Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Playing a Role

The servants stood to the side without looking around.

The steward replaced the host and smilingly poured tea for Jiang Ming.

As if everything was perfectly normal.

But Jiang Ming’s Martial Artist instincts sensed that all eyes were subtly focused on him.

Those eyes carried emotions of greed, desire, and obsession.

These emotions… made Jiang Ming very uneasy.

Jiang Ming looked at the steward, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

“Is this how you treat your guests?”

“Or is this how you deal with people from the City Lord’s Mansion?”

“Do you not want those eyes of yours anymore?”

A hint of coldness appeared on Jiang Ming’s face as he slammed the Chaofeng Pavilion’s token hard onto the table.

In the next second, all those gazes directed at Jiang Ming vanished.

Jiang Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly.

If nothing unexpected happens, this place is likely the rumored kind of most bizarre and unreasonable supernatural entity.

Its most significant characteristic is that it is indestructible and immortal.

The supernatural entity could be a person, a creature, a domain, or even a group, elusive and unpredictable.

But unlike other sinister presences, supernatural entities adhere to certain rules, and by obeying these rules, even mortals have a chance to survive.

There are no records of specific matters in the Lion Roar Martial Arts Hall, only to run when encountered.

Martial Artists should not harbor thoughts of confronting a supernatural entity.

However…

Jiang Ming had never heard of a supernatural entity appearing in Great Lii City, where the Great Lii Vermilion Bird guards.

“Sir, there’s no need to fuss over these servants. It was my lack of hospitality. Alai, go bring my finest green robe to entertain this gentleman.”

A smiling old man appeared beside Jiang Ming, sitting across from him without a sound.

Ordinary people might have been startled.

But Jiang Ming’s Divine Sense had already started recording everything around him.

From three breaths ago, everyone present began to blur.

In an instant, time in the reception hall seemed to shift, for instance, the maid beside Jiang Ming had her right hand placed over her left, now reversed.

A crease on a servant’s side had unknowingly been smoothed out.

The angle at which the leaves were blown by the wind also shifted instantly.

Most notably, the old man’s sudden appearance.

This was not a spatial replacement, but a change in time…

Truly intriguing, as space-time manipulation, difficult within the Jiuzhou Cultivation Realm, appeared one after another in reality.

Is this a supernatural entity?

Thoughts flickered through Jiang Ming’s mind, while the Meditation Technique kept his heart as calm as still water, composed and unruffled.

His expression softened slightly, and he said, “Patriarch Hong, I don’t have much time.”

Jiang Ming clearly observed the reactions of the servants welcoming him. Apart from the eerie elements, the Hong Mansion seemed to be awaiting people from the City Lord’s Mansion.

However, based on the earlier probing, playing the role of someone from the City Lord’s Mansion was not incorrect.

With a respectful smile, the old man said, “My son’s safety depends on your help, my lord.”

The old man clapped his hands, and the steward immediately handed a red wooden box from the servants to him.

“These are three Hundred-year-old Clam Pearls of extraordinary value. Please accept them, envoy.”

Jiang Ming opened the wooden box, his eyebrows suddenly arching.

[Discover absorbable Spirit Points*9.8]

[Discover absorbable Spirit Points*9.1]

[Discover absorbable Spirit Points*9.6]

Spirit Points!

Three clam pearls, each the size of an eyeball, lay peacefully within the wooden box.

Joy appeared on Jiang Ming’s face and as he naturally reached out to grab them.

But his hand was suddenly gripped tightly by a cold hand.

Cold, strong, but with no sensation of flesh or skin touching his, exactly like a bony claw grasping his wrist.

“Envoy, according to the rules, upon accepting my gift, you must certainly resolve the matter…”

Patriarch Hong’s aged face nearly pressed against Jiang Ming’s, its pallor resembling that of a corpse, and something squirmed frenetically beneath the skin as if the entire skin might peel off.

Meanwhile, on the clam pearls within the box, black dots slowly emerged, followed by pupils, bloodstains, mucus…

Simultaneously, dozens to hundreds of eyes were fixed upon him—maids, servants, and even human figures crawling on all fours out of the passage corners, their gazes filled with greed and longing.

Jiang Ming remained silent for a moment, watching as something seemed to emerge from the incessantly squirming skin of the old man, the surrounding noise growing louder, the gazes increasingly greedy.

“Rules, whose rules? In Evergreen City, the rules of the City Lord’s Mansion are the rules.”

Jiang Ming snorted softly, his face growing cold as he stared fixedly at the old man.

“I have offended you.” In the next instant, Patriarch Hong’s skin tightened, returning to normal, a look of fear appearing as he apologized to Jiang Ming.

This probing gave Jiang Ming a sense of understanding; he was apparently playing the role of someone from the City Lord’s Mansion in the Hong Family’s extermination event from years ago.

But unfortunately, if Jiang Ming could access Chaofeng Pavilion now, he might be able to investigate the specific details of that time.

Jiang Ming again shifted his gaze to the box, ignoring the thing that was slowly retreating down the passage.

“These are…” The old man began to explain the items in the box.

With a look of joy, Jiang Ming grasped the three objects in both hands.

“Absorb.”

Nearly thirty Spirit Points in hand, simultaneously transforming into flames as Qi-Blood combusted, consuming whatever it was, clam pearl or eyeball.

“Not bad.”

“Since Patriarch Hong holds such sincerity, I will certainly do my best to help you.”

With a faint smile, Jiang Ming stood up and lightly patted Patriarch Hong’s shoulder.

“Then it’s a trouble for you.” Patriarch Hong’s expression froze.

In the next second, the surrounding scene instantly transformed.

A drop of fishy, viscous red liquid trickling from above Jiang Ming’s head prompted him to tilt his head, allowing it to fall naturally.

Jiang Ming took a few steps, examining his surroundings.

The outside world, unknowingly, had turned into dusk.

He seemed to be in a woman’s private chamber.

Hanging from the beam was a young woman in her prime.

Her snow-white skin largely exposed to the air, yet prompted no appreciation from anyone.

On her belly was an unnaturally neat line, cutting down from the chest, revealing the insides as if the entire torso had been meticulously opened up.

Oddly, neither her chest nor belly seemed dissected; Jiang Ming’s eyes narrowed further—the woman’s internal organs remained intact, but a long, thin red ribbon-like object dangled low, with the viscous liquid from before dripping along it.

“This is…”

“An umbilical cord!” a sudden voice resounded.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep