Danger Draws Near

As the Yin Soldier gulped down the incense smoke, the sticks burned faster and faster, soon burning all the way to their ends. Then something strange happened. It was clearly no more than a man-shaped shadow of mist, yet Tang Changsheng could see its expression plainly: the fellow looked stuffed and satisfied.

Meanwhile, Tang Changsheng lit a brazier, tossed the willow-wood Yin Soldier Command into it, and burned it to ash.

When he saw that the Yin Soldier had swallowed every last wisp of incense smoke, Tang Changsheng slapped the space before him and brought out a jade pendant.

Several streams of gray-black qi immediately lunged into the pendant like shadows.

Only then did Tang Changsheng smile. Without so much as looking, he slapped a talisman onto the pendant and gripped talisman and jade together.

Even through the talisman paper, he could feel the pendant turn so bitterly cold he could barely hold it.

Fortunately, he had come prepared. He had already cut his middle finger, and he pressed a drop of blood onto it.

Almost at once, the bone-piercing chill eased considerably.

In effect, the pendant now served the same purpose as the Yin Soldier Command!

What Tang Changsheng had done was simple: he had replaced that dead black-robed Daoist's refining method with one from the General's Temple.

Willow wood held life force, making it particularly easy for a ghost to inhabit. But jade was far better than willow wood for nurturing a soul.

The General's Temple also had a secret art. One could find a spiritual nexus in the earth's veins, then use the art to place the Soul Jade inside and nourish it with offerings. That might even let a Yin Soldier rise in rank and become more powerful.

And Yin-Yang Mountain had just such a nexus!

Yin Soldiers were divided into five grades: A, B, C, D, and E. A Grade E Yin Soldier, the lowest, was roughly on par with a Grudge Ghost.

A Grudge Ghost formed when a person died with resentment lodged in his chest, unable to disperse. Such a ghost could harm the living. Those with weak fortune often fell under its spell, suffered hallucinations, and ultimately killed themselves or died violently...

The ghost stories told most often—the ones about drowned ghosts seeking someone to take their place—were all the work of Grudge Ghosts.

But ghosts of that sort had little power over people with strong fortune and a vigorous life flame!

The Yin Soldier in Tang Changsheng's hands was a Grade E Yin Soldier, on par with a Grudge Ghost.

Still, the black-robed Daoist had refined it quite well. It was already a hair's breadth from becoming a Vicious Ghost, and it carried a Ghost Artifact capable of injuring a living person's body.

That made it even more formidable!

While Tang Changsheng refined the Yin Soldier, he had no idea that danger was drawing close again.

Rain fell throughout the night. Though it slackened the next day, it did not stop.

Around noon, three ordinary-looking men came up the mountain wearing expensive, professional-grade rain ponchos.

"Dead Man Mountain is up ahead. It really is desolate. Chen Zi, are you sure there's a great tomb in those hills?" asked one of them, a tall man.

"No doubt about it. When have you ever seen Old Xiang get it wrong? If he says there's a great tomb here, there is one!" Chen Zi said with certainty.

The big man brightened. These days, nearly every great tomb in the land that could be dug up had already been dug up.

Finding one in a backwater like this was a stroke of tremendous luck.

"But Old Xiang told us to watch out for the General's Temple. He even sent us to sound it out. I'm afraid there's more to that temple than meets the eye..."

"What's there to fear?" The big man sneered and slipped a hand into his coat, closing it around a pistol that had been cold but was now warm from his body.

"You don't really think those thugs of Hua Mao's were killed by someone from the General's Temple, do you? It was obviously Zuo Xingfa, the underworld boss of Lower River, and his men!"

He laughed coldly. "My brothers and I have traveled far and wide for years.

"We've gone into more great tombs than I can count, and I've never seen anything supernatural... Even if something did stir, a little black dog's blood took care of it!" "Exactly. This mage from the General's Temple probably just knows a few tricks for playing ghost. Did we really have to climb a mountain in the rain for him?"

The third man spoke impatiently. As he walked, he played with a small knife, its sharp blade flashing between his fingers like a ball of light, intimidating in the extreme.

A bloodthirsty smile spread across his face. "If you're scared, Chen Zi, just watch me use my knife when we get there!"

"Me, scared?" Chen Zi bristled. "Just watch me deal with that fellow from the General's Temple!

"But even so, we'd better be careful. I hear the General's Temple has a bit of a reputation around here. There's something uncanny about it!"

"Same as always: don't believe people who make things sound mysterious. We've been around long enough to know there aren't any real masters left in the world these days.

"At most, he has a few tricks to frighten ignorant villagers. Hmph. I don't believe they're stronger than the guns in our hands! Don't worry. If we see an opening, we'll put a bullet in him. He won't get a chance to work any of his evil arts!"

His voice was cold, without the slightest change in tone. To him, killing a person seemed no different from killing a chicken...

There was no mistaking it: he was a desperate outlaw who could kill without batting an eye!

Even so, his tone had softened a little at the end. He would rather be safe than sorry!

Chen Zi wholeheartedly agreed with him. He had only made the warning in passing. After so many years roaming the world, he had seen plenty. He knew there were no true masters left these days!

Even if someone had a little ability, it was only enough to scare ignorant villagers. Before their gun barrels, any so-called master would die no differently from an ordinary villager!

Neither man thought much of the General's Temple, famous though it was throughout Lower River!

Nor did they think much of taking a life. They had killed plenty of people.

In fact, if the thugs who had gone to test and provoke the temple last time had not met such an end, leaving them unsure what to expect, they probably would not even have bothered discussing a broken-down temple in the middle of nowhere!

"Zuo Xingfa is a local boss with capable men under him. If we rush straight to his door, we might get taken down instead of getting revenge! We might as well start with this mage and see what we're dealing with..."

"When the time comes, I'm going to cut him one hundred and one times..." the man twirling the knife said coldly, a bloodthirsty smile on his face.