Chapter 35: Even the Old Man Is Afraid of Ghosts

"Which sect are you from? What's your name?" Chu Tianfeng removed his hand from the man's mouth.

The middle-aged man looked at Chu Tianfeng in terror and replied, "The Salt Society. My name is Xu Chen."

Naturally, he was the thin man who had sat beside Liu Zuo that day.

"Tell me more. Which sub-hall? What position do you hold?" Chu Tianfeng slapped the back of his head.

Xu Chen saw stars from the blow and was instantly enraged, ready to retort. But when he caught the cold glint in Chu Tianfeng's eyes, he swallowed the curse that was about to spill from his lips.

"I am the chief accountant of the Hang City Hall, and also the general manager of the Eastern Club."

"What is the Eastern Club?"

"Um..." Xu Chen hesitated, earning himself another slap to the forehead, and hurriedly said, "It's our Hang City Hall's sub-hall base, located on Changjiang Road in Hang City."

"Oh?" A flash of inspiration lit up in Chu Tianfeng's mind, and he pressed on, "What's the sub-hall leader's name? What's his cultivation level?"

The Salt Society had repeatedly caused him trouble, and he had long wanted to settle the score. If the Hang City Hall's strength was somewhat inferior, perhaps he could use them as a warning.

"The hall leader is named Liu Zuo, at the mid-stage of Hua Jin."

"How many people are in the hall?"

Chu Tianfeng was secretly delighted. With Liu Zuo at mid-stage Hua Jin, he was confident he could take him down easily.

"There were thirty-one originally. Six brothers met with misfortune last time, so now there are about twenty left."

"What about their cultivation?"

"Aside from the hall leader and myself, there are five with An Jin cultivation, the rest are all at Ming Jin."

Chu Tianfeng nodded to himself. With such strength, he truly didn't see them as a threat. Even if he issued an open challenge, he would have no problem handling them.

"Anything else to add?" Chu Tianfeng began to form hand seals.

"Yes, yes, please don't kill me. I know the password to the Eastern Club's safe," Xu Chen blurted out hastily.

The other party had already killed three men; surely, he wouldn't mind making Xu Chen the fourth. If he didn't offer something of value, he would soon become another cold corpse.

"I know it too," Chu Tianfeng replied with a sinister smile.

He didn't believe for a moment that, with his fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivation, a mere safe could keep him out.

"What?" Xu Chen was stunned, about to ask how he could possibly know, when suddenly a flash of fire appeared at his side—a large fireball crashed down onto his head.

"Ah—!" Xu Chen screamed in agony.

Chu Tianfeng darted forward, tossing fireballs at the remaining three men in quick succession, then swaggered away.

Xu Chen's screams shot like arrows through the night, piercing both the darkness and the hearts of all the martial artists below.

Panic spread among the martial artists. After determining the direction of the sound, they began shouting to one another as they rushed over.

They arrived quickly—Chu Tianfeng had just left.

At the scene, they found no one, only four blazing pillars of fire.

"It looks like they're burning people!" someone cried out in shock.

"Then hurry up and put out the fire!" another yelled.

The crowd scrambled to break branches and beat down the flames.

Soon, the fire was extinguished, leaving behind only four piles of ash.

"My god, they've burned this fast? Not even the crematorium works this efficiently!" someone exclaimed in awe.

"I wonder who got burned," someone else said.

"It looked like Xu Chen from the Salt Society—he was here with a few men, keeping watch every day," someone replied in a low voice.

"Impossible! Xu Chen is at early-stage Hua Jin. Who could possibly kill him?" another asked in disbelief.

"It's hard to say. Maybe Xu Chen wasn't here. They've all been burned to ash—who could tell?"

At the mention of ghosts, several people shivered involuntarily.

"Forget it, we can't stay at Thousand Birds Lake. Let's go!" The timid were already retreating.

"Right, let's get out of here. Treasure's important, but you have to live to enjoy it," others agreed.

Soon, countless voices echoed the sentiment: "Let's go..."

The next morning, a large group of martial artists packed their bags and left in a hurry.

Chu Tianfeng disguised himself as a middle-aged man, wearing sunglasses and carrying a bundle, blending in with the crowd.

"Uncle, why are you leaving too?" a young man beside him asked.

"Uncle's human too, and Uncle's afraid of ghosts," Chu Tianfeng replied, deliberately deepening his voice.

The young man burst out laughing.

"If you were at mid-stage Hua Jin or above, there'd be nothing to fear," a young woman with a ponytail beside the young man commented.

"Why's that?" Chu Tianfeng was puzzled.

"That ghost only targets those below early-stage Hua Jin. If your cultivation is higher, it wouldn't dare touch you," she replied, flicking her ponytail.

"I doubt ghosts consider things that way," Chu Tianfeng said with a wry smile. At the time, he had simply chosen the weakest targets, never thinking so much about it.

"My junior sister speaks the truth. The other night, that ghost confronted Zou Fang from Jingjiang, but he was spared since he was at mid-stage Hua Jin. Meanwhile, Li Debiao from Huaian and the others were all below early-stage Hua Jin and were all taken out," the young man added.

"Interesting. So all those leaving now are below early-stage Hua Jin?"

Chu Tianfeng looked around and saw that most of those departing were young, with few middle-aged among them.

"That's about right. The four of us came together—only we two are below early-stage Hua Jin. Our uncle sent us back to our mountain; those above stayed behind," the young man replied with a smile.

"And you are...?" Chu Tianfeng thought to himself that, had he known this earlier, he wouldn't have let that square-faced middle-aged man go.

"We're from Tianmu Sect—the local sect. What about you, Uncle?"

"I'm unaffiliated, wandering on my own," Chu Tianfeng replied. He considered making up a sect, but couldn't think of a convincing one on the spot.

"I wish I could join the Celestial Master Sect," another young man chimed in.

"Why? Is the Celestial Master Sect that powerful?" Chu Tianfeng asked, genuinely curious.

"I heard their disciples can all catch ghosts. Not a single one of them left today," the young man answered.

"Oh?" Chu Tianfeng's interest was piqued.

To catch a ghost, one must at least be able to see it. Lesser ghosts have no form; without spiritual sense, they're invisible, let alone catchable.

Chu Tianfeng remembered that Lu Sheng from the Mojin Sect once said that only at the Yuantian stage—the Golden Core stage—could a martial artist open their heavenly eye and project spiritual sense.

Yet every disciple of the Celestial Master Sect could catch ghosts, meaning they all possessed spiritual sense. If true, then their cultivation method was no different from that of cultivators from Blue Moon Star.

"You can forget it. The Celestial Master Sect is very strict about accepting disciples—they rarely take anyone older than fifteen," the young man said.

"I know. I'm just saying," the other replied offhandedly.

He may have spoken casually, but Chu Tianfeng took it seriously. He made a mental note of the Celestial Master Sect, intending to visit them when an opportunity arose.

Afterward, Chu Tianfeng followed the crowd to Thousand Birds Lake Town and boarded a direct bus to Hang City, arriving by noon.

Hang City, the capital of Zhe Shui Province, is famed for its picturesque landscapes and is often praised as "Heaven above, Su-Hang below." The city abounds in historic sites, with West Lake and Song Dynasty City being the most notable.

However, Chu Tianfeng was not here to sightsee. He neither had the mood nor the money—he only had about thirteen thousand in his pocket, not even enough for tuition, so he dared not spend frivolously.

Changjiang Road lay on the northern outskirts of Hang City, running north-south, with the Eastern Club at its northernmost end.

Chu Tianfeng spent half an hour familiarizing himself with the surrounding area, including the three entrances to the Eastern Club and its environs.

As it was still early, Chu Tianfeng had lunch and then idled away some time at a nearby teahouse.

It wasn't until after six in the evening that the front of the Eastern Club became lively. Blending in with the crowd, Chu Tianfeng entered the club.

"Hello, do you have a reservation?" No sooner had he crossed the lobby than a beautiful woman in a cheongsam approached him.

She held a tablet in her left hand and a stylus in her right, her eyes questioning.

"No," Chu Tianfeng replied curtly.

"May I ask what brings you here?" she asked again.

"To eat!" Chu Tianfeng snorted on purpose.

"Oh, for dining, please proceed to the second-floor main hall or a private room on the third floor. Take the elevator up," she said, gesturing to the side.

"After eating, I want to sing and maybe enjoy a bath too," Chu Tianfeng said, removing his sunglasses.

She frowned slightly, "KTV is on the fifth floor, the bathhouse is on the first."

"And for cards or mahjong?" Chu Tianfeng inquired calmly.

She gave him a searching look, suspicion in her eyes. "Fourth floor."

"Thank you," Chu Tianfeng nodded, satisfied.

In just a few words, he had learned the basic layout: the building had six floors, with each from the first to the fifth serving a purpose, but nothing known about the basement or the sixth floor.

He surmised the sub-hall was likely in the basement or on the sixth floor—more likely the basement, as it's more hidden and nearer to street level, making evacuation easier in emergencies.

Feigning fatigue, Chu Tianfeng entered the elevator and deliberately pressed the wrong button.

Arriving in the basement, he was greeted by a luxurious elevator lobby, where two young women in cheongsams stood.

Chu Tianfeng smiled as he walked past them.

Stepping out of the lobby, he found himself in a spacious parking area. Various cars were neatly parked, with few empty spaces.

This attested to the Eastern Club's thriving business.

He glanced around and noticed that the east side of the parking lot had notably fewer spaces, suggesting several rooms there. Pretending he was in a hurry to find the restroom, he quickly headed over.

"Sir, may I ask where you are going?"

As he reached a wall, a security guard appeared from the corner.

"Oh, is there a restroom in the basement?" Chu Tianfeng asked, while quietly using his spiritual sense to scan the area.

Behind the guard was a room—probably a monitoring center, given the row of screens inside. No doubt, Chu Tianfeng's every move in the basement had been observed.

"Sorry, there are no public restrooms in the basement. Please go to the first floor," the guard said, gesturing outward with his right hand.

Chu Tianfeng had no choice but to give up and head back to the elevator lobby.

He knew the Salt Society was now likely aware of his suspicious behavior in the basement. To avoid further trouble, he made no more moves once in the lobby, but went straight to the second-floor restaurant and ordered a few simple dishes.