Peachwood Talisman Wards Off Ghosts

Shen Hui left the Heavenly Kings Hall and turned toward the Five Contemplations Hall.

The scent of meat still drifted through the Five Contemplations Hall, lingering and circling in the night wind.

During the day, that "Master Duowen" had said it was the smell of burning hickory wood, and Mo Yunsong had taken the opportunity to explain it to Lu Huan.

Following the scent, Shen Hui headed straight for the kitchen and pushed open the half-closed wooden door.

Several thick logs had been stuffed into the stove. The coals beneath still flickered fitfully, while a wisp of blue smoke rose from the stove opening and drifted along the roof.

Shen Hui pulled out a still-smoking piece of firewood from the stove opening and held it beneath his nose for a sniff.

"It really is hickory."

He raised his brows, surprised that the other party had not lied.

Holding the firewood, he seemed to sense something. Then he slowly raised his head and looked above him.

The kitchen was not large, but its beams stood high.

Only when he looked closely did he discover that dense shadows hung from the pitch-black ceiling.

They were more than a hundred corpses, stripped completely naked.

Hemp ropes ran through their ankles, suspending them upside down from the beams like cured meat hung all over the ceiling.

Shen Hui frowned and gave the firewood in his hand a light wave.

A few sparks scattered upward, flying toward the ceiling.

The moment those corpses touched the sparks, they went up like dry wood drenched in oil.

Flames licked at the beams with crackling pops, their orange-red glow illuminating the entire kitchen.

In no more than a few moments, every corpse had burned to nothing.

Watching the last wisp of flame die out, Shen Hui prepared to