Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

The next morning, the kitchen of Fengzeyuan was bustling with activity as usual.

He Damin, sleeves rolled up, stood before the chopping board. With a swift stroke, a fresh white radish was transformed into evenly slender, paper-thin radish shreds. His movements were fluid and graceful, his expression calm and focused, as if the "Grim Reaper" who had unleashed a bloodbath over the Fengtai military camp the previous night, reaping thousands of souls, had nothing to do with him.

Only he knew that the Soul Refining Banner in his spiritual sea was trembling slightly, conveying a mixture of satisfaction and anticipation. The blood on the banner was so thick it seemed about to drip, and the hundred ghost patterns were exquisitely detailed and lifelike, with faint, mournful howls echoing through the soul. The dragon scale patterns on the banner pole shimmered with golden light, even clearer than before.

Last night, he deliberately left the weapons, ammunition, and food in the camp uncollected. He allowed the guns, ammunition, and military pay to be scattered inside and outside the barracks. He didn't even dispose of most of the Japanese soldiers' corpses.

The goal is simple—fishing.

A mixed regiment of nearly a thousand men was almost completely wiped out overnight due to such a bizarre and terrifying "paranormal event," leaving behind a large amount of intact military supplies. How would the Japanese high command react?

First and foremost, the news will be suppressed to avoid causing greater panic. But immediately afterward, the most "professional" personnel will be dispatched to investigate—Onmyoji, military monks, and perhaps some members of the so-called "Imperial Supernatural Abilities Research Department." At the same time, in order to recover those valuable weapons and supplies and prevent the spread of "evil things," new, elite troops will be deployed to take over and clean up the site.

This is exactly what He Damin wanted.

He planned to wait until all the "professionals" and the newly arrived troops were assembled before wiping them out in one fell swoop. He would assassinate the Onmyoji and cultivators who might pose a potential threat to him, and incidentally harvest a new batch of souls to gather the final quantity needed for the Soul Refining Banner to advance to its third stage (which required 1500 souls). Finally, he would reclaim all the resources and money that he had "temporarily stored" there, with interest.

Judging by the timeline, the Japanese high command should have received the bad news and made initial responses during the day today. At the earliest tonight, and at the latest tomorrow, those "professionals" and new troops should arrive in Fengtai.

Therefore, he needs to go again tonight. And this time, he will go in his physical body.

While the soul form is convenient—formless and intangible, moving like the wind—prolonged, high-intensity use of the Soul Refining Banner, especially when dealing with Onmyoji who may possess magical powers, consumes a great deal of soul power and carries the risk of being targeted or attacked by special means. Physical action, though slower and a larger target, is more stable and enduring, allowing for more deliberate planning and leveraging the close-quarters combat advantages of martial arts' "Transforming Strength" technique. Combined with Taoist arts and the Soul Refining Banner, it offers greater security.

"Damin, the radish shreds you cut today are absolutely amazing!" Chef Wang strolled over, glanced at the pile of crystal-clear radish shreds on the cutting board, and couldn't help but exclaim, "This knife skill, this dedication, this composure—he's got real talent."

"Master Wang, you flatter me." He Damin looked up, smiled shyly, his eyes clear, like a young apprentice truly immersed in his craft. He swept the shredded radish into a basin of water to float, then began processing the pork beside him.

No one knew that this meticulous young man at the stove was calmly planning every step of tonight's hunt, assessing possible resistance, and plotting a safe escape route.

As dusk fell, Fengzeyuan closed its doors.

He Damin returned to Nanluoguxiang carrying a bag of leftovers that the workers had divided up—mainly scraps and leftover steamed buns. He took most of the food to his elder brother He Daqing's house, saying it was from Master Wang and asking his sister-in-law to heat it up for Yuzhu. He kept only two cold steamed buns for himself.

He returned to the east courtyard and closed the door. Without lighting a lamp, he changed into a dark gray coarse cloth outfit by the last rays of sunlight streaming through the window. The clothes were slightly loose, but didn't restrict his movements. On his feet were a pair of cloth shoes with thickened soles, so that he walked silently.

He took out several items from his Tai Chi space: a sharp dagger (not a Japanese military-issue weapon, but one he had forged himself from ordinary steel), a packet of wound medicine and antidote wrapped in oiled paper, several basic talismans he had drawn (a breath-concealing talisman, a lightness talisman, and a protective talisman), and a small leather pouch filled with water. After checking that everything was in order, he carefully put these items away from his body.

At midnight, all was quiet.

He Damin pushed open the wooden door of the east courtyard and slipped into the night like a shadow. He didn't go through the main gate, but instead leaped lightly, grabbed the top of the wall with one hand, and scaled the roof. Standing on the ridge, he took one last look at the sleeping courtyard and the dark windows of his elder brother's house, then turned and leaped away in the southwest direction.

Unleash the full power of "Light Footwork: Swallow Three Drops of Water"!

His figure rose and fell on the rooftops of varying heights, each time his toes lightly touched the tiles three times, and he had already floated seven or eight zhang away. His movements were light and swift, like a real swift skimming the water, silent and stealthy. The night wind whistled in his ears, and the streets and houses below rushed past.

Traveling with one's physical body is indeed much slower than traveling with one's soul, and it consumes real physical strength. However, his early-stage Transformation Realm martial arts cultivation made his blood and qi abundant, and his stamina astonishing. True essence flowed slowly through his meridians, nourishing his muscles and dispelling fatigue.

He deliberately chose to walk through quiet alleys, deserted rooftops, and even sections of abandoned city walls, trying to avoid main roads where he might encounter patrol teams. Even so, the journey from Nanluoguxiang to Fengtai, a distance of several dozen miles, took him nearly two hours.

When the outline of the military camp, surrounded by barbed wire, with significantly more lights than the previous night and a somber atmosphere, came into view in the distance, He Damin glanced at the sky—it was about 1:30 a.m.

He lay prone behind a mound about a mile from the military camp, carefully observing the situation by the light of the sparse starlight and the camp's own lamps.

The situation in the military camp was almost exactly as he had expected.

First, the security around the military camp has been significantly strengthened. Several temporary sentry posts have been set up outside the barbed wire fence, searchlights are constantly scanning back and forth, and the density and frequency of patrols have increased several times over. Everyone is fully armed and looks tense.

Secondly, inside the military camp, the corpses that had been scattered everywhere were gone, presumably having been cleared and gathered in one place. However, the weapons, ammunition, and supply boxes were still scattered haphazardly on the parade ground and at the entrance of the barracks, only now the area was cordoned off and guarded by armed soldiers. Clearly, the Japanese army had not yet had time, or rather, dared not easily move these "evil" supplies.

Finally, and this was what He Damin was most concerned about—in the center of the military camp, next to the original regimental command post, several new dark green military tents had been erected. No ordinary soldiers were standing guard around the tents; instead, several cloth banners painted with strange runes stood there, and a faint, strange smell of sandalwood and sulfur permeated the air. The light emanating from the tents was a pale blue, completely different from the dim yellow glow of ordinary lanterns.

"They've arrived." He Damin's eyes narrowed. The tents, the surrounding banners, and the distinctive smell all indicated that the people inside were extraordinary—they were Onmyoji, monks, or other practitioners sent by the Japanese army.

He did not act immediately, but patiently lay in wait, adjusting his breathing and concealing his aura to the lowest possible level. At the same time, his spiritual sense, like invisible tentacles, cautiously extended forward, avoiding targets that might be sensitive to spiritual energy, mainly sensing the distribution of troops in the military camp, the positions of sentries, both visible and hidden, and the situation inside those special tents.

The information relayed back by his spiritual sense gave him more confidence. The newly transferred troops numbered about five hundred men, well-equipped, but the ordinary soldiers' soul fire intensity was generally low. While they were highly vigilant, their fear stemmed primarily from a fear of the unknown "supernatural." Inside the tents, however, were about twelve or thirteen people whose soul fire intensity was significantly higher than that of the ordinary soldiers. Among them, four or five were exceptionally solid and intense, radiating a cold or violent aura; these were likely the main target of this mission—the Japanese army's supernatural power.

Time passed slowly, and the commotion in the military camp gradually subsided. Most soldiers returned to their barracks or temporary tents to rest, leaving only the necessary sentries and patrols. The dim blue lights in the few special tents were also turned off one after another, as if the people inside were beginning to rest or performing some kind of ritual that required silence.

Two o'clock in the morning is the time when people are most tired and their vigilance is relatively low.

He Damin made a move.

Instead of charging directly into the military camp, he circled its perimeter, moving like a ghost. With a concealment talisman affixed to his chest and a lightness talisman enhancing his legs, his movements were almost entirely silent, yet his speed was astonishing. The soul power of the Soul Refining Banner fluctuated slightly, and the [Soul Banner Domain] quietly unfolded, covering his path. Wherever he passed, the soldiers on both visible and hidden sentry posts felt a sudden, inexplicable drowsiness wash over them, their eyelids heavy. They seemed to see a dark shadow flash by, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing there; they dismissed it as a hallucination caused by staying up all night.

He slid into the military camp through a gap in the barbed wire fence (which he had discovered during his scouting trip in spirit form during the day) like liquid, landing silently and immediately blending into the shadows of a building.

The objective was clear—those special tents.

Like a wisp of smoke skimming the ground, he moved swiftly through the shadows of the barracks and piles of debris, avoiding the patrol routes and gradually approaching the center of the camp.

He quickly arrived near the peculiar tents and hid behind an abandoned military truck. The banners around the tents fluttered slightly in the night breeze, emitting faint fluctuations of spiritual energy, like a kind of warning barrier.

He Damin's eyes turned slightly cold. He took out a talisman from his robes—a low-level talisman designed to counter evil spells and spiritual barriers. He infused a wisp of true energy into the talisman, causing a barely perceptible golden light to emanate from its surface. With a flick of his finger, the talisman transformed into a faint ray of light and silently affixed to the back of the nearest banner.

"laugh……"

A very faint sound, like water vapor evaporating, was heard. The luster of the runes on the banner dimmed visibly for a moment, and the spiritual energy it emitted also experienced a brief disruption and gap.

It's now!

He Damin leaped up! He didn't use his lightness skill to jump, but relied purely on the terrifying control a martial artist of the Transformation Realm has over his muscles and bones. His toes gripped the ground, and he used his waist and hips to propel himself like an arrow released from a bow. He flew close to the ground and into the tent area through the brief gap in spiritual energy. His speed was so fast that he left only a faint afterimage in his original position.

His first target was the tent on the far left, which still emitted a faint blue light, suggesting that someone was still awake.

"Who?!"

A deep, Japanese-style question came from inside the tent, tinged with surprise and doubt. Clearly, the faint fluctuation of spiritual energy caused by the exorcising talisman had alerted those inside.

But it was too late.

He Damin's hand, like an iron clamp, had silently pressed down on the tent canvas. True energy surged forth, and hidden power erupted!

"puff!"

With a muffled thud, a hole the size of a washbasin was torn in the sturdy military canvas, yet there was almost no tearing sound. He Damin's figure slid into the hole like a fish.