Chen Mo opened his eyes, darkness lingering deep in their depths.
But sitting back and waiting to die had never been in his nature.
Jinmen was only a little over fifty kilometers from Linhe County. Chen Dachuan had taken his predecessor to its Ghost Market twice, and that was where he had bought the talisman paper.
It was a gathering place for all kinds of unorthodox practitioners, desperadoes, and information brokers, as well as a hub for all manner of things best kept out of sight.
Perhaps someone there had an unconventional remedy or strange technique that could ease—or even cure—this deadly Yin Sha.
But the Ghost Market was no safe place.
It was a snake pit, full of all sorts, with murky rules. Fraud and robbery were the norm.
In his current state, drained to the last drop, heading there rashly would be like a lamb walking into a tiger's den.
What he had seized from the Black Tiger Gang's Secret Vault last night gave him the means to get in, but he understood even better that possessing a jade treasure invited disaster.
"I have to recover enough strength to protect myself first. At the very least... I need to be able to make it to the Ghost Market and return safely."
Chen Mo flexed his hand, feeling the cold at his fingertips, but his gaze grew ever sharper.
"I wonder if the Black Tiger Gang had any medicine that could temporarily suppress the Yin Sha."
He didn't hesitate any longer. Rising, he went to the entrance and turned over the wooden sign marked Deliverance Studio. On the back, crooked characters read, "The proprietor is away. Temporarily closed." Then he carefully shut the shop door and bolted it.
The shop grew darker. Only a few slivers of daylight seeped through gaps in the window paper.
He went behind the counter and crouched, feeling around for an inconspicuous blue-gray brick near the corner.
Following the sequence he remembered, he gently pressed several specific spots on its surface.
With a faint click, the brick sank inward. The larger floor tile beside it slid silently aside, revealing a narrow opening just wide enough for one person.
This was the true hidden heart of the Chen Family Paper-Crafting Shop, a secret room Chen Mo's father, Chen Dachuan, had stumbled upon and quietly remodeled.
As soon as he had returned last night, Chen Mo had moved his most important spoils here.
He climbed down the crude wooden ladder and lit the oil lamp fixed to the wall.
The dim yellow light illuminated the small space. It was only about a zhang across, with barely enough height to stand upright.
In one corner lay some old paper stock and spare tools Chen Dachuan had collected. The things Chen Mo had brought back last night were arranged in the center.
The most conspicuous were two sturdy burlap sacks and a bulging shoulder bag.
He untied the first sack. Inside, silver dollars were wrapped in oilpaper. By a rough estimate, there were about fifteen hundred.
For some reason, the Black Tiger Gang had no banknotes at all. It was all hard cash.
The other sack held assorted gold and silver jewelry, a few small gold bars, and that packet of top-quality opium.
The shoulder bag held several more valuable rosewood boxes and a sandalwood case.
Chen Mo carefully peeled away the talisman on the first rosewood box, its spiritual power already faint. The instant he opened it, a surge of scorching Yang energy mixed with a faint smell of blood rushed out, making the Yin Sha around him falter!
The inside of the lid and the box were lined with red silk. Three irregular dark red-gold crystals, each about the size of a pigeon's egg, lay side by side on it. Fine blood-red veins shimmered across their surfaces. They felt warm to the touch, a stark contrast to the cold all around them.
"Is this... Red Sun Blood Crystal?" Chen Mo's pupils contracted slightly. From scattered fragments of his predecessor's memories and a few lines in the remnant of the Nether Paper-Crafting Art, he recognized the object.
This material was refined by practitioners of Blood-Qi Martial Arts or those cultivating extreme Yang techniques, using their own blood essence mixed with certain Yang-attributed precious medicines. It was exceptionally effective for replenishing qi and blood and warding off Yin forces.
But it also contained a martial artist's blood essence and will, making it wild and difficult to tame. Anyone without the corresponding cultivation method who rashly absorbed it risked a violent surge of qi and blood—and bursting apart.
"Good stuff." Chen Mo carefully put it back.
Perhaps Lei Tiger had kept it to save his own life or for cultivation. Or perhaps he had planned to present it as a gift to some martial artist backing him.
When he opened the second box, Yin energy surged.
Inside were several pitch-black bone fragments, faintly gleaming with phosphorescence. They were so cold they stung his hand.
"Resentful Bone... A material for crafting certain wicked magical artifacts, or for casting curses." Chen Mo shook his head. This would only worsen the Yin Sha inside him.
The third box was the smallest and most inconspicuous. It contained only a clump of something as ashen and drab as old cotton batting.
"Wraith Fluff?" Chen Mo lightly touched it with his fingertip. A chill that seemed to suck away his life force seeped through. It was the essence left behind after a wraith dispersed, commonly used to nourish ghosts or cultivate Yin-attributed techniques. It would do him more harm than good, too.
It seemed the Black Tiger Gang's collection of unorthodox materials leaned toward the fierce or the venomous. There was nothing gentle and restorative that could directly address the troublesome condition of Yin Sha invading his body.
He sighed and turned his attention to the sandalwood case.
After opening it, he set aside the account books and secret letters, and picked up the thin booklet wrapped in oilcloth: the Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method.
The instant his fingertips touched the coarse oilcloth, an unexpected change occurred!
In his sea of consciousness, the Moonlight Treasure Mirror, which had been floating quietly, suddenly shimmered. Ripples spread across its surface like water, and lines of ancient, clear silver text swiftly appeared.
[Special inheritance vessel detected—the Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method (a surviving fragment of the executioner lineage)] [Method classification: Unorthodox path · Martial Sha body-forging] [Grade assessment: Yellow-grade, middle tier (incomplete)] [Core principle: Draw execution-ground Sha, killing blood qi, or specific Yin Sha into the body, then temper the bones, flesh, and skin through special methods to strengthen qi and blood and harden the body. At deeper stages, the practitioner can wield Sha might, repel evil spirits, and gain immense strength.] [Current state: Severely incomplete (only the basic methods for drawing in Sha and initially tempering the bones remain; the later chapters on condensing Sha, transforming Sha, and protecting the spirit are missing)] [Analysis of compatibility with the holder:] Advantages: The body contains pure Yin Sha, and the strength of the soul (Grade B, middle tier) exceeds the minimum requirement for cultivating this incomplete method, providing a foundation for initially controlling the risks. Disadvantages: Qi and blood are extremely depleted, and the body's foundation is damaged. Forcing Sha into the body could make matters worse and risk exhausting the practitioner's qi and blood. Suggestions for extrapolation/completion: Powered by Moonlight Spiritual Charm, it may be possible to extrapolate and complete some missing chapters, or to purposefully fuse it with the existing Nether Paper-Crafting Art to create a new method better suited to the holder's current state. [Load this method into the Moonlight Treasure Mirror? Once loaded, it can be deeply analyzed, extrapolated, fused, and more at any time.]
Chen Mo's heart jolted, and his pupils contracted slightly.
The Moonlight Treasure Mirror could analyze an unfamiliar cultivation method so clearly, and even offer an assessment of its compatibility and suggestions!
This function was far more powerful and intelligent than he had expected.
It seemed the mirror was no dead tool, but possessed some sort of sentience.
The core of this Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method was to draw executioner Sha into the body and forcefully temper the bones, flesh, and blood.
"Forge the body with Sha... turn harm into benefit?"
A bold, mad idea took shape in Chen Mo's mind.
The Yin Sha inside him was a deadly poison, but this Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method offered a possible way to turn that poison into fuel!
The trouble was, the method drew in executioner Sha, while the force inside him was Yin Sha. The two were not the same.
"Maybe I can try!"
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