Chapter 1165: Unwelcome Guest

When hungry, anything tastes good. He had been gnawing on dry rations for three days and still needed a bite of hot food to fill his stomach.

Alas, his stomach had been spoiled by the cooks of the Yangshan Archipelago. He recalled those years when he traveled far and wide, and it was common to go ten days or even half a month without a hot meal.

Ah, it’s hard for people to go from luxury to frugality.

The rice blood cake was soaking in the hot soup, infusing with flavor. He Lingchuan tasted it; there was a slight gamey smell of deer blood, and the taste was merely satisfactory.

Dong Rui asked, “Where are we? We got disoriented from traveling.”

“Wuxian Town.”

The two still looked confused. With thousands upon thousands of towns in the world, what difference did it make to them if it was called Wuxian or Liuxian?

The shopkeeper pointed eastward: “Fifty *li* northeast, and you’ll reach Yao Kingdom.” He then pointed southeast: “Thirty-five *li* slightly southeast, and you’ll find Jingshan Mountain. Don’t go there; it’s dangerous in the mountains.”

He Lingchuan asked, “What about Baitou Ridge?”

“Also go northeast. You’ll enter Yao Kingdom’s territory only after crossing Baitou Ridge.”

The shopkeeper served another dish, which both of them found hard to tolerate:

Mixed Houttuynia.

Dong Rui took just one bite and shook his head, “Oh my goodness, I’d rather swallow a river fish whole.” He could eat meat of unknown origin, but this stuff, this stuff...

“This is good stuff,” a voice next to them piped up.

There was only one other customer in the shop, a lone drinker, who was short and thin, with bushy eyebrows and small eyes. When he frowned, it was impossible to tell if his eyes were open or closed. Perhaps drinking alone was too lonely, so he started chatting with the two of them: “Eat a couple more bites, and you’ll start to like it.”

Dong Rui shook his head, unwilling to try again.

In front of this man was a plate of peanuts and a whole spring onion. He would take a sip of wine, then a bite of the spring onion, and let out a long “Ah” as the spiciness hit him. He Lingchuan noticed a half-palm-sized copper bell hanging on the window frame next to him. It was polished so brightly it reflected like a mirror, and its surface was covered in carved runes. The shopkeeper’s curtain wasn’t tightly woven, and occasionally, wind would blow in, swirling through the hall, but the bell remained perfectly still and silent.

“Are you also a cultivator?”

“You could say that,” the drinker chuckled. “Where are you two from?”

“The west.”

“Where in the west?” the drinker asked. “You two are quite large; you don’t look like locals.”

“West of Ya Kingdom.”

The drinker paused, surprised: “Not in the Glimmering Gold Plains? Hey, you’re lucky! Why would you come all the way here? Are you tired of living the good life?”

“We’re here to acquire some goods in Yao Kingdom,” Dong Rui chuckled. “We just started doing business here this year. Although the Glimmering Gold Plains aren’t very peaceful, there are truly many good things there. For money, shouldn’t one brave fire and water?”

Although this place was called the Glimmering Gold “Plains,” it actually encompassed all types of terrain. Vast mountain ranges had both main branches and offshoots here, like the backbone of the earth. The great mountains of the Glimmering Gold Plains contained countless rich mineral deposits. In addition to common ones like iron, tin, copper, and gold, there were also numerous rare ores essential for artifact refining. Besides that, horses, medicinal herbs, timber, and more were also local specialties. In terms of material abundance, tiny Bailie couldn’t even hold a candle to it.

“What good are abundant resources if you can see them but can’t use them? People here are begging with a golden bowl in their hands.” The drinker shook his head. “The Land Forsaken by Heaven—is that name undeserved?”

He Lingchuan, however, was looking at several pieces of red paper pasted on the window. They were rectangular and had talismans drawn on them. The paper window originally had holes, which were covered by these talismans. He had only glanced at them when the bell next to the drinker suddenly rang without any wind.

Cling—

It was very clear, but only a half-ring. The drinker immediately put down his cup. One of the talismans on the window was suddenly pushed open by a gust of wind, and the window hole beneath it made a whistling sound, like a blown whistle.

The next second, something appeared outside the hole—an eye. A bloodshot eyeball, rolling around wildly, was peeking into the shop through the small hole in the window. On a pitch-black rainy night, an eye suddenly appearing in a window hole three *chi* off the ground would send shivers down any normal person’s spine. He Lingchuan was also startled, his chopsticks, holding noodles, paused mid-air. The gaze from outside the window swept over the three guests and quickly focused on the shopkeeper, filled with malice.

The drinker suddenly said, “It’s here, right outside the window.” He pointed to the window hole: “It’s peeking at you from right here.”

The shopkeeper’s face instantly changed color. He followed the man’s finger, and Dong Rui and the two monkeys also turned their heads, but outside the window, there was nothing but darkness.

“What on earth?”

The drinker noticed He Lingchuan’s reaction but didn’t reveal it. He only said to the panicked shopkeeper, “Go behind the counter and hold your breath.”

The shopkeeper didn’t dare hesitate, darting back in a single stride. The eyeball outside the window instantly vanished.

The next second, a wisp of black smoke drifted in from beyond the door curtain, swaying inside the room.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror exclaimed, “Oh? I thought it was some kind of evil creature; turns out it’s just a wild ghost!” The world within the mirror housed many malevolent spirits, so the mirror was, of course, no stranger to such beings. However, ghostly entities rarely appeared near He Lingchuan, and it had been a long time since it had seen one.

Only then did Dong Rui realize that a white circle had been drawn on the floor behind the counter, and the shopkeeper was standing inside the circle, holding his breath and not daring to move. The black smoke drifted back and forth in the shop, seemingly unable to find him. It seemed to grow agitated, then settled to the floor and took on a human shape, meticulously caressing the edge of the counter. This thing looked like a monkey that had sprung from a muddy swamp—gaunt, dark, and hunchbacked, with uneven yellow teeth in its mouth. It continuously gnashed its teeth, its upper and lower jaws making clicking sounds. The shopkeeper stood right in front of it, terrified, their eyes locked, but this mud ghost seemed to be blind even with its eyes open, simply unable to see the living person standing there. Of course, the shopkeeper couldn’t see it either, but he could feel the temperature in the shop dropping rapidly.

Just then, the sound of dripping liquid came from behind. The mud ghost immediately turned its head and saw He Lingchuan calmly pouring wine. It immediately turned and approached He Lingchuan and the other man. He Lingchuan continued to pour and drink for himself, pretending not to see it. The mud ghost approached the two men and two monkeys, sniffing a few times, then pressed its claws on the table, leaving a muddy handprint. The shopkeeper couldn’t see it, but he could see the handprint, which made his face turn even paler with fright.

Then, it went to the drinker. The drinker held a mouthful of wine. When the ghost approached, he suddenly spat it out with a *poof*. The wine was slightly reddish, mixed with specially prepared cinnabar. Caught off guard, the mud ghost was sprayed all over its head and face. It immediately let out a shrill scream, turned into black smoke, and fled out the door. But to its surprise, the drinker had a bellows under his hand. He lightly pressed it—yes, the kind of bellows used to stoke fires in kitchens and bathhouses. The wisp of black smoke was then sucked into the bellows.

“Done,” the drinker said as he put away his tool and tore off the red paper from the window. “It has been subdued by me.”

“Good,” He Lingchuan said, giving a thumbs-up. “That was quick and clean.”

The shopkeeper, whose face had turned purple from holding his breath, gasped twice at the sound: “Master Fu, am I safe?”

“Yes, you’re safe.”

The shopkeeper had just seen the muddy handprint on He Lingchuan’s table, which was when he believed that an evil spirit had indeed been there. He then took out half an *liang* of silver fragments and placed them on the drinker’s table. “Thank you, Master! I’ll go warm up some more wine for you.”