Chapter 430: The Escape of the Remnant Souls

Chapter 430: Chapter 430: The Escape of the Remnant Souls

Ah Er began diligently delivering meals into the black jail.

Those imprisoned within were all people who didn’t eat grain or drink water, surviving solely on the strange, tainted Spiritual Qi of the black jail to cling to life.

When they suddenly caught the fragrant scent of rich, oily food, the prisoners couldn’t help but look up.

Two palm-sized slices of fatty meat and a large plate of spirit rice.

At first, the hunchbacked Cultivator thought it was just the usual prison meal and paid it no mind, picking up the bowl and shoveling down two large mouthfuls.

It was only when he caught the expressions of the other prisoners out of the corner of his eye that he realized something was wrong.

Besides, if this was a prison meal, it was far too rich.

When he looked up again, he saw the plump, half-man-high little beast watching him with an eager expression.

CLANG!

His expression changed drastically. He flung the bowl and plate forward, smashing them on the ground and scattering most of the rice.

"How dare you try to poison me!?"

’The hunchbacked Cultivator was terrified.’

’There’s no reason they would send me food for nothing. It must be tampered with.’

’I consider myself an expert in poisons, yet I didn’t notice a thing!’

He glanced at the mad Cultivator, who had also received a meal. For some reason, the man was in a frenzy, clutching his bowl and chopsticks and wolfing down his food at an incredible speed.

Ah Er watched the man, its expression darkening as well.

’Those two slices of fatty meat were simmered with crushed Pill fragments and medicinal herbs. They don’t have the slightest taste of a Pill, and the flavor is superb.’

’The spirit rice might be old, but it’s not meant to be wasted like this!’

With a dark expression, Ah Er suddenly reached into the cloth pouch on its chest and took out a jet-black Pill with the texture of a mud ball.

It didn’t know any fire-starting techniques, so it took out a tinderbox and began to heat the Black Pill.

Wisps of dark green smoke drifted out and flowed through the gaps in the wooden bars into the cell.

The hunchbacked Cultivator panicked. He puffed up his cheeks and blew hard, actually stirring up a small gale inside the cell.

However, the heavy, dark green smoke was completely unaffected, continuing to drift along as it pleased.

The hunchbacked Cultivator had no external items on him and was incredibly weak, unable to use most of his techniques.

He could only hold his breath and watch helplessly as the smoke seeped into his body.

The next moment, with a GRUMBLE, his stomach caved in and his face suddenly turned ashen-green.

An immense feeling of hunger washed over him.

Ah Er watched as the man, dazed and uncoordinated, staggered toward the food and began stuffing it into his mouth like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds.

It shook its head and walked through the black jail with its paws behind its back.

’Although it was scared, it had some confidence.’

Before it came, Bai Mo had told it something.

As long as the sect’s Great Suanni was present, it didn’t need to worry about the prisoners causing trouble.

The group of prisoners watched it walk away, then turned their gazes back to the hunchbacked Cultivator, who was shoveling down his food.

With their perception, they could naturally see through his true state.

This hunchbacked Cultivator was only at the initial stage of Core Formation, and he had even used some trick to reach this realm, making him exceptionally weak.

A superior Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could probably take him down with a few tricks.

"Tsk tsk, what a weakling. His Golden Core is probably as fragile as a biscuit. Such a waste of all that food."

"Why not give it to your granddaddy here? I haven’t had a greasy meal in years..."

The one who said this was a prisoner who had long since lost all value, merely biding his time in jail, waiting to die.

He didn’t care whether the food was poisoned or not.

Others saw the true nature of the smoke that had entered the hunchbacked Cultivator’s body and chuckled, asking:

"Refining the remnant soul of a starving ghost into a Pill... how is that done?"

"If I had possessed such a skill back then, I wouldn’t have fallen to this state..."

After a moment, Ah Er slowly walked back.

It had come to collect the bowl and chopsticks.

After it left, the hunchbacked Cultivator, with no more food, leaned dazedly against the wall. The greenish tint on his face faded, and he couldn’t help but feel a tickle in his throat.

’What he had just done wasn’t his own intention; it was the work of the ghost’s remnant soul.’

’The moment the food entered his stomach, it was completely digested, leaving him unable to investigate it at all.’

Ah Er leisurely arrived before the mad Cultivator’s cell. The man had already cleaned his plate and seemed to want more.

"Will there be more next time?"

Ah Er nodded in satisfaction and took the bowl and chopsticks the man politely handed back.

’This was an affirmation of its culinary skills.’

After it left, the mad Cultivator was still calling out from behind.

"I prefer my food light, so don’t use too much oil and salt next time!"

...

When Ah Er came out of the black jail, it saw Bai Mo squatting down, frowning as he examined a blooming flower on the ground.

The flower was exceptionally bewitching, as red as blood.

Ah Er was quite curious about the flower.

’It wasn’t there yesterday. In the dead of night, its master had suddenly woken up, planted a seed, and it grew overnight.’

’Later, an ashen-faced, skeletal remnant soul was drawn to it and drifted over.’

’The remnant soul looked terrifying, but its master casually caught it and refined it into a Pill.’

Seeing Ah Er come out, Bai Mo casually asked:

"Did they eat it all?"

The two Pill-laced meals were meant to replenish their depleted bodies, but they also contained a hidden trick that would affect their minds.

"Ah-erh!"

Ah Er grunted in response and took out the scorched Black Pill.

A portion of it had been consumed, and the Pill’s body was no longer perfectly round.

This was the Pill into which Bai Mo had refined the remnant soul of the starving ghost.

"Mm, once the Pill is completely burned away, the remnant soul will be freed. It won’t have to suffer in this world anymore."

As for where it would go afterward—whether to the underworld for reincarnation or not—Bai Mo had no idea.

After a moment of thought, Bai Mo instructed:

"Later, go outside and ask around with the people from the Foreign Affairs Hall."

"See if one of the ghost grottos in the sect has been breached, letting the remnant souls and ghostly creatures inside escape."

Mi Mountain had imprisoned all sorts of evil for many years, and the amount of gloomy Evil Qi that had settled here was immeasurable.

Remnant souls like that are drawn to such places, so they naturally drifted here on instinct.

However, they didn’t know that an extraordinary master had come to Mi Mountain.

The Spirit Charm radiating from the Great Suanni alone was enough to make them dissipate.

Bai Mo had gone to check in the morning.

He saw two or three remnant souls drifting on the mountain being captured by small Suanni that suddenly materialized. The Suanni casually played with them before tearing them to shreds.

Those small Suanni vanished with a gust of wind, dissipating before they even had time to be surprised.

The aura they carried was of pure yang and extreme hardness, the perfect bane for remnant souls.

Ah Er acknowledged the order.

It quickly finished its chores and ran out.

「Two days later.」

It returned with a clean-cut young man.

The young man’s face was full of apology.

"My sincerest apologies. There was an incident at the ghost grotto the sect established beneath Laundry Falls, and the remnant souls inside escaped."

Bai Mo then asked, "Why was there an incident? Is it serious? How many remnant souls escaped?"

Bai Mo knew of Laundry Falls.

It was given this name because its water was unusual—exceptionally cold. Sect Disciples often quenched their newly forged armor under the waterfall.

Therefore, there was no picturesque scene of women washing clothes beneath the falls, but rather a group of brawny, burly men standing guard over portable forges.

The clean-cut youth gave an embarrassed smile.

"The ghost grotto has been established for many years. This time, the river upstream from the falls was diverted, causing the water flow to decrease dramatically and leaving the grotto wide open for about an hour."

"According to the disciples who witnessed it, the escaping remnant souls blotted out the sky as they passed..."

Hearing this, Bai Mo knew the number of escaped souls was truly immeasurable.

Once a large number of remnant souls gather, they can easily form a ghost nest, which would be another major problem.

"What kind of place do you think this black jail is? It’s a place that attracts souls. Has the sect taken any measures?"