Chapter 363 - 362: There Really are Ghosts
Ji Kongkong glanced at the City Lord of Anyang City, her tone dull, showing no trace of the fear she had just experienced.
Despite appearances, Du Ping did not have any intention of harassing women last night. As a cultivator in the Body Integration Realm, he simply wished to inspect the suspected ghost-like white figure.
The City Lord of Anyang City could not have failed to see this. If he insisted on accusing Du Ping of harassing women, it could only mean he wanted to use Du Ping as a merit.
The City Lord of Anyang City was drenched in cold sweat, realizing that the Nineteenth Princess was warning him.
There was not even a suspicion of a crime, let alone evidence that pointed towards Du Ping’s favor. Du Ping cleared his name and left the yamen unscathed.
Jiang Li saw Ji Kongkong still trembling and couldn’t help but laugh: “Looking at how you warned the City Lord of Anyang City just now, I thought you were no longer afraid of ghosts.”
After leaving the yamen, Ji Kongkong regained her fearful demeanor, her hands trembling, still clearly terrified of the ghost.
“Thank you, the Nineteenth Princess, for upholding justice.”
Seeing the restoration of last night’s scene, Du Ping started to recall. After he had seen the white figure last night, he felt that she was not normal, somewhat eerie, and he wanted to catch and take a closer look. But the white figure screamed when she saw him and ran away.
“It’s my duty.” Ji Kongkong deliberately remained calm, not wanting Jiang Li to see her shameful side.
However, thinking of the ghost from last night, she couldn’t help being scared.
“In that case, I can’t take you with me to find the ghost.”
“No, I want to go.”
“Aren’t you afraid of ghosts?”
“I am, but I’m also curious.”
Seeing Ji Kongkong’s condition, Jiang Li thought of those people from his past life who were afraid of horror films, yet loved watching them.
“Human Emperor, can you bring me along?” Du Ping also found this interesting and wanted to know what was really going on with the ghost.
As a cultivator in the Body Integration Realm, he also knew that ghosts should not appear in Jiuzhou. There must be something behind this.
“Sure.”
At the dead of night, the three of them were sitting in a small tavern, listening to Ji Kongkong recount her experiences over the years.
In fact, there was really nothing to listen to. It was all about how she mastered the Dao of Time, how talented she was in cultivation, and how she had already become a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator when her peers were still struggling in the Foundation Establishment Stage.
“It’s a pity I was a year late to become a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator compared to Buddha Wu Zhi who achieved it at fourteen.” Ji Kongkong regretted that she was already fifteen when she reached the Nascent Soul Stage, failing to break the record for the youngest in this stage.
Du Ping thought about how he was already in his thirties when he reached the Nascent Soul Stage, which was far later than Ji Kongkong.
“Breaking through the Qi Cultivation Stage at fifteen was quite an achievement compared to me who was only at the fifth level of Qi Cultivation at fifteen, and didn’t become a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator until my twenties.”
“It’s just the Human Emperor being modest. You, like Buddha Wu Zhi, became a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator at fourteen. But because some people were jealous of your talents, they sealed your cultivation, which led to you being only at the fifth level of Qi Cultivation at fifteen, and thus being mocked by your own people.”
“How come I didn’t know this?” Jiang Li was speechless, wondering where Du Ping had heard this story.
“In the storytelling ‘The Legend of Jiang the Human Emperor’, it tells the story very clearly.”
Noticing an unusual expression on everyone’s faces, Du Ping cautiously asked, “Is the story from ‘The Legend of Jiang the Human Emperor’ incorrect?”
Jiang Li had heard a few versions of “The Legend of Jiang the Human Emperor”, and none of them mentioned what Du Ping had narrated. He reasoned that Du Ping must have heard another version.
After all, none of these stories recorded his real experiences.
Ji Kongkong corrected him: “Of course it’s not right. Jiang, you were born with immortal bones. Your power cannot be measured by levels. However, your body couldn’t withstand the power of the immortal bones. A powerful being stepped in to seal the immortal bones, letting you gradually unseal them.”
Which version of “The Legend of Jiang the Human Emperor” is this?
Jiang Li could not help but feel helpless. People thought he was so powerful that it was beyond normal comprehension, and thus spun many bizarre stories about him to give a reasonable explanation to his power.
Jiang Li had also heard that he was the reincarnation of an Immortal Emperor, sent to the mortal world for training, and that he transcended time and reincarnation, three lives combined into one, the power of his past, current, and future lives remained constant and singular.
Each time Jiang Li listened to “The Legend of Jiang the Human Emperor”, he would hear new content which was quite enlightening. He didn’t even know he had done all those things.
Who can tell that he was a Mahayana Realm cultivator who believed to appear only once in ten thousand years?
“It’s here!” Du Ping suddenly announced, abruptly standing up and running out the door.
He had his Divine Sense covering the whole of Anyang City, waiting for the ghost to appear.
Du Ping saw a woman in white kneeling on the ground at the same spot as last night, her hands clasped together murmuring words such as “next life” and “rebirth.”
“It’s you!” Du Ping was about to pounce, but was caught by Jiang Li by the collar and pulled back.
“Look carefully. This is a living person.” Jiang Li pointed at the woman in white. She was simply burning paper.
“May I ask what you are doing?” Ji Kongkong squatted down and kindly asked.
To her surprise, Ji Kongkong found out that the woman was a Golden Core Stage cultivator, but her appearance was aged, as if she had been struck by something.
“I’m offering to my child.” The woman in white looked sad.
“My name is Qi Ming. Fifty years ago to this day, my enemies found me and killed my daughter Xiao Fang right here. Although the enemy has been punished, my child will never come back.”
“Every year on this day I come here to offer to my daughter, hoping she will have a good afterlife.”
“She was just sixteen years old, a time to enjoy life. How could she just go?”
Even though fifty years had passed, every time Qi Ming thought of it, she was still heartbroken and couldn’t help crying.
Ji Kongkong sympathetically patted Qi Ming’s back.
“It’s here.” Jiang Li suddenly announced, his Divine Sense constantly covering Anyang City and the surrounding suburbs.
“It’s around midnight, just as reported.”
The report claimed that suspected ghost-like entities started appearing around Jiuzhou half a month ago, mostly around midnight. They liked quiet environments and were afraid of strangers. There have been no injuries so far.
“How come I didn’t notice?” Du Ping was surprised. He also had his Divine Sense covering Anyang City but found nothing.
However, now was not the time to get into the details. Du Ping and Ji Kongkong quickly followed Jiang Li’s pace and arrived at the suburb cemetery.
Seeing the scenes at the cemetery, Ji Kongkong grabbed Jiang Li’s sleeve and hid behind him.
Ghosts started to appear shadowy in the cemetery, vaguely visible. Ji Kongkong and Du Ping tried their best to use their Divine Sense, but to no avail. They could clearly see them with their eyes.
“They must be ghosts, without a doubt.” Jiang Li gave a definite answer. He had seen the Black and White Impermanence, two ghost officials, before. The shadowy ghosts in front of them had similar physiques to the Black and White Impermanence, but were far less powerful.
If ghosts too had cultivation levels, then the Black and White Impermanence should be Heavenly Immortals, and these ghosts in front of them were mortals.
They weren’t like the mortals from Jiuzhou who were at the third level of Qi Cultivation, but actual mortals who had never cultivated.
“But the report said that ghosts appeared all over Anyang City. Why does it look like all the ghosts in Anyang City have gathered here?”