Keep It Down! Don't Disturb Daoist Master Fan!

Fan Wu returned to the inn completely unscathed.

The waiter at the inn had already crawled under a table. He was trembling in terror and didn't dare come out.

The air was thick with a foul stench.

He had wet himself again.

The innkeeper, who had fainted earlier, still hadn't woken up. He continued lying motionless on the floor.

Perhaps he was relatively lucky. At least he hadn't seen so many evil ghosts just now.

He wouldn't be left with any psychological trauma.

The Heavenly Mechanism Coffin, the source of all this trouble, also lay quietly inside the inn. It looked very well-behaved and didn't move again.

Fan Wu wasn't particularly interested in it. After giving it a glance, he paid it no more attention.

He returned to his room.

He planned to get some proper rest.

He wasn't physically tired.

But he was tired at heart!

When his con-artist master had been alive, Fan Wu hadn't learned any genuine skills, but at least he hadn't encountered any demons or monsters.

But after that con-artist master died, Fan Wu felt as though he had turned into a magnet—one that only attracted demons and monsters!

Wherever he went, he ran into ghosts!

If he hadn't shed countless drops of sweat and put in endless effort, enduring immeasurable hardship and toil to finally attain his current considerable strength... he would have kicked the bucket long ago!

The stat-allocation system? Just icing on the cake!

Ahem!

Shamelessly crediting himself with all the achievements, Fan Wu flopped down onto the bed.

Apart from the unconscious innkeeper, Fan Wu was the only person in the inn who wasn't wound tight. Perhaps it was because of his formidable strength, which left him completely without a sense of tension.

So...

He fell asleep!

Outside the inn, Shen Jiyue and Xie Jiuyi began handling the aftermath. Too many evil ghosts had lingered here earlier, and quite a lot of yin energy still remained.

They needed to "cleanse" the area before it could stop harming ordinary people.

If they didn't deal with it, ordinary people passing through this place would definitely run into trouble.

If some frail, sickly person happened to pass through...

They might not even make it out of Willow Alley before having to be carried away on a stretcher, with a full-service funeral arranged for them afterward.

To prevent such a thing from happening, the Imperial Astronomy Bureau had to handle it properly.

Of course...

Shen Jiyue had probably guessed that Daoist Master Fan wanted to rest, so while cleansing the area, she did her best not to make too much noise.

She was being exceptionally cautious.

Her will to survive was incredibly strong!

Not long afterward... other people arrived in Willow Alley.

They weren't outsiders, but members of the Baihe County branch of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau!

After the barrier of the Ghost Groom and Ghost Bride had been broken, the disturbances from this place and the astonishing fluctuations of yin energy had been far too difficult for these cultivators to conceal from.

"Squad Leader?"

"Lieutenant Xie?"

After a group of Imperial Astronomy Bureau members arrived here on high alert, they discovered that two familiar faces had already reached the scene.

One was their immediate superior—Shen Jiyue!

The other was an Imperial Astronomy Bureau Lieutenant from elsewhere—Xie Jiuyi!

"You lot arrived at just the right time." When Shen Jiyue saw them, she lowered her voice slightly and said, "Split off a few people to disperse all the yin energy in Willow Alley. The remaining two will follow Xie Jiuyi and me and help transport the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin back."

These people were all Shen Jiyue's subordinates, and she showed no courtesy whatsoever when ordering them around.

"My lord... what happened here?" One of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau members couldn't help asking curiously. "How did the ground end up shattered like this? It looks... it looks as though this place just went through an intense battle."

"Shh! Keep it down! Don't disturb Daoist Master Fan!" Shen Jiyue glared at him through clenched teeth before replying in a low voice, "There was indeed a battle. I'll tell you the details when we return... In short, everything is fine for now, and the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin has been recovered too."

The Imperial Astronomy Bureau members all wore blank expressions. It wasn't even the middle of the night, so what was wrong with speaking a little louder?

Why did their superior seem so strange today?

And besides...

Who was Daoist Master Fan?

A Daoist Master?

A Daoist priest?

But Shen Jiyue was their immediate superior. Even with countless question marks rising in their minds, they could only obey her orders, keep their mouths shut, and quietly get to work.

Time.

Moved on to the next day.

Early morning.

After going through such an ordeal, the waiter hadn't dared return home all night, nor had he dared sleep all night!

With dark circles under his eyes, he was yawning incessantly.

Just then, he seemed to hear some movement. Like a startled bird, he jumped in fright.

He turned around.

And saw...

It wasn't a ghost.

It was Fan Wu!

"D... Daoist Master? Daoist Master, you're awake!" The waiter patted his own face, trying to clear his head.

Then he put on an incomparably fawning and obsequious expression. "Daoist Master, would you like me to heat up a basin of warm water for you to wash up with? Should I call the cook over early to prepare your meal?"

His cringing, ingratiating manner made it look as though he were serving some grand lord.

And that was exactly how Fan Wu appeared in his eyes—a grand lord.

After all, this was a Daoist Master who could kill ghosts!!

Although he hadn't dared go outside to watch Fan Wu's mighty display of ferocity last night...

He had still heard the commotion outside loud and clear.

The waiter could more or less imagine just how fierce Fan Wu had been the previous night.

Because...

When he heard those ghosts and monsters screaming, his heart and liver had trembled!

A Daoist Master with such overwhelming strength...

How could he not want to curry favor with him?

"No need." Fan Wu's reply consisted of only two simple words.

Because Fan Wu no longer wanted to remain in Baihe County.

Shen Jiyue.

Xie Jiuyi.

The Heavenly Mechanism Coffin.

The two people and one strange object together were practically a machine for attracting trouble.

Fan Wu felt that if he stayed in Baihe County for even one more day...

He would probably end up in the same situation as before, back in Prison Dragon County.

Wouldn't that mean he had gone all that way for nothing?

So.

He decided that this very morning...

He would leave Baihe County!

Wearing a Daoist robe and carrying the Demon-Slaying Sword on his back, Fan Wu came to the rear of the inn. There, the Old Green Ox he had brought out of the Dragon-Imprisoning Monastery was leisurely munching on fodder.

Fan Wu tapped it on the back with his scabbard. Without caring whether the Old Green Ox understood him, he said, "Time to get back on the road."

The Old Green Ox mooed, hurriedly lowered its head to take a few more bites of fodder, and then followed closely behind Fan Wu.

One man.

One ox.

They left Baihe County.

As he walked, Fan Wu pulled out the letter his con-artist master had given him before his death.

To be honest.

He had carried this letter on him for quite a few days, but he hadn't opened it even once.

"Tsk... I'd better not read it. Who knows what kind of nauseating father-daughter talk is in there." Fan Wu shook his head as the low walls of Baihe County behind him receded farther and farther into the distance.

Beneath the low city walls, several yamen runners from Baihe County were also secretly watching his departing back.

After watching Fan Wu's figure finally move far away from Baihe County and disappear from sight...

One of the older yamen runners breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "That fellow finally left Baihe County. Although he was only here for a short while, I just had a feeling that if he stayed any longer, Baihe County would sooner or later see some kind of string of murders."

"After all, that fellow looks... like some kind of bloodthirsty madman who kills without batting an eye..."

"But..."

A puzzled look flashed across the old yamen runner's face. "The direction he went in feels strangely familiar."

"What place is that again..."

"Hm?!"

"That road isn't..."

"Hiss!!"