Yin-Yang Road

The living walked the roads of the mortal realm; the dead walked the paths of the underworld.

The underworld paths mentioned here referred not only to the Yellow Springs Road within the Underworld, but also to special roads at the boundary between yin and yang.

They belonged neither to the mortal realm nor the underworld, and were therefore also called Yin-Yang Roads.

Through these roads, Ghost Messengers could reach any place in the mortal realm in a short time, and swiftly return to the underworld from anywhere in the mortal realm.

Many departed souls traveled this road before being escorted into the underworld.

Generally speaking, the living could not travel this road unless they possessed a special method of "borrowing the road," or were masters with profound Dao cultivation who could send their souls out of their bodies.

Of course, ordinary people occasionally stumbled into the Yin-Yang Road by mistake.

For instance, Zhang Hua of the Western Jin, the sixteenth-generation descendant of Zhang Liang, Marquis of Liú, recorded such a story in his Records of Diverse Matters.

A man fled Luoyang to escape the chaos of war and accidentally fell into an enormous cavern. He groped his way through the darkness below, traveling several dozen li before finally escaping the cave and returning to the world of the living.

But when he asked around, he discovered that he had somehow arrived in Jiaojun, in what was now northern Vietnam.

Later, he crossed mountains and rivers, hacked his way through brambles and thorns, and spent a full seven years before finally returning to Luoyang.

"Danshan, get in the sedan chair. They'll take you to Qinggu County."

Outside the treasury, a dark blue-black sedan chair had appeared at some unknown time. Four burly men in Warrior's attire, with curled beards and red eyes, stood guard beside it.

Zhou Sheng knew that these four were likely the legendary Ghost Messengers.

Before the City God, they behaved with utmost respect. They bowed not only to Lu Bingyuan, but also to Zhou Sheng.

"Duke Lu, I heard that the Yin-Yang Road isn't meant for the living. If I take this convenient route, will it cause you trouble?"

Zhou Sheng had some misgivings.

"It's no matter. As the City God, I still have the authority to send a living person along the Yin-Yang Road. Besides, you Ghost Opera Performers actually qualify to 'borrow the road' as well—though only after you have completed your apprenticeship."

"Duke Lu, but my Opera Box is still at the inn..."

"Rest assured, Young Master. It's no trouble at all. I'll fetch it for you right away!"

After one of the burly men asked for the inn's address, he immediately transformed into a whirlwind and departed. Within only a few breaths, he had returned, a heavy Opera Box in his hand.

Zhou Sheng clicked his tongue in amazement. That burly man must have traveled by the Yin-Yang Road. Otherwise, the City God Temple was at least several li from that inn—how could he have returned in an instant?

"Many thanks, brother."

Zhou Sheng cupped his fists in thanks, then took the Opera Box and entered the sedan chair.

The interior was spacious, clean, and tidy. Several sachets had been placed inside, carrying a scent like mugwort.

"Danshan, the sachets in the sedan chair are meant to conceal the scent of the living on you, lest the Ghosts and Gods along the road covet you."

"Remember this: until you arrive, do not get out of the sedan chair along the way, and do not lift the curtain to look about. Your Dao cultivation is insufficient, and you have yet to complete your apprenticeship. Caution comes first."

Lu Bingyuan gave him a few more instructions. Then the four Ghost Messengers lifted the sedan chair, and their figures swiftly vanished into the thin mist.

He gazed deeply in the direction Zhou Sheng had departed, softly singing a few lines of opera.

"Pity him, newly appointed magistrate of a distant little county; pity him, tried Zhao Da and was impeached again.

"Pity him, judged the daylight case and remonstrated with his lord; pity him, for investigating San, entered the Underworld, toured the Seven Halls—how could he find peace from hall to hall?"

After a pause, Lu Bingyuan let out a long sigh, his gaze deep and distant.

"Yu Zhensheng, the opera you failed to finish singing all those years ago... could this young man carry it on?"

Ghost Messengers bore the sedan chair as it traveled the road between yin and yang.

Zhou Sheng sat upright within, his entire body taut, not daring to relax in the slightest.

After all, this was his first time traveling the Yin-Yang Road, the legendary post road of Ghosts and Gods. He feared offending some fierce and sinister being.

Perhaps sensing his nervousness, the Ghost Messengers carrying the sedan chair chatted with him in fits and starts.

"Young Master, don't worry. You're riding in the City God's sedan chair. What petty god would be so blind as to dare disturb you?"

"Hehe, once they see the City God's sedan chair, they'll immediately make way. Unless..."

"Unless we encounter an immortal mightier than the City God, or a Ghost King wandering these roads. But how could that happen so easily? We've traveled this way for years and never encountered one."

The Ghost Messengers' reassurance gradually eased Zhou Sheng's nerves.

It had to be said that although they traveled swiftly, they carried the sedan chair steadily. Zhou Sheng could not feel the slightest jolt inside.

Through a corner of the curtain lifted by the wind, he could glimpse many strange houses out of the corner of his eye, all shrouded in bluish light and thin mist, impossible to see clearly.

But after traveling for about a quarter of an hour, even those houses vanished. The surroundings resembled desolate mountains and wilderness paths, bleak and lonely beyond measure.

Yet Zhou Sheng could vaguely sense gazes falling upon him from time to time. But upon seeing the sedan chair and the Ghost Messengers carrying it, those gazes withdrew again.

It appeared deserted, yet he always felt that quite a few "people" were around them.

The Ghost Messengers' behavior proved this as well, for they sometimes slowed down and shouted at something, seemingly telling whatever blocked the road ahead to move aside.

At first, he had felt excited, curious, and nervous. But as time slowly passed, Zhou Sheng gradually relaxed, even growing a little sleepy.

He began resting with his eyes closed, using all ten fingers to massage numerous points around his eyes—Jingming, Chengqi, Qiuhou, Sibai, and more—as though stirring clouds and rosy mist.

This was also training: training his eye technique.

Opera emphasized the Four skills and five methods. The Four skills were singing, speaking, acting, and martial arts, while the five methods were hand, eye, body, method, and step.

For Ghost Opera Performers, eye technique was an extremely important fundamental skill.

For example, when portraying Guan Gong, the gaze was of crucial importance.

Guan Gong did not open his eyes. But once he opened them, someone would surely die!

If the killing intent in that instant was not sufficient, Second Lord Guan would not descend upon the performer. The power one could wield while performing Yin Opera would then be very limited.

Eye technique relied on training first, and nourishment second.

When he had trained his eye technique as a child, Master would bring out many pigeons, make an extremely subtle mark on one of them, then let the flock fly freely within a large cage.

Zhou Sheng had to find the marked pigeon, then point it out immediately whenever Master asked.

If he was wrong or too slow, he would be caned.

Later, the cage was placed farther and farther away—three zhang, five zhang, ten zhang...

Now, from fifteen zhang away, he could accurately pick out the pigeon with that tiny difference from among the flock.

That was the method of training. The method of nourishment was to regularly massage the acupoints around the eyes and apply medicinal oil to nourish them.

Ten minutes onstage took ten years of work beneath the stage.

Just as Zhou Sheng used the journey to train his eye technique, the sedan chair suddenly stopped.

They had arrived so quickly?

He was about to speak when the sedan chair suddenly dropped and slammed into the ground, jolting his body.

Something was wrong!

The Ghost Messenger brothers had carried it steadily and carefully the whole way. How could they set it down so roughly?

"Ghost Messenger brothers—"

Just as he began to speak, a Ghost Messenger's panicked voice rang beside his ear, unable to conceal its tension and terror.

"Shh!"

"Don't speak. Whatever you do, don't speak!"

"We are paying our respects. Ahead is a... fearsome god we cannot afford to provoke!"