“This Nascent Soul is mine!”

Soul refinement was a signature technique of the Ghost Path among demon cultivators. While most chose to refine beast or monster souls, they didn’t shy away from human souls, with those of high-level cultivators being the most prized.

It was said that a perfectly refined soul could use all its pre-death techniques. For soul-refining demon cultivators, a Nascent Soul was an unparalleled treasure.

From her hiding spot, Nan Yan watched the Nascent Soul demon cultivator set up a soul-refining array before the thatched hut. He then tapped his storage bag, producing a black umbrella.

As the umbrella opened, five ghostly faces representing joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, and hatred appeared on its surface. Five ghost fires emerged, encircling the demon cultivator.

Nan Yan noticed faint traces of tonsure scars on each ghostly face. If she wasn’t mistaken, these were all souls of Buddhist cultivators.

Demon cultivators… she thought darkly.

Nan Yan’s eyes narrowed as she gripped her prayer beads tightly. Just as her killing intent peaked, the Nascent Soul demon cultivator opened the hut’s door with a wave of his hand. His smile suddenly froze, and he let out a piercing scream. As he turned to flee, long strands of hair shot out from the hut, swiftly enveloping him and dragging him inside.

The door slammed shut, leaving only the five-ghost umbrella behind.

It all happened so quickly that Nan Yan stood stunned for a long moment. Seeing no further movement from the hut, she cautiously approached and pressed her ear against it.

Nan Yan swallowed hard as she heard faint chewing sounds from within.

When the sounds ceased, she retreated to hide behind a nearby wooden building. Soon, the hut’s door reopened, and the Nascent Soul demon cultivator who had been dragged inside emerged, seemingly unharmed. He picked up the five-ghost umbrella, slung it over his shoulder, and walked towards the only lit green lantern in the night sky.

After a while, Nan Yan emerged from her hiding place. Before the hut’s door closed on its own, she caught a glimpse inside. The hut was empty, with no sign of the eyeless old ghost.

Something was amiss. The Nascent Soul cultivator had likely been possessed or, at the very least, had a spirit attached to him.

As Nan Yan’s scalp tingled with unease, she suddenly heard the sound of dragging chains coming from all directions. Gritting her teeth, she darted into the thatched hut to hide. Soon after, the Wuxiang Sect’s Grand Elder, Elder Yu, and others appeared at the alley’s entrance, frantically rushing towards her location.

“Don’t fly! It’s forbidden here. Those ghostly things will catch you if you try!”

Even without flying, Nascent Soul cultivators were much faster than Golden Core ones. In the blink of an eye, they appeared before the thatched hut using several teleportations.

“Damn it! Weren’t we told there was no danger? Huo Wuji deceived us!”

“Our Wuxiang Sect has always paid tribute and sworn allegiance. When have we ever betrayed the Heavenly Demonic Path?”

Only five Nascent Soul cultivators from the Wuxiang Sect remained, all seething with anger. At that moment, Li Mian and another Nascent Soul cultivator fled to the same spot from the opposite direction. As the two groups met, their fury exploded.

Elder Yu was the first to point an accusing finger: “Why is this place so perilous? Didn’t the Heavenly Demonic Path explain anything?”

Li Mian’s face darkened. The Heavenly Demonic Path’s Nascent Soul cultivator frowned and replied, “Our Vice Sect Master is a Transcendent cultivator. Why would he stoop to deceiving mere Nascent Soul cultivators? Even if he wanted to deceive you, why would he endanger the Marquis’s daughter? Something unexpected must have happened in this ghost city.”

Li Mian produced an hourglass and said, “Two hours have already passed. If we can’t find a way out within four hours, we’re done for!”

As the sound of dragging chains drew nearer from all directions, Nan Yan, hiding in the hut and worried about Yin Ya’s whereabouts, opened the door and said, “Everyone, please come inside and hide!”

The panicked Nascent Soul cultivators were both surprised and relieved.

“Quickly, get inside! There are no ghosts in this hut!”

Although the hut was large, it felt cramped with eight people squeezed inside. Knowing that all the houses in the ghost city could conceal their auras, everyone held their breath and listened to the sounds outside.

Among them, Nan Yan had the keenest hearing. She soon heard something dragging chains, slowly floating closer. Moments later, the sounds multiplied outside the door, accompanied by the constant opening and closing of doors. Soon, a small shadow trailing chains appeared before their hut.

The group exchanged nervous glances, aware that the street outside was now filled with ghosts.

The thatched hut was somewhat dilapidated, with a door woven from straw. Through the gaps, Nan Yan saw a small child standing outside, only as tall as her waist. The child was completely charred, with only a pair of enormous, vacant eyes staring at the hut’s door.

The child reached for the door latch, seemingly trying to enter. The Nascent Soul cultivator standing by the door quickly secured it. After rattling the door a few times, the child gave up.

The patrolling ghosts each found houses to enter, and the outside fell silent.

Li Mian let out a long sigh, clutching her heaving chest. “That scared me to death—”

She was immediately silenced by those around her. At that moment, a window behind her cracked open slightly, and the charred child from earlier peered in, its large eyes surveying the room.

Nan Yan, quick to spot the child, darted to the broken window and sealed it with a Buddhist mantra. Stung by the Buddhist power, the ghost child hissed and quickly fled, disappearing into a nearby stone house.

As everything quieted down, Li Mian narrowed her eyes at Nan Yan, raising a snake-shaped dagger toward her. “A Buddhist cultivator?!”

“Stop!” The Wuxiang Sect members, who already knew Nan Yan, quickly surrounded her. “This ghost city is crawling with vicious spirits. Having a Buddhist cultivator with us is better than anything.”

Li Mian raised an eyebrow. “She was hiding in this house from the start. How do we know she hasn’t been possessed like the others?”

The Wuxiang Sect’s Grand Elder said, “This friend is a disciple of our Wuxiang Sect. If she had been possessed, would she have invited us in?”

After a tense moment, the late-stage Nascent Soul elder beside Li Mian snorted, “Arguing about this is pointless. We’d be better off working together to find a way out!”

Aware that demon cultivators had no sense of honor, Nan Yan, satisfied with the current situation, quickly asked the Wuxiang Sect cultivators, “My… elder sister and the other seniors entered the ghost city first. I can’t reach them with communication talismans. Do you know where they might be?”

The Wuxiang Sect’s Grand Elder replied grimly, “Everyone who entered this city was scattered and randomly teleported. Only those sent to the streets can be contacted via talismans. Those teleported into houses with ghosts… their chances are slim.”

Nan Yan probed her storage ring with her divine sense, relieved to see that her brothers’ life flames were still burning strong. “We entered through the city gate, but now we can’t find it. Is there a way out?”

The late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from the Heavenly Demonic Path spoke up, “Though this place is bizarre, I’ve noticed some patterns. The closer we get to the blue flame in the clouds, the more solid the buildings become. If we view this as a capital city, the thatched hut areas are the slums, wooden houses are for commoners, and stone houses or those with courtyards are for the wealthy. The blue flame likely marks the palace area.”

Impressed by the Nascent Soul cultivator’s insight, Nan Yan quickly sketched a rough map of the ghost city’s structure on a jade tablet.

“Every hour, a random area of this ghost city experiences a ghost patrol. When cultivators open doors, they might encounter ghosts or…” Someone stomped on the ground and picked up a gray stone from the corner. With a burst of spiritual energy, they shattered its outer layer, revealing a translucent blue mineral inside. “…treasures.”

“Fourth-grade Netherfire Shi. Excellent for crafting natal treasures for Golden Core cultivators.”

The Wuxiang Sect’s Grand Elder added, “In a thatched hut I opened earlier, I found a broken sword. It appeared to be a spirit weapon.”

Everyone fell silent, then their eyes gleamed with excitement. Could each of these countless houses be a treasure chest?

“Fortune favors the bold. Cultivators battle both heaven and man. The Vice Sect Master and the Marquis are close friends. They wouldn’t deceive us. Perhaps other Nascent Soul cultivators have already headed to the city center in search of opportunities.”

“Moreover, the Vice Sect Master’s disciple was supposed to oversee this venture. Surely, the Vice Sect Master told him everything about this ghost city. If we find him, we’ll likely find a way out!”

…

When Yin Ya first swaggered into the ghost city, he thought it was just an ordinary secret realm. To his surprise, he was immediately teleported into a courtyard.

The courtyard was empty save for a dried-up well. Three sides were walled, with the fourth covered by an ornate ancient wooden building. The door below seemed to lead outside.

Initially, Yin Ya tried to fly out, but as soon as he reached the top of the wall, he saw a window of the wooden house creak open slightly. A pair of bloodshot eyes peered out, watching him expectantly as if waiting for him to make a move.

Yin Ya’s mind went blank. His fox spirit instincts made him freeze. Only when he had carefully slid down from the wall did the window slowly close again.

…What kind of haunted place is this?

Pale-faced, Yin Ya inched along the wall. He huddled in the corner for a full half-hour before hearing cultivators rapidly approaching outside. Yin Ya immediately shouted for help.

“Save me! Is anyone there? There’s a ghost in this house!”

The footsteps outside paused, then quickly retreated, as if in frustration. A voice called back:

“There are ghosts everywhere here. You’ve got just one; outside there are hundreds!”

But as soon as the words were spoken, it seemed the person had run into something. With a scream, they vanished.

Yin Ya: “…”

The voice seemed to have stirred something in the dried-up well in the center of the courtyard. A tapping sound gradually emerged from within.

Trembling, Yin Ya took out all the evil-repelling talismans from his storage ring and hugged the wooden fish he had brought from the Buddhist Sea Temple to his chest. He stared at the well for a long time, battling his fear. Finally, mustering his courage, he stood up, wrapping himself into a fur ball with his tail. He took out a bronze mirror, wishing he could stand ten feet away and use it to observe the well.

As he looked, something in the well seemed to sense his presence. Suddenly, a burst of fire shot out of the well mouth, burning whatever was inside and causing it to squeal in pain. Then, a strange figure, its body on fire and its limbs bound by living hair-like tendrils struggled out of the well.

“Ahhh!!!!”

“Ahhh!!!!!”

Two screams rang out simultaneously. Just as they were about to unleash powerful attacks out of instinct, they suddenly recognized each other’s voices.

The strange figure decided to remove his outer garment and throw it into the well. He saw a white furball before him, with a woman covered in talismans peeking out from the middle. The figure looked familiar, and the voice coming from it was male. After careful consideration, he asked, “Yin Ya? Why have you taken on Ah Yan’s appearance?”

Yin Ya unwrapped one of his tails, revealing Nan Yan’s face. Only then did he realize the figure before him was Mu Zhanting.

“I’m taking her place to face tribulation. What are you doing here?” Yin Ya asked.

“I was slaying demon cultivators in Qitian Plains when about ten of my guards were captured by an early-stage Nascent Soul demon cultivator. A Chen State Nascent Soul cultivator guided me here in pursuit. Have you seen them?” Mu Zhanting replied.

Yin Ya frowned, chiding him for likely being tricked into this ghost city. He then recounted Nan Yan’s reasons for coming here.

“This place is truly bizarre. We only have one night to escape. If we can’t get out by sunrise… those demon cultivators say we might all turn into ghosts.”

Mu Zhanting had been teleported directly into the courtyard’s dry well upon entering the ghost city. In that instant, numerous hair-like tendrils had tried to ensnare his limbs.

He had fainted from shock three times before finally managing to break free, fighting the revulsion of being entangled by the hair.

“So what do we do? The ghost in this house stares at us if we try to climb the wall. Should we dig a tunnel out?”

Yin Ya: “Have you noticed how soft the ground is beneath our feet?”

Mu Zhanting: “A bit, yes.”

Yin Ya: “I’m afraid if you start digging, we’ll find nothing but hair under the grass.”

Mu Zhanting’s face turned ashen as he nodded in agreement. “Right. It seems our only option is to confront the ghost in that house head-on.”

The two men glanced at the eerie house with its slightly ajar wooden door. They exchanged looks, silently urging each other to make the first move.

After an awkward standoff lasting nearly half a cup of tea, Mu Zhanting finally broke the silence: “I heard you’ve been training at the Buddhist Sea Temple?”

Yin Ya: “No, no, no. I just ring the wooden fish and collect donations. I can’t do anything else. But I’ve heard ghosts are afraid of fire. Why don’t you try burning down this wooden house?”

Mu Zhanting: “It’s wolves that fear fire. Don’t books say fox spirits and ghosts are related? Look at all the hair in this courtyard; it must be a female ghost. Since you’re disguised as a woman now, maybe she’ll fall in love with you at first sight. Why don’t you try talking to her?”

Yin Ya: “…When I get out of here, I’m going to kill all those writers who lump fox spirits together with ghosts.”

Mu Zhanting suggested, “How about we play rock-paper-scissors? The winner opens the door, and the loser stands back to observe the situation.”

Reluctantly, Yin Ya agreed. Unfortunately, his fingers were stiff from fear, and he threw out scissors against Mu Zhanting’s paper.

Mu Zhanting dragged him towards the wooden house’s door. “Have some faith. You’ve been blessed before a Buddha. Maybe the ghost will be exorcised as soon as you enter.”

Yin Ya clung to a nearby pillar, refusing to let go. “No! Brother, we’ve sworn brotherhood before the Guan Di Temple. You should go in front!”

As they struggled, the wooden house suddenly creaked open a crack. A pale hand rested on the doorframe, and a faint, weak voice came from within.

“…Can I… play with you? Please?”

Mu Zhanting/Yin Ya: “Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”