Feasting

"Zhu Yu greets all senior brothers..."

As he drew near, Zhu Yu politely cupped his hands. From what he sensed, the five men's auras gave him no sense of pressure. Their cultivation was clearly not much different from his own; they were all at Early Qi Refining.

Thinking about it, that made sense. Middle Qi Refining cultivators were already qualified to rent and cultivate Mid-Grade Corpse Fields or Resentful Soul Pools in Grade C Zone. If they could rent mid-grade land, who would still linger in the low-grade area?

In response to his polite greeting, the group reacted differently.

Some dismissed him with disdain, while others nodded in return. Yet among them, a fair, plump young man whose build was no less impressive than Liang Kuan's was rather enthusiastic.

"Junior Brother Zhu, right? My name is Bai Meng. I live on the neighboring mound. Do you live up the mountain or down it?"

"Greetings, Senior Brother Bai. I live on a mound a hundred li from here." Zhu Yu politely replied, pointing toward the place shrouded in black mist. "What are you senior brothers doing here? Waiting for that senior brother inside?"

"We are waiting for him..."

Bai Meng nodded, then smiled strangely. "But we're waiting for the law enforcement disciples to deal with his corpse."

"Hm...!"

Zhu Yu's expression changed. He had thought that man had merely suffered some injuries. He had not expected him to be directly killed by the ghostly creature he had raised.

What was this...

He had raised birds for years, only to be eaten by them instead?

Bai Meng then told him why they had gathered here. There was no other reason—just two words: "eating at a banquet"...

"Eating at a banquet?"

Zhu Yu looked stunned.

No way, the Underworld Grounds had customs like this too?

Only after hearing Bai Meng's explanation did he understand. So-called "eating at a banquet" meant that after the law enforcement disciples finished handling a disciple who had suffered backlash from demons or ghosts, one could pay ten Spirit Stones to enter and search through the original owner's belongings.

No matter whether what they found was good or bad, each person could only take one item.

According to Bai Meng,

this was not a Sect rule, but an unwritten custom. Whenever a disciple met with disaster, the owners of the nearby Corpse Fields or Resentful Soul Pools had to be present. Even those who were absent had to pay five Spirit Stones for funeral expenses.

Law enforcement disciples had to take risks to slay demons and exorcise evil as well. The areas surrounding uncontrolled demons were dangerous zones. If you dared refuse to give them benefits, they dared expand the cleanup range by another circle!

If anything was lost during that time, you could only bear it yourself...

"Protection money..."

Understanding flickered in Zhu Yu's eyes. Yet the others did not look as though they were suffering losses. Instead, they looked like they were waiting to hunt for treasure. It seemed that senior brother who had been devoured by a ghostly creature had quite the substantial fortune.

Without waiting for him to ask, Bai Meng cheerfully explained it.

"Qi Yuanwu chose a Resentful Soul Pool in the Underworld Grounds. For some reason, instead of cultivating the Soul Control Art, he practiced some Beast Taming technique for raising spirit fish that he had gotten from who knew where. He even carefully raised a nest of Ghost-Faced Carp."

"That alone would have been fine. Ghost-Faced Carp are low-grade first-rank spirit fish. They can strengthen the divine soul, and their value is no less than that of raising ghostly creatures."

At this point, Bai Meng smacked his lips. "I don't know whether Qi Yuanwu cultivated until his brain went bad, but he actually tried to raise ghostly creatures with low-grade Soul Control Talismans! See? Retribution came for him..."

There was some puzzlement in his words, but even more mockery...

"Junior Brother Zhu, remember to hand over ten Spirit Stones later."

Bai Meng looked Zhu Yu up and down, smiling. "Forget about that Beast Taming technique, but there are seven or eight low-grade Ghost-Faced Carp in that nest. Their flesh is delicious and nourishing. Though they haven't reached adulthood yet, they're still worth thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones."

And that was precisely why

the others had not reacted much to Zhu Yu's arrival.

After all, each person could only choose one item. One nest of Ghost-Faced Carp was enough for them all to divide.

"Many thanks, senior brothers."

Zhu Yu cupped his hands in salute and gave Bai Meng a puzzled look. This senior brother seemed quite familiar with Qi Yuanwu. Suppressing his thoughts, he hesitated before saying,

"Is this really all right? Those law enforcement disciples..."

Even if the law enforcement disciples could not monopolize the benefits because of the unwritten custom, could an outsider like him really take a share for free?

"Don't worry. We're the ones on the same side."

Bai Meng smiled, then said meaningfully, "They wouldn't dare break the rules either..."

As they spoke, the black mist churned.

A man and a woman emerged from it. Once they had left the black mist, they stopped and fixed the group with icy, sword-sharp gazes.

"Let's go. Time to hand over the Spirit Stones and eat at the banquet."

Bai Meng gave Zhu Yu a look and walked over with a cheerful grin.

The others did the same.

Seeing this, Zhu Yu counted out ten Spirit Stones from his sleeve and followed. Things went far more smoothly than he had expected. After handing the Spirit Stones to the dead-faced woman, he entered the Resentful Soul Pool area.

He looked around.

A pond of more than two mu, dark in color and exuding wisps of black-gray vapor, came into view.

At that moment, two people were using Spiritual Power to stir up wave after wave, catching the black shadows darting through the water.

By the time Zhu Yu reached the edge of the pond,

Bai Meng emerged from a somewhat dilapidated two-story wooden house with another man and woman, shaking his head and sighing.

"Sigh, I knew they wouldn't let go of the spirit creatures Qi Yuanwu had nurtured for several years with his Beast Taming Seed..."

"Isn't that obvious..."

The woman beside him rolled her eyes irritably.

Spirit creatures irradiated and tainted by a Beast Taming Seed were excellent materials for refining beast-taming talisman artifacts and talisman plaques. There was no way the law enforcement disciples would leave them behind.

"I was just hoping for a miracle..."

Bai Meng exchanged looks with the other two, shook his head, and stopped dwelling on it. He headed straight for the Resentful Soul Pool.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Yu stepped into the wooden house. What met his eyes were rooms slashed apart as if by blades and axes, or simply punched through with huge holes.

Search for hidden compartments and the like...

Zhu Yu silently muttered to himself, then began wandering through the ruined house.

After breaking through to Qi Refining, his Divine Sense could extend three chi outward. As his divine soul grew, the True Sight Eye could also search within three chi of his body.

Step by step, he walked onward.

The deeper structural patterns of the wooden house surfaced in Zhu Yu's mind. After searching the entire house, he did find several hidden compartments, but unfortunately, they contained nothing.

He did not know whether the law enforcement disciples had taken everything or whether there had never been anything there to begin with.

Zhu Yu was not disappointed. There was still a Ghost-Faced Carp outside worth thirty Spirit Stones. Without doing anything, he could gain twenty Spirit Stones for free. Things could not have been better.

He stepped out and headed toward the Resentful Soul Pool nearby.

After taking only a few steps,

he saw a massive fish nearly two meters long, with glossy black scales and a skull-like head as jagged as a ghost's face, dragged ashore by an invisible force.

"Tsk, that kid really did have some skill. This Ghost-Faced Fish is about to draw spiritual energy into its body. It's worth at least fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones."

Watching the person drag the Ghost-Faced Fish away, Bai Meng's delight grew even stronger. The others were the same. They no longer spared their Spiritual Power, all stirring the waters of the Resentful Soul Pool.

Swept up by waves of differing forces, one Ghost-Faced Fish after another, each nearly two meters long, was flung onto the shore.

Each person picked up one fish and happily headed toward the exit.

This banquet was truly worth eating!

"I'm off, Junior Brother Zhu. Come visit me sometime when you have the time."

Bai Meng called out to Zhu Yu as he approached, then left as well.

"Alright, Senior Brother Bai. Take care."

Zhu Yu nodded in agreement. Reaching a corner of the pond, he was just about to use Spiritual Power to stir the water and catch fish when something unlike the surrounding mud appeared in his mind.

"Hm? What is that..."