The male supporting character was actually myself.

As he led Jiang Chen toward the dungeon, he told him, "The hardest part about capturing Feng Rui is that it's very difficult to find his trail."

Evil spirits skilled in tracking should not be visited;

We humans are indeed far behind in tracking.

At first, we thought that in this information age, with big data, facial recognition, and cameras everywhere, how could we not find a person with a name, surname, and photo?

And it really did backfire!

We know he's been wandering around here, but we just can't find a trace of him!

In the end, the huge reward worked. A Taoist priest from a small sect discovered his whereabouts and immediately used his mobile phone to locate him and post the information on a tracking website. Even so, finding him still took a lot of effort.

It wasn't until we were caught alive after a series of battles involving three level-six and eight level-five Celestial Masters that we learned the reason.

Be prepared when you see him later.

Feng Rui... that guy can no longer be considered human.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Dead Trees Sprout New Buds

It is indeed located on the fourth basement level of a building, despite being called a dungeon.

The room is brightly lit, clean, and tidy. If it weren't for the rooms with iron bars and doors on both sides of the corridor, no one would think it was a prison.

Feng Rui was locked in the innermost room.

"Hiss..." Upon seeing the people in the prison, Jiang Chen couldn't help but gasp.

He finally understood why the new leader said Feng Rui was no longer human.

Feng Rui, who was chained to a special wall with double handcuffs and shackles, looked like a normal person, except that his complexion was a little sallow and his eyes were gloomy and crazy.

But looking down from the neck, several terrifying ghost faces protrude from the naked upper body, with ferocious expressions. Their eyes, mouths, and even sharp teeth can move, as if they are alive!

The right leg is normal; two complete and terrifying ghost faces have grown on the left leg, and another one is still in its infancy, just a bare outline.

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Chen heard the description the information-selling evil spirit had given him: "His left leg is slightly lame, though not very noticeably."

It's likely that these protruding, grotesque faces are the reason for his limp.

"Let me go!"

Seeing someone approaching, Feng Rui struggled desperately, pulling on the thick double chains that rattled loudly.

Perhaps feeling that this was ineffective, his eyes turned bloodshot, his appearance became distorted, and his entire body became ethereal, transforming into a spirit state. As soon as he opened his mouth, all the ghostly faces protruding from his body opened their mouths, and multiple voices, both male and female, merged together in an extremely eerie way, "Let me go, you bunch of bastards!"

Once I escape... I'll tear you all to pieces and eat you all!

The new leader tilted his head and whispered to Jiang Chen, "He's not quite right in the head."

The reason he has been so difficult to find and capture is because Feng Rui can switch between human and spirit bodies.

Based on our observations, he may maintain his spiritual form for longer periods, only using his human form when necessary.

As he spoke, he gestured to the guard beside him to bring over something.

“Every now and then, we have to feed him some ‘food’ so that Feng Rui can stay quiet.” The new leader glanced at the contents of the bag, nodded, and then the guard used a clip to hold it in and hand it over.

It was a low-level evil spirit, still breathing but already half-dead.

Perhaps smelling the evil spirit, Feng Rui greedily licked his lips, his eyes turning bloodshot, and he bared his teeth, struggling to reach out and devour it.

The guards slowly handed over the evil spirit.

"Awoo!"

Feng Rui let out a roar like a wild beast, biting the evil spirit in one bite. The grotesque face protruding from its body twisted and opened its mouth wide, trying to devour some of it.

"Stab!"

Just as Jiang Chen was frowning as he watched, a pair of withered ghost claws, only a dozen centimeters long, stretched out from Feng Rui's waist, grabbed the drooping body of the evil spirit, tore it into pieces, and then shared it with the ghost faces that were fighting for the food.

"Ugh!" Little White pressed its furry little paws against its neck, sticking out its pink tongue and dry heaving. "I can't stand it, it's disgusting! What's the point of turning a perfectly normal person into something neither human nor ghost and so ugly?"

The dungeon was quiet except for the crunching sounds of Feng Rui devouring the evil spirit, which sent chills down one's spine.

After he finished eating, he fell silent, head drooping, motionless. "Your Celestial Master Sect destroyed our sect and tried to exterminate me. I will remember this grudge!"

"Yes, yes, remember that well." The new leader smiled broadly. "Not only do you have to remember it, but we also have to spread the word so that others can remember it too."

Those who follow evil paths will never have a good end!

The experiment was clearly not over yet, and the guard took out another bottle for the new leader to inspect.

He explained, "This contains Yin energy collected from the rift between the two realms. Xiao Chen, watch this carefully. Devouring evil spirits and absorbing Yin energy have different effects."

The guards continued to use tongs to pass the opened bottles inside.

Upon smelling the unique aura of Yin energy, Feng Rui's nostrils flared as if he had been starving for days and suddenly smelled the aroma of meat, making a greedy swallowing sound.

The yin energy dissipated along the way, leaving a faint black trace.

Before the bottle was even handed to Feng Rui, he suddenly opened his mouth and inhaled, and even Jiang Chen, standing in the corridor, could feel a gust of wind.

Not a single trace of the yin energy that was floating in the air fell to the ground; it was all inhaled by Feng Rui.

"So comfortable..." After downing a large bottle of Yin energy, his eyes were glazed over, and his expression was languid and blissful.

Its drooping head swayed back and forth, occasionally letting out a satisfied smacking sound.

The new leader explained: "After testing, we found that the evil spirits acted more like food to Feng Rui, allowing him to absorb energy to resist hunger and alleviate irritability and anxiety."

Yin energy is a bit like drugs; it's addictive.

After inhaling it, you will be in this dazed state for about half an hour.

He's only level 5 now, so his needs for evil spirits are a little better. He can go a day without being fed, but he's just irritable and keeps yelling.

However, it is highly dependent on yin energy.

If he wasn't given any yin energy to absorb for half a day, Feng Rui would go crazy.

"Take good care of him, and whatever you do, don't let him die." Jiang Chen came out of the dungeon and said in a low voice, "If necessary, we can force him to reveal the secret techniques he cultivates."

I remember that there were quite a few Celestial Masters sentenced to death imprisoned in the headquarters jail of the Celestial Masters Sect, right?

"If we can't stop the gates of the underworld from opening in the future, relying solely on Feng Rui to absorb Yin energy will definitely not be enough..."

The new leader immediately understood his meaning and promptly reported it to the sect leader for communication.

There are good people and bad people everywhere, and the Celestial Masters world is no exception.

Just as there are reputable and righteous sects, there are also crooked and evil ones. Many Taoist masters raise evil spirits to harm people, cheat and swindle, and are greedy for money and lust. Some even collude with outsiders to betray the country.

After these scoundrels are caught, the Celestial Masters Sect will cooperate with relevant departments to conduct trials. Those who are extremely heinous and have great killing power will be detained in the Celestial Masters Sect headquarters prison.

After discussing with the elders, the sect leader drafted a temporary list for unforeseen circumstances.

After adding Feng Rui to the plan, Jiang Chen immediately arranged to meet with the evil spirit from the underground intelligence station.

"Young man, is there anything I can do to help you?"

When the two parties meet privately, there's naturally no need for secrecy.

This evil spirit, named "Deadwood," looked like a large tree root, with dry, wrinkled bark and a few green leaves on its head, clearly newly sprouted.

Jiang Chen took out a takeout box that she had prepared beforehand, opened the lid, and found it full of light pink pastries that emitted a hazy glow. "I want to use this spiritual food to exchange for a message from you."

"What news? Just ask, young man!"

The withered tree gently touched the green leaves on its head with its dry, slender claws, and let out a hoarse laugh, "To tell you the truth, after eating the young man's spiritual food last time, even this withered tree of mine has sprouted new buds."

"I want to know how you developed your intelligence back then," Jiang Chen asked bluntly.

Kumu's cloudy eyes blinked slowly, quite surprised by the question he asked.

After a long while, it finally spoke: "That was many, many years ago... I vaguely remember being ejected from a crack."

Back then, I was completely lost and only wanted to devour and become stronger, and to keep devouring.

I wandered around the human world for a long time relying on my instincts. One day, I passed by a private school.

There was an old man with a white beard inside telling stories. Although I couldn't understand what he was saying, I was so captivated that I stood at the door and listened for a long time.

From then on, whenever there were no Celestial Master activities nearby, I would go there to listen to their lectures.

With repeated listening, one can gradually understand human language and customs, and even comprehend some short stories.

At that time, I was in a remote place, and my fighting ability was not very strong.

Sometimes, I wouldn't eat a single evil spirit for months, and I would often listen to the old man tell stories, which made my mind clearer and clearer.

Gradually, I figured out how to use my skills.

Consuming evil spirits or eating people will make your mind dull and confused.

I began to restrain my desires until now.

The boy wanted to know how to awaken the evil spirit's intelligence, so he tried reading some books to it; perhaps it would work.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Who Has a Room in the Underworld?

Tsk tsk, so this means reading makes one wise?

After bidding farewell to the evil spirit Kumu, Jiang Chen sought out many more evil spirits who had business dealings with the Celestial Masters Sect.

A demon that looked like a millstone was injured and had no choice but to hide under the eaves of a house. He listened to a group of old men and women chatting in the sun every day and inexplicably gained sentience.

Meanwhile, another evil spirit resembling a monkey head mushroom possessed a taxi, listening to the radio every day, and gradually developing sentience...

The various answers came together, making the little white cat's eyes dart around in circles.

"What exactly do they have in common?" It rubbed its round face vigorously, shook its fur, and looked completely bewildered. "Host, why are you interested in the idea of ​​evil spirits gaining sentience?"

Jiang Chen lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Of course, it's about solving the problem of the Gates of Hell."

noob:???

The Gates of Hell?

What does that have to do with evil spirits gaining sentience?

It thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so it wagged its tail and decided to give up on this headache and let its host figure it out itself.