his eyes, black qi poured endlessly from the house. Its resentment soared into the heavens, as if it might tear the roof clean off.

The sight made the unease in his heart grow even stronger.

According to the mission scroll, this house had originally been the private summer residence of Steward Wang.

Several years ago, all four members of the family had mysteriously hanged themselves overnight.

A few days ago, two habitual thieves had trespassed inside. One had his organs ripped out by a Fierce Ghost, while the other's intestines spilled all over the ground. He had only been discovered after struggling out of the estate.

That was how Xia Qi'an had come to receive this examination mission.

Xia Qi'an drew several deep breaths before swaggering into the house.

With Crimson Pupils supporting him, he had already gotten a clear picture of the house's situation.

Even through the buildings, he could clearly see the four wandering ghosts drifting beneath the roof beams.

The world in his eyes was like playing a game with x-ray vision enabled; everything lay within his grasp.

Precisely because of this, he had the confidence to enter the house so brazenly.

When he reached the entrance to the inner residence, Xia Qi'an shoved open the gates. Holding a bucket of black-dog blood in his left hand and a ladle in his right, he splashed it toward the four directions like falling rain.

"Ah!"

In an instant, the formerly deathly silent house erupted with ghostly wails and wolfish howls, followed by several successive, shrill screams.

Xia Qi'an clearly saw the black-dog blood splash onto the Fierce Ghosts, burning them until black smoke sizzled from their bodies.

The methods Fierce Ghosts used to harm people were nothing more than frightening them first, exhausting their minds and spirits, then taking advantage of their weakness to claim their lives.

But those methods were utterly useless against Xia Qi'an, because he could see them from the very beginning and naturally would not be frightened.

However, although black-dog blood restrained Fierce Ghosts, it could not kill them.

Therefore, Xia Qi'an still needed to find another method.

Fortunately, he had prepared thoroughly, and the remaining virgin's urine and glutinous rice also came in handy.

In any case, weakening the strength of the four Fierce Ghosts first was always beneficial.

When martial artists fought the eerie, they relied mainly on their own qi and blood.

Monsters and the eerie were all born from Turbid Qi.

Only by relying on a martial artist's own qi and blood to disperse the Turbid Qi could they be destroyed.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Xia Qi'an immediately activated his own qi and blood.

He swung his fists, glowing with a faint golden light, and hammered them down like a storm of wind and rain upon the Fierce Ghost that the virgin's urine had driven into a corner.

"Pfft!"

His fist landed solidly in the ghost's face.

With a single punch, the elderly-looking hanged ghost was smashed apart, transforming into a mass of Turbid Qi that dispersed.

Yet this mass of Turbid Qi did not vanish. Instead, it was drawn toward Xia Qi'an's eyes and sucked into his pupils like a giant whale drawing in water.

The sudden change left Xia Qi'an utterly astonished.

His eyes could actually absorb Turbid Qi. He had no idea whether this was a blessing or a disaster!

But facts proved that his worry was unnecessary.

After absorbing the Turbid Qi, Crimson Pupils transformed that filthy energy into pure qi and blood.

In the blink of an eye, his blood qi surged wildly like a roaring, swelling tide. The amount it increased by was at least equal to several months of arduous cultivation.

Such an heaven-defying ability filled Xia Qi'an with wild delight.

Could it be that as long as he kept killing monsters and absorbing Turbid Qi, he could rapidly raise his martial arts realm?