...

The scrawny scholar's face flushed red.

"Hey, shopkeeper, I'll pay for his money."

Seeing someone appear, the shopkeeper took the money and released his grip.

"Heh heh, you scholar, don't try to fool people with these things next time."

"Hey, I thought there was a good show to watch."

"Let's disperse, let's disperse."

"Many thanks to this Brother for helping me, your great kindness is difficult to repay..."

"Stop, stop, stop."

Lu Qing stopped him. Now it was his turn to make a 'righteous' move. This was certainly for some consideration, but it was also something Lu Qing would never usually do.

"Scholar, where did you exchange that money?"

Lu Qing cut short the young scholar's rambling about how he couldn't repay him.

As soon as he arrived here, he encountered this strange incident. Seeing the paper money, Lu Qing knew there must be some story behind it. Right now, Lu Qing needed stories. He hadn't traveled far in the mundane world, but certain thoughts and insights filled the sketches in his heart.

The scholar tidied his clothes and gave an address.

"I exchanged it at Lin's Money Shop."

Lin's Money Shop.

"Customer, are you here to deposit money?"

Seeing Lu Qing walk in, Lin came over with a chuckle.

Lin's Money Shop was in a corner of the south city. After Lu Qing learned the address from that unlucky scholar, he walked towards it.

Kyoto was very large, but Lu Qing was no longer a person walking with a heavy load and feeling weak. He arrived in just two or three steps.

"Lin, I heard someone say you sell paper figures and money here?"

"Oh dear, customer, you mustn't speak nonsense. Our money shop has always operated with a conscience since ancient times. How could we give such unlucky things to people?"

"If you need to buy incense, candles, paper money, or ingots, please turn left then right."

Lin's face immediately changed.

If Lu Qing hadn't still been a customer, Lin probably would have immediately kicked him out.

"Tsk, people do things, Heaven watches."

Lu Qing wasn't annoyed. On the contrary, while others dared not say it, seeing this Lin at first glance, Lu Qing had already achieved the purpose of his trip.

As for the question, it was just a casual inquiry.

Lin's central hall was dark, not a good sign.

"Cough cough, customer, please wait! Where did you hear about the paper figure money?"

Lu Qing hadn't expected things to sort themselves out naturally. Even though Lin didn't say anything, a young apprentice inside actually ran out and specifically sought him.

"Apprentice, that thing is very strange, isn't it?"

Lu Qing asked with a smile.

The young apprentice was startled, then immediately reacted, "Master!"

"Expert!"

"Save us!"

"There are ghosts in the money shop!"

"Speak slowly, I'm not in a hurry."

The apprentice immediately became anxious, "No, that ingot hasn't left. Three or four people have already died, all suppressed..."

Although the young apprentice's words were jumbled at first, seeing an expert appear later, he gradually calmed down and recounted 'everything' one by one.

It turned out that Lin's Money Shop was fine before, but just before the Qingming rain last time, Lin went to the outskirts to worship Buddha. On the way back, he saw a stone pressing down on a gold ingot.

At the time, they didn't think too much about it, only assuming it had been dropped by officials and nobles passing by on the road.

As Lu Qing listened, he actually roughly pieced together the psychology of the money shop's Lin in his mind.

A stone pressing down on a gold ingot was a bit strange.

But it was like this: if you believed, there was nothing; if you didn't believe, there was a gold ingot.

People who had dealt with money for most of their lives all believed that gold ingot was real.

Later, no one came looking for the lost item.

But it was after this incident.

Some paper money inexplicably appeared inside the money shop.

This paper money couldn't be cleared away.

Even if they were burned, the same amount would still be in the original spot.

Some customers came to withdraw money, and it was fine when they received it, but upon leaving the money shop, the money they held also contained this paper money...

These things caused temporary panic, but not enough to stop working inside the money shop.

But later, the gold ingot started killing people.

"That Sixth, I knew him. He was originally a clever young fellow, but then he suddenly went mad, kept saying'saw the gold ingot, saw the gold ingot'."

"After that, he died. The second one..."

The young apprentice was almost crying by the end of his story. Some apprentices had already taken leave and gone back to their hometowns, only to die as well.

The scholar's case wasn't the first.

Originally, such strange events should have attracted the attention of the authorities.

But even when the government constables came, they didn't find any problems.

In addition, with more things happening in Kyoto recently and more important people around, the attention on their money shop in the south of the city wasn't that high.

After chattering on and on.

The thread in Lu Qing's mind became increasingly clear.

His gaze penetrated the money shop at that moment, seeing the glittering gold ingot pressed inside the bottom layer of the wooden box. Threads of blood qi connected everyone in the money shop.

But in less than a second, Lu Qing turned his gaze back.

"Apprentice, you are bullying the dead because they can't speak..."

"Take care of yourselves."

Lu Qing said no more.

Almost as soon as that thread appeared, Lu Qing's mind also became clearer upon seeing that gold ingot.

The saying 'people do things, Heaven watches' was truly real here.

Lu Qing naturally wouldn't interfere with the Karma here. The money shop's Karma was secondary.

The focus actually fell on the Celestial Master's Dharma Combat Assembly the day after tomorrow.

There were sorcerers making a move.

"Royalty, Taoists, Monks..."

"These three parties are also connected."

By this point, Lu Qing had clearly realized that the Karma capable of arousing his curiosity and driving him to take a look at this time was indeed not that simple.

It was tricky, of course, but with one thing repaid by another, Lu Qing treated it entirely as watching a play.

The money shop was just the final link in killing people, burying corpses, and seizing treasures.

What the young apprentice said was also downplaying the severity. It was likely that the Qingming that day was not that simple at all, like just picking up a gold ingot seen on the road.

That might fool children.

"Master! Master!"

The young apprentice immediately regretted it.

"Monsters! They say monsters are the most cunning and tricky, but right now, it's human hearts that are malicious."

Lu Qing's figure flickered, and he had already appeared on another road.

He reappeared on a small path in the outskirts of Kyoto, looking at the faint bloodstains in the soil.

That malicious resentment and hatred were almost solidifying into a mass of malevolent poison, even more potent than mere malevolent qi.

The soil underneath was almost becoming a place to nourish corpses. Originally, someone should have set up a formation here for eternal damnation, but reaching an extreme point also created a sliver of hope.

"Stabilize your rationality, the wronged have a head, the debt has an owner, do not harm the innocent."

Lu Qing silently recited an incantation. A piece of white light condensed from his fingertip and quickly transformed into a sheet that covered this path.

On the other side, there were also sorcerers who were unwilling to be idle and had accepted Lin's commission.

There was nothing he could do. Although Lin cared about his reputation, he was also afraid of death.

But he didn't dare to find those who were too righteous, so he could only look for outsiders.

...