Chapter 2691 The Mad City Lord's Love-Hate Relationship 13

Jin Chen nodded politely to those around him, "Thank you all for your help."

Having said that, he stopped looking at the Right Protector, whose face was ashen and who was so angry he was about to explode, and ordered the skeleton behind him, "Bone White, take the person with you, let's go."

"Yes, sir!" Bone White responded cheerfully, striding along its long, bony legs to the human man who was slumped on the ground.

The man, who had just fainted from fear, slowly awoke. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a white skeleton with eerie light emanating from its eye sockets, which was reaching out with its bone claws to grab him. He was so terrified that his eyes rolled back and he fainted again.

With effortless ease, Gu Baibai hoisted the man onto her seemingly fragile yet sturdy skeletal shoulders, then weighed him in her arms and uttered a dissatisfied complaint.

"It's really heavy, it almost crushed my old bones."

In the side hall.

Jin Chen locked the door behind her back. Gu Baibai threw the unconscious man onto the cold ground like a sack of potatoes, then exaggeratedly spun him around, his pelvic bones devoid of any flesh.

"Sir, look! He almost broke my precious bone!"

Jin Chen looked at it with interest for a few moments, then straightened a few misaligned ribs and leg bones. He took out some pearl powder from his sleeve and tossed it to the creature, saying, "Stand guard outside the door. Don't let any ghost in."

Upon seeing the pearl powder, the dark light in Bone White's eyes brightened slightly. It loved using this stuff to maintain its bones, as it could make its skeleton white and shiny!

"Yes! Please enjoy, sir!" it said ingratiatingly, even making a tearing motion. "Would you like me to peel off its skin for you first? It will taste better that way!"

The man on the ground, who had just shown signs of waking up, shuddered violently upon hearing this, his eyes tightly shut, too afraid to wake up again.

Jin Chen: "...No need, you just need to guard the door."

Gu Baibai then clicked his way out the door and dutifully stood guard outside the hall.

Jin Chen walked up to the man curled up on the ground, whose act of pretending to be dead was not very convincing. She found a rosewood armchair, sat down, and looked at him leisurely.

The man sensed Jin Chen's approach and could no longer pretend. He braced himself on the ground with both hands and shrank back in terror until he reached the corner of the wall, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"No...don't come any closer! Please...don't eat me!"

Jin Chen poured himself a cup of tea, took a slow sip, and said, "Don't worry, I'm not really going to eat you."

Liu Zhou glanced at Jin Chen furtively, his eyes filled with suspicion.

The other person was handsome and had an extraordinary demeanor. Although he was in this eerie place and had a strange flower mark between his eyebrows, he did not have the violent nature of other ghosts. His eyes were clear and calm, and he did not seem to want to eat him.

He asked, trembling, "Are you... are you a human... or a ghost?"

Jin Chen naturally wouldn't easily reveal his identity, only vaguely saying, "I'm a good ghost."

Liu Zhou was skeptical, but his survival instinct made him cling to this lifeline, and he still couldn't stop trembling.

Jin Chen leaned back in his chair and began to use threats and inducements.

"I'll ask you a few questions. If you answer honestly and satisfy me, I might spare your life and send you back to the human world."

Liu Zhou looked up abruptly, his voice cracking, "Is...is this really true?!"

“Of course.” Jin Chen put down her teacup and looked at him, her eyes lowered. “Now tell me, where do you come from? What is your name? And how did you end up here?”

Liu Zhou swallowed hard, trying to calm his wildly beating heart. Recalling his previous experiences made him pale with fear.

He began to recount his story haltingly, “My name is Liu Zhou. I am from the capital. I work as a sweeper on the official road outside the city. This morning, just as dawn was breaking, my companion and I went to work as usual. When we passed the moat, I don’t know how, my foot suddenly slipped, and I… I fell into the river!”

Liu Zhou's face showed extreme confusion. "The river water was ice-cold! And...and I felt like something was sucking me in from the bottom! I'm usually a pretty good swimmer, but I couldn't control myself at all and just kept sinking! And then...and then I don't know anything...and when I woke up, I was...and I was in this godforsaken place!"

At this point, he trembled even more violently, his eyes filled with terror. "Old Li and I both fell in! We didn't know where we were, so we tried to ask someone for directions... but... but as soon as we grabbed an old man, he turned around... and his face was mangled!... He just bit off Old Li's head in one bite! Blood splattered all over me! I ran for my life... and then I was caught..."

Jin Chen listened, his brows furrowing slightly.

"You mean, you fell directly from the moat outside the capital city to this place?"

Liu Zhou nodded frantically, "Absolutely true! Sir! I wouldn't dare lie! There's something strange about that river! Something definitely strange!"

Could it be that the moat is connected to the ghost town...?

Before Jin Chen could sort out her thoughts, she suddenly heard Gu Baibai's panicked voice coming from outside the palace gate:

"Lord! The lord has ordered that no ghost is allowed to enter... Awooo!"

Immediately following was the cracking sound of bones breaking apart.

boom!

The heavy palace doors opened by themselves without any wind, and a chilling, eerie aura rushed into the palace, causing the temperature to plummet.

Yin Chaosheng approached slowly, his crimson robe trailing on the ground, his stunning face shrouded in an unyielding gloom, his aura menacing.

Liu Zhou felt a terrifying aura that was countless times more frightening than a vengeful ghost. He was so scared that his soul almost left his body. He no longer cared whether Jin Chen was a good ghost or a bad ghost. He scrambled and crawled behind the armchair where Jin Chen was sitting, wishing he could embed himself into a crack in the wall.

Jin Chen leaned back comfortably in his chair, poured himself another half cup of tea, his fingertips tracing the cool glass. He looked up at the newcomer, a faint, playful smile playing on his lips.

"What brings you here today, City Lord? You've found the time to see me?"

Yin Chaosheng's gaze fell on Jin Chen, seeing him languid and composed, as if nothing had happened. He then glanced at the mortal man who was huddled behind his chair like a quail, radiating vibrant life, and recalled the Right Protector's trembling report.

Jin Chen was very protective of this person and did not allow any evil spirits to approach.

An inexplicable displeasure, a restless feeling of losing control over everything, welled up inside me.

Yin Chaosheng spoke coldly, "What use do you have for this human?"

He stared sharply at Jin Chen, scrutinizing her. "If you only want to absorb life force, you can do it now. I grant your permission."

Upon hearing this, Jin Chen's playful smile deepened, and he teased, "The city lord's words... sound like he's being jealous."

Yin Chaosheng: "..."

He found that he couldn't communicate normally with this mad dog at all; every time he opened his mouth, the dog would steer his conversation astray.

Yin Chaosheng suppressed the murderous intent surging in his heart, stopped wasting words, and ordered sharply, "Hand over the person."