Republic of China: From Street Performer to War God in a Chaotic Era

Backstage, the white charcoal in the clay stove was burning brightly.

Lu Guan sat cross-legged in front of the old camphor wood opera box and slowly opened his eyes.

"Even the living dead can infiltrate the gang's headquarters."

He went through the image of the tall, thin man from earlier that day in his mind again, the dark purple blood vessels still wriggling beneath the skin on his wrist.

It seems that the water in Tianjin is not only deep, but also murky and foul-smelling.

"This mysterious case must be resolved as soon as possible. We should turn our achievements into a play script, put it on the stage of fate, and let it be passed down through generations. That's the proper way to do things."

A thought flickered in Lu Guan's mind, and he reached into his robes.

He pulled out the [Rat Hidden] and pressed it tightly against his heart.

He then activated his minor supernatural power, [Bone Shrinking and Disguise].

In just a few breaths, he had become a hunched and gaunt man.

Lu Guan put on a gray cloth long gown and then pressed a tattered felt hat down on his head, covering most of his face.

With a soft creak.

The back window was pushed open a crack, letting the snow-covered night sky blend in.

……

The border area where the French Concession met the Chinese-controlled area was a no-man's-land.

The midnight drum has just sounded.

This mass grave, where even a stray dog ​​wouldn't linger during the day, was now lit up with scattered, dim lights.

The black market in Jinmenwei was known as "Xiaoshi".

Lu Guan carried a lantern and mingled among the ghost market vendors whose heads were wrapped in scarves.

In those days, in Tianjin, one silver dollar could be exchanged for thirty catties of good flour. An ordinary family might not be able to save up a few silver dollars even after a year of hard work.

But in this morning market, people were talking about spending tens of dollars at a time.

The tomb raiders, notorious thieves, and even the corrupt police officers who double-crossed each other all gathered in this place to do shady things.

Using the "night vision" ability of "Rat Concealment," Lu Guan slowly moved among the stalls.

He stopped in front of a stall selling old leather goods and aged medicinal herbs.

The stall owner was a one-eyed old man who was squatting on the ground, puffing away on his pipe.

Lu Guan tucked his hands into his wide sleeves and handed them over.

This is the old rule of "hiding gold in one's sleeve".

The one-eyed old man paused for a moment, then reached his hand into Lu Guan's sleeve.

The two of them rapidly clenched their knuckles in the darkness.

Lu Guan took out two ten-cash copper coins and pressed them into the old man's palm.

"Shopkeeper, I have something to ask you."

"That 'yellow rat' who used to deal in weasels around here a few days ago, where was his stall located again?"

The old man touched the two copper coins in his hand, and his expression softened slightly.

But upon hearing the words "yellow rat," a hint of apprehension flashed in his eyes.

"Sir, why are you asking about a dead man?"

"That guy was dishonest and messed with some 'spirits' he shouldn't have. Even his body was dumped in a mass grave outside the city, where it was gnawed down to just bones. This is a taboo in our Xiaoshi."

"hehe."

Lu Guan sneered and coldly drew a line across the old man's palm with his fingertip.

The old man gasped, realizing he had encountered a tough opponent. He quickly gestured with his chin towards a corner deep within the ghost market, near a crooked old locust tree.

"Look, it's right there."

"But that spot has been cleaned up long ago, and now even dogs won't pee there, they think it's bad luck."

Lu Guan dropped the copper coin, picked up the lantern, and walked towards the old locust tree.

This place is on the edge of Xiaoshi, and it is very dark. The ground is covered with messy footprints and mud.

The stall was long gone, with only a ring of black marks left on the ground from the burning of paper money.

Lu Guan squatted down and placed the lantern aside.

A slight stirring ran through my heart.

The shadow puppet of the "Mouse Concealment" pressed against his heart began to heat up, and his minor supernatural ability of "Sensory Sense" was instantly activated.

"boom."

With the aid of a keen sense of smell, the scents mixed in the surrounding air are instantly revealed.

The stench of earth, the burnt smell of burnt paper money...

Amidst these smells, Lu Guan detected a foul, pungent odor.

The smell was somewhat similar to that of the "Grey Fairy" rat spirit that he had killed in the dock warehouse that day.

Lu Guan's gaze was fixed on the center of that circle of black marks.

He reached out and carefully brushed away the black mud and paper ash bit by bit.

After a moment, he stopped moving.

Beneath the mud soaked by snowmelt lay a tuft of yellow hair.

Beneath the yellow fur, there was a patch of dry skin about the size of half a fingernail.

Lu Guan held the half-piece of dried skin between his fingertips, brought it close to the lantern, and examined it carefully.

The edges of the dried skin were irregular, as if it had been hastily torn off.

There is a cross-shaped mark where the two sides of the leather meet.

"Cross mark".

Lu Guan's mind suddenly sank.

Years ago, when the old blind man was talking about the rules of the shadow puppetry business outside the Great Wall, he casually mentioned a slang term.

The leather trade outside the Great Wall was a mixed bag.

Some unscrupulous skin dealers, willing to risk their lives for money, will steal the spirit skins that have already shed from "spirit shrines".

But those skins all carry the soul imprints and resentment of immortals, and ordinary people who touch them will have their minds bewitched.

Therefore, after successfully stealing the hides, these thieves would use a specially made knife to make a cross-shaped cut on the back of the hide.

This jargon is called "opening the heavenly gate"!

It means that the guardianship of the original owner's spirit was forcibly broken by the sword's aura, turning the skin into an ownerless, inanimate object, before it could be sold on the black market.

"It seems that this yellow rat is not an ordinary middleman; he has a secret connection that leads directly to the immortal sects outside the Great Wall."

"His last few deals weren't involving ordinary weasel pelts at all; they were spirit pelts stolen from a 'powerful' shrine of spirits!"

Stealing the essence of a celestial being and severing their lineage, no wonder this yellow rat died such a miserable death, its internal organs drained and it died suddenly on the street.

"This case is indeed inextricably linked to that group of heretical cultivators from beyond the Great Wall."

Lu Guan stood up and put the half-piece of dried skin into his pocket.

Just as he was about to leave with the lantern, a sudden sense of alertness made him stop in his tracks.

It's too quiet.

This ghost market was already incredibly deserted.

But at this moment, within a three-zhang radius around him, even the slightest sound of the wind rustling through the treetops had vanished completely, as if separated by a dome.

With a flick of his wide sleeve, Lu Guan revealed the "Illuminating Heart" ancient mirror, which slid into his palm.

As he turned around to pick up the lantern, he tilted the mirror so that it reflected his head behind him.

"Buzz—"

The moment the bronze mirror reflected what was behind it, a layer of frost quickly condensed on its surface.