Master of Strange Dao

"..."

Yu Ziqing thought he was indeed worrying too much.

He forgot that Cece was actually a hungry ghost.

Cece never lacked sweet rain; Yu Ziqing never withheld any sweet rain from her and Wu Shuangge.

She wanted to change her taste, which was quite normal actually.

"Is there any important information?"

"Not for now, most of it is unrelated to us, but I've recorded it just in case it might be useful later." As she spoke, Cece pulled out a thick notebook and handed it to Yu Ziqing.

Yu Ziqing flipped it open and skimmed through it, indeed finding all sorts of trivial matters.

After all, any event that could spawn Devil Thoughts wouldn't be anything good.

Besides the important ones, there were also some random bits and pieces.

The people involved in these Devil Thoughts were also very complex, from all walks of life.

For now, it seemed indeed useless.

"Don't take this book outside, and don't discuss it outside either."

"I understand, this book has never been taken outside."

"Okay, handle these things yourself. Join me on a trip to Dali to take care of some matters and respond to Gu Tianxin's invitation. It's not good to keep delaying it, plus we're running low on sweet rain outside, it's time to release another batch."

He took Cece away from Jinlan Mountain, heading east towards Dali.

Before departing, he had Cece send a message to Gu Tianxin, asking where they could visit.

The Gu Family had many residences; without asking in advance, they wouldn't know where to go.

Previously, it was heard to be in the north, later moved to the Imperial City, and now, it was uncertain.

Imperial City of Dali.

Gu Tianxin received the message and immediately sought out Lin Fu.

"Uncle Fu, Sister Cece is coming to see me. Do we need to prepare anything?"

"No need to prepare anything special, just like usual. They don't like ostentation."

"Alright..." Gu Tianxin agreed, but still decided to prepare something herself.

Lin Fu walked out, a bit at a loss.

Because Yu Ziqing had also sent him a message, asking for help in collecting some books.

From history to leisure reading, any kind of books would do, even common low-tier Dharma Methods for cultivation would suffice.

These books were easy to obtain; collecting was just a hassle, but not a big problem.

The problem was that Yu Ziqing informed him that Lou Huai was coming too.

Of course, he knew who Lou Huai was, but every time he thought of Lou Huai, it felt kinda strange.

His own Heart Demon, after being transformed into a Devil and cut away, had followed another person, wholeheartedly seeking a greater dependency, the more he disliked him, the more he disliked him.

Moreover, he didn't want to see Lou Huai.

He wouldn't miss him for a lifetime.

Any normal cultivator would probably share this normal sentiment.

As he stepped out the door, Lin Fu silently shook his head, never mind, if he had to meet, he had to meet, just that it felt strange inside.

Yu Ziqing walked along the road, silently calculating how much sweet rain should be released this time.

Fortunately, Cece had already done the rough statistics, Yu Ziqing also had a rough idea.

The sweet rain he distributed in the name of Almsgiving would ultimately end up in the hands of hungry ghosts, just going through a cycle.

After calculating, Yu Ziqing decided the first batch would be one hundred drops of original liquid and a thousand diluted drops of sweet rain.

But this time, it must not be controlled by the Crown Prince of Dali.

Last time, the supply line was almost entirely controlled by the Crown Prince of Dali, and she managed to gain at least ten times the benefit of sweet rain, openly and secretly.

Furthermore, in the end, she didn't even distribute them, just held them in her hands, waiting for the best price, and could acquire some additional benefits out of thin air.

When Yu Ziqing heard about these things, he was dumbfounded.

Truly, conjuring something out of nothing, and doing it so comfortably, without anyone thinking she was exploiting, and without resentment, she really had the skill.

Though it was with the backing of the identity of the Crown Prince of Dali, which allowed her to play such tricks, Yu Ziqing admitted that even with the same conditions, he couldn't manage such feats.

Not being shrewd was a hard weakness.

...

In a room of the Shadow Department, the dim candlelight faintly illuminated the table.

An old man looked at the newly delivered materials needing attention, his brows slightly furrowed.

Qing Ziyu of Jinlan Mountain had entered the territory of Dali.

Since the matter of the Deserted Cave Heaven in the great shaking year ended, the name Qing Ziyu naturally found its way onto the desks of various powers.

For many forces, the impact was negligible.

But for institutions like the Shadow Department, it required extra attention.

Millions of hungry ghosts could descend at any time, they couldn't afford to ignore them.

Those millions of hungry ghosts, while possibly not strong, could be defeated easily by any Ninth Tier Strong.

However, precisely because the numbers were so immense, the impact they could cause couldn't be controlled by any Ninth Tier Strong.

There was still some apprehension, especially towards the summoner, or the Dao Mark summoner, Qing Ziyu, who naturally required special attention.

However, after continuing to read the content, he relaxed his furrowed brows.

Apparently, it was in response to an invitation by the daughter of the Gu Family, so as long it's not trouble, that's fine.

Miss Gu Family, Gu Tianxin, was privately quite close with the current Crown Prince, a rare bosom friend of the Crown Prince.

The people of the Shadow Department also didn't want to appear near Gu Tianxin, lest Gu Tianxin remained unaware, but the Crown Prince felt they were up to something, looking unfavorably upon them.