"Spiritual fire, profound light, blazing flames, fire official descends Qi, all Evil Ground perish, Fire Spirit Charm, quick!"
As Li Hai uttered the incantation, seven or eight yellow talismans in his palm immediately ignited out of thin air, transforming into seven or eight golden-red fire swallows that spread their wings and flew in all directions.
Then, after only a few breaths, seven or eight sources of fire successively ignited within the Zhou Family Residence.
These golden-red talisman fires, created by spell, were indiscriminate; apart from stones and mud that wouldn't burn, almost everything else could be scorched.
Thus, houses, trees, corpses… all sorts of things were quickly consumed by the talisman fire and began to crackle and burn within a short time.
Immediately after, Li Hai began to cast another spell:
"Wind talisman rises, sweeps away evil, where Dao power reaches, all demonic nightmares perish, Xun Wind Charm, quick!"
Whoosh—
As the remaining few yellow talismans turned to ash again, strong gusts of wind immediately blew from the southeast, causing the talisman fires to sway and burn towards more areas.
Thus, with the wind fueling the flames, the scorching fire quickly spread to various areas of the Zhou Family Residence.
Upon seeing this, Li Hai no longer lingered; with his back to the raging inferno, he hastened towards other parts of Niujiao Town without looking back.
The fire in the Zhou Family courtyard grew larger and larger after he left, eventually escalating into a monstrous blaze that engulfed the entire residence.
Fortunately, due to their contempt for the townspeople, the Zhou Family had deliberately cleared the areas surrounding the Zhou Family Residence, creating empty, barren land to isolate themselves from others, which prevented the fire from spreading to other places once it extended beyond the residence, as there was nothing left to burn. Otherwise, nearly half of Niujiao Town would have suffered.
One could only say that while the Zhou Family committed a basketful of evil deeds in life, their deaths did not bring trouble to others.
A good death, truly a good death.
Meanwhile, Li Hai traveled several miles, scaling roofs and leaping over walls, finally stopping in front of a standalone building designed like an ancient temple.
Unlike the bustling shops around it with people coming and going, this building's pure black wooden walls and tightly shut doors made it appear extremely solemn, like a prison.
However, the building's appearance was not important; what mattered was the sign hanging prominently at the front.
It read three characters—Mingtang Pavilion.
That's right, this was the Dajing Demon Slayer Division outpost Zhang Miaoji had mentioned.
Just as Li Hai glanced at the sign and was about to go knock on the door, a passing old man called out to him:
"Hey, young man, are you going into this Mingtang Pavilion?"
Li Hai found the old man a bit inexplicable, but out of politeness, he replied:
"Old man, what do you wish to tell me?"
"Nothing much, uh, I just wanted to tell you…"
The old man paused, then said mysteriously, "This place… is haunted. Don't go in."
"?"
This left Li Hai with a face full of question marks.
What did he mean, the official department specifically for slaying ghosts and eliminating demons… was haunted?
That was a bit too much of a slap in the face for the Demon Slayer Division.
"Old man, please tell me in detail."
Li Hai, still confused, asked again, "I just arrived in Niujiao Town and don't know much about many things. This teahouse looks fine, why is it haunted?"
"Oh, so you knew this place was a teahouse. I thought you were new to town and just wandering in."
The old man looked left and right, then said mysteriously again, "Well, this teahouse, aside from its expensive tea and few customers, was actually quite normal before. But yesterday, something frightening happened here."
Li Hai asked curiously, "What happened?"
"Last night, Mingtang Pavilion was operating normally, but all the lights inside went out exactly at the Hai hour. It was pitch black, you couldn't see anything from the outside, nor could you hear anything."
The old man paused for a breath and continued, "A few people from the militia came this morning, but once they entered the teahouse, they got stuck inside and haven't come out since. So now, no one dares to go in."
Upon hearing this, Li Hai frowned and said, "Did the militia not follow up on it?"
The old man shook his head: "Probably not today. They'll likely send people tomorrow."
"Alright." Li Hai nodded, "I understand."
With that, he turned and walked towards Mingtang Pavilion.
Seeing his actions, the old man realized his words were in vain and immediately shouted from behind:
"Young man, you must listen to this old man! Don't go in, you really won't be able to come out if you do!"
In response, Li Hai merely waved his hand and said no more, leaving the old man to jump around in frustration, yet not daring to take another step towards Mingtang Pavilion.
Standing before the tightly shut door of Mingtang Pavilion, Li Hai gently pushed.
Creak~
With a soft sound, the door opened.
Then, a thick, choking surge of ghostly Qi billowed out and assailed Li Hai's face.
But what he saw with his naked eyes was a seemingly ordinary teahouse scene.
All the tables, chairs, and benches were neatly arranged.
At the same time, a teapot and teacups were placed on one of the tea tables.
It was as if someone had just been sitting there drinking tea.
However, upon closer inspection, there was not a trace of living Qi within this teahouse…
Only wisps of hazy mist, originating from who knows where, continuously drifted and circulated within the teahouse.
And Li Hai, observing all this, said with a strange expression:
"Evil Ground?!"
Indeed, this Demon Slayer Division outpost… had inexplicably become a small Evil Ground.
No wonder people outside couldn't see inside the teahouse; with this evil mist, how could they see clearly?
"Strange, strange."
Li Hai muttered as he walked to a tea table and sat down, "Combining all the circumstances, this Demon Slayer Division outpost must have turned into an Evil Ground last night at the Hai hour, and then all the Demon Slayer Commandants at this outpost went missing.
Tsk, why is everything so coincidental? The moment I needed to come, they all went out of commission. Even if you'd just waited a little longer for me to finish copying, it would have been fine. Sigh~"
After an annoyed sigh, he stood up and began a thorough search of the entire teahouse, hoping to find any possible clues.
But after searching for only a short while, Li Hai slapped his forehead in annoyance:
"I almost forgot, I'm a ghost too."
With that, he instantly transformed from human to ghost, shifting into his ghostly form.
And in his ghost eye vision, this teahouse immediately transformed into a dimly lit tomb chamber, haphazardly filled with a dozen worn-out coffins.
Within the tomb chamber, besides these coffins, there were only faint green phosphorescent flames; the original tea tables, chairs, and benches had vanished without a trace.
"I can feel it…"
Li Hai, his face pale and greenish like a corpse, slowly lowered his gaze, muttering softly, "Below this layer of the tomb chamber, there is still space."
As he murmured, he plunged headfirst into the ground below, like diving into water, and instantly disappeared.