Early morning, Extinctive Sword Manor House.

The head cook that had gone through a whipping personally led the group of menial workers that had been punished to kneel for an entire night to procure ingredients. Even though the head cook knew some martial arts for self-protection, it was impossible for him to walk or ride the horse after enduring 10 lashings of the whip.

Fortunately, they had the five horse-drawn carriages meant for procurement. After helping his master settle down on the back of the carriage, Tian Xiaosi personally took the reins.

The group of six were the earliest to leave the Manor House. Their carriage wobbled along the road to Luoyang City. From afar, the road was shrouded in the marble white fog of the mountain. The head cook had fallen asleep the moment they left the Manor House, perhaps because he didn’t sleep well last night because the whipping was too vicious. He fell asleep and even began snoring.

“Whoa!”

The head cook had just fallen into a deep slumber and he didn’t feel as if it had been long when the carriage came to an abrupt stop.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you forget how to speed on a carriage as well?!” The rude awakening, coupled with the anger that had been bubbling in him, caused the head cook to be full of resentment.

“Master, there’s something in front.” Tian Xiaosi turned his head to glance at his master before pointing to the front.

“What’s going on?” the head cook mumbled to himself. He cocked his head to one side and looked past Tian Xiaosi to see the front of the carriage.

He immediately saw a three-meter-tall pole with a flag with the symbol of the Extinctive Sword Manor House carved on it. Then, he noticed several three-meter-wide large wooden boxes of a reddish brown color.

“Why is the transporting team here? I heard they set off last night,” the head cook muttered. Suddenly, he felt his heart tighten. When he straightened his back earlier, he saw several bodies lying haphazardly on the ground next to the fleet.

“This is bad!”

“Something bad has happened!” The head cook gave himself a hard slap and used all his strength to shake his head in trying to clear his mind as soon as possible. “Hurry! Hurry and see what’s going on!”

Obeying his master’s order, Tian Xiaosi swiftly ran over. The closer he got, the more he thought to himself, “Considering the circumstances, could they have been ambushed? “That doesn’t seem right; there’s no smell of blood. There’s no sign of blood or wounds anywhere.”

“Strange.” Tian Xiaosi took a few deep breaths and mentally gave himself a little push. He drummed up his courage and cautiously approached the people lying on the ground.

“Eh?”

“They’re breathing. They’re still alive!”

“Master, they seem to be still alive! They’re just passed out!” Tian Xiaosi examined everyone and discovered that they were basically in the same condition. Their breathing was stable, though their pulse was in a bit of a disorder.

Soon, another menial worker helped the head cook down the carriage and brought him over. He frowned after examining the people lying on the ground. “Their condition doesn’t seem serious and the carriage is intact too. Even the weapons appear perfectly intact. Then what exactly happened to them? Why did they faint? And each of them fainted without exception as well!”

The head cook came up with a decision after giving it some thought. “Si’er, carry these people into the carriage with a few of your brothers. You’re quick on your feet; go back to the Manor House now and report this to Steward Sun. Ask him how should we handle this.”

“Stone, stay behind to guard the carriages and the wounded. The rest of you, follow me to Luoyang City to continue our procurement. We’ve let everyone starve for the whole day yesterday. If we fail to bring anything back again, we can just pack up and leave.” The head cook waved his hand, considering the matter to be settled.

However, after Tian Xiaosi made a mad dash back to the Manor House, he found that Steward Sun, who was responsible for dealing with emergencies, had gone out. As an insignificant menial worker, he was neither acquaintanced with another steward nor knew how to handle this matter. He could only wait anxiously.

Fortunately, Steward Sun returned to the Manor House in a hurry shortly after. Behind him was a fleet of horse-drawn carriages. Tian Xiaosi went over and immediately became stunned. Subconsciously, he yelled Steward Sun’s name.

“Steward Sun!” Perhaps Tian Xiaosi was so agitated that his voice became loud. He instantly drew the attention of Steward Sun.

“Who is it? State your business immediately. Can’t you see that I’m busy?!” Steward Sun responded impatiently.

“I’m Tian Xiaosi, a menial worker of the kitchen. The head cook is my master. There’s something that requires your attention,” Tian Xiaosi said quietly, his head lowered.

“Requires my attention? Am I your father for you to look for me when you have a problem! “You must not have suffered enough pain from kneeling yesterday!”

“Scram!” Steward Sun had been suppressing so much anger that Tian Xiaosi happened to be the perfect punching bag.

After seeing Steward Sun’s expression, Tian Xiaosi swiftly explained, “It’s not my personal problem; it’s about the Manor House. On our way to Luoyang City to procure ingredients this morning, we came across our Manor House’s carriage responsible for transporting goods. The team is all passed out on the ground, with their pulse and breathing intact. The goods are completely fine as well. It’s just that the team is unconscious.”

Steward Sun was stunned. “The transporting team? From the Manor House?”

“It bears our flag. There’s no mistake,” Tian Xiaosi said solemnly.

“Give me a rundown of the situation, especially about our disciples.” Steward Sun’s expression became a little more serious.

Tian Xiaosi looked past Steward Sun and extended his hand to point behind the latter. “I think their condition is more or less similar to those people.”

Two hours later.

Three carriages stood neatly on the side of the courtyard in front of the Extinctive Sword Manor House, with 18 disciples lying quietly inside.

A stone-faced Lin Shan walked over with his hands clasped behind his back. “What exactly has happened for you to be so frantic? Where’s your decorum?”

“Manor Master, there’s something that requires you…” Steward Sun bent his waist and whispered into Lin Shan’s ear.

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw how one of the disciples lying inside the carriage as if they were fast asleep, the one in the middle, suddenly sat up as straight as ramrod.

“Ghost!”

The disciple had just sat upright when his face began twitching. He sprang like a spring and rolled down the carriage, all while screaming about a ghost until his voice turned hoarse.

Everyone present was dumbfounded. Even Lin Shan looked over with some surprise.

Before anyone could even process what had just happened, another disciple abruptly sat upright with a similarly terrified expression. He also rolled down the carriage in his attempt to escape. Like the disciple before him, he also repeatedly muttered, “Ghost. There’s a ghost! Don’t come over; don’t come over! Go away!”

In the short span of 15 minutes, all 18 disciples regained their consciousness and showed the exact same reaction. It was as if they had gone mad. Some screamed until their voices turned hoarse while others kept muttering to themselves like they were having a spasm.

However, the word that left their mouths was the same: ghost!

The team of menial workers off to procure ingredients ought to have returned before 9 am and get ready to prepare the meals. However, around noontime, the five carriages that ought to be filled with ingredients quietly stopped in front of the back door of the Manor House. The head cook sat at the rear of one of the carriages with a gloomy expression, his fury long risen to its peak.

He had personally gone to the markets today, even looking for his old acquaintances. He had assumed buying some fresh vegetables, meat, and ingredients would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. However, beautiful imagination was often betrayed by cruel reality. He, too, came back empty-handed. Not even one hawker was willing to sell him anything.

“Head Cook, we’re home. Please get down from the carriage.”

“Get down from the carriage? What for?”

“We still have to cook. It’s almost noon.”

“Cook? What can we cook without the damned ingredients?”

Luoyang City.

The shadow of the sundial quietly crawled over to the median line, indicating it was noontime.

Ye Que strolled into the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office, carrying two blades with him.