Chapter 106: The Secret of the New City

Hearing Hui Gen’er’s question, Zhu Zhuo’s expression was very calm, and he had nothing to hide. He said directly to us, “Master Hong Ren, you have been here for a long time, so you naturally know about his existence.”

“Master Hongren? You have monks here? What is he doing here?” Hearing the news of the Buddhist sect, Huigen naturally became more concerned and couldn’t help but ask a few more questions.

“I don’t know why Master Hongren is here, but the city lord allows him to be here. As for what the monk is doing here, he is naturally trying to save us from suffering and accept his salvation!” Zhu Zhu said seriously.

But this situation is too strange. We were all stunned, and even if we wanted to ask, we didn’t know how to ask.

Zhu Zhu said to himself, “I don’t know much about Master Hongren either. I only know that every five days, he appears in the West City because there are more sober people there. He recites sutras and talks about Buddhism. I didn’t go before, but then I went once in a while, and I found that I was sober a lot, so I went often.”

“He’s sobered up a lot?” This sentence made me full of questions, and I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows and ask another question.

Jueyuan, who had not spoken up until now, finally muttered, “So did he succeed?”

“How can he be saved here? This is hell!” Zhu Zhuo’s tone became agitated, and then he ignored Jueyuan and said to me, “You know too little about this new city. Let me tell you slowly.”

Under Zhu Zhuo’s narration, this ghost town full of mysteries finally slowly unfolded everything about it in front of us. Of course, it was only about the outer city. There is also an existence called the inner city here, but let’s not talk about it for now.

According to Zhu Zhuo, the ghosts here are roughly divided into three types. The most common are the vengeful spirits with unresolved grievances, followed by the vengeful spirits whose grievances have been transformed into boundless hatred, and finally the lonely spirits who missed their chance to reincarnate and ended up here. Of course, the composition of the lonely spirits is more complicated. Some of them are people who died here over the course of many years.

Zhu Zhuo is one of these wandering spirits.

“Lonely ghosts and wild ghosts are the best and the worst off. The best off means that we are awake and not like the ghosts on the street who are overwhelmed by hatred and have no reason to think, only knowing to repeat killing, devouring, and suicide. The worst off is because how can the abilities of lonely ghosts and wild ghosts compare to those of angry ghosts and fierce ghosts? They can be devoured at any time.” Zhu Zhuo added this about lonely ghosts and wild ghosts.

In this world, apart from the legendary immortals who have jumped out of the Six Realms, there is nothing that can exist forever, and this naturally includes souls.

The essence of ghosts is naturally the soul. Taoists know a common sense that in the outside world, if there is no long-term nourishment of yin energy, the soul will naturally dissipate after drifting for a long time.

But here, in a world filled with yin and no yang, it is naturally a paradise for ghosts, so the ghosts here can theoretically exist for a very long time.

But does that mean that everything is fine? Is this really a paradise for ghosts? Of course not.

It is because of the purity of the yin energy!

There are too few pure yin veins in this world, and there are too many things that need them. Naturally, they are controlled by powerful beings. The Lake of a Thousand Ghosts is only a natural gathering of yin, and it is a place with abundant yin energy. Compared to pure yin veins, it is too far away.

The yin energy here is already mixed, not to mention that even pure yin energy will become mixed after being “used” by the existence of vengeful ghosts and evil spirits for a long time!

The so-called mixed yin energy refers to the fact that the yin energy is full of negative energy, and a large part of the negative energy is negative emotions.

What consequences will this kind of negative energy have on ghosts?

“The consequences are already on the street. After spending a long time in this environment, the vengeful spirits will become fierce ghosts, and the fierce ghosts will become mad spirits. Even we lonely ghosts and wild ghosts have a tendency to become vengeful ghosts.” Zhu Zhu sighed and said.

Yes, this is where the real problem lies! No wonder Zhu Zhu was so agitated just now. It turned out that he was afraid of becoming completely unconscious. Perhaps in his previous life, when he missed the day of reincarnation, he stubbornly stayed at home. Seeing that his parents’ sadness had gradually subsided, he transferred his feelings to his two younger brothers. He was relieved, but after staying here for a long time, the saying became, how could his parents forget his resentment? This is where the negative energy is at work.

This effect is not necessarily slow. For those with strong resentment in their hearts, the effect is very fast. But for lonely ghosts and wild spirits, especially those with a more peaceful state of mind, the effect is relatively much smaller.

In his rambling narrative, Zhu Zhuo said that he had been in the Lake of Ghosts for more than 200 years, indicating that his mentality was relatively peaceful. After all, he was a child when he died, and his thoughts were much purer.

“You have existed here for more than two hundred years? But this new city hasn’t been around for that long. Were you in the old city before?” Hearing this, I couldn’t help but interrupt Zhu Zhuo. Although we are in the new city and all the clues point to the new city, it doesn’t mean that we are not curious about the old city.

The most important thing is, if we must act against the new city, what is the attitude of the old city? Is it an enemy or a friend?

On this issue, Zhu Zhu sighed and said, “Let’s not talk about the old city. You newcomers, listen to me finish telling you everything about here before asking any questions.”

Since Zhu Zhu said so, we naturally couldn’t ask any more, and could only continue listening to Zhu Zhu.

The days in the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts are undoubtedly hopeless. Staying in the city is like a person knowing that their end will be to become stupid, demented, and unable to remember anything, and that they will be driven mad by hatred…

But what about going out of the city? It is even more unrealistic, because there are some high-ranking beings here. How can they let you leave the city easily? Before many ghosts completely lose their minds, they will desperately want to leave the city, wanting to take revenge on their enemies and to have their grievances redressed.

“But their end is to disappear! There is a more accurate saying, that is, to be swallowed up by the unification and enter the city. No ghost can leave the city freely.” Zhu Zhu sighed and said.

“But…” Xiao Chengqian couldn’t help but interrupt Zhu Zhuo’s words, because we had come along the way, not to mention the joke that ghosts could not go out, but there were simply an overwhelming number of ghosts outside, in the village, at the bottom of the lake, and even outside the city within the natural formation…

“I know what you’re going to say. This is a secret.” Zhu Zhu suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously, and then said to us, “The guys who went out can be said to be guys whose souls are already incomplete, and even the crazy ghosts on the street are not as good as them! This saying has been circulating in our new city for a long time.”

“Can you be more specific?” I suddenly remembered those ghosts. I have always suspected that, except for the ghost Rakshasa, which is more self-aware, the other ghosts can disappear from the most essential part of the soul.

What is this essence? It is thought, the ability to think! Humans who have lost their souls are like walking corpses, and when the soul loses this essence, you can understand it as a walking corpse of the soul.

Facing my question, Zhu Zhuo shook his head and said, “I’m just a little lonely ghost. How could I possibly know too much about the secrets of this city? If you really want to know, try to find a way to enter the inner city.”

“Enter the inner city?” Cheng Xin touched his chin, and his eyes slightly narrowed under his glasses. What the hell is going on with this guy? I only realized at this time that even the soul state of Cheng Xin also wore a pair of glasses. Could it be that his glasses were also magical artifacts?

I thought this was a bit funny and couldn’t help but smile a little. Of course I knew that the glasses weren’t magical, he just wanted people to see him in this image, but it really didn’t match the Taoist outfit.

Chengxin brother spoke to himself casually, and I smiled casually, but I didn’t want to be another meaning in Zhu Zhuo’s eyes. It looked at us and said seriously, “From the way you look, I know you must have heard something about the inner city, but this is also a sign of confidence, otherwise why would you laugh?”

It was talking about me, but I really didn’t know anything about the inner city, so I was a little confused by Zhu Zhuo’s statement.

But this enthusiastic guy wouldn’t let me be at a loss for too long. Before I could say anything, he said, “You must have heard a little about the inner city, but not completely. Let me explain it to you.”

To be honest, life in the Lake of a Thousand Ghosts is hopeless because the ending is already written and placed in front of every ghost, but it is not completely hopeless in the New City either. There are two choices here that can slightly change the ending.

The first option comes from the mysterious Master Hongren, who inexplicably appeared here thirty years ago. He is here to perform exorcisms and explain the Dharma. Although he has not succeeded in exorcising a single ghost, he has effectively resolved the grievances of many ghosts and delayed their loss of reason.

Zhu Zhuo is a case in point!

“If I could be successfully liberated by Master Hongren, it would be the best way to escape this ending! But now it seems that this method, or this choice, is unrealistic.” Zhu Zhuo commented.

When he said this, Jueyuan couldn’t help but turn the prayer beads in his hands a few times. His face became a little heavier, but then his eyes became firm again, and his expression returned to indifference.

I naturally knew what Jueyuan was thinking, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I gave him an encouraging look and then looked at Zhu Zhuo and asked, “Then the second one is to enter the inner city?”

“Yes, it is the inner city! In the inner city, there is the purest yin energy to nourish, the closest to all the life of the world, and even the freedom to enter and exit the ghost city at certain times. This choice is the best choice, and it is also the choice that the ghosts here most yearn for.” When talking about the inner city, Zhu Zhuo’s eyes had a strong desire. It licked its lips and continued, “But the inner city is not so easy to enter. I also want to get to know you and take a chance.”

“What do you mean by that?” Did Zhu Zhuo realize our identity and know that we were outsiders? If he knew about the existence of the inner city, he would go in even if he broke in? When he said this, Xiao Chengqian looked at him with some caution in his eyes.

“Actually, it’s very simple to enter the inner city. Only ghosts with the ability can enter the inner city! Of course, this ability must be maintained while maintaining complete sanity. These lunatics on the street are out of the question.” Zhu Zhuo simply explained.

In fact, this explanation is enough. Powerful ghosts are usually fierce ghosts. The greater the resentment, the deeper the hatred, and the more powerful the ability they bring. Don’t underestimate the role of emotions in stimulating the power of the soul. Even in the human world, emotions can make people perform their potential beyond the ordinary, not to mention the soul state that is less bound by the body.

But the contradiction arises here. The more resentment a ghost has, the more susceptible it is to the influence of the negative energy here, and the more likely it is to go crazy. But there is no absolute in this world, and there is one exception!

That is, the soul power of the being itself is strong enough to suppress his own resentment and prevent himself from going crazy. This kind of innate situation, even if incarnated as a fierce ghost in the ordinary world, is also a headache for Taoist priests.

Don’t think that the soul power is equal. Under the same conditions, some babies are born with a deficiency, while others are strong. The same is true for soul power.

If that is the case, then entering the inner city is a very difficult thing.

“I was on the roof and saw that you were lucid beings. At first I thought you were just like me, new arrivals… but after seeing you fight, I knew you were very powerful, and I also had hope of entering the inner city after seeing you.” At this point, Zhu Zhuo was embarrassed and scratched his head, saying, “If you are willing to take me with you.”

So it was so enthusiastic about us. Besides loneliness, there was another reason? It seems that a guy who has existed for hundreds of years is not to be underestimated, even if he is just a baby…

“To tell the truth, there was once a female ghost who was just like that,” Zhu Zhu said, embarrassed, and then added something to make conversation.

A female ghost? Could it be Yucui? I think we’ve probably found the right direction.