Chapter 140: New Incident

Looking at the busy man and beast, Fang Mu expressed his satisfaction.

"I am still quite considerate. Since Abai was too busy handling the housework alone, I arranged another helper for him," Fang Mu nodded and thought to himself.

Before long, the house was spotless, and even the water splashed on the floor had been wiped completely dry by Gui Yi.

Abai's actions were equally swift, manipulating black mist to arrange the food and dishes on the table.

Fang Mu walked into the house and sat down by the dining table.

"Swish—"

A sound rang out as a clean rag was handed over to Fang Mu.

"Master, please wipe your hands," Gui Yi said respectfully.

Fang Mu contentedly wiped his hands clean, feeling that his current lifestyle was somewhat extravagant.

Abai squatted to the side, always feeling as though they had invited a wolf into the house.

The dishes on the table were steaming with heat, and Gui Yi stood respectfully to the side.

"Let's eat together," Fang Mu invited.

Gui Yi asked with apprehension, "May I?"

As a subordinate, Gui Yi deeply understood the gap in status, much like it had been back in Cangyun City.

Fang Mu nodded, indicating there was no problem.

With a look of profound honor on his face, Gui Yi sat down at the table.

The two of them ate, but Gui Yi only picked up his chopsticks after Fang Mu had taken his first bite of food.

Fang Mu took a bite of rice, thinking to himself that Abai's culinary skills had improved significantly.

Seeing Gui Yi eating so cautiously, Fang Mu put down his chopsticks.

Seeing this, Gui Yi also put down his chopsticks, his expression turning solemn.

"Don't be so serious," Fang Mu waved his hand and said, "Let me ask you something."

"Please speak, Master," Gui Yi immediately stood up and said respectfully, "This subordinate will tell you everything I know without reservation."

Fang Mu shook his head; Gui Yi was still far too reverent.

This was just something that had suddenly popped into Fang Mu's mind, and since Gui Yi happened to be here, he casually brought it up.

"You are currently at the Fish Leaping Realm. Do you need to cultivate?" Fang Mu mused for a moment, then asked, "Or what kind of method do you need for cultivation?"

The newly recruited Gui Yi was a powerful assistant. Since he was a mystic practitioner, he had room to grow and couldn't remain at the Fish Leaping Realm forever.

"Rest assured, Master, this subordinate will definitely strive to improve so as to be worthy of your mighty reputation!" Gui Yi stood as straight as a pine tree.

Fang Mu twitched the corner of his mouth: "I'm asking what path you need to advance, I didn't mean to look down on you."

Listening to Gui Yi, it seemed he was worried that Fang Mu doubted his abilities, but that was completely absurd. This guy was letting his imagination run wild again, drifting off to who knows where.

Gui Yi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This subordinate's abilities lie in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Originally, it all relied entirely on personal comprehension, but now it is different."

"Oh?" Fang Mu became interested, "How is it different?"

Gui Yi explained, "The power of the contract book dictates that however strong Master is, this subordinate will be just as strong, only slightly weaker than Master."

Fang Mu was stunned, then muttered, "That contract book is this powerful?"

This was completely unreasonable progression. If that was the case, the contract book was simply too buggy.

Gui Yi gave a wry smile and said, "Master, that contract book is extremely mysterious. I have never seen such a thing in my entire life; even the Lord of Cangyun City possesses nothing of the sort. This subordinate even feels that it doesn't belong to this world at all."

Fang Mu touched his chin. Items produced by the Corpse-Looting Skill were indeed top-tier products.

There were far too many complexities involved here, and Fang Mu's understanding of the origin of the Corpse-Looting Skill was only superficial. Based on the current information, it was enough to know that the Corpse-Looting Skill was utterly overpowered.

Fang Mu asked again, "What kind of place is Cangyun City, anyway? And what about the Xuan-Gui Ruins? Furthermore, what is Lingyun City?"

These were all questions on Fang Mu's mind, and since Gui Yi happened to be a person from Cangyun City, Fang Mu just asked him straight out.

Gui Yi answered quickly, "They are all places of dead people. None of us know why they exist. As for Lingyun City, it is simply another Xuan-Gui Ruin."

Hearing this, Fang Mu raised an eyebrow: "You people can even communicate between them?"

The Xuan-Gui Ruins were one thing, but the fact that they could interconnect was simply preposterous.

Gui Yi thought for a moment, seemingly organizing his words, and only spoke after a brief pause: "Actually, the place where we live is very much like another world—a world completely disconnected from this one. It only intersects at specific times. As for the various ruins, they can communicate with one another at any time."

Fang Mu pondered, "Like the heavens and the underworld? You exist in a spacetime that we cannot touch?"

Gui Yi nodded, "Master, this subordinate only knows this much."

His status in Cangyun City had not been very high, so there was very little he was able to know.

"Then, can you still enter Cangyun City?" Fang Mu asked again.

Gui Yi replied, "No longer, this subordinate is no longer a ghostly entity."

Fang Mu asked no more. Pointing to the dishes on the table, he said, "Never mind that for now, let's eat."

He was extremely curious about the Xuan-Gui Ruins and equally eager to enter them again. After all, they were filled with ghostly entities—a prime opportunity to make a fortune. However, since Gui Yi couldn't enter either, the matter had to be shelved for the time being.

The two continued eating, and once finished, Fang Mu turned in for an early rest.

……

More than ten days later.

The period since his return had been exceptionally peaceful, with no so-called members of the Evil Buddha Sect coming to trouble him.

Fang Mu even suspected that the members of the Evil Buddha Sect hadn't sensed his aura, but that was obviously impossible.

Ultimately, Fang Mu figured the Evil Buddha Sect members must have had more important matters to attend to.

In the morning, Fang Mu ate his breakfast as usual when a commotion broke out outside.

"What's going on?" Fang Mu frowned slightly.

The place where he lived was rather secluded, with only a few neighboring households.

Usually, everyone stayed in their own homes, and with Fang Mu running around on various matters recently, he rarely socialized.

Moreover, due to the remote location and everyone trying to make a living, peace always prevailed here.

Yet today, a clamor suddenly arose, which was quite strange.

Gui Yi bowed and said, "This subordinate will go take a look."

With that, Gui Yi walked straight out the door.

A moment later, Gui Yi returned.

"Master, it seems a murder case has occurred. The culprit has been caught and is currently being escorted to the execution grounds for decapitation," Gui Yi slowly reported, "The townspeople have all rushed over to watch the spectacle."

Decapitation?

Fang Mu was momentarily stunned. Jinglong County, known for its honest and simple folk customs, actually had such a thing as public decapitation?

Decapitation implied a severe crime. During the time he had been away from Jinglong County, what on earth had happened here?

"Let's go take a look." Without hesitation, Fang Mu prepared to head out and investigate the situation.

……

Fang Mu and Gui Yi stepped outside, and the streets were already packed with people.

Following the flow of the crowd, the two quickly arrived at a certain street.

The street was overflowing with people, and a prison cart was slowly rumbling past.

On the prison cart sat a disheveled man with unkempt hair, his head lowered so his face could not be seen clearly.

Abusive curses rang out continuously, though Fang Mu couldn't make out the exact words.

Coincidentally, someone was standing right beside him, and Fang Mu reached out to grab his sleeve.

"Brother, let me ask you something," Fang Mu pointed at the man on the prison cart and asked, "What's the story with this guy?"

The townsperson who had been grabbed turned around and instinctively replied, "Burglary, and he killed someone in the process."