CH10: Haunted

Chapter10: Haunted

After what I could tell is four hours of travelling under the heat of the sun while we sat inside the old wooden carriage, the coachman told us that we will be stopping for a while. The four of us settled in an Inn of the Táng Village which is one of the famous places to rest for these travellers, the place was quite full of travelling cultivators who are diligently being served with their food by the Inn helpers. The smell of the food filled the first floor of the inn which is similar to a tavern. We sat in an empty table in the middle area and Qi Fei ordered us our meal, the coachman only bought some dumplings before going back to his carriage to also take care of the horses which are pulling the carriage. I quietly sat beside Yīhán while Qi Fei and Li Qian sat in front of us. As we waited for our food, Qi Fei strikes up a conversation to keep us entertained.

Qi Fei leaned a little closer to the table, "Hey, do you guys know that this Inn is haunted?" He whispered as he grinned, eyeing us to see our reactions. As to be expected, Li Qian had a curious look on him, Qi Fei took notice of this and chuckled proudly as he fanned himself. 

This guy and his antics... Good luck Li Qian, I hope you won't lose yourself too, he already got Yīhán on his palm. 

"You see, many said that all travellers who stayed in this inn for the night never came out, why do you guys think is the reason?" Qi Fei spoke in a playful tone as he further attempts to excite us, but only Li Qian did. At least someone has his back on this...? It's sad though.

"Huh... I think that story is familiar, but isn't it just an old story to scare the children?" Li Qian curiously asked. Qi Fei chuckled as he fanned himself.

He immediately spoke, "It was, but it came to life! Didn't expect that did you?"

As our food finally arrived, he told Li Qian to eat his food first and spare a little leftover, so he won't be haunted. Li Qian openly spoke about his disappointment of not being able to hear the whole story. 

"Li Qian, don't let Qi Fei bother you. Ghost are just ghost, if it's not just kill it and be done with it." Just why are people so interested in that subject? Why care about it if it doesn't help? But then, my grandmother had always been very superstitious, and it's probably not good to say what I said, but it is what is. 

Just let them do what they want, Xi Yin. 

Li Qian eagerly nodded and started eating his food after Qi Fei had a bite from his food, is it because Qi Fei was the one who ordered? Or is he checking first if the food is not poisoned? Why am I always suspicious of everyone anyway? But, if it isn't that, table ettiquete is really strange, I didn't have to do much of those because I was mostly alone.

As we ate in silence, a status update hovered in front of my face to which made me frown. 

⟨⟨Warning! A fight shall begin soon!⟩⟩ 

I spread my consciousness within the whole area of the small village and saw a group of men wearing red robes. 

Why does trouble always comes after us?

⟨⟨New Quest Available!⟩⟩ 

I took a deep breath and reviewed the details anyway. I could use more points and hopefully another treasure, a real one. I'm not even sure if I should consider the egg a treasure, whenever it crosses my mind, I secretly imagine egg related dishes. 

⟨⟨Quest: Confront the group of men in red robes. Special Condition: Entertain us.⟩⟩

What? 

Who is 'us?' Maybe it's just the system. Yes, that should be it. It's not like someone here can control my system. 

Although I was very curious, I set it aside and decided to focus on the quest at the moment and after this, I really should try that fusion feature of the system. It's making me anxious that I kept being obstructed to do it. 

I cleared my throat and spoke, "I will be back, take charge, Qi Fei." Although he seemed really curious, Qi Fei replied. "Yes, alright. Come back soon, or I will eat your food myself!"

I grimaced as I imagined him touching my food, I hate that the most... 

That's disgusting that it made me actually like one of the table manners that I was taught by my grandparents.

I pulled a small loot from my sleeves and threw it on Qi Fei before I turned around to leave, that should keep his hands away from my food.

As the coachman saw me walking out of the Inn, he kindly offered to bring me to where I wished to go, but I declined. This guy would be dead if he goes with me. I continued to walk towards a small forest area where I saw a small gazebo earlier, the walk towards the forest was peaceful, but as I approached the gazebo, I immediately became the center of attention. Some of them were hanging out at the tall bamboo trees around the area, are they a panda? 

"Oh? Are you lost?" One of the men asked, he grinned after scanning me with his golden eyes. What an odd question or do I only think so because of the impression that gangs from the real world left me? 

I blankly stared at him, his men around him started to look at me with hostility. 

I admit that their appearance is imposing with those bulky muscles, but what good is it if we have cheat techniques, but these guys seem to be practicing the Dao of Body Cultivation, so I should still remain careful, it shouldn't be underestimated.

Shrugging off, I continued to walk closer to the gazebo and sat with the group. I'm not tired, I just really want to sit, but neither would I be stupid to fight with these men, perhaps I should make use of them instead.

What's the point on making more troubles for myself? It's not as if I'm required to do all the quest from the system.

The man laughed loudly and told one of the other men who has been standing very closely behind him to bring him more liquor, the man quietly obeyed him and filled his cup, actually I thought that he would give me a cup of liquor.

I guess I'm expecting too much? Now that made me miss drinking beer on a friday.

"Who might our visitor be?" He asked with a huge grin, no matter how I look at him, he just reminds me of a huge docile bear with some scars here and there. I think this would insult them if I had told him so.

I honestly didn't expect to meet such a polite person from a gang.

"It's unnecessary." I bluntly answered as I read through his character data. According to his data, his name is Hong Mu Kong, Mu meant admired, while Gong with its seven strokes meant gift, his parents must've really loved him. That aside, the data also indicated that he's the leader of an infamous gang which the previous leader called Sky Defying Gang.

What a fancy name.

 I wonder if these guys are familiar with the gang who was being blamed for the kidnapping cases? The system never mentioned any name, I should've asked Qing Fei. Maybe, I should really start talking more, not just in my head like this.

I stared straight into his eyes and spoke, I don't really plan to beat around the bush. His eyes glimmered with amusement as he listened to what I said. "You're after the ghost of the Inn, are you? Make a deal with me, I know you and your followers aren't capable to do what you wanted to do, but I can."

"So that's why you approached us so confidently! Good, Good! You certainly have a backbone on you, Boy!" He downed his cup of liquor in an instant and laughed loudly. His men also laughed and most of them left us alone and scattered around as they whispered among themselves, they were talking about how stupid I am. Not surprising and very generic, the author could've done a better job.

But what these men did is an act of insult, it shows that they do not put me in their eyes. Normally, I would ignore it or kill them, but from what I could understand about their principles, they would only be respectful to me if they think I'm strong, which means that I'll have to fight with them either way. That sucks.

Sighing, I stood up and walked away from the gazebo, I looked around and spotted two silhouette among the tall bamboo trees, they were being watched this whole time, and they didn't even know. The owners of the silhouettes are cultivators from the Golden Core Formation Realm. "I take it that you do not trust my capability? How about a little demonstration."

I stood quietly for a moment, feeling the gentle wind. I took one step and immediately appeared behind the two men in-hiding, with a wave of my palm, a strong gust of wind broke the bamboo trees with the men aimlessly flying in the air, they earned several cuts from the sharp edges of the broken woods as they roughly hit the dirt in front of the gazebo, creating cracks on the ground. As I only used the strength of my body to create such an attack without utilizing my spiritual energy, it should help me earn the favor of this gang.