Chapter 011 Night Market

The young Daoist, as if not seeing the white-robed monk's expression, continued, 'Jinshan Temple was rescued and owes a huge debt of gratitude. That debt of gratitude is not easy to repay, don't you think, Master Yixiu?'

A nameless anger flared in the white-robed monk's heart, but he quickly calmed down, pressed his palms together, and chanted a Buddhist invocation.

'Amitabha!'

Seeing the white-robed monk's expression, the young Daoist knew that although the other was young, his Buddhist teachings were profound and he would not be easily provoked to anger. He couldn't help but curl his lips.

'Alright, Master Yixiu, I won't waste words. The purpose of your visit today should be to repay that debt.'

The white-robed monk neither nodded nor shook his head.

But the young Daoist knew he was right. He gave a light snort and was about to say something when a palm-sized crane suddenly flew down from the sky. The crane landed on the young Daoist's shoulder and suddenly burst into a puff of smoke with a bang.

A piece of white paper drifted leisurely down from the smoke.

The young Daoist reached out and grabbed the paper, examined it carefully for a few moments, then a ball of fire sprang from his fingertip, igniting the paper.

After that, he ignored the white-robed monk entirely, sat back on his mount, and said, 'Let's go.'

The army set off again, everyone pressing forward, marching swiftly.

The white-robed monk watched the young Daoist's retreating figure, pondered for a moment, then shifted direction away from the young monk and sped off in another direction.

…

Meanwhile, far away in Yuzhou, Wang Bo had no idea that uninvited guests had arrived on his turf. He was currently in Yuzhou City dealing with a very tricky matter.

Yuzhou was an ancient place name. It had previously been called Chuzhou, but in the early Sui Dynasty, the emperor renamed Chuzhou to Yuzhou, and it had been used ever since.

After Wang Bo's army captured Yuzhou City, they discovered that the city seemed far from peaceful.

Every night, all sorts of strange things appeared.

And these strange things were not humans, but demons and ghosts—more precisely, ghosts and spirits.

After all, this place seemed to be very close to the mythical Fengdu, so every night, yin souls and resentful ghosts often appeared, committing violence and harming people.

This also led to every household in Yuzhou City closing their doors and hanging lanterns at sunset, the entire city becoming desolate, as if under curfew.

At first, Wang Bo didn't pay much attention, but later he received reports that for the past few days, several young maidens had gone missing every night in Yuzhou City, causing panic among the populace.

So Wang Bo teleported to Yuzhou City to handle the matter.

The reason Wang Bo had to personally intervene was that his mechanical soldiers were good at fighting humans but useless against ghosts. If they had been effective, Yuzhou City wouldn't have had young maidens disappearing for several consecutive days.

Therefore, Wang Bo had to step in himself.

Of course, there was another reason: Wang Bo was very interested in these yin souls and resentful ghosts.

He had once, in the Mummy world, used the Book of the Dead to summon some army souls to fight enemies, but that was only a fleeting moment, and Wang Bo soon sent those army souls back.

Later, when he refused to become Anubis's guardian of the dead, he was stripped of all knowledge from the Book of the Dead.

Since then, Wang Bo had never seen yin souls or resentful ghosts again.

Now that he had the chance, Wang Bo wanted to take a close look at what these wandering souls and resentful ghosts were really like, and what the difference was between Eastern and Western ghosts.

When Wang Bo arrived in Yuzhou City, it was still daytime.

So he waited until sunset. When the last trace of the setting sun disappeared, the entire Yuzhou City had fallen into silence.

Every household had their doors tightly shut, even the pharmacies and tea houses had closed for business.

As for the pleasure quarters that should have been bustling at night, they too had hung up signs announcing closure, driving away all customers, while the girls gathered in small groups to bolster each other's courage.

Wang Bo walked alone on the desolate streets. Looking around, the myriad household lights had long been extinguished; the whole city was pitch black, and there wasn't even a night watchman on the streets.

It was clear that everyone seemed very afraid.

After walking for a while, Wang Bo didn't see any vengeful spirits or fierce ghosts, nor any ghost soldiers or generals, but undeniably, there was a faint chill in the air.

He tried his best to restrain his Nine Yang True Qi, slowed his breathing, and made himself look like an ordinary scholar hurrying on his way.

As Wang Bo crossed a street and was about to turn a corner, he suddenly heard laughter.

He was startled, his ears twitched a few times, and he looked in the direction of the sound.

It was a small alley.

Wang Bo, confident in his skills, walked into the alley almost without thinking. At first, the alley was narrow, but after a few dozen steps, it grew wider and wider.

At the same time, the laughter grew closer.

Besides laughter, Wang Bo also heard more sounds: the beating of gongs, shouts, footsteps, giggles, hawking... Wang Bo walked faster and faster, and soon passed through the alley, about a hundred meters long, and suddenly emerged onto a bustling street.

This street was ablaze with lights and colors, various banners hung high, and the street was thronged with pedestrians, lively and bustling.

Looking around, Wang Bo could see couples walking together, young ladies who seemed to have just returned from an outing, scholars, and children running and laughing freely.

There were also vendors selling steamed buns and hairpins and ornaments.

Not far away, a restaurant was open for business, with a banner bearing the character for 'wine' hanging on the second floor, fluttering in the wind.

Wang Bo looked around and saw fine wine and beauties, as well as wandering heroes, and waiters weaving through the customers, dragging out their calls.

Wang Bo moved along with the crowd and saw a monkey show, a lion dance, magic tricks, and a street performer wielding a large blade, chopping at his own body with a clatter, sparks flying, but not a scratch on his skin.

From this perspective, the street seemed like a splendid night market.

But the problem was, the entire Yuzhou City had fallen into dead silence since sunset, with every household shut tight—where did this night market come from?

Wang Bo was extremely astonished.

Moreover, in this splendid night market, Wang Bo felt a chill seeping through his pores, trying to钻进 his body.

But as soon as this aura entered, it was burned clean by his Nine Yang True Qi.

Wang Bo passed by a stall, and a vendor smiled at him, saying, 'Young master, how about a basket of buns? My buns are big and round, thin-skinned and thick-fleshed, a true delicacy of the world.'

Wang Bo looked down. The white meat buns emitted an enticing aroma.

This aroma immediately stirred a craving in Wang Bo's heart.