Chapter 232: The Living Dead (2/2)

Without a word, Lu Yun shielded himself and Qing Han with blazing hellfire. The vicious ghost of the woman stood by the ocean of blood. Her bloody eye sockets glowed a faint crimson as she stared at the two of them.

Four empty paper ships lay by the shore as Wu Tulong and the other three staggered their way toward them.

“This is the real Ten Yins Estuary. Inside the ships are the spirits of those who died here,” Lu Yun muttered to himself as he stared at the endless crimson. “I didn’t expect the Ten Yins Estuary to converge into an ocean of blood!”

“That little girl....” Qing Han suddenly recognized a familiar figure. A girl that looked about five years old sat quietly on a paper ship, holding a long stick of rotten candied hawthorn in her hand.

The sight chilled Qing Han to the bone, like a bucket of ice cold water had doused his head. That was the little girl he’d played with in town, the one eating candied hawthornes with an easy smile. And here she was!

Eyes wide, Qing Han saw not only the girl, but all the other residents of the town as well! Everyone sat in their own paper ship, expressionless.

“They’re all dead?” His voice trembled.

“They are,” Lu Yun said calmly. “Here at the Ten Yins Estuary, there is extreme yin and yang to be found, as well as a mysterious power that envelops the entire area. All the residents have long died, but they don’t know that. They think they’re still alive. That’s how they continue to live in the town, free of care, concerns, or fear of disease and death. They all live eternal lives of blissful ignorance.

“The residents are either mortals from the current or the ancient world of immortals. Well, more likely from even before the ancient times,” Lu Yun said quietly. “They’re alive strictly because they believe they are. If they find out they’re dead, they’ll really die, and the town will disappear.”

That was what Lu Yun had discovered with his luopan, Spectral Eye, and the Tome of Life and Death. He didn’t want to disturb the town’s serenity; even though all the residents were the living dead, he wanted to preserve their haven of peace.

Thanks to that mysterious power, they could lead normal lives just like the living. The only thing that set them apart was the fact that they’d never die.

Qing Han had been through a lot with Lu Yun, but this turn of events still caught him off guard.

“Wait....” His eyes widened. “Isn’t that— ”

“Don’t say it!” Lu Yun interjected. “If we keep quiet, he may still live. If someone says it, he’ll die for real.”

Qing Han clapped hands over his mouth and jerked his head up and down. That explained everything.

“I don’t care who you are, or what you’ve set all this up for.” Hellfire blazed even more intensely around Lu Yun. “I’m taking these four with me.”

The ghost leveled an empty gaze at Lu Yun. After a good while, it rasped in a gravelly and distant voice, “You may... but a life... for... a life.”

Lu Yun nodded. With a wave of his hand, he summoned four Infernum from the netherworld. He’d killed many people back in the Sword Pagoda, and even more when he entered Xiankan. Currently, he had enough ghostly soldiers to form an army.

After becoming Infernum, only a few particularly talented individuals would be of any help. The others were nothing but the lowest of cannon fodder. Moreover, they’d once been Lu Yun’s enemies, becoming his to command only because he’d killed them himself.

He felt no attachment whatsoever to them.

The ghost turned the four Infernum into its kind as soon as it grabbed them. Wu Tulong and the others collapsed before they could board the paper ships, and Lu Yun sighed in relief.

“You… shall not enter again,” said the ghost.