When the branch leader brought Xue Wei and his friends to his mansion, many had already gathered in the surroundings to catch a glimpse of the young man who could make even the most feared leader of the Whispering Oak Inn turn so humble.
The branch leader sensed their arrival, and he was somewhat annoyed with their looks. While he was willing to humble himself in front of Xue Wei, he was not willing to do so in front of others.
Xue Wei also understood the branch leader's mentality, and considering the fact that they depended on him to find Li Zhiqing and his father, he cleared his throat, and spoke very politely.
Anyone who observed them would see that while the branch leader was extremely polite towards Xue Wei, Xue Wei was also very polite and humble when dealing with the ghost.
The branch leader understood Xue Wei's attitude, and he felt grateful. In fact, even if Xue Wei had been snobbish and prideful, he would still be humble, as he was his only chance of leaving the Ghost Realm. However, seeing him being so friendly, he felt rather good about him.
Ghosts would not usually have servants, but the branch leader was different. He was the top of the regional capital, and thus he had the capacity to hire ghosts to work for him.
These ghosts needed a certain degree of strength to be able to be used by him, but they were all willing, as they could get some easy spirit liquid this way.
Spirit liquid was something one could create by sacrificing one's own strength. This was not a feasible solution, as it would slow their own advance, but someone like the branch leader had, although limited, a rather sizable quantity of spirit liquid at his disposal, which he used to pay those beneath him.
While he was not in charge of gathering spirit liquid himself, he was the one who could control who gained what, and how much. The position of power was not just for show.
While the branch leader had an illustrious position, he only had three servants.
These three servants were the housekeeper and two maids. Although they were servants, they were also amongst the upper class of the regional capital, as their strength could not be belittled.
Being the servant of the branch leader was known as a job which brought many benefits. One would enjoy undisguised respect and admiration from the other citizens within the capital. Their salary was also something that the common citizen envied, as they never lacked spirit liquid.
While there were many benefits to the job, it was also somewhat risky. If the servant insulted their employer in one way or another, they would also be harvested, much like anyone else who caused problems in front of him.
These servants were extremely arrogant when facing others, but in front of their boss, they became as docile as a lamb.
That was why, when they opened the gates and saw the genuine and happy smile on their boss' face, they felt shocked, and their eyes filled with disbelief.
They could not believe that their stoic, and rather ruthless boss, was suddenly showing such enthusiasm for someone else. This enthusiasm was simply too different from anything they had ever seen before.
However, they did not believe that he was a fake ghost. He had the same overpowering strength and aura, and his appearance was exactly the same as before, so what they began wondering was about the identity of the guests.
These servants all thought that Lan was a robot, so he was not getting much attention. However, the female ghost and Xue Wei, were being observed with a great interest.
Xue Wei was considered average in strength when compared to the common ghost, and his strength could never be the cause of why the branch leader showed him such attention.
Another questionable thing was that ghosts had no family or memories of their lives when they were in the world of the living. They could not remember anything, so it was not possible that they had some connection to one another. Being interested in the other was also impossible, as the branch leader did not behave as one would if they were in love. Instead, he was being polite, humble, and admiring.
This was all very puzzling, but the servants dared not show their confusion, and instead, they followed their orders to show Xue Wei and the female ghost to a room each.
Xue Wei and Lan shared a room. Lan was stuck in his original form, and the size was so small that he could easily curl into a ball on the desk without interrupting or disturbing Xue Wei.
He continued to try and unravel his seal while Xue Wei sat on the bed and tried to increase his cultivation base.
Xue Wei had no intention of introducing Qi cultivation to the branch leader. This branch leader was already incredibly strong. He did not need to cultivate Qi, and even if he were to enter the world of the living, he would become a spirit. Hence Qi cultivation would be useless for him.
The ghosts did not need to eat or drink to sustain their bodies. Food was also not a thing that existed within the Ghost Realm, and water was only used for washing. Wine and the likes did not exist in the Ghost Realm either, as plants were nearly extinct.
As a result, Xue Wei stayed within his room for the following hours. He focused solely on refining the heaven and hearth essence, and further strengthened his cultivation base.
Lan's cultivation was also recovering rapidly. The seal was unraveling swiftly, and his cultivation base was slowly returning.