’What the heck is this?’

’Is this some kind of special tool they use to catch Xingzi around here?’

Gu Gaoxu was curious, but he didn’t ask.

Right now, Gu Gaoxu was just anxious to get going and hunt for the Xingzi. He was afraid asking questions would cause another delay.

’I’ll just wait until we’re out of the city and on our way.’

He just wanted to leave immediately. Gu Gaoxu was getting impatient.

Lu Yuan didn’t waste any more words. Once the old butler had assembled the men, Lu Yuan swung himself onto his horse.

Over three hundred men, over three hundred horses.

This was arguably the Zhao Family’s strongest fighting force.

The three hundred-odd horses alone were enough to show just how ridiculously wealthy the Zhao Family was.

What did three hundred horses even represent? In an era of war, that was basically the equivalent of three hundred tanks.

And this was only because the Court had requisitioned so many horses from all over the land for the war in the Northern regions.

Otherwise, three hundred horses would have been considered a small number.

The saying that Taiping City’s surname was Zhao was no empty boast.

The vast procession of men and horses rode out of the city, heading east.

There had been several reports recently about the Da Xingzi appearing east of the city.

The creature’s appearances even seemed to follow a slight pattern, so it was just a matter of seeing if they could catch it tonight.

...

「Around eleven at night.」

At the Zhao Family estate, the East Wing was brightly lit.

Three women were lying together on a single bed.

With Lu Yuan out, how could any of them sleep?

They were all huddled together on the bed, talking to one another and trying to pass the long night.

As they spoke, the lights in the brightly lit East Wing suddenly flickered twice.

’Is there a problem with the Spirit Stone Lamp?’

Of course, Spirit Stone Lamps weren’t infinitely bright. Their Spiritual Power could run out, causing the lamp to go dark.

That was a normal enough occurrence.

What wasn’t normal, however, was that this particular Spirit Stone Lamp should have lasted for at least half a year.

And it had just been replaced a few days ago.

While the women stared in a daze, the Spirit Stone Lamp flickered several more times.

At that, the three women on the bed shot upright.

"It’s okay...

Liyan, don’t be afraid."

Zhao Qiao’Er, who was lying on the outermost edge of the bed, said comfortingly to Su Liyan in the middle.

As mentioned before, Zhao Qiao’Er also knew something about Techniques.

She just wasn’t very skilled.

But based on the current situation, a Da Xingzi had likely come to the Zhao estate.

Lu Yuan had taken basically all the men in the household with him outside the city.

Zhao Qiao’Er got out of bed and peered through the window into the pitch-black night.

She saw that after the last incident, Talismans had been posted along the household’s long corridors and under the eaves.

The red seals on those yellow Talismans were now pulsing with a red glow.

The countless streaks of red light throughout the courtyard created an extremely eerie sight.

Just then, a commotion erupted from the front courtyard. Many of the guards and servants, their faces filled with fear, were crowding toward the central courtyard.

Everyone could also faintly hear the sounds of music and singing coming from outside the Zhao estate.

It sounded like... a Lotus Fall performance??

"I’m callin’ out, Shopkeeper, don’t be annoyed.

Are you going to give money or not?

If you don’t give, I won’t leave.

I’ll play dead dog in front of your gate.

Anyway, I’ve got nothing to live for at home.

So we can do this however you want...

..."

The voice echoed from outside the Zhao estate, line after line.

The voice was utterly bizarre.

You have to understand, the Zhao estate’s central courtyard was flanked by many smaller ones; it wasn’t as if the East Wing was on the outer edge of the property.

The voice wasn’t loud, not a full-throated shout, yet everyone in the central courtyard could hear it.

It seemed to hover right over their heads, every word crystal clear.

Hearing this, Zhao Qiao’Er gritted her teeth and said at once,

"Quick, give them money!"

The Travelers in the house now understood as well.

The malevolent entity had come straight for their home.

Just like last time!

Right now, the only thing keeping the malevolent entity outside was the Talismans that Daoist Longchuan had left behind last time.

Now, the thing outside was trying to break the Technique.

If the household’s Talismans were broken and those Xingzi got in, it would all be over.

All of the Zhao Family’s able-bodied men were outside the city.

And they were far away; they wouldn’t be back before dawn tomorrow.

All they could do was try to counter the entity from inside and pray the house’s Talisman Technique wouldn’t be broken.

As Zhao Qiao’Er finished speaking, the people in the courtyard began pulling out pieces of broken silver from their waists.

Using all their might, they hurled it over the estate walls.

After the pieces of broken silver were thrown out, the sound of the Lotus Fall subsided significantly.

If it wanted money, they would give it money.

Silver was the way to break the Lotus Fall.

Once they had thrown the silver, not only did the sound of the Lotus Fall diminish, but the red glow from the household’s Talismans also dimmed considerably.

It was working.

Just as everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief,

a sudden CRASH echoed through the estate.

Every single door and window in the Zhao estate was blown open by a sinister gust of wind.

It didn’t matter if it was the main gate of the Zhao estate or the doors to the corridors connecting the central and front courtyards.

If it was a door or a window, it was blown wide open.

The sound of the Lotus Fall returned, louder and more resonant than before, echoing throughout the entire Zhao estate.

Now, looking out past the pitch-black main gate, it was as if a crowd of heads was bobbing in the darkness.

An unknown number of eerie entities were peering into the Zhao estate, desperate to swarm inside.

They were only held back by the Talisman Technique within the estate, unable to succeed.

But now, with the doors and windows forced open,

the Talisman Technique inside the house flared brightly once more.

Each one shone with the brightness of a small lightbulb.

But soon, some of the Talismans in the Technique began to fail.

With a muffled FIZZ,

some of the Talismans peeled right off the walls, bursting into flames and turning to ash before they even hit the ground.

Seeing this, nobody needed to be told what to do. Everyone immediately started pulling out more money to throw outside.

Some of the bolder Travelers even rushed out to get more silver.

You could say the Zhao Family lacked other things, but you could never say they lacked silver.

The Zhao household always kept tens of thousands of taels of silver on hand.

This was no problem at all.

Meanwhile, the three women were standing at the entrance to the East Wing.

The tall Aunt Zhao, like a mother hen protecting her chicks, shielded both Su Liyan and Aunt Song behind her.

Throwing out the silver this time had an immediate and dramatic effect.

After all, the silver they’d thrown earlier was just broken silver.

Pieces of one or two mace, smaller than goat droppings.

But this time was different. They were throwing out ingots worth over ten taels at a time.

Every ingot they threw was met with a moment of silence.

After a whole box of silver—nearly one thousand taels—was thrown out, the outside fell silent for over half an hour.

When the Lotus Fall Technique was pelted with silver, it took a good while for it to start up again.

This time, by hitting it with one thousand taels at once, they had essentially broken it completely.

After more than half an hour had passed, the Lotus Fall chant still had not resumed.

Then, the sounds of an opera started up outside!!

Gongs clanged, drums boomed, a cacophony of CLANGING and BANGING.

An operatic voice, in some unrecognizable style, began a long recitation.

It all seemed like a chaotic racket, but in reality, it served a single purpose.

To break the Talisman Technique protecting the house.

And then swarm inside.

And this opera performance was clearly far more effective than the Lotus Fall.

To be precise, they had no idea how to counter the opera.

Now, the Talismans around the house were beginning to fall, one after another.

The sinister wind inside the house grew stronger and stronger.

It slammed the doors, making them BANG again and again.

And it had only just passed midnight.

If things continued like this, how could they possibly last until dawn?

But just at that moment, 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Su Liyan’s voice suddenly came from behind Zhao Qiao’Er.

"Aunt, just have someone post these Talismans on the walls."

"Huh?"

As Su Liyan spoke, both Aunt Zhao and Aunt Song turned to look.

They saw that at some point, Su Liyan had drawn a huge stack of Talismans.

She was holding the whole pile in her hands.

There had to be at least seventy or eighty Talismans in the stack.

’Did she... just draw these now?’

’But... will they even work?’

While Aunt Zhao and Aunt Song stared at Su Liyan with baffled expressions,

Su Liyan said with a serious expression,

"Don’t worry, Aunt Zhao.

Once these are up, we’ll be fine.

However, everyone should still sleep crowded together in the central courtyard tonight.

Have the household staff make bedrolls on the floor in the main hall and the West Wing. If we all squeeze in, it should be enough space.

We can deal with everything else tomorrow morning when our man gets back."

’Sleep??’

’How could anyone possibly sleep through this??’