Black Dragon City, True Yang Temple.
"The Jade Talismans have weakened lately, and we've had a lot more cases. We're short-handed today, so there's a mission I'd like your help with."
Pang Long looked grave.
"What mission?" Lin Nan asked.
Pang Long nodded. "Bai Shu, daughter of Black Dragon City's lord, Bai Yunfeng, has disappeared. The city lord has ordered us and the three major martial schools to select our best people for the rescue."
"The city lord's daughter has disappeared?" Lin Nan was surprised.
A favored daughter like Bai Shu would usually live in comfort in the Inner City. How could she simply disappear?
"That's right. And she didn't disappear in the wilderness or the Outer City. She disappeared in the Inner City."
Pang Long's expression grew grim. "The city lord is offering a substantial reward: a thousand taels of silver, several Body-Tempering Pills, Qi-Replenishing Powders, and Detoxification Pills, even a Viscera Pill that would greatly benefit a Viscera Realm Martial Master. All he asks is that our martial schools send people to rescue Miss Bai as soon as possible."
"A generous reward... and she disappeared in the Inner City..."
Lin Nan narrowed his eyes. For the City Lord's Mansion to respond on this scale, he immediately understood how serious the matter was.
"An Evil Spirit?"
"Hard to say. I only know Miss Bai was last seen at Hidden Spirit Manor, a summer retreat in the Inner City." Pang Long paused in thought, then continued.
"I heard that before she disappeared, Miss Bai saw an enormous haunted house at Hidden Spirit Manor. Every night, it came closer to her in her dreams. Closer and closer."
Lin Nan recalled that Hidden Spirit Manor was a large estate where many of the Inner City's wealthy merchants and high officials liked to