Chapter 38: Rules, the Bottom Layer of the Holy Spirit Cult
Zhang Peng was bold enough to give, and this shifty-eyed Spirit Master was actually bold enough to take.
After hearing that everything would be handled according to the usual rules, he accepted the money, took Chen Ming's waist token, fiddled with it for a while, and then produced a key and a map.
"This is the key to Room 2, Cave Bing 3, and this is a map of the surrounding Market. If the key is damaged or lost, you will have to pay extra for a replacement."
"Could you explain what this 'Room 2, Cave Bing 3' means?" Chen Ming asked as he accepted the two items.
"Most Holy Spirit Disciples live in several large caves planned out by the Cult. A small number of the strong and wealthy can move out and live on their own. These residences are divided into 4 grades: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding."
"Grade Jia Caves are the largest. They have the best environment and the richest energy. They are excavated individually and contain several rooms. Grade Yi is next. The environment is slightly worse, and there are fewer rooms inside. Several rooms together form one cave."
"Grade Bing is very small, around 20 square meters or so. Its only advantage is that it has its own toilet inside. As for Grade Ding, it is only around 7 or 8 square meters. It can only fit a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk. Add anything else, and it will not fit. Dozens of such rooms are packed into one cave, and living there means you will inevitably have to deal with other Evil Spirit Masters."
"A 'normal cave' refers to a Grade Bing Cave. Yours is the 2nd room in the 3rd Grade Bing Cave. Grade Ding is usually where those without money live when they are in debt. But Grade Ding is not actually the lowest. There are also arrangements where several people share a single room."
"Given the state of things within the Cult, unless there is truly no alternative, no one would feel at ease living together with others."
"Grade Jia and Yi caves not only cost more money, they also require either strength or status. At the very least, an outstanding Spirit Elder can move into a Grade Yi Cave, while only a Spirit Ancestor can enter a Grade Jia Cave."
"As for those above that, at least Spirit Emperor level is required to excavate an independent residence. Beings at that level are not people someone like me can casually comment on."
"If you feel the room is too small for cultivation or refining things, you can also rent a Quiet Room here, though that is a different price. Generally speaking, the rooms in Grade Jia Caves themselves function as private Quiet Rooms."
"Fighting is allowed within the cave districts, but causing injury, crippling someone, or killing someone is forbidden. Any damage to the environment must be compensated according to the listed price. Some rotten seeds deliberately provoke newcomers into attacking them, then use the opportunity to damage the surroundings and force the newcomer into debt. Others might damage things together as a group and then claim it was the newcomer's doing. It all depends on the local environment..."
Although it was said that things would be handled according to the rules, because of Zhang Peng's presence, this shifty-eyed Spirit Master still revealed a great many unspoken rules and gave Chen Ming advance warning.
"May I ask your honored name?" Chen Ming asked with a cupped-hand salute.
"My name is Jie Zhen, known in the Jianghu as the Nine-Headed Louse. Thanks to the grace of the Cult's great lords, I am currently serving as the Market manager." Jie Zhen gave a slight smile as he spoke his name.
"Nine-Headed Lion?" Both Chen Ming and Zhang Peng were stunned when they heard the nickname, unable to find even the slightest resemblance between the Spirit Master before them and such a domineering title.
"The kind on your body, the blood-sucking louse," Jie Zhen said with a chuckle.
"That is quite impressive." Chen Ming sighed sincerely, while at the same time increasing his vigilance toward Jie Zhen severalfold.
As the saying went, names could be wrong, but nicknames rarely were. To be called a "Louse" meant this person was a greedy, stingy bloodsucker, and "Nine-Headed Louse" sounded like the absolute summit of misers.
In any case, it was never wrong to be a little more cautious.
"Since the expenses within the Cult are so high, how am I supposed to earn gold coins?"
"Hehe, that is not really something a newly joined Disciple should be asking. But I can explain it to you anyway. Within the Cult, there are roughly 3 ways to earn money."
"First, there is the Mission Hall in the center of the square, which specifically issues tasks to low-level Evil Spirit Masters. However, most of those tasks are either too difficult, or the pay is so miserable that they are basically just hard labor. A newly joined Spirit Master could work themselves to death for a month and still not earn enough for food, clothes, and shelter."
"Only a small number of those tasks have a decent cost-performance ratio, but those are usually monopolized by the old-timers. Some tasks even hide major pitfalls, but that is simply the nature of the Cult."
"Second is the Market. For 5 gold coins a month, you can rent a 4-square-meter stall spot. How much you earn from selling depends entirely on your own methods. The Cult does not take a cut, but the Market is also the place with the most disputes. If your prices are too high, no one buys. If they are too low, you lose money and may also offend others. There are also disputes between individual stall owners... and, hehe..."
"Earning money from selling things in the Market does not necessarily mean that money is truly yours. Some people specifically target those doing business in the Market for extortion or robbery. Although the Cult nominally forbids fighting in public areas, the old-timers always have their own ways of making people disappear."
"It is hard to say that setting up a stall is any safer than doing missions. After all, some tasks are bitter, but they at least let you barely survive. But once you offend the wrong people in the Market..."
"The third way is naturally robbery. As the saying goes, killing and arson bring a golden belt, while repairing bridges and paving roads leaves no corpse. The reason Evil Spirit Masters can spend so freely is because their source of wealth is different. Every now and then, Evil Spirit Masters form teams and go out to plunder. You might get rich in a single trip, or you might die in a single trip."
"As for dividing the spoils and all that, the number of people who die over such matters every year is not small. There are also many unlucky fools who are lured out and then murdered. Do not overestimate anyone's moral character within the Cult. I cannot say there are absolutely no good people, but basically... there are none."
"As for anything else, whether it is scamming people outside, extorting them, or doing whatever else... that is the sort of thing the Cult turns a blind eye to. Only those with ability can earn those extra scraps of income. As for if something goes wrong..."
Jie Zhen truly lived up to being an old hand of the Market. He laid out the various ways of earning money for Chen Ming one by one. But within the Holy Spirit Cult, almost no method was truly safe.
Everything either depended on brains or on brawn. In short, the world of Evil Spirit Masters did not support idlers. Many Evil Spirit Masters who lacked either talent or intelligence simply vanished while living inside the Holy Spirit Cult.
Even though the official rule of the Holy Spirit Cult was "no fighting in public," every year many people still disappeared mysteriously in private. Blood food was expensive and hard to obtain inside the Holy Spirit Cult, and given the nature of Evil Spirit Masters...
To be able to die cleanly and quickly was already considered a decent way to go. If someone could even leave behind an intact corpse, then they must have encountered a saint.
After seeing that Chen Ming had handled the basic matters, Zhang Peng nodded and then vanished on the spot without saying another word, leaving only Chen Ming and Jie Zhen behind. Jie Zhen gave Chen Ming a somewhat wretched smile before returning to his seat and resuming his accounting.
With a trace of unease, Chen Ming walked out of the cave and followed the passage toward the square. He began his life in the Market as an ordinary Evil Spirit Master with a certain amount of nervousness.
Holding the map, Chen Ming walked around the square first, gaining a general understanding of the layout and the various places that sold goods. Then, on guard, he began heading toward his cave according to the map.
But just as he stepped into a relatively narrow section of the path, a Spirit Master with a sinister grin stepped out and blocked his way.
.....
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