A scorching heat emanated from the Crouching Tiger waist token. Evan Wade had experienced this twice before and was already familiar with the process. He found a sheet of white paper, pressed the side with the character “卫” onto it, and, one by one, the characters began to appear again. Evan Wade looked up to read them.

“Anyone under the command of the Sili Colonel may slay demons and exorcise ghosts, and with merit, may enter the Great Han Treasury to claim demon-slaying weapons.”

“If the Sili Colonel has not slain demons or ghosts, nor captured heretical worshippers, and has no merit, the treasury cannot be opened.”

Evan Wade was slightly taken aback, noticing a subtlety in the wording.

It said the Great Han Treasury could not be opened, which meant there was a possibility that the treasury still existed in this era?

Before he could ponder further, more words began to appear.

“Five types of unorthodox methods are recorded, which do not require cultivation, but can open the eyes to perceive yin and yang.”

Then, densely packed words appeared, describing how an ordinary person could use their own eyes to see ghosts and spirits. Indeed, these were unorthodox methods that did not require cultivation. The first method was ox eye tears, but it did not involve simply dripping the tears of a common domestic animal into one’s eyes.

That would only land you in the ophthalmology department of a hospital.

You had to find a yellow ox, go to a wild graveyard, and cut a handful of ink grass that had grown there.

Feed the grass to the ox, and at the hour of the Tiger on the following day, when the yin energy was at its peak, if the ox began to act restless and bellow, you would slaughter it, take the bezoar, and mix it with mint, licorice, morning dew, and fragments of yin objects. If the yin object was a spirit, the requirements for the other materials could be relaxed. The most common yin object was ashes.

Apply the mixed liquid to the eye sockets, and after seven days, you would gain the ability to see yin and yang for a considerable period.

This method had no major risks and lasted a long time, but Evan Wade could only regretfully give it up.

Just the price of a yellow ox was enough to make him balk.

No way, he was broke.

The second method worked quickly and lasted long, but had some risks.

It was said that night crows could see life and death, so between midnight and the hour of the Tiger, you had to catch a green-eyed crow from a withered tree atop a grave, gouge out its eye while it was still alive, soak it in hot water, and swallow it whole—be sure not to bite it.

After swallowing, you could see life, death, yin, and yang.

But there was a high chance of trouble: you might attract the vengeance of a flock of night crows, or even be hunted by a night crow demon.

This was a heretical method acquired by the Sili Colonel during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.

All who used it were pecked blind by night crow demons and died, their bodies devoured by the flock, left as rotting flesh.

Evan Wade felt a chill run down his spine.

He looked at the remaining three methods.

The third: find a black dog that has seen a ghost—it must be pure black, not a single stray hair of another color. Kill it just before midnight, stab its heart with a peach wood dagger, and drip its heart’s blood into your eyes. This method was a near-death gamble; if you survived, you would awaken the yin-yang sight, and it would never fade for the rest of your life.

But most who survived wished they had never awakened it.

The fourth: at the hour of the Tiger, when yin energy was strongest, set up a bagua array at the foot of a mountain, place twelve bright lamps around you, put a bowl of morning dew in the center, prick your ring finger for a drop of blood, mix it with the dew, and recite the incantation “Heaven and earth, universe, let my eyes see yin and yang.” You would then be able to see ghosts.

But you needed protection; if even one lamp went out, you would become a wandering ghost yourself.

In the fifth year of Yongjian in the Eastern Han, the first Celestial Master Samuel Bolton passed down this method, which allowed ordinary people to see wandering spirits and ghost messengers.

Evan Wade immediately ruled out these two methods again.

Too risky.

He really didn’t plan to end up in the ophthalmology department, nor could he find a Celestial Master to protect him.

He looked at the last method.

Wiping the eyes with willow leaves.

A willow branch could drive away ghosts by three inches, and wiping the eyes with willow leaves could temporarily open the yin-yang sight, but only if you had Daoist cultivation. If you were an ordinary person, you needed to prepare in advance: soak the willow leaves in morning dew mixed with yin objects until midnight, when the yin energy was thick, then use the willow leaves dipped in this water to wipe your eye sockets, and you would be able to see yin and yang.

Duration: the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Each time you wanted to open your eyes, you had to repeat the process.

Aside from the complicated preparation, both the risks and the cost were within Evan Wade’s acceptable range.

“…This is the one!”

Evan Wade’s eyes lit up.

He had inexplicably ended up living in a haunted place, and although he was determined not to meddle with those red embroidered shoes, he had run into another ghost the very next day. No matter how brave he was, it was still unnerving. At the very least, opening his eyes would make it easier to run away, and besides, he was a bit curious.

……

The materials were already prepared.

Willow leaves were easy to get—early spring had just arrived, and there were plenty of fresh willow buds.

It was already afternoon, so there was no dew, but distilled water would do.

Although it certainly wasn’t as good as morning dew, if you had a spiritual yin object, the requirements for the other materials could be relaxed. He was just going to try it anyway; if it failed, there was nothing to lose.

Among these five methods, the most commonly used yin object was ashes.

But Evan Wade couldn’t get over the psychological hurdle of using ashes. Besides, there were plenty of yin objects in this house.

Those two paper figurines were yin objects themselves.

As for the other three ghosts, there were plenty of yin objects among the items associated with them.

People fear ghosts because of the unknown; once you truly come into contact with them, they’re not so scary.

That was something Evan Wade had said.