A Compendium of One Hundred Demons: My Path to Immortality in a World of Demons and Monsters

The night was dark.

When Xu Yuan returned to the villa in the east of the city with Hua Mei, it was already three-quarters past midnight.

The old locust tree cast dappled shadows under the moonlight, rustling softly in the night breeze.

Hua Mei followed obediently behind Xu Yuan, her beautiful deep purple eyes curiously surveying the small courtyard.

She had lived for over a hundred years and seen countless mansions, but this ordinary little courtyard in front of her gave her a strange sense of... peace of mind.

Perhaps it's because Xu Yuan lives here.

"Come in." Xu Yuan pushed open the door and sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard.

Huamei quickly followed him in, standing by his side with her hands at her sides, like a maid waiting for instructions.

"Tell me," Xu Yuan said slowly. "Where are you from? What's the name of the organization behind you?"

The thrush trembled slightly.

She raised her head, a complex emotion flashing in her deep purple eyes—fear, struggle, but mostly awe for the young master before her.

Just now in that dilapidated courtyard, she personally experienced the suppression emanating from the depths of her soul.

That wasn't ordinary refining and subjugation, but... some kind of ancient power of contract!

"Master, please accept my sermon." Hua Mei took a deep breath and began to speak, "The organization I belong to is called 'Shadow Tower'."

Xu Yuan silently memorized the name.

"The Shadow Pavilion is based in Cangzhou, and its influence extends to several states in the northern border of the Great Qian Dynasty. On the surface, it deals in intelligence trading, but in secret..." Hua Mei paused, "it secretly collaborates with demons and evil spirits, providing them with blood offerings in exchange for cultivation resources and the inheritance of magical techniques."

"A traitor?" Xu Yuan said calmly.

Hua Mei lowered her eyes and said, "Yes."

"How many people are in the Shadow Tower? What is their overall strength?"

"Although I've been in this building for decades, my knowledge is still limited," Hua Mei recalled earnestly. "The Shadow Tower has a tight structure, divided into an inner and outer building. The outer building is responsible for miscellaneous tasks such as intelligence gathering, assassinations, and blood food supply. Most of its personnel are at the Blood Refining Realm, with occasional early-stage Qi Condensation Realm members in charge. The inner building is the core, and it's said that it has several elders, all at the late-stage Qi Condensation Realm. As for the Tower Master..."

A flicker of fear crossed her eyes: "It is said that the Lord of the Pavilion has reached the peak of the Qi Condensation stage, with one foot already in the Divine Power Realm. But I have never seen him. I only know that his cultivation method is extremely strange, allowing him to control demon souls for his own use."

Peak of Qi Condensation, half-step into Divine Power.

Xu Yuan silently assessed the situation and concluded that with his current strength, his chances of winning against such a powerful opponent were probably less than 10%.

"How many ghost generals like you are there in your building?"

"There are only three ghost generals like me in the entire Cangzhou Prefecture," Huamei said. "Aqi is a ninth-rank ghost soldier who has not yet broken through, so he was assigned to the outer tower. I and the other two are under the command of the inner tower and report directly to the elders."

"Who is Ah Qi to you?"

Hua Mei paused for a moment, a complex look flashing in her eyes: "A Qi... is my younger brother. We were originally the children of an ordinary family in Jiangnan. A hundred years ago, we were caught in a chaotic world, our parents died, and the two of us, brother and sister, were left to wander the streets. Later, we met the people of Youying Tower. They saw that my brother and I had the ability to communicate with the spirits, so they turned us into painted-skin ghosts..."

At this point, tears welled up in her eyes, but they didn't fall.

As a ghost, she had long since run out of tears.

Xu Yuan listened quietly without interrupting.

"After being transformed into painted-skin ghosts, we lost most of our memories, only remembering that we were siblings," Hua Mei continued. "A Qi is simple-minded and not diligent in his cultivation, remaining at the Ghost Soldier level. I worked hard to cultivate and finally broke through to the mid-stage Ghost General a few years ago, thinking I could protect him, but I never expected..."

At this point, she raised her head and looked at Xu Yuan.

There was no resentment in those deep purple eyes, only calm acceptance.

"Master killed Ah Qi, and I should hate you. But strangely, after being subdued by you, my memories have become much clearer. Some past events that were sealed away by the Shadow Pavilion are slowly coming back to me."

Xu Yuan's heart skipped a beat: "Can the Shadow Pavilion seal your memories?"

"Yes." Thrush nodded seriously. "Everyone who is turned into a ghost has most of their memories erased, leaving only their loyalty to the Shadow Tower and their craving for blood. The reason I can remember these things now is actually because of Master's... that treasure."

She didn't dare to say "funerary artifacts" directly, but only vaguely mentioned it.

Xu Yuan seemed to be deep in thought.

The fact that the Netherworld's ability to break the seal on the Shadow Tower was an unexpected bonus.

How do you usually communicate with the organization?

"On the tenth of each month, someone from the outer building will come to 'collect the goods'," Hua Mei said. "The so-called 'collecting the goods' means taking the blood food, intelligence, and cultivation resources we have gathered. My subordinate and A Qi are responsible for the Cangzhou Prefecture area, so we will meet at that abandoned house in the west of the city on the tenth of each month."

"The tenth?" Xu Yuan calculated the days. "Today is the eighth, two more days?"

"Yes."

"Who is the contact? What is their strength?"

"The one coming from the outer building is a human in the early stage of Qi Condensation called 'Blood Hand.' It's said that he was a notorious bandit in his youth, but later joined the Shadow Pavilion, where he's in charge of collecting debts," Hua Mei explained. "This person is treacherous and ruthless, but his strength is inferior to mine. If we were to fight him head-on, I'm 70% confident I could kill him."

Xu Yuan nodded.

Two days later, perhaps we can take this opportunity to follow the clues and find the source.

"You just said that there are three ghost generals in the Shadow Tower, and you and two others belong to the inner tower. What are their origins?"

Hua Mei thought for a moment: "The other two are called 'Bone Demon,' who was a general in life and was transformed into a skeleton demon after death, with the strength of a mid-stage Ghost General. The other is called 'Charm Fairy,' who was a courtesan in life and was transformed into a charm demon after death, also with the strength of a mid-stage Ghost General. However, they are both much stronger than me and have the deep trust of the elders."

Where do they usually live?

"I don't know." Hua Mei shook her head. "The people in the inner tower each have their own strongholds and rarely interact with each other. They only gather at the main altar on the fifteenth of each month to report to the elders."

The main altar is held on the 15th of each month.

Xu Yuan noted down this time point again.

He asked for more details until Huamei had revealed all the information she knew, and only then did Xu Yuan let her leave.

"You shall live in the west wing. You shall not leave without my permission."

"Yes, Master," the thrush obediently replied, then turned and left.

As she reached the door, she suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Master, there is one more thing."

"explain."

"Although I have been subdued by you, if the Shadow Pavilion discovers that Ah Qi is dead, they will definitely investigate. Given the Pavilion Master's style, he would rather kill the innocent than let any suspicious person go free," Hua Mei said earnestly. "You must be careful."

Xu Yuan nodded slightly.

Huamei said no more, gently closed the door and left.

The courtyard returned to silence.

Xu Yuan sat on the stone bench, gazing at the dappled shadows, lost in thought.