He had stayed in Insect Valley for a while, capturing a few inferior poison insects.
There were low-grade poisonous insects in Insect Valley, but they required venturing deeper into its interior, which was far more dangerous than the outskirts.
Without absolute certainty, Su Jie did not want to risk his life.
As dusk approached, Su Jie gathered his basket and embarked on his return journey with today's earnings.
Insect Valley was approximately ten kilometers away from Ghost Ridge Palace's base, through a mountainous, densely forested environment with narrow, winding paths, making the return journey challenging.
Rustle!
Suddenly, Su Jie's ears twitched as he heard a strange sound.
It resembled the wind blowing through the leaves, but was interspersed with faint, barely perceptible panting.
Swiftly turning his head, Su Jie looked towards the dense forest behind him.
The light was obscured by the dense trees, shrouding the surroundings in gloom. A pair of crimson eyes flickered in and out of view within the woods, rapidly approaching his position.
"Alien Ghost... and it's not even dark yet."
Su Jie's expression changed dramatically, and he quickened his pace, shifting from a walk to a sprint.
A gust of wind blew behind him, accompanied by a faint terrifying roar getting closer and closer.
Su Jie sped up continuously. Fortunately, he was not far from the Ghost Ridge Palace's base. After sprinting out of the dense forest and deep valley, the base was in sight, surrounded by a vast open area. As long as he could fight here, he could immediately attract the attention of the disciples, and he wouldn't have to worry too much about his safety.
Still not completely set, the sun's twilight illuminated the ground as Su Jie, gasping heavily with sweat pouring down like rain, leaned on his knees to catch his breath for quite a while, looking back towards the dense forest.
Between the trees, a sinister figure with outstretched branches dark as storm clouds was staring intently at Su Jie with blood-red eyes, filled with malice and savagery that sent chills down one's spine.
This figure was tall, its arms hung down to its knees, monkey-like; its skin was dry and pale as if it were a moving corpse, emitting a harsh, deep growl from its throat.
The so-called Alien Ghost was a demon formed when a corpse was influenced by the turbid aura of the earth veins, then swayed by its bloodthirsty instincts. It was also known as Ghoul, Corpse Ghost, among other names.
Alien Ghosts were nocturnal creatures that preyed on humans, fierce by nature, typically acting alone, but sometimes they hunted like wolves in packs.
Each Alien Ghost possessed formidable physical strength, capable of effortlessly tearing apart large trees that two people could barely embrace and moving swiftly as the wind, making them extremely difficult for ordinary disciples to handle.
In the mountainous area where Ghost Ridge Palace was located, there happened to be an earth vein emitting turbid aura, which also led to a large number of Alien Ghosts.
Fortunately, they did not venture out during daylight, and typically, Ghost Ridge Palace Disciples would intentionally avoid them.
Looking at the Alien Ghost, which possessed no insignificant intelligence, it clearly knew that the area around Ghost Ridge Palace's base was perilous. The creature stared at Su Jie for several seconds before reluctantly growling twice and slinking back into the dense forest.
"There must be a problem."
Su Jie's gaze grew stern. Alien Ghosts generally did not appear during the day; it was in their nature.
In the past, Su Jie had never seen Alien Ghosts during the daytime. He had only heard of disciples and Black Market merchants who had missed their timing when returning from the mountains and were hunted by the Alien Ghosts at night.
With unresolved thoughts, Su Jie did not dare stay outside any longer and quickly returned to Ghost Ridge Palace's base.
As soon as he returned to the stone caves, Su Jie saw many disciples gathered together, all of whom were disciples of Taoist Qiu, numbering over two hundred.
In Ghost Ridge Palace, the relationship between master and disciple was somewhat similar to the relationship between a supervisor and a graduate student in Su Jie's understanding.
The master taught the disciples, and the disciples served the master.
However, Taoist Qiu was notoriously stingy and greedy. He did more taking than giving, and talented disciples often chose not to become his students, making his sect the smallest in Ghost Ridge Palace.
"What's wrong?"
Su Jie stepped forward to ask, not understanding why they were gathered there.
"The Master has summoned us for something. He wants us to go see him."
A disciple explained, and someone nearby whispered, "I bet it's about the Alien Ghost's activity these past couple of days."
"An Alien Ghost, but do they move around during the day?"
Su Jie's mind raced, immediately recalling his previous experiences.
"You encountered one? Then you're lucky to be alive."
The person looked at Su Jie somewhat unexpectedly.
"Friend, could you elaborate?"
Su Jie looked at the speaking disciple who was over fifty years old—a hopeless age for an Outer Disciple to make any breakthroughs.
During the conversation, Su Jie casually passed a human-faced moth, a type of Poison Insect that was a hard currency among Outer Disciples.
"I remember you were called Su something…"
The man hurriedly accepted the human-faced moth, his face breaking into a smile.
"Su Jie, how may I address you?"
"Heh heh, I'm Gu Weonian. If you had asked other disciples, even inner disciples might not know about it, but you asked the right person."
Gu Weonian smiled smugly, then continued, "These past couple of days, the Alien Ghosts changed their behavior of moving at night to appear during the day in the dense forest. Already, more than a dozen disciples have perished while venturing out, and some Black Market traders have suffered heavy losses.
Twenty years ago, a similar situation occurred, caused by a surge in the earth's foul qi, leading to a riot of Alien Ghosts with abnormal activity patterns, and many people died back then."
"I see, thank you, Brother Gu, for clearing that up."
Su Jie grimaced. If things were as bad as described, venturing out during the day would become dangerous.
"Be careful if you go out in the future. Don't fall victim like those unfortunate souls, devoured by Alien Ghosts without leaving even a whole corpse behind."
Seeing as he had received the human-faced moth, Gu Weonian's attitude was quite friendly.
"I understand. I'll avoid those things at all costs. I'm certainly not going to tempt fate."
Gu Weonian nodded, his tone that of someone who had been through it all. "Good that you know. Unlike some hotheads who think they're invincible after learning a few minor tricks, they foolishly challenge enemies far beyond their capabilities."
While they were talking, a man and a woman approached.
The man was dressed in a blue robe, wearing a badge that marked him as an inner disciple, and his entire demeanor was as cold as ice, his facial muscles particularly stiff.
The woman, on the other hand, was strikingly beautiful and scantily clad in light gauze, her slender waist and long legs, and barely hidden fair skin were incredibly seductive.
These two were the only two inner disciples among Taoist Qiu's students.
The male's name was Pei Haibing. He had been promoted to inner disciple half a year ago with a Yunling Sixth Level Cultivation. He did not practice the Hundred Poison Refining Gu Scripture commonly cultivated by Ghost Ridge Palace Disciples, but another Taoist Skill known as the White Bone Transformation, which was extremely cruel and terrifying when executed.
The female was Yu Wenxian, a name that suggested tranquility and elegance, but her attire and demeanor completely contradicted that notion. She was even more ruthless and venomous than Pei Haibing, and she had been there longer.