Ten Thousand Ghosts Descend on Chang'an

Everjoy Ward remained silent. Hardly a soul could be seen along the way. Only lonely spirits and wild ghosts drifted through its streets, making the whole ward seem like a corner of the underworld.

Shen Luo did not know what lurked in the dark clouds overhead, so he did not rashly fly on his sword. Instead, he moved carefully through the streets and alleys, avoiding the Yin Fiend ghosts whenever possible. Only when he had no way around them did he risk striking, aiming to kill in a single blow and make as little noise as possible.

He traveled like this, stopping and starting. Besides encountering no small number of ghosts, he also came across a few Human Race cultivators. Unable to tell friend from foe, Shen Luo left them alone and silently committed everything he saw and heard to memory.

What puzzled him, though, was that he had yet to see anyone from the Great Tang Government Office. With a disaster of this scale, surely the authorities should have sent people to clean up the mess.

After passing through three wards and drawing close to Yongye Ward, he heard shouts of battle rising around him once more. At last, he saw government troops again.

He happened upon a squad of soldiers fighting more than a dozen ghosts in the street, so he helped kill the creatures. An old soldier then led him straight toward the ward gate.

Seven or eight field camps had been set up on the street outside Yongye Ward's gate. Large numbers of soldiers stood guard around them, and cultivators held the camps themselves. Everything was on a wartime footing.

Only after a rigorous inspection, and with the old soldier vouching for him, was Shen Luo allowed into the ward.

The sight inside Yongye Ward stunned