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Chapter 362 Coming and Going
My muddled consciousness suddenly cleared.

Zhou You subconsciously picked up Duanxie—but then he remembered that his own sword was broken and now sealed in a ring, so he couldn't take it out.

Fortunately, we still have weapons.

The dagger slashed out from his sleeve, then he gripped it with his other hand. Zhou You then grabbed the edge of the bed, rolled over, and landed lightly on the ground.

Not a sound was made.

However, the hidden injury still caused a dull ache, and the belated feeling of weakness even made his head spin intermittently.

That's strange. Wasn't this kid supposed to be a martial arts master? How come his physique is so weak?
The question had barely surfaced in his mind when Zhou You shook his head and dismissed it.

Now is not the time to think about that.

He didn't choose to wear shoes, but went barefoot and felt his way to the door, then secretly opened it a crack.

Outside, everything remained quiet and peaceful.

By this time, Liu Hao's family had mostly fallen asleep, and only the servants on night watch remained outside.
Wait a moment.

Where are the watchmen?

Zhou You scanned the area again, confirming that he did not see any other people.

Normally, he might have thought this person had gone to find a place to slack off, but today was a joyous occasion for the Liu family, and he wouldn't dare to slack off at this time even if he had eight lives.

so
Zhou You crouched low and slithered out like a ghost, silently making his way to the spot where the servant should have been standing guard, using the shadows as cover.

The stench of blood was so strong it was almost tangible, yet there were no corpses to be seen, not even the slightest sign of struggle.

just.

Zhou You wiped the stone platform next to him with his finger, then gently wiped it clean.

That was blood, very thick blood.

Judging from the solidification, this person probably hadn't been in the accident for long. Zhou You frowned, then followed the traces of the incident.

He eventually arrived at the other side of the courtyard.

Unexpectedly, the smell of blood stopped at Old Man Li's house.

Zhou You originally thought this thing was aimed at him—after all, he had just been exposed by that ghost, and the identity of the chosen one was basically like a rat crossing the street in various scripts, the kind that everyone wanted to kill.

But who would have thought that the person who came to him wasn't him, but his cheap master.

Strange, Old Man Li is a low-class person who makes a living by catching ghosts and exorcising evil spirits. The most valuable thing he owns is that tattered sheepskin coat. What is there that would make him a target?

Zhou You frowned for a while, but finally crept over quietly.

The old man's door remained unchanged, and the sound of his loud snoring emanating from inside suggested he was already fast asleep; everything seemed exactly the same as when he left.

But Zhou You still sensed something was amiss.

There's something unusual about the shadow at the entrance.

Although it was still very gloomy tonight, quite a few lights were still lit in the Liu residence. Under the firelight, the shadow in front of the door did not slant in the corresponding direction, but remained clustered in a certain corner.

But Zhou You didn't rush out. Instead, he took out a talisman to ward off evil and gently wiped the short knife.

moment.

As he expected, the shadow began to boil as if it were being heated, and soon, something completely black 'grew out' from it.

At first glance, this thing looks like a human, but it has no face. Its whole body is like a lump of paste—in modern terms, it's like a pile of slime, constantly melting, deforming, and then reforming.

Before long, it finally condensed into something resembling an arm, which tremblingly reached for the door, trying to pull it open.

But at that moment, Zhou You had already sneaked up behind that thing.

The short sword was aimed at its head, and then it was swiftly slashed out without hesitation!
Hearing the whooshing sound of the blade cutting through the air, the thing realized someone had approached. It turned its head with difficulty, only to see a streak of light flash by.

The feeling was like cutting into the mud of a swamp, or sinking into sticky asphalt. Although the sneak attack was successful, the blade only went in less than three inches before it could go no further.

However, Zhou You was experienced. He immediately changed his slicing motion to a twisting motion, instantly crushing half of the other man's head. Then, he suddenly frowned and, with a few steps, dodged away.

next moment.

Another arm suddenly burst forth from the humanoid body—although Zhou You managed to escape in time and was not caught, it still managed to graz his clothes a little.

From the point of contact, the fabric began to corrode rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, only a huge hole remained.

The cold winter wind kept seeping in through the breach, even making the hairs on one's body stand on end.

Now he knows why there was no body.

Otherwise.

After taking a deep breath, Zhou You chose to advance instead of retreating.

In that brief exchange, he had discerned some of the thing's nature—its entire body was composed of a peculiar substance, which, under its own influence, might possess extremely high corrosiveness, but the problem was ultimately...
Too slow, and too silly.

With his feet planted firmly on the ground, he used the biting wind that rushed into his lungs to forcefully suppress all the discomfort in his body. He took a few heavy steps, seemingly heading straight for his own embrace—but just as he was about to grab something and use his two strange arms to deal with it.

Zhou You abruptly stopped, then turned to the other side.

The dagger slashed out once more. Because of its previous failure, the creature hadn't paid any attention and even intended to corrode the blade completely with its body—but at the moment of contact, it suddenly sensed something was wrong.

A burning pain suddenly arose at the point where the short knife made contact.

Further on, a faint golden light could be seen emanating from the blade.

—This is the very talisman that Zhou You initially placed on it!
Of course, even if the wound couldn't heal itself, it was far from fatal to the monster. More arms sprouted from its body, intending to reveal its true form—

But at that moment, another talisman was already inserted into the cut.

"Duh!"

A light sigh.

Then, flames burst forth and instantly engulfed the entire body!
—A moment later.

In the raging, filthy fire, that thing was completely burned to ashes.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, without even waking Old Man Li, who was fast asleep inside the house.

Zhou You frowned, squatted down, and wiped the ground with his finger.

That thing left no trace; in fact, it vanished instantly upon death, just like the real shadow.

But Zhou You still vaguely sensed something.

Like the coffin, it still bore traces of the extraterrestrial demon. Of course, this might simply be someone seeking revenge on Old Man Li, but the question is…
Zhou You thought for a while, but ultimately shook his head.

"This script is getting more and more interesting, hehe."
-
Early the next morning.

The entire Liu residence was in an uproar.

After all, losing a servant wasn't a big deal in those days, but it wasn't insignificant either—especially considering there was blood left at the place where the servant disappeared.

To put it mildly, this could mean that thieves broke into the house; to put it more seriously, it could mean that someone inside the house was stealing from the property, thus allowing outsiders to enter!
Amidst the chaos, Old Man Li was completely bewildered.

This bewilderment reached another peak when they saw Zhou You.

"My disciple, how come your clothes are so torn after just one night? Are the maids Liu Hao sent really that powerful, managing to ruin you like this?"

Zhou You glanced at Old Man Li's completely genuine expression and smiled.

"Master, you're joking. I didn't ask for any companions to sleep with me—it's just that last night I accidentally knocked over the candle while I was sleeping. Although there was no fire, I did burn a hole in my clothes. By the way, what happened? How did it get so messy?"

Old Li looked around and finally said something inexplicable.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? All I know is that someone seemed to have disappeared last night, but that's none of our business."

However, after saying this, Old Man Li looked Zhou You up and down and shook his head again.

"Hey apprentice, how did you sleep last night?"

"It's alright, what's wrong?"

Old Li pulled out a small bag from somewhere, slung it over his shoulder, and then laughed.

"Now that we've eaten and slept, it's time for the two of us to continue our journey."

Baoding.

For some reason, the roosters have been crowing exceptionally early lately. This day, when it was still barely dawn, the rooster started crowing at the top of its lungs.

Soon after, the gong-beater's clapper sounded.

"It's dawn, everyone, proceed!"

Horn's consciousness gradually awakened to this sound.

Opening my sleepy eyes, the first thing I see is still that unchanging ceiling.

His family lived in the east of the city. Although his ancestors had been native Baoding residents, the ancestral house was not well preserved. In the summer, it was always infested with mosquitoes, and in the winter, it was always drafty. He had considered moving to another place, but considering the distance between other places and his post, he could only grit his teeth and make do year after year.

I got up, yawning as I went through my usual washing and grooming routine.

Finally, he took out a cigarette from the cabinet, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a match.

The cigarettes weren't the usual kind, and they didn't have any additives; they were just cigarettes that those foreigners had dumped on the market—although the Empress Dowager had never liked these imported goods, to be honest, she herself quite liked them.

Every time I met those foreigners, I would bring them some things, but each time they would bring even more new and interesting things.

Soap, cigarettes, all sorts of exquisite foods—oh, and the even more exquisite clock.
Unfortunately, my salary is really not much. Although there are a lot of opportunities for personal gain in the department, I am too lazy to embezzle them and even less inclined to argue with those guys. So no matter how good these imported goods are, I can't get much of them on a regular basis.

After putting on his coat and tidying himself up once more, Horn, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, walked out of the house.

The outside was already getting lively. Early risers from all walks of life had taken up a lot of space, and breakfast stalls had opened. The aromas of Old Huang's fried dough sticks, Qingfangzhai's steamed buns, and Sun's mutton soup seemed to linger throughout the street, even dispelling much of the winter chill.

When they saw Horn, many people greeted him.

"Hey Mr. Huo, you're up really early today."

"Master Huo, how about a couple of these freshly baked buns?"

"Mr. Huo, look at this."

However, no matter who it was, Horn responded with a smile.

That's how he was in this neighborhood. Because he was a servant, people called him "Master." But he never showed any arrogance. Instead, he was kind to everyone and always greeted them with a smile. Gradually, he earned a good reputation among his neighbors.

When he walked out onto the street, he had two steamed buns wrapped in oil paper and a golden-brown, crispy fried dough stick in his hand.

The rickshaw at the end of the street saw him and immediately smiled.

"Mr. Huo, are you going to your business trip today?"

This was a novelty for him, and Horn would ride it once or twice if he had the time, but this time he just shook his head.

"No, I have something else to do, so I won't sit down."

After that, Horn walked through several more streets and finally arrived at his work site.

The place where Horn worked was called the "Prefectural Horse Bureau," which, as the name suggests, was a place for raising horses. It used to be a pretty good government office, but due to several reforms, nearly 90% of the horses were gone, and naturally, a lot of the staff were laid off. Now, only a handful of people remain.

Horn nodded to the old man guarding the gate and entered the courtyard, but instead of heading towards the official hall where he usually worked, he followed the path and entered a secluded corner.

This stable was only a nominal position, but in reality...
Horn took out his official badge, infused it with magic, and pressed it onto a certain spot.

A thin mist rose and soon swallowed up the body.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in another place.

The towering red walls stretch endlessly, and the magnificent eaves reflect the rising sun. The dragon and phoenix carvings at the top of the walls testify to the unique name of this place.

—The Forbidden City, the inner palace of the imperial palace.

However, at this moment, the vast palace was completely silent, as if there were no living beings inside.

Horn was already used to this—he even knew that he wasn't in reality at all—so he simply straightened his clothes and continued walking inside as usual.

After passing through several palace gates, the road became increasingly wider the further in you went.

However, the smell is getting increasingly unpleasant.

Finally, when he arrived at a square, he saw the source of the smell.

It was a tall tower made of bones, and hundreds of skeletons were staring at him, while he was staring back at them.

As a proper Qing Dynasty official, Horn naturally knew what this was: its official name was Jingguan, which was usually used by conquerors to show off their military prowess and intimidate their enemies.

Similarly, he also knew what materials were used to make the mound of skulls.

Those were all the evil-suppressing offices in the entire dynasty.

They were all piled up here.

(End of this chapter)