An uninvited guest

Although he had made quite a bit of money when he killed Yin Qianlang last time,

Lu Mian also knew just how quickly he burned through money.

That amount would only last him about a month.

Once he broke through to the first realm, he would surely spend even more.

Naturally, he had to seize this opportunity to earn as much as possible so he could buy more pills for his gluttonous stomach to devour.

"Thirteen hundred taels of silver still isn't enough... I'll have to work harder tonight."

"I need to earn at least five thousand taels here in Flying Cloud County Seat."

"Once I've earned enough, I'll stop."

Lu Mian set himself a goal.

That meant he still needed to kill thirty-seven evil spirits and weird beings.

That was an astonishing number.

Even a full squad might not reach that total with all its members combined.

That was also why Lu Mian had turned Zhuang Shen down.

Staying with the squad would certainly be safer, but there was no way he could kill as many evil spirits and weird beings.

So he was better off operating alone.

After eating and drinking his fill and setting his goal, Lu Mian took down a wooden door, lay on it, and fell asleep.

The other squads that had entered Flying Cloud County Seat did the same, each finding somewhere to rest while daylight lasted.

Day gave way to night.

Before long, the sun that had risen in the east was setting in the west.

After sleeping all day, Lu Mian slowly opened his eyes.

"Now that was a good sleep!"

Lu Mian stood, swung his arms, and stretched his legs, his joints crackling all over.

Then he ate some more jerky and drank some water.

Feeling back at his best, he was about to leave the house when he suddenly looked up.

Someone was clinging to the ceiling.

The figure's limbs clung to it like a spider's, but its head was twisted a full hundred and eighty degrees, displaying an eerie, false smile.

The instant Lu Mian met its eyes,

the figure seemed to lose its grip, dropping from the ceiling and lunging at him.

Lu Mian wasn't frightened in the slightest and darted aside.

As the figure landed, Lu Mian lashed out with his right leg like lightning.

Bang!

The kick slammed into its body, sending it crashing through the brick wall like a cannonball.

With the Great Cleaver on his back, Lu Mian walked out of the house.

The creature wasn't dead yet. It lay on the ground, struggling to stand.

Crack!

Lu Mian stomped down, crushing its head like a watermelon.

Brains splattered across the ground.

"Don't you know I'm cranky when I wake up?"

Lu Mian took out his waterskin of Talisman Water, drank a mouthful, then sprayed it over the corpse.

Ssssss...

Soon, the headless corpse dissolved into a puddle of pus.

Lu Mian took the opportunity to coat the Great Cleaver with Talisman Water, then turned and left.

"We killed seven resentful souls yesterday... No one was injured."

"We need to be extra careful tonight, too."

Zhuang Shen looked at his squad members and spoke gravely.

They were in the lobby of an abandoned inn, preparing to set out.

"Captain, I don't think Flying Cloud County is as scary as we imagined."

"As long as we aren't unlucky enough to run into a first-tier fierce spirit, we'll be fine."

A proud young Patrol Horse Guard said this with a smile.

"Zhuo Fei, if you keep that attitude, even if you survive this time,

"something will happen to you sooner or later."

Zhuang Shen's expression was stern, his tone sharpening.

Zhuo Fei came from a minor family in the Outer City and had only recently joined the Patrol Horse Guard. He had been patrolling the Shed Quarantine Zone under Zhuang Shen ever since, and this was his first elimination mission.

"All right, Captain. I'll be careful."

Zhuo Fei replied with a cheerful smile.

Clearly, he hadn't taken Zhuang Shen's words to heart.

Zhuang Shen inwardly shook his head but said nothing more.

Some people never learned from being told.

Soon, everyone had finished preparing and was about to leave.

Bang!

Suddenly, the doors to the inn's lobby slammed shut as though driven by a violent gust, making an enormous noise.

Zhuang Shen's heart jolted. "Old Yue, break down the doors!"

Clearly, something unclean was still lurking in the inn and had emerged as soon as darkness fell.

A burly man with a full beard charged fearlessly at the doors upon hearing the order.

He had barely made it halfway when

"Hee hee hee..."

a burst of eerie giggling rang out.

White resentful souls leaped down from the second floor, rushing madly toward the bearded man.

"Damn it!"

The bearded man didn't dare gamble with his life. He could only stop, draw the two short axes at his waist, and hack at the white resentful souls.

"Watch out!"

Zhuang Shen had already drawn his bow and aimed an arrow at a white figure.

Whoosh!

The arrow whistled through the air.

Thud!

The white figure diving toward them screamed as the arrow pierced its forehead, reducing it to drifting ash before it reached the ground.

Then more white resentful souls appeared throughout the inn.

There were men and women among them, all with chilling, venomous eyes.

"Form up!"

"Gather around me! Don't panic!"

Zhuang Shen shouted.

Hearing his orders, the Patrol Horse Guards immediately formed a circle, fending off the white resentful souls swooping down at them.

"Aaargh!"

Zhuo Fei, who had been boasting just moments before, let out a scream.

At some point, a white resentful soul had clung to him. It opened its mouth and bit off his ear along with a chunk of his face!

Hearing Zhuo Fei's scream, Zhuang Shen roared, "Don't move!"

Zhuang Shen's voice brought the panicking Zhuo Fei back to his senses a little. Fighting through his pain and terror, he stood completely still.

Whoosh!

The next instant,

an arrow whistled past, piercing the resentful soul clinging to Zhuo Fei.

"Don't be afraid!"

"Fight your way out!"

Zhuang Shen threw down his large bow, drew the saber at his waist, and roared.

Staying here meant waiting to die. Their only way out was to fight through.

His roar rallied the others. Maintaining their formation, they pushed toward the lobby doors.

"Hee hee hee..."

"You can't get away."

"Stay and keep us company."

The resentful souls kept giggling eerily and swooping down from above, hampering Zhuang Shen and the others' advance.

Now, every step forward seemed agonizingly difficult.

Wounded, Zhuo Fei listened to their eerie giggling as fear spread through him, leaving him utterly terrified.

In a situation like this, losing one's composure meant disaster.

From the corner of his eye, Zhuo Fei suddenly spotted a white resentful soul beside him, grinning grotesquely at him!

"Die! All of you, die!"

Zhuo Fei screamed recklessly, swinging his sword at the white resentful soul.

Slash!

The teammate beside Zhuo Fei was caught off guard and barely managed to turn sideways.

"Aaargh!"

His teammate screamed as Zhuo Fei severed his entire arm.

The scream immediately brought Zhuo Fei back to his senses somewhat.

He stared at his teammate, bewildered.

What had he done?!

In that brief moment of stunned hesitation, the white resentful souls swarmed him.

"Aaargh!"

The white resentful souls tore through Zhuo Fei's throat and heart with their teeth.

With one man dead and another wounded, an enormous gap opened in their once-tight formation.

Five or six white resentful souls seized the opportunity to rush in, breaking the formation apart.

Once the formation broke, everyone was forced to fight alone. They could barely withstand the overwhelming swarm of white resentful souls, suffering wound after wound as their defeat drew near.

Boom!

At that moment, the entire inn seemed to shake.