The national conditions of Great Qi and Great Wei were different, particularly regarding their primary Sequences.
In Great Wei, the most prominent Sequence was the Axeman, which also served as Great Wei's main combat force.
On the other hand, Great Qi's primary choice was the Martial Artist pathway.
Unlike Great Wei's state-sponsored training, many on Great Qi's Martial Artist pathway were self-taught or trained among the common folk.
Under these circumstances, completely banning them was impossible. As a result, Great Qi's regulation of transcendents was much weaker, and transcendents could even enjoy many conveniences.
It was precisely for this reason that Yin Yang claimed to be a Coroner.
He used this identity because, for one, he was highly skilled in the work of a Coroner, and second, because the transcendent abilities of a Coroner were relatively easy to fake.
After the two parties came to an agreement, the City Lord departed, but not before having his secretary hand Yin Yang a document.
Yin Yang took it and looked over it. Good heavens, the man had already drawn up the entire plan; all Yin Yang had to do was foot the bill.
They proceeded to sign the contract. After Yin Yang gave the City Lord an extra thousand gold notes, he finally obtained the Eight-Sided Gong.
Of the three main promotion materials, only the Seven-Color Shadow Snake Spine remained.
At the same time, Yin Yang realized he was running low on funds, which left him feeling rather insecure.
So that very night, Yin Yang bought a plane ticket and set off to withdraw some money.
...
Pitter-patter.
The rain in Bohe City was heavy today, with water on the ground reaching two fingers deep.
A van was parked at the entrance of an alley, and faint whimpering sounds could be heard from within.
“Damn it, why did such an urgent job come up out of nowhere? We have to go out and kidnap someone in this miserable weather.”
“Cut the crap and put some muscle into it.”
Two burly men threw a struggling youth into the back of the van.
The youth was scrawny, his hands tied behind his back and his mouth wrapped tightly with two thick layers of duct tape, leaving him only able to make muffled whimpering sounds.
“Working overtime in such heavy rain, gentlemen?”
A voice suddenly echoed from the alley, causing both men to jump in fright.
“Who's there!”
One of the burly men casually drew a pistol from his pocket.
Unlike Great Wei's strict regulations, Great Qi was very lax regarding firearms, largely because they had so many Artisans.
Thus, firearms that were difficult to purchase in Great Wei could be found everywhere in Great Qi.
Pitter-patter.
The rain continued to pour as a figure slowly emerged from the dim alley.
He wore a transparent raincoat and a black face mask, but from his exposed eyes, one could tell he was smiling.
“Come out!”
The burly man was extremely tense.
He wasn't stupid.
Anyone who dared to speak up after witnessing a kidnapping must have some ability, and might even be a transcendent.
After all, there were plenty of lunatics in Great Qi who went around shouting about “enforcing justice” all day long.
Yin Yang raised his hands.
“Don't worry, don't worry. Aren't I coming out now?”
The two burly men exchanged glances. When they looked back, they found that the man in the raincoat had vanished.
This immediately made their skin crawl, realizing they had definitely run into a transcendent.
Without a second thought, they scrambled to run back to the van.
But just as one of them turned around, he locked eyes with a pair of clear, calm eyes.
In the next instant, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder as a skinning knife plunged deep into his shoulder blade.
“Ahhh!”
The burly man shrieked in agony. The other instinctively turned back, only to be met by a flash of cold blade light.
With a cold flash, his Achilles tendon was sliced clean through.
The intense pain sent him crashing to the ground, splashing the pooled water around him, looking like a miserable, beaten dog.
Yin Yang ignored their screams; the sound of the rain was the perfect cover.
“You guys are really lucky.”
“If you had met the old me, you would have only experienced ordinary pain. But now, you get to experience transcendent-level pain. Are you happy?”
Rainwater trickled down the folds of Yin Yang's raincoat as a shadow slowly rose from behind him.
The moment the two men saw the shadow clearly, they were nearly scared to death. It was unmistakably a flayed human body!
As human traffickers, they had dealt with plenty of bodies like this. How could they not recognize it?
The “person” squatted down and grabbed one of the burly men's hands. In the next instant, a blood-curdling scream pierced through the curtain of rain.
“Ahhh!”
The burly man's skin seemed to bloom, peeling away from his body bit by bit.
His senses also seemed to be heightened, allowing him to feel the pain with agonizing clarity.
This level of pain was something even Yin Yang had barely endured back then, let alone these ordinary men.
Only when their eyes began to glaze over did Yin Yang signal the Flayed Ghost to stop. He then used his spirituality to wake them back up before finally putting them out of their misery.
Human traffickers deserved to die a miserable death.
After completing the deed, he looked back to find two dazed, lost souls hovering behind him.
This was one of Yin Yang's purposes in torturing them; only through this method would their souls retain more memories.
Immediately after, Yin Yang activated his Perception and Communion skills, easily extracting the location of their hideout.
This was not Yin Yang's first time doing such a thing, so he was already well-practiced.
“Mmph... mmph...”
The “hostage” inside the van was scared out of his mind. Though he couldn't see what was happening, he had heard the traffickers' agonizing screams with terrifying clarity.
“Mmph... mmph...”
He squirmed like a worm toward the door. When he saw the two skinless corpses lying in the pooled water outside, the shocking sight instantly knocked him unconscious.
...
“Is the cargo ready?”
“Yeah, nineteen in total. We're just one short. Sha Qiang and his guy already went to get the last one.”
“Sha Qiang went? Will he blow our cover?”
“No. He said a vagrant recently showed up on East District Street, and he's had his eye on him for a while.”
“That's good.”
The interior of the house was magnificently decorated. A pot-bellied, middle-aged man sat on the sofa, swirling a glass of red wine and sipping it with relish.
“Lately, our associates in several other cities have run into trouble, so the supply has suddenly become tight.”
“Hehehe, normally they go for five or six hundred thousand each, but now people are willing to pay seven or eight hundred thousand!”
“Life is good, truly good.”
“If things keep going like this, we can retire in just a few more years.”
Hearing the middle-aged man's words, his subordinate also wore a broad smile.
Drip, drip.
“Huh? Where is that water sound coming from?”
The middle-aged man instinctively looked up, only to see water actually seeping down from the ceiling.
“What? Son of a bitch! How is my villa leaking? Did those bastards who did the waterproofing cut corners?”
The middle-aged man stood up in a panic.
“Quick, quick, get a bucket to catch it! This carpet cost me over a hundred thousand.”
“And call those waterproofing bastards. Tell them they not only have to fix my roof today, but they also have to compensate me for my losses!”
“Yes, boss!”
The subordinate complied and turned to look for a bucket, but the water coming from the ceiling only seemed to increase.
From the beginning of a drip, it turned into a steady pour.
The middle-aged man stomped his feet in frustration, completely failing to notice that the leaks were multiplying rapidly.
A rainy day...
Was the home turf of the Drowned Ghost.
Rate on N.U.
