Chapter 2682 The Mad City Lord's Love-Hate Relationship 04

The four of them explored the entire area outside the inn during the day, trying to find a way to leave the ghost town, but to no avail.

The street layout here is almost identical to that of Shengjing during the day, but every place exudes a sense of distortion and death.

In the end, Liu Shuoyue and Zang Huai'an decided to explore further together, while Jin Chen stayed at the inn with Chu Jiushan, who was clearly in poor condition.

It wasn't that they didn't want to act together, but the ghost city was too harsh on the living. The daytime light was cold and didn't bring warmth; instead, it felt like being soaked in the waters of the underworld, with the cold seeping into their bones.

The dense yin energy was constantly eroding their vitality. Chu Jiushan was the first to be unable to bear it. His face turned pale and his lips turned white. He even found it difficult to breathe.

Liu Shuoyue and Zang Huai'an, whose cultivation levels were slightly higher, also felt dizzy and that staying here would only be a waste of their energy.

The approach of dusk was extremely abrupt, and the chill intensified tenfold compared to the daytime.

The lanterns hanging inside and outside the inn lit up one after another, emitting a ghostly green light that stretched and distorted the shadows.

Liu Shuoyue and Zang Huai'an returned to the inn exhausted, only to find Chu Jiushan slumped listlessly on a wooden table in the corner, with a cup of tea that had long since gone cold in front of him.

Chu Jiushan looked dejected and sighed, his listless appearance even more pitiful than Zhen Gui, who sat at the next table with a blank expression and silently drinking.

The two sat down opposite him. Zang Huai'an looked around and lowered his voice, "Where's Brother Jin? Why isn't he here?"

Chu Jiushan felt like he had found someone to rely on, and quickly sat closer to them to absorb more of their presence.

He whispered, "My senior brother said he's going to have a heart-to-heart talk with a new friend and that we don't need to wait for him."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuoyue fell silent for a moment, unable to hide her shock: "He's made friends with the ghosts here?"

The two of them lived in constant fear, each step they took was like walking on thin ice, for fear of revealing their presence.

Jin Chen, on the other hand, not only escaped unharmed, but also quickly integrated into the community and even made friends.

"Um……"

Chu Jiushan nodded firmly, "Yes, it's that ghost brother named Xue Zui."

He recalled the scene when his senior brother forcefully took Xue Zui upstairs and didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

In his mind, if his senior brother was willing to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, Xue Zui would be overjoyed and would wish to immediately become sworn brothers with his senior brother.

At this moment, the temperature inside the inn plummeted, and an invisible malevolent aura surged forth, carrying a chilling pressure that made one's soul tremble.

The lobby fell into a deathly silence. All the ghostly guests froze, bowing their heads deeply, not daring to move.

The inn's main gate twisted and turned into a deep, dark passageway.

Several tall, ghostly figures dressed in bright red cloaks led the way, followed by several ghostly generals clad in tattered armor, exuding a palanquin of unusually large, scarlet color.

The palanquin was surrounded by light gauze curtains, their color so red it looked as if they had been soaked in blood, swaying and fluttering with the chilling atmosphere.

Through the thin gauze, a tall, languid figure could be vaguely seen leaning against the sedan chair, like the most eerie and mysterious ghost in people's imaginations.

"It's over, the city lord... the city lord is here!" Chu Jiushan's scalp tingled, his heart pounded, and he gasped in terror, "What do we do? Senior brother hasn't returned yet!"

Liu Shuoyue's fingertips were icy cold. Before she could respond, the red-cloaked leader who had come during the day stepped forward.

A hoarse voice, mixed with countless other noises, rang out in the lobby, "Where is Xue Zui?"

The hall was completely silent; the ghosts wished they could bury their heads in the ground, trembling with fear.

In the dead silence, a trembling voice came from upstairs, "Yes...yes! I'm here!"

Xue Zui was still wearing that veiled hat. He took a few unsteady steps down the stairs, but was forced to stop a few steps away by the dense, almost tangible, evil aura of the Ghost King.

"I...I have met the Ghost King."

Inside the red sedan chair, only the light gauze curtains fluttered slightly.

The cloaked leader shouted sternly, "Now that you've seen the city lord, why haven't you taken off your veil yet!"

Xue Zui was startled and dared not disobey. With trembling hands, he took off his veil and raised his head.

The moment he looked up, a corner of the light gauze curtain of the red sedan chair was lifted, and then an extremely soft and cold sneer came from inside the sedan chair.

The cloaked leader flew into a rage, "And what's wrong with your face?!"

Hiding in the corner, Chu Jiushan couldn't help but steal a glance. He was so surprised that his mouth dropped open, and he quickly lowered his head, wondering to himself.

How strange! When his senior brother took Xue Zui away that afternoon, he clearly remembered that the ghost brother's face had almost recovered. How come there is now such an ugly and hideous bloodstain from his forehead to his chin? The wound looks fresh, with the skin turned outward and bleeding. It is truly terrifying.

Xue Zui had a long face and spouted a bunch of nonsense.

"Oh dear, I tripped and fell on the stairs..."

Cloaked leader: "..."

That's such a lame excuse, not even a ghost would believe it.

Xue Zui didn't dare to look up at all, his mind filled with the truth that Brother Jin Chen had solemnly told him.

This lord of the ghost city has a terrible hobby: searching for handsome male ghosts, bringing them back to the city lord's mansion, and then skinning and fleshing them, using their souls as ink and their bones and flesh as paper to make eerie paintings, trapping them for eternity, unable to be reborn!

Xue Zui was just an ordinary new ghost who was accidentally stranded in the mortal world. He was hoping to enter the underworld for reincarnation one day and be reborn. How could he dare to get involved in such a terrifying thing?

Xue Zui was in a state of utter confusion, and all he wanted now was for Brother Jin Chen to appear quickly and save him from this predicament.

The sound of unhurried footsteps came again from above the stairs.

Jin Chen walked down the steps one by one, his posture calm and composed, as if he could not sense the terrifying evil aura. His gaze passed through the ghosts and landed on the scarlet sedan chair.

The light gauze bridle fluttered silently once more, and this time, the figure inside sat up straighter.

Pale, bloodless fingertips emerged from behind the gauze curtain and pulled it aside.

In an instant, an even stronger and colder ghostly aura pressed down, and all the ghosts in the inn, including the red-cloaked figure and the ghost general, let out painful groans and prostrated themselves on the ground, their souls trembling.

Even Chu Jiushan and the other two felt a buzzing in their heads, a stinging pain in their six orifices as if they were being pricked by needles, and their blood and qi surged, almost causing them to kneel down.

Only Jin Chen stood firmly in place, his amber pupils seemingly shimmering with light, reflecting the dim red light emanating from inside the sedan chair, exuding elegance and refinement, his eyebrows like ink paintings.

In an instant, pale fingertips lifted Jin Chen's chin, their chilling touch sending shivers down his spine.

Jin Chen looked up and was immediately led into the red sedan chair. The light gauze curtains then fell, separating the inside from the outside.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

"Senior brother..." Chu Jiushan was anxious when he saw Jin Chen being kidnapped. He was about to rush over without thinking, but when he saw the light gauze falling down sway slightly, Jin Chen turned his head and glanced at him through the gauze curtain. His eyes were calm and stopped him.

Chu Jiushan's steps froze abruptly, and he could only clench his fists in tension, watching helplessly.

The cloaked leader was momentarily dazed. The man the city lord had just led into the sedan chair was indeed a rare sight in the world. No wonder the city lord liked him so much.

Suddenly, a cold wind rose again, and the malevolent aura receded.

The group of ghostly figures in red cloaks and the heavy scarlet palanquin vanished into thin air within the hall, just as they had arrived.

The inn's main gate was restored to its original state, and outside was the deep darkness of night.

"Senior brother." Chu Jiushan staggered a few steps toward the empty gate, feeling weak all over.

It’s over.

My senior brother was really taken away by that terrifying ghost city lord!

"Brother Chu." A relieved voice rang out from the side; it was Xue Zui.

He had quietly slipped into a corner and was frantically waving at Chu Jiushan and the other two.

Zang Huai'an grabbed Chu Jiushan's arm, and the three of them cautiously walked over.

Xue Zui, like a thief, pulled two familiar brocade pouches from his sleeve and quickly stuffed them into Chu Jiushan's hands, whispering, "Brother Jinchen asked me to give these to you."

Chu Jiushan took it and saw that it was indeed the bag containing the ghost powder!

Liu Shuoyue was startled, and asked in a serious tone, "Do you know what this is?"

Xue Zui shook his head blankly: "I don't know. Brother Jin Chen only asked me to pass it on and told me to make sure it gets to you. He didn't say anything else and didn't let me ask any more questions."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuoyue felt slightly relieved. If Xue Zui knew that this was ghost powder used to conceal the presence of living people, their situation would be dangerous.

Chu Jiushan clutched the brocade pouch, lost in thought. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he lowered his voice to Liu Shuoyue and Zang Huai'an, saying, "I understand! Senior Brother must have done it on purpose! He had planned this opportunity to get close to the City Lord long ago. Let's go back to our rooms and discuss this further!"