Chapter 126: Demon of the Catacombs
When he left, Li Yuanqing had already figured out what he wanted to know.
Although it was called a town, it could actually be considered a city. According to the description of the male demon, there was a Greater Demon guarding it. There were countless towns like this led by the Demon King, and every town had a Greater Demon.
In towns, demons were respected, devils were lowly, and humans were the lowest.
Moreover, there were the most demons in the towns over there, especially the Little Demons. They all had their own houses in the towns and there were many devils serving them. There were even humans who were servants.
In the code of law in the towns in the Catacombs, the Little Demons and devils who had been given a waist token were considered residents here. They would be captured by the Demon Judgment Division if they injured or killed someone. However, humans did not have a waist token in the Catacombs.
In other words, there was no guarantee of human life or safety.
Demons could kill people, but humans could not kill demons. Demons could use humans as slaves, but humans could not use demons as slaves. Of course, if human cultivators wanted to become demons, they could also be ordinary residents like devils.
However, the demons here were naturally superior.
For example, if Hu Jiujiu entered a town and confirmed that she was the Demon Empress through the Demon Revealing Mirror, she could easily obtain the right to live in a town and raise devils or humans as slaves.
However, humans could not. Even if they were very strong, they could only live in the outer city of the town and not be protected by the town. Even if they were lucky enough to enter the city, they could only live in the Western City where humans lived together and not enter the Eastern City.
This was because the Eastern City was considered a place where Greater Demons lived. If humans entered casually, they would be eaten as easily as a fly.
Li Yuanqing did not expect that the place he had been heading east for the past few months would actually be such a situation. Moreover, Lin Ping’s travelogue did not seem to have any specific description of these things.
“Since I’m already here, I might as well use my own ident.i.ty to enter town…”
According to Hu Jiujiu’s suggestion, they could enter the city. In that case, Li Yuanqing only needed to pretend to be her servant.
However, Li Yuanqing refused. Since he had come to the Catacombs’ town, even if he could not enter the city for the time being, he could still interact with more people outside and understand the Catacombs.
One had to know that the Catacombs were connected to countless small worlds. Currently, the small world that Li Yuanqing knew of was the former Northern Kingdom. He wanted to know if there were any other countries in those small worlds other than the Northern Kingdom. For example, his previous life. Or a country close to what he had lived in his previous life?
Hu Jiujiu was Li Yuanqing’s servant. Now that she had transformed into a human again and her injuries were almost healed, she could still chatter and naturally listened to Li Yuanqing.
After all, along the way, from the Northern Kingdom to this Catacomb, Li Yuanqing’s strength had made her click her tongue. It also made her understand a principle in her heart. She could not resist and could only obey obediently.
Following the path that the male demon had once mentioned, Li Yuanqing continued east. Ten days later, he finally saw a towering city wall.
This city wall was as tall as a mountain. At a glance, it was almost endless. It was so big that it made one click their tongues. He had originally thought that this town was at most the size of the Imperial City of the Northern Kingdom. Who knew that this town was the size of the entire Northern Kingdom.
The Catacombs were really too big. No wonder countless small worlds were connected to this place.
Along the way, Li Yuanqing saw that the outside of the city wall stretched for more than a hundred miles. It was filled with houses and buildings. Moreover, most of these houses overlapped with the green brick houses in his memory.
Most of the houses outside the city were made of stone and green bricks. Although there were no pavilions, Li Yuanqing could see that they were all human martial artists. Moreover, most of these human martial artists were Martial Saints or cultivators who had just stepped into the Grotto-Heaven Realm.
However, these people all had a weathered expression on their faces. At this moment, they were gathered together. Some of them were small merchants who sold some equipment refinement items. Some of them even opened wine shops and teahouses. There was even the only two-story Drunken Spring Inn.
From time to time, there would be girls showing their beautiful bodies upstairs and soliciting customers downstairs. However, there would occasionally be people shouting “Mighty” and “Silence”. They would see the martial artists on the road involuntarily standing by the roadside.
They watched enviously as some carriages and palanquins entered the city in an imposing manner. In the palanquins or carriages, there were Little Demons.
This was the first time Li Yuanqing had come to such a lively place after coming to the Catacombs. He even saw the wine shop and could not help but walk in. He saw two or three martial artists sitting inside, drinking and chatting.
When he entered, he saw many martial artists who couldn’t help but stand up. They squeezed into the corner and gave up the best seats. The waiter rushed over and bowed to Hu Jiujiu.
It turned out that Hu Jiujiu was a demon. A Little Demon who could transform was a natural benefactor in the outer city. Without saying anything, she was superior.
Li Yuanqing did not know whether to laugh or cry at this scene. It seemed that some of the thoughts of human martial artists in the Catacombs were deeply rooted. They consciously placed themselves in the position of lowly commoners.
“Miss, what do you want to eat? If you have time, you can enter the inner city directly. The dishes there are probably more to your liking!”
In Li Yuanqing’s eyes, the shop a.s.sistant who was bowing and sc.r.a.ping also had the strength of a peak ninth-grade martial artist. However, Li Yuanqing did not expect that the shop a.s.sistant would be so humble in the Catacombs. He had a smile on his face as his gaze landed on Hu Jiujiu.
It was as if he was afraid that he would offend this Little Demon and cause her to smash this wine shop.
“Just serve some signature dishes. By the way, do you have a place to stay or a place to buy and sell houses? I want to stay…”
Hu Jiujiu glanced at Li Yuanqing. Seeing that he did not speak, she quickly explained their needs.
This was mainly because they had just arrived at this place. They needed a place to stay. Moreover, if they wanted to integrate into this place, they could not make it too shocking. They could not let the Man-eating Vine build a house like they did in the wild.
“Yes, there are places here that specialize in buying and selling rented houses. If you have an inner city waist token, you can live in the inner city directly. There are more s.p.a.cious houses selling there. But the conditions here are much worse…”
The shop a.s.sistant spoke carefully and even looked at Hu Jiujiu inquisitively. This demon was a little strange. Why didn’t she go to the inner city?
Going to the inner city was equivalent to being a n.o.ble. It was much better than staying in the outer city. After all, those who lived in the outer city were devils or humans. The conditions were too poor for the demons.
“It’s fine. I want a house in the outer city. I like it!”
Hu Jiujiu said indifferently. Here, her words seemed to be more effective than Li Yuanqing. She might as well help settle everything. After all, she was the one who had been doing this in the past.
“Miss, have your meal first. I’ll introduce someone to you immediately. You can talk to him yourselves…”
The shop a.s.sistant stared at Hu Jiujiu and seemed to feel that there was nothing wrong with what she said. Soon, he really helped Hu Jiujiu find someone to look at the house while he arranged for the dishes to be served.
This was the first time Li Yuanqing had eaten wine and food since he came to the Catacombs. Although he had never seen much of the wine and food served, he could taste it. It was light and refreshing.
More importantly, one could use spirit stones to pay the bill. He had used a single spirit stone to buy an entire table of food and wine. At the same time, he gave this fellow some money as a tip, making him happy and grateful. Soon, he found a broker who sells houses.
He was also a cultivator who looked to be in the seventh or eighth grade. When he saw Li Yuanqing and Hu Jiujiu, he was very respectful and directly reported the situation of the houses outside the city to them.
“Miss, if you want to stay for a short period of time, I suggest that you rent some houses. For example, there are many houses here that cost one to ten spirit stones. You can stay here for a month. There’s no need for you to buy a house. After all, you might enter the city in the future. The resources there are better. I’m afraid this place isn’t to your liking…”
The broker looked at Hu Jiujiu and Li Yuanqing and enthusiastically introduced them to buy or rent a house.
It turned out that there were also houses that could be rented in the outer city. The more expensive ones had houses with s.p.a.cious courtyards that have a lot of rooms. They cost ten spirit stones a month. The worst one was a room that cost one spirit stone a month.
Seeing that the two of them were very interested in what he was saying, the broker became spirited and tried his best to recommend a small courtyard that cost ten spirit stones a month. He said that it was the most suitable place to stay. Moreover, this place was very close to the market outside the city. It didn’t take long before they reached the market. It was quite convenient.
“In that case, show us the house!”
Li Yuanqing was still unfamiliar with this place. He decided to follow the broker and take a look at the house. He wanted to see if the voice transmission device could still be used here. In any case, ten spirit stones a month might seem like a lot, but to him, who did not lack spirit stones, it was actually nothing.
As long as he liked it, it would be fine.
The broker led them to the courtyard and happened to see the branches of a pomegranate tree extending over. At this moment, pomegranate flowers were blooming, and half of the wall was red.
This was a courtyard with three entrances and three exits. It looked quite big, and there was a well in the middle of the courtyard.
Li Yuanqing stood in the courtyard and looked at the courtyard next door. There was a fiery red pomegranate tree in the courtyard. It was rather thick and occupied half of the courtyard.
“Is the house next door also for rent? Is it the same as this one?”
“That one is even more s.p.a.cious than this place. However, it’s only for sale and not rent. If it’s sold, the price will be 300 spirit stones! If you rent this, it will be 10 spirit stones a month!”
Seeing that Li Yuanqing and the others were asking about the house next door, the broker felt a little unnatural. He stammered and only said that the house there was only for sale and not for rent. However, the price was quite cheap. It was only three hundred spirit stones.
A place even smaller than that could rent ten spirit stones a month. Li Yuanqing stared at the broker for a few seconds and suddenly asked, “What’s wrong with the house over there? Can I buy it?”
“Ah, this, this, I suggest that you guys rent this place. Although it’s more expensive, you have a n.o.ble status. You shouldn’t buy it. It’s not worth it…”
The broker was even more hesitant now. He kept recommending that they rent this house and not buy a cheap courtyard over there.
Hu Jiujiu snorted and deliberately pretended to look unhappy.
“You, I wanted to buy a house, but you recommended that we rent a house. It wasn’t easy for us to find a house that we like, but you still want me to spend more money to rent a house. Do you think I’m gullible? Do you want to earn more money from me?” Hu Jiujiu deliberately shouted at the broker with a bluff, scaring him so much that his legs went weak and he almost knelt down. His voice had changed, and he was crying as he tried his best to explain.
“Miss, you’ve misunderstood. You’ve really misunderstood. Even if I had the guts, I wouldn’t dare to lie to you. I wouldn’t dare to earn too much money from you. This courtyard is really strange. If someone else came to buy it, I would definitely sell it happily. But I wouldn’t dare to sell it to you. I’m afraid of alerting the n.o.bles in the city…”
The broker kept explaining to Hu Jiujiu. In his eyes, Hu Jiujiu was a demon and a n.o.ble in the city. Even if she wanted to live in the outer city occasionally, she was not someone they dared to provoke. Therefore, he was unwilling to get into trouble and sell the house next door to her. The fear of demons was carved into the bones of the humans here. Or because he was too weak.
“Why would selling a cheap house to me alert the n.o.bles in the city? Why, why?”
Hu Jiujiu’s series of questions made the broker unable to say anything. He scratched his head and stomped his feet. He decided to tell the truth because he really could not afford to offend a demon.
“Actually, this house used to be rented out. It costs fifteen spirit stones a month and is very popular because the house is in a good location and it is especially close to the market. Moreover, the environment is good and s.p.a.cious. Those rich cultivators can rent it for a year and a half…
“But people really can’t live in this house anymore. Twenty-seven people have already died from renting this house. In the past, as long as they rented this house here for more than three months, they would almost all die an unnatural death. This place has become a haunted house. Although not many people know about it, I can’t go against my conscience and cheat you…”
The broker said that he wasn’t a scammer and kept looking at Hu Jiujiu. The person in front of him was really a demon. If it were Li Yuanqing alone who came to look at the house, he reckoned that the house would have been sold to him for 300 spirit stones. Once the person died, perhaps this house could be sold to the next owner.
In any case, death was death to human cultivators, just like stepping on an ant. However, it was different for Hu Jiujiu. Hu Jiujiu was a demon, so she was like a n.o.ble in this town.
If anything really happened to this n.o.ble, her family would definitely investigate. Once they investigated, they would find them. At that time, not to mention him, even the entire brokerage would be buried with Hu Jiujiu.
There were too many things like this. The broker did not dare to take the risk.