Chapter 781: Haozhou Ghost Market
Every city has its own atmosphere, and every place has its own customs.
The land of ghosts and gods under the jurisdiction of the City God of Haozhou is different from that of Dongyang County and Gusu.
When Gong Mengbi stood in front of Haozhou City, he had already seen all kinds of evil spirits rising into the sky from the city without restraint.
The city gates were wide open, soldiers were on duty, and ghosts and gods were also on duty.
Just in front of Gong Mengbi, two monsters dressed in clothes and transformed into middle-aged men walked to the city gate with unfamiliar steps.
The soldier was about to investigate when the ghost possessed his body.
"Who are you?"
"My brother and I are spirits practicing by the West Hao River. We want to go to the ghost market in Haozhou City."
The two demons revealed half of their true form, their heads transformed into the appearance of water snakes, and then changed back to human form. They took out two gold grains from their hands and put them in the hands of the demon, saying, "We all know the rules. We will leave before dawn. We dare not hurt anyone."
The ghost stuffed the two gold grains into his cheeks, moved his mouth a few times, and then it was impossible to tell where they were hidden.
"Come in."
The two water snake-transformed monsters walked into the city and disappeared.
The ghost left the soldier, and the soldier yawned and continued on duty with lifeless eyes.
"Strange! A ghost market in a city is truly rare," the Skull God muttered. "How unrefined of the Haozhou City God to be."
Fu Xin asked, "Have you ever been to the ghost market?"
"I've been to a few. Ghost markets are full of all kinds of people, from mortals brave enough to engage in underworld business, old ghosts and spirits cultivating in the wild, goblins and monsters, and people like me who practice the ghost way. Generally speaking, ghost markets are mostly run by local big demons and ghosts in places where few people go. It's rare for a righteous god to come directly to the ghost market. Even if you want to profit from it, you have to go through a lot of twists and turns."
The Five Ghosts looked at Gong Mengbi and asked, "Shall we go directly?"
Gong Mengbi nodded and said, "Go and see for yourself."
The Five Ghosts were in front, Fu Xin and the Skull God were behind, guarding Gong Mengbi to the city gate.
Seeing this scene from afar, the ghosts and gods guarding the gate once again possessed the soldiers and blocked their way.
The ghost's gaze fell on everyone, glanced at the five strong servants in the five-colored scarves, then looked at the tall and brave guards and the short and shrewd housekeeper, and finally fell on the handsome young man.
He forced a smile and said, "You all look unfamiliar. Where are you from?"
Gong Mengbi said, "We are from Jiangnan and are visiting relatives in Dangtu. We heard about the reputation of the Haozhou Ghost Market and came here specifically to see it."
As he spoke, Gong Mengbi began to show water vapor, dragon horns grew on his head, dragon scales appeared on his face, and he looked at the ghost.
"So you are the relatives of the old Dragon King of Dangtu. Excuse me." The ghost's expression immediately became humble and said, "This is your first time here. Do you know the rules here?"
Gong Mengbi shook his head and said, "Please give me some advice."
"I dare not," the ghost said. "The Haozhou Ghost Market was established by the venerable deity, King Zhongli. It opens at midnight and closes at dawn every day. You must not reveal your true form in the city, disturb the people, fight, or offend the venerable deity. You must return by the original route and do not cross any barriers."
Gong Mengbi nodded, took out a pearl that shone with spiritual light from his belt, threw it into the ghost's hand, and said, "Thank you."
The ghost smiled happily and said, "Have fun, young master."
He tucked the pearls into his cheeks and made way for the city.
The five ghosts watched as the ghost's mouth moved, and the big pearl disappeared.
As the group entered the city gate, the Five Ghosts asked in confusion, "Can we enter the city so easily?"
Gong Mengbi said, "Didn't we say we'd go back and forth the same way? He has a jade pendant on him that can record our image, enough to track us in the city."
The five ghosts said ashamedly, "We didn't even notice it."
Gong Mengbi said, "It's normal that they can't find it. Otherwise, the entire Haozhou City would have been riddled with monsters and demons."
As he spoke, Gong Mengbi stopped and looked up at the center of Haozhou City.
It was not just him. The Five Ghosts, Fu Xin and the Skull God all looked up and saw a majestic and rugged palace emitting divine light in the night. It was taller than the city walls of Haozhou City, like a mountain supporting the sky, which made people feel awe.
Outside the palace, there are various buildings scattered around, but compared to the palace, they are just a grain of rice.
Fu Xin said, "Is this the gap between Yin and Yang? Is it the City God's Domain? It doesn't seem like it."
"It's a divine realm, but it's not entirely the City God's realm," Gong Mengbi said. "Once you enter the city gate, you've left the human world behind and stepped into the gap between yin and yang. This is the resting place of King Zhongli. The City God's realm merges with it, lifting it above Haozhou City. That's how you feel."
The Five Ghosts still remembered the Golden True Nature King and had seen the Golden True Nature King's ghost realm from afar.
There is a gap between yin and yang.
Because the City God has the duty of communicating between yin and yang and guiding the souls of the dead, and he also holds the power of yin and yang, he can therefore open up a divine domain in the gaps.
In addition, those practitioners who are afraid of the underworld and afraid of falling into the Yellow Springs after death; those kings who claim to be emperors and want to ascend to heaven after death but have no chance to do so; those evil spirits who cannot be eliminated, are entangled in the sins of the human world and refuse to fall into the underworld, etc., may all open up a piece of land in the gap between Yin and Yang.
This area of land is often formed by the interference of human power with the underworld, or the interference of the underworld's power with the human world. In short, it depends on the underworld and the human world, but does not enter into them.
Originally, King Zhongli's sleeping place should have been attached to the underworld, but isolated from the human world by fate. However, after being appointed as the City God and gaining control of yin and yang, this sleeping place was blessed by divine power, separated from the underworld, and attached to the human world.
The Golden True Nature King asked the City God of Xia Pi to build a palace for him, which might be his intention.
Gong Mengbi has been to the Netherworld and the City God's Realm more often, and his perception is more acute than Fu Xin, an evil ghost born in the Netherworld.
"Let's go to the palace and see this King Zhongli."
I just don't know whether King Zhongli is an enemy or a friend, or if he can just sit back and watch.
Guided by the divinely illuminated palace, no one could get lost. Walking along the streets, the divine realm separated them from the human world. Even if one pushed the doors on either side of the streets, without special means, one would be unable to reach the human world.
Soon, they caught up with the two water snakes who had entered the city before them.
Seeing that there were so many of them, the water snake spirit stepped aside and asked them to pass first.
But they stopped beside the two water snake spirits. The middle-aged men transformed by the two water snake spirits showed panic on their faces and said to the wall, "Fighting is prohibited in this city. What are you doing?"
The Skull God had a kind face and smiled as he stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry to bother you two. We are from other places and know nothing about Haozhou City."
"You two seem to be locals. I wonder if you could show us the way and introduce our young master to the heroes and interesting stories of Haozhou."
"I won't let your efforts go to waste." The Skull God turned around and kicked Fuxin's foot.
Fu Xin took out a patterned peach from his bag. The Skull God held it in his hands and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
The ghost face on this ghost peach was unclear. It was just an ordinary spiritual peach with a little spiritual energy. However, the two snake spirits still looked away and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay."
As he spoke, he took the peach. The two of them pushed and shoved each other for a bit, but in the end, he gave it to the older one for safekeeping.
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