"So now you know fear?"
The innkeeper raised his hand slightly to quiet the others, lips curling into a crooked smile. "If you don't want to die, then drink this bowl of red tea. On account of your stunning beauty, I might spare your life."
Yao Ranran sighed softly.
"I admit, I am afraid. My cheap master once said that taking too many lives breeds murderous qi, and that kind of killing aura harms one's cultivation. Must I really drink this tea?"
"No. If you don't drink, you die!" The innkeeper couldn't make much sense of her words, but assumed this woman was clinging to life like anyone else would.
Yao Ranran frowned slightly. "Isn't there a way where we can both walk away, pretend I was never here?"
The innkeeper's smile turned cold and sinister. "With such a peerless beauty appearing at the Four Seasons Inn, how could we possibly pretend we never saw you?"
"Drink it! Hurry up and drink it! Finish it and we'll let you live!"
The five surrounding her burst into loud laughter, echoing the innkeeper's demand as they pressed in on her.
Yao Ranran gazed at the faint glow from the luminous stones, sighed again, and said quietly, "I don't want to drink it. What worries me more is that all of you will die."
The innkeeper threw back his head and laughed, the others following in roaring mirth.
"Enough nonsense. Drink the tea already!"
The fat innkeeper stepped closer with heavy strides. Yao Ranran's expression remained calm and detached.
Their laughter swelled louder, greed burning in the innkeeper's eyes as his grin stretched wider. Such a beauty… once she drank the tea, if he could enjoy her in his bed, it would be a pleasure greater than ascension itself.
But then—
"Ugh…"
A flash of white light streaked across the innkeeper's pupils. The bowl of red tea slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground. The others were still laughing.
The bookkeeper, still holding his abacus, chuckled, "Innkeeper, don't toy with her too much. She's such a timid little thing, you'll scare her unconscious."
"Ha ha ha, let her off for now, Innkeeper. Once she finishes the tea, you can keep playing with her!" the fat cook added, laughing deep and loud.
Bang!
The laughter died all at once, except for the cook's booming guffaw.
Gurgle… gurgle…
The cook lowered his head. A black object had rolled to his feet, soaking his trousers with bright red blood.
His eyes widened in terror as he realized—it was the innkeeper's severed head. A headless corpse collapsed with a heavy thud. The other four gasped, their pupils shrinking in horror.
"I did warn you. I was worried about your lives," Yao Ranran said softly, turning her calm gaze onto the fat cook.
The bookkeeper shouted frantically, "Quick! Throw that blood on her!"
The cook's mind blanked for a moment, then he snarled ferociously, "We're not afraid of you! Touch this blood and you'll become like us!"
Yao Ranran's brows lifted slightly. The Nine Lotus Ring unfurled like a ribbon of light, brilliant rays surging forth, sweeping aside their attacks. In one seamless motion, five heads flew cleanly into the air.
"I forgot to ask—what's so special about your blood?"
Just as their souls were about to scatter, Yao Ranran reached out to seize them. But the five, in abject terror, chose to kill themselves outright, hastening their end.
Yao Ranran stood in silence.
"Am I really that frightening?"
She shook her head. "Forget it. I've been running all day. Better to rest for the night and think tomorrow."
She turned to go upstairs when a shadow darted past. The Nine Lotus Ring lashed out in reflex, forcing the shadow to halt in place.
"You also want me to drink red tea?" she asked, glancing at the teapot in his hand.
The figure stiffly turned, shaking his head hard. "No, not that! This tea must not be drunk!"
Yao Ranran's gaze flickered over him. A dark, ghostly aura coiled around his back.
"You're a ghost cultivator. But… you seem different from them."
The boy hugged the teapot tightly, eyes widening. "You need to leave. You can't stay here!"
"At this hour of night, where would you have me go?" she asked gently.
Head lowered, the boy muttered, "You're strong, but you still can't stay here. You may have killed six of them, but you can't defeat everyone in Qingshui County!"
Yao Ranran casually burned the corpses to ash, then looked into his fearful eyes. "The people of Qingshui County are that united? Or are you a traitor to them?"
The boy froze. Her reaction was not at all what he expected.
He had never meant to reveal himself. But the woman carried a fragrance that drew him in, and he had followed her here intending to save her.
Yet she annihilated six people in the blink of an eye.
"You… you could put it that way," he admitted reluctantly.
Yao Ranran tilted her head curiously. "Because you're a ghost cultivator, they refused to accept you?"
"No! It was because of them that I became a ghost cultivator!" His voice cracked, veins bulging in his eyes.
Yao Ranran, who had seen plenty of horror films, didn't flinch. Cultivation required a bit of mental fortitude, after all.
"You're saying the people of Qingshui County turned you into this?"
The boy fell silent, lips pressed tight. He refused to answer.
When he didn't respond, Yao Ranran shrugged and started up the stairs.
"You can't go up there! You must leave this place!" His voice trembled, eyes bloodshot as he watched her ascend.
In his gaze, flames of a great fire seemed to burn.
"Child, don't you realize the people outside already have their eyes on me? If I walk out now, they'll know I wasn't killed by those six, nor forced to drink the tea."
The boy froze, then lifted from the ground in shock. "How… how did you notice?"
This woman only had the cultivation of Qi Refining, tenth layer. Yet she slew six at Foundation Establishment in one move. Who was she really?
Yao Ranran tapped the corner of her eye. "I saw them peeking through the cracks in the window.
By the way, what's your name? You've been following me for quite a while. You're not planning to stab me in the back, are you?" She looked at him calmly.
The boy shook his head quickly, hugging the teapot tight. "I won't kill you. You carry a fragrance that's… very pleasant. It drew me to you."
Meeting her gaze, he said, "My name is Meng Xiangxiang."
"Meng Xiangxiang?" Yao Ranran found the name a little odd.
He scratched his head shyly. "My mother gave it to me."
"Not bad. Well then, I'm going to sleep." She stifled a yawn.
"You… you trust me that easily?" he asked, stunned.
"Of course," Yao Ranran replied without the slightest hesitation.
Her eyes swept over him. A ghost cultivator so newly formed, barely born—there was nothing to fear. The only reason she asked if he'd sneak attack her was because she didn't want to be woken up in the middle of the night.
She didn't realize her casual words had shaken Meng Xiangxiang's heart to its core.
"In this world… someone still trusts me?"
He stood there, dumbfounded, the teapot slipping from his arms. Scarlet tea spilled straight through his ghostly body and pooled across the floor.
"Mother… little brother… did you hear that?"
Huddled in the corner, Meng Xiangxiang's eyes burned red as he stared out the window.
Qingshui County… another outsider was about to enter.