Terrifying Neighbors

The next day, Ye Wen woke up feeling refreshed. He had no hangover whatsoever, just an incredibly powerful body, which was all that truly mattered. However, he couldn't clearly recall what had happened last night; he vaguely remembered being quite unrestrained.

As he got out of bed, he found he was alone. He chuckled to himself, A dream! It was all just a dream! Just then, the young maids came in to help Ye Wen dress.

At that moment, the Little County Princess rushed over to Ye Wen's place again, shouting at him.

"Brother Ye Wen, you're such a lazybones! Don't they say Martial Artists cultivate diligently? Why are you sleeping in every morning?"

Ye Wen's old face flushed at her words, and he forced an explanation.

"Because I'm a genius and don't need to cultivate diligently. Why are you here so early?"

"Early? The sun is already high in the sky! My sister said you promised her you'd join our Innate Mansion and asked me to bring you over this morning!"

Ye Wen, who had been blackout drunk yesterday, looked at the Little County Princess in confusion and then asked the three young maids behind him.

"Did the Grand Princess come by last night? Did I agree to join the Innate Mansion?"

The three young maids nodded affirmatively. They didn't dare say anything else, as any negative comment about the Grand Princess would have consequences they couldn't bear.

Ye Wen subconsciously touched his head and muttered.

"The Grand Princess came? And I agreed? It looks like I can never drink again. This was just agreeing to go to the Innate Mansion; imagine if I'd agreed to some terrifying conditions. The thought alone sends shivers down my spine. The Grand Princess is definitely not a good person, taking advantage of my drunkenness to make me make rash decisions."

Ye Wen followed the Little County Princess to the Innate Mansion. He suddenly asked, "Where are your guards? Why did you have to come and notify me yourself for something like this!"

At this, the usually boisterous Little County Princess blushed, a rare occurrence.

"The Innate Mansion is like the Hall of Enshrinement in our Demon Suppressing City. It's filled with talents of Innate Second Rank and above.

There's one enshrined member who's about your age, from the Western Continent. He's an incredible Mage prodigy, already a Third Rank Mage. And he's so handsome, so handsome.

But my sister warned me not to bother him, telling me not to go to the Innate Mansion to find him. My sister also said he's not a good person. How is that possible? How could such a handsome, good-looking Mage be a bad person?"

"So, the reason you're going with me... is to see him?"

Ye Wen looked at the infatuated girl. Her logic was something else: handsome and good-looking meant good, ugly meant bad. This way of thinking was truly speechless.

Upon arriving at the Innate Mansion, Ye Wen noticed that everyone had their own independent courtyard. The courtyards had very large spaces, clearly designed as training grounds for Xiantian Martial Artists.

The Little County Princess led Ye Wen to an empty courtyard. After opening the courtyard gate with a jade token, she tossed the token to Ye Wen.

"This is the formation key for this courtyard. You can control the formation's on and off switch. It's very simple; there are buttons on it, so you can figure it out yourself."

With that, she darted away like a gust of wind, presumably to go see her handsome crush. Ye Wen couldn't help but sigh.

"Obsessed fangirls will always end up getting hurt."

Just as he was about to enter the courtyard, the gate of the adjacent courtyard suddenly opened, and a disheveled old man emerged. He spotted Ye Wen preparing to enter and called out to him.

"Oh, a new arrival. Kid. Hey, kid, what cultivation system do you follow?"

Ye Wen looked at his future neighbor. The man appeared to be over sixty, but he was incredibly unkempt. As he walked closer, a foul odor wafted from him, a stench of decay.

Ye Wen wasn't sure what system the man cultivated, but it was likely Martial Dao, as that was the mainstream.

"Martial Dao, Innate Third Rank."

Upon hearing that the kid cultivated Martial Dao and was already Innate Third Rank, the disheveled old man stopped halfway. Without another word, he returned to his courtyard and closed the gate.

Ye Wen watched the old man's actions curiously and muttered to himself.

"What a strange person!"

Just then, the gate opposite opened, and a burst of laughter erupted.

"Haha, that Old Ghost Wu is afraid of you. His precious Corpse Wife is extremely vulnerable to Martial Artists of the same rank. Suppressed by a Martial Artist's aura, his Third Rank strength can only be half utilized."

"Corpse Wife? Is Old Ghost Wu cultivating Walking Corpses?"

When Ye Wen had read about the cultivation of Walking Corpses in a book, he had found it incredibly disgusting. "He actually treats his cultivated Walking Corpse as his wife, how perverted!"

Ye Wen responded to the laughter, saying, "Haha, you're wrong. It's not that he treats his cultivated Walking Corpse as his wife; it's that he turned his wife into a Walking Corpse! Pretty twisted, right? Hahahaha!"

At that moment, the closed courtyard gate opened again, and out stepped a female corpse that seemed to have just climbed out of a coffin. She looked decayed, both ugly and disgusting, and the stench of decay made it even more nauseating.