Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!
Chapter 226 - 32 Great Tang Night Watchman: Starting with the Gu Huoniao (Asking for Subscriptions Daily)_2

Chapter 226: Chapter 32 Great Tang Night Watchman: Starting with the Gu Huoniao (Asking for Subscriptions Daily)_2

["A maid? Good riddance to her death,"] you muttered.

["What did you say, my lord?"]

["Nothing, carry on."]

["Very well. These corpses, their wounds are somewhat strange. Some died with their hearts eaten, others with their hearts shattered. An amateur might not see the subtlety, but I can discern it!"]

Raising an eyebrow, you inquired, "Is that so? What do you make of it?"

["I dare not speculate recklessly, but from my perspective, there must be something amiss with this case. The perpetrator could be two different groups of people, or perhaps, it might not be..." Brother Xiong Zhao started to say before he paused suddenly, as if realizing something, then skillfully changed the subject:

"Moreover, amongst the bodies, I didn’t find the Lin Family couple and their son. But in the well in the courtyard, I did find a rag with some characters I don’t recognize—some kind of mysterious spell. Please take a look, my lord."]

Brother Xiong Zhao took out an old, damp handkerchief and unfolded it for you to see. It had a line of small characters:

["the,miji,in,linjia,old,zhai,water,che底xia."]

Brother Xiong Zhao said, "My lord, apart from the character ’底’, the rest of the symbols are hard to discern. It’s quite peculiar. If we could decode it..."]

You asked expressionlessly, "Where is the Lin Family Mansion?"

["You know of the Lin Family Mansion, my lord? Worthy son of Lord indeed, with exceptional talent! It’s ten li north, in Sunshine Alley, one of the old Lin Family properties,"] Brother Xiong Zhao replied, his fundamental training exceptionally solid.

You immediately set off with Brother Xiong Zhao toward the Lin Family Mansion. Along the way, you asked him curiously, "Why do you call my mother ’Lord’ instead of ’Grandmaster’?"

Brother Xiong Zhao scoffed with a smile, ["The title ’Grandmaster’ is nothing more than an empty honor given by that old Emperor Qing. What does it amount to? All of us night watchmen from the Dali Temple only obey orders from the Lord! Your mother is truly a great woman."]

...You remained silent. All this information was new to you, never having heard it during your eighteen years in the capital. You didn’t know how much more your mother, Luoning, was keeping from you, but you knew she had great ambitions.

However, you soon reconciled this with the thought that a woman who could set the entire Tang Country ablaze with red flames would be implausible without such depth. You could only sigh, realizing that in this life, no matter how hard you tried, you could never escape the brilliant crown your mother had placed upon you. She was just too dazzling.

Shortly, you arrived at the Lin Family Mansion in Sunshine Alley. Quickly finding the "water wheel" mentioned on the rag, you suggested, ["Brother Xiong Zhao, let’s split up to investigate,"] obviously planning to send him away and keep the secret manuscript for yourself.

It shouldn’t have been so easy to deceive him since he was a competent night watchman. Yet, with your address of ’Brother Xiong Zhao’, he was overcome with glee, practically numb with happiness.

["Hahaha, you called me! The Lord’s own son called me ’big brother’! I would have no regrets in death!"] Elated, he began his search in the inner courtyard, despite finding nothing there days before.

You felt under the water wheel, finding nothing at first, but you were not deterred. Using the two-finger Zen technique repeatedly at the bottom of the water wheel still revealed nothing.

Annoyed, your face suddenly shifted in color, emanating a faint noble purple air, your muscles swelling as if inflated—these were the signs of mastery in the Purple Mist Divine Skill.

With your Divine Skill activated, filled with inner strength and increased power, you flipped over the water wheel and found a relic wrapped in a Kasaya at the bottom of the hole.

Curiously, although it was concealed under the water wheel, it was not wet, exuding a peculiar sense of dry heat.

Without haste, you placed it into your bosom, feeling through the fabric, guessing it contained a manuscript.

["Since it’s not The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, chances are it’s not the Evil Exorcism Sword Technique either. With such a miraculous item, it’s best not to let others know right away. I’ll look it over when I get back before discussing it with Brother Xiong Zhao; there’s no rush,"] you chuckled to yourself. How deviously clever you are!

After a fruitless search, Brother Xiong Zhao and you agreed to meet the next day at the local Dali Temple government office to discuss the next steps. You went your separate ways.

With mischief in mind, you did not return to your treasure boat but instead sought out an inn, staying anonymously. It wasn’t until nightfall that you quietly opened the Kasaya.

Out fell a secret manual with the words: ["Sunflower Manual"]

Xu Shu’s expression froze.

Could this be serious?

Was this fundamentally any different from the infamous Evil Exorcism Sword Technique?

Holding his breath with a sliver of hope, Xu Shu picked up the manual and opened it.

The first page read, "To practice this skill, one must first castrate oneself!"

Ah?

Ah??

Now that was a truly spectacular expression, Xu Shu almost wanted to point at the Tai Chu Scroll and curse, "You dare say this isn’t ’The Smiling, Proud Wanderer’?!"

However, the next moment, the kasaya that had fallen to the ground caught his attention.

He spread it out and saw that the patterns on it were quite special, the texture was soft, similar to bird feathers, the touch was warm and smooth, like the tender skin of a young girl, unusually comfortable.

Upon closer inspection, he found a small piece of paper in the seam of the kasaya.

"Good, good, good, another secret?!"

Xu Shu immediately pulled it out, laid down on the bed, and covered himself with the pleasantly tactile kasaya, as the legend continued—

[You opened the note and saw some ancient characters that even you can’t quite understand, but the Tai Chu Scroll translated it for you, as follows:

[In ancient times, there was a mythical bird, a kin to spirits and ghosts, which took on a large bird form when feathered, and turned into a woman when plucked. First called the Hook Star, and secondly the Hidden Flyer, once there was a nameless man who saw six or seven women in a field, not knowing they were birds, and crept forward, first stealing their feather garments and hiding them, then going after the bird-women.

[One by one, the bird-women found their feather garments, and once they put them on, they transformed from human to bird form and immediately flew away. One bird-woman, left alone as she couldn’t find her garment, was caught in joy by the man, who married her and fathered three daughters, all of whom died. She accumulated resentment and fused it into one, circling around the house and refusing to leave.

[Latterly, after being enlightened by the Ghost King, she turned into a yin ghost and has since often emerged in the human world, seducing people into committing crimes, taking lives and stealing souls. Now she is called: Gu Huoniao.]

"Is this a mythological tale?"

[You were indifferent when suddenly the door was pushed open, and a slender and graceful woman entered without a word, speaking to you:

["Young master, you’ve stolen my clothes, how can you not return them to me, must I kneel and beg you? But if my daughters see this, they would think the young master is bullying me, and they would get very angry, hmm hmm hmm~"]

[Her voice was sultry to the bone, making one instantly feel the fire of desire, longing to ravish her in solitude or amidst a crowd.]

[However, you were instantly on alert, ever since your Purple Mist Divine Skill reached its peak, anyone who came within ten yards was detected by you.]

[But this woman, even as she opened the door and entered, you did not sense her presence, indicating that she was definitely a top-tier expert in this world!]

[You grabbed your Tang saber and cranked your Purple Mist Divine Skill to the max, unleashing your homemade move, "Destruction Path·One Strike Asura" aiming directly at her head.]

[When experts clashed, life and death were determined upon meeting!]

["Oh my!" she was startled by you, panicked with a helpless expression,]

["What the hell?!" Your saber stopped just 0.3 centimeters from her, and you were dumbfounded.]

[Before you stood a woman whose figure was tempting to the extreme. picture.jpg]

[She was dressed in white silk mourning clothes that felt palpably luxurious, and the buttons at her chest were shaken open by your sharp saber aura, causing the garment to slide down involuntarily. She hurriedly reached out with her fair, tender hands to staunch the slide, but to no avail, uncontrollably revealing the snowy whiteness of her upper hemisphere, a fragrant scent assaulting your senses, instantly bringing you to attention, and you saluted her! Badapoom!]

[But she bore the head of a bird, adorned with fluffy little white flowers and a black-gold-tipped magic hat, her snow-white and pale purple hair neatly interwoven, like the most perfect ink painting, noble and dense, soft, compelling one to want to give it a rub.]

[Her bright, large eyes locked gaze with you lovingly.]

["Young master, staring so intently at me, I just can’t stand it~"]

[She stretched out her cute, tender pink tongue, and each of her eyes held a mysterious character, with a final character on her tongue, forming a phrase—]

[Down!]

[String!]

[One!]