Talismanic coins?
Li Yan looked at the copper coins in his palm, his brow furrowing slightly.
In his past life, he had been fond of antiques, so he naturally recognized what these were.
Such pieces were also known as "yansheng coins" or "folk amulet coins." They came in a vast variety of designs, each serving different purposes—most commonly to ward off evil, avert disasters, and pray for blessings and good fortune. They held no currency value for trade.
Yet the coins in his hand were clearly nothing ordinary.
Merely holding them, Li Yan caught a sharp, potent scent—like jagged icicles, tinged with the metallic tang of blood.
The scent of incense that had once belonged to the plaque had vanished completely.
The stench clinging to these coins was heavy and suffocating, thick with murderous intent like a lethal blade.
The "Valiant in a Hundred Battles" plaque had seemingly served as nothing more than their scabbard.
Now that the scabbard was broken, the keen weapon was finally laid bare.
*Creak—*
Right then, a door swung open.
It was his grandfather, Li Gui, waking and walking out from his room.
Seeing him, Li Yan inwardly cursed his luck.
Back when the northern border rebellion was quelled, pursuing the enemy across the frozen plains had cost his grandfather a leg, but it was also the greatest feat of the old man's life.
Li Yan knew full well how deeply his grandfather treasured that "Valiant in a Hundred Battles" plaque. He polished it constantly on ordinary days, and offered incense before it every festival.
Seeing the plaque damaged like this, the old man might not be able to bear the shock.
Sure enough, upon seeing the cracked, peeling plaque, Li Gui froze. His mouth parted, but in the end, he only let out a soft sigh.
Li Yan asked cautiously, "Grandpa, you..."
"I'm fine."
Li Gui waved his hand. Lighting his long pipe, he took a few puffs and shook his head. "Must've dried out and cracked from the weather these past days. I'll just find someone to patch it up."
With that, leaning on his crutch and humming a little tune, he ambled out the door for a stroll.
From the look of him, he didn't seem to be lying.
While Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief, he was also quietly amazed.
Ever since his father died, his grandfather had been in foul spirits, prone to flying into rages and cursing whenever anything displeased him.
Why was he acting so unusually today?
Of course, Li Yan had no time to ponder it further. After tidying things up, he hurried toward Widow Wang's house...
...
"As long as you're alive! Good to see you're alive!"
Those were the first words out of Widow Wang's mouth when she opened the door and saw him.
Li Yan's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Come inside."
Widow Wang shut the courtyard gate and led him into the house. Wasting no words, she explained directly, "We miscalculated yesterday, too."
"When that cold-altar rampaging soldier showed up, its cultivation had surged. It must have swallowed every wandering spirit and wild ghost within ten li, making it even more troublesome."
"I thought you would lose your little life. I didn't expect you to still be standing..."
"Miscalculated?!"
Hearing this, Li Yan felt anger surge within him.
Last night, the thing's methods had been infinitely more vicious than what the Xianjia had described. From the sound of Widow Wang's words, even if he hadn't made any slip-ups, he wouldn't have been able to catch it.
When lives were on the line, how could they botch things like this?
Widow Wang's face turned bitter, but she didn't offer excuses. Once again, she beat the King Wen drum and chanted her spirit tune, calling upon Third Aunt to manifest.
Upon seeing Li Yan, Third Aunt began babbling another string of gibberish.
Widow Wang interpreted, "The Xianjia wants you to recount last night in detail."
"Also, what kind of dharma artifact are you carrying? Its sinister baleful aura is far too overbearing. It makes the Xianjia very uncomfortable. Back away a bit, and do not approach the red circle."
Li Yan nodded, took several steps back, and recounted everything from the previous night before pulling out the three copper coins to ask about their origin.
The young girl craned her neck to look. A glint of shock and suspicion flashed in her eyes. Agitated, she flailed her whisk and gestured for him to move even farther away before chattering incessantly once more.
Widow Wang stood by, listening and translating.
"The Xianjia says that cold-altar rampaging soldier is bloodthirsty and cunning, with an origin that is by no means simple."
"Also, has your family offended someone?"
Li Yan paused slightly. "What do you mean?"
Widow Wang explained, "Talismanic coins are a very important kind of dharma artifact. Various traditions, sects, and even the imperial court invest great effort into refining them."
"The talismanic coins in your hand have quite a history. Have you ever heard of Yang Yi?"
Li Yan nodded. "Of course. The name of the God of Slaughter thunders in everyone's ears."
During the Daxing era of the previous dynasty, the Golden Horde Khanate invaded, seizing half the empire. The northern and southern regimes faced off against each other in a century of warfare. Casualties were beyond count, and numerous martial arts masters emerged.
Yang Yi had been one of them.
Skilled with twin sabers, he had reversed back to the Pre-Heaven stage and attained the realm of a Grandmaster.
Folk rumors even went so far as to claim he had transcended the mundane world, grasped the True Dao, and touched the threshold of a Great Grandmaster, becoming the peak of the martial world in that era.
The Liangyi Liuhe Saber Technique he left behind was still practiced by many to this day.
Of course, he was even more renowned for his title: the God of Slaughter. A general of the Daxing Dynasty, he had once led an isolated force deep into the steppe, carving a path of blood. In his later years, he had led an army to suppress the Jizhou rebellion, slaughtering three entire cities in succession.
In folklore, he was virtually an evil deity.
Third Aunt babbled away, and Widow Wang continued, "Folk legends often distort the truth. Some matters are known only to those within the Xuanmen."
"Though Yang Yi was a grandmaster, that alone wasn't enough to overpower every rival. So he hired treasure prospectors to search high and low until they found a natural spirit treasure. Spending immense manpower to forge and consecrate it, they created a pair of demon sabers that made gods and ghosts yield."
"Collaborating with the Taixuan Orthodox Sect, he broke the shamanic lineage of the Golden Horde Wolf Kingdom on the steppe, laying the foundation for the realm's eventual unification."
"Yet those demon sabers were exceptionally baleful. In his twilight years, Yang Yi fell under their influence, growing bloodthirsty and tyrannical. After his death, the Daxing court melted the demon sabers down, casting them into one hundred and eight talismanic coins, and enshrined them with incense at the Mount Tai Temple to extinguish the demonic qi."
"These coins are called the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins. The reverse depicts the sun, moon, and stars. Beside Yang Yi's likeness on the obverse, an incantation is engraved: *Heaven clear and Earth peaceful, slay ghosts and destroy spirits, sever fiends and expel evils, swiftly as commanded by the statutes!*"
Hearing this, Li Yan felt a stir of joy. "So to say, they're fine treasures?"
"Naturally they are good things," Widow Wang explained, listening to Third Aunt. "Though these talismanic coins are not top grade, as long as you assemble the Three Powers of the sun, moon, and stars, they can suppress evil and destroy fiends."
"Yet hiding them inside a plaque meant to protect a household was a venomous scheme!"
"That plaque was granted by the court to a man of merit. Even if talismanic coins were placed inside, they should have been meant to bestow blessings and secure the home, consecrated through incense offerings."
"However, the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins were refined from demon sabers, using murderous baleful qi to crush evil. Hiding them within the plaque and masking them beneath the scent of incense is like needles hidden in cotton, or three deadly blades suspended over your doorway—a sophisticated form of yansheng sorcery."
"If I'm not mistaken, your family must have scarce offspring. Starting from your grandfather, three generations have had their fortunes blighted, all plagued by omens of violent death until the bloodline is severed!"
"What?!"
Li Yan stared in disbelief.
In the past, he would never have believed in such esoteric matters of fortune and fate. But after everything he had experienced over these past few days, he knew profound and mysterious forces truly existed in this world.
What Third Aunt said was entirely accurate.
His family was a single thread of descent. According to his grandfather, several sons had been born in succession only to die in infancy, leaving his father as the sole survivor.
His father had been a wandering blade, and a rakehell to boot.
Though he had a wife at home, he had left a string of romantic debts outside, yet he too had fathered only a single son—and his death had also been suspicious.
Thinking carefully about it, when his predecessor had mysteriously died in the dead of night atop a grave mound as a child, allowing him to transmigrate into the body, hadn't that been an omen of violent death as well?
At this thought, a surge of killing intent churned in Li Yan's chest. "Does Senior know who used this method?"
"Forget about not knowing—even if you did, there's nothing you could do!"
Widow Wang shook her head in warning. "Even ordinary sorcerers would salivate with envy at the sight of these Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins, yet someone used them to curse your family, and even managed to tamper with an imperial reward granted by the court. Is that someone a youngster like you can afford to cross?"
"Revenge? Keep your little life first, then talk."
Saying this, she tilted her ear to listen to the Xianjia. A glimmer of delight surfaced in her eyes, and she said, "However, while your chances were originally slim, having this item will let you dispel the calamity!"
"Though the rampaging soldier didn't fall for the trick these past two days, it swallowed the peach wood inside the rooster's belly and clashed head-on with your home-guarding artifact. Its spiritual soul has already been wounded."
"A ruse like that works once or twice, but never three or four times. When the rampaging soldier comes again tonight, it will surely head straight for you."
"Tonight, hide near the Earth God Temple at the village entrance. The incense offerings there are flourishing. If the rampaging soldier wants to approach, it must find a physical host, and it will be suppressed by the Earth God."
"The Xianjia will use a secret art to fashion these Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins into a saber tassel. When the time comes, sever the head of its physical host in a single strike, and victory will be yours!"
With that, the young girl possessed by the Xianjia instructed Widow Wang to fetch a red cord.
First, she stained it with Li Yan's fresh blood. Then, with an expression of deep reluctance and heartache, she plucked over a dozen long white hairs from the whisk in her hand.
Following her instructions, Widow Wang wove the white hairs and red cord into an odd knot, stringing the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins into its center.
As she wove, she explained, "The horsehair in this whisk came from a spiritual horse that possessed cultivation. Our incense hall suffered disaster, leaving only this single whisk behind..."
"This knot is called the Evil-Warding Ruyi Knot. Braided with the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins into a saber tassel, it can draw out and empower the baleful aura in your blade to slay the rampaging soldier. Ordinary evil creatures won't dare approach you either, so you've gained quite a boon..."
"However, you're not a member of the Xuanmen. You must not wear this constantly. When not in use, keep it inside a red cloth pouch and make incense offerings on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month, lest you suffer backlash..."
Widow Wang babbled on, and Li Yan listened attentively.
After what he had gone through, how could he dare be careless?
An hour later, the knot was finally finished. Li Yan fastened it to the pommel of his Guanshan saber, and a strange look instantly flashed in his eyes.
He could smell the bloody, murderous qi of the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins spreading along the hilt all the way to the blade, turning it as cold as ice in his grip.
Not only that, but this Guanshan saber had originally been left behind by his father, forged by a master smith and having claimed no small number of souls. It seemed the saber's own murderous aura had been drawn out as well.
With a slight shake, the cold glint stabbed at the eyes painfully.
Li Yan felt a chill of solemnity. He hurriedly and carefully untied the tassel, took the red cloth pouch Widow Wang handed him, and slipped it inside.
Only after questioning her thoroughly once more about every precaution did Li Yan take his leave.
What he did not know was that not long after he left, the young girl possessed by Third Aunt suddenly opened her eyes again and spoke:
"That rampaging soldier came under suspicious circumstances—it may have been sent by our rivals. Once this matter is settled and the roads are clear, we leave immediately."
Her voice remained shrill, but it was no longer in that indistinct beast tongue.
The speech of a Xianjia was known as the Shangfang tongue, requiring a disciple to interpret.
Yet to speak in the human tongue proved she was a seasoned old fox with profound cultivation.
Widow Wang froze, then asked carefully, "Third Aunt, that lad has opened his spiritual root. Should we take him into our fold?"
The girl shook her head. "It's merely an olfactory divine ability. Moreover, he is already well of age, having long missed the prime window. Forcing his way onto the Dao will amount to nothing."
"Let him be. Once the spiritual root is unsealed, ghosts and gods pry, and an expert is scheming against him..."
"Tsk, tsk. Even if he survives this calamity, he won't have long to live..."
As she spoke, her upper and lower eyelids drooped heavily. Her voice grew softer and softer until she was once again snoring soundly.
Chapter 9