Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman - Chapter 35 Xingyun Town

The ghost led Li Guanqi to a spot beneath an unusually thick and sturdy tree. She pointed at the tree roots, and Li Guanqi proceeded to dig around the spot she pointed at. A foul odor filled the air as he unearthed her remains, but the young man maintained his composure, simply furrowing his brows and gazing at the bones below.

The bones appeared to belong to a woman in her twenties, matching the ghosts’ approximate age. Li Guanqi carefully reburied the bones, then offered, “In that case, would you like to enter the cycle of reincarnation? I can assist you.”

Li Guanqi learned a simple method to lay spirits to rest from Li Nanting prior to the mission. It wasn’t particularly potent, but it was enough to lay this ghost to rest. The woman displayed a hint of hesitation on her face and whispered, “Immortal, could I wait a couple of days before entering the cycle?”

Li Guanqi shrugged. He would have preferred to finish this sooner, but assumed that she still had some attachments to the mortal realm and didn’t push the matter. He returned to the temple, the ghost following but keeping her distance.

Early the next morning, the young man hurriedly descended from the mountain, sporting dark circles under his eyes. He noticed that the Sword Spirit had appeared on the mountainside and was staring deeply at the ghost’s waving figure. Her eyes were filled with disdain, and her voice resonated in Li Guanqi’s mind, “She… seems a bit off.”

The young man shrugged, his expression unchanging. The Sword Spirit stared at Li Guanqi’s face, attempting to discern what he was thinking but failing. She furrowed her brows slightly, never expecting that one day she would be unable to fathom a young man’s mind, and Li Guanqi showed no intention of explaining anything to her.

In the end, she snorted coldly and retreated back into the sword coffin. Li Guanqi smiled, having gotten used to the Sword Spirit’s arrogant personality.

As soon as Li Guanqi arrived at the town’s entrance, he noticed a commotion, with people pushing and shoving against each other. He climbed on top of a tree to observe what was happening. He noticed that a lot of the villagers wore vibrant clothes, made with various dyes.

In the center of the crowd, others surrounded an old man in Daoist robes. He held a peachwood sword and was running around with his hands covering his head.

“What kind of Daoist priest are you? You’re just a charlatan trying to scam people out of their money!”

“Exactly!! He’s been eating and drinking well for a few days, without doing anything!”

“Humph! He’s just a swindler! Let’s wait for the Immortal Master from the Great Xia Sword Sect.”

The white-browed Daoist covered his head and exclaimed, “The malicious spirit should have appeared last night! I was setting my preparations up for three days!”

“Something must have stopped him from showing up! Ouch, don’t hit me!”

Li Guanqi watched the commotion from the tree, and someone pointed at him and said, “Whose child is that? Come down!”

“That’s our town’s sacred tree! How did you get up there?”

The young man blinked and saw red strings hanging down from various branches on the tree, with many wooden plaques beneath the red strings.

Clatter!

The noisy crowd quieted down at this moment, and all eyes turned to the young man with pure white eyes. The crowd gradually parted, and an elderly man with white hair made his way to the front.

The old man scrutinized Li Guanqi from head to toe and asked, “Are you the Immortal Master from the Great Xia Sword Sect?”

With a wave of his hand, Li Guanqi produced his identity token to confirm his identity. As soon as they saw the identity token, all the villagers of Xingyun Town bowed and paid their respects to the young man.

The old man said in a solemn tone, “I am Gu Yihong, on behalf of the villagers of Xingyun Town, we pay our respects to the Immortal Master from the Great Xia Sword Sect!”

Everyone had sincere expressions as they bowed and showed their respect. Li Guanqi found himself moved by their performance! What kind of sect had such prestige amongst the masses, that even a regular disciple would receive this kind of reception?

This was the first time Li Guanqi felt a sense of pride as a disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect.

With a wave of his hand, Li Guanqi changed into the attire of the sect, adjusted his clothing, and bowed, saying, “I am Li Guanqi, a disciple of Heavenly Thunder Peak of the Great Xia Sword Sect. I’m at your service.”

Gu Yihong quickly approached the young man and said in a low voice, “Immortal Master, please save our Xingyun Town. Four people have died in just a few days!”

“Now the whole town is in panic, and many people claim to have seen ghosts causing trouble.”

Li Guanqi nodded slightly and, with the corner of his eye, noticed a group of men throwing the yellow-robed Daoist out. Initially, the Daoist seemed like he wanted to say something, but when he saw the young man’s eerie eyes, he swallowed his words. After packing his things, he hurriedly left.

After noticing the young man’s gaze, Gu Yihong awkwardly spoke, “News of what’s been happening has already spread to the surrounding areas.”

“As a result, many charlatans have come to take advantage of us. Immortal Master, please follow me to my home, and I’ll brief you on the details.”

Li Guanqi nodded and followed the old man across town.

The mayor’s residence was quite lavish, with their yard alone covering nearly a hundred square meters. By now, the entire town had learned that a representative from the Great Xia Sword Sect had arrived!

People who had initially stayed at home had also gathered at the mayor’s house.

After some casual greetings, Li Guanqi took the initiative and asked, “Mr. Gu, two days ago when I came down from the mountain, there were only three reported deaths, but now there are four. What happened?”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions changed.

Gu Yihong remained silent for a moment before speaking softly, “Yes, Wang Ergou from the town died two nights ago. The manner of death was extremely gruesome!”

Seeing the old man’s pale face, Li Guanqi furrowed his brow and asked, “Gruesome? Could you elaborate?”

The elder glanced at the people around and, with a shudder, said, “Perhaps… I should take you to see it for yourself.”

Li Guanqi rose slowly and said, “That’ll be a good idea. I need to understand the situation better.”

Then, they set out for the back streets.