The Death’s Head Blade

"This is Yuhu Square. Passengers who are getting off here are reminded to take their personal belongings with them and alight from the back of the coach." 

"Next station, Jufa Farmer's Market. Please remain seated or hold on to the handrails." 

On the Route 142 Bus, Fang Zheng's brows furrowed throughout the entire journey as he stared at the Hell Currency in his hand. 

Ever since the incident at the apartments, he noticed that the ten Yuan note in his hand had suddenly transformed into a piece of Hell Currency. 

In myths, folklore, and the Tome of Monajie contained many explanations… 

Money did not circulate in the underworld. 

The true currency that circulated in the underworld were secret virtues. 

To ghosts, secret virtues were akin to cash. Self Cultivation1, attaining enlightenment, crossing the Naihe Bridge2, reincarnation, and even bribing unreasonable demons, all required cash to keep the gears moving. 

The currency of secret virtues was called Hell Money in the material realm, but it was not the same as the millions burnt to the underworld by the overworld. A note that denotes 1 billion has no use, and if it did the realms of Death would experience hyperinflation a long time ago3. Secret virtue currency was the merits accumulated over a lifetime. 

The reality was that between ghosts in the underworld, they were even more materialistic than the material realm. The benefits of secret virtues were limitless. In the underworld, they were more useful than money and could connect them to the gods of the underworld, and allow them to carry out their asceticism. 

In the past, Fang Zheng would usually scoff at these tales of excessive mysteries of the Dao and would not pay them much heed. 

However, now the world was like a still lake that had a boulder thrown into it. Everything was changing in strange ways, and Fang Zheng no longer knew what was true and what was false in these old folktales. He could not tell if the note in his hand was secret virtue money or normal Hell Money from the overworld? 

"Whatever. It doesn't matter if it's real or not." Fang Zheng pocketed the note. Too much had happened that night, and it was only then that he had time to gather his thoughts. 

Fang Zheng thought about the cool man in the sunglasses who pulled him out of that out-of-body experience. 

And the bald, middle-aged man who the cool man in the sunglasses referred to as 'Boss'. 

What concerned Fang Zheng more was that within a minute, he had learned about the accumulation of three strands of Gray Qi around those two men. 

Fang Zheng gently rubbed his lips. 

His eyebrows furrowed. 

He had a habit of doing that when he was deep in thought. 

The source of Gray Qi was from the extermination of ghosts. This point had been proven beyond doubt. 

Therefore, the source of Gray Qi should be grievance, misfortune, evil, negative energies… et cetera. However, Fang Zheng had not yet figured out which of these were the cause. 

However, one thing was certain! 

Normal people would not be able to see the Gray Qi and definitely not make use of it! 

At the moment, only he who held the Human Skin Scripture could see the Gray Qi that came from the death of a ghost. 

With this speculation, the crucial clues surfaced. 

The cool man in the sunglasses and his boss were specialists in handling paranormal activities that occurred in the populace. After these two men exterminated the ghosts, the dark elements within mysteries such as grievance, misfortune, evil, negative energies would coalesce and be bound around them. Therefore, the Human Skin Scripture began to react when he got close to them. 

However, he had not yet ascertained whether the coalesced grievance and evil energies was there for only a short while and would slowly dissipate, or would it be bound to these men for a lifetime? 

When his thoughts reached this point, Fang Zheng's eyes began to glint. He felt as though he found two fat goats4 for himself. 

If his speculations were true, the cool man in the sunglasses and his compatriot would be fat goats, and every once in a while, he would be able to shear some cashmere for himself.

It would be much better than striving to make a living. 

Hm! 

Fang Zheng frowned and felt that his line of thought was rather dangerous. 

These cool men in sunglasses were public servants no matter how you put it. He could not simply describe them as fat goats. 

Furthermore, he even thought of making a profit off of public servants. 

This line of thought was too dangerous. 

Hm! 

To put it another way, these public servants are blazing with heat and light for humanity so let them be of as much use as possible! He would do his part for the greater good of society.

Fang Zheng struck his palm with his fist! 

He decided that when this business with the weapon was settled, he would immediately find out where the gathering place of these cool men in sunglasses was, and where their headquarters in Zhou City was. 

"This is Jufa Farmer's Market. Passengers who are getting off here are reminded to take their personal belongings with them and alight from the back of the coach." 

The bus had arrived at the stop. 

Fang Zheng was rather curious about the identity of Butcher Zhang. At the time among the group of bystanders outside the apartment block, he had caught a glimpse of Butcher Zhang. 

Butcher Zhang's eyes were fixated on the apartment block then. Under the special circumstances of the time, Butcher Zhang seemed to be able to see something. 

It seemed that Butcher Zhang was keeping secrets of his own. 

The scene in Jufa Farmer's Market was completely different during daytime and at night. 

In the day, before one even entered the main entrance, there would already be a sea of heads outside. There would be much hustle and bustle, the noises overwhelming. 

His goal was clear. 

Fang Zheng immediately headed for Butcher Zhang's pork stall. 

When Fang Zheng arrived, he saw that there was a chubby, fat boy who was a disciple of Wudaogang 5standing in front of Butcher Zhang's stall.

This time Fang Zheng looked very closely for a moment. Hmm, the boy's Yang energy was blazing like a furnace. This was a human, not a ghost. 

The little disciple stood in front of the stall and suddenly took off his shirt. Multiple circles were drawn with watercolor paint on his body. The little disciple pointed at the circles, and spoke with his head held high, "Boss! My mom says that she wants the meat from these parts!" 

Peat6! 

He did not need to see that! 

Fang Zheng stared with his mouth agape. 

Butcher Zhang gave Fang Zheng a blank look, then turned to the little disciple, his face stoically neutral. 

"Boss, my dad also wants the meat of this thing!" The little disciple then took off his pants. 

Pfft! 

Fang Zheng spat out old blood7. 

(;OдO..)8 

He was so shocked he could not stop coughing. Were little disciples these days so mischievous?

Butcher Zhang—who kept a calm demeanor all this while—could no longer keep a straight face as well. 

Bang! 

The thick meat cleaver in his hand that weighed two kilograms thudded heavily on the round chopping block. "This pig is a sow." 

After buying the meat, the little disciple put on his clothes, and using the same disdainful gaze of Wudaogang, said to Fang Zheng, "Retard." 

Fang Zheng was speechless. 

Oh my! I've been insulted by a vicious little disciple. If he could do this, what else could he do? 

Fang Zheng kneeled, and smiled, "Little boy, after being bit by a bat, one will become batman. When bit by a spider, one will become spiderman. One becomes a God of Thunder after being struck by lightning, and one who is painted green becomes the green giant. After eating a savory pancake one will become a pancake man. Eating the Devil Fruit gives one superpowers. So what does someone become after eating pork?" 

The little disciple looked at him, "Peppa Pig!" 

Fang Zheng raised his hand and rustled the little disciples' hair as he smiled a smile that said even children could be taught something new. "You're a really smart and witty boy." 

He watched as the little boy ran home while he shouted excitedly. Fang Zheng stood happily. What a daring little disciple. He did not learn anything good except for being savage. 

After that Fang Zheng stood in front of Butcher Zhang's pork stall. 

Without waiting for Fang Zheng to speak, a short blade in a scabbard was thrown by Butcher Zhang onto the table with a thud. 

"Old Wang already dropped by and told me about you." 

"If you want to cleave ghosts and get rid of evil, this Death's Head Blade will suit you even better." 

Butcher Zhang's facial features were now returning to its expressionless state.