Chapter 1

A twisted ghost face was plastered against the window, its eyes fixed on Wei Yuan.

An ordinary person would be scared half to death if they suddenly found a ghost clinging to their window during a power outage. But Wei Yuan, having dealt with ghosts and monsters several times since obtaining the Crouching Tiger Waist Token, didn't react with fear. Instead, he instinctively gripped the hilt of the broken sword at his waist.

The blade scraped against the leather scabbard.

In that instant, the ghost face twisted into a horrifying grimace.

A shrill scream erupted.

The glass shattered into fragments, accompanied by a flash of fire. A dark shadow lunged forward. The shards of glass reflected the light, and within the light particles, demonic figures danced and swirled around Wei Yuan, as if trying to break free.

Wei Yuan's expression remained unchanged. He took half a step back and swung the broken sword in his hand.

This was just a minor ghost, not comparable to Wan Qiniang.

The sword in Wei Yuan's hand was entangled with the yin energy of the blade spirit, and its human form perfectly matched the old soldier's swordsmanship. In just a few moves, Wei Yuan had already struck the ghost clinging to the window, causing its soul to dissipate.

As it desperately tried to escape, Wei Yuan pointed his fingers in the air and chanted an incantation. A pale blue, translucent ghost-banishing talisman shot out, overtaking the ghost and directly restraining it.

"Come here."

The ghost turned around uncontrollably, standing in front of Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan sheathed his sword and sat casually in front of the ghost.

"I have a few questions for you."

...

A moment later, the broken sword pierced the ghost's heart and twisted.

The Crouching Tiger Waist Token determined that this ghost had harmed people, although it hadn't killed anyone, it had shortened the lifespans of several individuals. Those who had their yang qi absorbed by it would likely live a year or two less than normal.

Moreover, this ghost had tasted the essence of yang qi and developed a vicious nature, trending towards becoming a vengeful ghost.

According to the experience recorded in the Crouching Tiger Waist Token, Wei Yuan directly killed this ghost, which had actively attacked humans. He returned the sword to its sheath, his expression somber. Under the power of the ghost dispelling art, the shallow ghost had answered all questions without holding back.

Wei Yuan had asked why it had come.

Its answer surprised him.

It said that it had been wandering the streets when it sensed a repulsive aura. This aura wasn't strong, so it wanted to tear it apart. It had followed its instincts and found its way here. The source of the aura that made the ghost feel disgusted was the Crouching Tiger Waist Token, and the scroll.

Wei Yuan looked at the demonic figures on the scroll. He wondered if it was his imagination, but they seemed to be leering at him.

He drew his sword and slashed the scroll in half.

Then, he used his blood to destroy the spirituality of the patterns on the scroll.

The ferocious, man-eating aura of the demons disappeared. At that moment, the lights in the room suddenly flickered back on. Looking at the scroll under the lamplight, it was just a Mountain Deity Temple, albeit one splattered with blood, making it look slightly sinister.

Wei Yuan exhaled and sat on the sofa, looking at the scroll and the Crouching Tiger Waist Token, his expression grave.

He finally understood why Wan Qiniang had sought him out directly.

The Crouching Tiger suppresses all demons.

But that was in ancient times.

The Sili Xiaowei (Inspector of the Capital), a Han dynasty military official with a salary of two thousand *shi* (unit of volume), commanded twelve hundred elite troops.

They investigated everything within the capital and the surrounding commanderies.

Now, the Sili Xiaowei was just him, a novice mastering the arts of ghost dispelling and spirit inscription. The Crouching Tiger Waist Token had been lost for nearly a thousand years, and its aura had weakened. Its unique energy, which was once capable of deterring demons, was now insufficient, and might even provoke and attract them.

In other words, demons and the Sili Xiaowei were natural enemies.

The Sili Xiaowei captured all kinds of demons.

The demons harbored resentment and were always ready to attack the Sili Xiaowei.

In addition, there were great demons like the Mountain Deity, who had once been sealed by the Sili Xiaowei and later broke free.

And those ancient and powerful beings who had lived from ancient times to the present.

Their attitude toward the Sili Xiaowei was likely not very good, and they might even consider them blood enemies.

The previous Sili Xiaowei had all passed away, and only Wei Yuan remained. He possessed the Crouching Tiger Waist Token and used the signature techniques of the Sili Xiaowei, ghost dispelling and spirit inscription, during combat. This was an inescapable mark that stood out to the demons.

Wei Yuan closed his eyes. There was no point in resenting the Crouching Tiger Token for finding him.

With the revival of spiritual energy, its concentration was gradually increasing, and demons were beginning to emerge.

The ghost just now was a newly born demon.

As ordinary people, living in this situation without knowing anything was just as dangerous.

At least he had the right to draw his sword against his enemies.

However, on closer inspection, both times he had attracted demons was because he had pressed the Crouching Tiger Waist Token against paper, causing words to appear. It seemed that if he wanted to hide his identity, he could no longer do such things.

Wei Yuan thought for a moment, then reached out and held the Crouching Tiger Waist Token, focusing his mind.

During the day, he had personally killed the Painted Skin Slave, and just now he had dispelled the harmful ghost, earning three merits. And this time, he hadn't actively opened any scrolls, so the three merits were still there. He could try to open the Han Dynasty Arsenal.

Since he couldn't avoid it, he could only find ways to improve his strength and solve the problem.

Thinking about it, the scroll about supernatural beings was probably activated because he was in Jiangnan, not far from the mountain that had suddenly appeared. The Crouching Tiger Waist Token must have sensed the Mountain Deity's escape.

So, the scrolls that appeared on their own were like wanted orders, representing the escape of great demons from history?

Wei Yuan paused in his thoughts.

He immersed his mind into the token.

The Crouching Tiger Waist Token trembled slightly, radiating a burning heat.

Closing his eyes, words appeared in his mind.

The Han Dynasty Treasury opens.

Wei Yuan felt his consciousness arrive in a vast, empty space. He couldn't access most of the area, as if an ancient bamboo scroll was slowly unfolding before him.

It can be opened.

Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes but could "see" the bamboo scroll, the clerical script and the accompanying illustrations.

Armory, ranked first.

The Celestial Master Sect's, Male and Female Dragon-Tiger Swords (Extant).

One long and one short. The short sword is heavy and fierce like a tiger; the long sword is slender and sharp like a dragon.

Acquired by Zhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master, later passed down and acquired by the seventeenth Sili Xiaowei.

Wei Yuan was slightly stunned.

He knew from Zhou Yi that the Celestial Master Sect was the leader of Taoism in this era.

A definite mainstay of the Special Operations Group.

The Male and Female Dragon-Tiger Swords were sacred objects passed down from Zhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and had always been enshrined in the Celestial Master Hall. Now, they were listed in the Han Dynasty Treasury. Could it be that the current Male and Female Dragon-Tiger Swords were fake?

If the Male and Female Dragon-Tiger Swords are here…

Wei Yuan seemed to remember something.

The bamboo scroll before him flipped rapidly.

Texts flashed past. Most of the weapons and magical artifacts in the armory had been lost. The Male and Female Dragon-Tiger Swords were probably obtained through improper means, so the Sili Xiaowei of that time couldn't openly use them, and instead preserved them. But apart from that, many books haven't been lost at all.

The Celestial Master Sect's secret, Zhang Daoling's direct lineage, *Taishang Lao Jun Jiao Er Shi Qi Ge Jue* (The Supreme Lord Lao Instructs You on the Song of Eating Qi).

*The Male and Female Dragon-Tiger Sword Manual*.

In the eleventh year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Western Region monks built the White Horse Temple, they presented the first Buddhist scriptures.

Buddhist Vajra Seal, the original text of the Demon Subduing Seal.

The Heavenly Book obtained by Zhang Jiao at the end of the Han Dynasty, later obtained by Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty.

All the way to the Tang Dynasty.

The original text of the practice, annotated by the founder of the Yogacara school, the Great Tang Dynasty’s Xuanzang.

The Takamagahara scriptures offered by the Japanese envoys to Tang China.

The Nestorian scriptures of Western religions during the Tang Dynasty.

From Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty until the abolition of the Crouching Tiger in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

The ancestral scriptures, secret histories, and lost methods of cultivation personally written by the founders of the vast land of Shenzhou and the civilizations that had contact with Shenzhou, were all here.

Sili Xiaowei, formerly known as Crouching Tiger.

External commanderies, supernatural beings.

Investigating everything.

After a long time, Wei Yuan exhaled.

This is investigating everything…