Niu Batian, Gao Tianming and Yan Fei were whispering in the back. Yan Fei was okay, but the first two became more and more excited as they talked. However, they all knew that Mr. Ji did not like to show off, so such conversations were only suitable for private amusement.
As the team moved forward, they passed through half of the city and arrived at the city center. In front of them was the magnificent City Lord's Mansion.
From a distance, there was a gate tower that was only slightly smaller than the city gate outside, and on it was a huge plaque with the name of the mansion written on it.
Ji Yuan muttered to himself.
"The Netherworld Ghost House?"
Gao Tianming was now standing next to Ji Yuan again, and spoke when he heard Ji Yuan's words.
"Yes, this old ghost Wu Ya is considered extraordinary among ghost cultivators. Without a foundation in the way of gods, he is stronger than many ghosts and gods. He also constantly accepts lonely ghosts and builds Wu Ya City. He teaches ghost cultivation methods to some ghosts and intends to build a holy place for ghosts."
Ji Yuan nodded.
"You're quite ambitious."
He also figured out some tricks. This ghost town continuously took in wandering ghosts. Many ghosts died after their lifespans were exhausted, which enriched the yin energy in the ghost town. The rich yin energy provided a good environment for some ghosts with better talents. Even if they did not have any special ghost cultivation techniques, they could still break through the limitations.
In fact, this is a common occurrence in the underworld under the jurisdiction of some city gods. Occasionally, some ghosts in the underworld will break through the lifespan limit and remain immortal. However, these ghosts often have heavy resentment and obsession. In the underworld, the "household registration" is checked every year. If ghosts that exceed the lifespan limit are found, if they are found to be showing signs of trouble, they will be detained by the underworld officials to see the heads of various departments, and many will be directly killed.
In this endless ghost city, the city lord would probably be happy to see the ghosts improve, but except for the ghosts approved by the city lord, other ghosts are not allowed to leave the city.
The front of the team had stopped, and a water monster shouted loudly.
"Master Gao from Tianshui Lake has arrived!"
The ghosts guarding outside had already noticed the convoy. In the past few days, many important figures who had come to congratulate the city lord had also arrived one after another. When they heard the other party's name, they hurried forward.
"Master Gao, you must have come all the way here with great difficulty. Please follow me to the other courtyard to rest. When the banquet is ready, a servant will go and notify Master Gao to attend the meeting!"
After saying this, several ghost soldiers prepared to lead the way from the side, obviously not intending to let the convoy go directly into the mansion now. At this time, Gao Tianming looked at Ji Yuan and walked forward quickly.
"Wait a minute!"
Originally walking with Ji Yuan, Gao Tianming had deliberately restrained his demonic aura, but now his demonic aura rose up again, and when he approached the gate tower, he gave the ghosts a huge sense of oppression.
"Master Gao, do you have any special requests? As long as Master Gao asks, we will try our best to satisfy you!"
Gao Tianming smiled.
"Haha, nothing special. Where is Xin Wuya now? Gao wants to meet him and talk to him about something."
The ghost also smiled apologetically.
"Please forgive me, Mr. Gao. The city lord has something important to attend to right now. No one can see him. He will come out naturally during the banquet in the evening."
"Oh? Is old ghost Wu Ya so busy? Gao can't even meet him if he wants to?"
"Yes, my husband and I have come all the way from Tianshui Lake. When we arrived in Wuya City, we should first pay a visit to the city lord. As the host, I must meet the guests first. This is the right thing to do!"
Xia Qiu also came forward with a strong demonic aura. Although he was not a dragon, it was obvious that his demon body was of high level. It was fate for them to meet Mr. Ji today, and they must leave a good impression. However, compared with Gao Tianming, Xia Qiu seemed much gentler.
The ghost hesitated and looked at Gao Tianming.
"Master Gao, could you please tell me why you want to see the city lord? I will have an excuse when I go to report it!"
This ghost looks young, but he is actually an old ghost who has lived for a long time. Gao Tianming looks like he is out to find out who is responsible, and there must be a reason for that.
Gao Tianming looked back at Ji Yuan, and after seeing the latter nod slightly, he spoke to the ghost soldier.
"Gao has several friends who accidentally entered the ghost town last night. They are all alive. They were captured by a black messenger in your city and their whereabouts are unknown. They said they were going to be served to Xin Wuya as dishes at the dinner. Gao is here to take them away!"
A living person? Or a friend of the Tianshui Lake dragon
The surrounding ghosts were slightly surprised when they heard this.
"Well, please wait for a moment, Mr. Gao and Mrs. Gao. I will go and inform the city lord right away!"
The evil spirit of the two monsters was too aggressive, and the ghosts could not bear the pressure and could only go and report immediately.
The ghost palace in the underworld covers a very large area. The ghost soldiers hurried in to report, went through the doors and corridors, and finally came to a huge dark building.
The building had a locked black door that emitted bursts of materialized black air. The cold and gloomy air was difficult for even the ghosts to bear.
"Lord City Lord, Mr. Gao from Tianshui Lake has come with his wife Gao, and they said they must pay you a visit."
However, the ghost waited for a long time but there was no response from inside. He could only report Gao Tianming's matter loudly here.
"Master Gao of Tianshui Lake said that he had several mortal friends who mistakenly entered the city last night and were captured by the Black Order Envoy. They were going to present them to the city lord at the dinner. Master Gao hoped that the city lord would release them immediately."
Waves of eerie ghostly aura began to float around, and terrifying illusory ghost images appeared one after another. Even the ghost soldiers became nervous.
"Gao Tianming's friend? A mortal?"
A voice came from the dark room, which made the ghosts breathe a sigh of relief.
"That's right. Mr. Gao and Mrs. Gao seem to be quite angry about this."
"Humph, this is not Tianshui Lake. Go tell him that if Envoy Heiling really brings a living person to offer as a sacrifice during the banquet, I will hand the person over to him. I don't have time to see him now."
"I obey your command!"
The ghost hurriedly saluted, and immediately took his leave after he finished speaking.
Outside the mansion, Gao Tianming didn't expect that he had waited for such a long time but still received such a reply, and his anger immediately appeared.
"Old ghost Wuya is so arrogant, can't he find that black envoy who wants the person now?"
"Master Gao, please don't embarrass us. The city lord said that he has something important to do right now and it is inconvenient to meet. When the Black Order brings people tonight, he will release the person!"
"snort!"
Gao Tianming snorted coldly and took two steps back to stand in front of Ji Yuan.
"Mr. Ji, do you think we should just break into the Netherworld Ghost House and pull out the old ghost Wu Ya?"
Ji Yuan looked at the mansion filled with endless ghostly aura, and then looked at the overwhelming evil spirits surrounding the city center. If he turned against them now, he was afraid that countless ghosts would come immediately, and it would be too aggressive and might backfire, so he shook his head.
"Forget it. After all, it's his celebration. Since he promised to release the person, there's no need to make a big deal out of it."
"Yes, Gao knows!"
After Gao Tianming answered respectfully, he turned to the ghost again.
"Well, Gao will wait for Wuya to release us at night. However, you should also tell Wuya to not blame Gao for not reminding him. If Gao's friends really get into trouble, the consequences will be much more serious than he thinks! Take us to the courtyard to rest."
"Yes, yes, Master Gao, please come this way!"
As soon as the Tianshui Lake team left, another group of ghosts entered the mansion and secretly informed the city lord. They also saw Gao Tianming's respect for Ji Yuan and found it a little unusual.
In the haunted house deep in the mansion, after hearing the ghost's report again, Xin Wuya inside frowned and thought.
"Go find Xiang Zhong. If those mortals are really there, they must come over."
"Yes! I obey your command!"
. . .
The sky gradually darkened and the lights in the city lit up one after another. It was time for people in the city of the living to go home, but the Wuya Ghost City became more and more lively, and the whole city seemed to come alive.
The Ghost Palace has already sent ghosts to invite Gao Tianming, and everyone is ready to set off for the banquet.
At this time, Ji Yuan truly felt the essence of this ghost town. Standing in the courtyard and looking at the city, the endless ghost energy almost covered the sky and the sun. The streets and alleys were bustling with people. There were at least hundreds of thousands of ghosts in the city, and there were probably countless powerful ones among them.
Obviously from what I saw outside last night, there should be some kind of forbidden barrier covering it.
“I didn’t expect this ghost town to be so huge!”
Gao Tianming also frowned at the side.
"Yes, Gao Ming also underestimated this old ghost Wuya. Wuya Ghost City has been based in the wasteland under the hill for a hundred years. From the former wasteland full of graves, it has quietly developed into its current appearance."
Niu Batian looked at Yan Fei, who was holding a sword and looking serious, and also looked outside.
"This is the first time I've seen so many ghosts. Mr. Ji, do you think all the people who died in Zuyue Kingdom over the years have come here?"
Ji Yuan sighed.
"That's not the case. The number of people who die in Zuyue Kingdom each year is probably far more than 200,000."
"so much?"
Lao Niu was a little dazed.
"Ji said it was too little!"
Ji Yuan was not lying. Although he did not have statistical data, if you think about the social environment and medical conditions of his motherland in his previous life, millions of people would die every year. Although the population of Zuyue Kingdom was far smaller than that of his motherland in his previous life, the social environment and medical conditions were too poor. It was definitely not an exaggeration to say that hundreds of thousands of people died every year.
"Mr. Ji, Brother Niu and Brother Yan, let's go. Now we can go ask old ghost Wu Ya for the person."
Several people set off together, and soon they were led by the ghosts to the underworld.
The dinner was quite grand, with many guest tables set up on an open space similar to a square in the palace. In addition to many ghosts and monsters familiar to Wuya City, there were also many Shinto practitioners who came to participate in the celebration, including mountain gods, land gods, river gods, and even ghosts and gods like the city god.
The room was filled with laughter, roars, and even crying.
When Gao Tianming, Ji Yuan and others arrived, many guests had already taken their seats. Ji Yuan had a frown on his face the entire time he walked.
In Dazhen, even thinking about seeing ghosts and gods sitting together with many monsters and evil spirits is incredible, let alone seeing them.
No matter how many of them were hypocritical and how many were violent and perverse, Ji Yuan opened his Dharma eyes and looked around. Various auras were intertwined, and many of them were not pure. He felt a foul atmosphere all the way.
'When human morality declines, evil spirits flourish; when the world is in chaos, evil spirits rise up. It is nothing more than this!'
This thought in his mind is exactly how Ji Yuan feels about the Zuyue Kingdom.
While Ji Yuan was thinking, they had already arrived at Gao Tianming's seat, which was not too far from the main seat.
"Mr. Ji, please take a seat!"
Gao Tianming invited Ji Yuan to sit down, and then he sat aside with Xia Qiu, Niu Batian and Yan Fei.
More and more guests took their seats, and the surrounding zithers, pipa, suona, gongs and drums began to play, forming a strange style of music. Ji Yuan could only say that it was very appropriate for the occasion.