Chapter 245: Four Ghosts “Extract” Spiritual Essence

“Shut the hell up with your nonsense!”

“You didn’t make it clear earlier! You never said the patterns were just the engravings on a copper coin!”

Saying this, Old Heng cracked his knuckles with a crisp sound and growled, “No way! This doesn’t count! You have to let me reach in and grab something else!”

“Ah, that won’t do!”

“Rules are rules—each person gets only one chance…”

“Besides, a copper coin is still money. By tomorrow night, if you bring this copper coin back, won’t it become two?”

As he spoke, the cart-puller casually pulled out a small piece of silver and handed it to the trembling thin man beside Old Heng.

Originally, with gold being given out, the thin man had expected silver to be a letdown.

But now that Old Heng had only drawn a single copper coin, the thin man suddenly felt much better—at least his silver was worth something, and he could even get another piece tomorrow night.

Fearing that Old Heng would make a scene and drag him into trouble, the thin man quickly repeated the rules, thanked the cart-puller, and slipped away from the queue.

Once he left, the people behind stepped forward. Everyone in the village knew that Old Heng was about to throw a fit.

Right now, it was best to stay far away from him…

However, as Old Heng looked ready to cause trouble, many in the queue felt both hopeful and frustrated.

They were hopeful because if Old Heng managed to get another try, maybe they could use the same trick to swap out anything they were unhappy with.

As for the frustration… well, it was late at night, and the line was still long—no one wanted to wait unnecessarily. Some were also afraid that Old Heng’s tantrum might scare off the benefactor handing out the goods.

Old Heng rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular arms, and said coldly, “Brother, I call you my brother out of respect, but if you don’t give me face, I won’t be so polite!”

“Ah!” The cart-puller picked up a drumstick wrapped in a red cloth from his cart and smiled. “Go take a nap over there.”

Clang! A crisp wooden knock echoed in the air!

Old Heng’s body swayed left, then right. His legs gave out, and with a thud, he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

This scene sent a chill through every villager who had been harboring thoughts of cheating the system.

They couldn’t fathom how just one strike of the drumstick had instantly knocked out the robust Old Heng!

“Don’t be afraid, everyone. This thing is only used to deal with rule-breakers,” the cart-puller explained. Then, pointing at Old Heng, he continued, “He’s just asleep—nothing serious.”

“So now, let’s all stay in line, follow the rules, and calmly collect your goods, alright?”

“Alright, alright!”

“Got it!”

“Mm-hmm!”

Scattered responses came from the crowd.

Once the “troublemaker” had been dealt with, the line moved much faster.

People barely spoke anymore—after collecting their items, they immediately tucked them away and left without lingering for even a moment…

Not far from the distribution line, down a small alley, things were quite “lively.”

Gu Ning’an’s group of five, along with Temple Keeper Huang and Qiao Min, had gathered there.

Back in South Corner Village, Temple Keeper Huang had suddenly appeared and explained to Zhou Zhongtian what those three men they encountered earlier had been up to.

It turned out that while Gu Ning’an and his team were patrolling at night, Temple Keeper Huang had also noticed something “unusual” about Four Corners Town.

Because of this, he and Qiao Min had been secretly investigating the situation. By coincidence, they had come across Gu Ning’an’s group in West Corner Village and followed them all the way until the events in South Corner Village unfolded.

According to Temple Keeper Huang, there were four chang ghosts, each of considerable strength. This meant that the master behind them was even more powerful.

Additionally, although Temple Keeper Huang couldn’t discern what kind of demon their master was, after visiting three locations, he had already figured out what these ghosts were trying to do.

He told everyone that the name “Shengxian River” had been passed down orally by the local villagers. However, what they might not know was that two emperors had visited this land.

The first emperor of Great Wu had directly renamed the river to Shengxian River,¹ a homophone for its original name and a praise, suggesting that this river surpassed even celestial rivers.

As the ruler of a dynasty, sovereign over vast lands, an emperor was one who carried the mandate of heaven and wielded immense fortune.

Even though the emperors of Great Wu had never been particularly outstanding, their status alone determined that their words and actions carried a power beyond ordinary comprehension.

For instance, some unofficial histories recorded that certain mighty emperors could issue a single decree and bring rain to drought-stricken lands!

Or, when faced with catastrophes like earthquakes, emperors would issue edicts or offer prayers to mitigate the disaster’s effects.

Among these records, some were true, some were exaggerated, but the “power to make words reality” that emperors possessed undeniably existed to some extent.

With this land already blessed with natural spiritual energy, combined with the fortune of two emperors and the bestowed name “Shengxian,”² the river water itself had become infused with “heaven and earth’s spiritual essence.”

Such spiritual essence greatly benefited the land and its people. This was why, despite the increasing population of Four Corners Town and extensive fishing activities, the river’s aquatic life had not been depleted.

However, as a manifestation of heaven and earth, spiritual essence was equally valuable to demons.

Whether for forging spiritual artifacts or advancing cultivation, it was an extremely precious resource.

Yet, extracting this spiritual essence required special methods.

The four ghosts were planning to position themselves at the four corners of Four Corners Town, using the four types of corruptive aura—Lust, Greed, Anger, and Sorrow—to force out the spiritual essence and then seize it…

“Temple Keeper Huang, in your opinion, what should we do next?”

Having learned so much from Temple Keeper Huang, including many things about Daoist cultivation he had never understood before, Zhou Zhongtian now held deep respect for him.

Temple Keeper Huang paused before saying, “The first step of the ghosts’ plan has already been completed. What we must do now is prevent the situation from escalating further.”

“We don’t know where their master is hiding. The reason I sought you out and explained everything is so that, in the next three days, you can do your best to contain the spread of their corruptive aura among the villagers.”

“I need to go outside and set up a disorienting formation to cut off their master’s ability to locate this place. Once that’s done, I’ll return and find a way to dispel the corruptive aura and eliminate the four ghosts.”

Zhou Zhongtian said seriously, “Please instruct us, Temple Keeper. Once I understand the plan, I’ll report it to the Golden Guards and the External Agents so they can assist as well.”

Temple Keeper Huang nodded. “Then I’ll keep it brief…”