Wandering Gods of Day and Night

The first kind, naturally, are the people dressed in luxurious clothes, well-covered.

The second kind, well, are a group of unfortunate, naked people.

Dozens of male and female slaves, without a thread on their bodies, are shivering and trembling like chaff in the cold.

Zhou Xuan walked ahead, with the steward by his side,

Zhou Xuan asked, "Why are these people not wearing clothes?"

"Oh, they’re bait, you see."

The steward replied.

"Bait?"

Zhou Xuan couldn’t associate these living people with the bait used for fishing and nesting.

The steward continued, "Master Ning Yu, without having tasted the delicacy of the Ghost-faced Eel, naturally, you wouldn’t know the habits of these eels,

Ghost-faced Eels, they hide in the depths of the heavenly pool, rarely surfacing unless tempted by human flesh and blood."

As he spoke, he pointed to two "baits" about to be thrown into the pool, saying, "Master, look over there."

Zhou Xuan didn’t need the steward to point; his gaze was already directed there.

He saw two male slaves being pinned to the ground by four Longba family retainers, then repeatedly slashed with short knives from the Snowfield.

The ferocious slashing didn’t end the lives of the slaves immediately but instead carved strips of wounds on their backs and thighs.

Where the wounds turned, the skin and flesh rolled back, and blood gushed out, staining the surrounding snow with crimson.

"Throw them, throw them."

After a retainer with the knife shouted, other retainers quickly came up, using iron hooks to pierce the ankles of the two male slaves,

The iron hooks were connected to chains, and the two male slaves were thrown into the cold waters of the heavenly pool, struggling to break the surface,

But the retainers used long, thick wooden rods to keep pushing them down,

This struggle entertained several children around Ning Jin Longba, who clapped and laughed incessantly, finding the slaves’ sorry state quite amusing.

The steward chatted with Zhou Xuan, saying, "Master Ning Yu, most of these little children you know,

But the smallest one... there... the one clapping, is Lord Longba’s youngest son, extremely clever, and is likely to become your disciple in the future, to learn some profound Buddhist Law."

"Hmm."

Zhou Xuan nodded and said, "This little child has it in him, claps with real vigor, in the coming days, make sure Longba keeps him close, to let him see the world."

"The master has such high regard for our young master?" The steward seemed pleasantly surprised.

"Who doesn’t like a smart child?" Zhou Xuan smiled and said.

Yet in his heart, he thought—Little master, in a few days, your father will surely take the people of the Six Great Families to Ping Shui Prefecture, you must go too,

If you don’t, I’ll have to come back to Snow Plain Prefecture to deal with you, which is quite time-consuming.

As Zhou Xuan strolled along, he got a very clear understanding of the conduct of the Six Great Families,

This bunch, each a scourge of the Snowfield, unworthy of living.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xuan strode forward,

Longba saw Zhou Xuan and hurriedly stood up, performing a Buddhist salutation, saying, "Master Ning Yu, we meet again so soon."

"Longba, how’s your Ghost-faced Eel fishing going?"

Zhou Xuan didn’t explain his purpose directly, but glanced at the verdant cold pond.

"Today is not a fortunate day, we’ve put in about a dozen pieces of bait, yet no trace of the Ghost-faced Eels to be seen.

Perhaps, us at Longba Manor have indulged too much in Ghost-faced Eels, having fished too frequently, rendering them picky and not biting anything."

Longba’s tone was extremely relaxed, as if discussing a trivial matter of appetite.

Zhou Xuan, however, asked, "Lord Longba, I’m quite curious, does the Ghost-faced Eel offer any special help in the path of cultivation?"

"Not really, it’s just to satisfy the appetite,

After all, we cultivate the great path of the Buddhist Sect; if it were the Tangkou of Alien Ghosts, like the Broken Robe, if they managed to get some Ghost-faced Eels to eat, it might offer benefits to their cultivation."

Longba was quite frank, holding nothing back.

Yet Zhou Xuan felt an inexplicable nausea—just to eat a few bites of fish, dozens of human lives are used.

Dozens of lives, merely for a few fresh fish, life in Snow Plain Prefecture is truly cheaper than grass.

"We should really stop this eel fishing farce."

Zhou Xuan was already contemplating how to stop this absurd fishing naturally and smoothly, without exposing his identity.

Just then, the manor retainers by the heavenly pool were shouting to Longba, "Master, Master, we’ve hooked one."

"One bait was pulled strongly, we’re trying hard to haul it up."

"Pull, pull, pull."

Ning Jin Longba urged,

A shrill sound of iron chains scraping against each other came from the heavenly pool, and before long, a male slave used as bait was being dragged up,

Zhou Xuan glanced and felt a disgusting sensation—a half-foot wide and three-foot long eel was clinging to the slave’s chest and abdomen.

This eel’s muscles were extremely taut, its occasional struggles containing fierce strength.

Its mouth was particularly notable—it resembled a disc, leaving large holes in the slave’s body where it bit.

By now, the slave had stopped breathing; once his corpse was hauled up, the retainers used iron awls they prepared beforehand to pry the Ghost-faced Eel off the body.

As soon as the eel hit the ground, the instinct to survive drove it to slither towards the pool water, but the retainers wouldn’t allow it, after setting down the awls, they used padded forks to catch the eel.