Having finished his patrol duties, Old Xiang locked the door and returned home.

His son had yet to come back.

After eating, he lay on the bed.

But he still felt uncomfortably full, so he put on a coat and stepped into the courtyard to sit.

Bathed in moonlight, he unfolded the Revered Soul Banner in his hand.

The soul banner, only about a foot long, felt cold to the touch and refreshing to the core.

It felt as though merely holding the soul banner brought a sense of calm and peace to the heart.

This thing was definitely a treasure.

Unfortunately, Old Xiang didn’t know how to use it.

He had originally considered submitting it to the Offering Pavilion, but after delaying for some days, he no longer had the intention to hand it over.

After all, those immortal masters wouldn’t even notice one missing treasure.

A lifelike ghost face was painted on the soul banner.

He had looked at it many times.

The first time he saw it, he had been startled. Now, though it still carried a faintly eerie vibe, he had gotten used to it.

Black background, red edges, exquisitely made.

Hundreds of times more refined than the handkerchiefs those high-ranking officials used to carry.

Inside the soul banner, Tu Shanjun furrowed his brow. His current situation was no different from imprisonment.

He had originally planned to steal Li Qingfeng’s corpse, but now that plan had fallen through.

Moreover, without the scripture as a backup, Old Xiang simply had no means to become a Qi Refining cultivator.

Without becoming a Qi Refining cultivator, there was no spiritual power, and thus no way to activate the Revered Soul Banner.

This missing link was like cutting the connection entirely.

The road had been perilous, so Old Xiang hadn’t thought much of it at the time.

Now, with time to spare, he could finally study it properly.

“How do immortal masters activate treasures?”

Thinking this, Old Xiang began channeling his internal energy into the soul banner through his palm.

Tu Shanjun’s eyes widened suddenly, the internal energy being infused actually contained a faint trace of spiritual power!

But it was too little.

Not even enough to perform the Dream Infiltration skill.

Still, it allowed Tu Shanjun to exert some influence over the soul banner.

Suppressing his excitement, Tu Shanjun hurriedly activated the black mist to surge across the banner.

Old Xiang found it strange.

Why had black mist appeared on the little banner after infusing it with internal energy?

Moreover, it gathered into skewed, twisted shapes- like… writing.

“Pour… internal energy…”

“More…”

Old Xiang read the words out loud one by one.

He was so frightened he immediately threw the soul banner to the ground.

With the loss of internal energy, Tu Shanjun’s only lifeline was cut off. The writing on the soul banner instantly faded into ashen mist, then disappeared entirely.

Old Xiang stood guard.

He stared for a full quarter of an hour but saw no movement from the soul banner.

Only then did he pick it up again, muttering in disbelief, “Could it be alive?”

Still suspicious, Old Xiang once more channeled internal energy into the banner.

“Internal energy. More.”

This time, only four characters appeared on the palm-sized banner.

As a second-rate expert of the martial world, Old Xiang actually had quite a bit of internal energy stored.

Midnight passed.

Until Old Xiang had completely exhausted all of his internal energy.

Tu Shanjun shook his head. Internal energy was ultimately not spiritual power.

Even if it carried a faint resemblance, this amount still wasn’t enough to refine into usable spiritual power for the Dream Infiltration skill.

It merely gave him a bit more mobility.

“If Yin Soul Pills can help Qi Refining cultivators train, could it help Old Xiang’s internal energy evolve?”

Tu Shanjun didn’t know if it would work, but at this point, he had to treat a dead horse like a living one.

A flicker of black mist and a chicken egg-sized Yin Soul Pill rolled out of the soul banner, landing on the stone table in the courtyard.

Old Xiang’s eyes widened.

He cried out in shock, “The treasure laid an egg!”

He had heard of chickens and geese laying eggs, but never a treasure!

And this was an immortal master’s treasure!

This time, the writing on the soul banner changed again-

Just one character.

“Eat.”

Old Xiang repeated it aloud.

His eyes now filled entirely with fear.

This thing was too weird.

It could absorb internal energy, sure but now it could lay an egg?

And a black egg like this couldn’t be anything good.

Now the thing even wanted him to eat it?

Eat what?

Was he supposed to eat the egg?

Tu Shanjun was helpless. He really had no other choice.

Whether to believe or not, Old Xiang had to decide for himself.

If his internal energy could continue improving in quality, approaching spiritual power, Tu Shanjun could then perform the Dream Infiltration skill and pass on the scripture.

Whether Old Xiang had spiritual roots or not, it was worth a try.

Even without spiritual roots, there were contingencies.

One Yin Soul Pill shouldn’t be fatal.

But besides this, Tu Shanjun had no other method.

Old Xiang reached out to touch the Yin Soul Pill, but his aged arm hovered for a long time without daring to grab it.

He pulled a rough cloth handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped the egg-sized Yin Soul Pill.

The coldness even passed through the fabric into his hand.

He didn’t dare eat it.

You shouldn’t eat something of unknown origin, especially not something this strange.

Old Xiang was even more unwilling to risk it.

For the next several days, he stopped infusing internal energy into the soul banner.

Without the internal energy with that trace of spiritual power, Tu Shanjun could do nothing inside the soul banner, and could only continue studying martial arts, scriptures, and techniques inside it.

Tu Shanjun could understand Old Xiang’s thoughts.

Anyone else would be afraid too.

The Revered Soul Banner already looked terrifying, its ghost face was practically alive.

Now it could display black, twisted writing, and even spit out something like a black egg.

Forget common folk, even Qi Refining cultivators would hesitate to test it on themselves. Who knew if it might kill them?

Tu Shanjun could only lament the missed opportunity.

The prison was such a good place, yet he could only sit by and watch.

So many criminals, if even a hundred or so died, no one would notice.

Corpses were carried out of the prison every day, too many to count.

The three-layered prison held tens of thousands of inmates.

If he could harness them all, he might even evolve the soul banner into a top-grade magical tool.

“Be patient and endure.”

Tu Shanjun reminded himself.

Truly, fate toyed with him. Old Xiang didn’t submit the Revered Soul Banner, and the Qi Refining cultivators at the Offering Pavilion didn’t investigate further. Thus, Tu Shanjun now found himself in a very awkward situation.

He had planned to enter the Offering Pavilion, where so many Qi Refining cultivators would make the banner useful in anyone’s hands.

Then he could properly deal with Li Qingfeng’s body and help a new banner master grow stronger.

Who would have thought things would go so awry, leaving the soul banner in Old Xiang’s hands?

And all of Tu Shanjun’s plans were completely derailed.

One more day passed.

As usual, Old Xiang put on his Embroidered Guard black robe, strapped on his waist blade, and left before dawn carrying a lantern.

The moment the front door opened, Old Xiang’s eyes flew wide open.

Lying at the doorstep was a man drenched in blood.

Both arms and legs were twisted at unnatural angles.

Old Xiang’s lantern slipped from his hand, hitting the ground.

“Son!”

He stumbled and crawled forward, lifting his son into his arms.

He examined his son’s injuries.

Tendons in the arms and legs had been severed. Legs fractured, completely powerless.

The boy was still unconscious.

His wife, rushing over after hearing the noise, saw their son at the doorway and her vision went black. She fainted on the spot.

By noon, under the blazing sun.

The doctor emerged from the house, medical box on his back.

“Doctor Feng, how is my son?” Old Xiang hurried to ask.

The doctor, wearing a square official hat, shook his head and sighed, “From now on, he will have to lie in bed for the rest of his life. He’ll never stand again.”

“Your wife is suffering from a blood rush to the heart, it’s something that will have to be nursed slowly.”

Old Xiang saw the doctor off and sat alone at the doorway.

He looked even older.

The scar across his face now seemed like a deep wrinkle.

Old Xiang sat motionless, lips trembling, his only remaining arm resting on the hilt of his waist blade.

“All these years, solving cases, making arrests, how many people have you offended?”

“An Embroidered Guard… can one die peacefully?”

“You even insisted on giving up your hereditary Baihu post.”

“They're here to seek revenge!”

His wife, her face pale, shouted in anger and grief.

The moment she woke up, she had rushed to her son’s side, bathing his face with tears.

Xiang Hu closed his eyes, his body trembling.

Then he turned and walked out the door.

Lifting his head to the sky, tears traced the wrinkles down his face.

He had been strong-willed all his life, decisive and bold.

He had solved major cases, earned merits, and even saved nobles.

And in the end, this was what he got.

Inside, the pale-faced youth lay on the bed, eyes dull.

He turned to look at his mother.

His voice weak, he said, “Mom…”

“I’m here, I’m here,” she quickly grasped his hand.

“Mom, I don’t want to lie… in bed for the rest of my life.”

“Help me.”

His gaze landed on a jar, Rat poison, used to test on mice.

The old woman shook her head, saying, “Son, I’ll get the best doctor. You’ll get better.”

“I beg you, Mom…”

(Chapter End)