This celestial master cultivates both physical and magical arts; why did you provoke him?

2:40 a.m., the backyard of Qingheju.

Xia En squatted by the well, holding a talisman in his hand, staring at the well opening for a full three minutes.

The wooden planks covering the wellhead were completely sealed off, and they were covered in dust.

It looks like it hasn't been touched in years.

But the yin energy seeped out from the cracks in the wooden planks, seeping into people's bones bit by bit, like ice shards.

"Interesting," Xia En muttered to himself, "They've kept it well hidden."

He folded the talisman into a triangle, held it between his fingers, and lifted the wooden board with his other hand.

A dark hole was visible at the wellhead, its bottom unseen.

A musty, damp smell wafted over, mixed with some indescribable fishy stench.

Xia En peeked inside.

It was dark; I couldn't see anything.

But he could sense something climbing up from below.

It's not an illusion.

There was a faint scraping sound coming from the well wall, a rustling sound, like something's fingernails scratching at the cracks in the bricks. The sound grew closer and clearer.

Xia En didn't move; he just squatted there and waited.

Three seconds later, a pale hand emerged from the well.

The hand was thin and withered, with skin so white it was almost bluish, and long, black nails that gleamed faintly in the moonlight.

It clung to the edge of the well and pushed upwards with all its might, and then a head popped out.

She is a woman, or at least she used to be a woman.

His face was as white as if it had been coated with lime, and his eyes had no pupils, only two black holes.

His mouth stretched from ear to ear, revealing a mouthful of jagged, sharp teeth, with some unknown object stuck between them.

She saw Xia En and paused for a moment.

They clearly didn't expect to find someone squatting by the well.

Xia En also looked at her, and the two stared at each other for two seconds.

"Good evening," Xia En greeted him.

The female ghost: "???"

This was probably the first time she had encountered such a situation, and she didn't know how to react for a moment.

But Xia En didn't give her time to react.

He reached out, grabbed the female ghost by the hair, and pulled her out of the well.

"Awooo—!!!"

The female ghost let out a piercing scream, struggled desperately, and scratched at Xia En's face with her fingernails.

Xia En turned her head to dodge, then with a forceful swing, lifted her up and spun her halfway through the air.

then.

"Bang!"

It slammed hard onto the ground.

Several cracks appeared directly in the blue brick floor, and the female ghost was smashed so hard that she was completely disoriented, and her screams became distorted.

"Don't shout."

Xia En squatted down, pressed one hand on her head, and picked at her ear with the other. "It's the middle of the night, you're disturbing the neighbors."

The female ghost struggled to get up, but found that the hand holding her down was as heavy as a mountain, and she couldn't move at all.

She opened her mouth to bite, but Xia En casually picked up the wooden plank from the manhole cover next to her and stuffed it directly into her mouth.

"Waaaaahh ...

"Be quiet," Shane said. "I'll ask, you answer."

The female ghost glared at him, her eyes glowing with a ghostly green light, giving him a "you can forget about it" look.

Xia En sighed: "Do I really have to resort to such methods?"

He released his grip and stood up.

The female ghost tried to escape, but as soon as she got up, she saw Xia En raise his right hand.

A crackling arc of electricity flashed across his palm.

Do you recognize this?

The female ghost froze.

Although the electric arc was small, she was all too familiar with the aura it contained.

Authentic Thunder Magic, passed down directly from the Celestial Master's Mansion, specifically designed to subdue all evil and malevolent forces.

"I'm asking you," Shane said, "did you do the work on those people who disappeared in the old town?"

The female ghost shook her head, desperately shaking her head.

"Who is that?"

The female ghost pointed to the well.

Xia En glanced into the well: "Is there more down there?"

The female ghost nodded.

"several?"

The female ghost extended three fingers.

"Three?" Shane frowned. "Four including you?"

The female ghost shook her head, pointed to herself, and then held up three fingers.

"You mean, there are three more below you, and you were the one who was kicked out?"

The female ghost nodded vigorously.

Xia En was silent for two seconds, then pulled the wooden board out of her mouth: "Tell me, what's going on?"

The female ghost took a few breaths and opened her mouth as if to speak.

Just then, a violent tremor suddenly came from the well.

Immediately afterwards, a thick plume of black gas gushed out of the well, carrying a pungent stench and a bone-chilling cold.

Within the black mist, three pairs of blood-red eyes lit up.

The female ghost screamed and curled up into a ball.

Xia En took a step back and watched the three dark figures climb out of the well.

Three.

No, it's three and a half.

Three were intact, and another was gnawed down to half and was desperately trying to crawl out.

The three complete evil creatures looked exactly alike.

They were all men, all dressed in old-fashioned funeral clothes, their faces wrinkled like old tree bark, and their eyes glowing bloodshot.

Their fingernails were half a foot long, shiny black, and covered with unknown stains.

The three evil creatures crawled out of the well and all looked at Xia En.

The strongest of them all had his gaze fixed on the female ghost who was curled up in a ball, a hint of mockery flashing in his blood-red eyes.

"waste."

It spoke, its voice hoarse, "We can't even eat a living person, and we get beaten up. Aren't we ashamed?"

The female ghost trembled even more violently, shrinking her head and not daring to utter a sound.

Another evil creature looked at Shane and licked its lips: "This... smells good."

The third evil creature sniffed, then suddenly frowned: "Something's not right, he smells."

"What does it taste like?"

"The aura of Taoism."

The three evil creatures simultaneously became alert, their gazes towards Xia En becoming cautious.

Xia En stood there, hands in his pockets, looking at the three of them with a calm expression.

"Just the few of you?" he asked.

The strongest of the evil creatures paused for a moment, clearly not expecting the other party to ask such a question.

"What?"

"I asked, just the three of you?"

"Five people have gone missing in the old town," Shane said. "How many of them did you eat?"

The three evil beings exchanged a glance.

The burlyest one suddenly laughed, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth: "Kid, you're from the Daoist sect?"

"Yes."

"From the Celestial Master's Mansion?"

"Yes."

"Just you?"

"Yes."

"And yet you still dare to be so arrogant?"

The burly, wicked man laughed even harder. "I've eaten with people from the Celestial Master's Mansion before; they were quite good. But that was decades ago. How many capable fighters are left in the Celestial Master's Mansion these days?"

Xia En thought for a moment: "There are quite a few, and I'm the one who's the least capable of fighting."

"Hahaha--!!!"

The burly, monstrous man threw his head back and laughed loudly, "Did you hear that? He said he's the least likely to fight!"

The other two also started laughing, laughing so hard they were doubled over, and black smoke filled the air.

Xia En waited until they had finished laughing before asking, "Are you done laughing?"

The burly, sinister figure's smile vanished, a ruthless glint flashing in his blood-red eyes:

"Kid, you're out of luck. We were just planning to take a stroll tonight, but we ended up with a ready-made late-night snack."

It took a step forward, and its claws suddenly grew longer, reaching over a foot in length.

"Don't worry, I'll eat it all up, not a single bite will be left."

Xia En nodded and took a step forward as well.

Then he raised his right hand.

"Palm Thunder".

"boom--!!!"