Realm of the Night God

Chapter 40: Late Night Call

Exiting Master Jiang's small wooden hut, Yang Haoran found his specially crafted yellow messenger bag containing additional items: a soul gathering bead and several thick books.

Rather than leaving immediately, Yang Haoran lingered around the hut, as usual, helping out with miscellaneous tasks in the temple.

Despite Master Jiang's usual insistence that Yang Haoran need not bother, his efforts were in vain against Yang Haoran's stubbornness, leaving Master Jiang with no choice but to let him be.

With his change in status, Master Jiang divulged some secrets to Yang Haoran that he had been unaware of before. According to Master Jiang, all the temple priests in this Death God Temple were under Deng Feng's Night Watch, a small group consisting of six individuals of all ages and genders, including Master Jiang.

Although the Death God Temple managed by Master Jiang wasn't particularly large, it was still too much for just six people to handle. Fortunately, apart from them, there were many long-term devotees residing in the Death God Temple, mainly middle-aged and elderly individuals who voluntarily helped with the temple's chores daily, reducing their workload.

To become a Night Watch member, one must be a devotee of the Death God, that's the prerequisite. However, being a Night Watch member didn't necessarily mean being a temple priest, but all temple priests in the Death God Temple were undoubtedly Night Watch members.

Master Jiang was well aware of the total number of Night Watch members in Lecheng. Not only him, but all Night Watch members knew. However, Yang Haoran, being a new addition, was an exception to this knowledge.

Before Yang Haoran became a Night Watch member, there were fifteen Night Watch members in Lecheng. With Yang Haoran included, there were now sixteen.

Among the sixteen Night Watch members, aside from the temple priests, only two were non-temple priests, with Yang Haoran being one of them.

In the past, many temple priests, like Yang Haoran, started as Night Watch members but were not temple priests initially. However, as they continued in the profession, they gradually became temple priests.

Although Lecheng was just a small town, the Death God Temple wasn't comparable to South Lake's. The Death God Temple in South Lake was undoubtedly the largest in Lecheng, hence why it housed the most temple priests.

Of course, besides the Death God Temple, there were many other temples in Lecheng, some even larger than South Lake's Death God Temple.

Compared to temple priest Night Watch members like Master Jiang, non-temple priest Night Watch members like Yang Haoran had many advantages. While temple priests had less time to collect souls as they were busy managing the temples, Yang Haoran, on the other hand, had plenty of time apart from sleeping to search for undead and collect their souls.

However, although temple priests had limited time for soul collection, they had frequent interactions with devotees. Many devotees even sought their help for supernatural matters, and unless in exceptional cases, temple priests usually helped them, thus resolving their issues and collecting souls simultaneously.

Throughout the morning, Master Jiang imparted his experience to Yang Haoran. However, both of them remained busy with different tasks.

During lunchtime, Yang Haoran sat with the other temple priests. Master Jiang announced Yang Haoran's new status to them, and they all congratulated him on becoming a Night Watch member.

Considering that the others already had a favorable impression of Yang Haoran, his induction as a Night Watch member further strengthened their bond as a group. Some even invited Yang Haoran to join their temples as priests, considering there wasn't much difference between him and the temple priests now, except for the priestly robes.

Yang Haoran politely declined such invitations, as he had no intention of becoming a temple priest at the moment.

As Death God devotees, they had no dietary restrictions, so the lunch provided was quite sumptuous, including various meats and even a few bottles of good wine.

During this period, Yang Haoran had his lunch and dinner at the temple, a departure from his usual routine. Today's meal was exceptional, which Yang Haoran understood was arranged by Master Jiang for celebrating his new status as a Night Watch member. The other temple priests were not oblivious to this gesture either; they knew it was a celebration and enjoyed the festivity.

After a cheerful lunch, with many tasks awaiting in the afternoon, nobody indulged much in drinking. However, a few temple priests, including Master Jiang, shared a drink with Yang Haoran separately, once again congratulating him.

Although Yang Haoran was eager to leave the Death God Temple after lunch and return to his grocery store to study the soul gathering bead and the thick, yellowed books, he suppressed his curiosity and excitement. He spent the afternoon busying himself in the temple until dusk began to fall, at which point he bid farewell and left the Death God Temple.

Returning to his grocery store, it was already dinner time. Yang Haoran didn't feel comfortable staying for dinner at the temple. Instead, he prepared himself a bucket of instant noodles.

While instant noodles were considered junk food and best avoided, Yang Haoran had no choice. He was hungry and lacked the time and mood to cook dinner, so instant noodles had to suffice.

Nevertheless, even when eating instant noodles, Yang Haoran was particular. He only ate his favorite flavor and made sure to add a large sausage and a braised egg, dubbing it his "royal supreme" instant noodles.

Once his noodles were ready, he couldn't wait to take out the soul gathering bead. Examining it with excitement, despite its empty interior, he marveled at it for a full hour.

When he finally snapped out of it, the instant noodles had indeed turned into a soggy mess, looking utterly unappetizing.

Staring at the clearly overcooked noodles, Yang Haoran contemplated tossing them and making a fresh batch. However, upon seeing the egg and sausage inside, he hesitated and decided to heat them up instead.

"It's all going to the same place anyway; it might even be more disgusting than this," Yang Haoran comforted himself before muttering, "Damn it, when I'm rich, I'll have ham without the noodles every day!"

With dinner hastily dealt with, Yang Haoran continued running his business at the shop while taking out the books Master Jiang had lent him to peruse.

The books were thick, and Yang Haoran only skimmed through a few pages, but their contents immediately captivated him.

"Wow, Master Jiang wasn't kidding. These books will be a huge help to me in the future!" Yang Haoran exclaimed with delight.

These thick, old books contained a plethora of information: bizarre occurrences, supernatural entities, other religions, various treasures, and magical abilities.

Although Yang Haoran had become a Night Watch member, his knowledge was limited, akin to a blank slate in this new world he had entered. The books Master Jiang lent him filled in these gaps perfectly.

Although Master Jiang suggested that Yang Haoran should memorize the contents of the books, he had inwardly doubted the feasibility of such a task. Jokingly, he wondered how much time it would take to memorize such thick volumes!

However, even if Master Jiang hadn't recommended memorization, Yang Haoran was now determined to do so voluntarily because of how invaluable this knowledge was to him.

If one genuinely enjoyed learning something, memorization could be swift. However, it had to stem from genuine interest; otherwise, rote memorization would be time-consuming. Conversely, with genuine interest, not only would retention be better, but efficiency would also increase significantly.

As the night grew darker and pedestrian traffic waned, the nocturnal wanderers began to emerge. Occasionally, drunken customers would stumble into Yang Haoran's shop to buy cigarettes, while others, preparing for a night out, purchased various items, although cigarettes were the primary purchase.

While Yang Haoran typically welcomed such customers, hoping for more business, tonight was different. Immersed in the world of books, he grew increasingly impatient with each interruption from a customer, solely because they disrupted his immersion.

Despite feeling irritated, he maintained his trademark smile, satisfying the customers' needs while earning a little extra money for himself.

Unbeknownst to him, as the clock struck midnight, it was time to pay homage to the Death God. Without hesitation, Yang Haoran entered the green curtain with a book in hand.

Carefully placing the book down, he freshened up before proceeding to light incense for the Death God's idol, offering devout worship.

After paying his respects to the Death God, Yang Haoran intended to read for a while longer and keep the shop open for a bit longer. Although the number of customers at this hour dwindled, with luck, he might still make some sales.

Furthermore, most customers at this hour were likely intoxicated, and they tended to be generous with their purchases, sometimes buying a significant amount. Encountering one such customer was akin to serving several regular customers.

Originally, Yang Haoran had planned to take the soul gathering bead out and see if he could find any undead to capture and collect their souls. After all, his strength and abilities were directly related to the number of souls he collected.

However, upon second thought, he decided to take it easy tonight. After all, the previous night at the Ghost Tower had nearly scared him to death. Just thinking about what happened inside the tower sent shivers down his spine.

The experience in the tower had indeed toughened him up, but transitioning roles required time and process, much like eating a meal. It had to be done slowly; rushing it could only lead to choking.

In his view, he needed to take it easy for now and digest everything. He needed some time to adapt to his new identity.

However, fate often enjoyed playing tricks on people. The less you desired something, the more likely it seemed to come your way.

As soon as he picked up the book, the ringtone from his pocket interrupted him.

"I'm as free as the wind..."

The peculiar tone caught Yang Haoran off guard. He retrieved his mobile phone from his pocket and checked the caller ID, surprised to see it was Guanhai.