Before You Eat Me, I'll Cross You Over

Silence fell outside the cafeteria entrance.

The many Yin Spirits stared at Wang Quan with strange expressions.

Those who had not witnessed last night's scene were especially frightened and curious.

"How did he do that?"

"Aren't these Evils undying and indestructible?"

"Don't you have to keep killing them for a thousand years, or even several thousand, to destroy them completely?"

"Could some mighty cultivator have already spent thousands of years killing these things before we came?"

The cultivator who had descended in his true body gave the Yin Spirits a contemptuous look. "Shut up!"

"Don't disturb our Dao brother of the People-Crossing Scripture!"

The Yin Spirits were stunned.

Why was this cultivator who had descended in his true body defending a Yin Spirit? He had even called him his Dao brother!

Just who was this man?

Was he a member of some great power? A descendant of a great Lineage?

At that moment, Wang Quan pulled open the left door again, ready to recite the People-Crossing Scripture.

On the door, the green-faced, fang-toothed ghost face sprouted two hands and repeatedly bowed with them clasped. "Spare me, master!"

"I'm just a doorkeeper!"

"This cafeteria has nothing to do with me!"

"Don't kill me!"

Wang Quan smiled. "I won't kill you. I'll only cross you over!"

As he spoke, he recited the People-Crossing Scripture.

The ghost face launched into a torrent of curses. "You're treating Evil lives like grass!"

"You'll die a horrible death!"

"You... ah... it hurts!"

One recitation...

Three recitations...

Five recitations...

The ghost face turned into a wisp of blue smoke and vanished completely.

The First-Turn Outer Elixir rotated, replenishing his Dharma Power.

"Let's go!"

Wang Quan led the cultivator who had descended in his true body into the cafeteria.

The other Yin Spirits wanted to enter, but Wang Quan shut the door a moment later.

When the Yin Spirits pushed the door open again and entered, they found the cafeteria brightly lit, with sumptuous dishes neatly arranged on table after table. Many cafeteria employees stared fixedly at them, but Wang Quan and the other cultivator were nowhere to be seen.

"Dear guests, it's time to eat!"

"Would you like steamed buns? Pig's trotters? Or monkey brains?"

The Yin Spirit cultivators saw that the pig's trotters were human hands, and the monkey brains were human brains. As for the steamed buns...

Space shifted:

Wang Quan and the other cultivator looked at the cafeteria hung with green lanterns, then at the many dishes singing and dancing on the tables. The sight struck them as strange and absurd.

He saw:

White steamed buns sprouting arms and legs, holding flatbreads aloft and wielding chopsticks as they battled cornmeal buns.

He saw pig's trotters carrying a plate with a steaming goose perched on it, running wildly across the floor.

He saw nine-turn braised intestines locked in a strangling struggle with snake soup.

He saw apples and peaches picking the spines off a dragon fruit, making it roll around its plate in pain.

A potato riding a fried dough stick saw Wang Quan and the other cultivator, froze for a moment, then screamed, "Humans!"

"Actual living humans!"

"They've come to eat us!"

At that scream, the bustling cafeteria instantly fell silent.

Clatter!

The chopsticks fell from a steamed bun's hands.

A moment later, a roast chicken came racing over and slapped the potato on the head. "Idiot! We're Evils now. We're the ones who eat humans. What human would dare eat us?"

As it spoke, the roast chicken spread its wings and shouted, "Brothers, eat them!"

The Evil dishes froze for a moment, then raised their arms and shouted, "Eat them!"

"Eat them!"

Wang Quan sneered and rubbed his hands together.

A moment later, a bolt of Great Yin Yin Thunder appeared, trailing pale red light as it landed on the roast chicken's head.

Boom!

The Yin Thunder exploded. Thunderfire swept across a radius of seventy or eighty feet, blasting the belligerent Evil dishes away.

Black smoke poured from the roast chicken's entire body.

The other cultivator pointed a finger. "Freeze!"

A moment later, the roast chicken could not move at all.

Then the cultivator crooked his finger, and the Evil roast chicken landed directly in front of Wang Quan.

Wang Quan lowered his head and smiled. "Before you eat me, I'll cross you over!"

Bili bili!

Jili gulu!

Under the strange gazes of the many Evil dishes, Wang Quan recited the People-Crossing Scripture.

The People-Crossing Scripture rang out.

Although it was not directed at the other Evil dishes, it still made their hair stand on end.

Some plates sprouted legs and hid beneath the tables, trembling.

A moment later, the tables and stools cautiously moved their four legs, steadily retreating into the distance.

The Evil dishes jumped onto plates, frantically urging them to flee.

Yet the plates merely trembled, grabbing pots, bowls, and ladles and pulling them over their heads.

One recitation...

Three recitations...

Five recitations...

The Evil roast chicken turned into a wisp of blue smoke and disappeared.

Wang Quan's expression grew grave.

Beside him, the other cultivator scanned their surroundings warily. "This cafeteria is far more terrifying than the Great Tomb."

Even if there were not ten thousand dishes here, there were at least seven or eight thousand.

If they included the tables, chairs, stools, pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, and even the things stored in the kitchen, the number became even more terrifying.

Even a random Evil from the cafeteria required five recitations of the People-Crossing Scripture to eliminate. They were far stronger than the Evils in the Great Tomb.

"Dao brother, why don't we try another building?" the other cultivator asked anxiously.

Wang Quan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "There's no need!"

"Since the Evils in this cafeteria are so powerful, the benefits will surely be tremendous if we can clear it out completely!"

The other cultivator nodded.

After they cleared the Great Tomb, the Second-Layer World had rewarded him based on his past contributions, allowing him to take a great stride toward Foundation Establishment.

If they could deal with this place, the rewards from the Second-Layer World would surely be even greater.

"But... how long will it take if we keep clearing them out like this?"

Wang Quan smiled. "There's no rush. We'll take our time!"

As he spoke, he replenished his Dharma Power, then fixed his gaze on a bowl.

Just as he was about to continue reciting the People-Crossing Scripture, footsteps sounded.

Wang Quan looked toward the sound and saw an enormously fat man weighing three or four hundred jin lumbering over with an iron wok and a ladle. "Human, don't take things too far."

"We haven't offended you. Why must you hunt us down to the last one?"

The other cultivator shuddered slightly. "This fellow feels about as strong as the general in the Great Tomb."

"Once the fighting starts, leave this place immediately!"

Wang Quan nodded and smiled. "I'm not hunting you down to the last one. I'm helping you."

The fat man grinned viciously, about to retort.

But Wang Quan continued, "You know the general in the Great Tomb, don't you?"

"Once he learned I'd mastered the People-Crossing Scripture, he came running over and begged me to cross him over."

At those words, the fat man fell silent.

Wang Quan smiled and continued, "I don't know what you truly are, but I believe humanoid Evils like you should still retain some memories and thoughts from when you were alive."

"You don't actually want to be like this!"

"Am I right?"

"Now I've come to help you!"

"You should thank me, not oppose me, much less hurl abuse at me."

The fat man...

Wang Quan continued, "I've come bearing sincerity and kindness."

"You need to understand that and accept it!"

The fat man suddenly laughed. "You're an interesting cultivator!"

"Did the Great Tomb General really ask you for help?"

Wang Quan nodded. "That's right. I have no reason to lie to you!"

The fat man was silent for a while. "Even if you were lying, I wouldn't know."

Wang Quan...

"Friend, you can bring over an enemy whose strength is about equal to yours. When you fight, I'll have someone help you restrain him, then cross him over."

"Once I've crossed him over to a certain extent, he should regain his sense of self."

"Then he'll willingly ask me to cross him over."

The fat man shook his head. "In this place, only the Great Tomb General and I still have some memories from when we were alive. The other beings... have no memories left at all."