Chapter 311: Meeting an Old Acquaintance Again, Observations in the Ghost City

"Although you likely hail from the Present World, you must have heard the great name of that Ghost Place; it appears inexplicably, and every time it appears, it devours a portion of the Yin World or the Present World."

The Judge said with a solemn expression.

Li Heng nodded, his expression light and breezy.

"And then?"

"You don't need to play dumb, sir. Although that Ghost Place devours the Yin World and the Present World, every time it appears, it gives birth to heavenly treasures and presents many great opportunities."

"Some lucky ones can even enter that Ghost Place once and come out unscathed. I don't believe you aren't tempted by this."

The Judge smiled.

"Fine, you've convinced me. I agree."

Li Heng replied calmly.

The Judge was stunned upon hearing this, not having reacted in time.

Was it really this straightforward? He had originally intended to spend more breath, yet the result was an agreement so quickly? Although that Ghost Place contained great opportunities, it also held great dangers.

He had originally wanted to say a few more words.

But he thought better of it; what if he said too much, over-exaggerated the dangers carried by the Ghost Place, and caused this person to back out?

Heavenly Humans do not easily emerge into the world now; he had finally managed to recruit such a powerful laborer, so he could not let him run off.

"Good, straightforward! We at Yellow Springs Road appreciate people like you!"

The Judge said with a loud laugh.

He immediately took a Token from his bosom; the Token was chilling with Yin energy. "This is a Token of our Yellow Springs Road. You may use this Token to travel unimpeded within our Yellow Springs Road. Keep it for now."

"The main force sets out tomorrow, and I will notify you to head out via the Token. As for today, you may stroll around Yellow Springs Road and experience the local customs of the places under our jurisdiction."

Li Heng took the Token.

As soon as the Token was in his hand, he felt a chill, and a vague, sinister baleful energy was secretly invading his body, though it was blocked by Li Heng's power.

He did not care.

This Token looked very sinister and seemed to be made of white bone; it was most suitable for demons and Weirds, so it was no surprise to have such a sinister object. Baleful and sinister energy were poison to the living beings of the Present World, but to demons and Weirds, they were supplements.

The Judge nodded upon seeing this.

"Since that is the case, I will not disturb you further."

"I will notify you tomorrow."

Having said that.

He slowly retreated a few steps, withdrew into the shadows, and his figure vanished, his aura disappearing along with him. Li Heng's expression remained quite calm upon seeing such a method; it was nothing more than using the Dharma Law covering this place to teleport, nothing worth being surprised about.

Li Heng had originally intended to cause a scene in this Yellow Springs Road and then head to that Ghost Place using the coordinates given by the Heavenly Demon. Now it seemed the plan would have to change.

He could also test whether this Heavenly Demon was still loyal.

Walking further along the road.

Soon, Li Heng saw a Ghost Domain standing before his eyes. This Ghost Domain was quite peculiar, actually manifesting as a giant city standing in the Void. Furthermore, there were many city gates, each gate connecting to a road, and on every road appeared the figures of many Weirds and demons.

One could describe it as: Weirds coming, demons going.

Using this as a reference, Li Heng observed his current location; it turned out he was on a secret path, clearly brought here by that gatekeeper for the convenience of extortion, no wonder there were no other Weird or demon figures.

Wandering aimlessly, he arrived before this Ghost City.

Just like the Present World.

There were also some Guards in front of the city gate, checking the passing demons and Weirds. Although these Guards were also demons and Weirds themselves, they wore armor and looked quite imposing in their own way.

It was just that Li Heng felt.

Why did that tall Guard in the lead look a bit familiar?

He searched his memory.

The figure of that tall Guard gradually merged with a certain old acquaintance in his memory, and even the aura was vaguely similar.

He walked up to this tall Guard.

The surrounding Guards felt their hearts tighten at the sight.

They were not blind; they could see the white bone Token tucked at Li Heng's waist. This meant that this person was an honored guest of Yellow Springs Road, a noble existence they had to respectfully address as "Lord."

"Lord, is there anything we can help you with?"

All the Guards bowed, bending their waists.

The demons and Weirds entering the city were shocked to see the situation.

What was going on? Who was this person?

The city gate guards, who were usually arrogant and even made them pay money to enter the city, were now actually so servile?

Some sharp-eyed demons and Weirds saw the white bone Token at Li Heng's waist, instantly gasped, and hurriedly hid far away; they could not afford to provoke such an honored guest of Yellow Springs Road.

As for befriending him? What a joke.

If Yellow Springs Road found out they had harassed such an honored guest.

They would definitely have to take a trip to the Oil Cauldron Hell afterward.

"I ask you, was your surname Xing in the past?"

Li Heng looked at the tall Guard before him and asked.

The tall Guard was stunned upon hearing this.

"Reporting to Lord, this small one does not know; ever since I gained sentience, I have had no surname. However, hearing Lord say this now, I do feel that the character 'Xing' is somewhat familiar."

"It's just that I don't know why."

He shook his head and said with some confusion.

Li Heng sighed.

"Forget it, forget it. Come with me; I happen to be short of a helper, and since you look agreeable to me, it'll be you."

The tall Guard was startled upon hearing this, then instantly overjoyed.

This was a distinguished guest of the Yellow Springs Road.

Yet now, he had actually been chosen by this distinguished guest; this was simply his opportunity, his serendipity—he would no longer have to remain here as a gatekeeper.

He hurriedly spoke up, agreeing to it.

"Yes, my Lord!"

Without even mentioning other conditions, he bowed directly, even intending to kneel on the ground to thank Li Heng, but was held up by Li Heng's power.

"Let's go, say no more."

Li Heng spoke calmly and turned to leave.

The tall Guard also tactfully followed behind Li Heng.

At this moment, those demons and Weirds who were watching the show finally reacted, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. A mere gatekeeper—what virtue or ability did he have to be favored by an expert of this level!

It was simply pure dumb luck!

The other guards suddenly felt a sense of melancholy.

How should one put it?

Everyone had said they were good brothers, sharing joys and sorrows, so how did you suddenly strike it rich and ascend?

Damn it, they had all sworn to be gatekeepers for a lifetime.

Yet in the end, you betrayed this oath.

The crowd of guards cursed inwardly, filled with bitterness.

Entering the Ghost City, everything before their eyes was quite bizarre and bloody; for instance, hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, and kidneys hung on iron hooks, with firewood lit underneath, smoke rising, and a faint, strange fragrance drifting out.

On chopping boards where butcher knives stood, piles of meat were stacked, with bones and fur underneath, mixed with flowing blood—it was extremely filthy. Yet, demons and Weirds kept coming to patronize it, haggling over prices.

Or, for example, rotting corpses filled the ground; every step a passerby took would stir up the blood and gore of the corpses, and from the mangled flesh and blood, blood foam would splatter out, with large maggots falling onto the ground, constantly wriggling.

Li Heng felt no ripples in his heart.

It was called a Ghost City, after all; it would be strange if it weren't like this.

At worst, he would just wipe out this city when he left.

Why get angry?

What truly made him feel some emotion, or even melancholy,

was still the tall Guard following behind him.

He already knew who this tall Guard was.

Although there were great discrepancies in both appearance and aura, given Li Heng's current realm, he could still easily see through to the tall Guard's true identity.

This tall Guard was Xing Yong, the one who guarded the city gate at Bei'an City back then, that Constable Xing; of course, to be more precise, one should say that this tall Guard was Xing Yong before he died.

Back then, Xing Yong had bid him farewell and left Bei'an City, saying he was heading to the Prefecture. Yet when Li Heng arrived at the Prefecture, he did not find any sign of Xing Yong; at that time, he had thought he was just too fast and had outpaced Xing Yong, who was only in the Blood Exchange Realm.

But looking at it now.

Perhaps Xing Yong never reached the Prefecture, Jinhua City.

He died halfway there.

So the soul that remained was also, by a stroke of serendipity, drawn in by the mechanism of the Yellow Springs Road and came to the Yin World, and somehow ended up as a city gate guard.

This left Li Heng not knowing whether to sigh or laugh.

"Do you really not remember the past?"

Li Heng spoke.

The tall Guard behind him was stunned upon hearing this, only then realizing that this Lord was speaking to him, and hurriedly replied, "My Lord, are you speaking of my life before death?"

Li Heng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Oh, it seems you still remember?"

The tall Guard shook his head.

"This lowly one only knows that I had a life before death; as for who I was or what memories I had, this lowly one does not know."

"Then how did you end up as a guard?"

"This lowly one does not know either, it was all a blur. The first thing I heard when I gained consciousness was, 'This soul has some potential, it cannot be wasted on Buying Life Money, pick him out separately.'"

The tall Guard obediently repeated that sentence.

Li Heng nodded, lost in thought.

So that was it?

But when he looked at Xing Yong before, he hadn't noticed anything different; he was completely of mediocre quality, even worse than he himself was before awakening his cheat.

Could it be that something special appeared only after death?

Li Heng was suddenly caught between laughter and tears.

"I ask you, what do you want to do from now on?"

He asked again.

"This lowly one is not clear on that either. At first, I thought I would be guarding the gate for a lifetime, but I never expected to meet you, my Lord, so I leave it entirely to your decision."

The tall Guard gritted his teeth and said respectfully.

"Even if I told you to go die?"

Li Heng said nonchalantly.

"... I submit entirely to your will, my Lord!"

The tall Guard fell into a silence, then spoke with determination.

"Alright, alright, rest assured, you won't die."

Li Heng shook his head.

Theoretically speaking.

If Xing Yong were resurrected, then this tall Guard would truly die. Because the two are not the same entity, this tall Guard only possesses a large part of Xing Yong.

One can only say that these are two similar flowers.

Moreover, the core part that truly belonged to Xing Yong has long since dissipated; unless one employs time-based methods, it is impossible to resurrect Xing Yong without retrieving this dissipated core part.

This would require searching through both Heaven and Earth, and even the vast Void.

Li Heng cannot accomplish this with his current Source Power.

As for time-based methods? That is even less possible.

"Do you have a name now?"

"In reply to my Lord, I do not."

"Then I shall give you a name; from now on, you shall be called Xing Da," Li Heng said calmly.

The tall Guard was delighted upon hearing this.

This meant that this Lord had already acknowledged him.

"Many thanks to my Lord for bestowing this name," he said, bowing deeply.

"Alright, alright, go help me pick out a cleaner inn; we are leaving tomorrow."

Thinking of the scenes he had just witnessed in the city.

A cold glint appeared in Li Heng's eyes.

Tomorrow, he would simply raze this city to the ground!