“Get ready, we’re heading to Jiangnan.”

  “To Jiangnan?”

  Wade was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening, his scalp tingling:

  “Th-th, what are we going to Jiangnan for?”

  “…What do you think?”

  Evan Wade’s lips curled up, his expression half-smiling as he replied.

  “Courtesy demands reciprocity.”

  …

  Wade had a deep impression of that female ghost who, without warning, had stabbed him straight through. This time, he chose to stay home. Evan Wade, just as he had previously obtained the Five Methods of Opening the Eyes, now acquired from the Crouching Tiger waist token the Han Dynasty’s Sili Colonel’s methods for dealing with fierce ghosts, using the same approach.

  Actually, it was quite simple. Most fierce ghosts’ intense negative emotions are tied to certain things.

  Destroying those things would agitate the ghost’s spirit, causing them to develop other types of emotions.

  A fierce ghost’s existence is based on negative emotions and their resonance with a certain type of spiritual land. Generating extra emotions is like introducing impurities, reducing the resonance and causing the ghost’s power to plummet.

  Another method is to burn the yin objects related to the ghost, mix the ashes with special talisman water, and then coat weapons with it, which can harm the ghost. The water Evan Wade used to open his eyes is one of the more common types.

  He roughly remembered the location on the map that appeared on Isaac Hill’s computer, so he would go directly to that area.

  Using the [Exorcism] divine power, he controlled the wandering soul of the woman who had poisoned herself, and drew the pavilions and courtyards he had seen in his dreams. Without access to the police database, he planned to ask some of the elderly locals who were familiar with the area, and finally hid the eight-sided Han sword in a sword case.

  After some thought, he took it out again and found a zither case in the museum.

  It was made of rosewood, quite old, with scratches on its surface.

  Throwing it onto the carpet outside would easily fool those with no discerning eye.

  With life and death at stake, Evan Wade didn’t care about anything else. He hid the sword case inside the zither case, then summoned the spirit of a soldier from the Qi family army, practicing drawing the sword from the zither case. Since Jiangnan wasn’t far, and such controlled weapons couldn’t be taken on a train, he could share a minivan with others.

  After making his decision, Evan Wade burned the hair cut from the female ghost, mixed the ashes with talisman water.

  Then he found a waist pouch and put both the talisman water for opening the eyes and the one for exorcising ghosts into small bottles inside.

  The two paper figures also wanted to come along. Evan Wade tugged at his sleeve, and the two paper figures slipped inside.

  Hand in hand, they transformed into something like a wrist guard, fitting snugly on his wrist.

  Finally, he waited for sunrise to set out. On the advice of the Qi army spirit, Evan Wade sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly meditating to control his thoughts and breathing. This was a technique, learned after bloody battles, to adjust one’s state and breathing and quickly recover physical strength, but it was almost impossible to teach with words.

  As long as you’d rolled on the battlefield and taken a few heads without dying, you’d basically know it.

  …

  “There’s still room, still room, squeeze in a bit more.”

  “Here, here, can’t you squeeze in and sit here?”

  “Let’s wait for one more, just one more, then we’ll set off!”

  Evan Wade squeezed into a minivan, holding the zither case. The driver didn’t ask any questions. Once the van was full, he turned the wheel and hit the gas, setting off immediately. The driver was very familiar with the roads, making the journey smooth and always finding the best route.

  They set out in the morning and arrived at their destination in the afternoon.

  Evan Wade stood in a somewhat unfamiliar place. After thinking for a moment, he turned to find the original driver.

  The driver was in the car, talking on the phone while eating from a lunchbox, speaking loudly:

  “Huh? Is Dad eating well? Hahaha, of course! Just made braised pork, a big portion, doesn’t it smell good?”

  “It does! If it smells good, that’s right. When Dad comes home this month, I’ll let you try some too.”

  “Hey, be good, listen to your grandma.”

  “What? You want to see the braised pork? Oh, what’s there to see?”

  “Of course I’m really eating meat.”

  He noticed Evan Wade walking over, said a couple more words, then covered the phone. Evan Wade saw the stir-fried shredded potatoes in the lunchbox, nodded, and raised his voice a bit, saying, “You’re eating so fast, there are only two pieces of meat left. Share them with me, and I’ll treat you next time.”

  The driver looked at him in surprise, then nodded with a hint of gratitude.

  He chatted a bit more with the person on the phone before hanging up.

  …

  “Thanks, brother. Here, have a cigarette.”

  After putting away his phone, the driver didn’t know what else to say, so he kept offering Evan Wade a cigarette.

  Evan Wade took the cigarette, and the man put away the pack, a bit embarrassed: “Earlier, I showed her the bill, and she started getting suspicious. Tell me, how old is she anyway?”

  Evan Wade smiled, “She’s very smart.”

  “That’s true.”

  The man’s face relaxed a lot, and he even smiled.

  Evan Wade held the cigarette but didn’t smoke, saying:

  “I came here to ask you for some information, big brother.”

  “You come here often, right? Do you know any elderly people who know a lot about the old days? I want to ask them something, maybe write a few things down…”

  “Elderly people?”

  The driver was taken aback, thought for a moment, and a trace of hesitation appeared on his face: