Red and White Encounter, Evil Upon Evil

Xiao He's carriage arrived at the Xu Residence, where an old servant was already waiting. The horse and carriage were prepared, and offerings like candles and paper money were all ready.

This suited Xiao He's intentions perfectly. Visiting a grave, especially one passing by a mass grave, was bound to bring bad luck. He couldn't use his own carriage to avoid bringing the misfortune home.

It would be even more unlucky to bring a female ghost home.

Xiang Yuan pouted, "Xiao Sishi, don't you like female ghosts? Why are you chickening out?"

"When did I ever say I liked female ghosts? Don't spout nonsense."

Xiao He said righteously, but whispered that female ghosts were common, but Widow Wang was not.

Fine, he's just afraid of meeting ugly ghosts!

As reminded by Xiao He, Xiang Yuan recalled that there might be ghosts appearing in the mass grave. He went into the house and took out Wang Wenxu's calligraphy, just in case.

Being cautious would never hurt.

As the horizontal scroll entered his hand, Xiang Yuan felt a sense of lightness. The weight was still the same as last night, but something felt missing, though he couldn't pinpoint what.

Curiously, he unrolled the scroll. The four characters "People Have Intentions" remained unchanged, their strokes vigorous – it was Wang Wenxu's genuine work, not a fake.

"Strange..."

Xiang Yuan was bewildered and went outside to board the carriage.

The Xu Residence only had one old servant who was too frail to drive. Xu Jixian had him stay behind to prepare food and personally drove the carriage carrying Xiao He and Xiang Yuan to the south of the city.

Fearing Xiao He's harassment, Xiang Yuan proactively offered to switch, wanting to drive the carriage himself while Xu and Xiao chatted inside as usual.

Xiao He stopped him.

"Little Yuan Ge, don't be shy. Brother Xu is grateful you saved his life, so this is the least he can do."

Is there a possibility that I'm annoyed by you?

Xiang Yuan looked at Xiao He expressionlessly, hoping the other party would get the hint. It didn't go well; Xiao He had an incredibly thick skin, and whether he understood or not, he remained a comical chatterbox.

"I'll tell you a secret, don't let Brother Xu hear."

Xiao He leaned against the paper money and said loudly, "Actually, he and I discussed it last night. To repay your life-saving grace, he offered to pay out of his own pocket for you to study at the academy. Otherwise, given his personality, he would have taken leave early this morning under the pretense of visiting the grave. Why bother rushing around, going from the west of the city to the south, for fear of missing the city gate closing time?"

Xiang Yuan suddenly understood. Xu Jixian was indeed loyal, handling the enrollment matters himself, and most likely had knelt down to beg Wang Wenxu.

Meeting for only a day, yet showing such loyalty and repaying kindness – he was a friend worth befriending.

Outside the curtain, Xu Jixian let out a couple of hums, showing embarrassment at being exposed.

Imagining that dark-faced man blushing slightly, feigning shyness, Xiang Yuan shuddered and took out the horizontal scroll to change the subject: "Xiao Sishi, you're well-traveled, take a look at this calligraphy. Is something missing?"

"It's 'F*ck everyone,' not a single person is spared. Uh, no, not a single character is missing."

"I think it feels lighter."

"Oh, I understand now. You're talking about the Vast Righteous Qi. It was depleted during the ghost-extermination last night, hence it's a bit lighter."

Xiao He explained seriously, "This is a common trick for scholars to make money. Think about it, if you have no money, you need to earn it. If you have no time to study while earning money, then in the long run, are scholars still scholars? To find a way to earn money, they infuse some Vast Righteous Qi when writing for people..."

"It's like those monks. They give you a good treasure, and only after you use it and understand its methods, will they be willing to spend a lot of money to gild the Buddha."

Is this a VIP trial period? Did I actually wear it or not?

Xiang Yuan didn't believe it. He translated Xiao He's rambling and quickly understood the reason.

Simply put, the calligraphy wasn't a magic treasure, and Wang Wenxu wasn't a living sage. How much Vast Righteous Qi could be infused with a casual stroke? It was reasonable for some to be consumed when encountering ghosts.

Xiang Yuan regretfully put away the horizontal scroll. It couldn't be recharged; it was used up once.

Fortunately, the problem wasn't too big. He had gained Wang Wenxu's favor. If he studied diligently in the future, he could ask the teacher for hundreds more paintings and calligraphy pieces for self-defense.

South of the city, the mass grave.

A slope to the east, a pit to the west. Although there was no chilling wind, occasionally, bare bones could be seen emerging from the soil, glaring in the sunlight.

Crows circled overhead, and wild dogs roamed the surroundings. Perhaps due to the heavy yin energy, apart from a few rows of crooked dead branches and old trees, insect chirps were absent, and not a single blade of grass could be found.

Xu Jixian stopped the carriage and told Xiao He to hurry up, lest he delay the Xu family ancestors queuing for money.

Xiao He jumped off the carriage, clutching a handful of yellow paper. He scattered it as he went, muttering apologies and prayers for disturbing the spirits, then happily began searching around the dead trees.

He obtained a divine sword from the Yin soldiers, its hilt black and its blade straight. He was overjoyed.

"A true man should wield this sword, slay demons and devils, and achieve unparalleled merit!"

"..."

Xiang Yuan looked at the scene expressionlessly. He saw someone approaching from a distance and exclaimed in surprise, then walked over quickly.

"Old Liu, why are you here?"

"I should be the one asking, how come you're everywhere?"

Old Liu had a new partner today, also an old hand from the yamen.

The yamen was a small forest with many old trees. These old birds were all shrewd individuals who knew Xiang Yuan had found a powerful backer. They happily cupped their fists in greeting.

Xiang Yuan, everyone has heard of your good fortune.

He's hardly a big shot; Wang Wenxu is more like it.

Xiang Yuan ignored Xiao He, who was brandishing his 'divine sword,' and turned to the young constable accompanying them. Like him, the constable had trained at a martial arts school and had arrived in Fengxian County together. If he remembered correctly, his name was Ma Zhengdao.

At this moment, Ma Zhengdao looked on with envy. They came from similar backgrounds, yet some were still struggling at the bottom while others became lackeys for the Crown Prince. The disparity was truly lamentable.

Ma Zhengdao didn't approach Xiang Yuan proactively. The young man was shy and felt a thick barrier between himself and Xiang Yuan. He pursed his lips and nodded.

Seeing the young man remained silent, Xiang Yuan nodded as well and looked at Old Liu. "I'm accompanying Young Master Xu to the ancestral tomb ahead to pay respects. Where are you headed? Another case?"

"Wouldn't you know it? Some unlucky fellow died. Ran into a ghost," Old Liu sighed.

"So many ghosts?" Xiang Yuan asked in surprise.

"Don't say that, there really are that many..."

Old Liu took two steps forward and lowered his voice. "According to the investigation, the deceased's name was Wei Kun. His father died when he was young, and his mother ran off with a traveling merchant to avoid burdening her child. Wei Kun apprenticed with a carpenter and learned a trade. He saved diligently and finally scraped together enough money to marry a wife. During the wedding procession, he didn't avoid the mass grave... he picked the wrong sedan chair."

A double misfortune, evil compounding evil!

Even in broad daylight, a chill swept over Xiang Yuan, making him feel cold.

He frowned. His intuition told him that Wei Kun encountering a ghost and Xu Jixian encountering a ghost must be connected. It was too coincidental; it was highly likely a disciple of the Yellow Springs Dao was responsible.

Old Liu continued, "Captain Liu said that there's more than one demon from the Yellow Springs Dao who has entered the city, and there will be quite a few disturbances recently."

The Southern Border was too chaotic and had an extremely high survival difficulty, making it unsuitable for low-skilled disciples to travel outside. Therefore, every few years, when disciples of the Yellow Springs Dao traveled the world, they would choose Western Chu in the north.

Fengxian County was merely a place to rest, and they wouldn't stay long. At most, it was an estuary; the entire Western Chu, or rather, the entire world, was the training ground for disciples of the Yellow Springs Dao.

As long as it wasn't the Southern Border, they could go anywhere.

The Yellow Springs Dao wasn't afraid of these disciples leaking their techniques or intelligence. Outer disciples couldn't learn profound martial arts, and with secret techniques protecting them, they would die without a whole corpse. If there was no corpse, they naturally couldn't investigate the meridians and acupoints for Qi Circulation, nor could they deduce the supreme Spiritual Power of the Yellow Springs Dao.

Old Liu didn't know these details. Xiang Yuan had also sought help from his senior martial uncle, but due to Lingguang's age and forgetfulness, he hadn't found an answer.

But regardless, danger was certain. Before this wave receded from Fengxian County, it was best to avoid lingering in places with heavy Yin energy, like mass graves.

Old Liu relayed Liu Jingsheng's words. Xiang Yuan cupped his hands in thanks, bid farewell to Old Liu and the other two, then turned to the 'mad swordsman' Xiao He.

This wasn't lingering, this was aimless wandering. If you didn't speak up, he could do this all day.

Xiang Yuan inwardly grumbled about him being a handful. He grabbed Xiao He and dragged him towards the carriage, much like an adult pulling a child home.

"Brother Xiao, don't pull! Your brother hasn't finished collecting yet. This is a great opportunity. If I don't collect it today, someone else will surely get it," Xiao He struggled fiercely, waving his Yin soldiers, ready to fight Xiang Yuan to the death.

"Stop talking nonsense. Besides you, no one else is this bored. You can come back and collect it next time."

Xiang Yuan pushed Xiao He into the carriage, tightened his grip on the calligraphy scroll in his arms, and urged Xu Jixian to proceed quickly, distribute the money to his ancestors as soon as possible, and return to the county town before dark.

It wouldn't be good to run into a demon from the Yellow Springs Dao.