Without Worldly Desires

Yu Ziqing struck true, instantly killing one of the strongmen.

A scorching force erupted within his body, his Blood Essence surging like a great river, and the external chill seemed to vanish entirely.

He took a light breath, his gaze sweeping over the remaining three. The moment his boiling Blood Essence burst forth, the dust beneath his feet barely stirred before his figure had already shot several zhang, charging straight at them.

The Scar-faced Man let out a harsh shout, opened his mouth, and spat out a cloud of black mist. Accompanied by the rustling sound of flying insects, it hurtled toward Yu Ziqing.

But Yu Ziqing's expression remained blank. The information he had gathered earlier surfaced naturally in his mind. The instant his opponent moved, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of scalding blood, which shot forth like a sharp arrow.

The blood arrow plunged into the black mist, immediately producing a sizzling sound. Before his body even arrived, the short sword in his hand flew out, turning into a streak of silver light that vanished into the mist.

Yu Ziqing's form followed close behind. In the blink of an eye, the black mist roiled and parted to both sides. He gripped the short sword, pulling it from the Scar-faced Man's mouth, and moved like a hunting leopard, charging toward the other two.

Within a few short breaths, four corpses lay on the ground.

Last night, he had already gathered the necessary information on all four men. The short sword and scabbard, originally rusted together, now showed a sliver of a gap at their junction—a sign that some of the old rust had flaked away, also indicating that the judgment had been completed.

As long as he struck, he was sure to take them down.

Yu Ziqing held the short sword, hesitated briefly, then stepped forward to finish each one with a final blow.

These fellows were eerily dangerous; who knew what sinister arts they might still have up their sleeves.

Based on what he had overheard when these men chatted in their guttural dialect, occasionally mentioning others and the "fun" they had, he recalled some tales.

Some evil cultivator had been killed, then subjected to certain measures until his soul and body were utterly destroyed. That was why certain places had become off-limits in recent years.

From these scattered bits, Yu Ziqing had summarized the most common methods to root out the threat completely and avoid any "I'll haunt you even as a ghost" tricks.

Sever the head and burn it separately; dig out the heart and feed it to a ferocious beast; cut the body in half and suppress it between two riverbanks; pierce the three vital cavities and seal the coffin with talismans...

After a full set of these, there was basically no chance of even becoming a Ghostly being.

On the other hand, simply burying them or cremating them outright, due to the dense resentment, actually increased the likelihood of them turning into Fierce Ghosts or evil spirits. There had even been cases where incomplete disposal allowed the resentment itself to gain consciousness and turn into a demonic entity seeking revenge.

So what was there to hesitate about? Yu Ziqing, given the resources at hand, gave these fellows as thorough a treatment as possible.

A moment later, using the oil he had scavenged, he lit two piles of fire and casually tossed in the severed hair, black whips, and other sinister items to burn alongside them.

Before he could finish sorting the rest, the blazing sun-like Blood Essence surging through Yu Ziqing's body rapidly faded and dissipated with a passing breeze. In an instant, he returned to his original state.

His frame was gaunt, his cheeks sunken, his back seemingly too weak to straighten. The biting wind around him seemed to materialize out of thin air, making him shiver.

The silver short sword, which had radiated a piercing chill, also reverted to its original form.

The blade and scabbard were now completely rusted together, signifying that there was no longer a target to draw the sword against.

Everything he had just felt seemed like an illusion, except for the memory of that power flowing as naturally as instinct, which had yet to fade.

"Cough..."

Yu Ziqing let out a light cough, moved away from the stinking, scorched bonfires, and gathered the portable loot into a cloth bag, which he tucked into his robe.

Rounding the foot of the mountain to the other side, the Long-haired Ox was still lying on the ground, waiting for the night to pass. Over a hundred goats huddled together in the hollow, shivering to keep warm.

Other than that, not a single living person was in sight...

Seeing Yu Ziqing approach, a scrawny, skin-and-bones old goat squeezed out of the herd, trotted up to him, raised its head, and bleated urgently.

Yu Ziqing crouched down, pulled at the corners of his mouth to reveal a bright smile, his face full of innocence.

"Old sir, you didn't expect me to survive, did you? It's fine. Just as those sinister fellows were about to strike, a master suddenly appeared...

Uh, the kind that whooshes down from the sky, radiating light—a super master. He killed those four with a single finger, then whooshed away again."

The old goat's eyes widened, growing more anxious, clearly not buying Yu Ziqing's nonsense.

Yu Ziqing laughed heartily, his expression turning serious.

"Fine, I made that up. Actually, I have a special ability. I didn't want to reveal it, but pushed to the limit, it suddenly awakened and erupted, briefly turning me into a great master. My Blood Essence was like a dragon, impervious to all evil.

Those sinister fellows couldn't touch me at all. I killed them one by one with my sword, like slaughtering chicks. I casually chopped all four of them down."

Before the old goat could respond, Yu Ziqing led it around the mountain bend and let it see for itself the two still-burning bonfires.

Vaguely, the burning corpses were visible inside the flames. The arms of those corpses were nearly as thick as Yu Ziqing's waist—who else could they be but the four strongmen?

The old goat looked dazed. Now, it had no choice but to believe.

It settled for the story of a passing master conveniently slaying the evil-doers, since that was at least somewhat plausible.

This wilderness bordered the northwest of Great Qian. A major disaster had struck here, and it was hard to say if anyone from elsewhere could arrive so quickly, but Great Qian would definitely send someone to investigate and gather firsthand intelligence.

And the first to arrive wouldn't be weaklings. A master killing evil cultivators along the way was a reasonable explanation.

As for the claim that Yu Ziqing had done it himself—with his skinny arms and legs and his depleted Blood Essence—the old goat never even considered the possibility.

The short sword Yu Ziqing wore at his waist for show was so rusted it was barely recognizable, and there wasn't even a trace of blood on it. Killing people with that? Ridiculous.

This young man was fine in other ways, but he always loved to spout nonsense. Earlier, he had even boasted that in his hometown, no one ever starved, and everyone had eaten meat.

The old goat came back to its senses and sighed inwardly again. Such a good young man—what a pity he wasn't mute.

Yu Ziqing rambled a bit more, and seeing that the old goat had calmed down, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

To be honest, unless absolutely necessary—even if he was confident he could kill—he hadn't planned on taking out those evil strongmen just yet.

Those evil fellows thought Yu Ziqing couldn't understand their guttural dialect, so they never bothered to speak behind his back. Or more likely, they simply didn't care.

Over half of Yu Ziqing's current intelligence had been pieced together from bits of eavesdropping day by day. As for the details of that Jinlan Mine, even the few strongmen rarely spoke of it—they were always tight-lipped, unwilling to discuss it in depth.

It was only because they needed scarce goods like Jinlan Ore, and the mine needed the people they brought, that they would go to that so-called mine.

If there had been any other choice, Yu Ziqing wouldn't have wanted to go to a mine that, by any stretch of the imagination, was clearly no good place.

After all, would a legitimate mine do business with evil human traffickers?

Unfortunately, there was no other choice. Supplies were down to almost nothing.

Even if he was eaten, even if he was killed, it was still better than starving or dying of thirst in this wilderness. There was always a chance to fight.

At the very least, a person shouldn't starve to death.

Now that those strongmen were gone, the mine, so close at hand, still had to be visited—but the variables had multiplied out of nowhere.

There was no regret in what he'd done. Yu Ziqing certainly couldn't have held back and let himself be slaughtered, nor could he have watched the old gentleman who had taught him so much be hung up and carved like meat.

Old Yang seemed to see Yu Ziqing's worry. He stretched out a hoof and nudged him.

"It's fine. That mine isn't far now. When dawn comes, we'll head over and survive first. But, old sir, you're afflicted by that evil technique—it won't be easy to undo anytime soon."

Old Yang shook his head, quite open-minded, not dwelling on his current form.

"It's not that it can't be undone. It's just that you've been cursed for a long time, and I don't know those people's evil arts. As far as I know, the simplest way is to strip off the sheepskin entirely to break the spell. But in your current state, even the best butcher wouldn't be able to bear the pain of flaying."

"When we get there, I'll find a way to fill our bellies and let us recover a bit first."

Old Yang pointed toward the mine, then at himself, and scratched the character "eat" into the ground before wiping it away.

Yu Ziqing thought it over, caught the meaning, and nodded.

"Right. These people use evil arts to kidnap people. With all that effort, they can't just be after fresh mutton. If you ask me, it's more about convenience for transport and concealment. Once we're there, there might be a way to break the curse."

The night passed without a word.

Daylight came, but the temperature barely rose. The weather was growing colder and colder.

Yu Ziqing was frozen stiff all over. He got up, boiled some water, soaked a rock-hard dried flatbread, and ate it. After half an hour, he finally felt a bit of warmth.

See, that was another reason he hadn't been in a hurry to take out those strongmen earlier—having four human furnaces around was a lot better.

From his meager spoils, Yu Ziqing set aside a portion and quietly buried it under a pile of rocks. It never hurt to have a backup plan.

Full daylight arrived. Under the dim sunlight, the group set off again. The sheep followed dazedly behind. The distant mountains grew closer, and once they entered the chain of peaks, the temperature suddenly rose a little.

Yu Ziqing's spirits lifted. He quickly climbed a hilltop, scanned the surroundings, and searched the valley for a while.

"Old sir, from what I can see, these mountains surround us like a closed whole. There seems to be geothermal heat underground. That's probably why the mine here still has people active."

Just entering the mountains, he got a rare piece of good news. In this increasingly freezing hellish weather, a warm place was a godsend.

But as the group followed a faint path through the mountains and crossed three peaks, Yu Ziqing began to feel something was off.

There was actually green here.

On either side were slopes. The left slope had a few scattered dead, stunted trees, topped by a protruding cliff, behind which lay a bottomless ravine.

The right slope was neatly covered in locust trees, lush with leaves and clusters of gray flowers hanging down, with a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground.

From a distance, the whole grove looked like soldiers standing in formation.

Yu Ziqing frowned slightly. Logically, even if the mountains were a bit warmer, these trees should have shed all their leaves by now, let alone still be blooming.

Even if the natural conditions allowed it, how could there be no sign of the leaves or flowers being nibbled? Hadn't any fleeing animals passed through here?

Before Yu Ziqing could think further, the sheep behind him stirred into chaos. One by one, the dazed, skin-and-bone goats spotted the branches and blossoms hanging nearly to the ground and bolted straight for the right slope.

"Go ahead and die, then."

Yu Ziqing stood still and warned them.

Some goats seemed to understand, hesitating and not daring to approach. But a few, as if mad, charged up and began devouring leaves and flowers.

Yet nothing happened.

Only cheerful bleats mixed with crunching sounds echoed back and forth.

Seeing those goats unharmed, their hollow bellies visibly swelling, more sheep in the herd couldn't resist and rushed up to join them.

After a while, the goats that had eaten their fill stopped, satisfied, and collapsed under the trees, their faces almost wearing blissful smiles.

And at that moment, their bodies slowly sank into the fallen leaves on the ground. The leaves, like quicksand, swallowed them bit by bit.

In just a few breaths, all was calm again.

The remaining goats, still not full, acted as if they'd seen nothing, contentedly munching on leaves and flowers.

Everything looked harmonious—but Yu Ziqing's hairs were standing on end.

He grabbed Old Yang, who was already dazed, and dragged him away from the locust grove, pulling him along the path through the middle of the valley to keep moving forward.

Just then, on the left slope with only sparse dead trees, a young woman in a long robe slowly materialized from behind a withered trunk.

She poked her head out from behind the tree, her eyes carrying a hint of urgency. She glanced at the sheep and waved at Yu Ziqing.

"This way. That side's dangerous."

Yu Ziqing tilted his head to look, then lowered his voice to Old Yang.

"Old sir, do you think this woman who suddenly popped up is taking me for a fool?"

Old Yang looked right, then left, and nodded seriously at Yu Ziqing.

Yu Ziqing sighed and tightened the tattered cloak around himself.

He stared hard at the woman, sweeping his gaze over her. In weather cold enough to freeze a man to death, she wore a thin, somewhat torn long gown. By the old sir's standards, if this were a bustling place, she'd definitely catch the eye of quite a few old perverts.

"Sister, stop posing. In this damn weather, nobody's got any worldly desires left."

With that, Yu Ziqing prepared to step onto the middle path and continue forward.

He didn't want to take either side—both were definitely bad places.

One side was deathly still, the other definitely wasn't human.

But the next moment, just as Yu Ziqing's foot was about to land, his gaze unconsciously flickered. He saw the woman still wearing that same anxious, blocking expression, her movements looping like a replay, and his heart suddenly lurched.

Damn, he'd been tricked.

This thing wanted him to take the middle path.

The contract hasn't arrived yet; probably in a couple of days the status will change.