[T/n: note on chapter title]1

Hearing this, Yan Fei’s heart immediately trembled. The idea of a “city of the dead” naturally emerged in his mind. He subconsciously looked at Ji Yuan, and saw that he looked to be deep in thought.

From where the three of them were, looking into the distance, they could see a walled city. From the city gate to everywhere else in the city, everything was brightly lit, with large lanterns hanging.

In ordinary cities, this kind of sight could only appear during large-scale festivals like the Lantern Festival.2

“Mr. Ji, what do you think?”

Niu Batian asked Ji Yuan. Of the three of them, Ji Yuan was the one who could really make the decision; this idea had been subtly ingrained in him over the past twenty days.

Ji Yuan didn’t speak immediately. He looked over at the city in the distance, then looked above the city. There was a thin layer of clouds gathering, blocking the light of the stars and the moon in the sky, but most other areas of the sky were clear tonight.

“The Yin Qi is forming clouds, but there is no obvious external presence. It seems that it is not a spontaneous surge of Yin Qi, but rather an intentional conversion. There must be a skilled ghost cultivator in the city.”

Having spoken, Ji Yuan thought for a moment more.

“It’s brightly lit over there, so it shouldn’t be any ordinary occasion. Let’s wait and see. We won’t join in on the fun if it’s not necessary.”

“Mhm!”

Yan Fei responded. After all, the warrior was still human no matter his strength. He had no desire to enter a city of the dead, where he imagined thousands of ghosts would congregate.

Niu Batian, on the other hand, was a little curious. Now that Ji Yuan had decreed they wouldn’t continue, he felt very restless inside.

“Hey, Mr. Ji, look: this Old Bull has never been to an orthodox City of the Dead in the underworld either. It looks quite lively over there. Why don’t we go for a stroll? Brother Yan probably wants to visit it too, right?”

Yan Fei quickly shook his head, ignoring Niu Batian’s urging looks. The most update n0vels are published on novèlfire.net

“Elder Brother Niu, I’m a mortal, how could I venture into a ghost town? I would definitely not even entertain such a thought!”

Ji Yuan shook his head, and sat down cross-legged on the hill.

“Let’s wait until dawn, then we can investigate what this city’s background is. It looks so lively; if we rush in now, we may offend someone.”

With Ji Yuan’s words, Niu Batian couldn’t say anything more, so he could only sigh regretfully.

In the night, Ji Yuan rested as he sat with his legs crossed, while Niu Batian and Yan Fei kept glancing at the distant city. They had not seen a single person entering or leaving the city ever since they had arrived here. Yan Fei’s glimpse of the horse-drawn carriage earlier might have been a special case.

“Hey, hey, Brother Yan, someone– ah, no, a ghost– passed by!”

Niu Batian suddenly cried out in excitement. This was the first time since he had cultivated his demon body that he had been so excited at the sight of a ghost.

“Huh? Where?”

Yan Fei opened his eyes wide and but couldn’t see it. Clearly, he wasn’t able to see ghosts. The Old Bull, realizing this, hurriedly approached him.

“Come on, let me help you!”

With that, Niu Batian stretched out his hand and flicked Yan Fei’s forehead with his index finger.

“Thunk…” There was a soft sound, and Yan Fei suddenly felt a little dizzy. The moment his head was hit, his eyes went black and there seemed to be a flash of white light.

When it had passed, he looked down, and suddenly saw that there were some people who looked to be soldiers riding horses far away from the city. Behind them was a line of figures bound by ropes. Some were floating, while others were walking. Some had long necks, some were missing arms or legs.

“Hiss… this, these…”

“Ah, they are all wandering ghosts. Many people died outside for unknown reasons and had no relatives or friends to take care of their funerary rites. In many places, the gods are fading, and the dead are very likely to become wandering ghosts. It’s like this everywhere in Zuyue.”

It was the first time Yan Fei had heard such a statement. He felt horrified.

“Then don’t these ghosts harm people?”

Ji Yuan opened his eyes at this moment, and looked towards the outside of the city in the distance.

“As the saying goes, people may be afraid of ghosts, but ghosts significantly more afraid of people. There is another saying: ‘if you don’t do anything wrong, you won’t fear ghosts knocking at your door.’ There is truth in both of these sayings, and both mostly refer to these helpless wandering ghosts. Unless they hold a deep grudge, they were dissipate in a single moment of carelessness. People have nothing to fear, unless one is extremely weak.”

As he spoke, Ji Yuan gazed in the direction of the city. He had some understanding of the composition of the population of ghosts in this city of the dead. On the southern border of the country of Zuyue, at the very least, there was no shortage of wandering ghosts.

‘But I cannot be certain if this is good or bad!’

Aside from this group of wandering ghosts who were sent into the city, there were no other disturbances until just before dawn. By the time Yan Fei was dozing off, the ghost city gradually faded until it vanished from sight.

Yan Fei was so startled that he lost his previous sleepiness.

“Mr. Ji, Elder Brother Niu, is the city gone?”

“It’s still there. You can see that the dark clouds have not dissipated. It’s just that with the sun is shining in the daytime, and the Yang energy is mixed in. The city has used a ghostly technique to create a place between Yin and Yang to conceal itself.”

Ji Yuan explained, standing up. He strode down the hill first, and Niu Batian and Yan Fei hurriedly followed.

It didn’t take long for the three of them to arrive at the location where the city had been. The surrounding area seemed more desolate than other places, and there were no tall trees. However, from Yan Fei’s point of view, there seemed to be nothing special as he traveled through here.

“Mr. Ji, look over there!”

Niu Batian pointed into the distance, and then ran quickly ahead. Ji Yuan and Yan Fei followed closely behind. About a li away, behind several large pieces of rubble, the three of them found a carriage.

This carriage was not only exquisitely designed, but was also very spacious. It required at least two horses pull it. However, there was no one currently in the carriage, nor were there horses at the front.

Niu Batian reached out his hand to touch the carriage, then lifted the curtain to take a look. He turned back to Ji Yuan.

“Mr. Ji, it’s quite clean, and it doesn’t look like it was abandoned…”

At this moment, Niu Batian suddenly noticed that Yan Fei’s gaze was strange. He frowned and asked:

“Brother Yan, what’s wrong?”

Yan Fei looked at Niu Batian and then at Ji Yuan, then carefully observed the carriage again, and replied with some uncertainty.

“This carriage… looks like the one I saw last night!”

“Are you sure?”

Niu Batian was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly thought of something.

“No wonder you could see the carriage headed towards the city: this carriage was not for ghosts, but for mortals!”

“What about the people in the carriage?”

Yan Fei asked subconsciously, gaze shifting between Niu Batian and Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan also stared at the carriage with a frown. He inspected the empty interior of the carriage, then looked at the empty harness at the front, devoid of horses.

“Then I’m afraid they stayed in that ghost city…”

Niu Batian’s eyes lit up, and he immediately spoke in a righteous manner.

“Mr. Ji, these people have entered the ghost city without realizing. I’m afraid they might not be able to get out, and there is an very high likelihood that they will be discovered as mortals. It is extremely dangerous to be surrounded by ghosts. We should bring them out of the city of the dead. If we encounter any evil ghosts, we can just get rid of them on the way!”

Ji Yuan had indeed been thinking about the feasibility of this approach. When he heard Niu Batian’s words, he looked at him and smiled.

“You’re quite kindhearted, aren’t you?”3

“This is the chivalrous spirit I learned from Brother Yan. Although I may be a demon, I still have some humanity! Mr. Ji, what do you think?”

“Hmm… what about Warrior Yan?”

Ji Yuan looked at Yan Fei. The latter had his sword in his hand, his gaze shifting from the carriage to Ji Yuan. He nodded and said:

“If I happened to encounter a carriage here, I might not necessarily have paid it any attention. However, last night I saw it heading towards the city. Now that I have learned the truth, I feel a sense of responsibility. If Mr. Ji and Elder Brother Niu don’t mind, please take me with you!”

“Hahaha, no problem, no problem. Brother Yan’s martial arts are unparalleled. How can ordinary ghosts be your match? And if you encounter a powerful one, this Old Bull and Mr. Ji will be there!”

Niu Batian was secretly delighted. Given the current situation, Mr. Ji would most likely agree to enter the city of the dead.

Sure enough, Ji Yuan immediately expressed his opinion.

“In that case, let’s head into the city to look for them. I have dealt with the ghosts and gods of the underworld several times. Under normal circumstances, the ghosts in the city of the dead would be indistinguishable to ordinary people. Around a living person, the vitality of living Yang would be suppressed by the Yin energy. If they don’t get too close to any ghosts, they may not be noticed. They may not even realize that they are in a city of the dead at this moment.”4

“Then… do we need to wait until dark for the city to appear?”

Niu Batian deliberately asked. Although he did not find a suitable way to enter the city at present, he believed that Mr. Ji would definitely have a way. Of course, he could also try to attack and destroy it with demonic methods regardless of the consequences, but this would definitely not be appropriate.

“Delaying for that long would be dangerous for them. We must try to enter now.”

Ji Yuan currently had two options. The first was to directly use his immortal sword to cleave through the ghost realm’s Yin-Yang barrier. This wasn’t truly the underworld, after all; with the Green Vine Sword, this would be easy, but would likely alert some powerful ghosts.

The second method was to attempt to mimic the nighttime environment and integrate themselves into the ghost city. This was contingent upon the fact that this city of the dead’s barriers were far less refined than those of an immortal sect or other locations, and more susceptible to the influence of the outside world. In other words, he might be able to “trick” the ghost town itself.

With this thought, Ji Yuan no longer hesitated. With a single thought, his inner world materialized. Under his control, an infinite realm of mountains and rivers unfolded.

To Niu Batian and Yan Fei, it seemed as though the world around them had suddenly shifted. They felt the illusion of their own figures being pulled infinitely away, as if they were in another world, glimpsing the mountains and rivers from an endless distance.

This feeling was so intense and captivating that, in midst of their trance, Ji Yuan’s mind shifted, and he turned and pointed to the sky of his mental world.

In an instant, numerous chess pieces, both solid and intangible, lit up, resembling brilliantly shining stars in the sky. The color of the world changed, from white to black…

At this moment, scenery began to materialize around them: streets, houses, pedestrians… It gradually shifted from illusion to reality.

Yan Fei was simply amazed, while Niu Batian was dumbfounded and breathless.

‘As the stars shift, the world changes…’

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T/n: JY be like, see, I could just cut through the barriers. It would be super easy, and like 99% of other xianxia protagonists would do the same. Or… Or… hear me out… I could literally bend reality to my will

1. This isn’t an exact translation: 改天 (gǎitiān): another day, 换 (huàn): to exchange/to switch, 地 (dì): ground/place/land. Literal TL is “change the land to another day,” which isn’t exactly correct in context (as we see by the end of the chapter), so I tweaked it

2. The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month (February or early March) as the last day of traditional Chinese New Year celebrations.

3. T/n: Lol JY with the sarcasm

4. To clarify, JY is saying that the Yang energy given off by normal living people would be tamped down by the Yin of the ghost city, so no one would be able to sense their Yang unless they were very close by.