Chapter 4

"Who?!"

The noise of the door being kicked open startled Qin Shaoyou. He turned around and swung his sword.

"Night Watchman of the Demon Suppression Bureau."

The person who kicked the door quickly stepped back and identified himself to avoid being injured.

Qin Shaoyou, by the light of the lantern, saw the uniform of the Demon Suppression Bureau, the identity badge held in hand, and Qin Daoren who was following behind them.

He then retracted the sword he had swung but did not sheathe it, pointing it at the cabinet where the erotic book was stored.

"You finally came. A female ghost just crawled out of this book."

"Where is the female ghost?"

The Night Watchman holding the lantern asked, the flickering candlelight casting eerie shadows in the room, adding to the sense of mystery and gloom.

"She was killed by me."

Qin Shaoyou's answer clearly took the Night Watchmen by surprise.

They looked at each other, puzzled, and asked, "If you could kill the ghost in the painting, why did you send a signal for reinforcements?"

"Because before the fight, I wasn't sure I could kill her. Of course, I had to be cautious and make the safest choice." Qin Shaoyou said seriously.

"This..."

The Night Watchmen exchanged glances.

If someone else had said this, they would have scolded them for misusing the signal arrow. But with Qin Shaoyou, they couldn't say that.

After all, Qin Shaoyou had a brother-in-law who was a hundred-house official in the Demon Suppression Bureau.

They even had to praise him, "Young Master Qin is truly... cautious."

Qin Shaoyou was very satisfied with this evaluation and sighed, "Being cautious is good. In this era of rampant demons and ghosts, being too cautious is never a problem, right?"

What could the Night Watchmen say? They could only smile and agree.

Then, one of the Night Watchmen took out a box covered in talismans from his backpack, placed the erotic book inside, and prepared to take it back to the Demon Suppression Bureau for examination and analysis.

By the light of the lantern, Qin Shaoyou noticed that a person was missing from the cover of the erotic book.

The one missing was the female ghost he had killed.

After securing the erotic book, the Night Watchmen conducted a thorough inspection of Qin Shaoyou's room.

They didn't find any residual ghostly aura but almost got injured by the traps Qin Shaoyou had set up.

This made them genuinely want to curse—setting up so many traps in your own room, are you being too cautious? Aren't you afraid of hurting yourself when you get up to use the toilet at night?

But reason overcame impulse, and they didn't dare to curse out loud.

After carefully and quickly completing the inspection, the Night Watchmen hurriedly said goodbye, fearing that any delay would lead to a breach.

"Coming in by climbing over the wall is one thing, but leaving the same way, what's wrong with you..."

Qin Daoren saw the Night Watchmen ignore the gate he had opened and choose to climb over the wall again, and couldn't help but shake his head.

He didn't know that the Night Watchmen were scared by the traps Qin Shaoyou had set up and feared there might be more traps near the gate, so they chose to leave the same way they came.

Even the position and movements of climbing the wall were the same as when they arrived.

"Exactly, too dogmatic." Qin Shaoyou agreed, but in his mind, he thought: This wall is too easy to climb. I need to do something about it.

Just as he was thinking, he noticed that both his father and mother, who had just come out of the house, were looking at him.

Qin Shaoyou thought they didn't understand the term "dogmatic" and was about to explain, but then his mother said, "Little Seven, I heard you say that the female ghost crawled out of an erotic book?"

"Yes."

Qin Shaoyou first responded, then realized something was wrong and quickly explained:

"That erotic book has nothing to do with me. It was brought to the Demon Suppression Bureau by one of my subordinates, and I confiscated it. Although I brought it home, I haven't read it. I planned to keep it for a while and return it to him when he behaves well..."

Qin Daoren patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "No need to explain so much, we trust you."

He then asked about the situation during the fight with the female ghost and, based on his years of experience, gave some advice.

Qin Shaoyou felt he had learned a lot.

After the debriefing, Qin Daoren yawned and said, "Your mother and I are going to bed. You should go to sleep early too... Oh, by the way, what do you think of Hao Cheng?"

Qin Shaoyou was still immersed in the debriefing and subconsciously replied, "Endless good fortune, forever the god!"

As soon as he said this, he regretted it.

Sure enough, Qin Daoren had a half-smile, as if to say, "Let's see how you keep up the act."

"I just flipped through it... just once." Qin Shaoyou laughed awkwardly, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Is there anything more embarrassing than being caught by your parents reading an erotic book?

Hmm, there might be...

The successful baiting made Qin Daoren laugh, "No need to explain, we understand. You're growing up, full of vigor, and having these needs is normal. Just know your limits and don't overdo it, or it will affect your cultivation. Also, in the future, don't blame your subordinates for such things; it's easy to be exposed. The best scapegoat is a prison guard. Outsiders rarely see them, so it's hard to be questioned..."

Qin Daoren was so pleased with himself that he forgot his wife was still there while imparting his wisdom.

Qin Lishi, who had been yawning and about to fall asleep, suddenly perked up and glared, hands on her hips:

"No wonder you always liked to talk to the prison guards and stayed late. I've been wondering what work you could have with them. Now I know, it was all an excuse! Tell me, where did you go on those late nights? And why do you know so much about erotic books?!"

"It's not that, I really was talking about work. As for the content of the erotic books, I heard it from others and haven't read a single page... Hey, hey, hey, don't pull my ear, Little Seven is still here, give me some face... Pain, pain, pain, let's go inside, let's talk behind closed doors."

Qin Daoren, covering his ears and begging for mercy, was dragged back to the room by Qin Lishi.

In the days to come, whether he slept on the bed or the floor would depend on whether he could smooth over the lies he had told in the past.

Qin Shaoyou found this scene very amusing.

Having someone else share the social death made it less embarrassing.

After watching his parents return to the room and close the door to start the "interrogation," Qin Shaoyou didn't go back to his room to sleep. Instead, he took his sword to the kitchen.

After killing the female ghost, a new page had indeed appeared in the cookbook in his mind.

It was a new dish called "Fried Ghost."

The main ingredient of this dish was the female ghost he had killed.

In the cookbook, this female ghost was named "Changgui." She was originally a pitiful person who had been harmed by a demon, but after death, she willingly helped the demon to lure and kill others, gaining flesh and yang energy, and gradually fell into evil.

Though pitiful, she was also hateful.

The method for making Fried Ghost was simple: just fry the Changgui in oil until golden brown, and it's ready to eat.

As for its effects, it made Qin Shaoyou's eyes light up: "A martial artist with abundant blood energy can refine the blood energy into the organs, muscles, and bones, greatly enhancing defensive power, and can obtain the Changgui's [Silver Tongue] talent."

"I was right. The cookbook's updates are indeed related to killing demons. The effect of refining blood energy into the organs, muscles, and bones is the key step to breaking through from the Blood Energy Realm to the Muscle and Bone Realm... But what is this [Silver Tongue] talent?"

In the kitchen, Qin Shaoyou started a fire and pondered.

Is it about making the tongue more agile?

Like being able to speak eloquently and eat snails without needing a toothpick?

Oh, if the female ghost in the painting had told me she had this talent, I wouldn't have chopped her up with a few strokes. I would have at least tried it out.

Hmm, but it's better to kill her. If she had attacked me during the trial, even if I could save my life, I might not be able to save my... roots...

But what use do I have for this talent? Am I supposed to become a gigolo?

Although my handsome face is indeed suitable for living off a rich woman, the problem is, I don't know any rich women!

While Qin Shaoyou was lost in thought, a new sentence appeared on the page of the Fried Ghost in the cookbook.

It was the explanation for the [Silver Tongue] talent: "Those with Silver Tongue are eloquent and persuasive."

"Eloquent and persuasive?"

Qin Shaoyou remembered how the female ghost in the painting had almost deceived him with a clumsy lie when she first appeared.

Is the [Silver Tongue] talent supposed to give me a similar ability?

I wonder how effective it is.

"It's not the kind of Silver Tongue I thought it was..."

Qin Shaoyou sighed in relief but also felt a bit disappointed.

When the fire was burning brightly, Qin Shaoyou took a jar from the stove, poured some cooking oil into the pot.

The oil quickly heated up, and with a thought, he took the female ghost from the cookbook.

At this moment, the female ghost was no longer the exaggerated hourglass figure but had turned into a dark, indistinct cloud of black gas.

The black gas left the cookbook and fell directly into the oil pot. Though it was an intangible entity, it sizzled as it was fried.

In a short while, it turned from pitch black to golden brown, transforming from a spirit to a solid form.

It looked crispy and smelled delicious.

The only thing that made Qin Shaoyou feel a bit disappointed was that one Changgui only made one Fried Ghost.

It was impossible to have it every day like the demon wolf blood tofu.

After all, in the Demon Suppression Bureau, eating demon meat and drinking demon blood was not uncommon, but eating ghosts...

He had never heard of it.

And without the mysterious cookbook, collecting the souls of killed ghosts would not be an easy task.

Qin Shaoyou fished the Fried Ghost out of the pot, turned off the stove, and scooped up the used cooking oil into an empty bowl to use for the next time.

Then he picked up the cooled Fried Ghost and took a bite.

It was fluffy and crispy, similar to the taste of a fried dough stick. It would be even better with a bowl of soy milk.

After a few bites, Qin Shaoyou felt the blood energy in his body start to surge.

He knew this was the sign that the blood energy was about to be refined into his organs, muscles, and bones. He quickly returned to his room, sat cross-legged on the bed, placed his sword on his right side, and a signal arrow on his left side.

With this setup, if anything unexpected happened during the refinement of the blood energy, he could react in time.

As soon as he finished these preparations, a wave of intense pain swept over him, enveloping his entire body.

In the Demon Suppression Bureau, the statue of the Nine Heavens Demon Sweeper, which had no eyes,