The Shopkeeper had been in this line of work for many years and had seen all sorts of people. He guessed Shen Bai probably didn’t have much extra silver to spare.
"Sir, I have a house for three hundred fifty taels of silver. The location is quite remote. Are you interested?"
A map was placed in front of Shen Bai. It was covered in markings, each indicating a specific location.
Shen Bai frowned. "That expensive?"
Even though he had earned a good amount of money in Shengyun County, Shen Bai still found this price a bit steep, especially for a house in a remote area.
The Shopkeeper chuckled. "Sir, the Yuanfeng Comrce Association doesn’t cheat its custors. Property prices in Fenglin State are just this high. Even for a remote location, this is actually considered a bargain."
Shen Bai stroked his chin, his eyes fixed on the map on the table as he began to ponder.
A mont later, Shen Bai noticed another mark in the corner of the map.
"How much for this place?" Shen Bai asked, pointing to the mark.
The location was quite far out, which suited Shen Bai just fine. ’It might be cheaper,’ he thought.
As for the convenience of getting to the Observatory, Shen Bai wasn’t worried. His Divine Hundred Miles skill made any commute easy.
The Shopkeeper looked at the spot Shen Bai was pointing to and hesitated. "Sir, that one is indeed cheap. It’s only fifty taels, but..."
SLAP!
Shen Bai slapped fifty taels in silver notes onto the table. "This is the one."
Fifty taels. That was a price so good you couldn’t even find it back in Shengyun County. Shen Bai thought it was perfect.
The Shopkeeper gave a wry smile. "The Yuanfeng Comrce Association does business with a conscience. There are so things I must tell you frankly, Sir. You can decide whether to buy it or not after you’ve heard them."
Shen Bai found this odd. "Don’t tell there’s so kind of skeleton in the closet?"
He looked at the Shopkeeper’s expression and found it peculiar.
In fact, Shen Bai also found it strange that no one was clamoring to buy such a cheap property.
The Shopkeeper’s face was a mask of hesitation. After a long mont, he made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and said, "Sir, to be perfectly honest, the house was left behind by a family that moved to another city."
"But this house... it’s haunted!"
"Three or four different prospective buyers thought they were getting a deal and went to buy it, but every single one of them ca back with their tail between their legs."
"Personally, I wouldn’t recomnd you buy this house, Sir. Even though it’s cheap, it’s just..."
The Shopkeeper trailed off, because he noticed sothing was off about the look in his custor’s eyes.
The mont he heard the word "haunted," the custor’s face lit up with an excitent that quickly spread across his features, like a glutton who had just spotted a feast.
A chill ran down the Shopkeeper’s spine. "Sir, are you...?"
Shen Bai imdiately rapped his knuckles on the table. "I’ll take the house. Let’s sign the deed right now. You can handle the paperwork here, right?"
The Shopkeeper thought he must have misheard, but one look at Shen Bai’s face told him there was no misunderstanding.
As a businessman, he’d already gone above and beyond what was required.
Since Shen Bai wouldn’t listen, the Shopkeeper had no other choice. He called over an assistant and had the deed signed.
"Take care, Sir."
Watching Shen Bai leave, the Shopkeeper felt a sense of bewildernt. ’Sothing about today’s events just felt too strange.’
"I even made a sale on that one! I’ve gotta stay focused. Today’s my lucky day!"
Inside the shop, the Shopkeeper pumped his fist in excitent.
...
After leaving the shop, Shen Bai followed the streets, map and deed in hand, toward his new house.
As Shen Bai walked, the bustling streets gradually gave way to deserted ones.
When Shen Bai finally stood before a house, he surveyed the quiet surrounding streets and stroked his chin.
"It certainly is a lot more deserted."
Ahead of him, an old, dilapidated house stood before his eyes.
After inspecting it for a mont, Shen Bai frowned.
’What’s going on? There aren’t any traces of a supernatural presence here.’
There was no cold, sinister aura, which proved there was no so-called "supernatural entity" on the premises.
But given that two or three prospective buyers had backed out, Shen Bai felt there had to be sothing strange about the house.
He couldn’t see anything unusual from the outside. After a mont’s thought, Shen Bai took out the key and unlocked the door.
The lock was covered in a layer of dust.
As the door opened, sunlight poured through the entrance, illuminating the inside of the house.
The house consisted of only two rooms and a main hall.
After stepping inside, Shen Bai scanned his surroundings but still found no trace of a supernatural aura.
Shen Bai stroked his chin and then closed the door.
’I’ll just wait for whatever-it-is to show itself.’
Since he couldn’t spot any problems, Shen Bai decided not to worry about it for the ti being.
By now, it was growing dark. Inside the room, Shen Bai resud grinding his Vajra Demon Subduing Fist.
Ti slowly passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was late at night.
Although the nights in Fenglin Continent were sowhat lively, in a world without much nightlife, "lively" was a relative term.
Shen Bai continued to grind his Skill Level while mulling over recent events.
Moonlight stread in from outside, and the oil lamp on the table cast a flickering glow.
’Working at the Observatory for the ti being is actually a pretty good arrangent,’ Shen Bai thought.
’I just completed one mission and already got Evil Qi and a Deceitful Object.’
’If this keeps up, it won’t be long before I make a huge profit.’
Getting not only Evil Qi but also Deceitful Objects was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
With that, Shen Bai solidified his resolve and began to grind with even more vigor.
The Skill Level for his Vajra Demon Subduing Fist rose steadily under Shen Bai’s relentless grinding.
Gradually, the night deepened, moving into its latter half.
At one point, Shen Bai consud a Qi and Blood Pill and continued his grinding.
In the blink of an eye, the dead of night arrived.
Just as Shen Bai thought the night would pass peacefully, he suddenly froze. His ears twitched as he caught an unusual sound.
His gaze snapped toward the window, just in ti to see a shadow vanish.
As the shadow disappeared, a sudden stir broke the stillness in the room, though there was no wind.
The fla of the oil lamp began to sway from side to side, and a low wailing sound arose, like the cry of a night crow, chilling one to the bone.
Shen Bai’s eyes turned cold as he slowly drew Cold Moon. "Enough with the parlor tricks. Let’s see what you really are."
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