Chapter 231: Banquet Begins

Strolling through this yaoguai and ghost market, Lin Jue occasionally saw some good things, but firstly, he didn't have enough money on him, and secondly, it wasn't convenient to carry too many things at this time, so he didn't buy anything.

However, according to what he saw when offering gifts, the best things were still offered to the Tuo Dragon Great King by these yaoguai.

"Sigh..."

Amidst the lamp light and tree shadows, the Daoist walked slowly, seeing shadows and ghosts emerging one after another, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

If it weren't for knowing that a big yaoguai who ate people was entrenched here, if it weren't for the pressure of fighting against it, this kind of yaoguai and ghost market would really have a strange kind of scenery.

At the very least, he was willing to stroll around properly.

Just at this time, footsteps came from behind.

The fox and Luo Seng noticed it first, followed by his junior sister and Lin Jue. Four pairs of eyes looked back, only to see a figure wearing loose clothes with a fat head and big belly walking quickly. Beside him, two yellow-scaled guards holding bone swords followed, and many small yaoguai around who saw them retreated one after another.

Three human figures soon came before them.

"Gulp!"

The catfish yaoguai raised a water cylinder, took a big gulp of water, and as if very tired, said to them while panting: "Four distinguished guests, you are going to eat at the banquet in the Great King's cave. There are caves in the cave, so distinguished guests don't have to sleep in the open like ordinary guests. You can go to the cave to rest."

"Hmm? There's such a good thing?"

"It's all this little one's negligence, forgetting that the four distinguished guests are going to the cave to attend the banquet for the first time and don't know about this."

"Then please lead the way!"

"Just follow me!"

The catfish yaoguai was out of breath, and after saying this, he turned and left.

"Are you used to walking on the shore, since you are a yaoguai from the water?" Lin Jue asked.

"Sigh, what can I do if I'm not used to it? Although my Great King also often goes into the water, his cultivation and residence are on the shore, so we have to be on the shore too," the catfish yaoguai was very respectful in front of him.

"So that's how it is."

Lin Jue walked slowly toward the mountain cliff under the night light.

Under the mountain cliff, there was a hidden cave entrance, with secluded grass and deep forests on both sides, and a stream flowing out from it. The catfish yaoguai walked in the stream, wading through the water, as if it were more comfortable that way. Knowing that Lin Jue and the other three and the fox didn't live in the water, he pointed them to walk on the small path on the shore.

Following the cave entrance inward.

Lin Jue thought it would be very stuffy and dark inside, but after walking in, he found that it was not.

Not only was it not stuffy, but there was always a clear breeze.

Not only was it not dark, but even after walking for a distance, looking up, one could see the broken stars and a waning moon in the sky.

"So this is a sinkhole."

"Truly worthy of being a high-level immortal practitioner; you saw it at a glance. It is indeed a sinkhole," the catfish yaoguai walking in the stream said, "There are high mountains all around, only this pit is nested here, and this pit is nested quite round and especially big."

"And there's a waterfall?"

"Eh?" The catfish yaoguai was surprised, "How did the distinguished guest know?"

"I heard the sound of water."

"That's exactly right! You can't see clearly at night. If the distinguished guests look again tomorrow, you will be able to see it. On the top of that mountain, there is a waterfall flowing down. Although it is not thick or big, it is very high and looks beautiful," the catfish yaoguai pointed in one direction, "The guests who come all say it looks good."

"Your Great King really knows how to choose a place."

"That is natural!"

The catfish yaoguai didn't see the mocking expressions on the faces of the few people beside him, only responding self-contentedly.

Soon, he brought the three people and one fox to four caves.

The caves were also very simple, with nothing but a stone bed, and even the ground was not flat, and there was no door, only enough to block the rain.

"Thank you."

All three of them thanked the catfish yaoguai.

The fox also nodded at the catfish yaoguai.

"Although the Great King's birthday banquet is three days later, the Great King might prepare the banquet tomorrow and invite the distinguished guests to eat at the banquet. I will come to invite the distinguished guests then." the catfish yaoguai said.

"Sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble."

Soon, only the three people and one fox were left in the cave.

Although the catfish yaoguai had prepared four caves for them, they only used two. Lin Jue let his junior sister and Fuyao live in one, and he lit a night-watch lamp and lived in one with Luo Seng.

Nothing happened all night.

The next morning, the catfish yaoguai really came again and invited them to attend the banquet.

The catfish yaoguai led them out of the cave and into the sinkhole.

Lin Jue couldn't help but pause.

This was indeed a huge circular sinkhole, with high mountains and cliffs on all sides, a small waterfall hanging directly in front, sprinkling a white silk from the high mountain, and secluded grass and broken stones on the ground. When the sun shone down, the scenery was extremely beautiful.

These yaoguai really knew how to find a place.

"Distinguished guest?"

"Oh..."

Lin Jue continued to walk forward.

They encountered many yaoguai and ghosts along the way.

An old man with a fat head and big belly wearing a loose robe and a handlebar mustache was walking side by side with them, seemingly a regular guest, sizing them up curiously. A long snake with red and white stripes followed a small yaoguai along the stream, going upstream, and couldn't help but turn its head to look at them.

They even saw the rabbit yaoguai's figure ahead, walking forward under the guidance of a small yaoguai, but he was very nervous and didn't notice the three people and one fox walking behind him.

Following the catfish yaoguai all the way, passing through the sinkhole, and reaching the bottom of the small waterfall, they entered another mountain cave from beside the waterfall.

Following the mountain cave, they arrived at a large cave dwelling.

This place was like a cave hall, very wide, with some holes in the top on the left, shooting down sky light, while the right side was very dark. There were some stone tables and cases on the left and right, and some yaoguai and ghosts were already sitting there. Some had transformed into human form, some maintained their original form, and some were between the two.

Above was a large stone seat, which should be the Tuo Long Wang's position. At this time, he had not yet arrived.

"My Great King also likes to refine pills. Hearing that you are high-level practitioners who know how to refine pills, he invited you to sit in the front," the catfish yaoguai said, "The left side is brighter, and the right side is darker. Since the distinguished guests are all human, I think you will like the positions on the left, right?"

"Sit on the right."

Lin Jue looked at the positions on the right.

In that darkness, a figure could be faintly seen, unable to see what it looked like, only seeing a bit of red and green colors.

"Eh?"

"The General doesn't know. Although we admire the Tuo Dragon Great King's reputation and came to attend the banquet out of admiration, we are humans after all, and there are too many yaoguai and ghosts here. We are not afraid of them, and we respect them, but it's hard to guarantee that there will be some who don't like humans. I'm afraid of causing some unpleasantness, and I don't want to be looked down upon or treated lightly by them, so I'll sit in the dark, it's more comfortable."

"..."

Such a long sentence? The catfish yaoguai was stunned.

Truly worthy of being human...

"Good, good, good!"

The catfish yaoguai nodded repeatedly, leading them to the right.

While walking, he repeated Lin Jue's words in his heart, as if wanting to learn something from them.

"Sit here, sit here!"

The catfish yaoguai still found four tables for them.

"Can."

Lin Jue said, while looking up at the top.

"What is the honored guest looking at? It is still over a hundred zhang from here to the mountaintop. This light is a skill of Ji Xianren Chicken, a guest minister under my King's command, drawn down from the heavens," the catfish yaoguai said. "The honored guest need not fear; although there are some cracks in the walls and ceiling, it will not collapse."

"So that's how it is."

The catfish yaoguai asked them what they liked to eat, what they had taboos against, and informed them that the Tuo Long Wang would arrive in a while, then left.

And as soon as he left, the fox immediately stood up, left its position, and came to Lin Jue's side to lie down.

Lin Jue also reached out to stroke its back.

His eyes looked at the surrounding yaoguai and ghosts.

The Dao cultivation of these yaoguai and ghosts was much higher than those in the market outside yesterday, and the proportion of those with fishy, foul, and evil Qi on their bodies was also much higher. Those who could be clearly seen probably exceeded one-third.

Then yaoguai and ghosts arrived one after another, and the seats in the cave hall were soon seven or eight-tenths full.

Most of these yaoguai and ghosts were not particular. Some were exceptionally silent, not saying a word, some looked around randomly, and some talked loudly as if no one else was around. For a while, the hall was very noisy.

Until a rumbling sound.

"The Great King is here."

The hall suddenly became quiet.

The three people and one fox all looked over.

Only to see a huge black shadow crawling from the depths of the hall. When it approached the stone cave hall, in a flash, the huge black shadow disappeared, replaced by a man wearing a grey-black robe, with an ordinary figure and an ordinary face, his mouth protruding a bit, walking with a splay-footed gait.

Behind him, first followed a big rooster wearing Daoist robes, then a rhinoceros yaoguai who was over a zhang tall, wearing armor, with slightly grey-white skin, walking heavily.

One had a bit of immortal spirit, and one was full of evil spirit.

At first glance, it seemed there were no more people, but upon closer inspection, one saw that behind the rhinoceros yaoguai, there was actually another figure.

This figure was only as high as a human's knee, a grey-robed middle-aged man holding a staff, just like when he was beside the black bear sturdy man before, inconspicuous. This time he walked behind the huge Rhino General, and the light was dark, and the Rhino General was really majestic and powerful, so in contrast, even yaoguai with good eyesight easily ignored him.

"Greetings to the Tuo Dragon Great King..."

"Greetings to the Tuo Long Wang..."

"Great King, greetings."

The yaoguai and ghosts in the hall below stood up one after another, shouting.

Lin Jue and the other three also stood up, but did not make a sound.

There was even a slight sound of exhaling beside them.

It came from Luo Seng.

The light here was darker than on the opposite side, but Lin Jue didn't need to turn his head to imagine Luo Seng's expression.

He even knew what he was thinking in his heart.

He must be thinking—

What kind of yaoguai king, he's nothing more than this!

Only to see the Tuo Long Wang in front walk to the stone chair and sit down, his face glowing with health, Chicken Ji Xianren and Rhino General naturally standing by his side, while the rat yaoguai stood at the feet of the Rhino General, still very inconspicuous.

"Thank you all for coming to the banquet! Haha!"

The Tuo Long Wang laughed and said, unable to hide the excitement in his heart.

Yesterday, after he got the pills, he first tasted the Small Origin Pill he had eaten and understood before, and found it was indeed true, and the quality was excellent, so he invited General Rat to come and show him the Spirit-Origin Pill.

General Rat was also shocked when he saw it.

Although he hadn't eaten this Spirit-Origin Pill either, when his Great King was in Hui County, he had once obtained a Spirit-Origin Pill rewarded by the Corpse Tiger King, and he had seen it with his own eyes; it was almost the same.

Even the spiritual charm and mystery of this one were even fuller.

The Tuo Long Wang was naturally very happy.

After saying this, he looked left and right, searching for where those few high-level pill-refining practitioners were sitting.

The rat yaoguai was also searching everywhere.

A catfish yaoguai hurriedly walked forward and pointed in a direction.

The Tuo Long Wang and the rat yaoguai both looked over.

The Tuo Long Wang's eyes immediately lit up, laughing and saying:

"Today there are a few unfamiliar guests, especially a few guests with great abilities. Welcome, welcome."

The rat yaoguai immediately frowned.

"..."

Why does this person look so familiar?

It was just that the light in the cave was dark, and he couldn't see clearly.

At the same time, Lin Jue and the fox were also looking at him, and they also frowned, feeling he was familiar.

Also because the light in the cave was dark, they couldn't see clearly.

Just as the rat yaoguai recognized Lin Jue, his gaze sharpening and his mouth opening to speak, he heard the Daoist below speak first:

"It's you!?"

"It's..."

The rat yaoguai was originally a bit shocked, but the Daoist's tone was equally shocked, actually seeming to suppress his shock, and his words had already reached his throat, coming out halfway, and then were swallowed back.

Many yaoguai and ghosts had already followed the Tuo Long Wang's gaze and looked at Lin Jue and the other three—although the Tuo Long Wang said they were unfamiliar guests, they knew that the Tuo Long Wang clearly wasn't referring to those few small yaoguai, so they wanted to see who these few guests were that even the Tuo Long Wang valued so much.

Unexpectedly, seeing this scene, they were all very confused. ===== CHAPTER 232 =====