My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 697 The Key to Redemption
"So, the shopkeeper of the underworld wants to entrust you to do a trip for him to retrieve the things that the bandits stole from the pawnshop. Not only will you not be charged a penny, but you will also return the goods that Master Tiangong pawned, and you will also be given a generous reward."

"Of course, this is not a threat or coercion, it's just a deal. As long as you agree to this commission, you will be the most distinguished guest of the underworld stall in the future, and all the guys will treat you as a distinguished guest."

"Do you want to accept the commission from the underworld shopkeeper?"

The game gave two options. Jiang Xinghuo thought about it for a moment and without hesitation for too long, he quickly made his own decision.

How could we reject a task that was delivered to our doorstep?
Besides, that was the redemption fee of 10000 incense points. Even if this incident did not happen, he would have to think carefully about whether to spend so much incense points to redeem the craftsmanship mortgaged by Tiangong Ye for that Tiangong Ye believer.

Although it is paying for this money and I just need to advance it temporarily, who knows whether its words are true or false? What if it is lying to me, or I have to pay it back in installments, or it will take a long time before I have to pay it back all at once? Wouldn't I have suffered a loss in vain?
"You chose to accept the commission from the underworld shopkeeper."

"The shopkeeper of the underworld took out a map and told you where the stall is located. It's called Banbuduo. It's the area between the Yin and Yang, and evil spirits from the underworld often appear there."

"Besides, since the range of Half Step is very large, there are many unknown cracks and fragments hiding there. The places marked on this map are all places where some old antiques from the underworld are sleeping. Those bandits can't be hiding here. You'd better not disturb those old antiques, otherwise it will easily bring unnecessary trouble to yourself."

"The shopkeeper in the underworld took out a few incense sticks from the box and said that the things the bandits had stolen were all packed in special boxes that gave off a smell that could not be detected by the sense of smell."

"Only this incense made from the corpses of scent-seeking insects can detect the smell emitted by those boxes. You can use this incense to track down the whereabouts of those bandits, but remember not to disturb those sleeping old monsters in the underworld."

"You have obtained the incomplete half-step map."

"The incomplete Banbuduo map (common item), the Banbuduo map located between the worlds of life and death. However, since the geographical scope of Banbuduo is too vast, no one has yet been able to explore the border of Banbuduo. The maps that have been circulated are also pieced together, drawn and recorded by many explorers. Therefore, the map is incomplete and has only reference value. Don't listen to it and trust it completely."

"You have obtained it, ask for the incense."

"Guidance Incense (Excellent Consumable Item), a kind of guidance incense unique to the underworld. It is very different from the guidance incense in the living world. It is made from special insect corpses. The different main materials also represent different functions."

"The incense in your hand is specially made to find the lost goods of Datong Pawn Shop. Do you want to light it and use it immediately?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes.

"You have used the incense to ask for directions."

"The incense sticks are emitting wisps of green smoke, which are particularly clear in the night, and are slowly drifting towards a certain direction. Do you want to chase after it and take a look?"

"You walked along the path under the guidance of the incense sticks. The woods on both sides continued to make bewitching sounds, all hoping that you could walk over and free them from their endless suffering."

"But you turned a deaf ear to those bewitching voices, pretending that you didn't hear them. You followed Wenluxiang through several woods and finally arrived at a wilderness plain."

"You are standing outside the plain. You can vaguely see flames in front of you. There is a ghostly aura. There are many people making loud noises on the plain. They should be the bandits you are looking for."

"You triggered the map with more than half a step."

"You took out the map that the underworld shopkeeper left for you and found that this wilderness plain was one of the forbidden places marked on it."

"According to the brief record on the map, this plain is home to a monster called Taotie Gong. It is a very ancient monster from the underworld. When it was alive, it was also a great god in the secular world, with the ability to devour everything in the world."

"These bandits are hiding on this plain. They are destined to be devoured and killed by the Taotie Lord. Do you still want to go in?"

"Be careful, if you choose to enter the plain, you will most likely be killed by the Taotie Lord. These terrifying beings in the underworld cannot be guessed with common sense. Even if you have not offended them, they may not let you leave safely."

"The Golden Casket Book Collection has been activated. You have discovered information about Lord Taotie."

"Master Taotie was a great god in the ancient times of the secular world. It is said that he was also the founder of the three major food organizations in the secular world. Even the immortal Zhenxiu once studied cooking under him. Later, he died suddenly for unknown reasons and fell into the Blood Pond Hell in the underworld. The prison master of the Blood Pond Hell wanted to take him as a slave, but he was injured by Master Taotie instead and almost died at his hands. The Blood Pond Hell was also shattered by Master Taotie. The fragments of the Blood Pond Hell that are now circulating in the Yin and Yang worlds are basically the scraps that Master Taotie broke at that time."

"After that, Lord Taotie ran rampant in the underworld for many years. No one dared to provoke him, and the Lord of the Underworld would treat him with courtesy."

"This wilderness plain is the resting place given to Taotie Gong by the Lord of the Underworld. Taotie Gong will sleep under this plain every day, ignoring the mundane affairs of the outside world, but he will not allow the mundane affairs to disturb him either."

"There was once a ghost from the underworld who didn't believe in evil and wanted to cause trouble for Taotie Gong, but since then, no one has ever seen that ghost from the underworld again."

"Now, these ignorant bandits have come here and messed up everything. Taotie may wake up at any time and devour these dead souls. If you go in now, you will inevitably be affected."

After seeing the text, Jiang Xinghuo finally understood where those broken fragments of hell came from. They were probably broken into pieces by the great gods in the world of the living. Come to think of it, when they were alive in the world of the living, they were all powerful and famous figures. They would not be slaughtered after death, and they would definitely have conflicts with those powerful ghosts and gods in the underworld.

"Master Taotie... the founder of the three major food organizations in the secular world... even the immortal Zhenqiu worships him as his master..."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the description in the game text and felt that he could start from this aspect. Perhaps he could escape the clutches of Taotie Gong and even gain some benefits.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xinghuo opened his backpack, found a few items, and then clicked to use them.

"You have been equipped with the meat-eating chef's robe from the imperial kitchen."

"You are equipped with the special chef dragon emblem issued by the Guanglu Temple." "You are equipped with the hundred-flavor pot of the Shangshi Bureau."

"You have been equipped with Lord Taotie's Eternal Spirit Sword."

These props were found by Jiang Xinghuo when he was exploring the secular world, and they all came from the three major gourmet organizations. Since Taotie Gong was the founder of the three major gourmet organizations, if he was equipped with these props, he might be recognized as a disciple by the other party, and his chances of survival would be much greater.

Especially the special chef dragon mark issued by the Guanglu Temple, which he found on the body of a chef from the Guanglu Temple. Although it was just a mark, it was a rare and good thing.

"Special Chef Dragon Mark (Rare Item), the Special Chef Mark issued by Guanglu Temple is not only a symbol of status, but also allows you to temporarily grant your cooking skills to others through this dragon mark. Even an ordinary person who doesn't know how to cook can transform into a cooking master as long as he is equipped with this dragon mark."

Jiang Xinghuo equipped himself with these things that symbolized his identity as a chef, and then controlled the character to walk into the wilderness plain.

"You have entered the Taotie Dojo."

"This is the resting place of Lord Taotie. The moment you step into here, Lord Taotie will sense you. Whether you can leave here safely depends on your luck."

"You walked behind the bandits and greeted them, but unexpectedly found that the bandits in front of you looked familiar."

"Now you remember that these bandits are old friends of yours. I wonder if you still remember that when you first came to the secular world, you were not only robbed by some bandits, but you were also called a poor ghost and tried to kill you several times. Later, these bandits died an untimely death and fell into the underworld. I didn't expect that they would not change their nature and went back to their old ways."

"When you recognized these bandits, they also recognized your identity. After all, they have only seen such a poor person like you in their many years of career. It is hard for them not to have a deep impression of you."

Your uncle's!

Jiang Xinghuo was speechless. Why was he cursing in a roundabout way?
He had just entered the game at that time and had nothing, so he couldn't give money even if he wanted to.

"We are old acquaintances, and the bandit leader will naturally not let you go. He immediately asked his brothers to surround you and said that he would give you two choices: either join them and become a glorious bandit, or take out all the valuables on you. For the sake of our old acquaintance, he will let you go."

"Looking at the equipment you have, you seem to be a respectable person. Everyone knows that the chefs of the three major gourmet organizations have plenty of gold, silver and treasures. What are you going to choose next?"

"Will you choose to pretend to be friendly with it, join the bandit group, and then find an opportunity to take back the things that were robbed from the pawn shop, or will you directly explain your purpose and make it take out the things honestly, and perhaps you can let it go?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it and realized that with his current strength, these bandits were no match for him at all. There was no need to play those games with them. He could just snatch the things and then go back to complete the task.

"You must tell them the truth about your purpose and ask them to hand over the things they stole. As long as they can give you the things, I will not pursue the past matters."

"After hearing what you said, these bandits immediately looked fierce, and the eerie ghost aura on their bodies became even stronger. But just when they were about to take action, a huge hole suddenly opened up on the plain, like a huge abyss mouth, swallowing up all the bandits' souls. These vicious ghosts didn't even have the ability to resist, and were swallowed up completely."

"Then, a figure appeared on the plain, waved his hand gently, and brought you to a place not far in front of him."

"You have triggered the Tathagata's talent."

"You have discovered the true spirit clone of Lord Taotie."

"The real body of Lord Taotie is still sleeping under the plain. He only sensed the exile's aura on you and the equipment on you that came from the three major gourmet organizations, so he separated a wisp of his true spirit to meet you."

"Lord Taotie is asking about the current situation in the secular world. It has been asleep for too long, and it is unknown whether the plan of the Lord of the Secular World and those people has succeeded."

"You told Lord Taotie what you knew. Lord Taotie did not show much emotion. He just gave you a token. This was something Lord Redeemer gave him before he fell asleep. He asked him to pass the token to a member of the tribe who had returned from the exile. Any member of the tribe could be one, as long as they had returned from the exile."

"And you are the only human who has returned from exile that it has seen in all these years, so this token will naturally belong to you."

"You have obtained the key to the ruins of the old world."

"This key is the key to unlocking a certain old world relic. That is also where Lord Redemption is sleeping. As long as you can find that old world relic, you can use this key to enter it and see Lord Redemption who has been sleeping for many years."

"As for the clues to the old secular ruins, they are hidden in a mysterious place. Back then, Lord Redemption, Lord Zhenwu, Lord Dou Mu, the Lord of the Secular World, Lord Yellow River, Taoist Changsheng, and the Immortal Keeper of Secrets jointly founded an organization. As long as you can find that organization, you will have a chance to find the old secular ruins."

"Lord Taotie was originally among those invited, but before he could get there, he was attacked by an unknown strongman and died in the underworld. So these are the only clues he knows."

After reading this text description, the first thing Jiang Xinghuo thought of was Bafang Linglou. When he joined Bafang Linglou and became a ghost hunter, he learned that this organization was founded by the Lord of the Secular World and several powerful men, which coincided with what Lord Taotie said.

But whether it is true or not, he has to wait for him to explore it himself.

"Mr. Taotie gave you the key, and his true spirit fell into a deep sleep again. The things that Mr. Taotie swallowed also appeared in front of you. They were the objects that were taken away by those bandits. What do you plan to do now?"

"Would you choose to hide these things yourself, sell them somewhere, and make a fortune? Or would you choose to take the things back and return them to the underworld owner of the Datong Pawn Shop?"

"There are many priceless treasures among these things. If you hide them secretly, no one will know. You can just walk away and put the blame on those bandits, saying that you didn't find them. When the storm is over, these things will be yours, enough for you to earn a considerable amount of incense."

(End of this chapter)