Chapter 317 - Encounter, Brothel Female Ghosts
“Cultivators, I really am sorry.”
The lady hurriedly apologized to Li Nianfan and the girls. Then, she said softly, “I wasn’t trying to hide the truth on purpose. It would be bad if my husband knew that you guys are cultivators.”
Li Nianfan asked curiously, “Why? Perhaps your village is discriminative against cultivators?”
“Ha, nothing like that. Please feel free to stay.” The lady avoided the topic. She helped Li Nianfan tidy the room.
Soon, a bedroom was ready for them.
“I won’t be disturbing you all anymore.” The lady closed the door.
Nanan immediately pouted and sneered, “Hm, this village is super weird. I feel like everyone here has issues.”
“It is indeed problematic. Why would ordinary people be repulsed by cultivators?”
Li Nianfan scratched his chin and frowned. “Also, on our way here, everyone looks like they had something on their minds. That guy was weak and fragile too. It is indeed abnormal.”
He had medical skills so he knew the villagers were weak. Some men were weaker than the ladies.
‘That guy is weak and wanted to eat Ginseng to make up for it?’
Li Nianfan could not understand it. ‘Was the guy trying to rely on Ginseng to look better?’
Nanan glanced at something. She suddenly said, “Brother Nianfan, wait for me.”
Then, she energetically went out the door.
Li Nianfan could only remind her at the back. “Don’t go anywhere too far!”
Soon, Nanan was back.
She could not stop smiling.
She had a package in her hand. She gave it to Li Nianfan, “Brother Nianfan, look.”
He opened the package. There was a palm-sized Ginseng inside the package.
“Where did you get this?” Li Nianfan arched his eyebrow. He already guessed it.
“Hehe, that fella took the silver and went to buy Ginseng instantly. I saw that he went into the alleyway. I easily took it. No worries, I’m a professional.”
Nanan joyfully said, “I’m not going to let him spend our silver. He’s not a good fella!”
Li Nianfan asked, “You didn’t hurt anyone, right?”
“No.”
“Good. Be civilized.”
Li Nianfan nodded. He thought it was weird.
‘He took the silver to instantly buy Ginseng? Did he like to eat Ginseng that much?’
It was unusual.
Creak!
The door opened. Then, they heard the middle-aged man in a scolding voice, “Damn unlucky, I’m so pissed off! My Ginseng was gone just like that!”
He was not sober yet. He could not walk straight, he did not know what happened.
The lady held a cup of tea. “Drink some tea to sober up first.”
“Move, it’s all your fault, you unlucky lady! Stop bothering me!”
The middle-aged man did not even look at her. He held the alcohol jar again and laid on the floor, living a wasted life.
“That b*stard!”
Nanan rolled up her sleeves. She was going to punish him but she was stopped by Li Nianfan.
“Mind your business, we are just overnight stayers.”
It was soon dark.
The lady came over and knocked on the door. “Cultivators, do you need to eat?”
“No, thanks, lady.”
The lady left.
They were about to eat in the yard. The food was simple, it was mainly steamed bread.
The middle-aged man crawled up from the ground and simply ate some steamed bread. His drunken face suddenly became shocked. It was as if he was expecting something.
Slowly, it was nighttime.
Layers of dark clouds covered the sky like a curtain, engulfing the small village.
The bright moon was high up in the sky with decorative stars around it. It was as if it became the only light source of the realm.
The night was chilly.
Li Nianfan was feeling slightly troubled in the room. He was thinking of where to head next.
The Southwest area was too wide and vague. The Immortal Realm did not have maps either, it was worse than his past realm.
Li Nianfan looked at the night sky and yawned. He was ready to sleep.
‘I can only plan as I go.’
Nanan and Dragin were practicing their cultivation at the side. He felt very safe.
Li Nianfan was woken up by some bickering at midnight.
“Where are you going? Don’t leave!”
“Move aside, stop minding my business!”
“Don’t go. Are you crazy? I forbid you to go!”
Then, it ended with a ‘slap’.
They heard the sound of the door being opened and footsteps leaving.
Li Nianfan was not as sleepy anymore.
Nanan looked livid. “Brother Nianfan, that guy is so horrible. He hit a lady. Can we teach him a lesson?”
Li Nianfan noticed something was off. “Let’s wait and see.”
The lady looked like the passive type. The situation must be very serious for her to fight with him like that.
“Easy, check this out!”
Dragin smiled, exposing her two pointy canine teeth. She pointed with her two fingers and created two thin veils of ripple waves.
Then, she drew in the air. A circular water ring was formed in thin air.
She cast a spell and pointed at the water ring.
“Look at my Water Mirror Spell.”
A thin layer of bubble covered the top of the water ring. It gleamed and became a mirror. Images started to appear in the mirror.
The middle-aged man was in the mirror.
‘F*ck, that is awesome!’
Li Nianfan was astounded. His first reaction was of the legendary skill, the Otaku Gospel!
He could see anything at any angle. Wait, ew…
He was being perverted, he had to snap out of it.
Dragin tilted her head. She was waiting to be complimented, “Brother, am I awesome?”
“Awesome, super awesome.”
Li Nianfan was super envious. It was too nice to be a cultivator. He wanted to become a cultivator more than ever.
He focused on the Water Mirror.
The middle-aged man hurriedly walked on the village roads. He looked like he was anticipating something.
He went to a place where a lot of men gathered. They were all chased out from their houses.
They all looked pale and scrawny. They were lethargic in the daytime but they were energetic at night.
“Everyone is here, right? Let’s go. Let’s not be late!”
“Yeah, don’t keep the beautiful ladies waiting. Hurry up, I can’t wait any longer.”
“Oh yeah, Dashan. Your house has three cultivators, do you know that?”
Dashan was the name of that middle-aged man. He had a change in the face and scolded, “What? That b*tch. Why would she let cultivators stay at the house for no reason?”
Everyone was slightly concerned. “You didn’t attract the attention of cultivators, right?”
Dashan brushed it off. “Don’t worry. I didn’t. Also, those three don’t look all that to me. They won’t pay attention to us.”
Somebody asked, “Will your b*tch beg for the cultivators’ help and ruin our fun?”
“If she dares to, I’ll rip her skin off!” Dashan sneered, “Stop talking. Let’s go.”
“Wait for us.”
They heard someone calling them from behind. An old man and a youngster walked over.
“Chief?”
Everyone was stunned. Then, they all smirked perversely. “You’re an old man, won’t you be shocked to death over there?”
The old Chief replied, “I’m old, but I got a son to help me out.”
“What a good son! Having a son is nice, like father like son.”
Everyone hurriedly walked out of the village. The visuals suddenly stopped after they walked out.
Li Nianfan was enjoying the show. “What happened next?”
Dragin pursed her lips and said, “The Water Mirror Spell only works in the areas I set watermarks on. I felt like the village was odd so I set watermarks all over. I didn’t expect them to exit the village.
‘I see. No wonder the two kids were outside so long, they must be out to set the watermarks.’
Li Nianfan realized that the two kids could be playful at times but they were still alert and careful. They would not be easily tricked. The Fire Phoenix was such a good mentor.
Nanan excitedly said, “Those guys are up to no good. Brother Nianfan, let’s follow them.”
Li Nianfan groaned. Even if they wanted to meddle, they had to ask that lady first. They needed to understand what was happening.
Knock knock.
Meanwhile, they heard a knock outside their room. “I humbly request to see the cultivators.”
‘What a coincidence.’
Nanan immediately ran over to open the door.
The lady immediately wept when she saw the three cultivators. She cried and sobbed. Her face had a red slap mark, she looked pitiful.
“Please help me, cultivators.” She knelt on the floor to beg.
Li Nianfan looked calm. He asked, “What happened?”
The lady sobbed and took a deep breath. She said, “In our village, the men will plant crops and the women will sew. We have houses and lands, and we are living happily. However, five female ghosts suddenly showed up and cursed the village. Every household was ruined.”
“Female ghosts?” Li Nianfan was intrigued. They finally encountered ghosts.
The lady continued, “Those female ghosts feed on masculine energy. They entranced the entire village. Now, the men don’t care about anything. They only waited until nighttime to let them feed on their masculine energy. Our village will soon be gone.”
Nanan frowned. She said in a cynical voice, “The female ghost is so evil. Don’t worry, we will help you get rid of them!”
The lady was overjoyed. She hurriedly kowtowed and thanked them, “Thank you, little cultivator. Thank you.”
“Brother Nianfan.”
Nanan instantly looked at Li Nianfan with puppy eyes. She was waiting for his order.
Li Nianfan patted Nanan on the head. He smiled and said, “Let’s go. Blackie, come along too.”
The three of them followed the directions of the lady. They walked out of the village and walked to the right. There was a forest at the side of the village.
It was dark at midnight. It made the place more isolated and creepy. They could barely see the dark shadow figures of huge trees, swaying in the wind.
They kept walking. They heard subtle zither sounds out of nowhere.
The zither sounds were soft and tragically enchanting.
The three people and a dog quickened their pace.
They saw a white light when they entered the dark woods. However, it was hazy.
All the men were there. There were also five other figures.
There were five ladies. They were wearing white, long-hanging chiffon dresses. White ribbons blew in the wind.
They were all beautiful ladies.
One of the five ladies was playing the zither. Another one was playing the flute. The other three were dancing.
They were elegant dancers. Their bodies looked as light as the wind, their feet did not touch the ground. They were floating in between a lot of men, enchanting them under the moonlight.
The three dancers would circle the men. Then, they would suck their masculine energy out of them through their faces.
A dancer went over to the Chief.
She sucked but soon realized the old man had no masculine energy left. She could not devour it.
A youngster next to the Chief chuckled and said, “Goddess, I’ll help my father out. You can suck mine instead.”
Li Nianfan felt his skin crawl at that. ‘This stuff can be considered a stand treat? The more you know.’
He also finally realized why the middle-aged man wanted to eat Ginseng. It was to please these b*tches.
“Stop it!”
Nanan did not understand what was happening, she jumped out and said, “You all are a bunch of cheaters and sl*ts. How dare you all gather here to do ‘marriage stuff’? Justice will be served!”
She looked honorable. Too bad her choice of words was poor, she ruined the moment.
“Cultivators?!”
Zither music stopped. The five ghosts frantically shrieked. They alarmingly looked at Nanan.
The men suddenly snapped out of it. Their dazed state was interrupted. They were immediately angry from embarrassment.
“Mind your own business. Scram, don’t ruin our fun!”
“Don’t be scared, Goddesses. We will protect you.”
“Yes, unless we’re dead!”
“So what if they are cultivators? What’s so good about cultivators?”
Those men were determined to protect the female ghosts.
“Scram!”
Nanan yelled and punched a big tree at the side.
Suddenly, a whole row of trees was flattened with a ‘boom’. About ten trees were knocked down with shattered trunks.
“Alright, we’ll scram.”
The men instantly fled without another word. They quivered in fear.
The five ghosts floated in front of Nanan and knelt on the ground. They frantically kowtowed, “Spare our lives, cultivator! Please have mercy on us ladies.”
Nanan said, “You all messed with the ordinary villagers, it is unforgivable!”
“Cultivator, we five sisters have never killed or harmed anyone. They all consented. Please have mercy on us, cultivator.”
Li Nianfan shook his head and said, “Devouring masculine energy shortens their lives. It is the same as killing.”
“We have no other choice. That’s why we do this.” One of them cried and said, “We’re five lone ghosts. If we don’t devour masculine energy, our souls will soon fade.”
Dragin said, “You can go back to the Underworld.”
“We can’t go back to the Underworld.”
The five of them quickly shook their heads. They seemed horrified.
“You don’t know this, cultivator. But the Underworld doesn’t allow us to reincarnate. We will spend all year in the Styx without daylight. We were also tortured by the Ghost King. We don’t dare to go back.”
“We five sisters were sold to a brothel at a young age. We pleasure men for a living, we have no freedom, no life. Living was worse than dying. So, we committed group suicide at the lake. We thought death would set us free. Who knew we ended up like this?”
“Even though our lives are hard, we had never wanted to harm anyone. We thought about karma, we thought we could be happier in the next life. We don’t want this to happen either.”
“Please have mercy on us, cultivators. We don’t want our souls to fade away.”
“Sob—”
The five of them felt miserable from talking about their sad past. Plus they did not know what was going to happen to them. They could not help but cry and sob.