Chapter 101: The Revived Elder, the Bizarre City

Facing Kamiya Elder's method of continuously stacking attack frequency, it is clearly unable to pose any threat to Zhang Hao.

Now the entire island nation is a resource pool for Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride; whenever they wish, they can endlessly produce derived ghost paintings and Photos in this country.

Although the attack strength of these derived ghost paintings and Photos is not as strong as Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride's, the synchronization with the Huangni Lu Chessboard means this is not a major flaw.

And these derived Fierce Ghosts also inherit an alternative Restart ability; soon, Kamiya Elder began to feel he could barely hold on.

That tachi seems to have certain limits: each time it is drawn it must be slowly retracted, and each draw can only slay one Ghost, allowing only a one‑plus‑one‑plus‑one stacking.

This causes Kamiya Elder's rate of stacking attack frequency to be utterly incomparable to Zhang Hao, who can continuously release ghost paintings.

"Cough cough cough!"

At the hundredth draw, Kamiya Elder seemed unable to endure any longer, emitting a Ghost's Stiffness cough.

"Master, are you alright?"

Ya Mu stepped back beside Kamiya Elder, his face showing worry.

Kamiya Elder's lifespan is too short, and now, while battling the Red and White Double Evil, he continuously stacks Ghost Power, causing his body to no longer be able to hold on.

"I can't go on, you should leave quickly."

"This Ghost's terror exceeds my imagination," Kamiya Elder rasped.

"What a pity; if I were ten years younger, I might have been able to fight him, but now..."

Hearing that, Ya Mu's face showed helplessness and sorrow.

Kamiya Elder has lived from the early Imperial era to the present; his true strength is far beyond this.

However, regrettably, his lifespan limits the ceiling of his Ghost Power stacking, preventing many techniques from being employed.

"Take this sword and go; I'll see if I can muster my last heat to restrain it for a while."

Kamiya Elder shook his head, handed the tachi to Ya Mu, whose body was quickly cloaked in darkness and vanished on the spot.

"Hey."

Kamiya Elder slowly opened his clouded, numb eyes; they no longer held any spark of the living, indicating that this elder could die at any moment.

He gazed at the chessboard formed by the Huangni Lu, sighed, then vanished on the spot, and the Fierce Ghosts he had dismembered also ceased moving at that moment.

The Huangni Lu began to proliferate endlessly, almost covering the entire island; new strands of Huangni Lu appeared, dividing the island nation into board‑like sections.

"Dead? Or have the Fierce Ghosts revived?"

Zhang Hao sensed that the Fierce Ghosts controlled by Kamiya Elder had lost any means of resistance, and he looked up at his surroundings.

Yet he found nothing useful; the heavily fragmented Fierce Ghosts, now almost immobile, required no deliberate suppression.

However, the trouble did not recede with Kamiya Elder's disappearance; the Huangni Lu still covered Zhang Hao's Ghost Domain, preventing him from easily entering other cities.

"What a troublesome old man, trying to trap me with this method?"

Zhang Hao observed the state of the Huangni Lu.

These Yellow Mud Roads seem not to exist in Reality World, appearing only within his Ghost Domain, yet even if Zhang Hao retracts his Ghost Domain, he still cannot leave this area.

Under these circumstances, if he wishes to attack people elsewhere, he will inevitably need a long time to reach them.

The Huangni Lu hampers the Ghost Domain's free movement, but does not affect people's activities in Reality World.

After all, ordinary people have no Ghost Domain, and most Ghost Tamers also lack a Ghost Domain; they move by driving or walking.

"Forget it, there's no need to stay in this country."

Glancing at the island nation's situation, he quickly abandoned the idea of breaking through the Huangni Lu to find Kamiya Elder.

That guy is probably now a revived Fierce Ghost, having buried himself in some hard‑to‑find place, perhaps even a terrifying Spiritual Realm.

Zhang Hao came to the island nation to find that wardrobe; although the wardrobe isn't what he wanted, it still completes the closet.

After spending a day gathering the Fierce Ghosts placed on the Huangni Lu back into ghost paintings, Zhang Hao finally summoned the Ghost Coffin and the Paper Flower Sedan to leave this place.

Fortunately, though he cannot use the Ghost Domain, the Ghost Power blessing of the Bride's embroidered shoes aids him, so the Paper Flower Sedan and the Ghost Coffin move across the Huangni Lu at a decent speed.

On the island nation, outside a long‑abandoned temple, Ya Mu held a tachi and watched the descending gloom in the sky fade, his face showing excitement.

"Master, you succeeded; that Ghost no longer continues to affect Reality World."

"You are a hero of our nation, preserving the flame of our people."

Having said that, Ya Mu looked toward the temple's depths, clenched his teeth, and walked in.

His strength is still too weak; having become a Ghost Tamer only in the late Imperial era, after the Era of the Supernatural lifted the veil and he was no longer threatened by revived Fierce Ghosts, he lost the desire to keep getting stronger.

Now, he may have to find a way to become stronger again, otherwise this country cannot survive.

On the other side, President Mishima also received news that the gloom above the entire country had vanished.

"Did Senior Kamiya and Senior Ya Mu succeed?"

Mishima stepped out of the Safety Room, gazing at the sun that had become warm and gentle again, his face showing excited joy.

"Yes, it succeeded," Fujiwara said, looking at the sunlight in the sky, rarely showing a hint of a smile.

Since becoming Ghost Tamers, they usually operate in dark places; this was his first time feeling such excitement upon seeing sunlight.

Previously the whole city was shrouded by the Ghost Domain, even the occasional sunlight turned black‑and‑white and cold.

"What a pity, it seems Nagasawa and the others have all disappeared."

At this moment Mishima thought of the few people earlier; none had reported back, and an ugly expression crossed his face.

"President Mishima, it's better not to dwell on these issues; we must start the cleanup now."

"Search for survivors, clear the remaining Supernatural Incidents; these tasks require your Supernatural Club to lead."

The island nation's Emperor gazed at the distant city, showing not even a hint of joy in his eyes: "We need to tally how many people are still alive now."

"Moreover, the whole country now has plants and buildings turned black and white, even our electronic devices and various raw materials have lost their colors."

"In this situation, can these things still be used?"

The Emperor's words startled Mishima, who had been immersed in joy.

Indeed, people need food, but now most things have lost their colors, seemingly tainted by Ghost Power; can they still be eaten?

Mitsushima thought of this, walked to a mulberry tree, and the once emerald mulberry leaves at this moment turned a sheet of gray‑white.

He reached out to grab a mulberry leaf, and the leaf, at the instant his hand touched it, fell away slowly like a piece of ash left after a fire.

Then Mitsushima grabbed the grass beneath the mulberry tree, but the grass was similar to the leaves; once seized, it fell away like ash after a fire.

"What's happening?"

The Emperor stepped forward; instead of grabbing the ground grass, he reached out to seize the mulberry tree.

Fortunately, the mulberry tree itself did not crumble into ash like the leaves.

"These Corpse Plants seem to have lost vitality," Fujiwara said, frowning as he stepped forward.

He walked into a cluster of flowers, reached for two branches, and strangely, one branch fell away like burnt ash while the other showed no abnormality.

"Strange, they're the same kind of plant, yet they behave differently,"

As a Ghost Tamer, Fujiwara keenly sensed something amiss.

It was the Fierce Ghost's instinctive response to being tainted by a Supernatural Incident; he hurried to the decorative tree by the roadside.

He grabbed it; although the tree had turned gray‑white, it was not entirely compromised.

Then he seized another tree that showed no abnormality, and at the moment of contact, it turned to ash like the earlier mulberry leaf, completely losing its vitality.

"Perhaps it's a matter of memory?"

A man who looked rather refined walked over.

"He Ze, do you have any leads?" Mitsushima's eyes lit up as he asked immediately.

"Not exactly a lead, just a guess."

"I remember this tree; every time I pass it, I always like to pick a leaf from it."

He Ze walked to the side of the tree that Fujiwara had grabbed but had not turned to ash.

"Do you remember that many strangers' Black and White Portraits have appeared throughout the city?"

"Yes, investigations show these people are most likely ordinary citizens who were killed, but for some reason everyone has forgotten their names," Mitsushima said, nodding.

"Even the records about them have completely vanished," He Ze said gravely, "I suspect this Ghost follows some rule concerning memory."

"Do you recall what the leaves and tree that just turned to ash originally looked like, what shape they were?"

The few who heard it showed a recollective expression, then quickly shook their heads.

But soon they realized they could not recall what kind of trees and grass leaves they had destroyed; they only remembered they were trees and leaves.

"If that's the case, then my guess is correct: things no one remembers, once turned black‑and‑white, may become just like those things just now,"

"In Hua Country there is an old saying: dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth."

"It means that everything that has passed need not be clung to."

"The Red and White Double Evil first appeared in Hua Country; perhaps their rule is related to that saying."

Anyone who can get this far cannot be truly foolish.

Hearing He Ze's many words, the group quickly caught on.

"Everything that has passed need not be clung to; in other words, things no one cherishes should perish?" Mitsushima said with a composed face.

"These trees have long been dead; the reason they haven't vanished is merely a lingering attachment. If you truly try to touch them, you'll find they're illusory, already non‑existent,"

"Perhaps, it's just my speculation," He Ze waved his hand, not wanting the rule to go wrong later and have to take the blame.

"Fine, then we'll have someone test it; if it's truly like that, it will be troublesome,"

Island Country is an industrially advanced nation; its various manufacturing sectors have already produced assembly lines.

However, no one remembers every item on the assembly line, since you see those items countless times each day.

If this rule holds, most of the country's interior may turn to ash.

"I hope this only applies to living plants, not to inanimate objects,"

Mitsushima silently prayed in his heart and soon left the spot.

The others, seeing this, also departed one after another.

At the same time, news of Island Country spread.

"What? The entire Island Country has fallen? Survivors less than ten percent?"

Dajing City, Headquarters, Cao Yanhua listened to the investigators' report, his face showing astonishment.

That's too tragic, considering Dachang City never suffered such a loss ratio before.

It should be noted that the Red and White Double Evil stayed in Island Country only for a few days.

"Indeed, but it is said that Island Country has discovered a new rule of the Red and White Double Evil and is seeking various food resource aid,"

The investigators asked Cao Yanhua, "Should we provide material assistance?"

"What is the new rule?" Cao Yanhua asked after a moment's contemplation.

Supernatural Incidents are becoming increasingly severe, and no one knows when they will fully erupt.

Food is now the second most important resource after gold; if not essential, Cao Yanhua does not wish to aid the other side.

"It is said that cities affected by the Red and White Double Evil lose color in their Corpse Plants, and when touched they turn to ash," the staff replied.

"Hm? Da Dong City has not shown this condition, has it?" Cao Yanhua frowned.

"Perhaps the Red and White Double Evil has undergone some unknown change," Wang Xiaoming walked over at this moment.

"Provide some food aid, on the condition that they hand over the Red and White Double Evil's new rule to us,"

"Professor Wang!" Cao Yanhua was alarmed.

"Hua Country at that time freely disclosed most of the Red and White Double Evil's data, except the information that the Red and White Double Evil possessed intelligence,"

"I know you feel unbalanced inside," Wang Xiaoming said understandingly, looking at Cao Yanhua.

"But you should think carefully why Island Country would reveal half the information under these circumstances, while the other half requires material aid,"

"You mean Island Country's food has basically been destroyed?" Cao Yanhua quickly responded.

"They're now in a dead‑fish‑in‑a‑broken‑net situation; if everyone refuses to give them food aid, they'd rather die carrying this intelligence?"

"Indeed," Wang Xiaoming nodded.

"Fine, we can't fight someone driven to desperation," Cao Yanhua sighed and nodded.

While tidying up the mess in the Island Nation, Zhang Hao, unknowingly walking along a Huangni Lu, had already reached the end of one such Huangni Lu.

At the end of that Huangni Lu stood a strange city.

Inside the city there was not a hint of light; the sky was dim and hazy, and even Zhang Hao could only barely discern the general layout.

The city didn't look like the style of the Island Nation; instead it resembled a metropolis where architecture from many nations converged.

At the city entrance, Zhang Hao saw streets reminiscent of the Hua Nation, but soon he also spotted several residential houses in the Island Nation style.

Walking a bit further, he could also see some European‑American style buildings.

"An unknown Spiritual Realm?" Zhang Hao stood up and gathered the Flower Sedan Chair and the Ghost Coffin.

In such an unknown Spiritual Realm, the more people there are, the more likely problems arise.

Fierce Ghosts also attack each other, and at any moment a Fierce Ghost might target the ghosts surrounding Zhang Hao.

"Hey, you ahead, do you want to die?"

After Zhang Hao led the Ghost Bride forward for a while, in a dark Alley, a solidly wrapped figure in black cloth shouted at Zhang Hao.

"Hm? A living person?" Zhang Hao looked at the other party with puzzlement.

The person ignored Zhang Hao's question and, in an urgent tone, said, "It's the middle of the night, wandering outside—aren't you afraid of breaking a taboo? Come with me quickly."

The person waved at Zhang Hao and hurried toward the dark Alley.

Hearing that, Zhang Hao felt a bit puzzled: "Taboo? Is it the Killing Rule of some ghost in this city?"

Zhang Hao guessed that it might be similar to the urban legend he left behind in the Island Nation.

The city's inhabitants call a ghost's Killing Rule a "taboo", which actually fits quite well.

Breaking the taboo draws a ghost's attention—a rather archaic term.

Pondering internally, Zhang Hao led the Ghost Bride toward that dark Alley.

The city was eerie; even Zhang Hao felt a suffocating atmosphere, so he now needed some information.

Since that person treated him as a living being, he decided to follow for a while to gather information.

Just after entering the path, a whiff of muddy odor reached Zhang Hao's nose.

Zhang Hao observed the Alley; it was so narrow that even he and the Ghost Bride couldn't walk side by side, so he let the Bride go ahead while he followed behind.

Moreover, this narrow Alley was inexplicably long, which was odd.

There's no need for such a narrow place to be so long.

"Hurry up, it's not safe here."

The person ahead seemed to have been waiting there for a while; upon hearing the Footsteps of Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride, he urged them forward.

Hearing that, Zhang Hao quickened his pace.

Strangely enough, the darkness of this Alley seemed to carry a weird supernatural aura; Zhang Hao couldn't see through it, only a long passage.

Although Zhang Hao lacks a Ghost Eye or similar, the Ghostly Servant's Ghost Domain he commands is itself darkness, which shouldn't affect his sight.

Even within some dark Ghost Domains, Zhang Hao can see clearly inside.

In this Alley, he couldn't see the far end at all.

"Is it because of this city? Or does this Alley possess some supernatural?"

Zhang Hao attributed it all to the city being a Spiritual Realm.

"This way!"

The black‑robed guide ahead kept calling out directions; in the dark Alley, Zhang Hao couldn't see the figure, relying only on the voice to gauge the approximate location.

(End of Chapter)