A bald, blue-eyed man stood not far away.

He was busily gnawing at a dripping, festering severed head in big bites. His mouth was smeared with blood, and his oily face brimmed with satisfaction.

When he saw the greasy man, Tao Qingshan couldn’t help but say, “Ha Shisan, I can crush a dirty toad like you even without relying on His Excellency the Sea-Swallowing King’s prestige.”

Teng Yong hurriedly lowered his voice and explained to Su Yi, “Mystic Master, that’s Ha Shisan from Poison Sands Ridge. He’s a blue-eyed toad that achieved sentience, and he calls himself ‘the Poisonflame King.’ He’s extremely strong, and he’s especially proficient with poisons. He once used poison to slay a Grandmaster, and his temperament is extremely domineering.”

Su Yi paid him no heed, while Ning Sihua’s clear eyes flashed with undisguised loathing.

This yao really was a toad; he looked vile to the extreme.

“Heh heh.” Ha Shisan stretched out his foot-long, bright red tongue. First, he licked a circle around his oily face, slurping up the smeared blood and bits of flesh until nothing was left.

Then, he withdrew his tongue and smacked his lips. “That so? Let’s wait until Ol’ Bro Wuhuan’s Assembly in Paradise is over. Will you dare duke it out with me then? If you lose, I want one of your fire peaches. If I lose, I’ll kowtow and call you ‘grandfather.’ How ‘bout it?”

Tao Qingshan snorted coldly, “Why not? But I sure as hell don’t want to be some dirty toad’s granddaddy, nor do I want a grandson like you.”

Ha Shisan laughed boisterously, but his blue eyes shone with vicious light. “Tao Qingshan, just you wait!”

With that, he turned and waddled off.

“Mountain Monarch Tao, do you know why Ha Shisan dares be so arrogant?” said someone in a raspy sigh.

When the group looked over, they saw an old man with a cane and blue-green eyes. He had just left a street vendor selling scattered bits of flesh, and he was now walking right toward them.

Su Yi and Ning Sihua glanced at each other. They recognized this as the ghostly old man they’d seen on the riverbanks of the Great Azure.

“Why?” Tao Qingshan furrowed his brow.

The old man smiled faintly. “Make it worth my while, and I can illuminate your path.”

Tao Qingshan pointed off into the distance and said expressionlessly, “Scram.”

The old man didn’t seem the least bit upset. He just sighed. “In that case, I’ll just echo Ha Shisan. ‘Just you wait!’”

With that, he clutched his gaze and ambled off into the distance.

“And who was that?” asked Ning Sihua.

“An old weasel. He spends his days scuttling through graveyards, digging up old tombs and pilfering the relics of the dead. He calls himself Mountain Monarch Huang. They say that before he became a yao, he stole and ate the oil from a bronze funerary. Afterward, he achieved sentience.”

Tao Qingshan spoke with unconcealed contempt.

Teng Yong couldn’t help but interject, “Mountain Monarch Tao, it seems something’s not quite right here. Ha Shisan and that old weasel both seem to be targeting you.”

Tao Qingshan was briefly stunned, but he quickly disregarded the warning. “Everyone knows I protect the Pure Yang Fire Peach Tree on the Sea-Swallowing King’s orders. They wouldn’t dare act up.”

Although he didn’t say this out loud, he silently added, Besides, I have the mystic master with me. What is there to fear?

“Distinguished guests, the Assembly in Paradise is about to begin. Please, follow me.” The colorfully-dressed lady ghost led the way ahead, and the group followed her.

They passed through several dozen long streets before the space opened in front of them. They saw blazing firelight off in the distance: a vast, shocking Daoist ritual hall!

A nine-foot-tall black altar stood at the center of the hall. Four towering bronze pillars surrounded it, each covered in strange, contorted, wormlike runes.

Looking further, they saw densely packed tables and seats. When Su Yi and company arrived, there were already over a hundred figures seated there, from sinister and imposing apparitions to yao brimming with murderous energy. There were even quite a few nature spirits still in their original forms—the guests came in all shapes and sizes.

All kinds of auras overlapped and intercrossed. It was chaotic as could be, and the air was full of dark miasma.

Laughter, howls, surreptitious chattering. It was a sea of voices, a picture of maddened revelry.

“Fellow Daoist, that black altar is a bit strange; it looks like a wicked magic treasure,” Ning Sihua said softly. Even from a distance, she could sense its aura permeating the air; it was vile and bloody to the extreme.

Su Yi said offhandedly, “You ask me, and it’s most likely used in a sacrificial formation.”

“Sacrifice?” Ning Sihua’s clear eyes were suddenly serious.

Sacrificial spells were famed for their sinister mysteriousness. The goal of sacrifice was typically to summon some form of power, or alternatively, to trade sacrificial offerings for other goods.

Those who performed sacrifices all had a specific target in mind. Only then could they connect with the intended recipient as soon as they began the ritual.

But in the eyes of true cultivators, ritual sacrifice was a crooked, unorthodox method unworthy of the public eye.

To the best of Ning Sihua’s knowledge, even among ghost and yao cultivators, only a tiny portion resorted to ritual sacrifice to obtain their power.

The reason was simple: ritual sacrifice was tantamount to signing a formless contract with a malevolent denizen of the netherworld. It was like giving offerings to an evil god. You might obtain its power, but you needed to continuously offer up new sacrifices to keep it appeased.

Should the offerings dry up, you’d inevitably suffer your wicked patron’s punishment.

“Aren’t you a bit curious about just whom this Wuhuan Water Monarch is dedicating his sacrifices to?" said Su Yi.

“Don’t tell me you can see that too?” Ning Sihua couldn’t help but find it strange.

“I don’t know who the intended beneficiary is, but whoever they are, it seems they’ve got no prospects. Otherwise, how could they let third-rate ghosts like these make offerings to them?” Su Yi’s gaze carried a hint of disdain.

As they conversed, the colorfully-dressed lady ghost led them to some of the ritual hall’s empty seats.

“Mystic Masters, please, take a seat!” Tao Qingshan gestured for Su Yi and Ning Sihua to sit down. Then, he and Teng Yong sat off to the side.

The table beside them was covered in wine, melons, and other such refreshments. However, all of them were rare and strange. They weren’t exactly precious, but they were an extremely unusual sight.

As time passed, more and more guests took their seats. There was even a group of sinister lady ghosts. Some sang, while others played drums, gongs, and flutes to a strange rhythm, like a funeral dirge.

“Tao Qingshan, long time no see.” Suddenly, a pallid woman dressed like a palace lady walked over. Fire blazed in her eyes, and she carried a tray laden with blood-spattered eyeballs. 

“Madam Mountainden? I didn’t expect to see you here too.” Tao Qingshan knit his brow.

“This is the Wuhuan Water Monarch’s Assembly in Paradise. How could I miss it?” The woman dressed like a palace lady laughed, then proffered her tray. “Here are six pairs of eyes from virgin boys and girls. I only just scooped them from their owners’ still-living bodies. They’re fully intact, and they're fresh and delicious to the extreme. Want a taste, Mountain Monarch Tao?”

Tao Qingshan’s entire body went rigid and, as if terrified that Su Yi would misunderstand, he pounded his fist against the table and shouted, “Never in all the years since I attained sentience have I ever eaten anything so bloody and vile. Why bring those things before me? What are you trying to achieve?”

After a stunned pause, the woman snorted, “Mountain Monarch Tao, I welcomed you with the utmost hospitality. If you don’t appreciate it, fine! But now you’re yelling at me? How rude can you be?”

Then, as if deliberately trying to provoke him, she picked up one of the bloodied eyeballs, popped it into her mouth, and chewed. A look of satisfaction and intoxication arose on her face.

She swallowed, then swept her gaze around the area and said sweetly, “Mountain Monarch Tao called this delicacy ‘bloody’ and ‘vile.’ Everyone, don’t you think that’s a bit over the line?”

This instantly provoked an uproar throughout the surrounding area. Many ghosts and yao looked over.

“Mountain Monarch Tao received ‘an immortal’s guidance’ and stepped onto the path of cultivation. Now he thinks he’s different from the rest of us.” Not far away, the bald, blue-eyed Ha Shisan laughed coldly. “Especially since he has the Sea-Swallowing King to back him up. He hasn’t thought of us as his fellows for a long time!”

Tao Qingshan’s expression darkened. He keenly picked up on numerous gazes turning in his direction, and furthermore, that many of them were ill-intentioned.

“An immortal’s guidance….” Madam Mountainden muttered, her fiery eyes flashing with strange light. “Mountain Monarch Tao, since an immortal showed you the way, might you share your enlightenment with us as well?”

The nearby gazes changed, becoming covetous and intense. Most of them had already heard that Tao Qingshan had received a mystic master’s guidance, and that he’d already stepped onto the true path of cultivation.

To yao and ghosts like them, this was a nigh-irresistible temptation.

Who among them didn’t wish to become a true cultivator?

From not far away, the weasel spirit, Mountain Monarch Huang, chuckled, and his blue-green eyes flashed. “Everyone, please remain calm. It seems to me that given Mountain Monarch Tao’s magnanimity and code of conduct, he’s sure to present his cultivation method at tonight’s Assembly in Paradise for all of us to see.”

“Really?”

“That’s amazing!’

“Haha, well, we’ll just have to thank him in advance!”

The surrounding area burst into joy and laughter.

Tao Qingshan’s expression was instantly unsightly. He was furious, and he was just about to argue when Su Yi gently shook his head. “They say that owning a precious treasure is a crime. They’ve long since begun targeting you; saying anything else will only be a waste of time.”

Tao Qingshan instantly fell silent. After a while, he said bitterly, “I have only myself to blame. I got complacent and overly excited. I foolishly revealed that you’d granted me a cultivation technique, resulting in this calamity.”

“No harm done,” Su Yi said calmly. He scanned the surrounding area, completely composed. He didn’t take the rabble-rousers seriously at all.

It was only then that Ning Sihua realized what had happened. So, Tao Qingshan once received pointers from Su Yi!

“Mountain Monarch Tao, who are these friends of yours? Why haven’t we seen them before?” The nearby Madam Mountain asked with a burst of gleeful laughter.

Tao Qingshan already detested the mere sight of her, so he instantly pounded the table and bellowed, “That has nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight!”

The surrounding uproar instantly fell silent as numerous gazes turned in their direction.

The ghostly palace lady’s expression changed erratically, and she looked unsightly. However, before she could say anything, a burst of hearty laughter echoed throughout the ritual hall. 

“Mountain Monarch Tao, your temper is getting worse and worse. Enough. Tonight, all of you are my guests. You are not to fight amongst yourselves.”

The voice spread throughout the venue, and all eyes turned toward its source.

There, off in the distance, they saw a man in silver robes embroidered with dragons. He wore a feather crown, and he was approaching the central altar step by step.

Dark smoke billowed around him, and his eyes were dull red. Just standing there, waves of baleful energy permeated the air; he was imposing and terrifying to the extreme.

This was the lord of Ninebends City, the Wuhuan Water Monarch!

In the raws, Ha Shisan's name (蛤十三) is decidedly unusual, but I doubt that comes across in translation. But hey, that's what notes are for!

蛤, or "ha" is one of the two characters in the word "toad." And while 十三  means "thirteen." So his name is like "Toad Thirteen."

Thirteen is not traditionally an unlucky number in Chinese culture, so I'm not sure if the number has any particular significance here. In any event, his name references his toadlike true nature. 

___

The elderly weasel's name references his true nature too. Weasel, in Chinese, is 黃鼠狼. Character by character, that's "Yellow rat wolf." 黃, or "Huang" means yellow. Unlike "Ha", it's a common surname for humans too. Humans like, say, Huang Qianjun.