"How dare you, ghost wraith! You dare come out and cause trouble in broad daylight!"
At the sight, the constables immediately drew their sabers and stood on guard. Yet Zhao Ziren made no move to resist; he simply could not endure that fierce, pungent smell and bent over, coughing dryly.
"A human?" Doubt appeared on the head constable's face. He reached out, gripped Zhao Ziren's shoulder tightly, and released his spiritual consciousness to examine him carefully.
"What a feeble man. His yin-yang balance has broken down-he's almost become a ghost slave!"
Startled, the head constable released him and ordered, "Check them all. Arrest anyone tainted by ghosts!"
Soon, Zhao Ziren was forcibly detained and bundled into a carriage. The head constable questioned him personally. "Who are you? Why have you been in close contact with ghosts for so long?"
"Cough... cough, cough... I don't understand what you mean, sir. You... cough, cough..."
The head constable sneered, took a sachet from his belt, and asked, "Do you recognize this?"
Zhao Ziren looked at it in confusion, then exclaimed, "A... a sachet from the City God Temple?"
The head constable said, "Does it smell foul to you? Overpowering?"
Zhao Ziren choked and coughed again. The answer was already plain.
The head constable snorted. White light gathered in his palm, enveloping the sachet.
At once, the acrid, choking, headache-inducing smell weakened somewhat. Then the head constable lifted the carriage curtain, and Zhao Ziren finally caught his breath.
The head constable said, "It seems you recognize it. But do you know what it's used for?"
Zhao Ziren said, "I do. It's meant to ward off evil and drive away ghosts. But that's just the temple keeper's claim, nothing more than a way to make money."
The head constable said, "Nonsense! How can something passed