The people present glanced at each other. The waiter said suspiciously, "That comes to a total of twelve million Soul Coins."
Evan Yang had no idea what a Soul Coin was. He turned to Master Spirit Caller and asked, "What's a Soul Coin?"
"You don't know what a Soul Coin is?" Master Spirit Caller asked. At this moment, the waiter frowned and said, "So who's actually paying?"
Master Spirit Caller pointed at Evan Yang. "He is." Then he said to Evan Yang, "I'll wait for you downstairs."
Then Master Spirit Caller headed downstairs, leaving Evan Yang and Gavin behind. If they tried to force their way out now, it would definitely cause a scene, so Evan and Gavin exchanged a look.
Not long after Master Spirit Caller reached the first floor, a loud commotion erupted upstairs. As he frowned in curiosity, Evan and Gavin burst out, and Evan said to Master Spirit Caller, "Aren't you leaving yet?"
Master Spirit Caller was confused. "Why should I leave?"
At that moment, a group of people burst out from behind the door. The waiter led them, shouting at the three, "Catch those three dine-and-dash scammers!"
Master Spirit Caller froze for a second, but without thinking, he ran after Evan Yang. All three sprinted, and Evan noticed that Master Spirit Caller was actually pretty skilled—at least his escape speed was impressive.
The three of them dashed out of the city. Only after running a long distance and no longer hearing their pursuers did Evan check behind them. The chasers had given up, and Master Spirit Caller looked back and laughed, "We almost got caught—what a close call!"
"Hey, old man, you can't mess with us like this! We don't even know what Soul Coins are, and you expect us to pay for you?" Evan said, frustrated.
"Heh, I could tell you two had the makings of dine-and-dashers. How was it? Pretty exciting, right? Eat and run!" Master Spirit Caller laughed.
Evan and Gavin stopped in their tracks. Master Spirit Caller was way too tricky. Evan stared at him and said, "Old man, quit messing with us. We actually need your help with something."
"Oh? What is it? Go ahead and ask." Master Spirit Caller smiled.
"We're looking for a patch of grassland—if you touch the grass, part of your soul gets devoured and left behind." Evan explained.
Master Spirit Caller frowned after hearing this. "Are you sure you want to find such a place?"
"Yeah." Evan replied.
"I know about it, but I can't tell you. You two aren't bad people, so telling you would just be sending you to your deaths." Master Spirit Caller smiled.
"Uh, we'll be careful. Please tell us anyway." Evan was happy to hear Master Spirit Caller knew, and pleaded.
Master Spirit Caller shook his head, refusing to tell Evan. Instead, he flickered and vanished. No matter how Evan and Gavin searched, they couldn't find him—only his lingering voice remained: "You two should just head back to where you came from."
After Master Spirit Caller vanished, Evan and Gavin searched for a while in vain. Evan said, "Let's head back to the city and see if anyone else knows."
"Okay," Gavin replied. The two headed toward the city, but to avoid those people, they planned to enter through another gate, so they circled around the city wall.
Just as Evan and Gavin were about to reach the other city gate, they spotted a familiar figure—the old woman they were looking for. She was kneeling at the feet of a man who stood over her, mocking her.
"Please, let me go," the old woman pleaded.
"Let you go? In your dreams! You promised us one hundred souls, but you've only gotten twenty. Where are the other eighty?" the man snorted coldly.
"I—I really don't want to hurt anyone. Please let me go, and let my child go." Tears streamed down the old woman's face. Evan and Gavin, who had previously judged her harshly, now realized she hadn't tried to trick them out of malice.
"No way! Get lost!" The man kicked her aside and walked into the city. The old woman, powerless and with no strength, was knocked to the ground, crying out a name they couldn't understand.
At that moment, she saw two pairs of feet in front of her. Through her tears, she looked up curiously—when she saw Evan and Gavin, she reacted as if she'd seen something terrifying and immediately turned to run.
Evan called out, "Ma'am, don't run—we mean no harm." With a flash, he appeared in front of the old woman.
Seeing Evan, the old woman immediately knelt and said, "I know I was wrong. Please, spare me."
"Ma'am, please don't be like this. We just want to know—why did you do it?" Evan asked.
"You're not going to hold it against me?" The old woman asked, half in disbelief.
"No, we're not." Evan said.
The old woman glanced at Gavin, whom she'd knocked unconscious earlier. Gavin nodded to her, indicating she was fine. The old woman grew excited. "Thank you both."
"Ma'am, why?" Evan just wanted to know the reason. The old woman, seeing how quickly Evan could appear before her and realizing he had some skill, explained, "My child was captured by people from a certain faction. They forced me to knock out one hundred souls and hand them over, or they won't release my child."
"One hundred souls? A faction? What do they want with souls?" Evan asked curiously.
"I don't know." The old woman shook her head.
"Maybe this faction knows about that place. I should check it out—and rescue her child while I'm at it." Evan thought aloud to Gavin.
Gavin saw Evan let go of past grudges and naturally agreed. If Evan had ignored the woman's plight, Gavin would have looked down on him. So she smiled, "Let's do it together."
Evan nodded, then turned to the old woman. "We'll help you. Where are they?"
"You're really going to help me?" The old woman could hardly believe it. She'd just tried to harm them, and now they wanted to help her.
Evan smiled. "That's right, we'll help you."
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The old woman thanked them gratefully. "Thank you, you're truly good people."
"Tell us—what's the situation exactly?" Evan asked.
So the old woman explained. She was just one of many victims—each was forced to knock out a hundred souls and deliver them to the faction, only then would her loved ones be released.
Hearing this, Gavin was furious. "Those heartless bastards!"
"Now that we know, we can't just sit back. Here's the plan: we'll pretend to be bewitched by you, and you take us to them." Evan said.
The old woman was grateful for Evan's suggestion. "Okay." She took out a kettle-like container, aimed it at Evan and Gavin, and the two of them flew inside.
Of course, this only worked because they didn't resist. If Evan had resisted, the device wouldn't have been able to absorb them.
Inside the kettle, Evan said with a smile, "I wonder what those people are actually doing."
"Me too. Why do they need so many souls?" Gavin asked, curious.
As the two chatted, the old woman outside had already entered the city and found the man who'd scolded her earlier.
When the man saw her, he sneered, "What? Didn't I teach you a lesson just now?"
"No, I've already captured two souls," the old woman said. The man asked suspiciously, "That fast?"
"Yes," the old woman replied.
"Alright, hand them over." The old woman released Evan and Gavin, who were pretending to be unconscious.
Seeing the unconscious Evan and Gavin, the man laughed, "Not bad, you're making progress. Go on, get more."
"Okay." The old woman nodded and left, but her heart was uneasy, fearing something might happen to Evan and Gavin.
The man looked at Evan and Gavin and chuckled, "Tough luck for you two." He took out a new kettle and collected them, then headed toward a luxurious building in the city.
It was a manor. Inside, he walked in and people greeted him.
He walked in cheerfully and arrived at an isolated building. Only he and a few others responsible for handling captive souls could enter; outsiders weren't allowed.
Inside the building, there were a huge number of souls. They were divided into two areas: one area held souls that had undergone some kind of treatment, leaving them dull and muddled; the other area contained newly captured souls, trapped by a special device that kept them from escaping, forcing them to struggle helplessly.
After Evan and Gavin were released, the man bound them with the same restraints.
Then the man left, smiling. Once he was gone, Evan and Gavin opened their Divine Sense and surveyed their surroundings.
"What's going on here?" Gavin asked Evan.
Evan sent a message, "This must be where they imprison souls. There are so many—it's like a soul farm. Whoever's behind this must be up to something big."
"I don't know." Gavin was also curious why they needed so many souls.
Just then, someone nearby woke Evan and Gavin.
Evan and Gavin pretended to wake up, showing curiosity and fear. The person who woke them sighed, "Looks like you're doomed too."
"Where are we? Why is this happening?" Evan asked the young man beside him.
The young man sighed, "This is a place for imprisoning souls. We can't leave—one by one we're called out, and when we come back, we're like those people over there."
He meant the ones who were mentally shattered.
"Why are they like that?" Evan asked, curious.
"I don't know. All I know is, every day different people come back like that. It's terrifying," the young man said.
Evan and Gavin frowned. This was clearly a bizarre place.