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墨書 Inktalez
Every year, the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar is known as the Ghost Festival, and in Ghost City, Fengdu, there is a spectacle during this festival—the Yokai Parade!
Not all souls can be guided to the Underworld by Ghost Messengers like Ox-Head and Horse-Face or Black and White Impermanence. Many people do not return to their resting place as recorded in the Death Register; instead, they die unexpectedly. These individuals are specifically referred to as Horizontal Death Ghosts. For example, the Hungry Ghost that possesses Lin Miaomiao is also a Horizontal Death Ghost. Without Ghost Messengers to guide them, Horizontal Death Ghosts have only two options: one is to absorb Resentment and feed on it, while the other is to make their own way to the Underworld. Of course, some may be saved by a Master, but this is not considered their choice, as it is forced upon them. Those who choose to go to the Underworld on their own have a limited time to do so; once this time limit passes, they can no longer enter the Underworld. So what happens to these ghosts? They must remain in Fengdu until the Ghost Festival when the Yin-Yang Gate opens wide, allowing them to blend into the Underworld. This is also the reason for the Yokai Parade.
On the night of July 15th, there will be no living beings on the streets of Fengdu. Additionally, many footprints will appear on the streets; the more footprints at your doorstep, the greater your blessings, as these footprints belong to those who passed by your home on their way to reincarnation.
My current situation feels like a Yokai Parade.
Last night, I vaguely heard crying, but since Wang Ni couldn’t hear anything either, I didn’t go to check it out.
“Yokai Parade?” I whispered to Wang Ni. “How could such a phenomenon occur here? It’s only supposed to happen in Fengdu.”
Why am I so certain these are not human footprints? Because these footprints are walking backward! Walking backward is a characteristic of the Yokai Parade, indicating that they still cling to everything in this world.
“No, this happens here twice every month—once walking backward and once walking forward. Compared to the Yokai Parade, it resembles Yin Soldiers passing through.” Wang Ni also lowered her voice. “Anyone who hears sounds and goes out at midnight doesn’t survive.”
This is puzzling; Yin Soldiers passing through has been known since ancient times. In five thousand years of Chinese history, at least a thousand years were spent in warfare, which results in souls dying in battle. According to Strict Discipline in military conduct, even when reincarnating, soldiers would line up neatly in formation. Yin Soldiers do not disturb anyone when passing through residential areas since most soldiers come from common folk. Those who witness Yin Soldiers passing through will not face any disaster (unless they are from an army known for indiscriminately killing innocents), but rather will receive blessings.
Could there be a group of Evil Spirits or Yin Soldiers here?
“Have you been here before? Did you learn anything beforehand?” I asked Wang Ni.
“Sigh, never mind; we are all in this together now,” Wang Ni sighed and said. “Let me tell you about our previous experiences.”
Five years ago, Wang Ni was just a newcomer who had recently debuted. At that time, the Execution Office had just been established in the human realm, and capable individuals would undertake missions alone to earn high rewards. Some loose cultivators banded together to form organizations. Wang Ni also joined a well-known organization at that time and worked with her teammates to complete numerous missions. Gradually, Wang Ni and her teammates began to take on higher-paying and more dangerous tasks.
Wang Ni recalled her teammates with a warm smile on her face, something I had never seen before.
"Monkey, Miner, Old Horse, Sister Three, and our captain Old Mao," Wang Ni reminisced, able to list her teammates' names. "We only used codenames to address each other, and even now I don't know their real names. Back then, I was bold and fearless, so they called me Crazy."
"Our strength at that time could only be considered average or even below average, so we rarely took on overly dangerous missions until the Stone Village mission came up."
Stone Village was the village where we got off the bus.
"When the Stone Village mission first appeared, it was marked as difficult, but its reward exceeded that of life-and-death level missions."
The Execution Office categorized missions into several levels: Entry-level, Easy, Difficult, Life-and-Death, Desperate, and Killing Catastrophe.
"We weren't wealthy back then. Captain Old Mao came to discuss with us; it was just a difficult mission that we had done many times before. If we succeeded this time, we could rest well for a few years. At that time, I was fearless and agreed immediately, even encouraging the somewhat scared Sister Three to give it a shot."
As she spoke, Wang Ni's gaze dimmed. She covered her face with her hands, showing immense regret.
"If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have agreed so quickly. We didn't know back then that shortly after we set out, the mission escalated from difficult to life-and-death and then immediately to desperate. By the time I returned, it had already reached the Killing Catastrophe level."
To this day, no one has completed a Killing Catastrophe level mission, and there have only been four such missions since its inception.
"Ghostly Blood Shadow Soldiers!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"That's right, it's the Ghostly Blood Shadow Soldiers." Wang Ni looked at me. "I originally just wanted to bring you here to see if the situation still existed, but I didn't expect that you, like us, have been marked by them. I thought you were a Taoist, and they would still have some fear of you. I was wrong, Little Anzi. If anything happens, you should run quickly and never look back at me. I brought you out, so you cannot die in front of me."
When Wang Ni said this, her hands were tightly clenched into fists, her nails digging into her flesh.
"What happened next?"
"When we arrived at Stone Village, we realized that it wasn't the first scene. If Old Mao was in danger, we would turn back immediately. At that time, I was unaware of the dangers ahead and insisted on going forward. There were no donkey carts then; by the time we found this place, it was completely dark. That was also the night when the Yin Soldiers passed through, and it was this old man who took us in. He told us that the Yin Soldiers had been passing through here for a long time. As long as the local people stayed indoors on nights when the Yin Soldiers appeared, they would be fine; hence they didn't know the reason behind it. We planned to rest first but still prepared people to keep watch. My bed was where you set up your tent, while others found their own places to sleep. I was supposed to keep watch that night, but I was so exhausted that I accidentally fell asleep. When I woke up, except for me and the old man, everyone else's beds had moved outside the door."
Hearing this made me shiver; it turned out that Wang Ni had her reasons for letting me sleep there.
"But we had encountered many strange events before, so we didn't pay much attention to this odd occurrence without any losses. But we were wrong."
"On the second night, when there were no Yin Soldiers passing through, Old Mao suggested we go out to scout around. If there were no results, we would return immediately; it would be difficult to resolve this matter solely relying on ourselves. We all agreed with Old Mao's suggestion."
"We left a monkey to keep watch at the old man's place and packed our tools before heading out. Old Mao used to be from Maoshan; he had a Bagua Compass for guidance. The miner was a hereditary Dirt Scholar (from Tomb Raiding), Old Horse and Sister Three were siblings and also a couple, while I was just a rookie unafraid of tigers, charging forward with sheer determination. At first, Old Mao's compass wobbled left and right before finally settling firmly pointing north. North was dense forest with tightly packed trees making it hard to advance. After walking for a while in the woods, we occasionally saw remnants of weapons and chariots along with white bones. We walked for about an incense stick's worth of time without making much progress but found it increasingly difficult to continue moving forward. I was bold and told Brother Mao to wait for me while I ventured deeper alone; Brother Mao accompanied me. After walking about half an incense stick's worth of time deeper into the woods with Brother Mao, we suddenly heard Sister Three and Old Horse scream in terror, followed by a flock of crows flying up from the trees. Brother Mao and I hurried back; when we returned to where we had separated, Sister Three and Old Horse were standing there lost in madness. Sister Three was scratching and biting at a tree with her hands and teeth while Old Horse swung his miner's shovel wildly as if there were enemies before him; the miner had already disappeared..."
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