Something's wrong with this demon.

Chapter 14

The wind came in through the window.

Luo Qingchen turned around, walked to the window, and prepared to close it, but after a pause, she opened the window again and looked outside.

Outside, the night was pitch black and utterly silent.

Only a few windows in a small building not far away still had faint lights on, which looked hazy and indistinct, like a few will-o'-the-wisps in the darkness, eerie and strange.

"Waaah..."

The night wind carried a rotten smell, blowing in from the window with a chilling, penetrating cold.

Luo Qingchen couldn't help but shiver and reached out to close the window.

His gaze returned to the deep claw mark on the wall and the pool of blood that had already turned black on the floor beside the bed.

It seems that this Medicine Man Town is no safer than the cave we were in before.

Even more dangerous.

The previous crisis was clearly visible, and he at least had time and opportunity to prepare; but the current crisis is lurking quietly in the darkness, invisible and intangible, and could suddenly erupt at any time.

Therefore, he had to be extremely careful here.

He thought for a while longer, then took out the small banner from the side of his chest.

The colors on the flag have become increasingly dull.

It seems that this Ten Soul Banner won't last much longer.

He must find someone to repair it as soon as possible, otherwise, his sister's soul will vanish along with the complete destruction of the Ten Soul Banner.

"Get some rest, and go ask at the general store tomorrow."

The oil lamp in the room went out quickly.

Outside the window, night was deepening.

On the small building not far away, the faint lights reflected in the windows of several windows gradually went out one by one.

The entire Baixianglou was plunged into darkness.

"Click..."

At some point, a withered leaf on the ground made a barely audible cracking sound.

A dark figure appeared like a ghost in front of the window.

He pricked up his ears and listened carefully by the window for a while, then took out a thin, long tube from his sleeve and silently slipped it through the crack in the window.

Inside the room, a wisp of green smoke rose gently.

Soon, it filled the entire room.

"Squeak..."

The tightly closed window was quietly opened.

A dark figure silently climbed over the windowsill and entered the room, carrying a slender, gleaming knife.

The room was pitch black.

The claw marks on the wall and the bloodstains on the ground were no longer visible.

But the bulging blankets on the bed were still faintly visible.

Holding a sharp knife, he held his breath and walked step by step to the bedside. Then, he reached out his other hand and slowly lifted the blanket.

But under the blanket, there was only a pillow.

He was startled and turned around abruptly to look at the surrounding darkness. His whole body tensed up, and he raised the sharp knife in his hand. He retreated step by step to the wall, pressing his back tightly against it.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

At this moment, all that could be heard was the sound of his own rapid heartbeat.

A moment later, he carefully took out the tinderbox and blew on it to light the flame.

The dim, yellow light immediately illuminated the room.

However, the boy was nowhere to be found in the entire room, including under the bed.

He narrowed his eyes, put away the dagger in his hand, glanced again at the claw mark on the wall and the pool of blood on the ground, then went to open the door, walked out, and quickly disappeared into the darkness outside.

The next day.

Luo woke up in the second room as the dark windows were illuminated by light.

He checked the threads on the window and the animal traps that were open at the door. After finding nothing amiss, he carefully put them away.

He brought all these things from the cave.

Originally intended for hunting wild animals in the forest, it has now become his weapon.

For safety reasons, he slept in a different room last night.

In the first room, there were claw marks on the wall and bloodstains on the floor, clearly indicating that someone had recently died, so he couldn't possibly have slept there.

"Squeak..."

Opening the window, I looked out and saw that the outside was still gray and gloomy, like the end of the world.

"I hope I can see the sun again..."

He sighed inwardly, then left the house, preparing to search for Old Wu's General Store.

Just then, Chen Ju also came out of the next room. Seeing him emerge from the second room, he paused for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Brother Luo, didn't you stay in the first room last night? Why...?"

Luo Qingchen said calmly, "I did stay in the first room last night. I just got up and came to check on the second room. What, Brother Chen, did you come to see me last night?"

Chen Ju smiled and said, "No, I just saw you coming out of the second room and thought you had changed rooms."

Luo Qingchen smiled and said, "Brother Chen, I'll go to town. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Chen Ju laughed and said, "Of course, no problem. You're free during the day. Just remember to come back early tonight for your night patrol. By the way, you must be back before dark. Tonight is your first night patrol, so don't be late."

Luo Qingchen nodded, said nothing more, and walked outside.

Chen Ju watched his retreating figure, the smile on his face slowly fading. Then he turned his head and looked at the second room.

Luo Qingchen left Baixianglou and came to the street.

Strangely, the streets were still quite crowded today, just like yesterday, but both vendors and pedestrians suddenly became taciturn and dazed. They hung their heads, their faces were pale, and they remained silent, like walking corpses.

It was completely different from yesterday's bustling and noisy atmosphere.

Soon, Luo Qingchen learned the reason.

He saw that many people had their wrists bandaged, and in one shop, a disciple of the Demon Exorcism Sect was holding a large bowl and squeezing out the blood flowing from a man's wrist.

In the alley next door, an old man lay pale and in shock.

A man dressed in a black robe stood to the side, holding a sharp knife, seemingly contemplating where to begin cutting into the "corpse."

"Master, please... please don't crowd so much..."

Under a bare tree, a vendor was kneeling on the ground, crying and begging, while a disciple of the Demon Exorcism Sect was holding his wrist, coldly squeezing out blood.

One of the vendor's children also knelt on the ground, crying and kowtowing as he begged.

It turns out today is Blood Donation Day.

As Luo Qingchen looked at the scenes before her, she suddenly felt that this world was utterly absurd, even more despairing than the end of the world.

Every medicine person in Medicineman Town has their own master.

Everything on them—the blood, the corpses, and their freedom—belonged to their respective masters.

If their master wants them to die, then they must die.

They were like slaves, or like cattle and sheep kept in captivity, living one day at a time, always at risk of being slaughtered.

And he is like that now.

"Those who practice medicine have only two paths: one is to linger on, donating blood until death; the other is to cultivate successfully, break through to the Blood Exchange Realm, and become a disciple..."

Zhang Dashan's words echoed in his mind.

"If you want to survive, you have no choice but to cultivate relentlessly..."

Yes, the only option is to train relentlessly.

He not only had to strive to survive himself, but also had to strive to ensure that his sister would "live on" forever.

He didn't linger and continued walking forward.

Soon, he found Old Wu's General Store on North Street.

The shop was filled with various sundries. An elderly man with gray hair and only one arm was frowning as he fiddled with an abacus behind the counter.

When Luo Qingchen walked into the shop, he didn't even look up, but said coldly, "Look at what you want, take it yourself, and pay here."

Luo Qingchen looked around the shop and then came to the counter, saying, "I want to repair an item."

The old man looked up and sized him up: "Repairing objects? What objects?"

Luo Qingchen glanced outside the shop and, seeing that no one else had come in, carefully took out the small flag from the spot close to her chest.

"This is... the Ten Soul Banner?"

The old man paused for a moment, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

Seeing that he recognized the magical artifact at a glance, Luo Qingchen's heart immediately filled with hope, and she quickly said, "Yes, it's the Ten Soul Banner, but it's damaged, and I need to repair it. Also..."

He looked at the small flag in his hand, his voice trembling slightly: "My sister's soul... is inside. I hope that during the restoration, she will not be harmed."

The old man reached out and took it, examining both sides carefully. He frowned and said, "This is a low-level magic artifact. It's not difficult to repair and won't harm the soul inside. However, this thing needs to be taken up there for repair; it can't be done here."

Luo Qingchen's heart sank: "Can't this be repaired?"

The "above" the other party was referring to was naturally the area above the steps where the disciples of the Demon-Suppressing Sect lived.

However, given his current status as a drug user, he cannot go up there.

But neither the little flag nor the sister's spirit had time to wait any longer.

The old man said, "This is Medicine Man Town. We can only repair ordinary items, not magical artifacts. If you can afford the money, I will take it upstairs to find someone to repair it. It should be brought down in less than two days."

Upon hearing this, Luo Qingchen quickly asked, "How much silver do you need?"

He took out his money bag from his pocket, which contained all his silver.

The old man held up two fingers and said calmly, "Two thousand taels."

Luo Qingchen froze on the spot: "Two...two thousand taels?"

He only had three taels of silver in his purse.

Even just three taels of silver was a considerable sum in the old Qingshui Town.

One or two taels of silver came from Zhang Dashan.

"This is a magical artifact; two thousand taels is already a very cheap price."

Seeing that he clearly couldn't afford the money, the old man returned the small flag to him, saying, "Actually, there's no need to repair it. Instead of worrying about your sister's soul, why not worry about yourself and see if you can live a few more days?"

After saying that, she ignored him and continued fiddling with the abacus.

Luo Qingchen looked at the small flag in her hand, remained silent for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Can you make it a little cheaper? Or... can I buy it on credit?"

The old man sneered and looked at him, saying, "No credit is possible, not a single coin. As for whether we can lower the price, if you don't need to repair it completely, but only use some cheap materials to make minor repairs so that it can last another six months or a year, then we can offer a discount, but the minimum is still eight hundred taels."

"Eight hundred taels..."

Luo Qingchen lowered her head again and looked at the money pouch in her hand.

The old man didn't say anything more, waved to see the guest out, and continued to fiddle with the abacus in front of him.

Luo Qingchen felt heavy-hearted. She carefully put away the small flag and money bag and prepared to leave.

Where is he supposed to get eight hundred taels of silver?

At this moment, the old man behind the counter suddenly looked up again and said, "If you really want to repair this Ten Soul Banner, you can go to the pawnshop in front to borrow money. Your blood, arms, legs, or kidneys can all be pawned for money. Blood and kidneys are the most common items sold here. However, you need to obtain your master's consent, since everything on the medicine man doesn't belong to you."

Upon hearing this, Luo Qingchen stopped at the door.

"By the way, you can also sell souls. If you sell souls, you don't need your master's permission."

The old man continued.

"You can pawn your soul first. After you die, they will come and collect your soul to make soul slaves or raise evil spirits. As long as you don't care whether you can be reincarnated."

Luo Qingchen raised her head and looked at the gloomy and silent street ahead.

The pawnshop stood out prominently on the street.

The black flag at the entrance fluttered in the cold, gray morning wind.

It seemed as if it was warmly inviting guests.