Chapter 107 - 96: Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide
Chapter 107: Chapter 96: Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide
"..."
Gongyang Gao stared expressionlessly at the information on the Bamboo Scroll before him.
"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 370, September 9th. The Jiangbei Old Demon appeared in Jiangbei City and slaughtered a local mortal gang, the ’Beggar Gang’—all seventy-four members. Their heads were hung from the city gates."
"This was the first time the Jiangbei Old Demon appeared and killed, earning him his name from the public. However, there is no concrete intelligence on whether he is actually from Jiangbei."
The black-clad subordinate standing to the side added more specific information.
The current year is 378 of the Eternal Night Calendar.
In other words.
Eight years ago was when the Jiangbei Old Demon committed his first large-scale massacre.
"And after?"
Gongyang Gao asked softly.
"Afterward, no one looked into it." The black-clad subordinate shook his head. "After the Eternal Night descended, the world fell into chaos. There are no more Government Offices. Order is typically maintained by local factions, but Jiangbei City’s situation is unique. There isn’t one dominant power."
"It’s jointly governed by an alliance of three factions."
"The public order within the city isn’t particularly good."
"No one was going to bother with someone who was clearly not to be trifled with, especially when the interests of the three major factions weren’t infringed upon."
"The strange thing is,"
"according to our intelligence, one of the factions in Jiangbei City is the Wild Wolf Gang. Their Gang Leader is known for his strong sense of brotherhood and acting on righteousness. Everyone at the time thought the Wild Wolf Gang would stand up for the Beggar Gang, but they never said or did anything from start to finish."
"Mm."
Gongyang Gao nodded, asked no more questions, and continued looking at the Bamboo Scroll in his hands.
Gathering intelligence isn’t just about collecting key information.
Seemingly unimportant details, like the Wild Wolf Gang’s leader acting on righteousness, can often reveal information as well.
"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 370, October 31st. The Jiangbei Old Demon appeared in a village near Jiangbei City and slaughtered all 37 of its inhabitants."
"It was just an ordinary village."
The black-clad subordinate again added specific details: "After the rainy season, the Ghost Objects aren’t as rampant. Many mortals from Jiangbei City will buy a Ghost Fire, enclose a piece of land outside the city to form a temporary village, and plant some crops."
"They return to Jiangbei City before the rainy season begins again."
"I checked carefully. There wasn’t even a single Level 2 Cultivator among them, just mortals."
"Just a few days after he slaughtered that village, the rainy season for that year began."
"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 371, March 1st. The Jiangbei Old Demon appeared in a vegetable market in Jiangbei’s ’Ping City,’ killing a total of 26 people, all mortals. Nearly all the vendors in the market were killed, with only three surviving for unknown reasons."
"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 371, July 7th. This time, the Jiangbei Old Demon slaughtered the largest faction in Ping City. He ambushed them when the entire group had left their camp to perform ancestral worship, wiping them out. He then returned to their territory and slaughtered all the old, weak, sick, and disabled who had been left behind."
"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 373, September 9th. The Jiangbei Old Demon traveled to the ’Jiangdong Marketplace’ in Jiangdong. He suddenly attacked and killed the Pavilion Master, who was a Level 4 Architect at the time."
"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 374, also on September 9th. The Jiangbei Old Demon infiltrated a supply caravan of the ’One Sword Sect,’ broke into their grounds, and slaughtered dozens of disciples and an Elder before being heavily wounded by a turret and forced to flee."
"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 375. The Jiangbei Old Demon appeared again..."
...
A dozen or so incidents were listed, a chronicle of the Jiangbei Old Demon’s life.
"Master."
The black-clad subordinate standing beside him whispered, "Most importantly, I’ve gone through the histories of all these factions, including the village and the Beggar Gang, as thoroughly as possible. They have no common enemies."
"The One Sword Sect is a famous Sword Cultivation Sect in Jiangdong. How could they possibly share an enemy with a mortal gang like the Beggar Gang from Jiangbei City?"
"The rumor circulating in the world is that,"
"the Jiangbei Old Demon simply enjoys killing for no reason. Whenever his hands get itchy, he kills a group of people to scratch the itch."
"A person like that..."
"...isn’t he even worse than the Young Master of the Pill Sect? At least the Young Master of the Pill Sect, he..."
His voice came to an abrupt halt.
Gongyang Gao turned his head calmly to look at his black-clad subordinate. "Did he pay you?"
"I did not, Master." The man in black, realizing his slip of the tongue, hastily lowered his head.
"Then don’t mention this matter again."
"The Young Master of the Pill Sect came by last time, saying he would come to the Sheep Race to propose marriage after the rainy season in Jiangnan ends..."
"Let him come. The Sheep Race does not lack hospitality."
Gongyang Gao tucked the Bamboo Scroll into his robe, unwilling to speak further on the matter.
He came from a prestigious and righteous sect, was a master of his craft, the strongest Alchemy Master of the younger generation, the future Pill Sect Leader, handsome, and refined in speech.
’Truly impressive.’
’No matter how you look at it, he’s far better than this Jiangbei Old Demon.’
But he didn’t like him.
The reason was simple: his daughter didn’t like him, and he didn’t like anyone his daughter disliked.
’Besides...’
’This was the seventh time the Young Master of the Pill Sect had proposed marriage. The six young women he married before all met tragic deaths. This time, he had come to their Sheep Race.’
...
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, several days had gone by.
"Tonight is the 17th night of the rainy season."
As dusk fell, Chen Fan sat alone on the City Wall, gazing at the camp outside enveloped by Ghost Fire, and murmured to himself.
For the past three days, the camp had been calm and peaceful.
Aside from a few Ghost Objects breaking into the camp, no Ghost Tide had attacked.
Meanwhile, the construction of Meat Grinder Stage Two was also proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Twenty turrets had been set up along the 100-meter-wide cliff face at the end of the canyon, with one placed every five meters along both sides of the cliff.
And at the bottom of the canyon, twenty Level 3 Ghost Fires had also been crafted and buried underground.
Once activated, the entire canyon would be instantly enveloped in Ghost Fire, becoming part of his camp’s domain.
The 20 turrets from Meat Grinder Stage Two, plus the 38 turrets from Meat Grinder Stage One. His Celestial Pit now had a total of 58 turrets guarding the rear.