As expected of a disciple of the octopus himself, Xiuying's food was incredible.

"This is so good!" Liu Qiang exclaimed, his mouth full of fried shrimp. "What did you put inside?"

"Hai Huang gave me some seasoning he made personally!" Xiuying said proudly, showing a bottle of seasoning.

"Hai Huang? Oh, that octopus chef! How much for one of those bottles?" Liu Qiang said.

"Er? I'm not supposed to sell them..."

"I'll buy two bottles for 10 Jade each!"

Watching Liu Qing put the seasoning in his bag gleefully, Mei was a little speechless. Spending so much for something that wouldn't even help cultivation...

She picked a piece of crispy chicken and savoured it. Okay, fine, maybe the taste was a bit worth it, but the canteen food was free anyway. No reason to pay for the seasoning.

Wang Wei was really missing out...

"Hey, do you think we should look for Wang Wei?" Mei asked. "He's been out for more than an hour."

"Just leave him be. He probably wants some time alone." Xiuying said. "Why not go to one of our guest rooms and relax with them?"

As she spoke, her hands moved at a terrifying speed, scrubbing the plates clean at record speed. Mei couldn't help but be rather impressed.

Ning Xing, Liu Qiang and Yingyi were already lounging in the guest room, playing with the little siblings. After the meal, the group of friends decided to stay overnight. As for Yang Ning, he went out for whatever reason.

"Yeah, but I'm a bit bored, to be honest. I didn't bring anything with me to read."

"We do have a lot of books here!" Xiuying said.

That was true, but... earlier when she went there and checked the bookshelves... she found they were full of self-help books, business books, autobiographies of successful people, educative books in general. A portion of them was fiction, but they were either storybooks for children or the type that was grounded in reality. None of the fantasy she liked...

"I guess I wasn't in the mood for reading?" Mei said.

"Eh? But you said..." Xiuying was confused.

"I think I'll go look for him after all."

The city was packed with people. She said she'd look for Wang Wei, but she ended up being distracted by stores. Having just eaten, she wasn't looking for restaurants and street food, but spotting a candy store, she decided to take a look.

...

"I'm sorry, but we don't accept currency from other countries." the cashier said.

"Ehhh?!" Mei said, dismayed.

To think Xiuying's hometown was in a different country entirely... how hyperactive was the sect master to hop between several countries in search of disciples in the span of the same day? Grrr... she really didn't want to give up the candy at this point.

But she had a trump card up her sleeve!

"What about this?" she said with a smirk, slapping something onto the counter.

The cashier paled, before bowing.

"J-jade? Esteemed cultivator, please forgive my rudeness! If there's anything you desire, feel free to take it!"

Mei was stunned. Looking around, she saw the other customers gave her respectful bows as well. This...

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, she ran out of the store with the candy, and into an alleyway. Just like that, her plan to visit more stores was foiled. She sighed.

She thought about how she was going to find Wang Wei for a few minutes, before realising she could use soulsense. It was just a hunch, but she figured the souls of cultivators should be more prominent.

Specks of light appeared everywhere, the souls of countless people roaming about. Smaller specks of light were present underground too, which were probably vermin in the sewers.

Focusing hard, Mei found 3 points of interest. A cluster of brighter souls, most likely where Xiuying's home was, and 2 other brighter souls, both far away from one another.

One of them should be Yang Ning, as he headed out earlier, most likely the bigger soul. It just so happened that the smaller soul was in an area particularly devoid of human-sized souls, as well, which she thought made sense. Since Wang Wei was sulking, he would probably look for a spot without other people.

Mei put a stop to her soulsense and rubbed her temples. Urgh. Now her head hurt. She wished she had Su Qing for the job right now...

Ah.

Right, Su Qing. To think she would forget to bring him. Imagining the little spirit being all sad and lonely back at the sect, Mei couldn't help but feel rather guilty. When she got back home, she would have to make it up to him somehow.

She knew she thought Wang Wei would look for a secluded area, but this... wasn't this a bit extreme?

Mei walked across the long grass with an uneasy look, her lantern in hand. The last thing she expected to do was having to trudge through a graveyard at night.

Looking at the rows and rows of gravestones and feeling the cold air, she couldn't help but shiver. What was reassuring, if nothing was that her soulsense didn't sense any souls but those of small animals and the plants, so there probably weren't any ghosts. Probably...

The bright soul was now fairly close though, so she didn't really want to chicken out after walking for so long.

She soon came across a different area of the graveyard, paved with cobblestone instead of simply having grass. The graves were more intricate as well, with an engraving of the faces of the deceased, along with a brief description of who they were.

It seemed like the richer folk were burried here.

The air grew colder. In the distance, a malevolent presence seemed to be lurking. After hesitating for a moment, Mei held up her lantern and squinted.

A figure in sect robes stood before a grave, too tall to be Wang Wei. Behind it, the silhouette of a woman with long dishevelled hair stood, muttering something to him with hostility, her hands grasping his shoulders tightly.

Suddenly, the woman turned towards her, showing a face without skin, before vanishing. The man, having noticed Mei, looked at her, revealing hollow sockets instead of eyes.

"Ahhh!"

Mei ran for her life.