I paced back and forth in the room, muttering to myself, "The Yin-Yang Inn doesn't seem like an inn. So what is it?"

"Inn? Inn? Isn't an inn just like an ancient hotel?"

I was talking to myself, but Ye Yang chimed in, "Most inns are like you said, but a few are gathering places for Jianghu people. And a very few inns have special meanings."

I turned to look at Ye Yang, "Tell me, what kind of situations are those inns?"

Ye Yang said, "You know about the 'golden nests' of the Northeast bandits, right? Those are similar to the inns where Jianghu people gather."

I had indeed heard of the things Ye Yang mentioned. In the Northeast, the heavy snows of winter would seal off the mountains, making life difficult for bandits.

The underlings would sneak down the mountains to go home for the winter, returning when the snow melted in the spring. The well-known bandit leaders didn't dare go down the mountains casually, so they hid in golden nests in the mountains to spend the winter. Those places had everything: wine, meat, women, casinos, opium, you name it. The only thing was that the money spent was terrifying.

That's why they were called golden nests.

The people who dared to build golden nests in the mountains weren't bandits, but people even bandits were afraid of.

Therefore, bandits could only spend money there, not cause trouble.

Causing trouble inside a golden nest meant certain death, no matter who you were. But once you left the gates of the golden nest, no one cared if you chopped someone into pieces.

I pondered, "If that's the case, the Yin-Yang Inn is a bit like a golden nest. What else?"

Ye Yang said, "There are also special inns established by great Jianghu figures."

"Those are places for all kinds of Jianghu people to rest their feet, and also places to set the rules of the Jianghu."

"Put it this way! There's a movie called *Peace Hotel*, you should have seen it, right? The Peace Hotel there is a place to provide shelter for Jianghu people. As long as you step into the hotel, no one is allowed to come in to seek revenge."

"But, the reason why such inns are rare is because the innkeeper must have the power to deter the world. The other reason is that the innkeeper must have a very strong purpose."

Ye Yang paused, "Like the owner of the Peace Hotel in the movie *Peace Hotel*, he established the Peace Hotel to shelter Jianghu people who were being hunted down, without any purpose, and without even asking them to do anything."

"In the real Jianghu, similar inns that have appeared are all places where the innkeeper collects money."

"If you want to save your life, in addition to paying a huge amount of money, you also have to work for the inn."

"That's what's in the interests of the Jianghu people."

I nodded, "If the Yin-Yang Inn is also a similar kind of existence, then why does the inn support vendettas between tenants?"

Ye Yang said, "That's why I said it doesn't seem like an inn."

"Living in the Yin-Yang Inn is to save your life, not to wait to die here."

Ling also said, "Ye Dangjia is right. According to the Heavenly Mystery Society's investigation, the people who enter the Yin-Yang Inn are either trying to escape the world or to avoid being hunted down."

"The inn may not be full of heinous people, but they must be people who are not tolerated by the arts or the underworld."

"So, if they want to live, they will inevitably be exploited by the inn."

"When they have no value, they will be expelled from the inn. To survive, they can only choose to kill and steal."

Ling said, "A considerable number of people who flee into the Yin-Yang Inn are vicious people. Killing and robbing is no pressure for them. Once one person does it, others will follow suit."

"Over time, the law of the jungle has become the rule of the Yin-Yang Inn."

"The original intention of establishing the Yin-Yang Inn has also changed."

"Original intention?" I asked in confusion, "What is the original intention you're talking about?"

Ling said, "The innkeeper must not have established the Yin-Yang Inn to exploit the tenants here."

"Think about it, a person who can control the life and death of countless ghosts and gods, if he wants something from them, he can just do it directly. Why would he use such a stupid method?"

"I think there's something wrong with the inn!"

While Ling and I were talking, we heard a knock on the door outside, "Guests, your meal is here."

I gestured to Ye Yang, got up myself, and opened the courtyard door. A waiter-like person was standing outside, holding a food box in his hand.

I looked the other person up and down a few times, "Bring it in!"

That person put the wine and dishes on the table, and respectfully said, "After the guests are finished eating, please put the bowls and chopsticks in the food box and put it at the door. Enjoy your meal."

After the waiter left, Cang Tianji sniffed his nose and said, "There's poison in the food. I'll call that Shopkeeper Jia out."

I raised my hand and said, "No need. It's not time yet. We'll talk about it later!"

After I sat in the room for about five or six minutes, there was another knock on the door outside, "Guests, your meal is here."

Standing outside the door was still the same waiter, even the clothes hadn't changed, and he was still carrying the same food box.

This time, I didn't let the person come into the room, but took the food box myself.

After I took out the same wine and dishes and put them on the ground, there was a third knock on the door outside, "Guests, your meal is here."