Chapter Ninety-One: A Test

That night, Fang Yue slept uneasily. Faintly, he could hear voices at his ear, as though someone were telling him something.

He wanted to make out what they were saying, but no matter what he did, he could not hear clearly.

At times there was one voice; at times, many. In the end, all the sounds became a tangled mass, droning in his mind.

Within that countless chorus were emotions, thoughts, and desires of every kind, all mixed together, leaving one dizzy and dazed, with a savage urge to go mad.

...

By the time daylight had flooded the world, Fang Yue suddenly sat up from his bed.

"Damn it, what sort of bizarre dream was that?"

Waking at last, he instead felt as though his head were about to split open. For some reason, a restless irritability coiled in his chest.

After dressing, he went into the main room and saw Xing'er outside feeding the little orange kitten.

"Xing'er, what time is it now?"

"Young Master, you're up. It is the hour of the Snake."

That was already nearly noon.

Fang Yue looked up at the sun outside. It still hung slightly eastward, but was close to reaching its zenith.

"Young Master, I'll fetch water for you to wash your face." Xing'er let go of the kitten.

The little kitten, having finished eating, circled on the ground, batting playfully at its own tail.

Fang Yue nodded.

Just then, Li Kunyu, the captain of the town patrol, hurried in from outside.

"Young Master Fang, something has happened. It's bad."

"What happened?"

"At the checkpoint on the road from Azure Fish Town to Ping'an County, the patrolmen stationed there have run into trouble!"

Fang Yue's expression instantly tightened. If something had happened there, it was no small matter.

...

Li Kunyu had been recommended to Fang Yue by Deng Dahai. He was in his thirties, knew a little fist-and-leg skill, and was quite capable in his work.

Along the way, he explained the full sequence of events to Fang Yue.

Fang Yue's expression grew grave. By the sounds of it, Chen Damin's death was highly strange; it was likely the work of some ghostly evil.

Still, he would have to see Chen Damin's corpse before he could be sure.

The two of them soon reached the patrol office at the southern end of town.

The corpse of Chen Damin had been carried back by two patrolmen who made daily inspection rounds.

When the guards were first assigned to the post there, it had been made clear to them: this was a life-or-death duty.

While stationed there, their pay was five times that of ordinary patrolmen, and if anything went wrong, they would receive a large compensation.

Every morning, two patrolmen from this side would head to Azure Fish Town to deliver supplies and check on the condition of those on watch.

Since the first deployment of the guards until now, more than a month had passed without incident. Nothing unusual had occurred.

And yet today, the patrolmen who went for the routine inspection had brought back Chen Damin's body, along with a terrified Wang Quanyou.

...

Fang Yue crouched down and examined Chen Damin's corpse.

His eyes were closed, his face still wearing a look of joy, as though he had been dreaming a wish fulfilled.

Only his skin was white as paper, drained of the slightest trace of blood. He did not look newly dead, but rather as if he had been dead for a long time.

As a peak postnatal martial artist, Fang Yue possessed a vigorous blood aura like a blazing furnace, and his senses toward yin and evil were keen.

He could clearly feel a wisp of dark chill still lingering on Chen Damin's body, not yet fully dispersed.

Covering the body again with the white cloth, Fang Yue rose and had Wang Quanyou brought over.

After carefully questioning him about what he had seen last night, Fang Yue had already reached his judgment.

This was indeed the work of some ghostly being.

"At first I thought that after more than a month of calm, Fish Head Town had finally become stable, and that with the merit points I'd accumulated, I could head north into Cloud Province to learn innate martial arts. I never expected an accident to occur at this time."

Fang Yue let out a sigh. He was not the kind of sordid man who, after squeezing a great many merit points from the townspeople, would slap his backside and leave the moment he caught a whiff of danger.

If he truly did that, whether the merit system could continue to exist would itself be an issue.

Within the limits of his ability, he was willing to do what he could.

He had now broken through the fourth stage of his Comprehending Dao Art, reaching the very pinnacle of the postnatal realm. His blood aura was so abundant that, if released, even ordinary ghosts would not dare draw near.

He had also cultivated the second stage of the Flame Palm, which carried fire attribute power and could injure ghosts, so ordinary ones no longer concerned him.

As for the ghost that had killed Chen Damin, it had been able to leave traces for the black dog to discover, yet it had been unable to do anything about Wang Quanyou beside the fire. It probably was not a particularly formidable specter.

What truly worried Fang Yue was whether this incident was a sign that the ghosts from the county town were beginning to spread this way.

Although Azure Fish Town and Fish Head Town were still separated by a broad bay, if ghosts wished to come over, it likely would not be difficult.

And since this place had once again become a region the court neither knew nor cared about, there was no way to rely on outside aid.

"Very well. If it truly comes to that, then have the entire town evacuate Fish Head Town.

"Though leaving one's homeland, abandoning the place where one's ancestors have lived, and going to live in a foreign land would be an immensely difficult thing for the townspeople, there is no denying it: it is hard to move one's roots, and a person away from home is worth less in the eyes of the world. That is no mere saying.

"Still, however hard it may be, it is better than losing one's life."

Fang Yue shook his head. These were only precautions for the worst case. As for the present situation, it had not yet reached such urgency.

...

Inside the room.

"Revealing Light."

Fang Yue silently recited the words, and a simple bronze mirror appeared before him.

Up to now, he had used this divine power six times in total.

It could illuminate all things under heaven and earth, from ancient times to the present, but with Fang Yue's current strength, it was not something he could simply use whenever he pleased. This world was too dangerous; he might suffer a backlash at any moment.

Moreover, whatever he wished to see had to have some karmic entanglement with Fang Yue. Otherwise, this divine power could not be used to reveal it.

The first time he used it was when he knew nothing of ghosts and wanted to learn some information so he could prepare a response, only to suffer a backlash from the red-clad female ghost.

But back then, he had been an ordinary man. Now, if he were to try peering again at the red-clad ghost at the bottom of the well, the vigorous blood aura within him would make it impossible for her to backlash against him.

The second time was after fleeing back to Fangqiao Village, when he used the bronze mirror three times a day, morning, noon, and evening, to spy on the movements of Tian Yangzi and his disciple, so as to prevent them from coming to hunt him down.

The third time was before dealing with the dog demon, when he used it to probe the demon's strength.

The fourth was to peer at Old Li, who had been causing trouble with a rattle from behind the scenes.

The fifth was to spy on the pirate king.

The sixth was when he had tried to investigate the hidden existence behind the pirate massacre. That time, something had gone slightly wrong, but Fang Yue had been prepared in advance and cut off the divine power in time, so he had suffered no serious injury.

And this time, as with the third use, it was to test the strength of the ghost.

Using Revealing Light to spy could bring danger, but in reverse, it could also be used to gauge an enemy's peril.

If it could cause a backlash against Fang Yue as he was now, then there was no doubt that the other's strength was beyond what he could deal with at present.

If it could only be detected, but not rebound in backlash, then the opponent's strength should be above Fang Yue's, though not by too much.

For such an enemy, Fang Yue had merit points protecting his body and a soul-seizing divine art as well. He could preserve himself, and might even have a chance to strike back.

Of course, the danger would still be great.

If, however, the other side sensed nothing at all during the probing, then their strength was at most on par with Fang Yue's. Even if stronger, it would be limited, and still within the range he could handle.

"Although judging from all the signs, the ghost that killed Chen Damin should not be very strong, ghosts are not things to be judged by ordinary reasoning.

"To be safe, I'll test it first with Revealing Light."