The next day.
Golden morning light spilled from the horizon, and the banks of the Chongming River gradually grew noisy.
Xie Jinhuan rode Little Red Horse at a stroll through the streets, occasionally hearing idle passersby chatting:
"Hero Xie really is incredible. He's only been in Danyang a few days, and he's actually killed off every demon, monster, and ghost..."
"What do you mean, hero? He's a young hero-he isn't even twenty..."
"At this rate, in less than ten years, Wei Wuyi of Dai Prefecture will probably have to step aside for someone worthier..."
At three years old, Xie Jinhuan had vowed to work the local natives into the ground. All he wanted was to walk down the street one day with everyone admiring and praising him, married women going weak in the knees at the sight of him, young ladies refusing to marry anyone else, and Coal Ball catching and eating whatever he pleased in the streets.
The scene now really was much like what he had imagined as a child.
But thinking of the Ghost Wife, poised to emerge at any moment, he really wasn't in the mood to feel pleased with himself. All along the way, he pondered where to find Jiazi Lotus to refine pills. Amid these wandering thoughts, man and bird arrived outside the clinic on Ning'an Street.
Coal Ball already knew the way. He sprang from Xie Jinhuan's shoulder and landed on the clinic's second-floor windowsill to peer inside.
"Chirp chirp?"
"Coal Ball?!"
Clatter!
Thud, thud, thud...
The sound of a chair being knocked aside came from upstairs, followed by hurried footsteps.
Then a face of breathtaking beauty appeared at the window, the eyes behind its gold-rimmed glasses filled with anxiety.
Sensing Lin the Great Beauty's worry, Xie Jinhuan dismounted and was about