Lingering Yin Souls

Sunlight bathed the earth, driving away the chill of the night.

At the entrance to an alley in the Stone House District, Yin Xiaojiu had lost her usual smile. She stared blankly at the receding figure, panic rising in her heart. Her little hand instinctively covered her chest, but she could not feel her heartbeat because a stack of banknotes lay in the way.

She did not understand.

Why had Brother Yezi insisted on stuffing that stack of banknotes into her hands before leaving?

She did not understand.

Why had Brother Yezi's eyes been filled with such reluctance when he looked at her before leaving?

She recalled how, when she had been little and her parents sold her to a textile shop, she had stood at the mouth of an alley just like this, watching their backs gradually disappear...

North of the city, Ten Mile Pavilion.

After Ye Tong arrived alone, he sat cross-legged inside the pavilion and waited for the Medicine Slave to arrive. A book rested in his hands as he stared into space. It had four pages: the first two were white, while the latter two were black. It was the Book of Life and Death that he had just studied and released from his sea of consciousness.

Ye Tong had tried repeatedly. With a thought, he could easily summon it and easily return it to his sea of consciousness. The four black-and-white pages bore no writing, but his century of life on Earth had already allowed him to thoroughly understand the Book of Life and Death's effects.

The white pages represented vitality.

The black pages represented death.

He was not the King of Hell, yet he could use the Book of Life and Death to judge whether people lived or died. After coming to this world, he realized that the Book of Life and Death was his trump card, the final card he could use to kill or preserve his own life in the future.

"What a pity!"

Silver Crystals, crystalline and translucent, appeared in Ye Tong's mind. A trace of regret showed on his delicate face. Strands of vital energy circulated through his meridians, cultivated by the body's original owner. Yet Ye Tong was now changing the circulation route of that vital energy, cultivating according to the cultivation technique of the Ma Yi Divine Physiognomy lineage.

According to his memories, Ye Tong knew one thing clearly: cultivators could practice all kinds of cultivation techniques. The more profound a technique was, the more powerful its cultivation effects would be. The technique he had once cultivated from the Ma Yi Divine Physiognomy lineage was clearly far more profound than the one previously practiced.

"By this world's cultivation standards, I am only at the Qi Refining Third Level, one of the lowest-tier cultivators. If I encounter a stronger enemy, I will be reduced to the chopping block while others wield the knife. The toxins in my body will affect my cultivation speed. Even though the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant in this world, if I cultivate step by step, gaining enough strength to protect myself will likely remain a distant dream."

"Fortunately, heaven never bars every path. This world has Silver Crystals and Gold Crystals, spiritual pills and wondrous medicines, rare treasures and exotic fruits, Blood Food medicinal meals... Yet all of that must be built upon wealth. I gave Yin Xiaojiu nearly three thousand taels of blue-silver banknotes before leaving. The Medicine Slave is responsible for rebuilding the Precious Medicine Workshop, and those jade stones and ordinary medicinal ingredients we purchased must have cost a considerable sum as well. It would already be good if a thousand taels of blue silver remained."

"Then..."

"Gathering medicinal herbs and hunting low-level ferocious beasts in the Golden Palace Mountain Range is the quickest way to earn silver."

"On this trip, I must earn enough wealth to buy Silver Crystals."

"..."

Lost in thought, Ye Tong failed to notice five figures hurrying toward him along the winding path not far away, their manner aggressive and menacing. The leader in particular stared at Ye Tong with eyes full of fury and killing intent.

As the Little Tyrant of Cold Mountain City, Tong Kaishan had always been arrogant, domineering, wild, and unruly. He had always been the one bullying others. When had anyone ever dared toy with him?

But Tong Kaishan was truly furious this time, because he had never imagined that the Medicine Boy from the Precious Medicine Workshop—that thing whose life was still worse than a pig's or dog's—would dare deceive him. According to their agreement, he should have received his poison last night, and perhaps extorted even more blue silver. Yet he waited until deep into the night without seeing any sign of Ye Tong.

Tong Kaishan hated him!

He had ordered dozens of Lineage servants to search through the entire night. Only half an hour ago had he learned from a night watchman that Ye Tong had left Cold Mountain City alone, headed in the direction of Ten Mile Pavilion.

Ye Tong wanted to run!

He wanted to skip out on his debt and flee!

Believing himself to have been toyed with, Tong Kaishan immediately rushed over with four Tong Family servants. Thus, the instant he saw Ye Tong, his smile carried savage malice as countless ways to make Ye Tong wish he were dead flashed through his mind.

"You little bastard, I finally found you."

Tong Kaishan, brimming with killing intent, stopped before the pavilion. The sound of his sword leaving its sheath was like music that hooked souls, its tip pointed directly at Ye Tong. He was in no rush to kill. If his enemy died too quickly, without enough screams and wails, he would feel no pleasure in killing.

Ye Tong frowned slightly. He had not expected this "fly" to chase him all the way here. He did not fear Tong Kaishan; he merely feared the Tong Family of Cold Mountain City. But if Tong Kaishan intended to rely on the Tong Family to harm him, then there was no need for him to show mercy.

"You are very angry?"

Ye Tong smoothed out his brow and calmly looked at Tong Kaishan as he spoke.

The anger in Tong Kaishan's heart grew even stronger. He had not expected Ye Tong to show even the slightest fear upon seeing him. Could it be that his reputation for ruthlessness and viciousness was not enough to frighten him?

"I am very angry. You damned little bastard, you dared deceive me. You are simply courting death."

Ye Tong asked indifferently, "Do you want to know why?"

Tong Kaishan shouted, "Though I do not care, I still want to hear it. Why did you deceive me?"

Ye Tong raised one finger and said, "First: on the fighting platform, you obtained my promise, yet you still forced me to fight Butcher Zhang. If I had not possessed some skill, my end would have been miserable."

He raised a second finger. "Second: you followed me to the Warm Medicine Hall, ruined my plans, and even harbored killing intent toward me. Then, because of your greed, you raised the price on the spot."

He raised a third finger. "Third: I do not like the sight of you."

After saying that,

Ye Tong folded his fingers and asked, "Are you satisfied with these three answers?"

Upon hearing Ye Tong's words, Tong Kaishan immediately flew into a rage. With a vicious grin, he said, "You have guts, brat. But do you know that not a single person who dislikes the sight of me has ever met a good end? You will wish you were dead because of your answer."

Ye Tong said flatly, "I advise you not to act recklessly. My old servant is not as weak as I am. He will arrive here soon. If you dare harm a single hair on my head, he will likely chop you into eight pieces."

Tong Kaishan's expression changed. He quickly turned his head and looked around. When he discovered there was no sign of that old servant from the Precious Medicine Workshop nearby, he relaxed considerably and cursed, "You little bastard, do you think this young master was scared up? Today, I will kill you no matter what. Get him! Cut off his four limbs first."

Upon hearing this, the four Tong Family servants immediately swung their long sabers and charged at Ye Tong with fierce momentum. As slaves, they had no right to cultivate, but years of hard labor had given them strength far beyond ordinary people. Furthermore, they often followed Tong Kaishan in committing evil deeds and had considerable experience in fighting.

Therefore, they were utterly confident in cutting off the limbs of a youth who looked too weak to withstand a gust of wind.

Too slow!

Too many openings!

Ye Tong secretly shook his head. His left hand gripped the Book of Life and Death while his right fist shot out fiercely.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

His unadorned punches struck the heads of the four servants in an instant. He could sense the killing intent the five people before him held toward him, so he did not hold back at all. He sent them flying, and they crashed to the ground more than ten meters away, immediately falling unconscious.

Tong Kaishan narrowed his eyes, realizing he had made a foolish decision. Ye Tong had been able to defeat Butcher Zhang, so his strength could not be underestimated. Though the four servants could bully ordinary people, they posed little threat against a cultivator like Ye Tong. Sending them after him had been no different from sending them to their deaths.

"You are quite something!"

Tong Kaishan's killing intent grew even stronger as he attempted to pounce on Ye Tong.

Ye Tong raised a hand and shouted, "Wait."

Tong Kaishan paused, then threw back his head and laughed. "What? Scared? Do not worry! I am only at the Qi Refining Sixth Level. I will not kill you too quickly."

Qi Refining Sixth Level?

Ye Tong's heart sank. If the other man were only one or two levels above him, he would have been confident in seriously injuring or even killing him. But the gap of three levels made him cautious.

Perhaps!

He needed to use the Book of Life and Death.

Ye Tong drew a deep breath, slowly turned to the black page, and raised his head to stare at Tong Kaishan. In a deep voice, he said, "Must there be a fight to the death between us?"

Tong Kaishan grinned viciously. "You must die. All the blue silver and poison on you must be mine as well."

Greed was the original sin!

Ye Tong sighed inwardly. Using his finger to control his vital energy, he swiftly wrote the name "Tong Kaishan" on the black page. In that instant, he felt a terrifying suction force emerge from the Book of Life and Death, while the vital energy within his body rapidly flowed through his arm and finger into it.

In the unseen depths, an unfathomable aura emerged around Tong Kaishan, who was charging toward him.

"What?"

The vicious grin on Tong Kaishan's face froze. When he was only three meters from Ye Tong, he suddenly stopped. As the longsword in his hand fell to the ground, the muscles throughout his body squirmed, his features twisted, and he withered at a visible rate as his blood energy collapsed. At that moment, he saw that Ye Tong had picked up a long saber dropped by one of the servants and was chopping it down toward his head.

"You dare!"

Tong Kaishan roared in horror. Unable to evade in time, he gritted his teeth, raised his left arm, and then violently retreated.

Blood splattered in every direction as a severed arm flew through the air.

Tong Kaishan's left arm had been cut off at the root.

Ye Tong felt some regret. Even after using the Book of Life and Death, he had still failed to kill Tong Kaishan directly. This made him realize that the gap in cultivation levels had a great effect on the Book of Life and Death's power. Moreover, the vital energy in his body was simply too little. In that brief instant, the Book of Life and Death had nearly drained all the vital energy from his body.

"You know I am skilled in poison, yet you still dared waste words with me. Today, you are the one walking a dead-end road." Ye Tong still was not completely certain he could kill the heavily injured Tong Kaishan, especially if Tong Kaishan decided to flee at full speed.

Therefore, he needed to put on a bluffing act and use poison to conceal the Book of Life and Death's strange attack.

Sure enough!

Tong Kaishan's character—bullying the weak while fearing the strong, as timid as a mouse—was fully revealed at this moment. Though he was three cultivation levels above Ye Tong, after suffering grave injuries, he lost every shred of fighting spirit and fled miserably into the distance.