The stall owner ducked into a dark alley. Before turning, Shen Muzhou had left a mark on a stone brick, so that Xiao Liu could find them.
“Gone?” Lin Yanxi looked at Shen Muzhou nervously.
The stall owner had vanished after turning into the alley. Shen Muzhou looked around. The light was dim, and their vision was limited.
“Are you looking for me?” The stall owner suddenly leaped down from the wall and stood before them.
At the same time, several young boys leaped down behind them.
These individuals appeared to be around the same age as the stall owner, all about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Lin Yanxi glanced back at the young boy standing behind her and said, “So you are all in this together.”
The stall owner, a long piece of straw in his mouth, asked, “What? Did you buy my talismans?”
He stared at her beautiful face, trying to recall. It shouldn’t be so. If such a lovely girl had bought talismans, he would surely remember.
Lin Yanxi frowned and asked, “Who exactly are you? Such a young age, and you’re not learning properly, just scamming people.”
The stall owner chuckled upon hearing this, spitting the straw onto the ground. “Such a young age? I don’t think you’re much older than me. Why are you pretending to be so mature?”
Lin Yanxi was rendered speechless by his words. She had indeed forgotten that she was not yet a maiden and was not much older than them.
Shen Muzhou directly drew his long sword. The blade unsheathed, pointing directly at the stall owner. Even though he reacted quickly and dodged the blade, several strands of his fringe were cut off by the sword and fell to the ground.
The stall owner looked at him in fear, knowing he was outmatched. “Run!”
As soon as he spoke, the children surrounding them scattered in all directions, quickly disappearing. Only the stall owner remained.
Lin Yanxi smiled and said, “Still loyal to his friends.”
The stall owner sniffed and puffed out his chest. “Of course. If you have a problem, come at me. Don’t trouble my brothers!”
The moment he finished speaking, he scattered a handful of lime from his pocket. Shen Muzhou instinctively dodged, and the stall owner immediately seized the opportunity to escape.
However, he had barely taken two steps when he heard a voice from behind: “Freeze!”
His body was then immobilized, his limbs stiff and unresponsive, as if bound by invisible restraints.
Lin Yanxi walked around to face him, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she turned to Shen Muzhou. Her rosy lips curved into a smile, her youthful beauty exuding an ethereal grace that captivated at first sight.
“How is it? Has my talisman art improved significantly?”
Shen Muzhou looked at her proud expression, like a kitten’s tail flicking upwards, and a smile touched his lips, completely dispelling the previous fierce killing intent.
“It has indeed improved.”
Lin Yanxi, having received his affirmation, beamed even brighter, revealing a row of perfectly aligned small white teeth.
The stall owner stared at her in shock and asked, “You’re a Talisman Master? How is that possible? Brother Jiang said that Talisman Masters have long since vanished from Yueyou, that there are no more people who know talisman arts in this world.”
Lin Yanxi asked, “Which Brother Jiang?”
The stall owner realized he had spoken out of turn and immediately shut his mouth.
“You won’t say? Then I’ll test my newly learned talisman art.” She began making hand seals with feigned seriousness, muttering, “They say this talisman art can split a person in half instantly. I wonder if it’s really that powerful.”
The stall owner’s face contorted as if he were about to cry. “Stop, stop! Little ancestor, I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Isn’t that enough?”
Lin Yanxi raised her eyebrows. She glanced at the sky, calculating the time, and with a wave of her hand, said, “I’ll release you from the immobilizing talisman first. If you dare to run, I’ll kill you.”
Shen Muzhou stood behind Lin Yanxi and said in a low voice, “Perhaps it would be better to wait until he finishes speaking before releasing him.”
Lin Yanxi’s face flushed with embarrassment. She beckoned him closer, signaling him to lean in. “I… my immobilizing talisman can only last for half an incense stick’s time.”
Furthermore, after using it once, there was a cooldown period before she could use it again, the duration of which varied depending on her condition.
The stall owner crouched on the ground, muttering dejectedly, “Where would I dare to run now?”
Even without this young girl, just that man’s profound martial arts and swordsmanship skills made escape impossible. Moreover, a Talisman Master had appeared.
“My name is Xiao Shit， and I’m an orphan living on the streets. There’s an organization that kidnaps homeless children. Those people all wear black cloaks, and no one knows their faces, because everyone who sees their faces dies.”
“They abducted my friend. I guess I was discovered on the street while trying to save him, and the black cloaks took me to a place. They put people in the center of a formation. Those who could endure it were taken to the next level, and those who couldn’t died. But I was held there for about ten days, and during those ten days, no one could survive the formation.”
As Xiao Shit spoke, the vivid lives that had perished before his eyes flashed through his mind. He clenched his fists, his expression filled with pain and helplessness.
Lin Yanxi said with hatred, “Black cloaks again! What do these beasts want?”
Xiao Shit looked up at her and asked, “You know those people?”
Receiving no answer, Xiao Shit continued, “I didn’t find my friend in that place. Perhaps he died, or perhaps he endured the formation and went somewhere else. But I knew I had to escape. I met a young boy there who was gravely ill and dying. But because his brother was working for the black cloaks, they kept him alive by using the blood of living people as medicine.”
“I was the one providing the blood.”
As Xiao Shit spoke, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing numerous knife scars on his arm, a shocking sight.
“That young boy was very kind to me. He felt guilty and didn’t want to harm me further to save himself. With his help, I escaped. I wanted to go back to my old brothers, but they had already disappeared, and I had no way of finding any news about them.”
“Children like us, without parents, are like rats in the street. If we die, we die, and no one cares. Because I was continuously bled, I was very weak. When I was about to starve to death, someone took me and sold me into Ghost City as a slave.”
“At that time, a descendant of the Jiang family, Jiang Cong, had just moved to this area. Brother Jiang was a good person. I knew I was dying, so I begged him to save me. He then bought me, took me back to the Jiang residence, and took good care of me. He also taught me many skills and told me stories about Talisman Masters.”
Lin Yanxi said displeasantly, “So this is how you repay your cousin? Impersonating a descendant of the Jiang family to deceive people and tarnish the reputation of Talisman Masters.”
Xiao Shit lifted his small face to look at her, tears streaming down his cheeks, glistening in the dim candlelight.
“Are you Brother Jiang’s sister?”
“I deceive people to protect myself. Besides, my talismans only sell for ten copper coins, the price of two steamed buns. But with this money, I can do many things.”
Lin Yanxi remained silent, listening to him continue.
“Brother Jiang was truly good to me, and also to the people of the town. Over the years, he helped countless poor families in the town. He also had me organize the orphans on the streets, allowing them to eat at the Jiang residence every day, in exchange for labor or by studying. He was teaching these orphans skills through these methods.”
“During the recent drought, when so many wealthy merchants in the town only cared about their own safety, the people had no water or food, and were reduced to eating leaves to survive. Brother Jiang saved his own meager rations, eating only one bowl of thin porridge a day, and used the rest to help the citizens.”
This was the first time Lin Yanxi learned about others in the Jiang family, and such gentle and benevolent individuals. No wonder her mother always said that the descendants of the Jiang family were broad-minded and compassionate.
She couldn’t help but think of the old man she saw last night. Was he truly Jiang Cong, as she had guessed? Such a good person, yet what had he experienced to be tormented to that extent, showing no sign of his youthful prime?
“Recently, someone has been inquiring about Brother Jiang, and then they came to the door. Those people behaved strangely. They demanded that Brother Jiang reveal the whereabouts of a book, but they searched the entire residence and couldn’t find it. Brother Jiang said those people had left and asked me to help him deliver a few letters to an inn. The innkeeper would then deliver the letters to the Grand Tutor’s mansion.”
“When I returned after delivering the letters, everyone in the residence was dead, and Brother Jiang was gone.”
Lin Yanxi looked at him in surprise. However, the Grand Tutor’s mansion had never received any letters from the Jiang family. “Are you sure the letters were delivered?”
His expression was one of extreme pain, his shoulders trembling slightly, his voice tinged with a sob. “I watched the innkeeper accept the letters with my own eyes. Brother Jiang said that the innkeeper was from the Jiang family and there would be no mistake… Actually, I don’t want to cheat people, but I need money to take care of the orphans who were previously supported by Brother Jiang, and I need money to inquire about Brother Jiang’s whereabouts.”
Lin Yanxi handed him a silk handkerchief. “Here, we will find Brother Jiang.”
Xiao Shit hesitated for a moment before accepting her handkerchief. The silk was soft and smooth, with a faint scent. He carefully folded it and placed it inside his clothes, wiping away his tears haphazardly with his sleeve.
Shen Muzhou said to Lin Yanxi, “We should go to Zhihai Tower first.”
Lin Yanxi nodded, then untied a pouch from her waist and handed it to Xiao Shit. It felt heavy.
“This is some money. It’s not much, but it’s enough for you and the orphans to start a legitimate business. Don’t sell fake things anymore. Deceiving people is deceiving people, regardless of the amount of money. Once a person goes down the wrong path and tastes its sweetness, it’s difficult to return to the right track. No matter how many good deeds you do, how many orphans you save, you can never compensate the person you’ve deceived today.”
“If you take this money and don’t know what to do with yourselves, or if you encounter other difficulties, you can come to the Grand Tutor’s mansion in the capital to find me. My name is Lin Yanxi, the second daughter of the Grand Tutor’s mansion.”
Xiao Shit took the money and stared at her blankly. These were the principles that only Brother Jiang used to teach him. After Brother Jiang’s death, no one cared whether he was a good person or not.
Shen Muzhou looked at the way Xiao Shit was looking at Lin Yanxi and asked with a displeased tone, “Are you very familiar with Ghost City?”
“Of course, I’m the king of this place!” Xiao Shit said with a proud expression.
Shen Muzhou asked, “Do you know where Zhihai Tower is?”
Xiao Shit nodded. “Yes, Zhihai Tower is the largest trading center in Ghost City. However, the transactions inside are not for goods, but for various pieces of information. You can ask about anything in the world, and there’s nothing Zhihai Tower doesn’t know.”
Lin Yanxi said, “Then take us there.”