That ray of light was located in an alley, and from a distance, it looked like a lonely little shop waiting for customers.

It was indeed a shop, with a heavy door inlaid with frosted glass and carved glass windows.

Shang Jianyao walked over step by step until he was close enough to sense a human consciousness inside.

"Ten meters..." He raised his hand and stroked his chin.

This was the distance he estimated.

He believed that the person inside had already noticed his presence.

Shang Jianyao didn't stop and arrived in front of the heavy brown wooden door.

Above the wooden door, where the glass was inlaid, a yellowish and warm light flowed out quietly.

Shang Jianyao raised his right hand, but he didn't knock on the wooden door, nor did he push it directly. Instead, he pulled on the wind chimes hanging on the door, listening to them make a crisp and cheerful sound.

Again and again, Shang Jianyao seemed to have found a new source of amusement.

Finally, the person inside the door spoke:

"This place is open to the public. You can come in if you want."

It was a slightly hoarse male voice, quite weak.

Shang Jianyao immediately became "alert" and responded loudly:

"Have you not eaten anything for several days? Are you so hungry that you don't have the strength to speak?"

The person inside the door sighed:

"My body is not well. It has nothing to do with hunger."

"Is that so?" Shang Jianyao had a "I don't believe it" expression on his face.

However, while saying this, he enthusiastically pushed open the heavy brown wooden door.

Inside the door was a small bar.

The bar counter was facing the entrance. Someone wearing a white shirt and a black vest was standing behind the bar, skillfully mixing a drink.

Behind that person was a row of liquor shelves, filled with all kinds of bottled alcohol.

They were all obviously in the Red River style.

In front of the bar was a row of high stools, with yellowish pendant lights above.

And besides the bar area, there were only two sets of sofas, leaving no space.

"One, two..." Shang Jianyao counted the seats in the small bar.

Even counting the high stools, it could only accommodate a maximum of sixteen customers.

"Why not open a bigger bar?" Shang Jianyao asked as he walked towards the front of the bar.

The bartender replied weakly:

"There are already few residents in the 'New World', and my liquor is also limited."

At this time, Shang Jianyao finally saw the bartender's appearance clearly. He pointed at the other person with a "horrified" expression:

"You're a living corpse!"

The bartender was truly skinny to the point of being skin and bones, only slightly better than the slumbering Yan Hu.

His blue eyes were deeply sunken, his flaxen hair was dull, and he exuded a temperament of collapsing on the spot at any moment. As for his age, it was impossible to tell.

"My body is not well," the bartender repeated.

"Oh, oh." Shang Jianyao showed a concerned expression. "Is there a way to treat it?"

The bartender was silent for a moment before saying:

"This is the price."

Shang Jianyao was "horrified" again:

"You told me the price!

"Do you want to kill me to silence me?"

The bartender didn't say anything for a while.

After drinking a sip of the green alcoholic beverage he mixed, he simply said:

"My price is too obvious. There's no need to hide it."

"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao agreed as he sat down on a high stool. "You look like a bamboo pole."

He changed his description.

The bartender was not short, not much different from Shang Jianyao. Combined with his skin-and-bones state, he really looked like a bamboo pole stuck behind the bar.

Shang Jianyao then asked:

"What's your name?"

"Jacob," the bartender replied.

"Why do you Red River people always use the same few names over and over again?" Shang Jianyao casually lamented.

Without waiting for Jacob to respond, he looked at the other person's green cocktail and said:

"Is this a cocktail?"

"Want to try it?" Jacob asked weakly.

"No, alcohol doesn't taste good at all," Shang Jianyao expressed his opinion.

Jacob turned his body and pointed to a bottle of liquor behind him:

"Then I'll recommend one to you.

"It's a sugar wine, fermented with sugarcane juice. The brewing method is also unique. It has a very sweet and smooth taste. You don't need to add anything else. Just put a piece of ice in it, and you can have a great time."

When Shang Jianyao heard the words "sweet and smooth," his eyes lit up.

Then, he shook his head:

"I'm still too young to drink alcohol."

Jacob glanced at this sturdy fellow and gave up trying to persuade him.

Shang Jianyao then asked curiously:

"Many things in the 'New World' seem to be manifested from the mind. Does your liquor also come from your consciousness, is it a part of your spirit?

"If I drink it, is it the same as consuming a bit of your spirit?"

Jacob listened calmly and answered irrelevantly:

"This place is originally a world of the spirit."

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to ask further, he added weakly:

"The essence of these liquors is the consciousness of different humans, but it doesn't include mine.

"Their flavors come from the liquors I once drank."

Shang Jianyao suddenly sat up straight and asked in a deep voice:

"The human consciousness you extracted from the graylands?"

Jacob's eyes suddenly became sharp.

After a few seconds, he sighed:

"These are all guys who were sentenced to death. I'm responsible for executing them, extracting their consciousness, and turning it into the purest spiritual food."

"Death row inmates from a certain faction in the graylands?" Shang Jianyao pressed.

Jacob nodded.

Shang Jianyao's body relaxed, no longer so tense.

"You don't suspect that I'm lying?" Jacob's voice was very low, as if he didn't want to use too much strength to speak.

Shang Jianyao answered frankly:

"I've been sensing your thought fluctuations. There's no tendency to lie."

This was the effect of the "Thought Reading" ability.

Unlike "Telepathy" or "Mind Reading," which could directly "hear" the other person's thoughts, it could only obtain the characteristics of thought fluctuations, so as to judge the other person's intentions and tendencies.

Jacob didn't ask any more questions and drank a sip of the green cocktail.

"Actually, I don't particularly need to consume other people's consciousness, because my body is still alive and well taken care of. My spirit can always be replenished.

"I opened this bar for those Awakened who have lost their physical bodies, so that they have a fixed place to get replenishment, without having to take risks, without giving up on themselves, without indiscriminately attacking humans in the graylands."

"If your body is still around, you don't need to feed on human consciousness?" Shang Jianyao leaned forward suddenly and stared into Jacob's eyes.

"Theoretically, that's how it is." Jacob shook the green cocktail. "But our bodies will eventually gradually decay, and moreover, my physical condition is getting worse and worse. Occasionally, I still need to have a cup."

Shang Jianyao said "Oh, oh" twice:

"In other words, having a body is better than not having a body?"

"If you want to survive in the 'New World' for a long time, and if you want to return to the graylands from time to time, then that's definitely the case." Jacob put down the cup, as if even holding such a small thing for too long would make him tired.

Shang Jianyao asked enthusiastically:

"Then why do some Awakened abandon their physical bodies?"

"They are either deceived and misled, or they don't want to live in the 'New World' for a long time, nor do they want to return to the graylands," Jacob said with a sigh in his voice, as if recalling some past events.

Shang Jianyao's mind jumped, and he asked instead:

"Then how can you let your body and spirit enter the 'New World' together?"

"This is a purely spiritual world. The body can't possibly enter," Jacob said with some surprise. "I don't know where you heard this from. It should belong to the groundless fantasies of those who have no understanding of the 'New World'."

Shang Jianyao didn't refute and asked curiously:

"Is the 'New World' a virtual paradise built by the Ruling Gods with their own spirits?"

"That's what I've heard, but I can't guarantee it's true," Jacob said with a wry smile. "Some people also say that this is actually a spiritual prison built by the Ruling Gods for all high-level Awakened."

Shang Jianyao clapped his hands and applauded:

"I knew someone would say that."

He looked at Jacob and asked with a tsk:

"Have you ever been to the high towers where the Ruling Gods live?"

"No." Jacob shook his head gently. "Only a few people have been in, and most of them have never come out again."

"Who came out?" Shang Jianyao asked with an envious expression.

Jacob thought for a while and said:

"The only one I know for sure is Kas, from Initial City, who is also the pope of the 'Anti-Intellectualism Church'.

"However, he seems to have disappeared in the 'New World' for a long time."

Shang Jianyao didn't seem to remember who Kas was and asked in shock:

"There are also criminal cases in the 'New World'?"

"Yes, but there is no police station here." Jacob's sunken eyes showed obvious weakness. "Disappearance may be that he was secretly eaten by someone."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of wind chimes rang at the door.

The door was pushed open, and the street lights outside had lit up at some point.