Demon Slaying Captain

"Uh... a great person?"

Looking at Li Hai's fierce face and his overly burly frame, the Daoist stammered, "You... you don't really look like one."

"Don't get sidetracked."

Li Hai said bluntly, "What are you doing here? And..."

He grabbed a handful of yellow paper talismans and held them up before the Daoist's eyes: "What are these things?"

"Hey, hey, brother, no need to be so aggressive with your words."

The Daoist smiled and explained slowly, "This place is haunted; you should know that, right?"

"I know." Li Hai nodded, "I already wiped them out."

"So I intend to... ah? What did you say!"

The Daoist, having just let a few words slip out, was stunned into silence by Li Hai's nonchalant remark.

He then hurriedly pressed, "Brother, are you saying you have already... exterminated the ghosts in this evil, yin-filled land? Is that true?"

"It's true." Li Hai said indifferently, "There's no point in lying about it."

"Phew~" The Daoist let out a long sigh, "That is excellent, truly excellent."

With that, he straightened his robes and gave Li Hai a respectful, deep bow.

"Eh?" Seeing this, Li Hai asked suspiciously, "What are you doing?"

"I am Zhang Miaoji."

The Daoist looked up and said sincerely, "On behalf of the common folk here, I thank you, brother."

"No need, no need~"

Li Hai waved his hand and laughed heartily, "Hahaha, I was just passing by, saw them, and wiped them out while I was at it. I didn't think much of it."

"Is that so? It seems there are many things you are unaware of, brother."

Zhang Miaoji explained, "As the saying goes, Dead Soul and Fierce Soul are inherently malevolent. If left unprovoked and without tasting blood, they are usually fine, remaining in the place of their death.

But once they harm someone, taste blood, or are provoked by the living, their malevolence surges. They will then use the time when the yang energy is weak and the yin energy is strong at night to leave their burial grounds and go on a killing spree in the surrounding areas."

He then pointed to the surroundings: "And in an evil, yin-filled land like the one we are in, it is even easier for a large number of ghosts to breed.

If they had stayed here, it would have been fine, but today, Old Man Guo, who governs this fortress region, suffered some kind of mental lapse and, in a fit of madness, set fire to this cursed land."

Speaking of this, Zhang Miaoji couldn't help but shake his head and sigh: "All ghosts loathe open flames. Once the fire rages, if even one evil ghost survives, its triggered, terrifying malevolence will spell a great disaster for the local people."

Hearing this, Li Hai thought for a moment and said, "So, I essentially nipped a ghost disaster in the bud?"

"More than that."

Zhang Miaoji stroked his beard and said, "I observed this place earlier and suspect that what survived here was likely a ghost that retained its specific intelligence. Such clear-headed ghosts are far more terrifying than mindless, stupid ones."

"Hmm~"

After casually stuffing those dozen or so yellow papers into his pocket, Li Hai rubbed his bald head and said, "Alright, well... if there's nothing else, I'll be heading off."

Anyway, he had already learned all of this Daoist's skills, so why stay here?

He had learned quite a lot, and Li Hai was very satisfied.

"Eh, wait."

Zhang Miaoji hurriedly grabbed his arm and smiled obsequiously, "Brother, don't be in such a rush. We still have things to talk about."

"Talk about what?" Li Hai curled his lip and turned back, "Keep it short; I'm very busy."

"Easy, easy, brother, it's like this."

Zhang Miaoji explained, "Do you want to slay more ghosts in the future?"

"Hmm?" Li Hai raised a brow, "What do you mean by that?"

"Heh heh."

Zhang Miaoji chuckled, "I see that although you look a bit fierce on the outside, you have a soaring sense of righteousness in your heart. Otherwise, you wouldn't have dared to charge in here single-handedly to exterminate the ghosts and benefit the local people.

And your martial arts must have reached the Steel Sinew Iron Bone Realm, otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to defeat those fierce souls."

"And then?" Li Hai said flatly, "Continue."

Zhang Miaoji straightened his robes once more and said solemnly:

"I, Zhang Miaoji, serve as an external Talent Recruitment Officer for the Jing Dynasty Demon-Slaying Division. I am here to formally invite you to join our ranks, to slay ghosts and eliminate demons, and to bring peace to the world."

As he spoke, he bowed once more.

"Demon-Slaying Division?"

Li Hai asked curiously, "You are an official of the Jing Dynasty? How did you come to Coiling Dragon Mountain? Isn't this a lawless zone?"

To this, Zhang Miaoji merely smiled:

"Brother, you are unaware. A lawless zone isn't that it cannot be governed, but that they are too lazy to govern it. If my Great Jing wishes to govern, this Coiling Dragon Mountain... no one would dare defy it."

At this point, he added, "The main thing is that the Demon-Slaying Division generally doesn't concern itself with mortal affairs. Border defense, political shifts, none of that matters to them; they only care about slaying ghosts and killing demons."

"Oh," Li Hai nodded in realization, "that sounds like a rather pure organization. You must have a great deal of intelligence regarding ghosts in various regions, then?"

"That goes without saying," Zhang Miaoji laughed, "that is exactly what we specialize in."

"Hmm, and what about the compensation?" Li Hai asked.

After hearing the Taoist's words, he was quite tempted, and the point of temptation was precisely the intelligence on ghosts.

"As for the compensation."

Zhang Miaoji explained, "As long as you join our Demon-Slaying Division, even the lowest Wood-Rank Lieutenant receives a monthly stipend of nine hundred great yuan!"

Li Hai had no idea what nine hundred great yuan represented, but seeing how proud he sounded, he figured the purchasing power of this currency was not low.

"Money is of no concern."

Li Hai asked again, "The main thing is whether there are many experts in your Demon-Slaying Division. I am a person who loves to cross blades with experts."

Having experts meant having new skills, which also meant his strength would grow once more.

Therefore, Li Hai had to ask clearly; otherwise, if the place were full of weaklings, joining would only be a waste of time and energy.

"Then you've asked the right person."

Zhang Miaoji smiled proudly, "The Demon-Slaying Division is a top-tier martial arts organization in the world. Experts are as numerous as clouds and people are as vast as the sea; it is not something those martial arts sects can compare to. Not only that, but regarding resources like cultivation techniques, weapons, armor, and medicinal pills, our Demon-Slaying Division is also extremely abundant. As long as you can successfully slay ghosts, you can obtain..."

"Alright! No need to say more."

Li Hai raised his hand to stop Zhang Miaoji, saying decisively, "I'll join the Demon-Slaying Division, is that enough?"

"Haha, good!" The Taoist beamed with joy, "It hasn't been easy, but I've recruited another great talent."

As he spoke, he pulled a pre-written letter from his sleeve and handed it to the bewildered Li Hai:

"This is a letter of introduction. Brother, head southwest for eighty miles until you reach Ox-Horn Town in Zhou Family Fort. There is a Tea Hall there; go inside and find a man named Master Tea, and give him this letter."

"Oh," Li Hai took the letter, glanced at it, and tucked it into his pocket before asking, "What about you? Where are you going?"

"Me?"

Zhang Miaoji adjusted his divination banner and said with a smile, "Naturally, I shall continue to wander the four corners of the earth, recruiting talent."