Chapter 3

Recently, something strange has happened at the village clinic.

There have been quite a few deaths.

The clinic is owned by the Zhang family, who are known as the holy hands of Fulong Village. It is said that their ancestors once served in the imperial palace of the previous dynasty—no village clinic would dare to open without claiming that their ancestors were imperial physicians.

However, the Zhang family indeed possesses excellent medical skills, and the clinic has treated many villagers since it opened.

As their reputation grew, more and more people from other places came to the clinic for treatment.

Some of these patients were too ill to travel, and after coming, they dared not return home without being cured, so they stayed at the clinic.

Of course, these patients were all seriously ill.

Recently, the seriously ill patients have been dying, one per day!

Among them, a seriously ill patient who was on the verge of death regained consciousness before passing away and said that a ghost had been纠缠 him, repeatedly asking: "Breath like ice, eyes without reflection, seeing stars in the daytime, embracing the sun without warmth, what is the reason? Lend me a breath."

After leaving these words, the person died that night.

Seeing this, the other patients fled that night. One with a broken leg was carried away by a blind man.

They all knew that the clinic was haunted!

Du Cao went to the clinic to investigate but found nothing wrong, so he left a talisman from the Tingtian Supervision Bureau at the door. If it were a minor ghost or a wandering soul, this talisman would be enough to drive it away.

No one died at the clinic last night, and the Zhang family was greatly relieved. They woke up and, before urinating in the morning, went to worship the talisman at the door. However, when they looked, they found that the talisman had been burned to ashes...

The ghost was very fierce!

Du Cao originally planned to investigate the clinic again today, but the county suddenly discovered a怨煞, and the seal of the Tingtian Supervision Bureau summoned the four small seals in the county to deal with it. So he asked Xu Da to handle the case for him.

Xu Da couldn't sit still and fled from the clinic after staying there for half a day.

Du Cao was very angry. When Xu Da shamelessly asked if he could have a roasted chicken for dinner, Du Cao told him to eat chicken droppings.

Xu Da, feeling depressed, went to find his friends in the village for a meal. Du Cao, waiting until nightfall, stayed indoors. This left Wang Qilin puzzled: he wanted to practice the "Bagua Soul-Returning Saber," but no one was there to guide him, and he only had a saber manual.

When he returned to his bedroom, he was even more puzzled—the manual was gone. He clearly remembered putting it in his chest during the day, but now, even after stripping down and finding two lice, he couldn't find the manual!

Thinking about the window that had opened mysteriously during the day, Wang Qilin felt a chill.

Too many strange things happened today!

After all, today is Qingming!

He also remembered the mysterious furnace that appeared during the day and quickly sat down with his legs crossed, closing his eyes.

As his breathing calmed, the furnace appeared in his mind.

Unlike before, this time the furnace was not inactive; a red flame appeared at the bottom!

The flame burned the furnace, and a book slowly rotated at the mouth of the furnace.

Wang Qilin understood; the missing manual had been sucked into the furnace.

The flame gradually diminished, and when it went out, the book at the mouth of the furnace disappeared.

Seeing this, he instinctively opened his eyes, and the manual reappeared in front of him.

But it wasn't the "Bagua Soul-Returning Saber," but the "Taiyin Soul-Cutting Saber"!

He flipped through it in confusion and found that the pages felt different, from rough to smooth, and the practice diagrams had changed from simple to detailed.

The manual not only had practice diagrams but also detailed explanations. Xu Da had mentioned to him that the "Bagua Soul-Returning Saber" given by Du Cao was the most basic saber technique of the Tingtian Supervision Bureau, usually practiced by traveling stars and warriors.

This saber technique itself is simple, but the waist sabers equipped by the Tingtian Supervision Bureau are longer than ordinary sabers, with a larger control range. When combined with the saber technique, the killing power is not bad, sufficient to deal with ordinary ghosts.

However, the "Taiyin Soul-Cutting Saber" is different!

It is based on chopping, thrusting, slashing, cutting, wiping, leading, spreading, pulling, and intercepting, with endless variations such as biting, intercepting, pushing, turning, pulling, slashing, changing, protecting, and surprising.

This makes it unpredictable. No matter what kind of attack, this saber technique has a move to counter it. Once a move is successfully countered, the entire set of saber techniques can be continuously performed, completely overwhelming the enemy!

In short, this saber technique is good at dragging the opponent into its own routine and then defeating them with its rich experience.

As for how many routines it has, there are many, as the old saying goes: "An old sow wearing a bra, one set after another."

Not only that, but the most powerful part of this saber technique is the "Taiyin" (Great Yin)!

The sun is called the sun, and the moon is called the Great Yin. The "Taiyin Soul-Cutting Saber" can temporarily borrow the power of the moon at night, doubling the power of the saber technique. When practiced to the extreme, even ghosts and gods dare not easily challenge its sharpness.

After reading the introduction, Wang Qilin was filled with excitement. He threw off the quilt and jumped up, eager to master this saber technique and slay a couple of ghosts to kick off his career.

However, he soon calmed down. The manual said that the "Taiyin Soul-Cutting Saber" is a night-fighting divine saber, extremely difficult to learn due to its many routines. A talented person would take ten years to achieve a small success and sixty years to achieve a great success, while an untalented person would never be able to enter the door.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. He decided to start practicing that night.

Before practicing, he devoutly bowed in the direction of his family's ancestral graves, praying for their protection!

He had not yet received his official uniform and saber, so after bowing, he took Xu Da's waist saber and began practicing according to the manual.

The first set of saber techniques, on a dark and windy night, "swish, swish, swish," learned.

The second set of saber techniques, on a cool night, "chop, chop, chop," learned.

The third set of saber techniques, fighting in all directions at night, "bang, bang, bang," learned.

...

The last set of saber techniques, in a thousand lights, "ah, ah, ah," completed.

Flipping to the last page of the manual, Wang Qilin stared at the narrow waist saber in his hand, puzzled: was the manual exaggerating, or was he exceptionally talented? Or were his ancestors very powerful?

Just as he was still in disbelief, the manual suddenly burst into flames, quickly turning to ashes and vanishing!

Not long after, Xu Da returned drunk, pushed open the door, and sniffed, "Why does it smell like smoke? Oh, did you secretly eat roasted chicken?"

Wang Qilin jumped onto the bed, covered himself with the quilt, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Du Cao had Xu Da go to the county office to collect his official uniform, boots, waist saber, and equipment for a traveling star.

With this, he was officially a government official, completing the class leap for his family.

After he put on the uniform and hung the waist saber, Du Cao said, "I mentioned the clinic's situation to the county yesterday. Shi Da, who is experienced, said that a qi-eating ghost has come to the clinic. This ghost is not yet powerful and only dares to haunt those who are about to die, so it's not much to fear. Today, you two will go to the clinic and deal with this qi-eating ghost."

Xu Da's eyes widened, "The two of us?"

Du Cao's expression was not good, and he said calmly, "What, are you afraid?"

Xu Da laughed, "It should be the qi-eating ghost who is afraid!"

"Then go. I'm not feeling well today and need to rest," Du Cao said, his face twitching as if he were in great pain.

Xu Da asked with concern, "Sir Du, did you sustain any hidden injuries while slaying the怨煞yesterday?"

Du Cao did not answer. He looked up at the sky and said, "Xu Da, you've been working for the Tingtian Supervision Bureau for almost a year. It's time for you to handle cases on your own. Xiao Qi has joined our bureau and needs to undergo an initiation test. The qi-eating ghost at the clinic is a good opportunity for both of you to practice."

Both nodded, "Understood."

"Also, since Xiao Qi is new, Xu Da, you should protect him," Du Cao's face twitched again.

Xu Da patted his chest and said, "Sir Du, rest assured. With me here, not a single hair of Xiao Qi will be harmed!"

Du Cao waved his hand wearily, "Then go to the clinic. Remember, the qi-eating ghost is most active at night. Kill it tonight and return."

Xu Da raised his fist proudly, "I will not fail Sir Du. I will not return until the ghost is slain!"