"What? You're thinking of causing trouble for the City God?"
Zhang Dabiao looked at me, stunned, and said, "Even a fallen City God is still a City God. Don't even think about challenging him, or you won't know how you died."
It was only then that I realized I had spoken out of turn. Even if modern people didn't believe in City Gods, they still existed. Moreover, I, a mere Yin Gua Envoy, was not someone who could afford to offend them.
"I just felt the atmosphere was too tense and wanted to liven things up," I said with an awkward laugh. Then I continued, "Let's hurry and pull them back. If they really go in, it will take a lot of effort to rescue them." Su Dan Novel Network
As we spoke, the three of them had already reached the city gate. After a few words with the guards, they were about to enter.
"Fang Huixin, Old Zhou... wait for us, let's go in together."
At this moment, I no longer cared if we attracted the attention of the evil spirits pursuing us. I just wanted to stop their advance. But they acted as if they hadn't heard us. Only Fang Huixin paused for a moment, glanced back at us, and then cheerfully disappeared into the city gate.
"What's wrong with her? Why is she smiling so strangely?"
Fang Huixin, who had turned back, had a stiff face and vacant eyes, yet her lips were slightly upturned, making it look like a smile. But to us, she felt chillingly cold.
"Damn it, what is this thing that has them so completely under its control?"
"Whatever is controlling them, we can't let them out of our sight."
With that, I was the first to run towards the city gate.
By the time the three of us reached the city gate, the three of them had long since disappeared inside. As Xu Yi was about to rush in to follow the figures vanishing into the city, I quickly stopped him.
Xu Yi looked at me, confused, not understanding why I was stopping him. I nudged my chin, indicating for him to look at the city gate.
Four guards, clad in black armor and wielding steel sabers, stood like gate gods before the city gate. Their eight eyes, glowing with dark light, were fixed on the three of us.
"Don't make any rash moves. Let's observe the situation first."
There were very few 'people' entering and exiting around the city gate. Our running naturally attracted their attention. As we spoke, the leading gate soldier swaggered over, his eyes filled with wariness as he looked at us.
"Who are you people, and why are you rushing here from afar? Are you spies sent by the enemy?"
Hearing this, the three of us had the same expression, as if we had collectively suffered from constipation. What kind of 'ghosts' were these? Standing here, and we were suddenly spies? The official's word is law, whatever they say goes.
Seeing that Zhang Dabiao and Xu Yi both had dark expressions and remained silent, I had no choice but to brace myself and deal with him.
"Esteemed military officer, we arranged to meet friends in the city. Seeing how magnificent the city is, we were quite excited, so we walked a bit faster. How could we possibly be spies?" As I spoke, I turned around and, while his back was to me, quickly took a folded gold ingot from my bag and passed it over discreetly.
The gold ingots I gave were specially made by my master for bribing ghost messengers, to facilitate my work.
"Hmph, you blind fool! How can someone like you bribe a military officer? Guards, arrest these three and interrogate them thoroughly!"
This left me somewhat dumbfounded. It was the same method my master used to escape back then. Why didn't it work for them? Did I make a mistake?
The other three guards drew their long sabers and surrounded the three of us, but they didn't make a move. Their eyes, however, were greedily fixed on my hand, which was frozen in mid-air. To be precise, they were looking at the gold ingot in my hand.
I suddenly realized what was going on. Giving two gold ingots was clearly not enough for the four of them to share. Moreover, the other three had also seen me take out the gold ingot, so it was probably because I hadn't given enough.
With this thought, I glanced at the leading guard from the corner of my eye. As expected, his eyes were filled with greed, but his words were upright and incorruptible.
"You three, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and arrest these three and throw them in jail..."
While cursing "greedy ghost" in my heart, I saw Zhang Dabiao quietly reach for his waist. Seeing this, I knew it was about to escalate into a fight. I quickly gave him a look to calm down. If we started fighting at the gate, let alone rescuing anyone, even the three of us would be finished.
"Military officer, we are innocent. I have evidence here to prove we are not spies. I can show it to you."
"Evidence? Let me see it. If it's true, I can let you go."
I smiled and said, "Please, military officer, come this way. It's not good for too many people to know about this."
"I doubt you can pull any tricks."
After creating some distance from the other three guards, he stopped and looked at me with shining eyes.
I, of course, was sensible and handed over five gold ingots, whispering, "Military officer, do you think this evidence is sufficient?"
He took the gold ingots, weighed them, and then said with a smile, "This evidence is quite good. You're sensible. Lately, this area has been a bit strange. Today, you just happened to meet me, someone who's easy to talk to. Otherwise, you would have been arrested as spies."
I smiled and nodded, "Indeed... Thank you for your guidance, military officer."
"Mm!"
Seeing me resolve the crisis with silent means, Zhang Dabiao and Xu Yi gave me a thumbs-up. Before I could feel smug, they pointed their thumbs downwards.
"Little brother, this is the first time I've realized you have the potential to be a spy!"
"Brother Zhang is right. It seems I need to be careful in the future, lest I be sold and still help count the money."
"..."
After entering the city, the three of us were all a bit dumbfounded.
"How are we supposed to find them? So many ghosts... people."
I had expected that in this desolate City God's city, even if there were 'people' residing there, it would be at most a hundred households or even fewer. Finding the three of them shouldn't be too difficult.
But now, it seemed I had underestimated the situation. The 'people' in this city were almost as numerous as those in a small town. Even if you added everyone from Molu Village and half the ghosts from the Yin Realm, they probably wouldn't match the number of people I could see.
Before my eyes were densely packed heads: people selling food, drinks, and toys, people strolling, people walking dogs... everything you could imagine, and more. This was a densely populated City God's city!
After the shock, we began to worry. Trying to find three living people among so many 'people' was like finding a needle in a haystack, or picking a needle from a beach. It was simply unrealistic.
Normally, Fang Huixin and the others, being living people with strong Yang energy, should not have been able to enter this city full of ghosts. But not only did they enter, but even the guards didn't stop them. Did they not notice, or did they intentionally let Fang Huixin and the others in?
"Alright, stop standing here like fools. Let's figure out how to find them. This is a ghost city, and Fang Huixin and the others are living people. Staying here for too long will be harmful to their health. We must leave here before dawn, or we will become members of their ranks."
Then I turned my gaze to Xu Yi and said, "I am a Yin Gua Master. I can only find Yin people and handle affairs. I'm not very useful for finding people. This task will have to rely on you."
As soon as I finished speaking, Zhang Dabiao chimed in, "Don't count on me for finding people. I'm good at fighting, but finding people is not my forte. Brother Xu, as a descendant of the paper-making lineage, you won't be stumped by such a small matter, will you?"
Xu Yi frowned, and after a long while, he nodded and said, "I need a quiet place to make some small tools."
"That's easy, we can find an inn..."
After waiting for nearly an hour, Xu Yi appeared before us with his "small tools."
Seeing a small dog that could kick two meters away, my eyeballs almost fell out.
"This is the tool you wanted to make?"