The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 28.1

The Ghost City is a trading place provided by the Underworld for living humans, ghosts, demons, and spirits, primarily for the exchange of goods; money is rarely seen.

For example, if a living person wants a treasure from a ghost, they must offer the ghost what it most needs, such as Underworld money or perhaps talismans that can increase Yin energy. A deal can only be struck by offering an appropriate price.

The Underworld issues Ghost Tokens to some individuals who frequently visit the Ghost City.

These people store items or money they are willing to exchange in the Ghost City. When they want to trade, they present their Ghost Token. The other party can see the stored items through the token, and if they find something they like, the transaction can proceed using the Ghost Tokens. By finding a patrolling Yin General and having the Ghost Token and the Underworld Token touch, the exchanged items will appear directly, which is much more convenient than carrying the trading items with them.

Of course, not many people have the resources and treasures requiring the Ghost City’s custody, so Ghost Tokens are usually held by families and sects.

Stray cultivators like Zhuang Ciyue and her companions do not possess Ghost Tokens.

Thanks to Yu Ruoyin, Zhuang Ciyue was able to see two Ghost Tokens in one day.

One belonging to Lu Qingzhen, and one to the Four Spirits Shop.

“When I think about it this way, Sister Qingzhen is quite good to me; she immediately offered her Ghost Token for my use.”

Lu Qingzhen is not inherently malicious; her slight hostility towards Yu Ruoyin only arose because she felt Yu Ruoyin was a burden to Jiang Huaining. From Zhuang Ciyue’s perspective, Lu Qingzhen is not very nice, but from Jiang Huaining’s perspective, Lu Qingzhen is very good.

“Little Yu…” Zhuang Ciyue had a lot she wanted to say, but saying too much would risk instigating trouble between Lu Qingzhen and Yu Ruoyin. In the end, she merely huffed discontentedly, “I didn’t expect you to have a cheerful side too.”

Yu Ruoyin smiled but said nothing.

She held onto Nan He’s sleeve, following Zhuang Ciyue, who had already walked ahead.

As they got closer to the Ghost City, dark, inky mist suddenly appeared before them, continuously compressing the visible range. The dark mist carried a cold, damp feeling that quickly enveloped their limbs. A wave of heat flowed out from the Red Jade Fruit, driving away the chill.

Zhuang Ciyue’s warning sounded in her ear: “Be careful. This dense fog is formed by Yin energy and it’s easy to encounter ‘ghost-wall’ phenomena (being trapped in a small, confusing area by ghosts).”

Yu Ruoyin tightened her grip on Nan He’s sleeve, praying in her heart that Xia Yu hadn’t lied to them.

Fortunately, even without the bone brush, Zhuang Ciyue had at least followed the strongest Spirit Painter for three years. Finding the Ghost City was not too difficult for her. They smoothly found the entrance.

The entrance to the Ghost City consisted of coffins. As soon as a person stands in front of a coffin, the lid automatically opens and takes the person inside.

One coffin can hold a maximum of two people. Zhuang Ciyue pushed Yu Ruoyin and Nan He together: “You and Nan He go in together. I’ll find you later. Wait… I don’t have the bone brush now…”

She was troubled.

A Spirit Painter without a bone brush only has some self-preservation methods left; basic techniques like finding people are unusable.

While Zhuang Ciyue was at a loss, she looked at the simple-minded Nan He and immediately pulled out a small knife.

Yu Ruoyin was startled by her: “Sister Yue, what are you doing?”

“Spirits are more sensitive to aura. Since I don’t have the bone brush, I can only rely on her.” Zhuang Ciyue explained while slicing a tiny cut on her index finger, squeezing a drop of fresh blood onto Nan He’s palm. She asked Nan He solemnly, “You can find me, right?”

Nan He nodded blankly.

Although she didn’t speak, she clearly understood Zhuang Ciyue’s words.

Zhuang Ciyue finally sighed in relief, reaching out to push Nan He and Yu Ruoyin towards one of the coffins, saying in a whisper, “When you exit the coffin later, you will have a mask on your face and a black robe on your body. That’s a measure the Underworld implemented to prevent some people from regretting a transaction and secretly trying to steal the items back. So don’t panic.”

“To prevent people from being targeted outside the Ghost City, the Underworld has a rule that all Ghost City entrances lead to completely different places, and the entrance locations change randomly. So, we won’t land in the same spot. It’s a bit troublesome, but it’s very safe.”

“Then how do we get out?”

“When you want to leave, find a safe place, take off the mask, and break it.”

“I remember.”

The closer they got to the entrance, the more uneasy Zhuang Ciyue became.

She suddenly realized she still had many things she hadn’t managed to tell Yu Ruoyin: “You don’t need to be too afraid. Nan He will protect you. Ask her to bring you to me as soon as possible, and also… never…”

Before Zhuang Ciyue could finish, Yu Ruoyin and Nan He were simultaneously sucked into the coffin. The coffin lid floating nearby immediately swung over and closed the coffin.

Zhuang Ciyue stood frozen. She hadn’t had time to tell Yu Ruoyin to never ask for directions in the Ghost City.

Yu Ruoyin felt like she was plunged into darkness. When her vision recovered, she was already standing in the middle of a bustling street.

The street decoration was very retro, with old-fashioned buildings that could only be seen in movies, existing for at least a thousand years. Occasionally, one or two new-style buildings could be seen. Two lanterns were hung in front of every shop. The lanterns were white, black, green, and red, looking eerie and unique.

In addition to the shops, there were small stalls placed in front of them. Behind each wooden cart stood a black-robed person. The black robe had a deep hood, and once worn, it was difficult to tell if the person was male or female.

Yu Ruoyin lowered her gaze slightly and realized she was also wearing the same black robe. She reached up to touch her face; a mask was indeed there.

Nan He was dressed the same. If Yu Ruoyin wasn’t still holding her black-robed sleeve, it would be genuinely difficult for her to recognize Nan He.

The black-robed figures walking back and forth on the street were not surprised to see newly arrived people and didn’t even have the impulse to glance at them. However, Yu Ruoyin still felt panicky.

Yu Ruoyin instinctively tightened her grip on Nan He’s sleeve. She lowered her voice and asked, “You can take me to find Sister Yue, right?”

“I’ve been here before!”

Nan He’s voice sounded, no longer dull and soft, but with added firmness.

Yu Ruoyin had a bad feeling. Sure enough, the next moment, Nan He started leading her on a leisurely stroll through the Ghost City, showing no intention of taking her to find Zhuang Ciyue.

Yu Ruoyin felt a little helpless. After all, she couldn’t explain to a spirit who had lost its mind how important it was to find Zhuang Ciyue.

After walking around, Yu Ruoyin began to figure out a few things.

In this Ghost City, only the shop owners and the patrolling Yin Generals did not wear black robes or masks. Everyone else, whether buyers or sellers at the roadside stalls, wore identical black robes and masks, concealing their faces and bodies. Many even deliberately altered their voices to hide their identities.

There were four colors of shop lanterns: black, white, green, and red.

Black shops were owned by ghosts, white by humans, green by spirits, and red by demons.

Yu Ruoyin dared not wander around randomly. Whether because of ignorance or genuine familiarity with the place, Nan He led Yu Ruoyin in random directions without any intention of stopping.

Now it was Yu Ruoyin’s turn to worry. She knew nothing about the Ghost City; without Zhuang Ciyue, she wouldn’t be able to find anything.

Nan He might know where Zhuang Ciyue was, but she definitely didn’t want to take her there right now, and might even be deliberately avoiding Zhuang Ciyue.

She definitely couldn’t abandon Nan He, but where should she go to find Zhuang Ciyue?

That’s right!

Lu Qingzhen asked them to come to the Ghost City to buy materials for the Spirit Painter. If Zhuang Ciyue couldn’t find her, she might go to the place that sold Spirit Painter materials to look for her.

Xia Yu said there was only one place that sold Spirit Painter materials, but how could she find her way there?

Yu Ruoyin struggled for a long time. Seeing that Nan He still showed no signs of stopping, she finally decided to ask someone for directions.

However, everyone was covered in black robes and masks, making it difficult to tell who would be willing to answer her.

Yu Ruoyin grit her teeth and decided to randomly choose someone to ask: “Hello, I want to ask…”

Yu Ruoyin reached out to grab the nearest black-robed person. Before she could touch them, her outstretched hand was suddenly grabbed by Nan He. Nan He pulled her hand and redirected it, landing it on the arm of a different black-robed person. Yu Ruoyin was startled: “You…”

The black-robed person slowly turned to look at her but didn’t speak.

Yu Ruoyin then noticed another black-robed figure following beside the first one. When the second black-robed figure looked over, the first one pushed Yu Ruoyin’s hand away: “Something wrong?”

It was a woman’s voice, sounding young, but the voice was as cold as a winter wind blowing past the ear, even colder than the dense mist filling the Ghost City. Yu Ruoyin shrunk her neck in alarm but still bravely asked: “Hello, may I ask if you know where the shop selling Spirit Painter materials is?”

“Spirit Painter…” The black-robed figure who had just looked over also spoke.

Unlike the cold black-robed person, her voice was slightly soft.

It was gentle and weak, very pleasant to listen to.

She only spoke two words when the first black-robed person suddenly grabbed Yu Ruoyin’s wrist, squeezing tightly: “You’re asking me?”

Not only was her voice cold, but her palm had no warmth and carried a hint of ruthlessness.

The pressure on Yu Ruoyin’s wrist was heavy, almost enough to crush her bones.

“Yes.” Yu Ruoyin struggled twice but couldn’t break free.

She was afraid the black-robed person might actually crush her bones. Nan He, who had brought her to these two black-robed figures, suddenly came closer, clapped her hand onto the black-robed person’s back, grabbed the robe, and actually managed to pull the black-robed person away by force. After separating the black-robed person, she quickly moved back to Yu Ruoyin’s side, opening her arms to shield Yu Ruoyin behind her.

Yu Ruoyin was a little surprised that Nan He remembered to protect her. The black-robed person looked at Nan He: “A Spirit?”

The black robe and mask clearly had the effect of obscuring gender and aura. Yu Ruoyin wondered how the black-robed person Nan He picked could recognize Nan He’s identity under

She gave a simple affirmation and continued pulling the black-robed person as if she hadn’t heard anything.

Yu Ruoyin noticed that her pulling of the black-robed person was equally rough and aggressive, leaving no room for negotiation. If Yu Ruoyin hadn’t just seen her obey the black-robed person’s words, she would have thought the black-robed person was her captive.

The black-robed person said very little, and the second black-robed person also remained silent.

Yu Ruoyin became even more afraid to speak. The only sound left was Nan He’s voice: “Kill, kill, kill… Daoist… same, same, same…”

Two distinct phrases suddenly emerged from Nan He’s mouth. Yu Ruoyin couldn’t help but perk up her ears, wanting to hear more.

Before she could make out anything, the black-robed person dragged and pulled them into a shop named “Wuxiang Pavilion” ( Formless/Non-Phase Pavilion).

Before entering, Yu Ruoyin quickly glanced up. Wuxiang Pavilion had two green lanterns hanging at its entrance, meaning the shop owner was a Spirit.

Once inside, the black-robed person released her. The shop was mostly filled with exquisite accessories and some scented sachets. There were no traces of talismans or cinnabar. Yu Ruoyin wasn’t sure if this was the right place and hesitated to move further in. She leaned against the door, neither entering nor exiting, and heard two people discussing outside.

“Someone went into Wuxiang Pavilion. Could it be from the Spirit Painter Clan?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Maybe they’re just buying spirit accessories. They only have that little girl left in the Spirit Painter Clan. How could there be four people?”

“Maybe they’re friends.”

“Friends? The living are cursed to die, and the dead are cursed to scatter. Who dares to be friends with her?”

“…”

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