[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-after-the-sky-fell":3,"chapter-after-the-sky-fell-after-the-sky-fell-chapter-28":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","After the Sky Fell",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2280884,4462,"Chapter 28: Ghost Street","after-the-sky-fell-chapter-28",28,"\u003Cp>Why did you choose now to activate the Spirit Medium? Of all times, why now? Isn’t this just tormenting me? I’m trapped in a haunted street—once I activate the Spirit Medium, I’ll surely draw the attention of the ghosts here, and the danger will only grow worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi gritted his teeth, wishing he could forcibly halt his body’s evolution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that was impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The recent life-or-death trial had propelled Li Yi across a crucial threshold in his cultivation, and this was due to the vast amount of cosmic energy his body had absorbed over time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those energies had merely been stored within his body, dormant until now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Li Yi’s activation of the Spirit Medium was no coincidence—it was inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“While my Spirit Medium isn’t fully open, maybe I still have a chance to escape,” Li Yi thought, fleeing frantically down the silent street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the more he walked, the more “people” surrounded him—and they grew clearer, more complete in his vision. Several cold, lifeless figures had already spotted him, their gazes slowly tracking his run, though they made no move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, Li Yi felt his flesh crawl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even smelled the eerie stench of rotting corpses; his skin sensed the chilling drafts as those figures brushed past him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crowd on the street grew denser.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, he could ignore those eerie figures and walk straight through them—the phantom forms showed no reaction. But later, he dared not. He could only sidestep carefully, for he had a feeling: if he tried to walk through them again, he would collide with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t get out anymore. I’m trapped here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, Li Yi abruptly stopped. He stood on the eerie street, completely lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eerie figures flowed past him endlessly; the surrounding buildings had changed, too. Above, crimson lanterns hung high, glowing red. Strange sounds echoed in his ears—sounds he couldn’t understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if whispers hovered beside his ears, or some peculiar dialect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Li Yi felt as though he had stepped into a foreign world—not the dangerous zone he knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet just then,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A passing figure halted abruptly beside him, fixing him with dull, lifeless gray eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi’s skin prickled. He felt this figure wasn’t alive—it was a cold corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it wasn’t alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A second, a third… one by one, eerie “people” around him stopped, turning their gazes toward him in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed Li Yi, a living man, stood grotesquely out of place here—his aura had drawn the attention of many strange beings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi realized he had become far too conspicuous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to flee, but there was no escape—he was surrounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll probably die here. No wonder Tao Ge avoided this area.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi’s heart pounded; sweat poured down his forehead. He saw one lifeless, eerie figure approaching him directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a second, a third, a fourth… more and more ghostly entities gathered, all focused on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No way out. No place to hide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Li Yi was trapped in utter despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet just then, a chilling figure clad in paper funeral robes swiftly approached and seized his arm with a wrinkled, rough hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi, tensed to the core, instinctively resisted, unleashing all his strength to shake off the hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But strangely—the hand held fast, unyielding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Strong strength, young man! Are you mad? Standing here on Ghost Street? Don’t you fear death? Quick, follow me,” came a low, middle-aged man’s voice, thick with an unfamiliar dialect—yet Li Yi understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi’s eyes narrowed. Only now did he notice: this figure in paper robes wasn’t a ghost—it was a living man, merely disguised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t hesitate—he agreed at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man in paper robes tossed him something: “Put this hood on. Mask your living aura. Otherwise, the ghosts here will keep staring at you. If you meet the Yin Soldiers, you’re dead. Don’t speak anymore—I’ll draw their attention too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi instinctively caught the hood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt soft, yet icy cold, reeking of decaying flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t an ordinary mask—it seemed made from the skin peeled off a corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Yi had no time to care. He didn’t want to die here blindly—he slipped the hood on immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strange thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he wore it, the eerie stares around him vanished. The ghosts stopped approaching, observing briefly before slowly drifting away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man in paper robes now pulled Li Yi swiftly through the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi didn’t resist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man led him left, then right, into an alley—strangely, this alley didn’t exist in the dangerous zone, nor did it resemble modern architecture. Around them stood blue bricks and gray tiles, as if he’d stepped instantly into ancient times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi said nothing, observing quietly and memorizing the route, so he wouldn’t get lost and fail to return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the man stopped before a large gate at the alley’s end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gate was an old double wooden door, pasted with two faded door gods—not the familiar Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong, but the far older Shentu and Yulei. The inscriptions weren’t modern script—Li Yi didn’t recognize the characters, for his education was limited and he’d never studied such things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dong. Dong dong!” The man in paper robes knocked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door opened. A girl of about seventeen or eighteen stood inside, her hair coiled in a bun, dressed in a silk skirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She said nothing—only stepped aside to let them pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man immediately dragged Li Yi into the courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did the girl quickly shut the door and bar it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Father, are you alright?” Only after closing the door did the girl dare speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. Just took a walk and came back. Didn’t find any medicine, but I picked up a fool who’s lost his wits.” The middle-aged man spoke as he carefully peeled off his paper robes, afraid of tearing them by accident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the paper robes were fully removed, Li Yi finally saw the man clearly through the hood’s eye holes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a thin, slightly hunched middle-aged man, ordinary-looking, his face lined with wrinkles, his hair and beard grown long—like an ancient man’s attire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s safe now. The door gods haven’t faded completely—they still protect this place. The ghosts outside can’t enter. You can take off the hood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Li Yi immediately removed the hood and gasped for air—he’d nearly suffocated from its stench.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, truly bizarre. No soul-traveling, no wearing funeral robes to pretend dead—yet a full-grown living man just walked into Ghost Street… and lived? How did you manage that?” The middle-aged man circled Li Yi several times, marveling, scrutinizing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s a long story. I was being chased by a ferocious beast, accidentally ran here. When I arrived, this wasn’t Ghost Street yet—but as I walked, I got trapped and couldn’t get out.” Li Yi gave a brief explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“An accident?” The man nodded. “That’s plausible enough. Young man, what’s your name?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Yi.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you have a courtesy name?” the man asked again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Courtesy name?” Li Yi paused, then understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ancient people didn’t just have names—they had courtesy names.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having a courtesy name meant one came from a respectable family, had education—not a commoner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yi quickly invented one: “Courtesy name: Meng De.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Meng De? Meaning ‘brave and virtuous’—a fine name. The one who gave you this name must be no ordinary person.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man’s eyes brightened slightly, then he nodded: “Old man Zhao Ge. This is my daughter, Zhao Qian. Common folk, never received a courtesy name. Forgive our rustic ways.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bowed with clasped hands, looking embarrassed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, no, I’m honored,” Li Yi replied at once, returning the bow. Yet inside, he wondered: Had he truly entered another world—or was this all an illusion, a hallucination before death?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or is everything here fake, a hallucination born in my final moments before death?\u003C\u002Fp>",1312,"2026-06-20T01:26:56.586Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","521e8f1104cb7d0d8a29e7d1115c84e72f07e45459e866af807f7c2093bb3f7f","after-the-sky-fell-chapter-29","after-the-sky-fell-chapter-27",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fafter-the-sky-fell-cover.jpg"]