Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Search

A ghost market is, after all, just a bazaar for ghosts.

To ordinary people, it is indeed terrifying in the extreme, but for those accomplished in cultivation, it poses no real problem.

However, if this ghost market happens to be an entire city, the implications become grave indeed.

To transform all the inhabitants of a city into ghosts, one horrific condition must be met: these people must all perish at almost the exact same moment.

In other words, nothing short of a massacre capable of wiping out a whole city could possibly give rise to such a ghost market.

Li Qingqing was truly audacious beyond reason, daring to make use of a ghost market. If anything went wrong with such an endeavor, it would result in all of them being buried together within the ghost realm.

Shen Chang'an could not help but frown as he asked, "What city is this ghost market, anyway?"

Li Qingqing smiled faintly and said softly, "In this vicinity, there is only the city of Yuyang."

"Yuyang?" Shen Chang'an furrowed his brow.

Shen Chang'an was essentially completely clueless about the names of the cities in this world.

Earlier, because the Great Qian was divided into nine provinces, he had even suspected whether the map of the Great Qian might mirror ancient China. But upon investigation, he discovered that aside from the names of the nine provinces, everything else—including the cities—was entirely different.

Even the geographical orientations differed. The Great Qian featured an inland sea region, and that single detail alone was enough to prove that the two worlds were not the same.

Yet in the Great Qian, maps were notoriously difficult to acquire. Up to now, Shen Chang'an only knew a few rough directions; as for the cities and their histories, he was completely in the dark.

Such items were luxuries guarded almost exclusively by high-ranking officials and nobles. Ordinary commoners, and even local magistrates and bailiffs, would never possess them.

The common folk of the Great Qian world spent their entire lives rooted in a single place, never leaving it for as long as they lived. A map, which could almost be classified as a military logistics resource, was naturally something they were barred from owning.

As for the maps held by most trade caravans, they covered only the specific routes carved out for their commerce.

Consequently, Shen Chang'an knew virtually nothing about the Great Qian. Seeing Li Qingqing's assumption that he should naturally know, he hesitated, unsure whether he ought to ask for clarification.

Fortunately, Jiang Yunayi spoke up from the side: "Yuyang... could that be the submerged city?"

Li Qingqing nodded. "Naturally, it is that very city."

"Back when the Great Xia fell, Yuyang City, as the birthplace of the Xia Dynasty, was the most resistant to the Dragon Emperor's ascension. But the Dragon Emperor had just claimed the throne; how could she tolerate any dissenting voices?"

"Not long after that, Yuyang was struck by a mountain torrent, and the entire city was submerged and swallowed by water."

Shen Chang'an pondered for a moment before saying, "There don't seem to be any major rivers or waterways around here, do there?"

"Of course not. That so-called mountain torrent was merely an excuse. In truth, it was a great flood personally unleashed by the Dragon Emperor, drowning the entirety of Yuyang City. If it had truly been a natural mountain flood, how could not a single person have survived?"

At these words, Shen Chang'an started in shock and blurted out, "The Dragon Emperor didn't spare a single soul?"

"If you don't believe me, ask Lady Dragon," Li Qingqing said with a shrug of her hands.

Jiang Yunayi whispered softly from the side, "When the Dragon Emperor ascended the throne, the blood flowing from the imperial palace converged into small rivers, and three opposing cities were obliterated, with not a single survivor in any of them."

Shen Chang'an drew a sharp breath. He knew the Dragon Emperor acted with supreme dominance, but he had never imagined she could be so cruel and tyrannical.

Killing people upon ascending the throne to establish majesty was considered standard practice, but slaughtering to the point where blood formed rivers meant she must have massacred even the utterly uninvolved servants and maids. Wiping out rebellious cities was one thing, but to trap the inhabitants within the city walls and prevent even a single one from escaping...

Just hearing of it was beyond Shen Chang'an's imagination.

"Enough, Daoist Master Shen. It is not our place to manage the affairs of the Dragon Emperor. What we must discuss right now is the city of Yuyang!"

Shen Chang'an shook his head and said softly, "Since you have already devised a plan, we shall proceed as you say."

Li Qingqing smiled faintly. "Very well. With those words from you, Daoist Master Shen, that is quite enough."

...

Meanwhile, on Su Xiuyan's end.

He was in hot pursuit of Shen Chang'an, relying on the lingering, concentrated resentment unique to the disciples of the White Lotus Cult, making it impossible for Shen Chang'an to shake him off.

However, shortly after entering this expanse of mountain forest, Shen Chang'an's aura suddenly vanished without a trace.

Su Xiuyan flew into a towering rage. His original plan had been to slowly wear Shen Chang'an down, letting him exhaust his strength so that they could capture him without expending too many men.

Though he had appeared completely composed when Shen Chang'an slaughtered his subordinates, Su Xiuyan's heart was bleeding on the inside.

Coming to encircle and suppress Shen Chang'an, he was well aware of his opponent's capabilities.

If he had brought ordinary troops to hunt down Shen Chang'an, Shen Chang'an wouldn't even need to draw his Withered Wood Sword; relying solely on his superhuman strength and mastery of kinetic arts, he could have bludgeoned every single one of them to death right here.

To drain Shen Chang'an's combat stamina, almost every subordinate he brought along was an elite member of the cult.

The loss of even one of these men caused him a profound ache in his heart.

When he saw Jiang Yunayi whisking Shen Chang'an away, he had initially felt that things were playing right into his hands, allowing him to conserve his forces.

Never had he expected that just moments later, Shen Chang'an would simply vanish into thin air.

"Where is he?! How the hell did you lose him?"

Unable to find Shen Chang'an, Su Xiuyan flew into a frenzy of anger, relentlessly cursing and berating his subordinates.

His subordinates felt deeply aggrieved as well. Clearly, it was Su Xiuyan who had insisted on dragging things out to wear Shen Chang'an down slowly; yet the moment their tracking arts failed to locate the target, he immediately shifted all the blame onto the scouts.

"Search! All of you, damn it, go search! Turn a ten-li radius upside down! I refuse to believe that Shen Chang'an has sprouted wings and flown into the sky!"

No sooner had he issued this command than he suddenly saw a firework burst in the sky.

The fireworks scattered, blooming into the shape of a white lotus amidst the gathering dusk.

"Eh?" Su Xiuyan froze slightly. He was intimately familiar with this signal—it was the secret mark of the White Lotus Cult.

"Found him?"

Surely this was far too fast?

He had only just finished chewing out his subordinates, and instantly someone had already tracked down Shen Chang'an's whereabouts?

He quickly calculated the distance in his mind. After a brief moment, he realized that Shen Chang'an's location was precisely ten li away from where he stood.

Su Xiuyan frowned slightly, a faint sense of unease stirring in his heart. But now that Shen Chang'an's trace had been found, he would not be reconciled if he didn't go and check it out for himself.

"Let's move. No matter what, everyone follow right behind me!"