A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Dog Master strolled in with an air of authority, sniffing the air with his dog nose before glancing at the bewildered Ji Zuodao.

"Woof! You little brat, you're quick on your feet! Where's that damn saintess? You swallowed her whole, skin and bones? Didn't even leave me a bone scrap to chew on?"

Ji Zuodao was looking down at the extra "three-piece set" in his hand, looking completely bewildered. Upon hearing this, he looked up, his expression even more innocent than Dog Master's.

"I don't know!"

He waved the beauty skin, the spirit palace orb, and the storage bag in his hands, his tone tinged with grievance and confusion:

"I was standing right here when that woman suddenly screamed and unleashed a pretty intimidating special move... something like 'Red Dust' or 'Guidance'? It was a long name, I can't remember it."

"Then I felt a blur before my eyes, and my mind went blank like it was being electrocuted. When I came to my senses..."

He spread his hands, displaying the spoils that had appeared out of thin air.

"Look, the leather, the bag, and the spirit palace have automatically come into my hands. The person... is gone."

"This fight... is fucking weird."

"It's like you painstakingly level up and collect equipment, preparing for an epic showdown with the final boss, only to have the boss trip over his own feet right after the cutscene, 'splat!' and tumble down the stairs, dead!"

"I got the gear and the experience, but... why do I feel so empty and uneasy?"

Ji Zuodao felt increasingly frustrated and casually shoved the Spirit Palace Light Orb into Qiqi's hand. Qiqi had run up to him and was looking up with her little face full of curiosity in her light purple eyes.

"Here you go, Qiqi, take this and play with it."

Qiqi held it in both hands, looked down carefully, and her long eyelashes almost touched the surface of the ball of light.

His focused expression made him look exceptionally well-behaved.

"Woof! Ptooey!"

Dog Lord spat without any politeness.

"You're getting a good deal and you're still complaining! Hurry up, loot the corpse! See what that Miao barbarian dropped!"

"Oh right, there's one more."

Ji Zuodao then remembered that there was another person lying on the ground. He walked over dejectedly and began to dissect Shi Yan's corpse with practiced ease.

His movements were swift and his technique professional; he was clearly an experienced practitioner.

Before long, he had another spiritual palace orb that exuded a cold aura and whose surface seemed to have insect shadows crawling on it, as well as Shi Yan's storage bag and some odds and ends.

"Tsk, this spirit palace does look a bit like the Miao region."

Ji Zuodao weighed the newly acquired spirit palace in his hand, then looked at the one surrounded by peach blossoms in Qi Qi's hand, and curled his lip.

"Never mind, as long as we won. We got some items, so it's not a loss."

The slight frustration of not having had enough fun was quickly replaced by the joy of counting the spoils as I imagined the "Harvest +2" notification sound.

"Walk!"

Ji Zuodao instantly perked up, his eyes shining. He carefully put away the newly acquired materials, scooped up Qi Qi who was still curiously examining the Spirit Palace, and waved his hand dismissively:

"Dog, let's go treasure hunting! Raid their place! See how much good stuff those two have hidden!"

"This house is ours now, we're going to ransack it, leaving no inch untouched!"

He was in high spirits, as if the fizzling battle had never happened, his eyes burning with desire for his new home and the treasure.

The dog flicked its tail in response, and the same expectation flashed in its eyes.

After all, it's quite adept at raiding homes and stealing treasures.

A man, a dog, and a zombie, filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest and the enthusiasm to explore their new home, embarked on a thorough sweep of the vast villa.

Ji Zuodao led Qi Qi by the hand, slowly strolling around the living room, study, and tea room on the first floor, his eyes sharp as lightning, not missing a single corner.

The interior of this villa is extremely luxurious, yet it exudes a pretentious air of affected elegance.

There were many porcelain and jade pieces on the shelf, which looked like antiques, but judging from Ji Zuodao's eyesight, which had been honed by his three masters through studying countless appraisal books, eight out of ten pieces were high-quality fakes.

The remaining two genuine items are mostly ordinary folk kiln products with limited value.

"Tsk, is this your taste?" Ji Zuodao curled her lips in disdain. "A saintess, indeed. So shallow."

The study contained a collection of books, including classics, historical texts, philosophical works, poems, songs, and even a few romance novels, all of which were well preserved.

Ji Zuodao casually flipped through a few books but didn't find anything particularly interesting.

Ji Zuodao's fingers slid across the bookshelf, finally stopping on a seemingly ordinary copy of the "Nanhua Jing".

It feels slightly cool to the touch, and the weight is incorrect.

"Wow, you've got a knack for this."

He applied force with his fingertips, and a soft click came from the spine of the book.

The entire bookshelf slid silently inward, revealing a deep, downward stone staircase. A chilling wind, mixed with the smells of medicine, blood, and the distinctive stench of insects, rushed out.

"Woof! This is it!" Dog twitched its nose and darted down first.

Qi Qi, holding the Spirit Palace, followed behind Ji Zuodao with curiosity.

The basement was more spacious than I had expected.

The lights embedded in the wall illuminated a large pit in the center, outlined by countless fine runes.

What truly made Ji Zuodao and Gouye stop in their tracks were the dozens of pupae half-embedded in the pit walls inside the large pit.

Each pupa exudes a chilling aura that is of the same origin as the Soul-Eating Gu in the "Bliss Pill," but is countless times more powerful and refined.

"The Gu King? In its cocooned state... so many?"

Dog-Grandpa's eyes widened, his voice filled with surprise.

"If they all emerge from their cocoons, there will be dozens of Soul-Eating Gu Kings! These two madmen have quite the scheme!"

Ji Zuodao's eyes lit up as well.

He knew how powerful the Soul-Eating Gu was.

If it were the King of Gu, its power would probably be even greater.

Although this thing is insidious, if used properly, it can definitely be used to ambush people... cough cough, it is a "weapon" for carrying out special missions.

"nice one!"

Ji Zuodao grinned, showing no politeness whatsoever.

With a wave of his hand, his spiritual energy transformed into dozens of fine threads, carefully wrapping around the white cocoons.

After sensing for a moment and confirming that they were in a deep, dormant cocooned state and temporarily harmless, it put them all into its human skin bag.

"I'll take a look later and see if I can tame them and use them as watchdogs... no, watchdog worms."

After cleaning the blood pool, they discovered another hidden area in the deepest part of the basement.

On the ground, a complex magic array about two meters in diameter was slowly operating in the dim light. The array patterns were ancient and emitted stable spatial fluctuations.

"A teleportation array?"

Ji Zuodao squatted down to carefully examine the direction and nodes of the array patterns, and then took out a scroll of silk and a list from a hidden compartment next to him.

The silk scroll records the maintenance and usage methods of the magic array, as well as the connection of several other coordinate points.

The list detailed entertainment venues and private clubs in the Moon Sea District that were similar in nature to "Drunken Dream Pavilion" and were secretly controlled or associated with the Hehuan Sect.

It even included two small outposts disguised as trading companies.

Next to it, each company's approximate strength and personnel list were marked in tiny characters.

Ji Zuodao's gaze swept over the list, and a cold, hunting-like smile slowly curved his lips.

He flicked the list in his hand, making a crisp sound.

"Good."

"It saves me the trouble of searching for them one by one."

Ji Zuodao stood up, patted off imaginary dust from his hands, and his eyes gleamed with eager anticipation.

"Today..."

"Go to each house on this list, knocking on their doors."