On this morning, a tall figure walked towards the Langfeng Ferry of Zhuxi County.

The man wore a bamboo hat, and a single blade hung at his waist.

His steps were leisurely, exuding a majestic aura.

Yet, strangely, despite such a prominent aura, as he walked through the busy ferry, he did not attract the slightest attention from the passersby.

He walked silently, like a wisp of wind by the ferry, a speck of dust in the red dust, naturally, as if he were one with heaven and earth.

Only the eyes beneath the bamboo hat, faintly glimmering with a ghostly light, carried a slight sense of discord, revealing the extraordinary nature of this man.

This was clearly no ordinary person.

No, he wasn't even human!

He was the Yanglin Ghost King, who had cleaved through the Yin and Yang at the Yellow Springs Ghost Market.

The Yanglin Ghost King arrived in the mortal world at midnight, when the night was deep. He inhaled the vitality of the human world, breathed in the Yang Qi of mortals, and his first reaction was to wield his Ghost Power to resist the intrusion of the mortal world's chaos on himself.

But it wasn't long before the Yanglin Ghost King adapted to this intrusion.

Because he found that his Ghost Power was solid, his ghostly heart was clear, and the trivial chaos of the mortal world was merely a gentle frost to him, something he could easily dispel.

On the contrary, the vitality of the mortal world—

For instance, the chirping of insects in the wilderness and forests deep in the night;

The croaking and leaping of frogs in the fields as he passed by a village at the foot of a mountain;

And the various snoring sounds of farmers asleep in the village, or perhaps the sounds of their night conversations…

All these sounds wove together into an extraordinarily vibrant melody of the mortal realm, leaving the Yanglin Ghost King momentarily stunned on the spot.

A mix of emotions surged through him—bittersweet, difficult to discern the taste.

Unconsciously, he shed the tears of a ghost king once more.

Even though he had long possessed the power to cleave Yin and Yang, what had kept him bound to the Yellow Springs, afraid to glimpse the human world even slightly?

When conversing with Chen Xu, the Yanglin Ghost King already had a vague answer, but that answer didn't seem entirely satisfactory.

However, no matter the reason, he had already stepped out.

So, perhaps the answer didn't matter that much anymore.

The Yanglin Ghost King promptly performed the Yin Yang Object Detection Technique, retrieving a pitch-black wooden bottle from his sleeve pocket.

He collected his tears with the small bottle, missing not a single drop.

These were the tears of a ghost king; though he himself had no use for them, he could hand them over to Brother Chen Xu the next time they met.

The Yanglin Ghost King walked along the edge of the village, appreciating the vitality of the mortal realm in the darkness.

Then, as he was immersed in emotion and joy, he suddenly heard some unusual sounds from the haystack field at the village's edge.

Upon closer listening, it turned out to be some indecent exchanges.

Amidst them was some crude conversation.

First came a not-so-young male voice, speaking rudely: "Damn it, you're still energetic here. My wife is already old and like a dead pig, really disgusting."

"My dear, you may be energetic, but why do you keep meeting me at midnight? You refuse to divorce your wife; how long must I endure this toil?"

"Hehehe, how can this be seen as toil? Aren't you happy?"

...

Initially, hearing this, the Yanglin Ghost King only frowned slightly.

Despite the multitude of good in the mortal world, village life seeming so simple, there were such filthy things as well.

The Yanglin Ghost King reflected on the past and found that, after all, for some reason, he had idealized the human world too perfectly in his memories.

But in fact, he came from the bottom; what messy affairs hadn't he seen or encountered?

The affair at the village entrance in front of him was hardly anything extraordinary.

The Yanglin Ghost King, disinclined to meddle, was about to turn and leave.

Then the female voice said: "You're afraid of your wife's brothers, aren't you? Afraid they will come and beat you up if you divorce her?"

The male voice muffled: "Ts, am I afraid of them? Don't underestimate me. I just…humph, after all, she did give birth to my children; how can one lightly divorce his wife?"

The female voice suddenly sorrowful: "You only think about your love for your wife, but have you thought about me? Fine, fine, you may be affectionate and righteous, but I'll just take the little one in my belly and plunge into Wanggou Creek..."

Note, Zhuxi County is named "Creek" because of the many water bodies in the county.

In fact, throughout Yunjiang Prefecture, the water system is considered well-developed.

Typically, such a developed water system should mean Yunjiang Prefecture isn't remote, but there's another reason; Yunjiang Prefecture has many water bodies as well as mountains.

However, these mountains are mostly not towering peaks or famous scenic spots.

Instead, they are hills and ridges, intricate and complicated.

This makes transportation in Yunjiang Prefecture difficult and causes the Yanglin Ghost King at this moment to stand in the shadow of the hills, looking at the villagers below, suddenly feeling an indescribable melancholy.

The conversation over there continued until suddenly the male voice said: "Why go jump into Wanggou Creek? Jump into…sigh, my wife washes clothes by Wanggou Creek every morning."

Ha, there was a hidden implication in this remark.

The female voice lowered, saying: "Your wife goes to wash clothes, huh? I also want to…"

At that point, the female voice suddenly let out an "ah".

It turned out that the passing Yanglin Ghost King could no longer bear it and turned back toward the haystack.

He kicked a haystack over with a single foot.

The straw scattered in the air, startling the doomed mandarin ducks hidden within the haystack.

The two pale figures inside hadn't managed to fully emerge from the straw; in fact, the male just began to shout angrily: "Who is it? What damn fool dares to harm your grandfather and I..."

Before the words were finished, suddenly a star in the night sky shone.

Somehow, it illuminated that tall figure beside them.

A giant-like height, a massive shadow.

Beneath the shadow was a blue face with gleaming fangs.

So in the dead of night, a blood-curdling scream, like that of a slaughtered pig, suddenly echoed in this village near Langfeng Ferry.

"A ghost!"

"Help, there's a ghost!"

The cries hadn't faded when, immediately, oil lamps were lit throughout the village, and some even ignited torches.

People rushed out of their houses, clothing awry, shoes sometimes on the wrong feet.

"Where's the ghost? Where is it?"

"It's by the haystack field at the village entrance, hurry, let's go…"

Figures raced over.

The two in the haystack knew they were in trouble; a ghost was terrifying enough, but being seen undressed would be terrifying as well.

They hurried to dress.

The Yanglin Ghost King flicked his finger lightly in the air.

The next moment, a chill swept between the legs of the man in the haystack.

"Ah!" the man screamed in utter agony, concerning himself no longer with dressing, his body curling as he fell nude to the ground.

The Yanglin Ghost King flicked out another finger wind, and this time, a sharp wind blade cut across the woman's mouth.

A long, narrow cut appeared on the woman's face.

The woman also shrieked, clutching her face as waves of excruciating pain overwhelmed her.

The two lay prone until the villagers rushed over.

What they saw were two people in the haystack, naked and bloodied.

"Oh dear, what on earth happened here!"

"Good heavens, that's Old Hu from the vendor stall at the ferry and the young widow from the Wang family's house on the east side of the village."

"What a disgrace, I can't even bear to look..."

The Yanglin Ghost King instantly felt his worries dissipate and departed quietly.

Until the next day, when the morning fog lifted and sunlight spread over the world.

The Yanglin Ghost King continued down the road to Langfeng Ferry, where he heard someone reciting from a book at the ferry, shaking his head as he read in a rapture:

"One kills a person every ten steps, traveling a thousand miles without pause.

Once the deed is done, shake off the dust and fade into obscurity..."

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