Day and night tour

Chapter 386 Deceiving the Gods
The people of Mingjiang Prefecture were in a great uproar. Those with children held them tightly, while those without children hunched over, barely daring to breathe.

The area where they were located was called Donkey Shed Shop because, at its peak, it was all about the business of donkeys, with tens of thousands of donkeys clustered together in this area.

Now, the donkeys have long been burned to ashes by the fire, but where did the ten thousand braying of donkeys come from?
The common people naturally believed it was the lingering spirit of the nearby donkey; the thought of ghosts and spirits chilled them to the bone.
Fortunately, the lanterns of the parade were raised and lit at the same time.
With the day and night patrol gods of Mingjiang Prefecture protecting them, the common people were not too panicked.

……

The braying of donkeys continued, and the City of Shepherds began to appear indistinctly in the fog. Accompanied by the noisy shouts and cries of the people, an atmosphere resembling a gloomy hell spread out.

On the top of the bell tower, Zhou Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the chaos at the donkey shed. He said to the painter, "This play is mainly about a gloomy theme. The play is very realistic. If the people panic too much, it may cause unnecessary stampedes. Have the people from the Bureau of Parade Keep a close eye on things."

The play is fake.

But if any ordinary people are injured or even die because of this play, then the casualties are real.

The painter nodded and said, "Sir, I have already given the order. The people from the Wandering God Bureau will be careful."

"Yes, the performance needs to be realistic, but safety must also be taken into account."

Zhou Xuan looked at the pocket watch in his palm and said, "It's noon, the opera is about to begin."

He turned around abruptly and said to Peng Sheng, the musician, and the King of Xishan, "It's time for your divine power to shine... seal off the sunlight in Mingjiang Prefecture and let the bright moon illuminate the land of Mingjiang."

Zhou Xuan had already decided on the theme of today's performance: the arrival of Shepherd City, a hundred ghosts walking at night, the gates of hell opening wide, and the dead returning to life.

If it's supposed to be a parade of a hundred ghosts, where does the atmosphere come from in the middle of the day when the sun is blazing?
Upon Zhou Xuan's command, the three mortal deities simultaneously raised their necks, and golden divine essences slowly rose from their mouths.

The three divine essences were surrounded by golden light, as if they possessed an extremely strong gravitational pull.

This gravitational pull doesn't attract the autumn wind or the dust; it only draws in the sunlight.

Within moments, the light around the clock tower dimmed, becoming indistinguishable from night.

Panshan Eagle very sensibly picked up the lantern, removed the lampshade, and lit the wick.

Then light shone from the clock tower.

Meanwhile, the efficiency with which the divine powers of King Himalaya, the Musician, and Peng Sheng absorb sunlight continues to increase infinitely.

The sunlight was completely absorbed, and the donkey shed was completely dark. The people had not prepared lanterns in advance—who would prepare lanterns, lanterns, flashlights, or other lighting tools in the middle of the day?
"It's over, it's getting dark."

Inside the donkey shed, someone shouted something, causing the people to panic even more.

Everyone present had heard those ghost stories when they were young—when the sun sets and darkness falls, wandering ghosts roam the streets.

The braying of the donkey a few minutes ago, and the current darkness, undoubtedly amplified their long-lost sense of fear.

The days when the family would gather around the fire and chat as children, and they would tremble with fear as the elders told ghost stories, have suddenly come back to haunt them.

"Ghost... ghost..."

"Mingjiang Prefecture is doomed. I heard that Muhun City is the Netherworld."

"The ghost city of the underworld has descended upon Mingjiang Prefecture—could it be that the sun will never rise again in our prefecture?"

"Ghosts and evil spirits will fill the entire Mingjiang Prefecture."

Inside the donkey shed, the villagers, too frightened to move about freely, seemed to have forgotten the purpose of their visit.

Wasn't it because they heard the rumor that after the great city descended, their dead relatives would be resurrected?
But now, he was caught in endless worry, fearing that Mingjiang Prefecture might turn into a ghost town.

In the dark and gloomy city, they always felt that some evil spirits were hiding in the pitch-black night.

However, the people's hearts did not remain indefinitely silent; a ray of light shone through and dispelled the shadows in their hearts.

"Light! Light!"

"Three bundles."

"Mingjiang Prefecture is not bleak; perhaps the fear we imagine will not come to pass."

Indeed there is light.

The three divine beings of Xishanwang, the musician, and Pengsheng, after absorbing infinite light, became light itself.

The golden divine essence, due to the sheer amount of sunlight it absorbed, transformed itself into an object capable of emitting the light of the bright moon.

"Godhood becomes the moon, depart."

The three pointed at the divine sparks, and the three divine sparks immediately took turns flying towards the donkey shed shop.

They were like three shooting stars that streaked across the earth, hung in the sky, and then attracted each other, condensing into a moon.

The moon formed by shooting stars shines brighter than a normal moon. They are formed from sunlight, but the thick, still-lingering fog in the sky obscures their light, making them appear like a fuzzy moon that is not very clear.

But this thin layer of moonlight gave the people of Mingjiang Prefecture some hope—a glimmer of hope that had finally emerged after a period of utter despair with no light in sight.

The moonlight did not continue to shine brighter, but in the eyes of the common people, the moon appeared to be getting brighter and brighter because the fog was dissipating.

Fog was originally formed from divine power, and the moon also comes from divine power.

At this moment, the moon was absorbing the divine power in the fog, like an invisible, graceful hand gently lifting the curtain that shrouded Shepherd Soul City.

The City of Shepherd Souls, which had been hidden in the fog, has finally revealed itself.

While shrouded in fog, the crowd could not see clearly and assumed the city was suspended above the donkey shed. But when the curtain was lifted and the city was revealed, they realized that it was actually quite far away.

The exact location of Shepherd Soul City is three kilometers west of Donkey Shed Shop, where there is a mountain called Great Curtain Mountain.

Mount Damu is towering, and Muhun City is even higher than the mountain.

"Director Xuan, how should we proceed with the filming?"

The Buddha Kingdom's mastermind is connected to Zhou Xuan's mind, and can easily communicate with him even when they are extremely far apart.

"Cerebellum, send Shepherd Soul City to Mount Damu, and then, according to our plan, in the name of Shepherd Soul City's will, let a hundred ghosts roam at night."

"Just think of the Mother of a Hundred Ghosts in our secret realm to see what the images of those hundred ghosts look like."

At this moment, Zhou Xuan, as the "director" of the entire colorful play, was directing the whole show.

This scene was much more difficult than ordinary acting or filming—the theater director could yell "cut," but Zhou Xuan couldn't.

"receive."

Following Zhou Xuan's instructions, the cerebellum began to move the projection of Shepherd Soul City downwards, creating the image of "Shepherd Soul City descending upon Mount Damu".

As for Miss Wall and the Engineer, they didn't stay in the secret realm either; they all came out to watch the excitement.

Miss Wall noticed the flaw and said to Zhou Xuan, "Xuan, that's not right. Shepherd City is the City of the Underworld. Such a large city has a magnificent aura when it lands. But the Shepherd City projected by the cerebellum is just an image. Images can't form an aura."

Zhou Xuan said nonchalantly, "Ah Qiang, you should know what so-called momentum is. It's nothing more than the feeling of the earth shaking, the deafening sound, and the scene of its arrival."

"Old Xi, the musician, and Brother Peng used divine power to shake the earth, causing a massive earthquake."

"The cerebellum emits a deafening sound, which is called a noise."

"Then the scene of Shepherd Soul City descending came into the eyes of the people of Mingjiang Prefecture, and that was the scene."

"There is sound, movement, and imagery; when these three are combined, they create an unparalleled aura of arrival."

Zhou Xuan sat on the sofa, leaned back tactically, and said casually, "What is reality? It's nothing more than what the ears hear, the body feels, and the eyes see... I'm just using human characteristics to present a 'false reality' to the people of Mingjiang Prefecture."

Miss Wall was extremely clever. Zhou Xuan explained the principle to her in a light touch, and she understood it immediately. Her eyes sparkled as she listened, and she gave Zhou Xuan a thumbs up: "Xuan, you are really amazing. You even came up with such a method."

She remembered what Zhou Xuan had told her last night—on stage, the actual set design was secondary; what truly enhanced the scale of the stage were the projections and surround sound.

Now she finally knew.

The engineer also praised Zhou Xuan highly, believing that Zhou Xuan was indeed the most talented "colorist" she had ever seen. Not only was he highly talented, but he also dared to think and act, and was not afraid of the stage at all.

Most success in this world comes from "daring to think and act without fear of the stage".

But the great disasters that have occurred in this world also stem from being "bold in thought and action without fear of the stage."

"Ah Xuan is too strong. Will Miss Qiang and I suffer that two-thousand-year-long imprisonment again in the years to come?"

The engineer had been imprisoned in the feng shui formation of Dongshi Street for two thousand years, and she was truly terrified of being confined there.

The painter, musician, and Peng Sheng all praised Zhou Xuan's methods. However, Zhou Xuan had some concerns and said to Miss Wall, "However, the principle is one thing, but to create a realistic sense of Shepherd Soul City's arrival, I still need to carefully coordinate it and not make any mistakes."

If the howling of ten thousand donkeys and the darkness of the Ming River were merely the prelude and warm-up for this grand spectacle, then the arrival of Shepherd Soul City was the splendid chapter of this grand spectacle.

This step must not go wrong. The people of Mingjiang Prefecture must not see through the deception. If this step fails and the people discover that it is a complete scam, then Zhou Xuan's subsequent preparations will be of no use.

"The visuals, the sounds, the feeling of the earth shaking." Zhou Xuan stared at the projection of the "Shepherd City" onto Mount Da Mu, which was placed inch by inch by the cerebellum.

The moment Muhun City came into contact with Damu Mountain, the scene of "Muhun City descending" was witnessed by the people of Mingjiang Prefecture.

Cerebellum then asked Zhou Xuan, who was overseeing the operation, "Director Xuan, can we create the sound now?"

The arrival of such a large city would require a tremendous sound, and the person chosen to project that sound would still be someone with an incredibly fast brain.

Zhou Xuan did not answer directly, but looked at the pocket watch in his hand. After the second hand ticked eight times, he said to the cerebellum, "Project the sound."

"okay."

The cerebellum appeared in the donkey shed at lightning speed, releasing a huge muffled sound.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The sounds came in waves, and the cerebellum kept shifting its position, constantly emitting different muffled sounds with varying volumes and timbres.

Dozens of sounds created a powerful sound field.

The sound field seemed to truly originate from Mount Damu, three kilometers away, and the people of Mingjiang Prefecture discerned many scenes from that complex sound field.
Some sounds are like the feeling of huge trees being crushed by a magnificent city.

Some of the sounds were made by rocks being crushed and broken under pressure.

They could even hear the sticky, squeaking sound of the mountain being squeezed as the city pressed in.
With so many voices accumulating, the people of Mingjiang Prefecture had come to believe that Shepherd Soul City had indeed arrived.

What completely dispelled their doubts was that after the second hand of his pocket watch had ticked half a circle, Zhou Xuan ordered Peng Sheng, the King of Xishan, and the musicians to make a noise.

The three had different roles.

King Xishan used his "divine power to stir up the wind" to create a mountain wind that blew towards the people of Mingjiang Prefecture.

The musicians then used the "divine power to shake the earth" technique to create the sensation of the ground shaking.

Peng Sheng then used the "Mountain Moving Technique" to gather up a large amount of dust and gravel, and threw it towards the donkey shed.

The rubble, hundreds of meters in front of the people's gathering place, fell like meteorites, leaving the ground riddled with craters.

The flying stones, mountain winds, and earth-shaking tremors seemed to paint a vivid picture in the hearts of the people—after the city fell, the aftershocks of the tremors reached the donkey shed, causing the earth to shake, and the broken stones were also affected by the aftershocks, jumping and scattering in all directions like raindrops.

"The city of Shepherd descends! The city of Shepherd descends! The city of Mingjiang is destroyed!"

"If the ghost town enters Mingjiang, we're all finished."

"What are we common folk supposed to do, you parading spirits of the Imperial Parade?"

All the common people were deeply gripped by the fear of the Netherworld City descending upon Mingjiang Prefecture. They were infected by its overwhelming aura, and a sense of despair arose spontaneously.

They were terrified, they cried for help, they lamented, but—not one person doubted that the arrival of Shepherd City was a hoax, a deliberate fabrication.

Whether it's the visuals, the sounds, the rain of flying stones, or the tremors of the earth, everything is seamless, as if it were real.

The lanterns of the Wandering Gods, suspended in mid-air, swayed gently. They seemed unable to distinguish whether the arrival of Shepherd Soul City was a "performance" orchestrated in advance by the painter, or a real event.

The Lantern of the Wandering God struggles and hesitates, adding a final, irrefutable piece of evidence to the "Descent of the City of Shepherds" incident...

……

"Everyone believes it now, Ah Xuan, you really are a genius."

Miss Qiang observed the donkey shed from the clock tower. Seeing that every commoner was silent with fear, she knew that Zhou Xuan's plan had succeeded.

All the common people believed that Shepherd City had truly arrived.

The engineers also felt that Zhou Xuan seemed to have accomplished a miracle—successfully simulating the aura of Shepherd Soul City's arrival using only fake images, sounds, and earthquakes.

Moreover, the entire atmosphere was so realistic that there was no trace of artificiality. It was only because she was on the bell tower, watching Zhou Xuan direct the "simulation of the atmosphere," that she would have believed, had she been in the donkey shed, that Shepherd Soul City had truly arrived.

The engineer was a discerning person; she even changed how she addressed Zhou Xuan, her voice trembling with shock as she asked,
"Boss Xuan, is it possible to create such a miracle using only images, sounds, and vibrations?"

At this moment, Zhou Xuan, who had completed the scheduling, breathed a sigh of relief, lit up the pocket watch in his hand, and said, "It's not that simple. If you want to turn an illusion into the truth, you have to respect the laws of reality. This watch is conveying these laws to me."

"What do you mean by this?"

The engineer didn't quite understand.

Zhou Xuan said, "It's simple. Images, sounds, and vibrations all have their different speeds—when a person looks at an image, it's equivalent to the movement of a beam of light."

The fundamental law we must respect is that light travels faster than sound, and sound travels faster than the earth's aftershocks, since aftershocks are formed by the powerful compression of the mountain.
This kind of compression doesn't happen overnight; it takes time. Only after reaching the limit of compression does it begin to generate aftershocks.

"Therefore, I used my pocket watch to calculate that the sound would take about eight seconds to travel three kilometers from Damu Mountain to the donkey shed shop. So I waited eight seconds before letting my cerebellum produce the sound."

The pressure from Shepherd Soul City on Mount Damu would only produce aftershocks in about thirty seconds, so I had Lao Xi and the others create a massive tremor after the second hand had completed half a rotation, causing mountain winds to sweep through and rocks to fly.

"Overall, I produced the visuals, sounds, and vibrations of the earth according to the laws of reality, with very distinct layers, so that ordinary people could not feel any flaws."

Zhou Xuan leaned back again, smiling, and said, "If you can't see any flaws, then it's the real deal."

Miss Wall was a little confused after hearing this, and asked, "Ah Xuan, where did you learn all these tricks?"

"Where did you learn that? Junior high school physics...People's Education Press edition..." Zhou Xuan said.

"..." Miss Wall.

The engineer frowned as she listened, shaking her head and saying, "Boss Xuan, you're terrifying...you're even more dangerous than those magicians."

If Zhou Xuan's grand performance was entirely orchestrated through the methods of the magician's troupe, then the engineer would simply think that Zhou Xuan was exceptionally talented in magic.

However, the "descendance of Shepherd City" relied not only on the skills of the magicians, but also on Zhou Xuan's knowledge, his observations of life and human nature.

That's what terrifies her.

"Following Boss Xuan has caused trouble that I estimate will be more than just a two-thousand-year prison sentence."

The engineer sighed, while Pan Shanying, standing to the side, served tea even more frequently. He felt that he had made the right choice in latching onto a powerful figure this time—someone who could put on such a grand show and fool the people of Mingjiang Prefecture could not be an ordinary person.

"If I cling to Mr. Da's leg from now on, I'll surely take off."

This was Pan Shanying's plan, but he didn't know that this deception hadn't only fooled the people of Mingjiang Prefecture...

……

"Ah Xuan, you summoned Shepherd City. This move is ingenious, but—what's the point?"

Miss Wall has become a curious child.

Zhou Xuan replied, "Do you still remember the theme of our performance? The City of Shepherds descends, a hundred ghosts roam the night, the gates of hell open, and the dead return to life."

"The common people don't believe the dead can be brought back to life, so I'll put on a show—the City of Shepherds will descend. This Netherworld City will descend to hold a ritual of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, a ritual that is extremely dangerous."
Meanwhile, within Mingjiang Prefecture, a powerful figure intervened, negotiating with the will of Muhun City and carving out a space to allow the Hundred Ghosts to roam at night. However, Muhun City's condition was to release the people of Mingjiang Prefecture who perished in the Flaming Calamity, one by one.

Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "The negotiations and transactions between the important figures of Muhun City and Mingjiang Prefecture took place right under the noses of the common people. Do you think they would still doubt the authenticity of the 'resurrection' after witnessing this event firsthand?"

Upon hearing this, Miss Qiang finally understood and gave a thumbs up, saying, "Ah Xuan, you really know how to come up with such a scheme. By the way, the important figure from Mingjiang Prefecture who negotiated with Muhun City in your play... could it be you?"

Zhou Xuan smiled but remained silent.

Miss Wall then looked at the painter, the musician, Peng Sheng, and Xishan Wang.

The four of them pointed at Zhou Xuan at the same time, and smiled as if to say: If it's not the Great Master, then who could it be? In terms of prestige, among all the cultivators in Mingjiang Prefecture, who can compare to the Great Master?

"My negotiation act will have to wait a bit. Let the cerebellum put on a show—that Shepherd Soul City is going to force a Hundred Ghosts Parade."

This scene will plunge the people of Mingjiang Prefecture into deep despair; it's cruel, but this cruelty is an inevitable process.

Zhou Xuan held up his teacup and spoke solemnly.

……

The people watching Muhun City were not only the residents of Mingjiang Prefecture.

Above the sky, there is a celestial eye peeking out from a gap in the clouds.

"It has truly descended. Zhou Xuan's Heavenly Book of Will has actually triggered the Shepherd Soul City."

Bi Fang also failed to notice the flaws in Shepherd City—the moment the mist dissipated, he saw the projection of Shepherd City through the Heavenly Eye, as well as the moonlight formed by divine power.

The power of the three gods guided his eyes, and what they saw was what Zhou Xuan wanted him to see.

“Zhou Xuan, Shepherd Soul City is a Netherworld City. You think you can rebuild Mingjiang Prefecture by bringing such a Netherworld City here? I think you're delusional—this city will only turn Mingjiang Prefecture into a ghost town. I really want to see your show tonight…”

Bifang was so jealous he almost ground his teeth to powder...

(End of this chapter)