Chapter 23: The Banquet Revitalizes the Cultivation World (23% complete)
As soon as Jun Huilian and Jun Feibai entered the restaurant, several attractive maids came up to greet them and led them to their seats.
The area outside the City of the Dead was in ruins. Jun Huilian had no expectations for the restaurant, but to his surprise, the unassuming restaurant was surprisingly luxurious, like a paradise on earth.
The restaurant's lobby was practically a miniature palace. Luminous pearls emitted a soft and magnificent light, illuminating the entire scene. The four walls were covered with brightly colored brocade curtains, painted with auspicious patterns such as dragons and phoenixes, landscapes, flowers, and birds, as if painted by a deity himself.
Jun Feibai was excited from the moment he entered. He leaned close to Jun Huilian's ear and said, "Alian, do you think this illusion looks like the kind of banquet Xu Buhui hosted for you?"
"It should be a transformation based on the real scene from the past." She looked at the golden throne placed at the end of the hall and narrowed her eyes.
The throne was unoccupied, and behind it stood a magnificent giant screen depicting mountains, rivers, trees, and flowers.
Jun Huilian recognized the screen. It was meticulously crafted by skilled embroiderers based on the Hundred Scenes painting drawn by Xu Buhui himself. For this, he searched for the most skilled embroiderers in both the cultivation and mortal realms.
The maid who led the way led her to sit on the right side of the golden throne, and then hesitated for a moment before arranging a seat next to Jun Feibai.
Although the NPCs in the illusion are just shadows left behind, they have a certain level of thinking ability and can cope with various different situations.
Clearly, the ghosts were somewhat intimidated by the distinguished guest who was qualified to sit on the right side of the throne, and dared not question the person she brought, even though that person only held a black card in his hand.
The monks who received white tokens and the NPC guests in brocade robes and jeweled ornaments took their seats one after another, receiving the highest level of hospitality at the banquet.
The incense and candles emitted a fragrant aroma, and the delicious food at the banquet easily aroused people's appetites. Jun Huilian and Jun Feibai glanced at it, but they were unmoved by the delicacies. The amber wine was filled with glasses and emitted an enticing aroma, but they did not take a sip.
The secret realm woven from illusions is usually half real and half fake. For example, the restaurant is real, the ghosts are real, and the rest...
Jun Huilian, through the illusion, looked at the old, tattered ghost with its clothes weathered by time and its tongue hanging three feet long. His expression was indescribable, and he didn't even have the appetite to taste the air.
Seeing her staring at him, the hanged ghost face that had been repeating itself for tens of thousands of years blushed slightly.
Oh my, she had been in the illusion for countless years, and this was the first time she had seen such a handsome cultivator. She even smiled at her!
It was rare to see a cultivator enter the secret realm without rushing to search for treasures, and instead showed her friendliness. The Hanging Ghost used her brain, which hadn't been used for a long time, to think for a moment, and quietly replaced the fake food in front of Jun Huilian with her precious millennia-old treasure that she had always been reluctant to eat. Thinking that no one had noticed her little trick, she retreated with satisfaction to lead the way for the other guests.
"Old Xu is really stingy. He hires a bunch of ghosts to work for him for ten thousand years without paying them a single penny." Jun Huilian clicked his tongue as he looked at the shriveled buns in his bowl, which he had accumulated over who knows how long.
Jun Feibai took something out of his Qiankun bag and ate it, saying indistinctly, "After someone inherits the secret realm, all the ghosts inside will have to retire, right?"
His eyes darted around: "The system game section is short-staffed, how about we offer them a re-employment opportunity?"
"Good idea." Jun Huilian looked at the hanged ghost who had brought in another cultivator. "It's perfect that Old Xu gave them their on-the-job training, so they don't need to practice their acting skills anymore."
Most of the cultivators holding white tokens came prepared. Compared to the other cultivators they had seen at the city gate, they had a more arrogant air about them. Being treated as honored guests by the illusionary realm meant that their strategy was correct. This first step in gaining the upper hand gave them confidence. Some of them were confident of victory and knew that the "honored guests" would not be in danger for the time being. They did not need to be on edge and were already immersed in the luxurious and dreamlike scene, temporarily forgetting the disturbances of the ghost realm.
Jun Feibai stared at a cultivator who was secretly excited. He didn't understand what was so exciting about it: "The booklet in that person's hand must have been bought by someone who has been here before, right? So he knows that this is a secret realm left behind by a ghost cultivator, which is the most dangerous of all secret realms. What's there to be happy about?"
"They seem to have victory firmly in their grasp, quite confident in Old Xu's illusion." Jun Huilian raised a long eyebrow slightly.
Jun Feibai had a question he didn't understand: "We only know where we are when we see the City of the Wrongfully Dead, so how does the system know to bring the mission takers here?"
“Don’t underestimate the system,” Jun Huilian said. “From the very beginning, I gave them space to learn and evolve. The Heavenly Dao also opened a back door, granting them certain precognitive and predictive abilities. Combined with the treasure appraisal skills you gave them, the system’s sensitivity to good things is even more accurate than a Saint-grade treasure-hunting compass in order to plan the cultivation path for the taskers. Look, three systems have come to just one secret realm.”
The systems also have different abilities. The three secret realms in Yongzhou that were able to lock onto the ascending Dao Lords as soon as they took office have sharp eyes and are very efficient.
"White cards are for honored guests, where did those three go? What roles are they playing?" Jun Feibai asked curiously.
"Zheng—"
No sooner had he asked the question than a strange string sound rang out abruptly amidst the mocking tones of the instruments.
The melodious and graceful music at the banquet was meant to be the icing on the cake, allowing people to immerse themselves in the enchanting sounds and enjoy the lively and joyful atmosphere.
The music is usually indispensable, yet it doesn't overshadow the main piece; however, this stringed instrument loses its function as part of the music itself.
Everyone unconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, and in the corner a musician with two topknots was frantically throwing himself onto the guqin, trying to quiet the vibrating strings.
No, no, no!
Her frantic attempts to salvage the situation were futile in the eyes of the ghost. The evil spirit, also a musician, instantly changed his expression, his beautiful face sprouting sharp fangs, black mist swirling behind him, as he viciously lunged at her.
Just as the demon raised its head to tear her apart, she blew out a smooth melody with a peculiar, bouncy rhythm, but it was clearly a well-formed piece of music.
The evil spirit hovered in mid-air, its gaze cold and sinister.
Having narrowly escaped death, Su Xiaoyao breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
The whistling tune faded away, and the evil spirit shuddered again, so she quickly continued whistling.
[That scared me to death! Luckily, Xiao Yao, you were quick-witted. You repeatedly asked the ghost musician on the way and confirmed that "creating a piece of music that no one has ever heard before, no matter what method you use," would pass the test. You managed to fool him!]
Su Xiaoyao didn't dare stop whistling, and blew cold sweat all over her head.
She's already said "Friendship Lasts Forever," so it wouldn't be right for a good brother not to give her face!
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Author's Note: My blanket came to life and pinned me down, begging me to spend the day with it. I couldn't refuse, so I decided to add more tomorrow. Please forgive my short length _(:зゝ∠)_
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