Chapter 246: The Ghost Wards of Forbidden by the Phoenix (part 2)
A moment later, the chains binding the huge monk’s head glittered, and it went still.
Xu Qing looked up at it, his pupils constricted. Then he looked away and studied his surroundings.
Grues and ghosts filled the streets. He saw one that looked like it was made from paste, walking along and using a pen to apply eyeliner to its face. He saw another that dripped slimy fluid as it walked along accompanied by a group of six-eyed ghost bugs. He saw what appeared to be a three-year-old child with bright red eyes, long ears, and reddish-black skin, skipping along happily.
Lounging on a distant rooftop was a hairless cat licking a blood-soaked, severed head that it held in its paws. The black mist that surrounded it made it obvious it was a monster of some sort.
There were all sorts of headless, beastly forms, usually made of either bones or mist. Some floated, some crawled, some sat on other ghostly beings, some flew in the air, and some existed as hosts of ghost faces, cackling noiselessly as they snapped at each other and moved down the street. All of them exuded vicious and baleful auras, as well as a sensation of deep hunger.
Xu Qing felt more on guard than ever being in circumstances like this. As he moved along, he looked at the shops on either side of the street, hoping to spot what he was looking for. The streets were busy, and so were the shops, yet there was absolutely no sound.
Xu Qing kept quiet as well as he floated along instead of walking. Suddenly, his eyes flashed with cold light and he looked away from the shops.
Up ahead of him was a ghost with a beastly face and a jaw so huge it had to hold it up with its own hands. It was pitch black and its skin looked like it was rotting. And it was walking right toward Xu Qing.
It exuded a vicious, baleful energy, and from the way it was moving, it seemed like it was going to run right into him.
Xu Qing didn’t have any reaction. His mutagen levels were so high right now that it created a mist around him, within which was a vicious ghost face that was currently grinning greedily.
The ghost face was a manifestation of Xu Qing’s shadow. Ever since arriving, it had been hoping to devour something, but Xu Qing hadn’t permitted that. It had been forced to restrain itself. But now that there was a vicious ghost walking right toward Xu Qing, the shadow looked delighted. Before Xu Qing could do a thing, the ghost face stretched toward the beastly ghost, opened its mouth, and devoured it. In the blink of an eye, the beastly ghost disappeared. The ghost face retracted to its previous position. Xu Qing looked at the shadow briefly, then ignored it and kept moving. That scene didn’t cause any stir among the surrounding ghosts. None reacted.
Xu Qing didn’t need to go much further before finding an appropriate shop. This place sold all sorts of poisons crafted from unhealthy yin ingredients. These poisons weren’t corporeal, but instead, were misty and in some cases completely illusory. Each type of poison was sealed inside of a green ghost head. There were over a hundred ghost heads of all sizes, and every single one of them was smiling.
As Xu Qing browsed, he felt very satisfied. This was exactly what he had come here to shop for.
Because most of these poisons weren’t even corporeal, the ingredients they were made from could only be harvested using special techniques. That made them very hard to collect. In fact, only grues could do so.
Xu Qing looked at the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper looked vaguely like a bear, plus he had cinnabar red lips, eyes like mirrors, a long, thin face, and green wings that would be more than three meters long when unfurled, and a tail like a leopard. It was looking at Xu Qing, and when he met its eyes, its mouth parted in what looked like a faint smile.
Face expressionless, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing thirteen of the ghost heads to float out between him and the shopkeeper. Then he took out a small bottle and pushed it forward.
The shopkeeper’s tail whizzed out, wrapped around the bottle, and then quietly crushed it. The aroma of gore spread out as a clump of blood appeared. This was the heart-blood Xu Qing had harvested from the Night Dove operatives, and the bottle contained about a hundred drops. The shopkeeper swept the blood into its mouth and then started chewing in delight.
Xu Qing watched as, shockingly, the heart-blood then revealed numerous soul shadows. They were all Night Dove operatives.
After chewing for a while, the shopkeeper nodded in satisfaction.
Without saying a word, Xu Qing collected the ghost heads, put them in his bag of holding, then turned and left. With that, he made his way down the street through the crowds of grues, occasionally stopping at shops to buy things. The night passed quickly and Xu Qing spent the entire time shopping. It took that long before he found the final thing he was looking for.
The shop itself resembled an inn. Hanging from hooks on the walls were all sorts of bodies, including those of humans, beasts, nonhumans, and even noncorporeal beings. Unexpectedly, they were still alive.
The bodies had candles burning beneath them, which unleashed a mysterious power that caused them to emit emotional fluctuations. Some seemed drunk, some seemed angry, some seemed sorrowful, and some seemed rapturous. It was almost like they were all in a dream world.
What attracted Xu Qing’s attention weren’t the bodies. Instead, it was the candles. This shop specialized in selling these types of candles. Back in Seven Blood Eyes, Xu Qing had read about them, and knew that they were a type of poison. They had a very nice-sounding name: drunk for three reincarnations. And they were very expensive. [1]
These candles were one of the main reasons Xu Qing had come here. Without any hesitation, he took out four bottles of heart-blood and put them down in front of the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper looked like an ordinary old man wearing yellow clothing. After looking down at the bottles, he shook his head. As he did, his facial features changed. He transformed into a handsome young man. But then, an instant later, he became a wrinkled old woman. Then his face turned into that of a naughty child. It was very strange.
Xu Qing frowned. He had only come with eleven bottles of heart-blood, and had already spent five of them.
Based on the information he had read, four bottles should have been enough to buy a candle of ‘drunk for three reincarnations.’
After considering the matter, he took out one more bottle and put it down in front of the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper looked deeply at Xu Qing and shook his head again.
Xu Qing’s face darkened within the cloud of mist that surrounded him, but after more thinking, he took out his last bottle and put it down with the rest.
And yet, the shopkeeper still shook his head. At this point, after coming to realize that Xu Qing didn’t have any more bottles, his face changed again. It turned completely blank. Then, he pointed at Xu Qing’s face.
Xu Qing didn’t say anything. After calculating the time, Xu Qing realized that it was close to dawn. What was more, in all his wandering through the ghost ward, he had only found this one shop that sold these candles. He took a step forward and entered the profound radiance state. His life flames burned, and his life lamps emitted radiant light, as if an entire world was burning within him.
His terrifying aura spread out, joining the energy and blood of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, creating pulses that rolled in all directions.
The shopkeeper’s blank face changed, becoming an old man again. And he looked shocked. Seeing that Xu Qing was about to attack him, he quickly flicked his sleeve, causing seven candles to fly out and hover in front of Xu Qing.
Then he stepped backward, an ingratiating look on his face.
Frowning, Xu Qing collected the candles, took back his six bottles, then turned and left. As he moved, he kept his guard up, and also paid attention to the sky. Based on the information he’d read back in the sect, once you entered a ghost ward, you had to stay inside for the entire night. It was only at dawn that you could blow the ghost flute and leave.
Right now, it was close to dawn, so he kept moving down the street as he waited.
Before long, the horizon started to turn bright. At that point, Xu Qing noticed that all the bizarre beings around him, and the entire city itself, were turning transparent.
At the same time, the enormous, chained monk’s head floating above the middle of the city was opening its eyes. Those eyes were as red as hell, and contained countless evil ghosts seething within them and releasing noiseless screams. The head exuded a sense of pure chaos, and from the expression on the face, it seemed almost befuddled. The head twitched a bit as if it were gaining lucidity, and as the sky grew bright, it started looking around the ghost ward.
Within the city, there were a handful of figures that weren’t turning transparent. All of them were cultivators who were waiting for dawn. The monk’s eyes slid over them, and eventually landed on Xu Qing. The head shivered, and the nose twitched as if it were smelling for something. Then, all of a sudden, its eyes turned bright.
When Xu Qing noticed that, his expression flickered. At the same time, the monk’s mouth opened and it spoke in a voice that boomed like heavenly thunder.
“Golden crow! A golden crow assimilated my species!! All golden crows shall die!!!”
As the voice boomed out, and as the sky grew bright, the entire ghost ward went still.
It was the first noise Xu Qing had heard throughout the entire night. It contained some mysterious power that, when it entered Xu Qing’s ears, caused his entire body to shiver. He felt like his soul was going to collapse, but thankfully, the black umbrella from his life lamp spread out to protect him. Without any hesitation, he pulled out the ghost flute, put it to his lips, and blew. The piercing noise echoed out, and then everything around Xu Qing disappeared.
One breath of time passed, whereupon Xu Qing reappeared in the jungle inside the triangle of logs. The ghost ward… was nowhere to be seen.
Red light spread out from the horizon as the crimson sun rose into the sky.
***
Meanwhile, in another location in the forbidden region, but very far away from Xu Qing, were the ruins of a city.
This city was very different from a ghost ward. It was a real, corporeal city, except that it had turned into ruins years in the past. It was still dark here, making it difficult to see the crumbling walls and dust-covered streets.
In the east part of the city, where the light of dawn was just becoming visible, an old temple rose up from the darkness.
A few dozen cultivators sat cross-legged outside of the temple. All of them wore different types of clothing, and they seemed wary of each other, indicating that they came from different places. The dawn light revealed that their eyes contained both fear and reverence as they looked inside the temple.
Inside the temple was a statue holding a saber. In front of that divine likeness was someone seated in meditation. He wore a golden robe and had a crown inlaid with jade. He was exceptionally good looking, but his expression was as cold as ice.
He was none other than Master Shengyun!
1. The ‘three reincarnations’ mentioned here (which could also be rendered three lives or three births), refer to the past, present, and future. ☜