Chapter 1211: Blue Silkworm Spreads Bad News

The arrowheads, coated with Fu Liushan's specially prepared rune oil, ignited with white phosphorescent flames as they cut through the air. Upon striking the large ghost, they immediately burst into flames.

Two or three holes were shot into these two large ghosts. They pulled their robes over themselves, then swung their whips, lashing out swiftly and fiercely.

The whips suddenly extended to more than twice their original length. When they struck a physical object, they passed straight through it, leaving trees, tall grass, and other things on the path completely undisturbed.

One guard, unable to dodge in time, was struck. His body trembled, and he lost his footing.

Others only saw the large ghost's whip coil and hook out a phantom from his body.

The phantom did not want to leave the body, but the large ghost yanked hard, pulling it out nonetheless.

The guard immediately fell to the ground, unconscious—his spirit had been hooked away.

Fu Liushan threw a small cymbal, directly severing the whip. He then walked over to the phantom, grabbed it with one hand, and shoved it back into the guard's body.

The action was akin to stuffing cotton into a quilt.

It was unclear how he managed it, but in a few swift moves, the guard's spirit returned to its place, though he remained momentarily immobile.

Just as he finished saving the man, he cast out a chain to capture the large ghost.

The two sides fought for a while. The large ghost, caught off guard, was completely ensnared by the chain.

When Fu Liushan turned to deal with the other large ghost, he discovered—

The ghost was gone.

He Lingchuan was standing in the large ghost's previous spot; the long, autumn-water-like blade in his hand had just disappeared.

"That...?"

"Dispelled it."

Fu Liushan scratched his head. "Alright then."

He Lingchuan walked toward the sand pit. "What about these few?"

The small ghosts were still stuck in place. Seeing him approach, they all bared their fangs.

"Get rid of them. They're all trouble." The miners in Rolling Stone Valley had their essence, vital energy, and souls drained by them.

He Lingchuan nodded, walked closer to the sand pit, and casually swung his blade.

With a soft whoosh, where the blade energy passed, the small ghosts were cut in half at the waist and vanished into thin air before they could even let out a scream.

Fusheng's void-breaking power had never failed against these ghostly creatures.

Fu Liushan finally saw clearly this time and tsk-tsked twice, "The more I look at your blade, the stranger it gets."

Magical artifacts capable of slaying ghosts are specially made, with ancient and medieval treasures being the only exceptions.

He took out a bellows and collected the bound large ghost. Just as he was about to speak, something fell from the night sky; at first glance, it looked like a large fluttering moth.

Fu Liushan reached out his hand, and the object landed in his palm.

When Dong Rui and the others walked over to look, they saw it was a green coin, slightly smaller than a common copper coin.

"Oh, a Green Fuhu Coin?" Dong Rui had only heard of them and was seeing one in person for the first time.

Green Fuhu are flying insects resembling osmanthus cicadas. A pair of green coins can be refined from the blood of a mother and child Fuhu; if the child coin is released, it will seek out the mother coin, and vice versa. People have found many uses for this property, one of which is for short-distance communication.

Mother and child Fuhu coins can seek each other out over distances of thirty to fifty li, especially for communication while in motion, which is even more convenient than using carrier birds.

This Green Fuhu coin was specially made. Fu Liushan gently folded it; it was hollow inside, containing a small note.

Fu Liushan walked a few steps away to the water's edge, where he unfolded the note and read it. His expression immediately changed.

He Lingchuan's line of sight couldn't bend, but the mirror in his possession directly revealed the note's content:

"Return at once! Situ He has been transferred to Ju City Prison and will be publicly beheaded tomorrow at noon!"

Situ He? He Lingchuan's brows furrowed instantly.

He had only seen Situ He's wanted poster earlier that day while buying dry rations. So he had already been captured?

Fu Liushan put away the Green Fuhu coin and said to He Lingchuan and the others, "I have an urgent matter and must leave ahead of you. I'll return here in a couple of days."

Jiang Lishui was displeased. "Master Fu, this matter isn't finished yet."

This fellow has already collected the money; shouldn't he tie up the loose ends properly?

Fu Liushan pointed at He Lingchuan and said, "Honestly, if Xuan Lu discovered him, it certainly won't let you go. You should know that after Xuan Lu transformed into an evil spirit and reappeared, the first thing it did was find and kill all descendants of its enemy, Bao Ning. It spent decades on this, tirelessly enjoying the process. Its vindictive nature is clearly apparent."

"So, me staying here to catch ghosts is only addressing the symptoms, not the root cause. The best solution is for you to abandon this place and leave immediately!"

His mind wasn't on the matter, so he spoke frankly. Jiang Lishui and the others changed color upon hearing this. He Lingchuan, however, walked up to Fu Liushan and whispered, but was equally direct: "You're in a hurry to leave; are you planning to raid the prison or the execution ground?"

Fu Liushan was startled. He actually saw it?

The words "raid the execution ground" were truly taboo. Fu Liushan's first thought was to silence him.

However, as soon as he thought of these two fellows' combat power, the thought popped and extinguished itself.

I can't beat them, I simply can't.

"Nonsense, what prison or execution ground would I raid!" He shed his previous laid-back demeanor and turned to go back to the village to fetch his horse. "You're outsiders; just earn your money. Why meddle in these idle affairs?"

He Lingchuan gestured by his ear, "Tall, dark-skinned with a square face, and a scar on his long neck?"

Fu Liushan paused, but still said, "You saw the bounty, then?"

Situ He's portrait was on the wanted poster, so it was not strange that He Lingchuan could describe his features.

He Lingchuan smiled. "The nail on his right little finger is naturally split."

Split nails are common on the little toes but rare on the hands. The wanted poster only showed his face, so it wouldn't have included this feature, would it?

Fu Liushan finally cast a scrutinizing gaze at him. "You truly know him?"

He was right. Wasn't this fellow from out of town? How could he be involved everywhere?

"He studied abroad in Lingxu City, right?" He Lingchuan asked calmly. "He's a good friend from my Imperial Academy days. I hadn't heard from him in two years and never expected to see his name on a wanted poster. What exactly did he do to be sentenced to death?"

Fu Liushan said vaguely, "How would I know? But in a place like this, even if you're an innocent, good person, you could still be arrested and beheaded."

"When was he arrested?"

"He disappeared a few days ago," Fu Liushan replied, seeing no reason to hide this. "Later, General Situ received a threat from the Bixia people, saying they would kill his son if he didn't surrender."

It seemed General Situ had already made his choice.

Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, He Lingchuan stopped pressing the matter.

Fu Liushan, at least, retained some professional ethics. While walking back to the village, he explained in detail the methods to ward off ghostly creatures and handed some magic items like 'heart-covering candles' and 'high incense' to Jiang Lishui. "You saw how I did it just now; just follow my example, and I'll be back in a few days."

He glanced at He Lingchuan again and was about to leave.

He Lingchuan suddenly said, "If General Situ sends troops to attack Ju City, Situ He will likely die even faster. He knows this, doesn't he?"

Fu Liushan was startled to hear this but did not reply. Instead, he mounted his horse and hurriedly rode off.