Chapter Fifty-Six: Intense Ominousness, Seeking Trouble

That was correct.

Although the ominous energy had grown thicker, blanketing everything due to the crimson mist, it still had a limit. With the rising sun, the energy of pure yang increased, and unless it was a place of utter darkness or somewhere sunlight couldn't reach, it was indeed difficult for ghosts to arise. Only at night did monsters and spirits become active.

After chatting a bit longer with the security guards and learning the situation, Lin Yi made his way toward the villa.

When he entered, he noticed that many tents in front of people's houses had been taken down, and the coffins were gone as well.

As he walked further, he heard the faint sounds of weeping in the distance. If his strength hadn't improved a bit today, he might not have heard it at all.

Glancing in that direction, Lin Yi headed to his own Villa No. 17.

It was only then that Lin Yi realized why, diagonally opposite his villa and Villa No. 16, lay one of the main roads of Talented Scholar's Court.

There, beside the road, was a large square—a recreation area set up by the property management for children to play and for residents to relax.

There were many fitness apparatuses, and even a small artificial lake. Around the lake, willows swayed in the breeze and lush trees cast deep shade—a perfect spot for a stroll.

Yet now, no one dared to take a walk; many tents remained, each illuminated by a red lantern that cast an eerie glow over the canvas.

As dusk approached, the scene grew even stranger, with a hint of a haunted mortuary about it.

The Great Cavern Sutra surged within him, and Lin Yi took out his energy detector. Although the Demon-Slaying Sutra showed no reaction, Lin Yi was interested in something else.

He wanted to see if these corpses had undergone any changes.

Although he was nearly certain that these bodies were connected to the deformed fox demon that became a skin-stealing ghost, he hadn’t forgotten Huang De’s matchmaking post—there were definitely vengeful spirits between Ten-Mile Slope and Talented Scholar's Court!

Aside from those ghosts, the flying zombie from the Qing Dynasty surely still existed!

He wanted to check if these corpses might have been bitten to death by that flying zombie.

If so, their bodies would show signs.

A zombie’s bite transmits corpse poison, turning a person into another zombie in the blink of an eye.

He scanned the area with his energy detector: nothing unusual.

Even the reliable Demon-Slaying Sutra remained silent.

This meant there was no need to worry, and Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief, though his confusion only deepened.

Those vengeful spirits and the flying zombie had once appeared, yet now they were gone. What did that mean?

Here at Talented Scholar's Court, the energy detector didn’t show any extreme levels of ominous energy, but the average reading was around fifty—already quite dense.

Yesterday, by comparison, the readings were only around ten or twenty—much lower!

With this concentration, the appearance of minor ghosts or demons would be commonplace.

Yet now, there were none—not even the skin-stealing ghost.

Could it really be because of those two disciples from the Starry Sect?

Lin Yi looked ahead and saw the two disciples in their sect robes standing at the front of the crowd.

His gaze brightened.

As memories mirrored reality and cycles repeated, Lin Changsheng and those vivid, tragic lives of the ghosts in his memory seemed to reenact themselves.

The sect robes of the Starry Sect—how many years had passed, and yet they hadn’t changed at all.

The property management hadn’t stopped many owners from returning, but as the three men at Villa 16 had said, those who could leave in broad daylight had already fled. Only the brave dared return to Talented Scholar's Court.

Nowadays, the wealthier someone was, the more they cherished their life.

So when Lin Yi entered, some villas were deserted, and the rare person he saw was just taking out the garbage before scurrying back inside.

It was rare to see a young man like Lin Yi, strolling about as if on vacation.

Because of this, countless eyes turned his way.

“Who is that? At a time like this, he’s so bold! Even with Master Zhang here, what if the demons target him? Is he looking to die? How can he walk around so fearlessly!”

“He has no sense of propriety! Does anyone know him? Tell him to leave so he doesn’t interfere with Master Zhang’s work!”

A crowd of over a hundred had gathered at the square.

There weren’t many residents—after all, the entire villa cluster had only a few dozen homes, and many had already fled.

Of the crowd, only about thirty were residents, many still in mourning garb.

Among them were the three middle-aged men who had earlier advised Lin Yi to leave, warning of ghosts.

Most of the crowd, however, were security guards and various housekeepers and staff from the villas.

Apart from them, there was a bald, rotund man decked out in gold, clearly wealthy.

This fat man stood next to the two disciples from the Starry Sect.

Lin Yi felt the weight of their stares but didn’t care. He had become used to being the center of attention lately.

“Hey, you there!”

Lin Yi was almost at the edge of the crowd, about to blend in, when the man in the Starry Sect’s robe glanced at him, frowning.

That’s when Lin Yi noticed he had stepped in something.

Looking down, he saw it was blood—most likely black dog’s blood, since it gave off a hint of pure yang.

Earlier, Lin Yi had accepted a standard issue box from the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, which included a set of black dog’s blood.

“What’s wrong with you? Can’t you watch where you’re walking? I went to a lot of trouble to set out this black dog’s blood to ward off evil, and you step right in it! You’re sabotaging the defenses! This blood is crucial to the formation!”

When Lin Yi looked down, the man in the sect robe spoke again.

Clearly, this man was Zhang Qiang.

The Starry Sect’s robes were quite stylish, adorned with stars, moons, and suns—the sect’s symbols—blue stars on a gold background trimmed with gold thread, fitting current trends and making him look like a hero from ancient times.

Zhang Qiang was a tall, broad-shouldered man, his youth marred by the lines of early aging, making him seem older than his years—he couldn’t have been thirty, but looked closer to forty.

He wasn’t handsome, his face was fierce, and now, with his brows furrowed, he looked as though someone owed him money.

Lin Yi frowned in turn. Who are you trying to intimidate?

“What do you mean I sabotaged the defenses? You think this black dog’s blood can ward off evil? You’re overreaching. And why take it out on me? I’m an owner here!”

“You can’t just touch things here! I went to a lot of trouble setting this up—you don’t understand anything! Don’t make excuses. Were you blind just now?”

“I’m an owner here.”

“This black dog’s blood is effective, you—you—”

“I’m an owner here.”

“I don’t care who you are—are you looking for trouble? Do you know who you’re dealing with? My name is Zhang Qiang, known as Master Zhang, from the Starry Sect!”

“I’m an owner here.”

“…”

Zhang Qiang’s anger grew, his face flushed and neck bulged, chest heaving as though he might explode.

After several deep breaths, he managed to speak.

As a disciple of the Starry Sect, maybe not the most outstanding, but certainly someone with status in these turbulent times, when had he ever been so talked back to?

“Let me tell you—even if you’re the owner, if I don’t get rid of these demons today, the evil will spread through the entire villa complex. People will keep dying—you might be next!”

Then, remembering his role as a demon slayer, Zhang Qiang’s confidence returned, and he began trying to intimidate Lin Yi.

“I’m an owner here. I’m not afraid.”

With that, Lin Yi ignored Zhang Qiang and instead fixed his gaze on the person behind him.

He froze.

His eyes widened.

To bystanders, it looked as though Lin Yi was ogling a beauty, slack-jawed and lecherous.

But Lin Yi was truly stunned.

He had just realized that the junior sister trailing behind Zhang Qiang—Song Yuyan—looked very familiar.

Song Yuyan’s appearance was almost identical to the Starry Sect beauty he had once encountered, the one who had become a ghostly servant.

If Lin Yi didn’t know that the Starry Sect beauty had already become a ghost, whom he had personally put to rest—and from whom he had gained years of cultivation—he might have believed in reincarnation.

That Song Yuyan must be the reincarnation of that Starry Sect ghost.

But once someone becomes a ghostly servant, their very consciousness and soul are controlled by the tiger demon—how could they ever reincarnate?

Which made the plight of those ghosts all the more pitiable.

But why? Why did Song Yuyan look so much like that Starry Sect ghost?

The resemblance was ninety-nine percent.

Lin Yi was bewildered.

His expression, however, only further enraged Zhang Qiang, who had already been irritated by Lin Yi’s defiance.

His junior sister was his prized possession, his alone.

Not only had this young man shown no respect, arguing with him in public, but now he was ogling his junior sister like a lustful fool—how could he let this slide?

Zhang Qiang erupted.

With a bang, a gust of wind seemed to rise from nowhere, and his robe billowed around him.

“You brat! What are you looking at? I’ll gouge out your eyes!”

With a roar, Zhang Qiang grabbed a sword made of copper coins, about the size of two palms, from the ritual table nearby.