Chapter 922: Familiar After Sleeping Together?

“I knew you were up to something. Was it worth it, though? You didn’t want to bind them with your blood, and now I’ve reaped the benefit,” Ye Wenxin said.

She figured out why Ghost Mother had urged her to drip blood. Ghost Mother didn’t want to waste her power, so she talked Ye Wenxin into doing it instead. But her little trick had backfired badly in the end.

Ghost Mother was fuming. Ye Wenxin stayed alert, wary she would try more nonsense.

Suddenly, Ghost Mother broke into a smile.

Ye Wenxin felt uneasy for no good reason. She watched as Ghost Mother walked toward her.

Ghosts naturally moved as if teleporting, and Ghost Mother had become even faster after her breakthrough. She stood in front of Ye Wenxin in the blink of an eye. Ye Wenxin turned serious and raised her hand, ready to flick Ghost Mother’s forehead again.

Ghost Mother’s smile widened, and her bloodlust vanished. Ye Wenxin immediately realized she was probably about to fall victim to her same old honey trap. She grabbed Ghost Mother’s wrist, intending to increase the severity of her punishment. But Ghost Mother suddenly threw herself into her arms and kissed her.

It was just a brush of the lips, yet different.

Ghost Mother quickly pulled back and added, “Forget it. You’re mine anyway.”

Ye Wenxin’s heart skipped a beat. Did Ghost Mother flirt with her?

She opened her mouth to question what new scheme Ghost Mother was planning. However, Ghost Mother had already walked away, humming a little tune.

Ye Wenxin felt like she’d lost this round. But as she looked down at the bracelet in her hand, she suddenly realized. Ghost Mother must have known about the blood-binding ritual. So, she had meant to give Ye Wenxin the four Ghost Kings from the start, yet had to do it in a roundabout way, given her personality.

Ye Wenxin’s lips curved faintly.

“Master, a group of cultivators is approaching.” One of the Ghost Kings beside her spoke. “Should we kill them?”

One Ghost Mother was equivalent to five Ghost Kings in strength, but these four were sufficient for daily dispatch. Ye Wenxin slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and said, “No need. Take these and go back to cultivate.”

The Ghost Kings accepted the spirit stones and pills she handed them. After expressing their gratitude, they quickly returned to the bracelet.

Ye Wenxin dissolved the barrier and headed back to the inn. She hadn’t gone far when guards stopped her.

“Fellow cultivator, did you see anything unusual just now?”

“I saw that giant skull in the sky,” Ye Wenxin replied.

The guards looked at her strangely, scrutinizing her expression as if trying to find some clue.

But seeing the fear on Ye Wenxin’s face and no signs of suspicious behavior, the guards quickly warned her to return immediately and not to loiter in the area. Ye Wenxin nodded, though her eyes drifted to the enormous skull still looming in the sky, so lifelike, as if declaring its presence.

Maybe Ghost Mother was asserting her existence.

Ye Wenxin couldn’t tell whether it was a blessing or a curse. Either way, she decided to rest before thinking about it.

After returning to the room, she found Han Shanxue still meditating on the bed. Han Shanxue opened her eyes to glance at her and closed them again.

Ghost Mother had already burrowed under the quilt, fast asleep, exhausted from her breakthrough.

Ye Wenxin slipped in beside her and shut her eyes.

At some point during the night, Ye Wenxin vaguely sensed Han Shanxue leaving the room, but she was too tired to pay much attention.

She slept soundly until dawn. Although she wanted to keep sleeping, the storyteller’s excited chatter woke her.

“Did you hear?” he said. “A new Ghost King appeared in the Golden Age Dynasty last night!”

What had actually emerged was a Ghost Mother, a being high above a Ghost King. Yet, it had been downgraded to a Ghost King for some reason. The storyteller hadn’t slept all night, busy gathering any information about this Ghost King. His motivation for doing so was none other than Ghost Mother.

Thinking of Ghost Mother’s cute and helpless behavior, the storyteller hoped to use his tales to charm her and maybe even take some liberties with her while at it.

But little did he know last night’s commotion had been Ghost Mother’s doing. The person herself played along, letting out cries of fear and awe.

“Ah! So scary!”

The storyteller thought his wandering hand might finally graze Ghost Mother’s waist. Suddenly, she sprang up and threw herself at Ye Wenxin, shaking in her arms.

Ye Wenxin felt like she was the one being taken liberties with.

She glanced sideways at Ghost Mother, catching the smugness in her eyes, showing off how cleverly she had handled an unwanted advance. Ye Wenxin pretended not to notice, though she casually handed her a steamed dumpling.

Ghost Mother accepted it with a slight smile.

“Why are you two suddenly so close?” asked the storyteller, looking gloomy after missing out on the last dumpling. But he quickly noticed the closeness between Ye Wenxin and Ghost Mother, almost like they’d known each other for ages, even though it had only been one night.

“We just got familiar after sleeping together,” Ghost Mother answered before Ye Wenxin could explain.

The storyteller gave an understanding look while Ye Wenxin’s heart jolted. She sensed the “sleep” Ghost Mother referred to wasn’t the innocent kind.

Thankfully, Fei Chai’s appearance quickly diverted the conversation. He yawned, casually picked up a dumpling from the table, and ate it.

“Huh?” he said, looking around for his missing master. “Where’s my master?”

“She went out early in the morning and left a note for you,” informed Ye Wenxin, handing him a slip of paper with a straightforward message.

[Gone to make money.]

Fei Chai took one look at the note, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into a bamboo basket nearby. He seemed used to Han Shanxue’s usual style.

“Make money? Brother Fei, you two have a business?”

The storyteller’s eyes gleamed, interested in this supposed enterprise.

Fei Chai awkwardly cleared his throat and replied, “It’s just some bounty work, the kind posted on those notice boards, catching bad guys and stuff.”

“But I remember seeing you two collecting lots of money from corpses. What, you already burned through it all?”

The storyteller looked even more puzzled now. He’d known that Han Shanxue and Fei Chai were broke, but this level of poverty exceeded his expectations.

Fei Chai scratched his head, looking even more embarrassed. “How do I put it… the techniques my master practices require an enormous amount of spirit stones.”

Everyone immediately knew what he meant.

There was no end to bizarre cultivation methods. Spirit stones were also the most common resource cultivators used to increase their cultivation base. Techniques that consumed large amounts of spirit stones were not unusual. However, those were reserved for heirs of great families or those with strong backers

 An ordinary cultivator relying on these techniques would struggle a hundred times harder than most.