Chapter 94: News of the Yin Talisman

Qi Yan had made his choice. The moment he resolved to join this struggle, he had also resolved to go all the way, because he had no way back. This was never some ordinary dispute; it was a matter of life and death.

If the enemy were merely a band of criminals, it would be simple enough: call the police and seek protection from the authorities.

But they were not ordinary villains. They were a pack of practitioners of dark arts. In a situation like this, one could only rely on oneself for protection. As for who would prevail in the end, who would live and who would perish, that depended entirely on skill and luck.

In the end, there was only one thing to say: once the fires of war were lit, there was no room for retreat. From this moment on, it was not only Qi Yan, but everyone whose life had already been thrown into chaos. If they wished to survive, they could only resist and fight. Escape would not solve anything, because the enemy had a clear goal and did not hesitate or waver in the least.

Yet the heart of this strange conflict was nothing more than the ownership of those seven dark talismans. Both sides were fighting for them, sparing no means in their struggle.

Qi Yan did not want conflict, but he had no choice but to fight, because the other side had pushed too far and meant to put him to death. In such a case, he could only stake everything on one throw.

The situation was grim, especially after learning the enemy’s strength. The gap was indeed enormous. It was not a matter of who represented justice and who represented evil; such notions were useless, childish even.

If one spoke only of gain and loss, then to resist was better than waiting for death. So Qi Yan had almost no choice at all, especially since he himself was one of the holders of a dark talisman and stood at the very center of the storm.

Yan Bo and the others had spent years investigating matters concerning the Underworld Palace and the dark talismans, and they understood far more than Qi Yan did.

"Judging from the timeline, the Underworld Palace, from its first appearance to the seventh, should have emerged roughly once every two years in different places. Each time it appears, it chooses one person to become the holder of a dark talisman. If its earliest manifestation was more than ten years ago, then that makes things troublesome. If all of you had received your talismans at the same place and at the same time, that would have been ideal, but instead you were all separated..."

"The first and fourth talismans are in their hands. Of course, the holders of those two talismans must already have been consumed by the backlash and died. As for us, we have the fifth and seventh talismans. That leaves the second, third, and sixth talismans, and the identities of their holders remain unknown. This is the intelligence I currently have on both the enemy and ourselves. These are the facts I can confirm." Yan Bo analyzed it this way.

Qi Yan listened silently, then after a pause asked, "Then have you found out where the second, third, and sixth talismans are?"

Yan Bo shook his head.

"Let me finish first. I spent most of these years operating in Southeast Asia, and only after returning to Cloud Harbor City this summer did I learn about it. The other side seems to be a merchant who once lived in Cloud Harbor City. He is about my age, but later, for some reason, he left his place of origin and went all the way to Yunnan, before eventually moving on to Hunan Province."

"The reason I locked onto him was something I learned by chance during casual conversation with a fellow townsman over tea."

"Of course, I am a native of Cloud Harbor City myself, so it was a coincidence of sorts. A friend of mine knew this man and mentioned him to me in passing. He said he knew someone named He Yulong, a man who used to do a bit of business on his own. They knew each other, though not especially well, only had some dealings here and there. My friend once went to Thailand and brought back a strange amulet. Back then, protective Buddhist talismans were not yet so popular in our country, and many people did not even know what it was."

"This He Yulong was not as discreet as you are. After obtaining a dark talisman with remarkable effects, he went around boasting to others that he had acquired a treasure, and so on and so forth. Naturally, those around him sneered at him. They did not even know what it was, yet he wore it around his neck and treated it with such care as though it were some priceless prize."

"But the fact was this: after He Yulong obtained that 'treasure,' his life began to rise steadily in a very short time, and every aspect of it became much better than before. He had originally been a bitter, unlucky man full of grievance, but suddenly he became extremely self-assured, his personality inflated, and his fortune truly improved in a visible way. I do not know the exact function of that talisman, but it is easy to imagine that, at first, it brought him quite a few benefits."

"Those who had once sneered at him gradually became curious as well. Could there really be such a mystical thing? But later problems began to appear. This He Yulong had once been timid, cautious, and somewhat insecure, yet all at once he became terribly inflated, as if he were capable of anything... In truth, that should have been the influence of the dark talisman, his nerves thrown into disorder." Hearing this, Qi Yan could not help but interrupt.

"But it is not only the Underworld Palace that produces dark talismans. How do you know the talisman he obtained came from the Underworld Palace?"

"Ah..." Yan Bo gave a wry smile.

"Didn’t I just say it? That fellow knew nothing at all. He only thought he had truly picked up some extraordinary treasure. Unlike you, who keep things hidden and secret, he was always showing off to everyone. Of course that meant he also talked about how he obtained the dark talisman... There was no need to embellish it at all. He met an old monk in a mysterious black temple, and the other party simply gave him a Buddhist talisman for free... Even the story itself sounds uncanny enough."

"But my friend who knew him was just an ordinary person. Who would believe such a thing? It was only when it reached my ears that I became alarmed."

"Yet not long after, this Old He left Cloud Harbor City again for some reason and came all the way to the southwestern provinces... I only heard about it when I returned to Cloud Harbor City this summer. By then it had already been about six or seven years since. So if my friend’s account is true and the timing is more or less right, then I estimate... the talisman he held should have been the Underworld Palace's third talisman."

Li Ruoke topped up their tea and then sat down beside Qi Yan, asking, "Yan Bo, as for this man surnamed He and the information about his dark talisman... do those people know about it?"

Yan Bo sipped the newly poured tea and curled his lip.

"I think they probably still do not. Otherwise they would have made a move before us. He Yulong is not some major figure; what reason would they have to worry about him? In any case, with seven dark talismans and seven holders, across such a vast territory at home and abroad, it would not be easy for them to track down all the talisman intelligence smoothly. From what I have observed of the enemy, Xiao Yihong has not yet extended the search into South China, so they probably still do not know. And I only learned of this incident by chance when I returned home and a friend mentioned it casually. That is luck! At least in this matter, we are the ones in the lead now, because we obtained relatively accurate intelligence first."

"That is why I hurried off to Bangkok to find Xuanxuan and have her come back to help me. Meeting Qi along the way was just an unexpected bonus~" Qi Yan took up the thread.

"So now we are going to Hunan Province to find someone named He Yulong, is that it? But... even if Hunan is not far away, the area is still too large. How are you going to contact this person, Yan Bo?"

"Rest assured. The reason I have only now decided to gather everyone and act is because I have been doing everything possible to find out this man’s exact current whereabouts. Since we have brought him up now, there is certainly solid information. It is just... we should first discuss things clearly before making a decision."