Chapter 11: Sequence Eight Evil Monk

Just as Li Yu was recalling this, a sudden change occurred before his eyes.

The fisherman Sikong Nian, who had been laughing heartily, suddenly shouted like a madman without any warning:

"Hiding? Why are you all hiding? In the future, you will all eat my flesh and gnaw on my bones; what’s wrong with letting me toy with you now?"

"Especially you, you foul woman. Your soul was trapped in the corpse of a rotten fish after you drowned, and I fished you out and gave you a new body—yet you dare to hide from me?"

While howling, the slovenly middle-aged man lunged forward, threw down his fishing rod, plunged his hands into the water, and violently grabbed a red-scaled carp.

Ignoring the fishy stench, he opened his mouth and bit into the fish's belly, tearing off a piece of fresh, tender meat.

The red carp twisted and struggled, letting out a whimpering cry of agony.

Its deformed head did indeed look somewhat like a woman's.

Whether it was the stench of the fish meat or the sound of the crying, Sikong Nian returned to normal. He reached into his bosom, pulled out a mud-like ointment, smeared it on the red carp, and tossed it back into the basin.

Only then did he glare fiercely at Li Yu, annoyed, and said:

"Kid, you aren't busy dealing with the forbidden egg in your belly trying to possess you, so why have you come to me?"

"Don't tell me you're here to mock me? Heh, I have more guts than that pair of dead ghosts you call parents. Sooner or later, I will pass the [Water Torture Ritual], gain the recognition of the great Abyss God, ascend to a Water Ghost, and transcend all blessings."

What he saw and heard before him made Li Yu involuntarily glance at his retina.

Sure enough, the third Truth Bubble flickered slightly, showing it had charged a little.

He had learned another secret, neither big nor small: the evil god Sikong Nian worshipped was called the Abyss God, and the so-called Water Torture Ritual was likely letting one's own body be gnawed upon by those drowned-soul fish... most likely, if you could endure it, you became a Water Ghost; if you couldn't, you died and vanished.

"In a way, it's similar to the 'Dish-Person' ritual. It seems the evil gods here all like this sort of thing—pleasing themselves by torturing their believers?"

Li Yu muttered to himself.

On the surface, he nodded in agreement:

"Jiao Qing and Sun Sanniang certainly don't have any guts!"

"But I didn't come here to mock you; I have a good opportunity to invite you to."

"My private kitchen opens at the Hour of the Rat tonight. Since we are neighbors, if you want to eat [Spirit Food], you can order in advance."

As he spoke, Li Yu didn't give this clearly mentally unstable madman a chance to act out; he handed over the menu and quickly explained.

"Spirit Food!"

Sure enough, these two words had significant appeal.

Sikong Nian restrained his temper, cast his dead-fish eyes toward the menu, and was immediately drawn in.

From his earlier angry rant about Jiao Qing and Sun Sanniang, it was clear he had a deep relationship with them and they knew each other inside and out.

Therefore, he wasn't surprised that Li Yu possessed "Spirit Food culinary skills," merely sighing as he muttered:

"Your dead-ghost parents dreamed of ascending to become Dish-People, wanting to possess extraordinary culinary skills and their own Forbidden God recipes... that’s why they treated you that way."

"I didn't expect that after they died, you obtained these, and can even let me eat Spirit Food."

"Hahahaha... I'll go, I must go. I have plenty of money."

Laughing triumphantly, Sikong Nian kicked open the wet wooden box he was sitting on. With a clattering sound, a pile of rusty, moss-and-mud-covered gold and silver valuables, wrapped with some white bones, rolled onto the ground.

He wasn't bragging; he was indeed very wealthy.

This was easy to understand. Although he wasn't yet a formal Water Ghost, he had at least reached the level of a Water Monkey, allowing him to move freely underwater; fishing for valuables was just a matter of convenience.

"Then I'll have these four dishes: Chicken-Skin Sturgeon, Water-Tiger Meat Soup, Deep-Fried Seven-Ring Lotus Root, and Steamed Centipede Crab."

"The total is one hundred and twenty taels of silver? Kid, you’ve got a black heart."

"This is a way to get rich, but it's a pity you won't last many times before you end up as a cannibal."

"As far as I know, even true [Dish-People] need to pay a heavy price when using extraordinary culinary skills to cook Spirit Food. For someone like you who gained power through parasitism, I fear that every time you use your ability, the degree of possession will deepen by a fraction... this meal might just be your last."

"By the way, since I had some friendship with your parents, before you can't hold on anymore, can you come to me? I'll tie you up and send you to those lunatics in the Forbidden God Sect; I might even get some benefits for it."

After ordering, Sikong Nian suddenly looked at Li Yu with malicious intent.

His eyes were full of mockery.

Listening to his mocking words, it seemed he had already foreseen Li Yu's tragic future and was even thinking of profiting from it.

Hearing this, Li Yu simply used his charcoal pencil to mark the dishes without refuting him.

Because what Sikong Nian said was the truth.

When he woke up and received the inheritance due to the forbidden egg, he already knew it clearly.

The Forbidden God recipe, the Forbidden God's Eye, and the secret technique of eating flesh were all exclusive to the Children of the Forbidden God.

The price for him to borrow them was himself.

Self-mutilation could only prevent the forbidden egg from consuming his spirituality and actively possessing him; it was merely a delaying tactic.

But if he used these strange powers himself, it would be a complete transformation of his body. Once fully formed, he would become a cannibalistic pervert himself and actively fuse with the forbidden egg, which was no different from being possessed.

However, it was precisely because of this that Li Yu was anxious to plan his private kitchen.

In a sense, this was his only path to survival.

"If there are no other conflicts to waste the opportunity."

"I should be able to use the ability three times, or maybe four?"

"During this time, I must find another path of the gods suitable for myself to completely excise the forbidden egg, otherwise I really will become a cannibal."

While pondering, Li Yu ignored Sikong Nian and continued to the next candidate for a diner.

It was strange!

Ever since he awakened his golden finger, his courage, or rather his will and reason, had become exceptionally resilient and difficult to be influenced by external things.

Not only did he remain indifferent when facing the "Forbidden God's Call," but he also acted ruthlessly to resolve it.

Now, despite being threatened by possession and potentially becoming a cannibal at any time, Li Yu remained calm, actively walking toward the cliff step by step, seeking a glimmer of life within death.

He didn't believe he had this kind of psychological quality in his previous life.

"Transmigration perk?"

After muttering this, Li Yu checked the sky and began to speed up his invitations.

He walked quickly through the entire old street, becoming more familiar with the surrounding environment and his neighbors as his memories returned.

At the same time, the list of diners and the Spirit Food banquet to be prepared that night began to expand and become richer:

"Chen Canglu, a fairly famous fortune teller in Tianji Workshop."

"But in the words of the couple, he is a treacherous villain who uses rhetoric and evil arts to steal the luck of his guests. He believes in an extremely secretive evil god and seems to be attempting to reach Sequence Eight, but the path he cultivates seems extremely difficult, and he hasn't even gathered the formula."

"Ordered two dishes: Ten-Insect Porridge and Deep-Fried Mountain Demon Brain, for a total of sixty taels of silver."

……"Geng Jing, a pet dealer on the old street."

"This person sells all kinds of pets, from elegant playthings to beasts for guarding the house. Of course, they are all extraordinary, perverted, and strange things. Jiao Qing was once interested in a pet he captured called a [Half-Man Bird] and wanted to buy it, but was stopped by Sun Sanniang."

"The evil god he believes in is unknown, his path is unknown, and his sequence name is unknown; it is only known that he is infinitely close to Sequence Eight, has extraordinary combat power, and uses strange methods."

"Ordered three dishes: Steamed Bear-Man Paws, Mountain Treasure Nine-Flavor Pot, and Charcoal-Grilled Green Phoenix, for a total of one hundred and fifty taels of silver."

……

"Tan Buyi, a well-known spice master in Tianji Workshop."

"What this person sells are spices with various spiritual effects. He seems to have a significant background, but in reality, he is a middleman; almost all the goods in his hands are imported from the West District, and he himself only has a rough understanding of some strange spice arts."

"He is suspected of believing in the Fallen Buddhism, which has the greatest influence in the West District, but he does not seem to cultivate the relevant path of the gods; he is just well-informed and closely connected to the West District."

"Ordered one dish: Arhat Vegetarian, for a total of fifty taels."

……

"Hong Sanquan, a notorious hunter on the old street."

=9+Shu_ba

"His prey is literally 'people,' and he often cooperates with Jiao Qing and Sun Sanniang, but he does not eat people; he only kills for money. He is naturally cruel, believes in an unknown evil god, and is attempting to reach Sequence Eight [Blood Soldier] on his path. He can complete the ascension ritual at any time and is extremely dangerous."

"But this person is also a great gourmet, addicted to all kinds of delicacies, and has no resistance to Spirit Food."

"Ordered three dishes: Two-Headed Strange Dog Pot, Blood Ganoderma Soup, and Hundred-Rat Stew, for a total of two hundred taels of silver."

……

"Phew!"

"That's about it."

At the end of the old street, Li Yu looked at the messy menu in his hand.

More than half of the dozens of dishes had been checked off.

About ten diners, with the most ordering four dishes and the least ordering one.

Li Yu realized he had underestimated the appeal of the words "Spirit Food" to these low-level evil cultivators.

In the past half-hour, even the evil cultivator neighbors who didn't like him had to succumb to the temptation of Spirit Food.

They agreed to attend the banquet and didn't raise a single objection to Li Yu's pricing.

Clearly, they all felt they were getting a bargain.

For the same price, if they went to other areas in Wufu City, such as the Garuda Restaurant in the East District or the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Restaurant in the West District, they wouldn't be able to eat Spirit Food of the same level at all.

"That's fine. If I set the price too high, these people wouldn't come."

"Making money isn't my real goal; getting these people into my courtyard first is the right thing to do."

After muttering this, Li Yu didn't return to the courtyard along the old street.

Instead, following the memory in his mind, he turned and entered a lively street called "Red Candle Street."

Although it wasn't truly night yet, the sky had already dimmed significantly.

The customs of this street seemed different from other streets in Tianji Workshop; the shops and residential buildings on both sides had hung red lanterns early, or lit red candles that were crackling as they burned.

In a peaceful kingdom, this scene would be quite eerie, but in Wufu City, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

The residents and pedestrians were extremely accustomed to it, and it was bustling with activity.

However, the most eye-catching thing on the entire street was a temple that looked luxurious and wealthy.

In front of the temple, there was a massive bronze tripod engraved with inscriptions; the tripod was filled with incense ash, and thick sticks of incense, each as thick as an arm, were still burning.

A large number of impoverished believers, each holding a yellow talisman, entered the temple with faces full of anticipation, only to walk out a short while later with joyful expressions, each of them carrying quite a few things in their arms.

Judging by the look of it, they were various types of food.

Because even from a distance of over ten zhang, Li Yu could smell, beyond the thick incense, the aroma of various meats—and all of it was already cooked meat.

Can ordinary poor people get food supplies just by burning incense in a temple?

If this were in a region controlled by Buddhism, one of the six major orthodox religious sects, such a scene might be somewhat possible.

In Wanfu City, one wouldn't even dare to dream of such a thing.

Li Yu’s gaze swept over the impoverished believers who had received the bounty one by one; they were glowing with health and had not grown thin—it seemed there was nothing wrong?

He sighed softly and looked up at the temple’s plaque, which bore three large gilded characters: Pig Fellow Temple!

In his mind, relevant memory information immediately surged forth:

"The Pig Fellow Temple, or rather the Pig Fellow Society, is a transcendent organization in Wanfu City that spans the two major districts of the West and the South."

"All members of this organization believe in and follow the [Fallen Buddhism]. This Buddhism is different from the orthodox Buddhism of the outside world; the transcendent beings within it are, without exception, fallen evil cultivators, and their divine pathways and transcendent sequences are completely opposite to those of Buddhism."

"And the Pig Fellow Society controls the food supply and sacrificial industries in both districts."

"In every street and alley of the two major districts, they have built Pig Fellow Temples, worshipping a high-sequence powerhouse known as the [Venerable Wood Mother]. As for how high the sequence is, it is currently unknown; perhaps it is Sequence 2, perhaps Sequence 1—this is considered a secret."

"Believers only need to take a sacrificial talisman and write down what they wish to sacrifice to obtain food of equal value from the temple."

"Perhaps because lifespan is something intangible yet most valuable, many desperate poor people choose to sacrifice their own lifespan... three days of life for a meat bun, one month of life for a catty of cooked meat, one year of life for a hundred catties of good grain... In this way, even if they are exhausted and die of old age, they will at least be well-fed ghosts."

By the time this memory surfaced, Li Yu had already passed through the swirling, thick incense smoke and the mixed aromas of meat, stepping into the Pig Fellow Temple before him.

The first scene to greet his eyes was the statue at the very center.

A pig-headed Bodhisattva with an extraordinary appearance, wearing Buddhist robes, a golden-locked Buddhist chain around its neck, holding a mudra in each hand, and laughing with compassion!

Around this eerie Bodhisattva statue, and indeed throughout the entire temple, smoke swirled as if it were a Buddhist paradise.

Monks wearing monk robes, their faces subtly pig-like, moved among the crowd, receiving the endless stream of believers.

Before Li Yu could examine the "transaction details" closely, a shout filled with intense menace suddenly arrived.

"Where did this heretical brat come from?"

"Coming to my Pig Fellow Temple empty-handed, aren't you afraid that I, Old Pig, will eat you?"

Before the voice had even faded, a pig-headed monk, two meters tall, with fat trembling all over his body and his chest exposed, appeared.

He waved away the smoke and stood defiantly before Li Yu.

A thick, nauseating stench, mixed with the smell of cooked meat and candles, rushed toward him, nearly causing Li Yu to stagger.

However, the moment he saw the person, information surfaced in his mind again:

"Zhu Mei, the abbot of the Pig Fellow Temple in the old street area of the Heavenly Mystery Workshop."

"A follower of Fallen Buddhism, already a proper transcendent, who officially ascended several years ago to the divine pathway mastered by his sect, Sequence 8 [Demon Monk]."

"He possesses extraordinary combat power, is ruthless and vicious, and because of his position, he also controls many spiritual ingredients."

……

(End of chapter)