Chapter 2680: Psycho City Lord's Love-and-Kill Rules 03

The four followed the guidance, walking along the empty street.

The mist was thicker than before, the shop doors and windows on both sides tightly shut, occasional blurry shadows flashing past the paper screens.

Soon enough, they saw an inn standing alone at the street corner, the signboard hanging above its door still bore characters that made one's skin crawl.

Only the facade looked dilapidated and aged, more than half of the paint on the sign had peeled off, revealing rotted wood beneath, the door panels were askew, seeming to fall apart with a push, decayed and gloomy.

"It looks kinda like but not really, and it's weirdly shabby." Jin Chen stopped his steps.

"Perhaps it's because the yin qi has soaked in, making it look like this." Chu Jiu Shan rubbed his chilly arms.

There was no attendant at the inn's entrance to greet guests; Jin Chen pushed the door open, the hinge emitted a sharp, piercing screech, and inside the hall a few oil lamps were lit, barely illuminating a space.

A waiter in coarse cloth was dozing on the counter; hearing the movement, he lifted his head, his face blank, as if he'd never seen a living guest before, after a moment he responded slowly, asking, "How many… staying?"

Jin Chen: "I want a room of the 'heavenly character' size."

The waiter blinked, recalled where the heavenly-character-sized room was, then nodded slowly, pulling out a rust‑stained key from under the counter and handing it over.

Finding the corresponding room, he opened the door and went in, then backhanded the bolt into place.

"We can only wait until dawn." Liu Shuoyue felt a bit regretful; if not for insufficient ghost powder, tonight she ought to have investigated thoroughly.

Jin Chen paced in the room, walked to the inner wall, and pushed open a small window facing outside.

Outside the window lay the street layout of the capital city; looking out now, the moonlight was hazy and dim, occasional bloody red light flickered by, all heading toward the imperial palace.

Jin Chen lightly tapped the window sill with his fingertip; during the day the imperial palace is inhabited by the emperor, at night perhaps it is the residence of the Lord of Ghost City.

He pondered whether he should go to the palace now to find his wife.

"【Eh, Host, not recommended.】 Ling Gun Gun poked his head out, timidly, '【What if I guessed wrong and there's a ghost emperor squatting in the palace?】'"

Jin Chen thought it over and then gave up the tempting idea.

Anyway, there will be another chance tomorrow.

The four either sat or leaned, trying to fall asleep again; Jin Chen had just closed his eyes when his consciousness grew dim, until a faint light seeped in from outside the window.

Jin Chen was almost asleep, yet he sat up first, went downstairs alone for a walk, and only then did they gradually wake up one after another.

Jin Chen sat at the table, smiling narrowly as he watched them.

"There are two pieces of bad news; which would you like to hear first?"

Chu Jiu Shan's yawn was forced back, his gut feeling said nothing good, "Can I just not listen to either?"

Zang Huai An's expression grew grave, "Brother Jin, what exactly happened?"

Jin Chen took a sip of tea, "We're still in Ghost City."

The three simultaneously sucked in a breath of cold air.

The National Teacher had clearly assured them repeatedly that they only needed to sleep in the inn, and at dawn the formation would automatically draw their souls back to reality!

Moreover, this Ghost City actually has daytime!

Jin Chen set down his teacup and continued, "Downstairs it's very lively, but the liveliness belongs to them; we have nothing, and everyone on the streets are ghosts."

The three drew in two breaths of cold air.

Chu Jiu Shan's face turned completely white, "It's over, over—we barely have any ghost powder left; aren't we just waiting to be beaten up by a horde of fierce ghosts all over the city?"

Liu Shuoyue hurried to the window and pushed it open; sure enough, outside it was bright daylight, even a bit sweltering.

Hawkers' cries rose and fell without cease on the street; if one didn't already know the truth, it would be hard to believe that all the people filling the city are spirits.

"We can't just sit and wait for death." Zang Huai An clenched his fists, "We're trapped here; the National Teacher will surely notice the abnormality and arrange a rescue, so we might as well take this chance to go out and investigate."

Chu Jiu Shan wore a mournful face, "But we have no ghost powder left! If we just go out like this, what's the difference from jumping straight into a pile of ghosts?"

"Hey, there's still some." Jin Chen, like performing a magic trick, flipped his wrist and pulled out another packet of powder packed in a different dark silk pouch, slightly unlike the one he'd taken out before, "I brought this out from the sect."

Chu Jiu Shan blinked, then broke into a beaming smile, "Senior brother! You really are the most reliable senior brother under heaven!"

The joy of finding life in desperation dispelled some of the fear; the four reapplied ghost powder and went downstairs.

Chu Jiu Shan volunteered to take the lead, wanting to appear braver; just as he stepped down the last stair, he suddenly turned, his gaze dull as he looked back at Jin Chen, his lips trembling.

"Senior brother… I… I'm going blind…"

Following his line of sight, one saw in the downstairs private booth a man wearing a veil hat who removed his face covering, revealing a grayish-white, rotting visage, with corpse worms burrowing in and out of the putrid flesh.

The man lifted the wine bowl on the table and drank, having to occasionally tilt his head to blow away the worms that had fallen into the bowl.

The well‑traveled Liu Shuoyue and Zang Huai An also felt their stomachs churn at once.

Jin Chen: "Tsk." So disgusting.

The man heard it, turned his head blankly, the eyes embedded in his flesh looking toward Jin Chen's side.

Jin Chen: "How long have you been dead?"

The man replied: "Just died yesterday."

Jin Chen frowned: "Why don't you keep your facial appearance under control? You look hideously ugly—take a look at the guests in this hall; who looks as bad as you?"

The three behind him: "…" Brother, you're scolding a ghost!

The man, feeling wronged by the words, flustered, shoved the corpse worms back onto his face and retied his veil hat.

"Sorry, I've just arrived and am not yet skilled… I'll work hard to keep it under control."

Even the waiter who came over to serve drinks joined in apologizing, "Sir, please bear with us; newly dead ghosts have unstable yin qi, making their appearance hard to maintain—this is normal."

Jin Chen had just found an empty table and sat down, his gaze sweeping over the teapot on the table, still pondering whether the food of Ghost City is edible for the living, when he heard the inn's rather flimsy wooden door bang loudly.

A red shadow flashed, and six figures appeared in the center of the hall, all clad in red cloaks covering them from head to toe, their faces hidden behind black masks.

The inn fell silent, not even a sparrow's chirp.

The leading red‑cloaked figure stepped forward, his voice hoarse and chaotic, as if countless voices of different ages and genders were forcibly blended together, making listeners' scalps tingle.

"Who is Xue Zui?"

The man who had just been wearing the veil hat trembled as he rose, "I… I am…"

A red shadow flickered, and the chief of the cloaks had eerily appeared at his side.

Our City Lord wants you; I heard that in life your looks rivaled Pan An's.

Xue Zui, as instructed, took down the curtain, revealing that rotten face.

The 'An' character behind the Cloak Chief was forcibly swallowed back; even through the mask, one could feel the stagnant qi.

Chu Jiushan, hiding behind Jin Chen, almost laughed out loud, but Zang Huaian, quick-eyed and quick-handed, tightly covered his mouth, so he made no sound.

The Cloak Chief fumed, 'You can't even control your appearance!'

Jin Chen was also furious; Yin Chaosheng actually had a penchant for keeping handsome men!

As a new ghost, Xue Zui didn't know where these red cloaks came from, but she was still fearful.

I-I-I... I will strive! Tonight I will surely tidy up properly!

The Cloak Chief coldly snorted, 'Tonight the City Lord will personally arrive and summon you to the manor. Clean yourself up; if you remain like this...'

Xue Zui, frightened, repeatedly bowed and said yes.

The Cloak Chief waved a hand; the red shadows dissipated like smoke, and the Ke Zhan Main Gate slammed shut—arriving mysteriously, departing abruptly.

The shop attendant shook his head and sighed softly, 'This ghost is done for... I don't know how good-looking they were in life, but the City Lord took a liking to them; if they entered the inner city... sigh.'

Liu Shuoyue heard this, exchanged a glance with Zang Huaian, and lowered her voice: 'Even the ghost city has inner and outer divisions?'

Jin Chen also listened closely to the idle chatter of the other table guests, the ghosts, speaking in low voices.

'The City Lord likes to keep handsome men—how many has this been? Anyone favored and sent into the inner city never seems to come out; a ghost's existence is miserable...'

Jin Chen slowly curled the corner of his mouth, glancing sideways at the anxious Xue Zui.

Xue Zui suddenly shivered, her back turned cold; in a daze, she felt as if misery would come early.