Why did he suddenly feel hot?
Mr. Wang looked down and saw, to his shock, a copper coin sword embedded in Wu Xian's lower back.
The sword emitted a yellowish glow, its scorching heat scorching his pale flesh. His frozen flesh had long since lost sensation, so it wasn't until Wu Xian's reminder that he realized it.
"Ah!"
Mr. Wang screamed in agony, quickly loosening his grip on Wu Xian and stepping back.
That reflexive movement restored Wu Xian's ability to move.
A cruel smile spread across his face. He turned around, drew the copper coin sword, and plunged it twice into Mr. Wang's chest in a panic-stricken frenzy!
The short sword, woven from copper coins and red threads, was usually too blunt even to slice tofu, yet piercing Mr. Wang's body was effortless — like a hot knife cutting into lard, accompanied by a sizzling sound and the stench of burning flesh.
"No, wait, let's talk…"
Mr. Wang looked at the wounds on his chest in terror. Two glowing red slashes oozed a molten, indescribable filth as if his flesh was melting under intense heat.
This cursed being, Wu Xian's nemesis — an evil spirit exuding icy chill, who had survived falling from the ninth floor unscathed — died so simply under Wu Xian's sword.
The evil spirit was down for the count.
Without hesitation, Wu Xian pressed the remaining eight segments of the copper coin sword's blade against the door lock, using its residual heat to melt the icy block jammed inside.
When the door finally opened, Wu Xian looked back to see the disgusting pool of filth evaporated. On the ground lay a white spirit incense stick.
This incense was thicker and longer than the previous one, perhaps indicating that Mr. Wang was much stronger than his wife.
He had already been weakened by harming people during the day, then further injured by the fall from the building, and exposed to sunlight — all of which reduced his power. Only in this fragile state was he struck down by Wu Xian's two sword thrusts.
Even so, the spirit's swift death still surprised Wu Xian.
It seemed that roaming spirits and humans wielding talismanic weapons were truly equal opponents; the outcome depended entirely on who landed the first strike.
Roaming spirits were like adults with guns; their followers were children with guns. Though their strength differed, their bullets were equally deadly.
"Heh heh, time to worship the gods again. Should I eat a peach first…? Nah, better save that longevity peach for later."
Wu Xian turned to head upstairs, but a glance outside the door suddenly changed his expression.
He hurried out, looked up at the sky — gray and white with a thin mist drifting, the sun hanging slightly west of center.
That meant it was already afternoon!
But Wu Xian felt that only about three hours had passed since dawn.
He immediately took out Lu Yuzhu's phone to check the time and found it was already 1 PM. The seconds were ticking much faster than normal.
Time flow in this blessed land was distorted — daytime was shorter than night!
"It's time to go back."
…
The first floor of the Ping'an Inn had no guest rooms, only a spacious hall with nine chairs arranged neatly. The nine people who had set out that morning to gather information and supplies were all seated together.
Qi Zhiyong sat in the head chair.
This meeting was organized by him to share and consolidate the intelligence.
He unfolded the woven bag in his hands and showed its contents before quickly closing it again. "These are the weapons I collected today, but they weren't easy to find. Whether to distribute them depends on how much value each of you brings to the group."
Wen Chao asked curiously, "Are you sure these things work against evil spirits?"
"Who knows?" Qi Zhiyong shrugged helplessly.
"But weapons from outside can't be brought into the blessed land. We can only rely on items found here to defend ourselves. Normally, to affect evil spirits, the best are talismanic weapons, next are deadly weapons, then polluted weapons. If none of those are available, iron tools can barely work."
Wen Chao opened his mouth to ask more, but Qi Zhiyong anticipated the question.
"A weapon that's caused death is a deadly weapon. Items contaminated with filth like feces, dog's blood, or menstrual blood are polluted weapons."
"As for talismanic weapons… ha, you'll understand when you see them. I'm not sure if these will work against evil spirits, but even if they only delay them, that might save lives."
"So, show me what you've got to offer."
Shi Ji lifted a metal bucket wrapped in a blanket, opened it, and revealed steaming hot metal lunch boxes.
"I'm timid and didn't find much intel, but after all the hustle and bustle, you must be hungry. I only found these ingredients, but at least I made dinner for everyone."
Fang Zhi sneered sarcastically, "So, even food has to contribute to the group to be eaten?"
Shi Ji quickly waved his hands. "No, no, everyone gets some."
Laughter broke out among the group, with Wu Xian laughing the loudest.
Qi Zhiyong's expression darkened a little. He was distributing weapons based on value, while Shi Ji was handing out food equally. The contrast made him look stingy.
But watching Shi Ji clumsily serving the food, Qi Zhiyong had no reason to blame him. Instead, he begrudgingly blamed Fang Zhi and the loudest laugher — Wu Xian.
Still, there was no need for retaliation.
Fang Zhi's door had been marked, and Wu Xian had also drawn the attention of an evil spirit. Neither of them had much time left. For now, it was better to enjoy the steaming hot dinner.
Everyone had managed to find some food during today's supply run, but nothing could compare to a freshly cooked meal.
In an environment like this, someone who could cook—and was willing to—was far more valuable than anyone realized.
However, when Qi Zhiyong lifted the lid of a lunchbox, his expression instantly froze. Inside was a heaping serving of large intestine rice!
The men didn't seem too fazed, but the three women openly showed their disgust. If not for having no other options, they might never have eaten this in their lives.
Shi Ji looked embarrassed as he explained, "The local markets have all shut down. Fresh ingredients are scarce. I finally found a freezer with frozen pig intestines…"
The atmosphere grew awkward.
But under the circumstances, no matter how much they disliked it, this was the only option.
Qi Zhiyong tossed Shi Ji a steel pipe. "This is a mop handle from the inn. I noticed they've been washing their mops in the urinals. Over time, this mop handle has become a polluted tool."
Wu Xian chuckled quietly—this thing really suited Shi Ji.
He took a bite of the large intestine and was surprised to find it quite tasty—well cleaned and without the original strong flavor. He picked out the fattiest piece and began to eat with focus.
While they ate, Wen Chao and Fang Zhi shared what they had discovered on their explorations.
"We first tried to leave the inn, but after a short distance we were stopped by an invisible barrier. After testing in multiple directions, I confirmed our activity zone is limited to the Ping'an Inn and the four surrounding neighborhoods."
To Wen Chao, the barrier was incredibly mysterious and held huge potential for research. Studying it might yield groundbreaking scientific achievements.
But he understood priorities, and paused before continuing.
"We found several survivors willing to communicate. Through them, I learned the reason this world changed."
"It all started with a murder."
"The case happened in the Huade Mingmen neighborhood to the north. A single man was found dead at home, his eyes gouged out, and a line of blood-written words scrawled on the wall:"
"Do not respond. Do not look at her!"
"Police concluded he had dug out his own eyes. That blood message was his final note, written with his fingers."
"Within just three days of the case, seven more people were killed, all found bleeding from gouged-out eyes."
"And residents in the surrounding four neighborhoods reported hearing faint, rhythmic clapping sounds at midnight…"