Traveler of the River of Time and Space

A swift wind accompanied by ghostly fire.

Su Ziyu sat beside Aoandon, watching the scenery rapidly receding around them, while the Great Demon occasionally turned to glance at him.

Aoandon's appearance was ethereal and unique, growing more beautiful the more one looked at her. She exuded a lazy scholarly aura with the scent of her body mingling with the fragrance of ink. Su Ziyu was very curious about this Great Demon's former identity since her elegant temperament was unmistakable, unlike the other yokai who didn't have such a strong human presence.

"Am I beautiful?" Aoandon seemed to notice Su Ziyu's gaze and turned her head with a charming smile.

"Beautiful." Su Ziyu nodded seriously and said, "You must have been a human once, right?"

The smile on Aoandon's face gradually faded.

"That lamp is very strange." Su Ziyu's gaze fell on the azure lamp, and he said slowly, "Your soul has become one with it! How did you transform into a yokai?"

"Is it because of the Hundred Tales?"

The Hundred Tales is a ghost story ritual in Fusang, where it's said that something terrifying happens at the end.

"Would Lord Su like to hear my story?" Aoandon's delicate lips curved into a faint smile, and she said softly, "As per our agreement, you have to beat me once first."

Looks like you're quite persistent about stories.

Su Ziyu was silent for a moment, then shook his head and laughed, "Let's talk about it some other time."

A chilly wind gusted through the journey.

Soon, a mountain range appeared within Su Ziyu's sight, and he saw some spirits with human-like upper bodies and misty lower bodies floating around.

"They are Night Wanderers," Aoandon breathed delicately, "Subordinates of Lord Yama."

"In life, most were valiant people."

Night Parade of a Hundred Demons?

Curiously scanning them, Su Ziyu noticed that these Night Wanderers also gave way to Aoandon's carriage. Some were dressed as samurais, but their strength didn't seem very formidable, likely just ordinary ghost level. The most powerful Great Demon he had encountered so far was Aoandon beside him, followed by the Bone Woman he saw at Rashomon, whose strength was probably around Tier Three.

"We're here!" Aoandon looked ahead at the faint glimmer of lights and said.

A row of lanterns appeared before their eyes.

Su Ziyu looked quite surprised at the bamboo forest in the distance, then followed Aoandon forward, encountering some other yokai on the way, though they all seemed rather fearful. A tanuki turned humanoid yokai bristled at the sight of Su Ziyu and vanished in an instant.

"Honored guests have arrived!"

"Hurry and prepare!"

In the depth of the bamboo forest was an exquisite inn, and before Su Ziyu even got close, an alluring figure came up to greet him. It was an exceedingly beautiful woman wearing fiery red clothing, with furry erect ears and three fluffy red fox tails behind her.

"Welcome!" The innkeeper was actually a fox spirit, who approached with a charming smile, greeted Su Ziyu with a grand bow, kneeling on the wooden floor with her knees and bowing deeply before him.

Su Ziyu glanced around the inn.

It seemed that the guests here had all fled initially. In the lobby, a humanoid toad demon and a two-tailed cat demon were tidying up.

Nekomata?

Aoandon beside him was silent, so Su Ziyu had to speak, "Rise."

"Please come in, honored guest." The Three-tailed Fox respectfully led the way.

The toad-like demon seemed extremely fearful, scared of both Aoandon and Su Ziyu, hastily gathering a few things before scurrying away.

This nekomata was not yet fully transformed, its face still had whiskers on its youthful face, appearing both fearful and curious, sneaking glances at the two people.

Judging the strength of beast demons is simple.

Those unable to fully transform are generally not very strong; here, the innkeeper Three-tailed Fox's strength was decent, possibly reaching Tier Three.

Two masked Ghost Maids stood outside the inn.

The aura of spirits turned the lights here ghostly green, and the yokai initially lingering nearby had all fled, even the mountain and earth spirits in animal forms seemed somewhat afraid of ghosts.

"Please sit."

"Go bring the hundred fruit wines." The innkeeper's expression was cautious, and after a slight bow, she withdrew.

The nearby chairs and tables still had things yet to be cleared.

These yokai were quite intriguing, with various fine wines and dishes laid out as if it were a human tavern, had it not been initially occupied by a crowd of yokai.

"Please." Aoandon smiled lightly and rose to pour Su Ziyu a glass of wine.

A type of fruit wine.

Smells aromatic, with a low alcohol content.

Su Ziyu scanned it with his data stream, then raised his glass and drank it all in one go, looking up, "Is this the good place you mentioned?"

"No need to hurry, Lord Su." Aoandon also drank it all in one go, gracefully covering her mouth with one hand, smiling, "There is an Earth Spirit Spring here, extremely refreshing, you'll know once you try, Lord Su."

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Three not yet fully transformed little foxes brought an array of exquisite dishes, each had only one fox tail, with furry, pointed fox faces, their expressions relatively calm but slightly nervous, swiftly retreating after serving the dishes.