Starting from the folklore forum, making up town objects

Chapter 456 Inn Mission
The Underworld, located in the courtyard purchased by Bai Yongnian in Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.

"Old Bai, when will those things with the Bureau of Investigation be resolved?"

While toying with his Yin-level Soul-Binding Rope, which already had more than a dozen soul hooks attached to it, Ji Mo looked at Bai Yongnian and asked.

"I don't know, but the duration doesn't really affect us much."

Bai Yongnian took a sip of tea and continued, "Now that we have the Yin Si level Soul Binding Rope, we can basically get past ghosts below Blood Calamity level with ease. We can also restrain Blood Calamity level ghosts to death when we encounter them alone. Unless we encounter two or more Blood Calamity level ghosts, our team can earn more than a thousand Yin Virtue Points per person per day on average."

"This amount of good karma is enough for us to settle all our relatives and friends in our Zhouzhuang residence."

Upon hearing this, Ji Mo nodded.

“Indeed, since we got this Yin-level Soul-Binding Rope, the ordinary buildings in the old neighborhood are no longer a threat to us. However, the soul hook on the Soul-Binding Rope needs to be condensed with ghosts and spirits. Once the ghosts and spirits are condensed into a soul hook, it will be impossible to obtain Yin virtue.”

"Tell me, should we accumulate merit first, or increase the power of the Soul-Binding Rope first?"

Bai Yongnian glanced at the Soul-Binding Rope in Ji Mo's hand, then turned to Ye Chang, who was sitting to the side, and asked.

"Brother Ye, what do you think?"

The original four-person team was reduced to three after Nan Yuke's death. These three were considered the core figures of the Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.

Perhaps it was because Ye Chang was older, or perhaps it was because Ye Chang, as an online novel editor, had a good sense of logic and organization, so Bai Yongnian was usually willing to discuss problems with Ye Chang.

Even though the Bai and Ji families now account for an increasing proportion of the underworld officials, Bai Yongnian has no intention of excluding Ye Chang.

Ye Chang looked at Ji Mo, whose eyes were full of anticipation.

He naturally knew Ji Mo's thoughts, which were that the stronger the Soul-Binding Rope in his hand, the better. But in reality, he felt that this was not a good idea.

"I think we can put the upgrade of the Soul-Binding Rope on hold and accumulate good karma first."

Ignoring Ji Mo's somewhat disappointed look, Ye Chang continued, "Yin Virtue Points have many uses. Whether it's letting relatives and friends stay in the underworld for refuge, buying stickers to save lives, or exchanging for talismans, Yin Virtue Points are indispensable."

"Speaking of which, we were among the first batch of underworld officials to arrive at the underworld's residence, so we have witnessed all the changes in the underworld."

"According to the Bureau of Investigation, the Underworld is still recovering. As the Underworld recovers, there are more and more things that can be exchanged in the Underworld. If something that is of great use to us appears, but we cannot obtain it in time because we do not have enough Yin Virtue Points, it will definitely be a loss for us."

"There is also the priority right to reside in the underworld."

“We are not the only team in the Underworld’s territory. Last time, we obtained the priority entry right for the Zhouzhuang Ancient Town territory by hunting ghosts and monsters. But who knows if the priority entry right for the next territory will be obtained through auctioning Yin Virtue Points or other means.”

"No underworld official understands the benefits of being given priority in residing in the underworld's territory better than us."

Hearing this, even Ji Mo couldn't help but nod.

Putting everything else aside, let's just talk about the crisis that has arisen at the Bureau of Polling this time.

They had already learned about the situation at the Sanshan base through the Mirage Realm.

If they were still stationed at Sanshan, some of their relatives and friends would probably still be sleeping in the courtyard or on the street, instead of having single beds for almost every family like they do now.

Furthermore, the leveling spots around different garrisons are also different. The best leveling spot near the Sanshan garrison is the old residential area.

However, as the strength of the underworld messengers increased, the number of them going to the old neighborhoods to "level up" also increased.

It's not that there aren't enough ghosts to kill, but rather that with the increase in the number of underworld officials, things have become even more chaotic. If you're not careful, multiple teams of ghosts pulling at each other will collide, and you'll have to waste 100 units of Yin Virtue to use stickers to escape.

As a result, the daily merit gained will naturally decrease.

There are similar 'leveling spots' near Zhouzhuang Ancient Town, and there is more than one.

Bai Yongnian and his team could even split into two or three groups to farm the ghosts at those 'leveling spots', thus maximizing their efficiency in acquiring Yin Virtue Points.

These are conditions that the Sanshan garrison does not have.

Not to mention the Mirage Internet Cafe in the Three Mountains' base, which is now packed with people. Previously, the Yin Messengers had few Yin Virtue Points, so only a few people could enjoy and enter the Mirage.

But the situation is different now, because the underworld has taken in all the families of the underworld officials for free, so the pressure on many of them has been greatly reduced.

Those with a little bit of good karma would choose to relax for a day at the Mirage.

In this way, each Soul Sealing Altar can only accommodate one person to enter the Mirage Realm at a time, which is naturally insufficient for the Soul Sealing Altars at the Three Mountains' base.

However, this problem does not exist in the Zhouzhuang Ancient Town area.

If it weren't for Bai Yongnian and Ji Mo's family wanting to experience Mirage, the Mirage Internet Cafe probably wouldn't even be half full.

In addition to the advantages mentioned above, Zhouzhuang Ancient Town has another advantage that has only recently been discovered.

That's the 'Sword Immortal' Xu Zhiheng!

Although Xu Zhiheng did not admit it, Bai Yongnian and the others had already concluded that Xu Zhiheng was the Sword Immortal!

It was by chance, really. If it weren't for that incident, Bai Yongnian wouldn't have known that Zhouzhuang Ancient Town not only had Xu Zhiheng, the "Sword Immortal," but also someone like that!

Recalling that incident, Bai Yongnian still feels a sense of dread.

That time, the three little ones, Ya Ya, ran to the 'ancestral hall' area in the southeast corner of Zhouzhuang.

That area is a forbidden zone in Zhouzhuang Ancient Town, where multiple bloodshed incidents have occurred!
Bai Yongnian and others did not understand why those ghosts were left in Zhouzhuang Ancient Town instead of being eliminated, but they never went to touch that area.

The three boys got a little too wild that time and went straight into that area.

Immediately, a faceless female ghost carrying an oil-paper umbrella appeared in front of the three little ones.

Even the appearance of the faceless woman with the oil-paper umbrella caused a light drizzle to fall in that small area.

Just as the three little ones were about to get into trouble, Xu Zhiheng appeared and shot out dozens or even hundreds of sword energies from a hundred meters away, enveloping the area where the female ghost was!

A dazzling spot of light lit up wherever each sword energy landed!

That day, the entire area where the 'ancestral hall' was located was illuminated, and when the light faded, the woman with the oil-paper umbrella had disappeared.

The three little girls also realized what was happening during this process and turned to run towards Xu Zhiheng.

After the three children left, six red-eyed stone statues emerged from the ancestral hall, and a woman with disheveled hair appeared behind the hall.

The six red-eyed stone statues did nothing; they simply watched from afar.

But from the woman's empty eyes, countless threads shot out, heading straight for the three little girls, Ya Ya.

The silk thread moved so fast that Xu Zhiheng couldn't react in time, and he never expected that something sinister would break the rules of Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.

At that moment, on the other side of Zhouzhuang Ancient Town opposite the 'ancestral hall', a giant tiger, as big as a small mountain, appeared, lying on the roof.

With just a glance, the dazzling light shooting from the crouching tiger's eyes burned away all the silk threads, and even with its remaining force, it enveloped the woman with disheveled hair as well.

After a bloodcurdling scream, the woman with long hair disappeared, three of the six red-eyed stone statues that had been watching the show were destroyed, and the rest all disappeared into the ancestral hall.

The faceless woman with the oil-paper umbrella, who had just emerged from the stream not far from the ancestral hall, sank back into the water. After everything settled down, the giant tiger also disappeared without a trace.

If Bai Yongnian and others hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would have believed that there were so many things they didn't know about in the Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.

If Zhouzhuang Ancient Town is like this, how much worse can other places be?
Therefore, obtaining priority access rights is indeed something that needs to be considered.

"Brother Ye is right!"

Ji Mo spoke up.

Seeing that Ji Mo agreed, Ye Chang nodded and continued, "Of course, if we have enough Yin virtue, I suggest we increase the number of Yin Si level talismans first, since there is still a big difference between Yin Si level talismans and Yin Shuai level talismans."

"With enough Yin-level talismans, the speed at which you gain Yin Virtue Points will also increase."

Bai Yongnian had been listening the whole time, but now he hesitated.

Should we accumulate good karma first, or increase the number of Yin-level talismans first?
Accumulating good karma is a form of foresight. If they bet correctly, their faction's future development potential will definitely be greater than that of other factions.

But what if you bet wrong?
What if the priority for entering the next settlement is still based on the number of ghosts hunted, or what if the priority for entering the next settlement takes a long time to appear?
Thus, accumulating good karma creates opportunities for underworld officials from other factions to pursue one.

Unlike Ji Mo, Bai Yongnian wasn't as driven and felt he could do anything.

Unlike Ye Chang, who focuses on the future and long-term development.

After thinking for a long time, Bai Yongnian looked at the two of them and said, "I think accumulating good karma is something we should do, but it shouldn't be our top priority."

“We already have the advantage of having the Zhouzhuang Ancient Town base, and right now the only Yin-Yang messengers in this base are our team. Given the scale of this base, there will definitely be many more Yin-Yang messengers in the future than in the Sanshan base. Instead of properly managing such a base, we are just blindly grabbing territory. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

"Of course, we'll definitely fight for the priority occupancy rights, but not the next location, but the one after that!"

"At that time, our accumulated merits and protective artifacts will have developed well, and we will have the capacity to develop new settlements. It will not be difficult to secure the priority right to settle in."

After listening to Bai Yongnian's analysis, Ji Mo then looked at Ye Chang.

Both of them seem to have valid points.

However, the central theme wasn't about enhancing the Soul-Binding Rope, so the end of the season didn't really matter.

As for Ye Chang, he fell into thought after listening.

Seeing this, Bai Yongnian continued, "There's another reason. Even if the Underworld wants to open up a new base, shouldn't it first fill our base with some underworld officials?"

"It's impossible that the underworld officials would be led to a new post while the Zhouzhuang post is still vacant, right?"

"Therefore, before replenishing the underworld officials at the Zhouzhuang station, we can focus on increasing the number of underworld-level talismans."

"Nobody knows when this will start. Maybe by then, we won't have to worry about not having enough merit points at all?"

After listening to Bai Yongnian's explanation, Ye Chang nodded slightly.

“Yongnian is right, I agree.”

"I agree!"

Seeing that the three had reached a consensus, Bai Yongnian smiled, and the topic was dropped.

"We'll go find Xu Zhiheng later. I feel that the path to becoming a 'Sword Immortal' should lie in the sword-like artifact he possesses, but this sword-like artifact isn't on the exchange list."

"Perhaps, like in a game, the Sword Immortal is a hidden profession."

"Once we win over Xu Zhiheng, perhaps we'll have a chance to obtain the crafting recipe for that talisman sword?"

Bai Yongnian guessed.

Ji Mo agreed with this and proposed a strategy: targeting Ya Ya's three little ones.

"Perhaps once he gets along better with Ya Ya and the others, the difficulty of winning over Xu Zhiheng will decrease."

"Hmm...it's possible."

Ye Chang watched the two of them discussing and shook his head helplessly.

Although he was also curious about the profession of sword immortal, he already had quite a few protective charms. Focusing on the charms he had first might be more suitable for him than pursuing the sword immortal profession.

Ye Chang had already made up his mind; he would reserve his first Yin-level talisman slot for the Rising Sun Spirit Fire Basin.

Once the Yang Fire Basin is upgraded to the Yin Division level, his progress in the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" will definitely increase rapidly.

At this time, his progress in the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" had reached the late stage of the second volume, and he was already able to condense the phantom of the Qi and Blood Furnace.

Compared to the Bureau of Polls, he could already be considered a team leader!
Perhaps, once the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" are mastered to a high level, one is no less skilled than a sword immortal?
Just then, the cloth dog on Ye Chang's waist suddenly made a sound.

"New quests have been issued: 'Site Selection for the Underworld Reception Station' and 'Assignment at the Underworld Reception Station.' All underworld officials, please check your respective quest logs!"

After repeating it three times, Bai Yongnian and the other two immediately got up and headed towards the task list.

Soon, they saw the mission details.

Site selection for the underworld's welcoming station

"The Underworld will establish post stations in the already opened locations. All underworld officials in the locations are requested to vote for the location of the post station. The one with the most votes will be selected. If the highest number of votes is the same, the location will be randomly selected from the few locations with the highest number of votes."

"After the post station is successfully established, using the post station within three days will not consume any merit."

……

"Serving at the Underworld Reception Station"

"The Underworld Reception Station needs one station manager and about twenty staff members."

"Station manager's responsibilities: to coordinate the rental and use of the yin-yang sedan chairs at the post station; to assess the abilities of the post station staff and appoint or dismiss them; and to resolve various problems that arise during the operation of the post station."

"The duties of the post station attendant are: to guide and retrieve the Yin-Yang sedan chair; to go to the designated location according to the customer's request, and to return and wait after the customer arrives, according to the customer's request."

"Benefits: Station managers can use the Yin-Yang sedan chair at the post station without any conditions and will have full access to its functions. They will also receive a monthly stipend of 1,000 Yin Virtue. Waiters can use the Yin-Yang sedan chair at a 50% discount and will receive a monthly stipend of 200 Yin Virtue."

Note 1: A dismissed post station attendant cannot be reappointed.

"Note 2: A public opinion survey will be conducted on the station chiefs every quarter. If more than half of the Yin soldiers in the station are dissatisfied, the station chief will be dismissed."

Note 3: ……

Looking at the two tasks in the task bar, Bai Yongnian and the other two exchanged bewildered glances.

……

(End of this chapter)