Chapter 160 Senior Ji's hobbies are somewhat unusual

Ji Guiying and Bei Liangcai were temporarily staying at the Marquis Estate.

Under Sima Yutang's orders, the Marquis Estate accorded the two the highest courtesy, housing them in rooms not far from his own, and dispatched Duan Cheng and several other Marquiss Estate Guest Officials to follow their orders and assist in investigating the death of Willow Tiger.

Sima Tao even made an appearance halfway through, specifically to speak a few words with Ji Guiying.

This was enough to show how much the Marquis Estate valued the two.

At this moment, the outside world was watching and waiting to see how the Marquis Estate would eventually resolve the matter, so the support of the First Uprising Gang at this time appeared especially precious.

"Senior, this is where you both will be staying!"

Duan Cheng led the two to the room and said respectfully:

"There are servants outside ready to serve at any time; you may instruct them if you have any requirements."

"Hmm!"

Ji Guiying nodded with an indifferent expression, standing with his hands behind his back, exuding the demeanor of a Grandmaster.

Just now in the main hall, even when facing Sima Yutang, Ji Guiying had been aloof and taciturn, let alone when facing a mere Duan Cheng.

After all, he was a Supreme Grandmaster, belonging to an absolute minority in the entire Great Jin Dynasty, so naturally, he did not treat those at or below the Grandmaster level with any courtesy.

Within the Marquis Estate, only the Old Marquis Sima Tao was worth a second look from the other party.

Duan Cheng showed no temper.

In front of outsiders, he was considered a Senior in the martial arts world, but in front of the two before him, he could only be considered a Junior.

Suddenly, Ji Guiying's nose twitched, and he took a deep breath, his eyes lighting up as he said:

"What is that smell?"

Duan Cheng was stunned upon seeing this and also took a deep breath, somewhat curious.

What smell? He didn't smell anything!

There was only the scent of withered leaves falling from the few trees in the courtyard.

However, he saw Bei Liangcai, who had been standing quietly on the side without saying a word, suddenly think of something; his expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly called out:

"Protector!"

Swish!

As soon as his voice fell, Ji Guiying's figure instantly disappeared, leaving behind a gust of wind.

"Protector!!!"

Bei Liangcai shouted and hurriedly chased after him.

The two of them disappearing one after the other, moving like ghosts, left Duan Cheng feeling confused, not knowing what they wanted to do.

However, he spread out his Divine Sense and immediately discovered that the two had appeared not far away.

He hurried to follow.

If the Marquis saw them, he might think it was because he had not hosted them well and had neglected the two experts from the First Uprising Gang.

This was a small grove planted with dense cypress trees, with soft black soil on the ground, covered in thick cypress leaves.

When Duan Cheng arrived, Bei Liangcai was holding onto Ji Guiying's arm, whispering to persuade him of something.

And Ji Guiying's gaze looking toward the grove was a bit... eager?

Duan Cheng's pupils constricted; he was a bit unsure.

He cautiously stepped forward and asked respectfully:

"Two Seniors, is there something wrong here?"

Duan Cheng's gaze glanced toward the grove, his heart feeling slightly uneasy.

For the sake of extending his life, the Old Marquis had been cultivating a certain harvesting Cultivation Technique for many years, and many of the women who died from his harvesting had their bodies buried under this small grove.

Furthermore, some servants who had been beaten to death with sticks were also buried here.

It could be said that under this grove was a corpse pit.

Over the years, no one knew how many corpses had piled up inside.

Almost every tree had several buried under it.

The trees here grew so lushly entirely thanks to the fertilizer provided by the corpses.

The Marquis Estate would also regularly invite people from temples and Taoist monasteries to perform rituals to ensure the vengeful spirits in the grove would not linger.

Many people in the estate knew about this matter, but most were tight-lipped and dared not spread it.

Many people didn't dare to approach this grove at all and stayed far away.

Could it be that the secret under the grove had been discovered by these two Seniors?

It was rumored that the First Uprising Gang prided itself on "righteousness first," and every Elder and Protector in the gang was a renowned hero, surely righteous and unable to tolerate such human tragedy.

Would they not be dissatisfied with the Marquis Estate because of this and subsequently come into conflict with the Marquis Estate?

Duan Cheng felt it was very likely.

Sure enough, the next second, Ji Guiying pointed at the grove and asked coldly:

"What is this place?"

The smile on Duan Cheng's face stiffened, and he braced himself to say:

"This is just an ornamental grove of the Marquis Estate. Could it be that Senior feels there is something wrong?"

"Hmph!"

Ji Guiying snorted coldly and was about to say something else when he was pulled back by Bei Liangcai, so he did not speak.

Seeing this, Duan Cheng became even more uneasy.

"Alright, Protector, it is already late, let us go and rest first, don't make things difficult for Guest Elder Duan!"

Bei Liangcai smoothed things over in time, which made Duan Cheng feel incredibly moved, and he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Ji Guiying was, after all, a Supreme Grandmaster; he did not make things difficult for a Junior like Duan Cheng and was dragged away by Bei Liangcai.

After settling Bei Liangcai and the other, Duan Cheng thought for a moment, then went to find Sima Yutang to report the strange behavior of Ji Guiying just now.

He understood Sima Yutang as a person quite well.

If you don't tell him beforehand, and something happens later, the responsibility will surely be yours.

Who told you not to tell me in advance?

But if you told him beforehand, at most he would scold you a few times, but he wouldn't pin the blame on you.

"Is what you said true? Senior Ji just followed the smell and found that cypress grove?"

"Yes!"

Duan Cheng nodded and asked cautiously:

"Marquis, could Senior Ji have discovered the corpses under the forest and be dissatisfied with our Marquis Estate?"

Sima Yutang paced in the hall, pondering carefully for a moment.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered a rumor about the "Nine Heavens Vulture" Ji Guiying.

There is a saying: there are only mistakenly given names, no wrongly called nicknames.

The reason Ji Guiying got the nickname "Nine Heavens Vulture" was not only because of his peerless lightness skill and sharp claw techniques, but also because he had a hobby similar to a vulture.

What does a vulture like?

Vultures love to eat the rotting corpses of animals.

And Senior Ji Guiying had this same hobby.

He was particularly fond of rotting corpses; it was said that this was related to the Cultivation Technique he practiced, which could extract the rot energy from the corpses and turn it into his own nourishment.

Over time, he developed a habit of devouring rotting corpses.

This matter had not spread in the Jianghu, only rumored in some small circles, after all, no one would risk offending a powerhouse of the Mountain Shaking Realm to widely publicize this matter.

As the Marquis of Annan, Sima Yutang had naturally heard of this matter.

Combined with the oddity of Ji Guiying and the other as described by Duan Cheng, he strongly suspected that the other party had smelled the scent of the rotting corpses under the trees, which had piqued his interest.

Thinking of this, Sima Yutang couldn't help but shudder.

Even though he was a dignified Great Grandmaster powerhouse, confirming that the other party had such an unusual hobby still made him feel a bit disgusted.

After hearing the other party's speculation, Duan Cheng felt even worse.

Thinking of the image of the other party devouring rotting corpses, he felt like he was going to vomit up his New Year's Eve dinner.

Finally, Sima Yutang slowly ordered:

"Do not spread this matter! You continue to lead people to assist the two of them in their investigation as usual, and do not let them detect anything unusual."

"Yes!"

Duan Cheng could only accept the order and leave.

Thinking of that high-and-mighty, Grandmaster-like Senior Ji, who was actually such a person in private, he felt a bit terrified in his heart.

However, he still arranged for people to specifically watch that grove to see if there would be any changes in the near future.

Time passed slowly, and two days later, the two guards who were watching outside that grove suddenly came to report:

"The ground under the grove seems to have been dug up by someone, and the few corpses we just buried a few days ago have disappeared!"

The moment Duan Cheng heard this news, his only thought was:

"Holy crap!"