Talent Acquired: Spirit Sight

Judging from Li Yunfeng and Li Degui's circumstances... they truly seemed not to know they were dead.

Goosebumps rose all over Xie An's body.

"How did Uncle Shui tell that Li Yunfeng was dead?"

Uncle Shui frowned. "I have entered Dark Force, so I can sense that the living breath within Li Yunfeng's body has stopped flowing. But I have no absolute confidence in dealing with this thing. We still need to wait until it comes close before striking. I didn't tell you earlier because I was afraid you'd give yourself away and alert it. That would only ruin everything."

A Dark Force expert could actually sense the living breath within a living person's body. It truly was mysterious and miraculous.

Xie An pointed at himself. "Then what about me..."

Uncle Shui smiled faintly. "You're fine. The resentment in Li Family Village wasn't this fierce seven days ago. That was why you and Zhao Hu were lucky enough to escape."

Only then did Xie An let out a long breath and point at Li Yunfeng's corpse. "How should we deal with the body?"

Uncle Shui repeatedly waved his hand. "Dig a hole nearby and bury it."

"Zhou Ji! Dig a hole on the spot and bury Daoist Li." Xie An immediately called Zhou Ji over from outside the carriage.

Zhou Ji did not ask why. He entered the carriage compartment and dragged Li Yunfeng's corpse outside.

Seeing that Li Yunfeng's eyes were still wide open like a dead fish's, a chilling sight, Xie An reached out with his right hand and closed them.

"Rest in peace."

Just then—

Crack.

Li Yunfeng, whose eyes had clearly been shut, suddenly opened them again and stared straight at him.

Fuck!

Xie An's spine went cold from fright, and a piercing pain abruptly stabbed into his eyes.

What was going on?

A nervous spasm reaction?

Seeing Xie An freeze up, Zhou Ji curiously asked, "Young Master?"

Only then did Xie An come back to himself. He waved a hand. "Nothing. Drag him out and bury him."

Zhou Ji nodded and obeyed. He dragged the corpse off the carriage, dug a hole by the roadside, and soon buried Li Yunfeng's body. Several other guards came over and pushed the carriage out of the mud. The convoy set off again.

Half the carriage compartment had been smashed apart, allowing the freezing wind and rain to pour in.

Xie An had now achieved initial success in Skin Tempering. His skin and membranes were tough and durable, so he was not afraid of the wind, rain, or cold. "Uncle Shui, today's ritual has already failed. What should we do next?"

Uncle Shui frowned. "Li Family Village is an exceedingly sinister place. We need to invite a formal Daoist from Returning Dragon Abbey to perform a rite."

After saying that, Uncle Shui shot Xie An a sidelong glance. "Your father and I will handle this matter. There's no need for you to worry about it. Just focus on practicing martial arts from now on. You were born with divine strength and possess exceptional talent. You may have a chance to step into Dark Force someday. By then, perhaps you truly will be able to help the master handle some matters."

Xie An nodded.

If his first trip to Li Family Village had merely been his first encounter with ghosts, then this time, seeing Li Yunfeng—a registered outer disciple of Returning Dragon Abbey—come to grief with his own eyes... had made him truly feel the terror of those ghostly evils.

At the same time, he had witnessed the frightening strength of Uncle Shui, a Dark Force Martial Master.

He was glad he had transmigrated into a wealthy merchant's household, where he had an expert like Uncle Shui to protect him and his father's vast wealth to support his martial training. Had he transmigrated into an ordinary poor family... facing such a chaotic age would likely have been even more dangerous.

Xie An still felt a slight sting in his eyes, as if a grain of sand had flown into them. He rubbed his eyes hard, but not only did he fail to rub out that "grain of sand," it instead seemed to keep flowing deeper into his eyeball.

There was no mirror outside for him to check.

When they reached the gates of Xie Residence, Xie An jumped down from the carriage to go inside, only to be stopped by a familiar voice.

"Mingxi!?"

Xie An abruptly turned his head and saw a brown sedan chair passing along the roadside. A handsome youth in white brocade robes poked his head out of its side window. "What have you been doing lately? You haven't even been to Red Sleeve House. Without you, Red Sleeve House has no fun at all."

Xie An paused. Information about the youth instinctively surfaced in his mind.

Xu Wenjie, seventeen years old. His family had made its fortune through iron mines, then opened a weaponsmithing shop in the county town. Aside from supplying ironware to common folk, they forged weapons for martial arts halls and exclusively provided military arms for the yamen and guard stations. Their business was enormous.

Right, Red Sleeve House was owned by his family.

As for Xu Wenjie's temperament... rich second-generation heirs in ancient society were all cut from the same cloth: idle and aimless, frequenting brothels and gambling dens. Beyond that, he also enjoyed collecting weapons.

Among all those drinking-and-feasting friends, Xu Wenjie was considered fairly compatible with the original Xie An.

Xie An smiled. "I've been feeling unwell these past few days, so I haven't gone out much. Does Brother Xu need something from me?"

Xu Wenjie signaled for the sedan bearers to lower the chair, then leaned against the side window and called across the distance. "Isn't it because Miss Su Hongxiu keeps pestering me every day? She says Young Master Mingxi hasn't visited in many days and that she misses you terribly. Hongxiu threw such a huge tantrum over it that she's hung up her sign and stopped receiving guests. Red Sleeve House's business has dropped by more than half. I can't keep doing business like this!"

Xie An rolled his eyes. So Su Hongxiu had latched onto the original owner as a wealthy sucker and was fleecing him for all he was worth.

"We'll talk about it later." Xie An gave him a vague reply and turned to leave.

But Xu Wenjie slid right out of the sedan chair, came over, and grabbed Xie An. "Don't give me that we'll-talk-later nonsense. A month from now, Miss Hongxiu has invited several outstanding scholars from the county to compose poetry and prose. You must come then. Besides Hongxiu and me, the young master of Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall will be there too. Oh, right, even Daoist Zhang Yunfan from Returning Dragon Abbey will attend. Zhang Yunfan is a formal outer disciple of Returning Dragon Abbey. He has just taken a famous master and is riding high in his youth."

Upon hearing that a formal outer disciple of Returning Dragon Abbey would be attending, Xie An finally became interested. "All right. I'll go then."

"Then it's settled!" Xu Wenjie happily released Xie An's hand. "Hey, why has half your carriage collapsed?"

"The wind and rain outside were fierce. Passing the foot of a mountain, it was struck by falling rocks." Xie An tossed out an excuse and entered the gates of Xie Residence.

He raced all the way to the main house of the West Courtyard. Without even greeting Qiu Lan, he went straight to the bedroom and looked into a mirror.

His eyes were fine.

Just then, Xie An felt the panel twitch.

He summoned the panel.

[Ten-Thousand Questions Martial Arts Model Lv1]

[Qi and Blood: 1.4]

[Spirit: 1.4]

[Martial Arts Realm: Skin Tempering]

[Talent: Spirit Sight (Pending Activation)]

[Taishan Fist: Mountain-Suppressing Stance (Perfected), Mountain-Taming Fist (Perfected)]

"The talent slot that had always been blank now has Spirit Sight?"

No wonder his eyes had been uncomfortable all this time. It turned out he had triggered a talent.

Was it because Li Yunfeng had glared at him?

After confirming that there was nothing wrong with his eyes, Xie An finally felt at ease.

He wondered what Spirit Sight was for.

Xie An decided to give it a try, and a thought crossed his mind.

"Activate!"