A Pawn's Passage

The Ghost Kingdom had a formidable reputation. Even though Qi Xuansu’s blood qi could repel ordinary ghosts, he was nervous at this time. After all, he did not know how powerful the ghosts were in this region.

Where did the old man and that little girl go? Were they Sages that did not want to show their true appearance? Or were they ghosts?

Qi Xuansu continued moving forward. After a while, he realized that something was wrong.

There were only a few pedestrians on the street, which was understandable since it was not a holiday. Most people would be working in the manufacturing plants, so Qi Xuansu did not expect the masses to wander around this Ghost Pass. But what he found strange was that not even a single Spirit Guard was patrolling the streets.

The Ghost Pass had always been known for its tight security, and the Spirit Guards were always dutiful.

Just as he was lost in thought, Qi Xuansu noticed that the surroundings had fogged up at some point. The grade horse he was riding began to snort uneasily.

Qi Xuansu had gone through many life-or-death situations, so he was accustomed to keeping calm at critical moments. He stretched out his hand and stroked the mane of the grade horse to comfort it, then he clamped the horse’s belly with his legs to urge it to keep going.

He did not release his blood qi rashly. Instead, he suppressed his blood qi and used his Rogue Cultivator’s innate qi to form a protective qi shield around his body. That was because Qi Xuansu understood that although water could extinguish fire, a big enough fire could also overcome water.

A Martial Arts Practitoner’s blood qi could keep ghosts away from him, but if he encountered a powerful ghost with thousands of years of cultivation, his blood qi was akin to a dazzling beacon in the night, attracting that powerful ghost.

Qi Xuansu looked up and saw that the blue sky and bright sun above him had disappeared. All he could see were gray skies and heavy clouds. The streets were completely deserted, with not a single person in sight.

This street was no different from an ordinary city. There were trees on both sides of the road and lanterns hanging on the upper floors of the building facing the street. However, there were no people, and these buildings were all black and white, like an ink-wash painting.

There was a grayish-white mist everywhere, indistinguishable from the gloomy sky above, as if heaven and earth were connected. Everything was hazy, as if the netherworld had suddenly surfaced.

Qi Xuansu squinted his eyes, but he still could not see through the gray mist. He did not know where this road led to, but he had no choice but to continue moving forward.

Suddenly, a gust of yin wind blew past him, carrying with it some vague noises like whispers, water dripping, and rustling. These sounds gradually became louder until Qi Xuansu could hear laughter. However, it was not a happy laugh. It was more of a sinister snicker in the dark, which made his hair stand on end.

Although this was enough to frighten ordinary people, Qi Xuansu was not yet spooked. However, he remained vigilant. That was because if someone were to ambush him in this environment, it would be difficult for him to fight back.

Qi Xuansu rode through the heavy fog. His eyes suddenly lit up when he heard a crowd cheering. Finally, he saw a lively, long street.

There were rows of shops on both sides, including teahouses, wineries, butcher shops, temples, shrines, and many more. The clothing shops sold bolts of silk and satin as well as various ready-made clothes.

There were also various vendors on the roadside making clay figures and candy figures, telling fortunes, selling candied hawthorns, steamed cakes, and other snacks.

There were even a few brothels with colorful doors and banners to attract business.

It was so crowded in the market street that the pedestrians jostled against each other.

There were people from all walks of life here. Merchants were doing business; gentlemen stood on balconies to people watch; officials rode on horseback; vendors promoted their offers; young ladies rode in sedan chairs; traveling monks carried baskets on their backs; tourists asked for directions; children listened to stories on the streets; scions drank in restaurants; disabled old people were begging on the outskirts of the city.

The entrance of the street was marked by a triple-arched gateway with four columns, around 7 meters tall and 17 meters wide. A horizontal sign carved with the words “Ghost Street” was placed in the middle of the gateway. The words were black at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was a reddish black, like aged blood.

Qi Xuansu was not afraid of tombs or ancient temples. These would only scare scholars who had not cultivated a noble and upright spirit. If one encountered a ghost, one could escape and report it back to the Daoist Order. In the face of the Daoist Order, most ghosts and demons would surrender. After all, the Daoist Order’s duty was to catch ghosts, slay demons, and eradicate evil cults.

However, the scene in front of him was not just a petty fight in the middle of nowhere. This was happening right under the nose of the Daoist Order, in the tightly guarded Ghost Pass.

In this world, there were some people who could travel between the yin and yang realms, and there were also mortals who mistakenly entered the yin realm. The latter group most often mistakenly entered the yin realm when their souls were separated from their bodies. Qi Xuansu was certain that his soul was still within his body because his horse came with him.

Everything became clear to him at that moment. If this was not an elaborate trap set up by a master, the only explanation for this scene had to be related to the nearby Ghost Kingdom.

Qi Xuansu still remembered the principle of the Three Yang Lights, so he dared not look back over his shoulders. He took a deep breath and bravely walked through the archway, entering Ghost Street.

The moment Qi Xuansu passed through the archway, everything changed abruptly.

The faces of the vendors and pedestrians on the street instantly became pale and bloodless, like dead people. Although they were still going about their own business, they looked lifeless and mechanical, like puppets on a string.

Qi Xuansu looked around at the shops on both sides of the street. The colorful silks and satins turned into shrouds for the dead. The gold, silver, and copper coins people used in their transactions turned into hell money.

The moment a steamed bun vendor opened the cover of the steamer, the buns inside turned out to be small heads with lifelike expressions, including pain, sadness, and laughter.

The candied hawthorns sold were not made of fruit but blood-red eyes skewered on bamboo sticks and dipped in syrup. They were even glowing in a faint golden aura.

A bread seller opened the basket before him, only to reveal someone’s heart and liver.

Despite these strange sightings, Qi Xuansu remained calm and reminded himself. “These are just illusions. Don’t be deceived by them, and don’t be afraid. Otherwise, these ghosts will take advantage of my fear, and I’ll be in bigger trouble.”

If one was fearless, the ghosts would not be able to do anything. If one had fear in the heart, the ghosts could take advantage of this fear and use it against the person. Ghosts could create illusions so that the person would continue to hallucinate, unable to extricate oneself.

Of course, powerful ghosts with hundreds of years or thousands of years of cultivation could still hurt people even without using their fear against them. Their magic was like that of Diviners, with the ability to create tangible illusions. Some people in the Daoist Order even thought that vengeful ghosts had intelligence and should be normalized.

However, these “people” never seemed to have noticed Qi Xuansu’s presence, turning a blind eye to him and doing their own thing.

Qi Xuansu breathed a sigh of relief and rode forward.

Going a little further down Ghost Street, Qi Xuansu suddenly felt that the scene in front of him looked familiar. He could not help but stand on his horse’s back to catch a glimpse of the view.

Qi Xuansu had gone to the Imperial Capital with Madam Qi. Due to their tight schedule, he did not have deep memories of the Imperial Capital. However, there were two places that impressed him deeply—one was the Yuqing Garden outside the Imperial City, and the other was the farmer’s market inside the city.

Farmer’s market was just a common name. Its official name was the West Market, which was located in the inner city of the Imperial Capital, with two gateways on the east and west entrances.

Since there were two different types of capital punishment—decapitation and dismemberment—they were held at two separate places. Beheadings were held under the west gateway, and dismemberment was done under the east gateway.

Whenever executions took place in the city, there would be Green Phoenix Guards, prison guards, officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Supervisory Censor, and the local magistrates present. After the execution, the prisoners’ bodies would be dumped at a mass burial site, while their heads would be stored in a depository. Even after death, the prisoners would not have a complete corpse.

Qi Xuansu thought that the scene before him looked a lot like the Farmer’s Market of the Imperial Capital.

At this moment, a group of ghost soldiers dressed in black uniforms were seen escorting the prisoners from a distance. A crowd had already gathered to watch the fun.

Judging by the uniforms, this was not the style of the Great Xuan Dynasty, nor was it the style of the former Wei Dynasty. It was more similar to the style of the Jin Dynasty.

A moment later, the executioner, who looked like a butcher, arrived. His upper body was naked, revealing his dark chest hair. He was wearing a red scarf on his head and carrying a huge ghosthead machete with a ghostly blue sheen along its blade.

The crowd was cheering and waiting for the execution to begin.