"Huh?! That can't be right, the Jade Maiden Sect and the Joyful Union Sect haven't arrived yet!"
Everyone had this question, but only Kotinghe, with his big mouth, asked it out loud.
Yuehua replied with a smile, "No need to wait, they will come, but not now."
Ke Tinghe, however, failed to grasp the underlying meaning. He suddenly lowered his head, leaned closer to the young Buddhist monk sitting to his left, and whispered something in a low voice:
"Hey, do you think the Jade Maiden Sect and the Joyous Union Sect might have both perished on the way...? I've heard that each of the four paths has its own dangers. Judging from your condition, your journey there must have been difficult too!"
The young Buddhist monk was handsome with delicate features, possessing a somewhat feminine appearance. He seemed like an easy-going person, but upon hearing his words, it was as if a sore spot had been touched. Tears welled up in his eyes on the spot, and his trembling, tender red lips began to pour out his grievances:
"Oh my god! You bet! It was awful! We ran into a bunch of pea spirits who were chasing us and spitting out those giant peas. Even though we're tough, we still feel pain! We had to conserve our spiritual energy, so we just ran away. We couldn't fight them, so we had to dodge, right? But then we were hit by potato bombs one step at a time! One potato bomb after another! My head is still buzzing from all the explosions!!"
Kotinghe was completely petrified. "Uh..."
Mo Yu glanced at the Buddhist cultivator with a cool look, but the Buddhist cultivator was pouring out his grievances and didn't seem to get a word in edgewise.
"There's also a mutated variety of pea spirit, which is all blue. When it spits out peas and hits you, you freeze solid and can't run at all!"
"Do you know that man-eating flower? You know, the one with the huge, foul-smelling mouth that opens wide! It always hides in places you can't see!"
As he spoke, the little Buddhist monk stuck his butt out towards Ke Tinghe: "If there weren't so many people here, I would definitely pull down my pants and show you the teeth marks on my butt!"
"No, no... there's no need for that."
For the first time, Kotinghe had encountered someone even more ruthless than himself, and he was at a loss for what to do, shrinking back like a quail.
"Please keep my words in mind, or you will be responsible for yourselves, whether you die or are maimed, when the banquet begins tonight. I will not repeat myself."
Yuehua glared at Ke Tinghe before continuing, "At 11:00 AM, the banquet will begin. My guests will enter the courtyard one by one. However, they may not be very friendly to humans, so as the host of the banquet, I will give each of you a sunflower."
"Could it be that by holding the sunflower, your guests are unable to get close?"
A disciple from Penglai asked with sparkling eyes.
"No. Every ten breaths, the sunflower produces a sun crystal. You can use sun crystals to exchange for my children as an aid."
Yuehua curled her lips into a mischievous smile, as if she had thought of something extremely interesting.
"Children?"
Some people have raised questions.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce them. They are those lovely plants you encountered in the forest. They are all my carefully nurtured children. I have given them names: Pea Shooter, Chomper, Cherry Bomb, Potato Mine... and so on.”
"When the banquet begins, I will set up a stall in the courtyard. Collect one Sun Crystal to exchange for a Potato Mine, an Algae, a Sun-shroom, or a Timid-shroom; collect three Sun Crystals to exchange for a Giant Pokémon, an Ice-shroom, or a Hypno-shroom; collect four Sun Crystals to exchange for a Peashooter, a Corn Cob, or a Cabbage-pult..."
To put it simply, it's still Plants vs. Zombies.
"In short, once the banquet begins, you are welcome to come to my stall to make your purchases."
Yuehua smiled, but Chu Hongluan sensed a hint of unspeakable schadenfreude in her eyes.
I have a feeling that Yuehua isn't as easy to get along with as she seems on the surface.
Soon, night fell.
At midnight, the bell rang.
Everyone felt a sudden dizziness.
They were already in the courtyard.
The next second, a loud crash came from behind, like some enormous object crashing down, kicking up clouds of dust and causing the ground to tremble violently.
Many righteous cultivators instinctively turned around, and with just one glance, they were breathless.
It was an enormous iron cage, and there was no doubt that it could easily hold more than a dozen wild animals.
But what's locked in the cage now?
"Help me—help me!!!"
The cage was filled with whimpers, screams, and cries—all so heart-wrenching that they sent chills down one's spine.
They are human.
It was kept in a cage.
They are the missing Jade Maiden Sect and Joyful Union Sect cultivators.
Their eyes were empty and filled with despair.
His clothes were tattered and his body was covered in wounds.
Some limbs were still attached to flesh and blood, while others were completely disfigured, bearing the marks of wild animal bites.
Xu Qingqiu was among them. Perhaps because of her slightly higher cultivation level, she seemed to be in much better condition than the others, but her face was still extremely pale, and she couldn't stop vomiting blood as soon as she opened her mouth.
It's hard to imagine what they went through.
Suddenly, a beam of light shone down, illuminating a corner of the courtyard. Yuehua sat there, smiling at them.
Just as he had said before, a small stall had been set up in front of him, with a sign that looked like a 21st-century "shocking price" and read: "Sun Crystal Barter Shop".
"See, I told you they would come."
Yuehua didn't even get up; he simply rested his chin on his hand, his eyes crinkling into a smile. That smile seemed sculpted on his face, and upon closer inspection, it appeared extremely eerie.
"Unfortunately, they failed to emerge from that path, so they are not worthy of being guests at my dinner. Tonight, their role is—food."
After saying that, Yuehua waved her hand, and the iron cage disappeared on the spot, replaced by a huge halo.
Upon seeing this, a Jade Maiden Sect cultivator couldn't help but show a look of joy, and dragged his body, which had a broken leg, toward the outside of the circle of light.
The instant her hand touched the circle of light, black smoke billowed forth, and the sound of flesh being burned was clearly audible.
Her entire hand was burned to charcoal almost in the blink of an eye, and it crumbled to pieces with the slightest pressure.
"ah--"
That scream was incredibly shrill.
Everyone looked away, unable to bear watching any longer.
The elder of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect felt compassion and tried to touch the halo from the outside, but his fingertips were burned.
"Don't waste your time. No living person can touch that halo."
Yuehua's slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the table.
"They're right there; it's just a matter of whether you have the strength to protect them."
Why did you do this?!
One of the sword cultivators couldn't help but question him sharply!
"No reason why. Just for fun."
Yuehua shrugged, unimpressed: "Since you want my inheritance, isn't it only right that you provide me with some amusement?"
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