Haunted

Bright moonlight spilled into the alleys of Stone Bell City, while melodious music drifted from the tavern like a nocturne.

Through the windows, the blazing hearth inside could be seen, casting a warmly inviting glow.

The wooden sign above the entrance bore the words "Golden Wheat Tavern."

Sunan pushed open the wooden door and stepped inside, immediately greeted by noise and revelry.

The air was thick with the scent of hormones, mixed with the pungent smell of alcohol.

Rough men drank and played finger-guessing games, while scantily clad waitresses weaved between the tables with trays in hand, their pale thighs dazzling the eye.

Sunan familiarly found a table in the corner, sat down, and slipped several silver coins into the cleavage of a passing waitress.

"The usual."

The waitress gave him a seductive wink before bringing over a mug of ale and some food.

The ale had a low alcohol content, little aroma, a rough texture, cloudy liquor, and a sour taste. Yet even such drink was a rare indulgence for the common folk, and most people were satisfied with ordering just one mug.

Sunan rarely drank, but the alcohol he had tasted was generally top-quality brew. The tavern's inferior ale was truly hard for him to swallow.

The food was prepared in equally simple fashion. There was no pepper, MSG, soy sauce, honey, cream, or other seasonings—only boiling or grilling followed by a sprinkling of salt.

In this world, sugar was considered a luxury, while spices were even more expensive and generally appeared only on noble tables.

Sunan had ordered ale and food merely to fit in and avoid standing out too much in a tavern.

Under normal circumstances, taverns were ideal places for bragging and showing off. All sorts of drunkards could be heard boasting about their past glories, so after arriving in Stone Bell City, Sunan came to the tavern every evening to sit for a while and gather information.

At other times, he secretly investigated the area around the Starfire Cult's stronghold in Stone Bell City, which he had extracted from the Black Sword Knight during interrogation.

Unfortunately, he had gained nothing for three days in a row.

If I still can't find anything tonight, I'll grab someone and interrogate them.

Sunan silently pondered.

Just then, a conversation from the neighboring table reached his ears.

"Have you heard? Kubeiro Baronet's manor north of the city is haunted."

"Ghosts? Stop talking nonsense. How could ghosts possibly exist in this world?"

"I'm serious. My brother-in-law serves under Kubeiro Baronet. After the manor became haunted, Lord Kubeiro moved out. Later, he sent several knights inside, but days passed without anyone coming back out. Now the entire manor has been sealed off!"

"Really? Even knights died?"

"If it really is ghosts, then it's only normal for knights to be unable to beat them."

"Speaking of which, is the ghost male or female?"

"What, Lance? You're interested even if it's a female ghost?"

"Hehe, if she's pretty, why not?"

The group burst into laughter, and the topic quickly shifted to women and matters below the belt.

Sunan, seated nearby, revealed a thoughtful expression.

Ghosts did indeed exist in this world.

The most common kind were spirits.

Generally speaking, those who died violent deaths were the most likely to become spirits.

Spirits looked the same as they had in life, and in most cases, traces of the violence that caused their deaths could be seen on them.

However, spirits were not very harmful. Even if they possessed a human, they would only make the person feel a sudden chill.

Ordinary humans also found it difficult to see spirits.

Moreover, spirits could not be exposed to sunlight. Under the sun, they became weak and powerless, and before long, they would vanish into ashes.

Even without sunlight, spirits generally could not survive for long in the material world.

If spirits were considered harmless, then vengeful souls were the true type of ghosts capable of killing humans.

Vengeful souls usually harbored extremely intense hatred in life. Even after death, they could not rest in peace, instead transforming into undead creatures bent solely on revenge.

Fully formed vengeful souls could absorb a human's vitality through contact, or use mental hypnosis to control humans with weak willpower.

These incorporeal creatures were immune to physical damage and extremely deadly to ordinary people. Only knights who had mastered battle aura could harm them.

If vengeful souls killed enough humans and absorbed enough soul energy, they would evolve into powerful evil spirits.

Evil spirits usually possessed an earthbound nature, claiming a territory and transforming it into a Ghost Domain.

Fully formed evil spirits feared neither sunlight nor physical damage. Let alone knights—even Grand Knights might not be able to deal with them.

Beyond evil spirits were Evil Spirit Aberrations, evil gods, and more.

Among them, evil gods were terrifying beings capable of bringing disaster upon an entire nation.

The appearance of every evil god was often accompanied by the fall of a country.

Judging from what those drunkards had said, if Kubeiro Manor really was haunted, then an evil spirit was most likely behind it.

"An evil spirit..."

Sunan felt a faint stir of interest.

Evil spirits were excellent materials for creating Soul Crystals.

If he could obtain a Soul Crystal, he would be able to create a puppet even stronger than the Blackrock Panther.

"Forget it. For now, I should focus on the Starfire Cult. It won't be too late to investigate the evil spirit afterward."

After listening for information a while longer, Sunan rose and headed upstairs.

The Golden Wheat Tavern also provided lodging, and he had stayed in one of its rooms these past few days.

Not far away, several waitresses watched Sunan's departing figure as he went upstairs and whispered among themselves.

"I bet he's a noble. He has more presence than Young Master Elvin, the second son, whom I saw before—and he's even more handsome."

"How could Young Master Elvin compare to him? Yesterday, I accidentally bumped into his arm. Goodness, those muscles were so firm. He clearly doesn't look bulky, but I never expected him to be so well-built."

"Has the little girl gone into heat?"

"Pah, I don't believe you're not tempted too!"

"Hehe, if you really want him, go knock on his door tonight. Use the excuse of asking whether he wants a massage. Maybe you'll get a little one-night romance."

"That's not a bad idea. Sandy, if you're not going, then I won't hold back."

"I never said I wasn't going. Just wait, I'll test his stamina tonight!"

The waitresses laughed and jostled together, drawing heated looks from quite a few nearby patrons.

Late at night.

Sandy had deliberately changed into a shorter waitress uniform and lowered her neckline before arriving outside Sunan's room. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock!

There was no response.

"Sir, would you like a massage service?"

Sandy knocked several more times, but there was still no response.

"Did he fall asleep?"

Sandy immediately felt discouraged.

At that moment, the door beside her creaked open. A man poked his head out, and when he saw Sandy, a lecherous grin immediately appeared on his face.

"Your tavern provides massage services too? Get me one as well!"

Sandy swept her gaze across the man's fleshy face and said expressionlessly, "Sorry, the tavern does not provide that kind of service."

"But I clearly heard you just now."

"You heard wrong!"

Without waiting for the man to respond, Sandy turned and left without looking back.

At that very moment, Sunan's room had long been empty.