Chapter 2694: The Crazy City Lord

The living realm.

Capital, Imperial Merchant Ke Zhan.

The sky was dim; only one night had passed in the living realm.

Jin Chen and his three companions awoke simultaneously from deep sleep.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, warmth everywhere, unlike the chill of the Ghost City, reminding them they had left that cold, eerie Ghost City.

"Finally out!" Chu Jiu Shan exhaled a long breath of foul air, rubbed his face vigorously, as if trying to shake off the ghostly clinging to him, his complexion regaining some color. "The living realm is much better! Staying a few more days in that ghostly place would drive me mad."

Zang Huai An immediately glanced at his companions, confirming everyone was unharmed, then frowned, suddenly recalling something and looked at Jin Chen, asking in a low voice: "Brother Jin, that Liu Zhou… did he come out with you?"

Jin Chen: "No, when the yang soul was summoned away, his soul showed no response; he remains trapped in the Ghost City."

Zang Huai An, steady and kind-hearted, furrowed his brows at the news, feeling uneasy.

"Hope he's fortunate… Good thing we'd earlier found him a relatively safe corner to hide in, but the Ghost City is perilous—he likely couldn't stay hidden long."

The formation outside the side room had been withdrawn; a voice from outside called, "The four of you, the National Preceptor has come to question you."

The door opened, and the National Preceptor in plain white robes walked in slowly.

She swept her gaze over the four, voice icy: "Was your dream entry smooth last night? What exactly is it like inside the Ghost City? Is it truly as the rumors say, existing beneath the capital?"

Chu Jiu Shan and the others opened their mouths, but didn't know where to begin.

The ten‑day experience in the Ghost City was bizarre and perilous; back in the living realm, they felt as if they'd stepped out of another world.

On the contrary, Jin Chen seemed unaffected; he rubbed his forehead and went straight to the National Preceptor: "Serve hot tea first."

National Preceptor: "..."

A twitch flickered at the corner of the disciple's mouth standing behind her—this person has gall! Even His Majesty shows utmost respect to her Master.

The National Preceptor fell silent for a moment, then waved a hand, signaling the disciple to prepare tea.

Steaming fragrant tea was brought up; the four held it in their hands, warmth spreading through their limbs, finally giving them a real sense of being alive.

Chu Jiu Shan gulped down several cups in succession, then let out a long exhale of hot air.

The disciple looked at their near‑exhausted state and couldn't help asking, "Is the Ghost City really that dangerous? After just one night, how could you all be so worn out?"

In his view, even if the Ghost City were terrifying, a single night shouldn't affect cultivators this much.

Liu Shuoyue set down her cup, her face complex, and corrected: "It wasn't one night—we spent a full ten days in the Ghost City."

"Ten days?!"

Everyone in the room, including the National Preceptor, was startled.

The National Preceptor's usually composed face showed clear surprise; she calculated on her fingers, eyes flickering: "Half an hour in the living realm equals a full day in the Ghost City."

Chu Jiu Shan nodded vigorously, heart still racing: "Yes, we endured ten days in there! It felt like years."

Soon, the Medicinal Sect Elder was summoned to examine the four.

The elder took each pulse, his expression grave: "Yin energy has invaded their bodies; though not damaging their foundations, they need proper rest to dispel the cold, lest hidden ailments remain."

When it came to Jin Chen, the elder placed his fingers on his wrist pulse, showing surprise, examined repeatedly, then looked up in astonishment.

"This young hero… you…"

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow: "How so?"

"Don't diagnose me with a serious illness!"

The Medicinal Sect Elder stroked his beard, tsk‑tsking: "How strange! The young hero isn't affected by the Ghost City's yin qi at all—on the contrary, his inner strength seems more refined; his cultivation is truly unfathomable, I'm impressed."

Hearing that, the National Preceptor's gaze toward Jin Chen deepened.

She pondered, then asked for details: "Ghost powder only lasts one night; you stayed ten days in the Ghost City—how did you conceal your mortal aura to avoid the myriad ghosts?"

"Could it be that you fought fiercely with a vicious ghost?"

Jin Chen lifted the freshly poured tea, blew off the foam, and said: "I have my sect's inheritance; I possess secret methods to protect myself, so I'm not lacking even basic means to mask my aura."

National Preceptor: "..."

She really sensed that Jin Chen was indeed arrogant and high‑handed.

But observing his demeanor and cultivation, he is undoubtedly outstanding among his peers; for now we need their information, so she couldn't voice her displeasure and merely suppressed her annoyance.

After resting half a day and adjusting their breath, they reported to the National Preceptor the important sights and sounds from their ten days in the Ghost City.

Of course, they said nothing about the entanglement between Jin Chen and the City Lord.

——

In the afternoon, Jin Chen and his companions bade farewell to the National Preceptor and headed straight for outside the capital.

According to what Liu Zhou had said, they quickly found the Liu family's residence not far from the moat.

Yet before they could approach, they heard mournful wailing from the neighboring courtyard; a white banner hung at the gate—it was a funeral.

Asking the neighbors, they learned the deceased was Old Li Tou, Liu Zhou's companion, who had just been fished out of the moat that morning.

According to the constables, when Old Li Tou's corpse was found, his neck was broken clean through, his head missing; the gruesome state matched what Liu Zhou described in the Ghost City—being bitten in the head by an old man.

His death in the living realm exactly mirrored what had happened to him in the Ghost City.

Meanwhile, Liu Zhou's family was wailing, for his body had not yet been recovered from the moat—its current swift, with deep eddies; the constables had tried a few times and given up, deeming survival hopeless and unwilling to risk further.

Liu Zhou's mother, a white‑haired old woman, seeing the extraordinary bearing of Jin Chen's group—like cultivators—immediately dropped to her knees, tears streaming as she pleaded.

"Honored immortals, please help us—the constables say the river is strange and refuse to go in again… My son, alive I want to see him, dead I want to see his corpse! I can't let him lack even a burial chance!"

Liu Shuoyue hurriedly helped the old woman up, speaking soothingly; Zang Huai An, unwilling to refuse, replied in a low voice: "Rest assured, elder, we will do our utmost."

The four returned once more to the moat's edge.

Now the sunlight was just right, the water sparkling, yet standing on the bank they felt a damp, yin‑laden air at odds with the bright spring.

Liu Shuoyue, naturally keen of spiritual sense, frowned, sensed a moment, and whispered: "This place is truly odd—yin and yang energies are tangled and opposing; the National Preceptor and the capital's mighty experts, profound in their Dao, could not fail to sense this anomaly—why has no one been sent to guard and investigate it thoroughly?"

Zang Huai An took from his cloth bag a compass‑like instrument, its surface covered in runes—a heirloom treasure of the Zang family for tracking.

He wrote Liu Zhou's birth characters in cinnabar, burned the talisman to summon the spirit, scattered the ash onto the compass, and muttered incantations.

Only saw the compass needle trembling, pointing shakily toward a spot on the river surface, then staying still.

"There!" Zang Huai An joined his two fingers, pointing to a seemingly calm deep pool downstream.

"I'm good at swimming, I'll go scoop it up!"

Chu Jiu Shan volunteered, removed his outer robe, and dove straight into the icy river.

The river was rapid and icy, underwater visibility extremely low, undercurrents surging; relying on his superb swimming skill, Chu Jiu Shan struggled to dive to the spot indicated by Zang Huai An, felt around for a moment, and indeed touched a body entangled in waterweeds!

He struggled to drag the corpse out of the water; Jin Chen reached out from the shore and, with a single pull, hauled the drenched Chu Jiu Shan together with the corpse onto the bank.

It was Liu Zhou, though his flesh had turned pale from soaking in the river, his complexion ashen-gray, and indeed his soul was still trapped in Ghost City.

"Take it back first." Jin Chen said.

"I have a secluded manor outside the city that few know about; let's go there first." Liu Shuoyue proposed.