Chapter 570: Back Then, He Wasn

No sooner had the fanged ghost finished speaking than demons and ghosts from all directions echoed him, revealing their monstrous true forms.

In an instant, demonic energy surged to the heavens, ghostly aura chilling and oppressive!

The entire ghost city seemed to awaken—dark red blood seeped from the ground, and the divine light in the hall dimmed considerably under suppression.

Laughter, wild howls, even sobs filled the hall, a chaotic clamor without end.

The deities at the banquet all frowned, seeming disdainful, yet they dared not speak out, wary of the ghost city's lord.

Near the main seat.

Xu Xing watched this foul and chaotic scene, his expression unchanged.

Huo regarded each demon, ghost, and deity with keen interest, occasionally glancing at the Shu-family city lord atop the main seat.

He had no rush to act.

They were all going to die anyway—why not finish watching this play?

"Brother Dao, how do you think I should make use of these minor demons and ghosts?"

To kill them outright…

Would be a pity. Though these minor demons and ghosts meant little to him, they could still be useful to the people of this world.

"That's for you to decide, friend," Xu Xing said.

His gaze, however, remained fixed behind the ghost city lord.

Hah.

Huo smiled inwardly.

It wasn't just him who wanted to wander about—Brother Dao himself must also be seeking amusement.

Otherwise, there'd be no reason to come to Mingsheng Dao with him…

He'd heard Ba Zun say that long ago, Brother Dao had a penchant for displaying his divine glory before others.

Too bad he'd met Brother Dao late, and never witnessed that era…

A trace of regret arose in his heart; Huo turned his gaze back to the sea of demons and ghosts, planning how to torment them next.

This city may be sizable, but compared to all of Mingsheng Dao, it's nothing—hardly enough to warrant deduction of Ascension Points.

As for the demons and ghosts under Mingsheng Dao's rule, aside from those whose divine authority had decayed since ancient times,

the rest were mostly spirits corrupted by yin energy after death, inherently cold and perverse.

Added to that, the divine order system had now faltered—though the "Utmost Yin and Netherworld" lineage remained relatively intact, the "Reincarnation" cycle had long collapsed.

Vengeful ghosts accumulated endlessly, and Mingsheng Dao deliberately turned a blind eye—its domain naturally teemed with ghostly wastelands.

It was simple logic.

If the people under Mingsheng Dao's rule lived in peace and stability, how could they now sincerely worship the yin-aligned netherworld deities?

Of course, if demon and ghost numbers grew too high while human numbers dwindled too low,

Mingsheng Dao's immortal cultivators and netherworld deities above the Emperor rank would intervene to subdue and exterminate demons and ghosts, reducing their numbers to a manageable level.

Thus granting the people under Mingsheng Dao's rule time to reproduce and thrive.

Just as the former "Hidden Long Jun" was the result of Yongyao Sect's deliberate neglect.

Without calamity, how could mortals sincerely worship gods?

Even if Huo hadn't captured him, when Yongyao Sect came to "harvest," he would have had no escape from death!

The world is a pasture; all beings are cattle and sheep.

If Yongyao Sect's domain was relatively mild, then Mingsheng Dao's domain was brutally bloody and cruel.

"Please wait a moment—the raw food will arrive shortly."

Then, amid the howls of demons and ghosts, the city lord drained his cup and sat down with a chuckle.

He had now reclaimed his divine position, granted the title of Yuxu Tianjun—second only to Emperor rank—and by rights should uphold his dignity.

Yet he still showed no airs, as if utterly unconcerned by the chaos before him.

He merely gestured with his eyes to the ghost general beside him; the general immediately obeyed, bowed deeply, then briskly retreated to the rear.

My lord has regained his authority and ascended to divinity, and Yuxu Tianjun-level deities possess the power to establish courts and appoint divine ministers.

These ghost generals and soldiers naturally benefit too, gaining titles as divine soldiers and generals—how could they not be delighted?

And they waited—nearly twenty minutes!

The once-boisterous hall had grown noticeably quieter.

Some impatient demons and ghosts had no interest in the bland fruit, fidgeting wildly, leaping onto tables and chairs.

"Lord! Lord! When will the raw food come? I'm starving!" shouted a fat wild boar demon.

His belly rumbled like thunder.

Inspired by him, a ragged ghost, its skin stitched together with red thread, immediately echoed:

"Even if you won't bring those tender, snow-white children, at least give us some fresh humans to satisfy our hunger!"

"Yes! Yes!"

"We've been sitting here forever!"

The city lord only chuckled still.

"Don't rush, everyone. Today's raw food won't be ordinary—wait a little longer, the finest will arrive soon."

Soothed by the city lord's words, the demons and ghosts quieted down.

After all…

The city lord was late-stage Jin Dan—among all the demons, ghosts, and deities here, there were barely a handful of Jin Dan cultivators!

To act out further would be to insult his face!

The city lord poured himself another cup of wine, gazing at the demons and ghosts before him, his smile growing ever gentler.

Now, the number of demons and ghosts in the Underworld Path had already reached saturation, and a new round of cleansing was about to begin.

All these right now……

Are going to be his future merits!

……

……

About ten minutes later.

The promised raw food still hadn't been served, and now not only the demons and ghosts, but even the City Lord himself sensed something was off.

Why hasn't it been brought up yet?

Although the Underworld Path had already decided to carry out a new round of cleansing, there was still some time before the 'cleansing' actually began, and he had no intention of making a move right now.

Hosting a banquet today was also meant to spread his reputation for being 'generous' and 'hospitable,' to attract more demons and ghosts over.

After all, compared to having to seek them out one by one later, attracting a batch now and killing them all together when the time came was clearly more efficient.

For this purpose, he had indeed prepared a batch of top-grade raw food for the hospitality.

The processing procedures were a bit troublesome, but it shouldn't take this long to bring it up……

He immediately looked toward another Ghost General beside him: "Go take a look."

"Yes."

The Ghost General replied respectfully, then headed toward the back as well.

"Please wait a moment, esteemed guests. Top-grade raw food isn't easy to prepare—perhaps the hands are a bit rusty."

Hearing this, the demons and ghosts were somewhat dissatisfied, but none dared to act out.

And so……

Another ten minutes passed!

The Ghost General who had left still hadn't returned.

The atmosphere at the banquet became extremely strange, and the smile on the City Lord's face could no longer be maintained.

"Hahaha! I'd say, City Lord, you wouldn't be……"

A bull demon was about to crack a joke to liven up the atmosphere, but before he could finish, he was tugged by a companion beside him.

Only then did he suddenly realize, noticing the City Lord's unsightly expression. His heart clenched, a shiver ran through him, cold sweat instantly broke out across his back, and he immediately shut his mouth, lowering his head like a quail.

The City Lord actually didn't care about the demons' and ghosts' reactions—after all, they were just a bunch of goods about to die.

But the gazes of the Divine Path deities at the banquet felt extremely grating to him, forcing him to squeeze out an ugly smile as he was about to say something.

"City Lord, it seems your raw food today won't be coming up after all."

A slightly mocking voice suddenly rang out at the banquet, causing the already strange atmosphere to completely explode.

Gasp!

Everyone searched in disbelief for the source of the voice.

The City Lord's face grew even darker, as if water could drip from it; the Divine Path golden light flickering in his eyes could not conceal the chilling gloom within.

Finally, the gazes of all the demons, ghosts, and deities fell near the main seat. They saw Huo sitting beside the table with a smile, and Xu Xing, carrying a crimson longsword on his back, looking utterly composed.

All the demons, ghosts, and deities were first stunned, then filled with disbelief.

Living people?!

The ones who had just spoken mockingly were actually two living people?!

After they reacted.

A Flayed Ghost, eager to show off, its skin peeled off entirely, leaving only a body of fresh red flesh and blood, let out eerie chuckles.

Plump, white maggots writhed continuously through the exposed flesh and blood; many even fell to the ground with its movements, squirming endlessly on the floor.

Unlike its terrifying and disgusting appearance, its voice was exceedingly gruff and bold.

"How dare you! Mere living people dare to spout such nonsense!"

As the words fell, its form transformed into a streak of blood and charged straight toward Xu Xing and Huo.

"I'll carve out your hearts and livers right now and offer them to the City Lord!"

Yin winds gusted!

Many demons and ghosts watching were filled with regret, feeling they had been too slow to react and had been beaten to the punch.

Meanwhile, some higher-realm old ghosts and monsters, as well as deities, secretly circulated their arts, ready to flee at any moment.

To be able to infiltrate silently—how could these be ordinary living people?

Small ghosts are small ghosts; they can't even see something so obvious.

Even City Lord Shu himself watched coldly from the sidelines, though in his heart he meant to use this small ghost as a test.

Just as the Flayed Ghost was about to charge near the two.

Swoosh!

A streak of crimson light flashed and vanished.

Even the City Lord couldn't react in time; he only felt his vision darken, his mind completely occupied by that streak of crimson light.

As if an instant, yet as if an eternity later.

His vision finally cleared again. It was still the plaza full of guests, but now the silence was excessive.

All the demons, ghosts, and deities wore dazed expressions, a trace of lingering bewilderment still in their eyes.

And the Flayed Ghost that had charged at Xu Xing and Huo was already gone.

Not a trace of flesh or blood remained, not even a wisp of lingering ghost qi.

It was as if that streak of red light had completely obliterated everything.

"Fellow Daoist, this time you're the one who struck first." Huo said with a smile, "You can't dock my disciple's reward again, can you?"

"You knew he was disgusting, so you deliberately lured him into attacking?"

The crimson long sword in Xu Xing's hand transformed into a streak of red light that fell behind his back, once again taking the form of a long sword.

"This Dao brother really wronged me here—it was just that little ghost being too impatient himself."

"Still, being cut down by Dao brother's sword can be considered that little ghost's honor."

The two conversed without the slightest scruple, yet the atmosphere in the field was extremely oppressive.

A divine spirit clad in silver armor, with a dark red chain hanging from his body, cupped his fists in a salute and spoke:

"Two…"

He had only just uttered a single word when his form vanished without any warning, disappearing into thin air just like that flayed ghost from before.

Such a horrifying scene made all the ghosts and gods present tremble with fear.

Yet the conversation the two continued made the terror in their hearts reach its absolute peak!

"Since you've interfered, then clean things up a bit more thoroughly."

"Dao brother can rest assured—can you really not trust my methods? I guarantee not a single trace will be left behind."

Having said that, Huo looked toward the gathered demons, ghosts, and divine spirits.

Clearly there was not the slightest killing intent in his eyes—one could even say they were gentle—yet it made their hearts go numb.

They couldn't even get the words of begging out.

"Since they're all the sort who like to eat people… then let it be so."

As if he had thought of something, Huo stood up from the table's edge and vanished just like that.

Xu Xing was the same.

Hmm??

They left?

Just as the demons, ghosts, and divine spirits were still bewildered by the series of sudden changes, unable to make heads or tails of it.

Boom!

A tremendous sound abruptly appeared, and the entire ghost city immediately began to shake.

Screams mingled with the sounds of collapsing buildings, and the whole square descended into utter chaos.

The City Lord suddenly raised his head, only to see a Bai Xi slender pillar—like an indestructible, imperishable heavenly pillar—parting the clouds amid the endless thunderous blasts of air currents.

Crash down!

That was… a finger?

As his consciousness sank into chaos, the City Lord suddenly realized this point.

……

……

He didn't know how long had passed.

The City Lord's groggy consciousness finally recovered a sliver of clarity.

Just now…

What happened?

Before he could even recall everything that had occurred, a rough, bold voice reached his ears.

"Eh! This little ghost's not bad—flay it and fry it up to eat."

In an instant!

Unbearable, excruciating agony spread through his entire body, as if ten million small knives were cutting within his skin, and endless ants were gnawing at his flesh and blood.

"Gyaaaah!"

Amid his screams, he finally broke through the darkness before his eyes and saw the scene in front of him clearly.

Inside a foul-smelling, rough mountain cave, a big-bellied wild boar demon was using a small knife to strip away his skin, bit by bit.

He instinctively tried to struggle, only to find that all four limbs were fixed in place—he couldn't move at all.

"Hehe! Your Grandpa Pig is gonna taste flayed-and-deep-fried little ghost today too."

In the end, his skin was completely stripped off and swallowed whole by that boar demon.

And after enduring inhuman torture, he was carefully placed by that boar demon into a pot of boiling oil.

Sizzle!

Oil splashed flying, and in the instant when agony a thousand, a hundred times worse than before pierced deep into his divine soul, he finally remembered everything!

……

……

"One kshana is one thought; twenty thoughts are one instant; twenty instants are one twinkle; twenty twinkles are one lavana; twenty lavanas are one ksana; one day and one night contain thirty ksanas."

On weed-choked wasteland, Huo toyed with a glossy jet-black orb.

All the demons, ghosts, and divine spirits within the ghost city were inside it.

"A slight punishment—one kshana to undergo a million lives and deaths; after a thousand years, send them to liberation."

He had already adjusted the flow of time between inside and outside—one day outside, a hundred years within.

Thus only ten days would be needed to complete all the punishments.

"Sigh~ It's really not like the old days."

Back in the year he exterminated demons, he hadn't been this soft-hearted.

Huo's face was full of rueful sighs, as if he were moved by his own mercy.

"Dao brother, don't you think that after taking on a disciple, a person becomes a bit softer-hearted?"

Xu Xing: "……"

He didn't want to answer such a meaningless question in the slightest.

"Let's go. If we delay any longer, we won't make it in time for the Mingsheng Dao disciple recruitment."

Huo pressed his palms together and tucked the orb away. "Given our abilities, we could be there in an instant—how could we possibly be late?"

"Wasn't it you who said we should travel in an ordinary way?"

The two of them walked further and further away, leaving behind only a stretch of overgrown wasteland.

The once-bustling ghost city had been completely erased, vanishing from this world along with its very existence. (End of chapter)