A Modern Ghost City

The Hu Mang regained consciousness under the blinding light.

When he fell into the Yin-Yang Passage earlier, the Yin Qi was so strong that it caused him to fall into a semi-conscious state. However, the environment here quickly brought him back to his senses.

"It's so bright, so bright!"

Hu Mang finally came to his senses and looked up at the sky.

Surprisingly, it wasn't pitch black and so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face as the legend had it.

On the contrary, the brightness here is unexpectedly high—overhead is a gray-white sky, like the soft light of dawn or dusk, evenly distributed throughout the space.

There was no sun, no moon, yet light was everywhere, as if it were seeping out from the sky itself.

After getting used to it, the Hu Mang realized that the so-called "blinding light" was not the light from the sky, but the light that was everywhere.

"Is this the Underworld?"

The Hu Mang muttered to itself.

Although he'd never been to the Underworld, that place should at least be quite gloomy, right? How could it be so bright?

He looked around and was even more surprised, because this was a city built entirely according to modern urban planning.

The road is straight, with streetlights neatly arranged on both sides.

It wasn't one of those white paper lanterns, but a standard modern street lamp.

The lights emitted a soft, cool white glow, illuminating the entire street as if it were daytime.

The road surface is paved with dark asphalt, the markings are clear, and there are even marked parking spaces.

The sidewalk is paved with non-slip tiles, and tactile paving extends along the roadside. There is a roadside tree at intervals, but the leaves of those trees are grayish-white and remain motionless in the windless air.

This is a completely modern city... Underworld story.

"Dachang Middle Road, is this place called Dachang City?"

"Dachang City, why does that name sound familiar?"

Hu Mang glanced at the road sign, exhaled, and began to examine his body.

Then he realized that he was not in an "out-of-body experience" state, because his physical body was still there.

But he is not in a state of being alive either, because all the physiological states related to being alive—heartbeat, blood flow, vein pulsation, and even breathing—have disappeared.

He just tried it and found that he had no problem not breathing at all.

"What kind of mess is this, neither alive nor dead?"

Hu Mang made a complaint, but instead of standing up immediately, he began to recall the events that had just occurred.

Five families meet... Dragon-Slaying Department Ji Xiaodao, fights... seizing the dragon... the Yin-Yang Passage...

After thinking it over, Hu Mang muttered to himself.

"I think I made the same mistake as my mom."

That is, he previously believed that since he was the only one who had mastered the "Dragon-Shaped Meridian Diagram," he was also the only one who could control the calamity dragon Dragon Vein.

But as it turns out, Ji Xiaodao on the other side could also control the Dragon Vein.

Could it be that every member of that legendary Dragon-Slaying Department could control...?

"It's strangely like this ultimate move has turned into a basic attack. Modern cultivation technology is too advanced, but it doesn't seem like it's all a good thing. The Shen Household's ancestor was a god, this is Immortal Method... wait a minute!"

Hu Mang suddenly realized that Ji Xiaodao had not controlled or evolved the calamity; she had simply controlled the Dragon Vein in a purely docile way.

That's why they were able to catch up and suppress each other after starting later.

The focus of "The On Tribulation Dao Qi Meridians" is not actually on controlling the Dragon Vein, but on controlling calamities!

"Furthermore, the 'On Tribulation Dao Qi Meridians' combined with the Dragon-Shaped Meridian Diagram doesn't feel like a Heavenly Gate Method Formula to me; it's more like Cultivation Method from the Azure Mysterious Realm."

"The On Tribulation Dao Qi Meridians is more like a higher-level Heavenly Secrets Evolution, while the Heavenly Gate Cultivation Method, and even the entire cultivation system, have nothing to do with 'celestial secrets'."

"However, if big data analysis evolves to a certain point, it might even be able to simulate the effects of 'the Heavenly Secrets Evolution.'"

Having figured this out, Hu Mang quickly turned his attention to another point.

"Eighth Master Hui, or more precisely, the Ghost Lord behind Eighth Master Hui, you absolutely must win this behind-the-scenes battle!"

Hu Mang had a vague feeling about it before, but after Ji Xiaodao appeared, this premonition became even stronger.

It's not complicated.

That is, if the demons of the Five Dynasties were to be resurrected, or even if the Five Great Households were to suppress the resurrected demons, it would be the Ghost Lord's private matter.

Then there will definitely be other forces trying to find out this secret.

Why did the Ghost Lord want to revive these monsters? How were they revived? Turning the dead into the living—that's an incredible, heaven-defying ability.

Not to mention resurrecting beings from the long river of history.

Putting everything else aside, most of the Ten Lords have already passed down to the third generation. What if we resurrected the previous generation, or even the first generation of Heavenly Gate Elders?

What if we even resurrected High Antiquity deities, like that ancestor of the Shen Household?

Hu Mang believed that there must be someone who would have such an outrageous idea.

Not to mention the impact on the entire Heavenly Gate society and order if this "resurrection" were to become widespread.

Although Hu Mang felt this possibility was unlikely.

Therefore, regardless of whether they are the Ghost Lord's political opponents, they will all try to probe him in secret.

If he were Ghost Lord, then the best solution would actually be to silence everyone.

Dead people can't speak.

But Hu Mang and his mother lived peacefully for over twenty years, and no one even tried to alter their memories.

Therefore, there are only two possible answers.

The first scenario is that the Ghost Lord wouldn't mind if this matter were leaked.

The second possibility is that the Ghost Lord has already made corresponding arrangements to deal with this matter.

If this arrangement were a person, with Old Master Huang already dead, his mother a pure love goddess, Fourth Aunt Bai a male model enthusiast, and Liu Wuniang a longevity enthusiast, then besides Eighth Master Hui, Hu Mang couldn't think of anyone else to carry out this task.

That's why Hu Mang asked this question to Eighth Master Hui at the last moment.

Whether he liked it or not, he and his mother were already tied to the Ghost Lord's chariot.

And to be honest, not only did they not kill him, they also paid his mother a pension for more than 20 years. That's more than enough.

It's time for you to repay that favor.

"Things are mostly sorted out now. The only thing to do is find my mother and hope that the Ghost Lord is more skilled."

Hu Mang stood up, glanced around, and headed straight for the city's main street.

If this is a ghost town, then without a doubt, it is a modern ghost town.

Neat residential buildings, six or seven stories high, line both sides of the street, with light gray tiles on the exterior walls and aluminum alloy frames with dark glass windows.

Downstairs are rows of shops.

There was a sign that read "Meng Po Soup - Chain Franchise Store," with neon lights spelling out a picture of a broken bowl steaming from the ceiling; there was a store with a sign that read "Underworld Courier - Mission Accomplished," and several electric bikes with the same "l" on them parked in front of it; and there was also a "Yellow Springs Road Convenience Store," with an electronic screen at the entrance displaying information on discounted items, and a sign on the glass door that read "Open 24 Hours."

There was even a building that looked like a shopping mall, with a huge electronic screen on its exterior wall that was currently playing an advertisement for some kind of ghost money on a loop.

There were pedestrians on the street, dressed in all sorts of clothes—some in modern casual wear, some in old-fashioned long gowns, some in suits, and even one wearing a fluorescent vest for food delivery riders, riding an electric bike past the street corner.

But everyone's face was a uniform pale blue, their footsteps were silent, they cast no shadows, and they did not speak to each other, simply walking silently on their own paths.

As the Hu Mang passed by, the pedestrians all acted similarly: first, they would turn their heads and stare at the Hu Mang with numb Spirit Invocation, and then silently walk away when the Hu Mang thought they were going to absorb its yang energy.

"..."

After encountering this situation countless times, Hu Mang finally couldn't help but complain.

"This ghost town's economy is too good; are all the ghosts rich? They don't even consume any yang energy, what a waste of food."

"On another note, is it because everyone in ancient times was poor, with both the economy and Spiritual Qi underdeveloped, that ancient ghosts would be so indiscriminate in their eating habits, wanting to take a bite out of anyone they saw?"

Hu Mang felt he had discovered the truth. Since modern times can have industrial Spiritual Qi, there was no reason why they couldn't have industrial yang energy. These days, pre-cooked meals don't distinguish between the Underworld and the mortal Yang World, let alone yang energy.

However, he has not yet found the means by which these ghosts produce industrial yang energy.

Whenever he tried to break into a store, the opening ghost would block the doorway, staring at him with its numb eyes.

Then, all the ghosts in the street will come out and stare at him.

The throbbing "Yin Eye" of the Hu Mang reminded him that this was not a matter of going in for a meal, but rather that if certain rules were broken, the entire ghost town's order would self-correct.

So Hu Mang could only wander aimlessly, taking out Spirit Pivot No. 1 from his Storage Bag. Sure enough, there was no signal at all.

Until a wild and familiar voice rang out.

"Brothers, we're heading out to feed the ghosts again! Today we're going to the most dangerous neighborhood in Dachang, and the only five-star neighborhood. Back in the day, I went in and out of this neighborhood seven times and never saw a single security guard."

Hu Mang suddenly turned his head and saw a second-hand delivery flying sword flying past at lightning speed.

"Old Third!?"

However, the Old Third, wearing headphones, wielding his flying sword, and with a red silk scarf around his neck that looked somewhat familiar to the Hu Mang, completely failed to notice the Hu Mang beside him.

"Old Third!!"

"Hey streamer, someone sounds like they're calling you. Look behind you!"

Similar comments kept appearing in the Ghost-Feeding Livestream Room.

However, Chen Xiaosan dismissed it with disdain, even expressing some contempt.

"Guys, the trick of deliberately trying to distract me while I'm delivering food so I'll mess things up is so outdated. Do you think I'm the kind of idiot who keeps messing things up? Let's go, we're heading to Many Gates Garden!"

Hu Mang chased and shouted for a long time, but could only watch as the other party rode away in a cloud of dust, and couldn't help but laugh in anger.

"Damn it, this place doesn't even have any Spiritual Qi, only Yin Qi. How come he can fly with his sword while I can't even release my Divine Sense?"

"How come his phone has a signal?"

"Does wearing a yellow robe make you so cool? I should have registered a rider account too; anyone can do crowdsourcing."

Even so, Hu Mang still followed in the other party's direction. He had no choice; he didn't even know the way, so who else could he ask if he didn't hire an outsourced delivery rider?