The strange world of demon cultivators

Before long, the group returned to the Temple of the God of Fortune.

The leader finally had a moment to spare, allowing him to calm down and carefully take stock of the gains from their operation.

However, just at that moment, they suddenly realized a problem—Ji Yao was gone!

Everyone had been focused on running for their lives, and no one had noticed whether he had kept up.

"Where did he run off to?" one of the young men asked anxiously.

"I don't know either!

The situation was critical back then, and we were only thinking about escaping that terrifying place as quickly as possible. We didn't pay attention to whether he was following!"

The burly man gasped for breath as he haltingly replied.

Having run too hastily just now, he was now panting heavily, struggling to catch his breath.

"What do we do? Could something have happened to him? It's so dangerous there. What if he ran into something unexpected...?"

The girl in the group grew more and more frightened as she thought about it, her voice starting to tremble slightly.

The leader turned his head slightly after hearing the girl's worries.

His eyes fixed on the road they had come from, and then he replied calmly:

"Don't scare yourselves. In my opinion, he's not so easily harmed."

Although he said that, the leader was still a little worried.

Although they had only known each other for a few days, and their relationship wasn't even that good!

But, at the end of the day, it's always better to have another person in the Ghost Domain.

Subconsciously, they still vaguely regarded Ji Yao as one of their own.

Just as everyone was feeling uneasy,

suddenly, Ji Yao's familiar voice came from not far away:

"I'm fine!"

Immediately afterward, Ji Yao forcefully pushed open the door of the Temple of the God of Fortune and strode in.

Seeing Ji Yao's safe return, everyone's hearts finally settled, and they all breathed a long sigh of relief in unison.

Only the leader, upon witnessing Ji Yao's nonchalant demeanor, devoid of any sign of disarray,

frowned slightly, pondering inwardly.

After all, the rest of them were in a disheveled and miserable state.

Such a contrast only served to highlight Ji Yao's uniqueness.

At that moment, Ji Yao confidently stepped forward and stood firmly in front of the leader.

With a smile, he inquired:

"Big Brother! I wonder, did you gain anything from your exploration? Did you find enough food?"

His tone was relaxed and natural, as if he didn't care about the current situation of the others.

Upon hearing these words, the leader's expression turned slightly flustered.

He hurriedly reached out, took off the backpack on his back, and unzipped it without hesitation.

Then, he turned the entire backpack upside down and shook it vigorously.

In an instant, a series of crackling sounds could be heard, and a pile of miscellaneous items fell sparsely from the backpack.

Looking closely, a pile of various puffed snacks and potato chips rolled out of the originally small backpack.

Some of the chip packages were already broken, and golden fragments were scattered all over the ground;

while the puffed snacks looked as if they had been squeezed, with various shapes.

In addition, there were a few sausages and a few packets of brightly colored gummies mixed in.

It could be said that the items looked pitifully few, and not to mention whether they could meet everyone's needs,

in terms of nutritional value alone, they probably couldn't be considered food that could truly fill one's stomach.

Faced with this scene, the leader looked embarrassed and quickly explained:

"The situation just now was really critical, and I was also flustered, so I didn't have time to carefully select and carry these things!"

The others remained silent upon seeing this scene.

After all, this trip was already taken at great risk.

They knew in their hearts that it was already quite lucky to have something to eat, so how could they dare to ask for more?

So, everyone silently squatted down and began to tidy up the items in front of them.

A "哗啦啦" sound was heard, and this sudden movement instantly attracted the attention of the others.

Everyone looked closely and saw all kinds of food scattered on the ground, dazzling and mouth-watering.

Among them were not only various kinds of instant noodles, but also bags of soft and delicious bread.

There were fragrant sausages, and cans of delicious and tempting luncheon meat, and so on.

Roughly estimated, these foods added up to more than forty items!

Such a large amount of food reserves was enough for them to survive another whole week.

Seeing this scene, the rest of the people were all stunned.

For a moment, they were at a loss, and could only stare blankly at Ji Yao, completely not understanding why he would do such a thing.

Faced with the puzzled eyes of the crowd, Ji Yao appeared particularly calm and composed.

He casually waved his hand and said with a smile:

"Everyone, please don't stare at me so intently!

To tell you the truth, the reason why I took these things out

is not because I suddenly had a burst of compassion and became some kind of saint.

If you want to get these foods, then you must take out corresponding things to exchange with me.

Why don't we make a deal? What do you think?"

The leader stared solemnly at the faces of his teammates, filled with desire and anticipation.

Then he asked with a serious expression:

"Speak! What exactly do you want?"

At this moment, a brilliant smile bloomed on Ji Yao's face.

He mused to himself:

As expected, it's easier to work with smart people!

Immediately afterward, he answered without hesitation:

"Actually, it's very simple. All I need is some information.

How about trading information for food?"

After hearing the condition proposed by Ji Yao, the others did not immediately nod in agreement.

Instead, they quickly gathered together, whispering and discussing the matter.

However, Ji Yao appeared very calm and composed. He crossed his arms and stood quietly aside, waiting for the outcome of their discussion.

Although these people kept their voices very low, to Ji Yao, with his keen hearing,

every word they said was as clear as a loud shout in his ear.

"Big Brother, do you think this is reliable? Could there be some conspiracy or trickery involved?" a team member asked the leader with a suspicious expression.

The leader pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head and replied:

"It shouldn't be. In my opinion, based on the strength he has shown,

there's no need for him to deceive us!

It would be worthless to him to do so!"

"But, it's really too good to be true that we can get food just by providing some information! It feels a bit off..." someone else muttered with a frown.

"That's right, as the saying goes, 'Unusual courtesy, either a trick or a robbery'.

This guy is so generous, he must have ulterior motives!" The others echoed, expressing their doubts about Ji Yao's true intentions.

"Everyone, don't speculate wildly. Why don't we listen to what kind of information he wants to know, and then act accordingly and adapt to the situation!" Finally, the leader made a final decision, telling everyone to put aside their worries for the time being.

After hearing the leader's decision, the others exchanged glances.

Then they all nodded silently, indicating that they had no objections.

Immediately afterward, the leader took a step forward.

He stood firmly in front of everyone, looked at Ji Yao with bright eyes, and asked:

"Since that's the case, then please tell us first, tell us the first question you want to ask!

That way, we can better judge whether we can reach this deal with you!"

Ji Yao showed an indifferent expression and casually replied:

"Alright! My first question is, what was the situation outside before you entered here?"

The leader and the people around him secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this question.

After all, this question was not highly classified information that needed to be strictly kept secret.

In addition, they all assumed that Ji Yao had been trapped in the Ghost Domain for some time! It was normal for him to want to know about the outside world.

The leader sorted out his thoughts a little, and then slowly replied:

"Since those strange and terrifying ghost creatures appeared, the whole world has fallen into chaos.

Now, the number of so-called safe zones outside is constantly decreasing, and the scope is getting smaller and smaller!"

After listening to the answer given by the leader, Ji Yao pondered to himself.

In fact, this result was roughly the same as his previous guess, but he still needed to further confirm some details.

Thinking of this, he immediately followed up and asked:

"Since there are still safe zones outside, why don't you stay there?

Why risk entering this dangerous Ghost Domain?"

At this moment, the girl who had been standing quietly on the side suddenly raised her hand.

She said timidly:

"Actually... who would want to come to this kind of place voluntarily! We were just too unlucky and got picked in the lottery!"

"Lottery?" Ji Yao couldn't help but frown, feeling a little surprised by this statement.

"That's right, the monthly lottery is a common practice in the army!" the leader replied.

The leader also recalled the lottery at this time.

In fact, every time it came to this time, the entire army was filled with a tense atmosphere.

The soldiers' eyes were fixed on the box full of lottery tickets, silently praying that they would not become the unlucky one.

Because once they were selected, what awaited them was to go to those large or small, eerie and terrifying Ghost Domains to perform arduous tasks.

You must know that these Ghost Domains are not good places, they are full of various unknown dangers and strange existences.

Some may hide powerful evil ghosts, while others are full of intricate maze traps.

However, military orders are like mountains, and the selected soldiers can only act according to orders.

"According to you, entering the Ghost Domain must have military permission?" Ji Yao asked doubtfully.

"Whether entering the Ghost Domain must obtain official consent... Well, it can be said to be, but not entirely." At this time, the middle-aged man took over the conversation.

Although on the surface, it seems that only through the lottery method can one obtain official permission to enter the Ghost Domain to perform tasks.

But in reality, if there are special circumstances or emergencies,

perhaps without going through the lottery procedure, certain specific personnel can also be directly dispatched in.

After that, the few people began to popularize some military regulations to Ji Yao.