Harvest

Chen Mo opened his eyes, a murky darkness lingering in their depths.

But sitting still and waiting for death was simply not in his nature.

Jinmen was only fifty-some kilometers away from Linhe County. Chen Dachuan had taken his predecessor to the Ghost Market there twice, and the Yin Talisman Paper had been purchased from within.

It was a gathering place for all sorts of heterodox practitioners, desperate fugitives, information brokers, and all manner of unspeakable goods.

Perhaps there truly existed some obscure remedy or miraculous method that could alleviate, or even completely cure, this lethal Yin Sha.

However, the Ghost Market was no place for the faint of heart.

With dragons and snakes intermingling, rules were vague, and fraud or backstabbing were the norm.

With his current state of being completely drained, rushing there would be no different than a lamb walking into a tiger's den.

The spoils from ransacking the Black Tiger Gang's vault last night provided the capital for entry, but he understood the danger of harboring a treasure only too well.

I must first recover some power to protect myself; at the very least... I must be able to make it to the Ghost Market and return safely.

Chen Mo clenched his fist, feeling the icy chill radiating from his fingertips, yet his gaze grew increasingly sharp.

I wonder if there is any medicine among the Black Tiger Gang's collection that can temporarily suppress the power of the Yin Sha?

He hesitated no longer, rising to walk to the door. He flipped the wooden sign labeled Deliverance Studio to reveal the crookedly scrawled words on the back: "Proprietor away on business, temporarily closed." He then carefully locked the shop door and slid the bolt into place.

The light inside grew dimmer, with only a few slivers of daylight leaking through the gaps in the window paper.

He walked behind the counter, crouched down, and felt along an inconspicuous blue brick near the corner of the wall.

Following the sequence from his memory, he pressed gently on specific spots on the brick's surface.

With a faint "click," the brick recessed inward, and a larger floor tile beside it slid open silently, revealing a narrow opening only wide enough for one person to enter.

This was the true secret of the Chen Family Paper-Crafting Shop, a hidden chamber that his predecessor's father, Chen Dachuan, had accidentally discovered and secretly renovated.

After returning last night, Chen Mo had immediately moved his most critical gains here.

He climbed down the simple wooden ladder and lit the oil lamp fixed to the wall.

The dim, yellow light illuminated the small space, which was only about a square zhang in size and just tall enough for a person to stand.

The corners were piled with aged paper materials and spare tools collected by Chen Dachuan, while the items he had brought back last night were laid out in the center.

Most conspicuous were two sturdy burlap sacks and a bulging satchel.

He untied the first sack, which contained silver dollars wrapped in oil paper; at a rough estimate, there were about fifteen hundred.

For reasons unknown, the Black Tiger Gang had not kept a single silver note; it was all hard currency.

The other sack contained loose gold and silver jewelry, a few small gold bars, and that package of high-quality opium.

The satchel held several more precious rosewood boxes and a sandalwood case.

Chen Mo carefully peeled back the talisman—its spiritual power already faded—from the first rosewood box. The moment it opened, a scorching Yang energy mixed with a faint scent of blood rushed toward him, causing the Yin Sha throughout his body to stall!

The box was lined with red silk, and resting inside were three irregular, dark golden-red crystals the size of pigeon eggs. Fine, blood-like veins flowed across their surfaces, and they felt warm to the touch, forming a stark contrast to the surrounding chill.

"This is... Red Sun Blood Crystal?" Chen Mo's pupils constricted as he identified the item from the fragmented memories of his predecessor and the remnants of the Nether Paper-Crafting Art.

This material was refined by martial artists who practiced Yang-based techniques or blood-qi martial arts, using their own vital essence mixed with certain Yang-attribute medicinal treasures. It had miraculous effects for replenishing blood-qi and resisting Yin-evil.

However, because it contained the blood-qi and will of a martial artist, it was violent and difficult to tame. If someone without the corresponding technique attempted to absorb it, they would easily suffer a reversal of blood-qi and explode to death.

"Good stuff." Chen Mo carefully put it back.

This might have been something Lei Tiger had prepared for his own survival or cultivation, or perhaps a gift intended for a martial arts patron.

He opened the second wooden box, and the Yin energy surged instantly.

Inside were several pitch-black bone fragments that faintly flickered with phosphorescence; they felt icy and bone-chilling to the touch.

"Resentful Bone... material for refining certain evil artifacts or for casting curses." Chen Mo shook his head; this stuff would only worsen the Yin Sha in his body.

The third wooden box was the smallest and most inconspicuous, containing only a clump of gray, withered matter that looked like old cotton batting.

"Wraith Fluff?" Chen Mo touched it with his fingertip, and a chill that sucked away vitality washed over him. This was the essence remaining after a wraith dissipated, often used to nurture ghosts or practice Yin-attribute techniques. It was equally more harmful than beneficial to him.

It seemed that the heterodox materials collected by Lei Tiger leaned toward the fierce or the venomous, lacking any gentle, nourishing items directly aimed at the difficult ailment of Yin Sha invading the body.

He sighed and turned his gaze toward the sandalwood case.

After opening it and skipping over the ledgers and secret letters, he picked up the thin booklet wrapped in oilcloth: Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method.

The moment his fingertips touched the rough oilcloth, a sudden change occurred!

In the sea of his consciousness, the Moonlight Treasure Mirror, which had been hanging silently, suddenly began to shimmer with light. The surface of the mirror rippled like water, and lines of archaic, clear silver text rapidly emerged.

[Special inheritance carrier detected: Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method (Fragment of the Executioner lineage)]
[Technique Nature: Heterodox/Martial Sha Body-Forging]
[Grade Assessment: Yellow-tier Mid-grade (Fragmented)]
[Core Essence: Draw upon the Sha Qi of the execution ground, the blood-qi of slaughter, or specific Yin Sha into the body. Use special methods to hammer and refine the tendons, bones, and skin, strengthening blood-qi and physique. When cultivated to a deep level, one can possess Sha-might, ward off all evil, and possess immense strength.]
[Current Status: Severely incomplete (Only contains basic Sha-drawing and preliminary bone-forging methods; lacks subsequent chapters for Sha-condensation, Sha-transformation, and Spirit Protection)]

[Holder Compatibility Analysis:]

Advantages: The body contains pure Yin Sha power, and soul strength (Grade B, Mid-tier) exceeds the minimum requirements for cultivating this incomplete method, providing a foundation for initially managing the risks.

Disadvantages: Qi and blood are severely deficient, and the physical origin is damaged. Forcibly drawing Sha into the body risks worsening the condition, potentially leading to the exhaustion of Qi and blood.

Deduction/Completion Suggestion: Use Moonlight spiritual essence to drive the process; one may attempt to deduce and complete the missing chapters, or perform a targeted fusion with the existing Nether Paper-Crafting Art to create a new technique better suited to the current state.

[Load this technique into the Moonlight Treasure Mirror? Once loaded, deep analysis, deduction, fusion, and other operations can be performed at any time.]

Chen Mo felt a jolt in his heart, his pupils constricting slightly.

The Moonlight Treasure Mirror could actually analyze an unfamiliar technique so clearly, even providing compatibility analysis and suggestions!

This function was even more powerful and intelligent than he had anticipated.

It seemed the Treasure Mirror was not a rigid tool, but possessed a certain degree of sentience.

The core of this Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method was actually to guide Executioner Sha Qi into the body to forcibly temper the muscles, bones, and flesh.

"Forging the body with Sha... turning harm into benefit?"

A bold and crazy idea began to take shape in Chen Mo's mind.

The Yin Sha within his body was a lethal poison, but this Executioner Sha Body-Forging Method provided a potential path to transform that poison into fuel!

However, this technique guided Executioner Sha Qi, while what he possessed was Yin Sha power; the two were not the same.

"Or perhaps, I could give it a try!"