Chapter 33: Ghost Hair

After disposing of the corpse, Xu Guang returned home. Ji Xiaolu’s body couldn’t help but stir. She turned and hugged him tightly.

He sighed silently. The noise from his fight with the woman hadn’t been quiet; it was perfectly normal for Ji Xiaolu to have heard it.

"Don’t be afraid, Lu. It won’t happen again."

Ji Xiaolu simply held onto him, her voice laced with worry. "Brother Guang, you can do whatever you want. I will follow you forever."

Xu Guang felt deeply moved. A thousand words welled up in his heart, but he didn’t know where to begin. He just hugged her back and murmured, "Go to sleep."

The injury on his shoulder wasn’t too severe. It hadn’t even reached the bone. He would fully recover with just a few days of rest.

Once again, he felt a sense of contempt for the woman’s Bloodline Power in his heart. Compared to his own Bloodline Power, her ability was truly not worth mentioning.

Thinking about how the woman claimed to be from the Yellow Heaven Sect, a shadow fell over his heart. He needed to move to a safe place quickly. Judging from tonight’s events, the Outer City had long been infiltrated by the Yellow Heaven Sect. Enlisting in the military had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

As he drifted into a daze, his body grew burning hot. The sensation was just like when his Stone Skin had awakened. A wave of joy washed over him. He hadn’t expected that absorbing the blood of Abnormal People for the first time would actually plunder their Bloodline Power.

It was a stroke of true luck.

This sensation lasted for about half an hour. Xu Guang used Introspection to look within himself and connect with the newly awakened Bloodline Power.

Ghost Hair. That was the woman’s Bloodline Power. Every so often, he could nourish a strand of long hair and turn it into Ghost Hair. It could be fired out like the woman had done, acting as Hidden Weapons. If nourished long enough, the Ghost Hair could reach a length where it could bind others like a rope.

It was a rather bizarre ability. Only after awakening this Bloodline Power did he truly understand its terrifying nature.

Even after being fired, the Ghost Hair would retain its vitality. It would continuously burrow into the enemy’s flesh until it strangled their heart. Dealing with the Ghost Hair wasn’t inherently difficult, but what if one was dragged into a battle of attrition? If an enemy had no time to remove it, the Ghost Hair would invade their heart and guarantee their death.

The most interesting part was that the Ghost Hair wasn’t a consumable item—it could be retracted!

A flash of lingering fear crossed Xu Guang’s eyes. Thankfully, he had beaten the woman to death.

He pondered how the woman had managed to track him down. After much thought, he guessed it was most likely due to that unclaimed wealth. He wondered if anyone had seen the woman coming to find him, hoping it wouldn’t attract any unnecessary trouble.

He decided to find a way to spend all that money tomorrow. He would first pay off the remaining balance for his Weapons, and the rest... he would spend it at the black market.

Early the next morning, at the Cheng Family residence.

Xu Guang knocked lightly on the main doors. A sturdy servant opened them. Seeing Xu Guang’s unfamiliar face, he asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Xu Guang. I’ve come to call upon Eldest Miss Cheng Lian’Er."

"The Eldest Miss is not here. You should head back," the servant replied.

With the enhancement of his Stone Skin, Xu Guang’s appearance was somewhat striking. The servant assumed he was just another young master coming to court their Eldest Miss, which made his tone sour slightly.

Xu Guang didn’t mind. Instead, he showed a bit of regret. "Since the miss is not here, I wonder if you could pass this letter to her, brother? Just tell her that for the favor of the recommendation letter, Xu can only repay it in another way. If she is interested, she can send someone with a letter."

He was about to enlist in the army and most likely wouldn’t be able to fulfill his agreement with Cheng Lian’Er. He felt somewhat apologetic, which was why he had come to the Cheng Family residence today to ask for her opinion. If possible, he was willing to offer some compensation.

Seeing that Xu Guang lacked the arrogance of typical young masters and didn’t look down on him, the servant hesitated for a moment before taking the letter. "Xu Guang, right? When the miss returns to the city, I will inform her."

"Thank you."

Half an hour later, at the Three Guards Bureau Office in Feiyun Square of the Inner City.

It was an incredibly imposing manor. Seated in the main hall where official business was conducted was a pale-faced, handsome middle-aged man with a slightly effeminate air. The waters of the canal were diverted to flow behind the courtyard, glistening in the light. Ships of all sizes were docked along the bank, allowing all the soldiers of the Three Guards Department to set off at a moment’s notice.

"Lord Zhubu, some people have arrived outside, claiming they’ve come to enlist," a beautiful woman said softly as she walked in.

"Oh? This isn’t the time for the three families to recruit soldiers. Why would anyone come to enlist?"

"They are all disciples of several prominent Martial Artists in the city," the woman replied, lowering her head slightly.

She didn’t think the Zhubu would actually see them. After all, this was already the third time those people had requested an audience. The Zhubu hailed from a prominent family in the State City and looked down heavily upon such peasants.

"How many of them are there?"

"To answer Lord Zhubu, one more arrived today, bringing the total to sixteen. Among them are nine Bone Forging Realm Martial Artists and seven who have achieved Skin Grinding Mastery."

The Zhubu didn’t even glance at the roster in the woman’s hands. He casually said, "I remember someone sending word that they wanted their disciples to join the Mercenaries. Since that’s the case, just send them all off to the Mercenaries. My Feiyun Guard doesn’t raise idlers.

"Lord City Guardian’s methods are still too soft. These peasants are all just coming here to leech off military pay, yet he hasn’t told them all to screw off."

The woman kept her head bowed, and the surrounding soldiers did the same, pretending they hadn’t heard a word.

"Yes, this subordinate will make the arrangements at once."

"Wait..." the pale-faced Zhubu suddenly called out to stop her, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "I recall a military report from a few days ago mentioning that bandits were plundering military rations in Xiaofeng Mountain? Let these peasants go deal with it."

"Understood."

The woman left the hall, carrying the Zhubu’s orders.

In the courtyard, Xu Guang and the crowd of disciples from other Martial Artists were waiting. Having been here several days longer than Xu Guang, they understood the situation much better.

According to a young man named Li Yuan, the person currently in charge of the Feiyun Guard’s recruitment was a Zhubu named Zhao Ji. He looked down on these disciples of city Martial Artists. They had already come three times, and they were treated with contempt on every occasion.

Xu Guang hurried to ask, "May I ask, Brother Li, will we receive the Three Guards’ documents once we enlist?"

Li Yuan nodded with absolute certainty. "But of course. We didn’t come to enlist out of hot-blooded passion. We’re all just trying to secure a safe life for our families. You know well enough what the environment in the Outer City is like right now."

Xu Guang’s expression showed his agreement. Li Yuan’s words perfectly captured his own concerns. His biggest worry about enlisting was leaving his family at home, especially after the female Abnormal People who had come knocking on his door a few days ago.

Just as he was chatting with Li Yuan, a beautiful woman dressed in martial attire walked into the courtyard, followed by several armored soldiers.

"Everyone here is an esteemed disciple of a Martial Artist. Lord Zhubu has ordered that you all be incorporated into the Mercenaries."

It had to be said, this was the art of speaking. If that Zhubu had come over to deliver the message himself, he probably wouldn’t have used any pleasant words, and he would have likely incited the anger of these Martial Artists.

The woman added, "You have all come at the right time. Lord Zhubu is currently having a headache over the Thirteen Bandits on Xiaofeng Mountain. He has placed a bounty of thirty catties of Exotic Meat for them, to be claimed with the bandits’ heads. You may all head out at your discretion."

"Wait!" Someone among the crowd suddenly spoke up. He cast a dissatisfied glance at some of the people present, including Xu Guang. "Brother Song and I are Bone Forger Martial Artists. If these Skin-Grinding Martial Artists follow us and get lucky, their military merits might end up surpassing ours."

This person’s name was Hou Ping. He was a disciple of the Outer City Martial Artist Huang Ru, a master of the Dragon Claw Skill, and he had always been arrogant by nature.

Xu Guang remained expressionless, but a flare of anger rose in Li Yuan’s eyes. He, too, was the "Skin Polishing trash" the man was implicitly talking about.

The woman in martial attire turned her gaze toward the man, a flash of displeasure crossing her eyes. The military heavily prioritized discipline and rules. If this man wasn’t just joining the Mercenaries, she would have taught him what it meant for military orders to be as immovable as mountains.

"What do you propose?"

"The nine Bone Forger Martial Artists, including Brother Song and myself, are enough to take action."

"Acceptable. As for the rest of you, head to the Mountain God Temple on Black Wind Mountain. The military report states that some bandits are hiding out there. The rule remains the same: exchange heads for meat. The bounty is twenty catties of Exotic Beast Meat in total."

The sixteen Martial Artists looked at one another before finally clasping their hands in salute. "We obey."

Xu Guang felt nothing about this arrangement. He didn’t desire Exotic Meat; as long as he got his hands on the Three Guards’ documents, he would be satisfied. Li Yuan, on the other hand, craved the Exotic Meat. After all, the meat was abundant in energy and had a chance of providing the catalyst needed to break through from Skin Polishing to Bone Forging. There was no Martial Artist who didn’t want to advance.

Since Xu Guang didn’t argue with people, Li Yuan found him very agreeable to talk to. After collecting their documents, the two walked together along the streets of the Inner City.

The Three Guards’ documents were quite special. To think they actually assigned living quarters! Xu Guang was pleasantly surprised. Were the benefits of enlisting really this good?

But thinking about it, it also seemed entirely reasonable. The Mercenaries appeared to have freedom, but they were actually fraught with danger. After joining, they were required to complete one mission every month. And given the current environment outside Feiyun City, such missions were highly likely to be near-suicidal.

Li Yuan knew what he was thinking and revealed a disdainful expression. "The places assigned to us have at most two rooms and extremely tiny courtyards. If someone has a larger family, they simply won’t fit. What’s more, if we want to buy a courtyard of our own, we still have to get approval from the Feiyun Guard."

Xu Guang immediately stopped talking. This was indeed...

Li Yuan was only depressed for a moment before becoming lively again. "But speaking of which, there are still plenty of good places in the Inner City. With refugees scattered everywhere outside the city now, has Brother Xu thought about buying a few maids?

"I heard that not long ago, the Three Guards clashed with the refugees and captured many refugee women. If you can buy a few pretty ones, you’ll have people to help with the chores. When there’s work, the maids do it; when there’s no work, you do the maids," Li Yuan said, a slightly lecherous smile appearing on his face.

Since he began practicing martial arts, Xu Guang had interacted with quite a few Martial Artists and had gained some understanding of the martial practitioners in this world.

Martial Artists harbored lust but refrained from emotional attachments. Women were like clothing to them, to be discarded with a flick of a finger. Many of them were just like the protagonists of fantasy novels from his previous life—believing that a heart unburdened by women made one a god with a blade. They pursued acting as they pleased without any attachments to hold them back.

Xu Guang shook his head. He had known for a long time that slavery existed in this world, but he didn’t harbor any deep-seated resentment or thoughts of liberating minds. He was just an ordinary mortal; he couldn’t do such great things.

"I’ll decide when the time comes. I do have someone at home who needs to be taken care of."

Li Yuan let out a lewd chuckle. "If you want to buy, you’d better do it early. There are quite a few daughters from prominent families in the Central Plains among the refugees. The City Guard’s Mansion didn’t screen some of them and just slapped slave statuses on all of them. I’ve heard people say that some of them are incredibly supple."

Xu Guang sighed in his heart. Was this simply the way of the world?

"Where can I buy them? And what is the usual price?"