69
On the other side of the barrier, in the pitch-black cave, a night parade of a hundred ghosts unfolded.
The moment Wen Qingchen passed through the barrier, countless pairs of red eyes, green eyes, and even white eyes turned to stare at her in unison.
Yes, that’s right. On the other side of the barrier were slightly higher-level ghosts.
They were bowing devoutly in the direction where Wen Qingchen now stood, their faces filled with reverence.
When they realized a human had intruded into their territory, they all raised their heads in unison, their eyes widening in shock.
Wen Qingchen glanced at the sea of ghosts, then at her position, raising her eyebrows slightly.
“Well, uh… I rarely visit your home as a guest, but isn’t kneeling to welcome me a bit too much? Don’t you think this is overly formal?”
The ghosts: “…”
One of the red-eyed ghosts stood up angrily, its ghostly aura surging. “You human! You can see us? Are you courting death?!”
No human had ever dared to venture this deep into the cave before.
Wen Qingchen blinked, her expression innocent and playful. “I’m not here to die; I’m here to find ghosts!”
The red-eyed ghost grew even angrier. “I’ll eat you right now!”
This red-eyed ghost was a vengeful spirit, exuding a strong and malevolent aura. It lunged at Wen Qingchen without hesitation.
Wen Qingchen’s eyes narrowed slightly, and as her unique energy flared, the ghost that had just pounced on her recoiled instantly as if it had touched fire. It retreated in panic, its black mist trembling violently, even burning away into faint wisps of smoke.
“You… you’re a Spirit Being?!” the red-eyed ghost exclaimed in disbelief.
Spirit Beings were people who lived in spirit-rich lands and possessed a special power within them.
It was said that the place with the highest number of Spirit Beings was Linxian City.
Of course, Spirit Beings were categorized into levels.
Some were merely Earth-Level, possessing only a trace of power, which ghosts wouldn’t fear at all.
Others were Human-Level, then Heaven-Level, Immortal-Level, and finally God-Level. Spirit Beings above Immortal-Level could ascend to the status of Spirit Gods.
The red-eyed ghost was now thoroughly convinced that this woman was at least an Immortal-Level Spirit Being.
Upon hearing the red-eyed ghost’s words, Wen Qingchen’s expression turned regretful, and she sighed wistfully. “Ah, I’d love to be a Spirit Being too, but alas, I don’t have a guide. By the way, what’s a Spirit Being? Is it something fun? Are they as adorable as you all?”
The red-eyed ghost and the others froze in unison. A-Adorable? Us?
It was the first time anyone had called them good-looking!
A green-eyed ghost retorted, “Adorable my foot! We’re fierce!”
The red-eyed ghost thought to itself, Even we ghosts find ourselves ugly these days. How could a human think we’re cute?
“Of course, there are creatures even uglier than you,” Wen Qingchen added, as if recalling something. She then casually stepped back through the barrier and dragged the unlucky ghost, Lanlan, Mu An, and the four black-clad men through to the other side.
The crowd of ghosts: “…”
Did she bring her whole family here?!
Wen Qingchen tossed the unlucky ghost toward the group. “Here, this one’s pretty ugly.”
The unlucky ghost: “…”
I don’t care what you say! I’m not ugly! I’m the best-looking ghost here!
The red-eyed and green-eyed ghosts scrutinized the unlucky ghost carefully, nodding seriously. “Compared to it, you’re right…”
The unlucky ghost: “…”
What kind of seniority is this? Aren’t we supposed to be the ghosts here?!
Mu An, who had never seen so many ghosts in his life, rolled his eyes and fainted on the spot.
The four black-clad men, also overwhelmed, quickly followed suit after seeing Mu An collapse. “So scary! I didn’t see anything! I’m passing out too!”
Wen Qingchen rolled her eyes, ignoring the cowardly group. She turned her calm gaze to the ghosts and said flatly, “I came here today for the people of Tangcheng. You ghosts have been far too unruly lately, constantly possessing the townsfolk. What exactly are you planning?”
70
Ghosts, too, have their taboos.
They fear places with too many living people. Humans carry three metaphorical flames, which burn brightest when they are healthy, deterring most ghosts from approaching. Only those who are physically weak or chronically ill are more prone to being possessed.
Recently, there had been an alarming number of such sickly individuals in Tangcheng.
Although Wen Qingchen wasn’t exactly a saint, the increasing presence of ghosts in Tangcheng had piqued her suspicion.
More importantly, her brother Wen Huan’s leg injury had just healed, and his body remained fragile. To ensure nothing harmed him, she was determined to uncover what was going on.
She needed to understand what these ghosts were up to.
After the earlier confrontation, the red-eyed ghost had developed a degree of caution toward Wen Qingchen.
With a cold snort, it said, “This is a matter of the ghost realm and has nothing to do with you humans.”
Wen Qingchen raised an eyebrow. “For now, it might have nothing to do with me. But if, someday, any of you target the people around me… then it will become very much my business.”
The ghosts exchanged uneasy glances.
Despite their fear of her purifying power, they knew that if they all attacked together, they could overpower her. Though it would come at a cost, they could definitely kill this woman.
But!
They were unwilling to risk it.
They were still waiting for blessings from the Ghost King. How could they waste themselves fighting this woman?
The green-eyed ghost thought for a moment and said, “We’re only feeding on some of the life force of humans. We won’t kill them. As for the murders in the city, those weren’t done by the ghosts of Yewinter Cave.”
The red-eyed ghost puffed out its chest and added proudly, “Exactly. We ghosts of Yewinter Cave don’t eat just anyone. We won’t eat the weak, the ugly, or those who haven’t bathed in a day. We are ghosts with principles!”
Wen Qingchen: “…”
These ghosts really do have their principles.
The green-eyed ghost continued, “As for why we feed on life force, we’re not going to tell you. But if you don’t want your loved ones to encounter us, why don’t you just give us a list of names? I’ll make sure the ghosts under me stay far away from them.”
It was, surprisingly, a very reasonable offer!
Where else in the world could you find such agreeable ghosts?!
Hmph, the ghosts of Yewinter Cave were clearly different from others!
Wen Qingchen twitched the corner of her mouth. Upon thinking about it, the idea made a bit of sense.
Since these ghosts claimed they wouldn’t harm humans, she really did jot down a list and even included Mu An’s name for good measure.
At this moment, the previously unconscious black-clad men—Numbers One, Two, Three, and Four—scrambled back to their feet, their eyes sparkling with hope. “C-could you add our names, too?”
Wen Qingchen gave them a meaningful look.
Then she tossed the pen and paper over. “Sure, write them yourselves.”
As a healer, she always carried ink and a brush for writing prescriptions whenever needed.
Numbers One, Two, Three, and Four hurriedly scribbled their names with relief, breathing satisfied sighs.
Wait! Something felt off. They were assassins, sent here to kill Chen Qing! Why had they just exposed their real names?!
“…”
After securing their promise, Wen Qingchen didn’t linger. Dragging Mu An along, she turned to leave.
Just as she was about to exit the barrier, her eyes caught something—a painting on the stone wall. It depicted a man with wild black hair, a mischievous smirk, and an overwhelmingly wicked charm.
Wen Qingchen slapped her forehead in realization. “Oh! So when I first came in, you were all bowing to him, huh? Who’s this?”
The ghosts immediately straightened up, their faces filled with reverence: That’s our Ghost King!
Before they could say a word, Wen Qingchen casually ran her hand over the painted man’s face and marveled, “What a great painting. Look at that face—so sharp, so… gorgeous!”
The ghosts: “…”
