Chapter 141: Another freebie!
When Chen Mo walked out of the Hall of Merit, his steps were much lighter, and even the blood moon in the sky seemed more pleasing to the eye.
I got another 1,500 merit points for free, feeling great.
He walked towards the gate with the token bearing his undiminished merits, still calculating in his mind how long it would take to accumulate that two thousand drops of Yellow Spring True Water.
At 200 points per task, it would take at least two or three runs, and the key is that tasks aren't available every day...
The East District was too peaceful, and he felt a little helpless.
Or should we borrow some from someone?
Just then, a dark figure bumped into me at the front door.
The dark figure was panting heavily, covered in sweat, and his official robes were open at the collar, revealing a section of his white neck.
Chen Mo took a closer look and laughed.
Li Jinrong.
Shouldn't that fat guy be out drinking and carousing somewhere right now?
"Chen...Chen Mo?" Li Jinrong was also taken aback. He patted his knees and caught his breath before straightening up. He took out his pocket watch and glanced at it. "It's already nine o'clock. What are you doing here?"
Chen Mo looked him up and down, then retorted, "I was about to ask you that too. It's already nine o'clock, what are you doing here?"
Li Jinrong looked gloomy. "Don't even mention it. I don't know which scoundrel stabbed me in the back and accused me of skipping work every day."
"My uncle has been yelling at me since this afternoon, and his spittle could wash my face. I didn't even get a bite of dinner."
"Perfect timing, let's have a drink together." He said, grabbing Chen Mo's arm. "I heard that some new faces have arrived at Wan Hua Lou. Let's stay there tonight."
"Come on, if I go with you, the entire inspection bureau will know which girl we picked up tomorrow."
He looked at the fat man with disdain: "Now I know why they call you Li the Loudmouth."
Li Jinrong's face darkened, and he raised his hand to hit someone, but Chen Mo easily dodged it.
"Bullshit! When did I become Li the Loudmouth?" The fat man's face flushed red, and his neck seemed to thicken. "Which bastard is slandering me?"
Chen Mo was too lazy to argue with him about this, and turned to leave: "Don't you know whether someone has slandered you or not?"
"Oh, that hurts," Li Jinrong said, catching up with him. She squeezed next to Chen Mo and said, "Come on, come on. Didn't you say you wanted to buy a car? I'll introduce you to someone who owns a trading company tonight. He has cars in stock."
"Okay, by the way, do you know how to buy or borrow merit points? I'm short five hundred."
----------
East Street intersection, Willow Leaf Lane.
Unlike the bustling concessions and commercial districts, the streets here are deserted after 10 p.m.
There isn't any explicit rule, but the people who live here all understand one thing: don't go out after dark.
It was the third quarter of midnight, and the blood moon hung high in the sky.
The archway at the entrance of the alley stands crookedly, and the three characters "Liuye Alley" on it have been faded and are now just outlines.
There are streetlights.
There was a lamppost every ten or so steps, but nine out of ten were broken. The light bulbs were broken and no one replaced them. The lampposts were covered in rust and stood there crookedly.
The only lit bulb was in the middle of the alley, its light flickering and hissing.
The light fell, drawing a dim yellow circle on the ground, outside which was a deep, indistinct dark red.
A figure stood beneath the aperture.
From a distance, the person appeared to be wearing a red outfit and had long hair, making it impossible to see their face.
Hou Jianwen squatted on the stone pier under the archway, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the flame flickering on and off.
Behind him stood three people, the one in front being a bald man who looked like a black tower, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, standing there like half an iron tower.
His breathing was heavy, and the faint sound of blood surging could be heard as his chest rose and fell.
He is Lao Hei, a martial artist who has entered the realm of Qi and Blood, and is being supported by the Hou family at great expense.
"Second Master, why isn't that grandson back yet? Could he have gone to stay somewhere else?" Old Hei asked in a gruff voice.
"It can't be that much of a coincidence, can it?" Hou Jianwen flicked his cigarette ash. "Didn't all his neighbors say that the kid moved back in during the day?"
As he spoke, he glanced into the depths of the alley.
He was stunned by that one glance.
Under the only streetlamp that was lit in the middle of the alley, a person was standing.
From several dozen steps away, it was hard to see clearly, but the person appeared to be completely red, an unnatural red, as if they had just been pulled out of a dye vat.
At first glance, I thought it was someone's wife standing there in a red dress, trying to scare people since she wasn't sleeping in the middle of the night.
"Damn it, where did this lunatic come from?"
Hou Jianwen spat a thick wad of phlegm in that direction, then looked away and, sensing something was amiss, turned to Lao Hei and asked, "When did that thing get there?"
Old Black didn't respond.
He stared intently at the streetlight, his facial muscles tightening more and more.
"Second Master."
Old Hei's voice was very low, "When we came here, there was nothing under that lamp."
Hou Jianwen frowned.
He didn't notice the lamp when he arrived, but he believed Old Black's words.
Old Hei was a martial artist with Qi and Blood, and his senses were much sharper than ordinary people. They had been squatting in this alley for almost half an hour, and Old Hei knew whether anyone was hiding in the nooks and crannies.
"That's someone who just arrived." Hou Jianwen stubbed out his cigarette on the stone bench. "A mentally ill night owl, what's there to be afraid of?"
A subordinate leaned forward, hunching his shoulders, and said, "Second Master, no one goes out in Willow Leaf Alley after ten o'clock. It's a rule passed down from the older generation, it's said that..."
"You call it a haunted house?" Hou Jianwen scoffed, turning to look at him. "What kind of business does our Hou family do? We're ghost hunters, we make a living off the dead, we've seen more than you've eaten salt."
"If it really is a ghost, I'll have to see what it's like."
He was truly unafraid.
The Hou family made their living in this industry during the previous dynasty. They were involved in the Yin-Lao Men (a branch of the Yin-Lao Men), dealing with the dead, collecting corpses, burying them, performing rituals to help the dead pass on, and exorcising evil spirits. They had done everything.
Ghosts, to put it simply, are just a breath of air—either resentment or obsession.
Once it breaks free of that last breath, it becomes softer than a person.
"Second Master is right." The subordinate sheepishly shrank back, but his eyes still couldn't help but dart into the alley.
With just that one glance, his face turned deathly pale.
"Second Master..."
Hou Jianwen followed his gaze and saw that red color getting closer.
It wasn't about getting close.
They just appeared out of thin air and got close to each other.
The distance that used to be fifty or sixty steps has now been reduced to a maximum of forty steps.
It didn't travel the middle section of the road; it seemed like in the blink of an eye, the alley had shortened.
"That's interesting."
Hou Jianwen spoke in a low voice, his right hand slipping into his sleeve and forming a hand seal.
The shadow beneath my feet began to twist and turn, like a pool of black water being stirred up, slowly solidifying.
Old Hei stepped forward, shielding Hou Jianwen behind him. His blood and qi circulated within him, and his joints began to crack slightly, like a bear about to pounce.
"Second Master, something's not right with this thing," Old Hei said.
"Nonsense." Hou Jianwen stared at the red stain. "Would something legitimate get here like this?"
That splash of red is getting closer again.
Thirty steps.
Twenty steps.
It approached, flashing in front of everyone.
At this moment, Hou Jianwen saw it clearly.
The person wasn't wearing red at all.
It's meat.
Bloody flesh.
A person without skin.
From head to toe, the entire skin was gone.
Blood was still seeping out from some places, flowing down his body and dripping onto the bluestone slab, accumulating into a dark red pool.
"Damn it." Old Hei squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth.
Those two henchmen were already weak in the knees.
What kind of death haven't those people from the Yin Sect seen?
But this thing in front of me is something I've never seen before, and I've never even heard of it.
Hou Jianwen tightened his hand seal.
The shadow puppet beneath his feet suddenly shot out, transforming into a black shadow that lunged straight at the thing.
The Shadow Puppet is a killing weapon that he nurtured with his life essence for fifteen years. It has no physical form when fighting, and ordinary swords and blades cannot harm it, but it can tear people apart and pull the soul out of a living person's body.
Hou Jianwen was able to gain a foothold in the Yin-Taking Sect by virtue of the Hou family's reputation and by virtue of this shadow puppet.
The shadowy figure collided with that thing.
The next moment...
The thing raised a hand, a hand missing three fingers, and grabbed at the shadow puppet.
The shadow puppet's body, formed from black mist, writhed violently. The black mist was torn apart, revealing not nothingness beneath, but pale white paper.
The paper used to make paper dolls.
Hou Jianwen felt as if he had been hit in the chest with a hammer, and staggered half a step, his face deathly pale.
The Shadow Puppet was connected to his lifeblood, so this was like having a piece of flesh cut out of him.
"Second Master!" Old Hei grabbed him and helped him up.
"It's alright." Hou Jianwen gritted his teeth and stood firm, staring at the thing.
The thing was staring at him too.
Fifteen steps.
Ten steps.
It stopped.
He slowly raised his head, which had been lowered.
Her hair fell to the sides, revealing a face without eyelids, with her two eyeballs directly exposed to the air.
It has no lips, but two rows of teeth are neatly arranged.
It was watching them.
To be precise, it's about looking at their skin.
The gaze fell on his face, like someone gently tracing his skin with their fingers—not heavy, but cold.
It was so cold it gave me goosebumps.
Old Hei's energy and blood were at their peak, his muscles bulged, and veins stretched all over his neck.
He took a step forward, blocking Hou Jianwen's path.
"Second Master, please step back."
Hou Jianwen didn't move. He gritted his teeth and summoned three more shadow puppets, preparing to fight to the death.
Those two henchmen had already urinated.
His crotch was soaked, and his legs were shaking so badly he could barely stand.
They've seen ghosts, but never one like this.
The Hou family's shadow puppets couldn't last three breaths under its power. What kind of skill is this?
"Have you seen my skin yet?"
Author Flying Old Vinegar highly recommends: I hope you enjoy the story of "Tianjin, Starting with Unorthodox Methods to Achieve Immortality" on Cola Novels.