Controlling the Five Thunders and the Two Worlds

Chapter 137 Sitting Tranquil in the Ghost Realm as if in a Bright Hall

The moonlight was half-revealed, and dark clouds filled the sky.

The moonlight wasn't bright tonight, so the lanterns on Chun Street seemed even brighter.

Xiuyue County is, after all, a large county with tens of thousands of people. Along Chun Street, which is several hundred meters long, there are more than a dozen brightly lit brothels with colorful curtains hanging down and noisy voices.

Besides brothels, the only other establishments open at night on the street were taverns, inns, gambling dens, and vendors selling noodles and rice cakes for late-night snacks.

There were quite a few people coming and going on the street, including local officials, wealthy men, scholars, and merchants passing through on their way to trade, making this short spring street even more lively than during the day.

Gu Zhao and Zhuo Qingyan stood in the shadows not far from Zhenxiang Courtyard, staring blankly at the scene before them.

"It seems we're too early," Gu Zhao said blankly. "And too early."

Zhuo Qingyan turned around and looked at Gu Zhao's stunned profile, her eyes filled with undisguised laughter, and asked softly, "Brother Gu has never been to Chun Street before?"

Gu Zhao was speechless. "Who in their right mind would come to a place like this!"

In modern times, he had never even been to a nightclub; he was incredibly honest and unassuming.

Although he knew that bars and nightclubs were popular at night, and guessed that it might be similar in ancient times, he did not expect them to be this popular.

He had been waiting until almost the end of Hai Shi (9-11 PM), but the place felt like a gourmet restaurant in a business district during weekday lunchtime.

Sure enough, even in a world with demons and ghosts, nothing can stop LSP from pursuing a better life.

Zhuo Qingyan pointed to a group of scholars and merchants who had just come out of a brothel, "Welcoming and seeing off guests, calling out to friends and acquaintances, many people like to come to this kind of place."

Gu Zhao shook his head. After all, he was a cultivator. Although he was lustful, it was human nature and in accordance with the natural order. He was not interested in such a place of pure sensual pleasures and unrestrained indulgence.

"When will it get quiet here?" Gu Zhao asked, "Around 1 AM?"

Zhuo Qingyan replied, "At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), when sunrise is approaching, it becomes quiet here."

"Good heavens, that's really powerful!" Gu Zhao sighed, just about to go home to sleep, when his expression changed again as he turned to look at a man in blue robes who came out of the inn.

Zhuo Qingyan turned around and her eyes flashed when she saw the man. Her gaze swept over him without lingering on him, and instead turned back to Gu Zhao.

She noticed that Gu Zhao was also looking at her. Catching the deeper meaning in Gu Zhao's eyes, Zhuo Qingyan nodded, indicating that she had noticed.

The clothes worn by the man in blue were exactly the same as those worn by the man in blue they killed in the haunted house in the west of the city yesterday.

At this moment, he came out of the inn and went into a tavern next door. He ordered a few dishes and drinks, and sat down at a low table at the entrance of the tavern. While eating and drinking, he observed the brothel across the street.

“Another disciple from Stone King Cave.” Gu Zhao clicked his tongue. “Two of them coming at once, that’s no coincidence.”

"He's looking at Pillow Fragrance Courtyard, but he's not going in." Zhuo Qingyan turned slightly and asked, "What is he waiting for?"

Gu Zhao glanced at the man in blue and noticed him glancing westward every now and then. "Could he be waiting for that dead ghost who died again?"

Zhuo Qingyan paused for a moment, then thought about it and realized it was indeed possible.

That being the case...

"Could his target be that woman from today?" Zhuo Qingyan asked. "Senior Yansong is highly skilled and wouldn't miss anyone, unless that person wasn't there at the time."

Gu Zhao nodded, then pulled Zhuo Qingyan back a step. "Let's see. Neither side is a good person. If they really team up, then we'll take them all down at once."

As the moonlight grew darker and the hour approached midnight, the man in blue frowned frequently, his expression becoming increasingly anxious.

After a moment, he reached out and touched his chest, finally put down his chopsticks, got up to pay the bill, and then walked into Zhenxiangyuan.

Gu Zhao opened his folding fan and gently fanned himself, looking at the Pillow Fragrance Courtyard in front of him. "If they start fighting inside, I'm afraid the Pillow Fragrance Courtyard will be unable to do business!"

The next moment, a sinister aura suddenly erupted from the fourth floor of Zhenxiang Courtyard.

"Qiao Yunyao! Hand over the Wangui Banner!"

"Hehe, Third Senior Brother, it's been a long time! Why didn't Master come in person?"

"You wretch! You stole treasures and escaped while Master was in seclusion! Master has already bestowed the Soul-Stabilizing Seal upon me, ordering me to capture you and bring you back to his cave!"

The voices of the man in blue and the woman were not quiet; they echoed throughout the building, and a chilling aura enveloped the surroundings.

The guests in the Pillow Fragrance Courtyard were unaware that they had encountered a battle between sorcerers. They all let out a shout and fled, crying for their parents.

Fortunately, their targets were each other, and no ordinary people were affected, allowing them all to escape.

However, Gu Zhao and Zhuo Qingyan had already unknowingly entered Zhenxiang Courtyard and sat down in the front hall. Gu Zhao gently shook his folding fan without making a move, and Zhuo Qingyan also stopped her rescue attempt.

"The Banner of Ten Thousand Ghosts, the Seal of Soul Fixation—there are treasures in this Stone King Cave!" Gu Zhao looked at the white wolf fan in his hand. "It seems that Stone King Cave is richer than Three Absolutes Mountain."

The Black Bear King's treasure is the nine-ringed broadsword he left behind at the Three Absolutes Mountain, which has now become a collection item of the Great Luo Palace. The White Wolf King's folding fan is also made of fine steel. The wolf pack magic is suitable for crushing weaklings, but it is still slightly insufficient to deal with powerful figures.

Zhuo Qingyan frowned. "They've made their move."

The next moment, endless eerie ghost energy enveloped Pillow Fragrance Courtyard, turning it into a ghost realm. Inside the building, it was almost pitch black. Then, countless gusts of cold wind swept by, and ghostly wails resounded, shaking one's soul.

Gu Zhao frowned, his face ashen. "A mortal soul!"

Zhuo Qingyan nodded slightly, without speaking, but her eyes were cold.

Just then, a voice called "Stay still" came from upstairs, and the ghostly aura surrounding the building seemed to fade. The candlelight flickered faintly through the black mist, and the surrounding eerie wind and ghostly wails gradually dissipated.

But just two or three breaths later, the eerie wind rose again, the ghostly wails returned, and that clear laughter rang out from upstairs, "Activating the Soul-Stabilizing Seal is not easy. It seems that Third Senior Brother is struggling a bit by himself."

Just then, a loud crash came from upstairs. A door to a room suddenly shattered, and a dark figure seemed to be thrown out. Black smoke gathered and dispersed, then stopped on the second floor and revealed itself to be the man in blue from before.

The man in blue was pale, holding a small seal that was no more than half an inch in size, but his hand was still trembling.

The next moment, a graceful figure appeared on the fourth floor, looking down at the man in blue, and said with a playful smile, "Third Senior Brother, what are you doing..."

He stopped speaking abruptly after saying less than half a sentence.

The woman who had met Gu Zhao that afternoon and given him a handkerchief suddenly saw Gu Zhao and Zhuo Qingyan in the hall.

A chilling wind blew around them, and ghosts howled, but the two of them seemed to be sitting peacefully in a sunny courtyard.

The woman was taken aback, her pupils suddenly contracting.

Gu Zhao flicked open his folding fan, nodded and smiled, "You have been so kind to invite me, young lady. I apologize for my presumptuousness in coming here."

(End of this chapter)