They didn’t know why, but after just a short absence, they felt that this unfathomable person before them now exuded an aura that made them feel fearful and oppressed. It was hard to resist his words; they could only stay put obediently.

Evan Wade casually dipped a willow leaf in water and opened his spiritual eyes.

Then he pulled over a stool, sat in front of the group of ghosts, and began to ask about the causes of their deaths and what they were skilled at.

The first was the bloated water ghost. After he finished answering, Evan Wade looked at the water ghost and, somewhat surprised, asked in return:

“So, you were night fishing alone, dozed off by accident, and then fell into the water?”

“Yes.”

“If you were that tired, why didn’t you just go home earlier?”

“No, no, since I was out, I had to catch something. How could I go home empty-handed? You know how it is.”

“So what did you end up catching?”

“…I caught a corpse—my own. I brushed the face aside, got a fright, and only then realized I’d become a ghost. I was snagged by a rotten fishing net underwater and couldn’t swim back up.”

The second was a lady painter who died from accidentally ingesting pesticide and couldn’t be saved.

The two paper figurines had been acquired from the descendants of an old master who had already passed away. They were quite old and didn’t have any particular skills—at most, since their bodies were made of paper, they could slip through door cracks to eavesdrop.

The last was a man in ancient garb with a broken sword, dozing off. When Evan Wade questioned him, he instinctively straightened his back a little and replied cautiously, “…My name, I can’t quite remember, but I do recall serving under Mr. King, and I’ve cut down a few Japanese pirates. Somehow, I slept all the way until now.”

The King Family?

Evan Wade was a bit surprised.

That would make him a ghost several centuries old, yet he hadn’t become a ghost king like in the stories?

After thinking for a moment, he asked, “So you know swordsmanship?”

The man answered honestly, “Yes, broadsword, Japanese sword, spear, arquebus—I know a bit of each.”

He paused, then quickly added:

“But it’s just the basic martial skills from the army, only useful in formation. Can’t compare to the generals.”

“That’s fine, as long as you know.”

Evan Wade put the waist token in his pocket, finally having a suitable target to use his exorcism powers on.

After all, fishing and painting weren’t much use for subduing demons.

He imitated the ancients and cupped his fists in salute to the The King Family warrior ghost, saying:

“There’s something I need your cooperation with. Sorry to trouble you.”

“Not at all, not at all.”

Evan Wade spread his five fingers, and before the eyes of the ghosts, a stream of light appeared in his right hand—a talisman, clear and translucent, materialized in his palm.

Evan Wade felt an indescribable power draining from him, and as long as the talisman existed, the power kept flowing away. Not daring to delay, he flicked his wrist and pressed the talisman to the brow of the stunned, motionless warrior ghost, chanting softly:

“Climbing mountains, stones crack; wear the seal at your side. Crowned with canopy, feet treading the Big Dipper.

Left supports the Six Jia, right guards the Six Ding; what spirit dares not submit, what ghost dares stand in the way—command!”

……

The [Exorcism] power had taken effect.

Evan Wade felt the soul of the The King Family soldier now resided in his right hand, under his control.

At the same time, an indescribable sensation welled up in his heart.

It was familiarity.

The mastery of cold weapons, and even some firearms, was not a skill he needed to recall—it had become instinct, fused into his body. It was experience, honed and survived on the most brutal battlefields of a bygone era.

He tried to get used to this feeling.

After a moment’s thought, he walked over to a cabinet and started searching.

There had been hauntings here before—no, there really were ghosts. The three museum caretakers had previously bought a Longquan sword online to ward off evil. Though it turned out to be useless, the sword was still here. Because of the sinister aura, they hadn’t dared take it with them when they left.

It was an eight-sided Han sword.

Evan Wade took out the sword, stood in the living room, and gripped the hilt.

He closed his eyes in deep thought.

A familiar feeling surfaced.

Evan Wade had never handled weapons before, but now, evaluations of the sword naturally came to mind.

It was good steel.

But not a good sword.

What a pity.

Evan Wade exhaled, cleared his mind, gripped the sword, and tried to follow that instinct and experience—slashing, thrusting, drawing arcs from below, feinting and defending, stepping back to dodge. It was plain battlefield swordsmanship, without much flourish. At first, his movements were slow and a bit awkward, but gradually he became more skilled, and his speed increased.

The water ghost nearby, seeing Evan Wade’s somewhat clumsy swordplay, wore a strange expression and whispered with the other wandering spirits, critiquing and commenting.

Evan Wade didn’t mind, focusing only on getting used to the experience.

Suddenly, it was as if he saw a battlefield strewn with corpses.

It was a bird’s-eye view from above—the most vivid memory of that The King Family remnant soul.

But the brutal, bloody aura unique to cold weapon battlefields still made Evan Wade’s pupils contract and his mind waver for a moment.

The vision vanished instantly.

But the swordsmanship experience gained from [Exorcism] erupted forth.