Chapter 29: Neither Netherworld nor Blue Sky Seen

The Gate of Ghosts, which existed in the depths of the Nine Netherworlds and, to a certain extent, represented the boundary between life and death, had actually appeared in the mortal world!

With this, the dense fog that had never dispersed finally had an explanation. That fog was not man-made, but the natural condensation of the laws of heaven and earth.

Because the Netherworld and the blue sky could not meet. If the Gate of Ghosts appeared in the mortal world, it had to be concealed.

The wandering souls gathered here, far exceeding the number of living people Little Forest Town had ever held, also suddenly had an explanation. Wandering souls drew close to the Gate of Ghosts. This was an instinct unrelated to intelligence. Perhaps all the wandering souls in Maple Forest City’s territory had gathered here.

And it was foreseeable that as long as this Gate of Ghosts continued to exist, the gathered wandering souls would only become more numerous, and stronger!

But how could the Gate of Ghosts appear here?

Almost without hesitation, after understanding the meaning of those three words, Wei Yan drew from his robes a signal incense stick of bright red color and ancient style, then handed it to Zhao Lang.

“Quick!”

Of course he carried flint with him, and he himself was not unfamiliar with fire-element dao arts. But naturally, Zhao Lang was faster.

Having partnered with Wei Yan for many years, their tacit understanding need not be mentioned. At the same time the bright red signal incense was handed over, Zhao Lang had already rubbed two fingers together. A cluster of flame sprang onto the incense and burned this not especially thin signal incense to ash in an extremely short time.

Only then did he say with an ugly expression, “You only had this one red signal on you.”

Signal incense in Zhuang Country’s military was divided into black, red, and yellow. Only people of a certain status could possess them, and they were rare strategic items. When black signal incense burned, the entire nation fought to the death. In all of Zhuang Country, there were only a few people qualified to burn black signal incense.

When yellow signal incense burned out, it meant the burner was trapped in a desperate situation.

And red signal incense, between the two, represented danger of a city being destroyed and land being lost!

Once red signal incense burned, all of Maple Forest City would be shaken. It would certainly even alarm Wei Quji.

Now, within Maple Forest City’s territory, both the city guard army and the Criminal Investigation Office had been restrained. Wei Quji was sitting in command at the City Lord’s Estate, and any movement from him would affect the entire situation.

Was Little Forest Town, where no enemy aside from wandering souls had appeared so far, worth Wei Quji personally making a trip?

Or rather, if Wei Yan’s judgment was wrong, and Wei Quji’s movement caused some problem to appear in Maple Forest City, could he bear that responsibility?

But none of these questions needed to be considered before those three words.

Because…

that was the Gate of Ghosts.

It appeared in countless legends and faintly served as an outline of the Age of Myth.

In fact, when the phantom of red signal incense suddenly ignited before him, Wei Quji, dignified lord of a city, had already risen from the ground without hesitation!

He shot into the sky, his entire body wrapped in a mass of hurricane, roaring toward Little Forest Town.

Almost at the same time, Dong A, who was in quiet cultivation, abruptly opened his eyes. No matter when, Maple Forest City had to have an expert of this level in command. Since Wei Quji had gone, he could no longer leave.

He did not move, but his dignified voice had already passed outside the room.

“Pass down the order. Notify every disciple who can be reached. No matter what mission they are carrying out, or what cultivation they are doing, they are to stop immediately and return to Maple Forest City!”

Indeed, the Dao Academy cultivated the hopes of Zhuang Country, and before that, there was a long process of growth. But when the nation’s territory was in danger, everyone had to fight for it.

Meanwhile, Song Qifang, the current vice academy master who was also in the Dao Academy, sat cross-legged before an alchemy furnace, lightly waving a cattail fan in his hand as he tended the fire.

A very, very low sigh escaped him.

“I’m old.”

…

In Little Forest Town, after Wei Yan lit the red signal incense, he did not pause. Instead, he immediately slashed horizontally with his long saber. The sharp blade-light nearly tore through the air, then dissipated upon the archway.

Yes.

It vanished silently, without the slightest ripple.

The attacks that followed were the same. Whether fierce fire or wild wind, every dao art hurled at it sank like stones into the sea. Ling He even threw his own sword over, but it vanished without a trace as well.

It was as if it did not exist. Not only did it not exist, but everything that touched it also ceased to exist.

Huang Azhan stood before the Gate of Ghosts, hesitating and pacing for a long time. He possessed very stubborn confidence in his virgin urine, but after seeing even Ling He’s sword vanish, he regretfully chose to give up.

“This vortex… should be connected to the Netherworld. Using so many unjustly dead people here… our attacks all fall into the Netherworld, not the present world.”

Wang Changxiang frowned and analyzed, “The one appearing before us should be the reflection of the Gate of Ghosts. Perhaps even the reflection has not yet fully condensed.”

Not yet condensed?

Jiang Wang had seen the script on that plaque in the Taixu Illusory Realm. He knew it was Dao script, writing that explained the laws of heaven and earth. He had been thinking about what the Gate of Ghosts appearing in Little Forest Town represented, but only now, hearing Wang Changxiang’s analysis, did he shudder in shock.

Then when would the true reflection of the Gate of Ghosts condense? And in what way?

What would it ultimately bring here?

Everyone quickly received an answer.

It was the countless wandering souls spread throughout Little Forest Town, endless and inexhaustible no matter how many had been killed along the way. At this moment, they swarmed over, gathering toward the center.

The group could no longer care about anything else. They could only use the same method as before, retreating some distance and drawing a circle with fire-element dao arts, guarding themselves within the ring.

If someone could pierce through the fog and look down from the sky, they would see countless wandering souls rushing forward under the pull of some force. That vast river of souls surged like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea!

The disciples from Maple Forest City Dao Academy, along with Wei Yan and Zhao Lang, were like bitter rocks being battered by the river.

Unable to move.

Unable to resist.

And unable to see the end.

“All the wandering souls in Maple Forest City’s territory have been drawn here. Perhaps we really will die here,” Wang Changxiang said with a bitter smile.

These wandering souls were not particularly strong. Earlier, they had been able to move back and forth through the formation freely. But that had been under the premise that the wandering souls were merely drifting without intelligence, only instinctively attacking when living people came near.

Now, these wandering souls were gathering toward one place, and they happened to be blocking the way.

There were too many.

Nearly endless.

At least within the field of vision Wang Changxiang barely managed to clear, they could not see the end of the wandering souls.

What they did not know was this: previously, only the wandering souls of Little Forest Town’s dead across the years had gathered here, while souls farther away had been drawn only sporadically. But now, every wandering soul that had not yet dispersed across all of Maple Forest City’s territory was gathering here.

At a speed far beyond what they themselves could normally achieve.

Those densely packed soul lines cutting across the sky connected throughout all of Maple Forest City’s territory into a spiderweb-like sight in spiritual vision, a scene that moved countless experts.

“No.”

Wei Yan’s voice was somewhat cold, and so was his heart.

“The City Lord will arrive soon.”

No one knew how much he had not wanted to light that red signal incense, how much he did not want that person to see him in a weak and pleading state. But he could not choose otherwise.

Facing the legendary existence known as the Gate of Ghosts, he could not gamble the safety of all Maple Forest City on his own pride.

Jiang Wang likewise watched the wandering souls roar past the “reef” toward the Gate of Ghosts, only to be absorbed and digested in an instant. His mood was complicated, impossible to describe.

These wandering souls probably had no intelligence.

So they did not struggle, did not scream, and seemed to have no regrets or pain.

But they had all once been living people.

Each of them had been the soul of someone living, someone who should have rested in peace!

Among them, perhaps someone had once brushed shoulders with him. Perhaps there were people he had once known. Perhaps there were his neighbors, his grandparents, or perhaps…

his father.

He widened his eyes among those densely packed wandering souls, searching for the father who had died of illness upon his bed.

That man who had not been tall, but who had always held up the sky for him.

Those wandering souls flashed past in an instant, sweeping by like lightning from every direction. He only stared toward the direction of Fengxi Town. His eyes were red from staring, but he simply could not see them all.

All this time, he had lived alone and had not wanted to show weakness.

Later, after living with An’an, he needed to be even stronger as an older brother.

He had almost never said it.

But truly…

He missed him so much!

Jiang Wang wanted so badly to see him once more.

Yet he was also so afraid of seeing him.

So afraid of that helplessness before the Gate of Ghosts.

Suddenly, it seemed as though some critical point had been reached. The vast river of wandering souls was emptied in an instant by some force.

And the phantom of the Gate of Ghosts above the vortex became incomparably clear and concrete.

In the next instant, Maple Forest City Lord Wei Quji descended from the sky wrapped in a hurricane.

But the phantom of the Gate of Ghosts also vanished in a flash!

Vaguely, Jiang Wang seemed to feel a wisp of breeze brush across his cheek, but after a brief daze, everything before his eyes had changed.

The enormous vortex was gone.

The fog gathered over Little Forest Town also immediately dispersed.

Everything had vanished.

Neither Netherworld nor blue sky was seen!

(End of Chapter)