Something's wrong with this demon.

Night fell quietly.

The already gloomy town suddenly became even darker and more sinister, as if splashed with thick ink.

The pedestrians on the street seemed to have vanished in an instant.

The noisy and chaotic sounds of the previous moment turned into an eerie silence the next.

A cold night wind blew from the ancient and eerie black forest, carrying black mist and a musty, damp smell.

When Luo arrived at Baixianglou in the early morning, it was already completely dark.

Two lanterns were hung in front of the gate.

The lantern's light was cold and dim, as weak as a firefly's, as if it could be blown out by the wind at any moment.

Luo Qingchen stood outside the entrance of Baixiang Tower, looking up at the small building in front of her, and realized that this brothel was not the same as the brothel she had imagined.

The imagined brothel has red walls and green tiles, carved railings and painted beams, luxurious and exquisite. There are women in colorful gauze dresses calling out in sweet voices; there is a strong, pungent, and intoxicating fragrance; and there are customers in fine clothes with their arms around each other.

But the brothel in front of me was dark and gloomy, devoid of any color, and eerily quiet, with a deathly atmosphere.

The three-story building was constructed of black wood and gray tiles, simple, shabby, and dilapidated, with some rooms even having broken windows; as for the brightly dressed women with charming voices, there were none.

The whole building was quiet, as if no one lived there at all.

Only a few windows with faint lights indicated that the brothel still bore traces of human habitation.

"What do you do?"

As Luo Qingchen stood at the door, observing curiously, a plump woman dressed in a coarse gray dress came out and looked him up and down warily, saying, "If you want to play with girls, just come in. What are you doing, sneaking around at the door? Trying to steal something?"

Luo Qingchen handed over the wooden plaque and said, "I'm here to work as a guard."

"Guards?"

The woman paused for a moment upon hearing this, took the wooden plaque, examined it carefully for a few moments, and then looked him up and down. Her attitude remained indifferent: "So you are the new Guard Luo. Please come in."

Then he shouted inside, "Chief Zhang, you've got a new guard! Come out and greet him!"

After shouting, she turned around and said coldly, "Guard Luo, I am the manager here, my name is Sun Ping, everyone calls me Sister Sun. If you need anything in the building in the future, you can come to me."

Luo Qingchen cupped her hands and said, "Thank you, Sister Sun."

Sun Ping didn't say anything more, returned the wooden sign to him, and turned to leave.

At this moment, a burly man dressed in black sleek clothing strode out of the courtyard. Upon seeing him, he frowned slightly and said with some suspicion, "You're the new guard? This physique... doesn't look like it. Have you broken through to the Bone Strengthening Realm?"

Luo Qingchen said, "I have just broken through."

As he spoke, he handed the wooden plaque in his hand to him.

The burly man glanced at the name on the wooden sign, pushed it back, and immediately smiled: "I was just asking casually. Since you're here, we're brothers from now on. My name is Zhang Jiu, and I'm the head guard of this Bai Xiang Lou. Everyone calls me Zhang Tou'er, you can call me that too."

As he spoke, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to your place first, and we can talk as we walk."

Luo Qingchen thanked her and followed behind.

"Including you, there are seven guards here. They work in shifts of two, patrolling at night and resting during the day. There's nothing serious happening in this building most of the time. It's mostly just drunk customers causing trouble. If you encounter any, just stop them."

Then he gave some more instructions on the rules.

For example, you can't drink alcohol while on patrol, you can't bring strangers in, and you can't enter the girls' rooms without their permission, etc.

As he spoke, he turned and smiled, "That's what the rules say, but even if you break them, there won't be any serious punishment, as long as it's not too extreme. Working here is definitely much easier and more enjoyable than working elsewhere."

"Oh, and one more thing, if you work here, you can't work anywhere else. Earning extra money in your spare time is also forbidden; it's strictly prohibited. If you get caught, the consequences will be severe. There are too many people in this town, and not enough work. We're considered cultivators, so we can't take other people's jobs..."

The two walked through the left-hand corridor and arrived at the back of the small building.

What comes into view is a spacious backyard with a pond, a stone bridge, houses, trees, and so on.

But like other places, it had a gloomy, lifeless appearance.

The water in the pond was black, as was the stone bridge spanning it. The houses were made of gray wood, and the trees had no green at all, as if they had withered and decayed.

Luo Qingchen couldn't help but ask, "Boss Zhang, why is everything here black or gray?"

Zhang Jiu turned to look at him and asked, "Did you just arrive in Medicine Man Town?"

Luo Qingchen said, "I just arrived today."

Zhang Jiu laughed and said, "No wonder."

Then he explained, "It's always been like this here. It might be because of the black mist, or it might be because of the magic ore. Everything around us is black or gray. Even if you come in wearing colored clothes, they will quickly turn into those two colors."

"Magic ore?"

Luo Qingchen's heart skipped a beat.

Zhang Jiu said, "It's the place where magic stones are produced. Most of the medicine workers in the town work there."

Luo Qingchen immediately asked, "Chief Zhang, when I came down here, I heard that working as a guard here earns two taels of silver, one magic stone, and a portion of cultivation herbs every month. When can I collect them?"

He needs to seize the time to cultivate, even if it means breaking through to the Blood Exchange Realm, and then leave this place.

This place is eerie and sinister, dark and decaying. Neither the environment nor the people living here seem like a normal place for human beings to live.

He didn't want to stay any longer.

Zhang Jiu smiled at him and said, "The silver will be available in a month. As for the magic stones and cultivation herbs, I can send them to you tomorrow."

Luo Qingchen quickly thanked her.

Zhang Jiu laughed and said, "We're brothers, why be so polite?"

As they talked, they crossed the stone bridge and arrived at a row of simple houses.

Zhang Jiu shouted loudly towards one of the houses, "Chen Ju, Wang Long, Wang Hu, come out! We have a new brother here!"

"Squeak..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the wooden door of a house opened.

Two robust young men, one tall and one short, with similar features, walked out of the house.

The two men had dark skin and sharp eyes. They walked with a powerful stride, exuding an imposing aura. Their gazes toward Luo Qingchen carried a scrutinizing quality.

Zhang Jiu introduced both parties.

Luo Qingchen bowed and greeted him politely.

The two brothers were rather indifferent, simply nodding and saying, "Boss, we still need to cultivate, let's go inside first."

At that moment, the wooden door of another house opened.

A thin, sleepy-eyed young man came out, yawned, and then ran over with a look of surprise on his face, staring at Luo Qingchen and asking, "Boss, is this the new brother?"

Zhang Jiu smiled and introduced them, saying, "From now on, you and Brother Luo will be on the same team."

The young man named Chen Ju approached Luo Qingchen with an overly familiar air, saying enthusiastically, "Brother Luo, you're quite something! Breaking through to the Bone Strengthening Realm at such a young age, you must be extremely talented. From now on, we'll patrol together, so we'll be like brothers. If there's anything you don't understand here, you can ask me."

Luo Qingchen cupped his hands and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Brother Chen from now on."

Chen Ju laughed and said, "It's no trouble at all, it's nothing."

Zhang Jiu added, "Two other people went to patrol inside the building. You can get to know them tomorrow. Since you've just arrived, get some rest tonight. Tomorrow night you'll patrol with Chen Ju; he'll teach you some rules. If you don't understand anything or need anything, you can ask him."

After saying that, he prepared to leave.

Luo Qingchen suddenly asked, "Boss, are there any places in town that can repair things?"

"Objects? What objects?"

Zhang Jiu stopped and asked curiously.

Luo Qingchen said, "I have a damaged dagger that needs to be repaired."

The matter of the Ten Soul Banner cannot be casually discussed with others.

Even though it's just the lowest-grade magical artifact, it's still afraid of being coveted by others.

It's best to be cautious when you first arrive.

Zhang Jiu smiled upon hearing this and said, "We can just make a new one. Repairing it would probably cost more than making a new one."

Luo Qingchen sighed and said, "It was a gift from my family, and I can't bear to part with it."

After hearing this, Zhang Jiu thought for a moment and said, "There's an old Wu's general store on North Street. You can go and ask there tomorrow, but I can't guarantee that they can do repairs there."

Luo Qingchen bowed and thanked him.

Zhang Jiu didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

Chen Ju said warmly, "Brother Luo, come on, I'll take you to your place. These three rooms on the right are all empty, you can choose whichever you like, they're all fully furnished with bedding, bathtubs, and other amenities."

"Three houses?"

Luo Qingchen looked at the three houses and thought to herself: What a coincidence, these must be the houses vacated by the three guards who died tragically.

To this day, no one has brought up the tragic deaths of the three guards.

Clearly, this matter is not simple.

Of course, he couldn't bring it up himself, since it was something A-Yun had secretly told her brother. If the building manager found out, it would probably be bad for A-Yun.

Therefore, he could only put this matter aside for the time being.

We'll find another opportunity to probe during tomorrow night's patrol.

"This one will do."

He chose the first house, pushed open the door, and went inside.

Chen Ju stopped outside the door and did not follow him in. He smiled and said, "Brother Luo looks very tired, so I won't disturb you. If you need anything, come and find me. You can just call out at the door."

"Thank you very much, Brother Chen."

Luo Qingchen thanked her.

Chen Ju smiled, turned and left.

When he returned to his house, the warm smile on his face vanished, replaced by a cold laugh. He picked up a piece of charred meat from the table next to him, and while gnawing on it, he said, "Another one coming to die."

In the room next door, Wang Long and Wang Hu were also talking in hushed tones.

"That kid moved into Zhao Wu's room. Zhao Wu was killed in that room by having his heart ripped out and half his face eaten away. I wonder if that monster will reappear?"

"Hopefully he can live a few more days so we can collect some of his blood."

Outside the window, night was deepening.

When Luo Qingchen lit the oil lamp on the table, the dim light illuminated the room, and he saw a claw mark clearly carved on the wall near the bed, as well as a pool of black blood on the floor.

Just then, with a whoosh, a gust of cold wind blew in, and the flames on the table began to flicker violently.

The room was dimly lit.

As he turned around and looked at the oil lamp on the table, he noticed that the small window on the wall behind him had opened a crack at some point.

In the darkness outside the crevice, a pair of eyes appeared eerily.