Chapter 2681 The Mad City Lord's Love-Hate Relationship 03

The four followed the directions and walked along the empty street.

The fog was thicker than before, and the doors and windows of the shops on both sides were tightly closed, with only occasional blurry shadows flashing past behind the window paper.

Before long, a lone inn appeared on the street corner, the large characters on the signboard hanging in front of it still sending chills down one's spine.

The storefront was dilapidated and old, with most of the paint peeling off the signboard, revealing the rotten wood underneath. The door panels were crooked, as if they would fall apart if pushed. It was decaying and gloomy.

"It looks like something, but it's strange and broken." Jin Chen stopped in his tracks.

"Perhaps it's due to the influence of yin energy, hence this appearance." Chu Jiushan rubbed his cold arms.

There wasn't even a waiter to greet guests at the entrance of the inn. Jin Chen pushed the door open and went in. The door hinges made a piercing creak. A few oil lamps were lit in the lobby, barely illuminating a small space.

The waiter, dressed in coarse cloth, was dozing off at the counter. Hearing the noise, he looked up, his face blank, as if he had never seen a stranger before. After a while, he slowly asked, "Gentlemen... are you checking in?"

Jin Chen: "I'd like a top-tier room."

The waiter paused for a moment, trying to recall where the top-tier room was, before nodding slowly and pulling out a rusty key from under the counter and handing it over.

Find the corresponding room, open the door and go in, then lock the latch behind you.

"We can only wait until dawn." Liu Shuoyue was a little annoyed. If it weren't for the lack of ghost powder, she should have investigated more carefully tonight.

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

Looking out the window at the layout of the city's streets, the moonlight was dim and pale, with occasional flashes of blood-red light, all heading towards the palace.

Jin Chen gently tapped the window frame with her fingertips. By day, the palace was where the emperor lived, but by night, it might be the residence of the lord of the ghost city.

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

"[Eek, host, I don't recommend this.]" Zero peeked out timidly, "[What if I guessed wrong, and there's a ghost emperor lurking in the palace?]"

Jin Chen thought about it for a moment and then gave up the tempting idea.

Anyway, there will be another chance tomorrow.

The four of them sat or leaned against each other, trying to fall asleep again. Jin Chen felt drowsy as soon as he closed his eyes, until a faint light shone through the window.

Jin Chen was almost asleep when he sat up first and went downstairs for a walk. They gradually woke up when he came back.

Jin Chen sat at the table, watching them with a smile.

"There are two pieces of bad news. Which one would you like to hear first?"

Chu Jiushan forced back his yawn, instinctively sensing something was wrong. "Can I just ignore everything?"

Zang Huai'an asked gravely, "Brother Jin, what exactly happened?"

Jin Chen took a sip of tea. "We're still in the ghost town."

The three of them gasped in shock.

The Imperial Advisor repeatedly assured them that as long as they slept in the inn, the formation would naturally guide their souls back to reality by dawn!

Moreover, this ghost town actually has daytime!

Jin Chen put down his teacup and continued, "It's very lively downstairs, but the liveliness belongs to them. We have nothing; the streets are full of ghosts."

The three of them gasped.

Chu Jiushan's face turned pale. "We're doomed! We only have so few ghost powder left. Aren't we just waiting to be ganged up on by a whole city of vengeful ghosts?"

Liu Shuoyue walked quickly to the window and opened it. Sure enough, it was bright outside and even a bit hot.

The cries of vendors echoed through the streets, and if one did not know the truth, it would be hard to believe that all the pedestrians in the city were ghosts.

"We can't just sit here and wait to die." Zang Huai'an clenched his fist. "We're trapped here, and the Imperial Advisor will definitely notice something's wrong and try to rescue us. We might as well take this opportunity to go out and investigate."

Chu Jiushan looked miserable. "But we've run out of ghost powder! What's the difference between going out like this and jumping straight into a pile of ghosts?"

"Hey, there's more." As if by magic, Jin Chen flipped his wrist and pulled out another packet of powder from his sleeve, contained in a different dark brocade pouch. The pouch was slightly different from the one he had taken out before. "I brought it from the sect."

Chu Jiushan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled brightly, "Senior brother! You really are the most reliable senior brother in the world!"

The joy of escaping death lessened some of their fear, and the four of them reapplied the ghost powder and went downstairs.

Chu Jiushan volunteered to go first, wanting to appear brave. As soon as he stepped off the last step, he turned around abruptly, staring blankly at Jin Chen behind him, his lips trembling.

"Senior brother...I...I'm going blind..."

Following his gaze, one could see a man wearing a veiled hat downstairs in a private room. He removed the veil, revealing a pale, festering face with maggots crawling in and out of the rotting flesh.

The man picked up the wine bowl on the table and drank it, occasionally tilting his head to blow away any insects that fell into the bowl.

Even the well-informed Liu Shuoyue and Zang Huai'an felt their stomachs churning instantly.

Jin Chen: "Tsk." So disgusted.

Upon hearing this, the man turned his head blankly, his eyes, embedded in his flesh, looking towards Jin Chen.

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

The man replied, "He just died yesterday."

Jin Chen frowned: "Why can't you control your appearance? You look terrible. Look at all the guests here, who is as unsightly as you?"

The three people behind him: "..." Dude, what are you cursing?!

The man felt wronged and helplessly stuffed the worms back into his face before putting his veil back on.

"Sorry, I'm new here and not very familiar with things yet... I'll try my best to control it."

Even the waiter who came to deliver the drinks apologized, saying, "Please forgive us, sir. Newly deceased ghosts have unstable yin energy, and it's common for them to have difficulty maintaining their appearance."

Jin Chen had just found an empty table and sat down, his gaze sweeping over the teapot on the table. He was still pondering whether the food in this ghost town was edible for the living when he heard a loud crash from the already flimsy wooden door of the inn.

A red shadow flashed, and six figures appeared in the center of the hall, all wearing red cloaks, completely covered from head to toe, with black masks covering their faces.

The inn was completely silent.

The leader in the red cloak stepped forward, his voice hoarse and chaotic, like countless voices of different ages and genders forcibly mixed together, sending chills down one's spine.

Who is Xue Zui?

The man in the veiled hat stood up shakily, "I...I am..."

A flash of red, and the cloaked figure appeared strangely beside him.

"Our city lord desires you; we've heard you were as beautiful as Pan..."

Xue Zui did as he was told and took down the curtain, revealing his festering face.

The word "An" on the back of the cloak was abruptly swallowed back, and the stagnant atmosphere could be felt even through the mask.

Chu Jiushan, who was hiding behind Jin Chen, almost burst out laughing, but Zang Huai'an quickly covered his mouth to keep him from making a sound.

The cloaked man roared angrily, "You can't even control your appearance!"

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

As a new ghost, Xue Zui was still terrified, even though he didn't know the origin of these red cloaks.

"I...I...I will try my best! I'll definitely get everything sorted out tonight!"

The cloaked man scoffed, "The city lord himself is here tonight, summoning you to his residence. Clean yourself up; if you're still looking like this..."

Xue Zui was so frightened that he repeatedly bowed and agreed.

With a wave of his hand, the cloaked figure vanished like smoke, and the inn's doors slammed shut. His arrival was eerie, and his departure abrupt.

The waiter shook his head and sighed in a low voice, "This ghost is doomed... I wonder how handsome he was in life that he caught the eye of the city lord. If he gets into the inner city... sigh."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuoyue exchanged a glance with Zang Huai'an and lowered her voice, "The ghost city is actually divided into inside and outside?"

Jin Chen was also listening intently to the hushed conversations of the other guests at the other tables.

"The city lord has a penchant for keeping male concubines. How many is this now? Every one he's chosen and sent into the inner city has never come out alive; their ghostly forms are truly pitiful..."

Jin Chen slowly curled the corners of her lips and glanced at the uneasy Xue Zui.

Xue Zui suddenly shivered, a chill ran down his spine, and he vaguely felt as if his tragic fate was about to unfold prematurely.