Hunting Yin Evils!

This "welfare money" was no good thing.

Lin Nan held the heavy pouch of copper coins and found it scalding to the touch.

Black Dragon City's Outer City was a chaotic mix of fish and dragons, and one thing that could never be avoided was the gangs.

Among those gangs, the Blood Blade Sect had the foulest reputation. Its main business was issuing this "welfare money."

Welfare money was, in truth, usury.

Each person could receive up to five hundred coins a month. A hundred copper coins accrued three coins of interest per day. It did not seem like much, but the compound interest was terrifying, and many unsuspecting commoners had suffered because of it.

It was on par with "the online loan your big brother applied for you" from his previous life.

As for those who could not repay it?

Selling blood, breaking bones, sucking marrow—the Blood Blade Sect's masters had countless ways to make people submit. The electric-shock therapy of northern Myanmar looked like a raw recruit before the Blood Blade Sect.

But too much debt did not weigh one down. The original owner had already owed Scar Lord quite a considerable sum.

Besides, Lin Nan had no choice right now. If he did not borrow money, he would die tomorrow night.

If he borrowed it, he could still fight for a chance.

With that thought, Lin Nan quickened his pace and headed straight through the streets to an enclosed compound.

The compound had blue brick walls and red-painted walls, stone lions flanking its entrance. A plaque above the gate bore the three words "Talisman Hall," while two constables dispatched from the Outer City stood below the steps with sabers at their waists.

The commoners waiting at the entrance to request Jade Talismans had already formed a long line, like a great dragon.

"Sir Constable, I'm here to exchange for talismans. Could we speak somewhere private?"

Lin Nan did not waste time lining up. He went straight to the constables and pulled out the White Snake Martial School's carved wooden token from his waist. The words "Martial Apprentice" were stamped upon it.

Seeing the White Snake Martial School's wooden token, the constable's expression shifted. He quickly led Lin Nan to a side entrance beside the compound.

"How many Jade Talismans do you wish to request?"

The constable looked Lin Nan up and down.

The White Snake Martial School was decent enough, but the status of a mere Martial Apprentice clearly carried little weight. At most, it allowed him to skip some of the queue.

"I don't want Jade Talismans. I want Blood Talismans!"

Lin Nan raised a pouch of copper coins from his clothes.

"Blood Talismans?"

The constable was somewhat surprised.

Blood Talismans cost about the same as Jade Talismans, but their power was several times greater. Their only drawback was that they could only be used once.

Unless one was a Blood-Qi Realm martial artist heading into the outskirts to hunt demons and evil spirits, ordinary people generally would not exchange for Blood Talismans.

At that moment, he noticed the Blood Blade Sect emblem printed on Lin Nan's cloth pouch. Understanding flashed through his eyes.

Another ignorant Martial Apprentice who had taken welfare money from the Blood Blade Sect, hoping to hunt demons and evil spirits and defy fate to change his life.

Demons and evil spirits might be sinister and strange, but their flesh and bones were genuine materials for refining artifacts.

Those dignitaries and nobles in the Inner City especially loved collecting them. They usually fetched high prices, and many people had tried to risk everything—but the ends of such people were usually miserable.

The expression on the constable's face gradually turned cold. Looking at Lin Nan as though he were already dead, he said,

"Follow me to the side room to register and collect your talismans."

When Lin Nan emerged from the Outer City compound, more than half the copper coins in his hand were gone.

He ignored the constable's strange gaze and swiftly ran toward his next destination.

Evening.

Heavy twilight blanketed the entirety of Black Dragon City. Fine rain began falling from the sky again, the droplets growing larger and larger, like pearls tumbling down.

Lin Nan sat cross-legged in the tiled house where he lodged in the Outer City, his expression solemn. His eyes were closed, as though he were resting them.

Before him lay a Jade Talisman covered in cracks, four Blood Talismans, and a steel saber gleaming with cold light, all arranged neatly.

Besides that, a large bucket of black dog blood hung from the roof beam.

These were everything he had bought today with the Blood Blade Sect's "welfare money."

If he could not deal with the Corpse Ghost tonight, then at worst, he would die once more!

Time passed drop by drop until midnight arrived.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock...

That familiar knocking sounded punctually outside the door.

"Young master, hurry and open the door. This servant is Chun Tao from the Drunken Spring Pavilion~"

"You haven't come in so long. This servant has missed you terribly, so I couldn't resist coming to see you~"

A soft, seductive voice drifted into his ears.

Chun Tao? The original owner's mistress?

Lin Nan slowly opened his eyes, his expression strange.

"Little Sister Chun Tao, don't panic. Your brother will come open the door right away."

Hearing Lin Nan respond for once, the voice outside immediately brightened, and her tone became a little more urgent.

"Brother, open the door quickly. The rain outside is so heavy, it's dripping coldness into your little sister's heart."

Lin Nan gripped the steel saber in one hand and violently pushed open the wooden door with the other.

Creak.

Whoosh!

The wooden door flew open, and a gust of cold wind mixed with rain blew inside like a sheet of cloth.

A woman in a black dress, her alluring eyes soft as silk, stood beneath an oil-paper umbrella in the doorway.

It really was Chun Tao!

"Brother~"

"Little Sister Chun Tao!"

The moment Chun Tao saw Lin Nan, her eyes filled with delight, and she rushed toward him.

Lin Nan stepped forward as well, swinging the steel saber fiercely. Like a streak of cold light, it slashed down from Chun Tao's forehead to her waist.

Clang!

A sound like clashing metal rang out.

Lin Nan felt as though he had struck an iron plate. The enormous recoil numbed his hand.

After being struck by the steel saber, "Chun Tao's" body began to twist and distort, turning into a blurry, ghastly white figure.

The candle flame flickered.

Though Lin Nan could not make out the white figure's face, he could sense the eerie smile upon it.

"Hehehe... how did you discover I was fake?"

"Hmph. I spent so much money on Chun Tao. How could I not know what she looked like?"

Lin Nan sneered inwardly. Chun Tao had long since been molded into his shape.

The next moment.

The white figure suddenly pounced at him.

Lin Nan reached up and yanked. The bucket of black dog blood on the beam tipped over, and ink-black blood poured down, splashing over the white figure with a sizzling sound.

The white figure only paused for an instant before continuing to fly at him without losing momentum.

In a single moment, it was already right before him!

Slash!

Lin Nan swung his saber again, but an icy chill suddenly passed into his hand.

The steel saber had somehow been caught by the Corpse Ghost. Its slender fingers clamped around the blade like steel bars, and frost rapidly spread from the blade toward the hilt.

Only then did Lin Nan see the Corpse Ghost's true appearance. It was a narrow, white humanoid like skin stretched over bones, with sunken eye sockets like two holes.

"This is bad!"

A chill ran through Lin Nan's entire body. Just as he tried to retreat, his body stiffened.

He felt as though a chill had frozen his entire body. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not move.

He could only watch helplessly as corpse claws sharp as blades stabbed toward his chest.

Sizzle—

At that moment, the Blood Talisman on Lin Nan's chest instantly erupted with a ring of scarlet fire.

The instant it made contact.

The Corpse Ghost's body began to tremble violently. White smoke rose from it as though fierce flames were boiling oil. It let out a shrill scream and staggered backward.

"Uncle Lin didn't lie to me. This Blood Talisman really is fierce!"

Lin Nan no longer hesitated. With his left hand, he drew another vermilion Blood Talisman and swept it forward.

Ring after ring of scarlet fire surged forth. The Corpse Ghost screamed without end as the skin all over its body charred and peeled away as though scorched by burning coals.

Yet it still did not die completely.

Only after the effect of the fourth Blood Talisman ran out did the Corpse Ghost's body on the ground gradually shrivel, weathering away into a pile of black ash.

At the instant the Corpse Ghost fell.

Lin Nan suddenly felt a cold current drill through his pores and seep into his limbs and bones. An inexplicable, spine-chilling sensation climbed from his spine, and the intense terror nearly left him unable to breathe.

A line of information surfaced from the furnace in his mind.

[Yin-evil energy has entered the body. Refine it?]