For a while afterward, Chen Mo's days settled into a steady routine.
He spent most of the daytime at home, watching over the Ghost Banner Daoist as he extracted silk and refined souls.
The Silk Extraction Art was quite a spectacle to behold.
The Ghost Banner Daoist sat cross-legged in the center of the ritual array, the Grudge Soul Guide suspended before him, all ten fingers moving ceaselessly as though plucking a zither.
Strands of grayish-white vengeful soul silk slowly emerged from its patterns, then were carefully collected in a black earthenware jar.
At first, Chen Mo watched for two to four hours at a time. Later, he grew bored and simply brought a recliner into the courtyard, cultivating while he basked in the sun.
Rice Ball sprawled on his chest, occasionally lifting its head to beg for a mouthful of lunar yin power.
Once full, it rolled belly-up and slept soundly. When it woke, it raced around the courtyard, then came back to nuzzle his fingers when it tired.
Occasionally, he also dropped by the Eastern District Inspection Bureau to put in an appearance.
Now that both Ma and Wang had been dealt with, showing up at the Inspection Bureau was entirely optional.
If anything truly happened, they would send someone to notify Chen Mo.
This state of affairs left Deputy Director Zhou Peiwen dumbfounded.
He had originally planned to find an opportunity to put in a good word for Chen Mo, never expecting things to turn out this way.
Unaware of the truth, he assumed Chen Mo had secured the backing of some important figure, and became increasingly amiable whenever they met.
Chen Mo did not know whether to laugh or cry, but could not be bothered to explain.
He could let the man guess.
Every three to