"Ha, now you know fear." The old man sneered and thought to himself.

But looking at Qin Yuesheng’s eyes, he still said, "Our White Lotus Saint Sect rides rampant in Jiangnan, and will inevitably become the ruler of this region in the future. If you kill me, the Soul Lamp within the sect will extinguish, then the sect’s top experts will rush out, and even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you won’t survive."

"Since when did Jiangnan have an organization like the White Lotus Saint Sect?" Qin Yuesheng wondered.

Since stepping into the martial path, he had learned a lot about Jiangnan’s martial arts scene. He was familiar with almost all the famous martial forces, but he had never heard of the White Lotus Saint Sect, and the name "Saint Sect" seemed excessively intimidating.

Seeing Qin Yuesheng hesitate, the old man’s right hand flickered, and a large centipede crawled out from his sleeve. He thought his move was subtle, but Qin Yuesheng had already noticed it.

"Stubborn, still thinking of harming others, seeking death." Qin Yuesheng snorted coldly, directly twisting the man’s neck.

What White Lotus Saint Sect, White Lotus Demon Sect; Qin Yuesheng feared them not. It was this man and that gigantic malignant spirit who had been causing harm in the region, unknowingly harming many innocent travelers, he had to kill.

With a palm strike, he killed the centipede. Qin Yuesheng then searched the man’s body, finally finding a scroll, an iron box, and a pen.

After ensuring nothing was missed, Qin Yuesheng disassembled the man, releasing three light spheres.

Qin Yuesheng crushed them one by one, learning that they contained information on "Skill of Controlling Objects," "Unbinding Secret Skill," and "Frightful Ghost’s Howl."

"Skill of Controlling Objects" teaches how to control objects to attack others, which explains why the man could make swords and giant seals fly.

"Unbinding Secret Skill" provides answers to unlocking certain restrictions, and the old man only knew three methods.

"Frightful Ghost’s Howl" was the Sound Wave Skill that was just broken by Qin Yuesheng.

These three are all magic skills, not martial arts, but they follow the same path as Wen Tianci.

The three items found on the old man: the scroll, when opened, was empty; using the Unbinding Secret Skill, fireball immediately emerged from it, flying towards a giant rock in front.

Bang!

On the rock’s surface, instantly a dent appeared, not too large, almost like a basin.

Qin Yuesheng realized that this was another defense method of the old man, but he knew that its power couldn’t harm Qin Yuesheng, which is why it wasn’t used.

"The power is small for me, but for ordinary people, it would be more than enough." Qin Yuesheng thought.

The iron box was about the size of a human palm, square in shape, with numerous small ghostly patterns, looking extremely sinister.

Rotating it showed no seams, Qin Yuesheng applied the Unbinding Secret Skill, revealing a crack from which black smoke seeped out.

Ka ka ka!

A horn-like sound echoed mysteriously, and Qin Yuesheng saw darkness envelope his surroundings.

The box slowly opened, revealing a purple aura surging, within it appeared a horned shadow.

Moo!!!

An astonishing presence emanated from the shadow, Qin Yuesheng’s hair whipped around as if caught in an eye of a storm.

"Such a terrifying malevolence!" Even without the Spirit Fox’s insight, Qin Yuesheng could see the dense malice like water.

Crack! Qin Yuesheng took out the Exorcism Toad from the Celestial Demon waist bag, and his expression changed instantly.

The Exorcism Toad’s glazed disc had cracked!

This must be an unparalleled Ghost King!

The shadow’s arms extended, and the sky seemed to change color.

Qin Yuesheng hurriedly tried to close the iron box, but the pressure was unexpectedly strong, no matter how much effort he used, he couldn’t close the lid, and as the intensity grew, he tried the Unbinding Secret Skill again, finally closing the box.

"Phew!" Seeing the shadow return to the box, everything returned to normal, Qin Yuesheng couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Who would have thought this seemingly inconspicuous item contained such a terrifying entity.

From his observations, Qin Yuesheng noticed that the shadow’s hands were the same as those that attacked him earlier from above the mansion, meaning the old man was using the box to control the shadow.

Although he didn’t know how the man managed it, the cost must have been significant, Qin Yuesheng felt.

He tried to disassemble the iron box, but seeing only a 0.0001% success rate, he decisively abandoned the attempt; with such a low success rate, it’s almost impossible.

"This thing’s power is extraordinary and extremely dangerous, I must keep it safe, testing it daily to see if luck favors me." Qin Yuesheng inspected the last item, the pen, using the Unbinding Secret Skill, causing it to emit a silver light. With a casual swipe, a silver light immediately flew out, silently cutting through a nearby tree trunk.

"Oh!" Qin Yuesheng’s eyes lit up, this item is interesting, who knew it was used in such a way.

The three items found on the old man were all quite remarkable.

Qin Yuesheng took out the Mountain Ghost Pearl from the disassembled gigantic malignant spirit, seeing it was a transparent bead containing a small mansion, he used Biluo Eye to closely observe, discovering it was the nameless mansion where he previously sheltered from the rain.

Qin Yuesheng tried squeezing it, but nothing happened, so he used the Unbinding Secret Skill again.

Bang!

A puff of green smoke rose, and Qin Yuesheng felt his hand become incredibly heavy. It was about to slam to the ground, so he quickly released it to prevent the Mountain Ghost Pearl’s anomaly from injuring him.

When the smoke cleared, a new Unnamed Mansion appeared before Qin Yuesheng’s eyes.

"This!" Staring at the exceptionally familiar mansion, Qin Yuesheng extended his hand and used Inner Strength to open the mansion’s door.

The horse that traveled with him stood quietly beneath the eaves, watching him.

"Miraculous, truly miraculous!" Qin Yuesheng couldn’t help but applaud and laugh.

He immediately used the Unbinding Secret Skill on the mansion’s door again, and the Unnamed Mansion reverted back to a small bead, dropping to the ground.

"I only got this Mountain Ghost Pearl. If I hadn’t obtained this Unbinding Secret Skill from the old ghost, I might never have discovered the mysteries of this Mountain Ghost Pearl." Qin Yuesheng chuckled as he placed the Mountain Ghost Pearl into his Celestial Demon pouch.

This way, he would no longer worry about carrying large objects.

Opening the Mountain Ghost Pearl once more, Qin Yuesheng put the enormous Ghost Pill inside; carrying it around would certainly be inconvenient.

Qin Yuesheng entered the Unnamed Mansion and suddenly saw three women rushing towards him. He assumed it was another mirage and simply ignored it.

But unexpectedly, when one of the women collided with him, he felt a completely solid touch.

Qin Yuesheng was stunned; how was it not a mirage?

"Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!"

Upon bumping into Qin Yuesheng, the woman fell to the ground, clutching her head and screaming in terror.

Meanwhile, the other two women, having exited the mansion, immediately ran toward the distance without hesitation. Although they were clearly companions, they took separate paths, one heading east and one north, babbling words that no one could understand, crying and laughing, making gestures that were utterly bewildering.

Could they be madwomen?

"Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!"

Qin Yuesheng pulled the woman lying on the ground up, but she was utterly terrified, likely having been traumatized earlier.

Qin Yuesheng thought for a moment and concluded this matter likely had to do with the old ghost. He couldn’t figure out what method was used on these three women to cause such a mental breakdown — they were probably scared out of their wits.

Disliking trouble, Qin Yuesheng initially intended for this woman to emulate the previous two by running far away on her own, but after colliding with him, she didn’t dare move again. Even if thrown out, she just lay on the ground, trembling in a ball, looking incredibly pitiable.

"All right, I’ll take you in for now and send you to a nunnery later." Qin Yuesheng tossed the woman back into the Unnamed Mansion, then shrank and secured it, mounted his horse, and continued his journey to Wujiang River.

But the words the old man said before he died — ’White Lotus Saint Sect’ — left a deep impression on Qin Yuesheng.

It seems the waters of Jiangnan are far more complex than I imagined.

...

Somewhere in Jiangnan.

As one of the twenty lotus lanterns under the White Lotus Bodhisattva statue suddenly extinguished, the hundred white-robed believers sitting nearby were instantly shocked and plunged into panic.

"How could a White Lotus Messenger’s soul be extinguished?"

"Something big has happened, something big has happened, this is truly disastrous!"

The hall was instantly filled with chatter and speculation.

"Silence." An elderly monk wearing a tall white hat suddenly shouted: "Such behavior before the Bodhisattva is disgraceful. Continue chanting; this matter is not your concern."

At his shout, the scene instantly quieted down, and everyone resumed chanting with closed eyes.

The elderly monk rose and walked out of the hall, quickly arriving outside a small two-story building.

"Left Guardian, a White Lotus Messenger’s soul has been extinguished." The monk said.

"Which Messenger was it?"

A cold, gender-neutral voice came from inside.

"Dragon Envoy."

"He was previously sent to Wujiang River for a task. During this Wujiang incident, people from those two forces intervened — he’s likely been targeted by them. Send two more White Lotus Messengers to Wujiang River; they must eat and live together, never act alone. This Wujiang matter must be handled perfectly, or we’ll face punishment from our lord, and none can escape blame."

"Yes."