Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

"Brother Damin, do you think the people here know about the underworld?" Chen Xueru asked curiously as she walked, and when she saw a squirrel with a long tail dart past her, she couldn't help but exclaim softly.

He Damin thought for a moment. On the day the Underworld was completed, golden light of merit descended from the sky, a truly magnificent sight that illuminated almost half the sky. "Perhaps they know. Perhaps they don't. The golden light of merit was so great that everyone within a radius of ten thousand miles should have seen it. A few days ago, the sect leader of the Qingyun Sect even came to ask me about it, and I briefly told him about the Underworld. He should pass it on."

"Will they worship you like a god?" Chen Xueru asked, tilting her head up, her eyes full of admiration. In her heart, He Damin was the most amazing person.

He Damin was amused by her and playfully pinched her nose: "Why would you worship me? I'm not a god."

"You're the Lord of the Underworld now!" Chen Xueru said earnestly, "You govern the underworld and the six realms of reincarnation, you're even more powerful than the gods enshrined in temples!"

He Damin shook his head and sighed, "He's just a laborer. Nothing special. The order of the Three Realms is in chaos, and someone has to come out and clean up the mess." He looked at the distant sky, wondering how things were on Earth, and whether his parents were alright.

They walked and stopped frequently, chatting and enjoying the scenery, so they didn't feel tired at all. At noon, He Damin took out the spirit rice and some pickled monster meat jerky he had prepared beforehand from his storage bag, found a clean rock to sit on, and ate a simple meal with Chen Xueru. The spirit rice had a faint fragrance, and the monster meat jerky was very chewy, much tastier than ordinary food.

In the afternoon, they encountered a caravan. Dozens of camels carried heavy loads of goods, and several men dressed in coarse cloth led the camels carefully along the mountain path. The leader was a burly man with a thick beard, whose cultivation level was not high, only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage, but he seemed very shrewd. Upon seeing He Damin and Chen Xueru, he first gave them a wary look, and seeing the fluctuations of Golden Core cultivation on He Damin's body, he quickly bowed and greeted them, "Greetings, Senior." In the world of cultivation, cultivation level equals status; Golden Core cultivators were already considered high and mighty figures in the eyes of the mortal caravan.

He Damin nodded and casually asked, "Where are you headed?"

The burly man with a thick beard quickly replied, "Reporting to senior, we come from the south and are on our way to deliver goods to Qingyun City."

"How much longer until we reach Qingyun City?"

"Almost there," the burly man said with a smile. "After crossing that mountain, it will take another hour to see the city walls."

"Okay, thank you." He Damin thanked her and continued walking forward with Chen Xueru.

After walking for about another hour, the sun began to set, casting a warm golden hue over the distant mountains. Suddenly, Chen Xueru pointed ahead and exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Damin, look! It's the city wall!"

He Damin looked in the direction she pointed, and sure enough, a bluish-gray outline appeared on the distant horizon. As it drew closer, the outline became clearer. That was the city wall of Qingyun City. It looked very tall, probably more than ten zhang high, and was built of huge bluish-gray stone blocks. The stone blocks were tightly fitted together, and they were engraved with dense runes that shimmered with a faint spiritual light. It was obviously a huge defensive formation.

The city wall was incredibly long, stretching as far as the eye could see, like a giant blue dragon lying across the plain. The city gate was large enough for four carriages to pass side-by-side. Above the gate hung a huge black plaque with the three powerful, golden characters "Qingyun City" written on it. The characters, made of some unknown metal, gleamed brilliantly in the setting sun, giving it an exceptionally imposing appearance.

Two rows of guards stood at the city gate, numbering about twenty or so, all dressed in uniform blue armor, carrying spears and long swords at their waists. Their cultivation levels were not high, mostly around the third or fourth level of the Qi Refining stage, but they stood ramrod straight, with sharp eyes and a commanding presence, clearly having received rigorous training.

He Damin and Chen Xueru walked forward hand in hand. Just as they reached the city gate, a guard who looked like the captain stepped forward and stopped them, speaking in a fairly polite tone: "Gentlemen, please show your identification tokens."

He Damin was taken aback: "Identity token?" He really didn't know that you needed this to enter the city.

"Yes," the guard captain nodded, pointing to the side, "You need an identity token to enter the city. If you don't have one, you can go to the yamen (government office) on the left side of the city gate to get a temporary one."

He Damin gave an "oh" and pulled Chen Xueru to the nearby government office. It was a small courtyard with a sign that read "Qingyun City Household Registration Office" hanging at the entrance. The courtyard was simple, with only one main room containing a table and a few chairs. An old man with gray hair was dozing off at the table, a trace of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was wearing a worn gray official robe and looked lazy.

"Old man." He Damin gently tapped the table.

The old man jolted awake, startled. He hurriedly wiped the drool from his mouth, rubbed his eyes, and groggily asked, "Huh? What is it? Who is it?"

"We want to get an identity token," He Damin said.

Only then did the old man get a clear look at the two people standing before him: a young man in a blue robe and an elegant woman. Both appeared to possess extraordinary bearing, especially the young man, who, despite only being at the Golden Core stage, gave the old man an unfathomable aura. Not daring to be negligent, the old man quickly sat up straight, sized them up, and asked, "Where do you come from?"

"The distance," He Damin replied simply.

"Where is the distance?" the old man asked, which was part of his work process.

He Damin thought for a moment, "We can't exactly say we came from the underworld, can we? 'It's a very far place. This is our first time in Qingyun City.'"

Seeing that they didn't want to say more, the old man wisely refrained from asking further questions. He took out two palm-sized wooden plaques from the drawer, then took out a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote the names of He Damin and Chen Xueru on the plaques, along with a simple portrait—of course, it looked like scribbles, completely unrecognizable. After finishing, he handed the plaques to He Damin: "Ten low-grade spirit stones."

He Damin reached into his pocket and then into his storage bag, his face slightly flushed—he had only been in this world for a short time, and the Underworld had just opened, so they didn't have the local currency, spirit stones. He looked at Chen Xueru, who shook her head shyly; her storage bag contained only a few clothes and some snacks, nothing else.

"Old man," He Damin said somewhat awkwardly, "we've just arrived and don't have any spirit stones on us. Could we exchange them for something else?"

The old man frowned, somewhat displeased: "Other things? What things? We only accept spirit stones here." In the world of cultivation, spirit stones are the hard currency; other things, unless they are extremely precious natural treasures, are not accepted.

He Damin thought for a moment, then pulled something from his pocket. It was a heavy gold brick, which he had brought from Earth, thinking he might need it sometime. He hadn't expected it to come in handy here. He placed the gold brick on the table: "Will this do?"

The old man glanced at the gold brick, then curled his lip. "Gold? What's the use of this stuff? You can't absorb spiritual energy for cultivation, and it's heavy to carry. I don't want it."

Helpless, He Damin rummaged through his storage bag again and found a piece of jade. He had found it in the treasure trove of Prince Gong's mansion before; it was of excellent quality, pure white, and contained a faint spiritual energy. Although it wasn't top-grade spiritual jade, it was still a considerable treasure. He handed the jade to the old man: "What about this?"

The old man took the jade, his eyes lighting up immediately. He took out something that looked like a magnifying glass, examined it carefully for a long time, then flicked it with his finger, listened to the sound, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face: "Hmm, this jade is good, a fine piece, it can sell for a good price. Okay, let's exchange it for this." He took out a small bag from the drawer, counted out ten shiny stones, and handed them to He Damin, "These are ten low-grade spirit stones, take them. The rest is your change, keep the change."

He Damin accepted the spirit stone; it felt warm and smooth to the touch, and indeed contained a faint spiritual energy. This was the currency of this world. He carefully put away the spirit stone and the wooden token, thanked the old man, and led Chen Xueru out of the government office.

"Let's go into town."

They returned to the city gate and handed the wooden plaque to the captain of the guard. The captain looked at the plaque, then at them, and after confirming that everything was correct, waved them through.

He Damin led Chen Xueru across the threshold and into Qingyun City.

As soon as they entered the city, a cacophony of various smells hit them, startling them for a moment.

The street was much wider than they had imagined, easily over ten meters wide, paved with bluestone slabs, polished smooth by countless footsteps. Both sides of the street were lined with all sorts of shops, one after another, packed tightly together. There were spirit medicine shops with signs that read "Hundred Herbs Hall," rows of baskets filled with herbs displayed at their entrances; there were magic weapon shops with signs that read "Refining Weapons Pavilion," several swords gleaming with spiritual light displayed at their doors; and there were shops selling talismans, materials for demonic beasts, elixirs, and all sorts of daily necessities… a dazzling array of goods, enough to make one's eyes dazzle.

Most of the shop signs were made of wood, with the shop names painted in red, green, and black. Some even had red lanterns hanging above them, giving them a very antique feel. The streets were bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder, even more lively than commercial streets on Earth.

The people on the street were a diverse bunch: ordinary vendors dressed in coarse cloth, carrying loads on shoulder poles and hawking their wares; farmers hurrying along with baskets on their backs; and cultivators in various robes, their auras varying in strength. Some cultivators flew above the street on swords, their feet resting on different kinds of flying swords, creating gusts of wind; others rode strangely shaped beasts, such as those resembling lions but with wings, or those resembling horses but with horns; and still others, like He Damin and his companions, strolled leisurely.

The air was filled with a variety of scents—the fresh fragrance of herbs wafting from the herbal medicine shop, the pungent smell of demonic beast meat from the butcher shop, the aroma of fried food from the snack stalls, and the faint scent of incense from the distant temple. Various sounds mingled together: the cries of vendors, the haggling of customers, the occasional bursts of spiritual energy from cultivators, the laughter of children… all creating a vivid picture of everyday life.

"Wow, Brother Damin, it's so lively!" Chen Xueru exclaimed excitedly, her eyes wide, like a country child visiting the city for the first time, looking around curiously at everything. She saw a vendor selling sugar figurines, shaping various small animals with sugar syrup, and couldn't help but stop and take a closer look.

He Damin chuckled and ruffled her hair: "More lively than Hong Kong?"

"It's different," Chen Xueru thought for a moment and said seriously, "Hong Kong is modern and bustling, full of cars and skyscrapers. This is... the bustling atmosphere of ancient times, like stepping into a period movie."

They walked slowly along the street, He Damin observing his surroundings discreetly as he went. He stopped when they passed a herb shop. The shop was filled with various medicinal herbs, some in earthenware jars, some in jade boxes, and some simply displayed on shelves. He recognized some of them, such as hemostatic herbs and qi-gathering flowers—common low-grade herbs; others were unfamiliar, strangely shaped, and some even emitted a faint glow.

The shop owner was a middle-aged man, appearing to be in his forties, with a goatee and wearing a gray Taoist robe. His cultivation level was around the fifth level of the Foundation Establishment stage. Seeing He Damin and Chen Xueru standing at the door looking inside, he quickly and warmly greeted them, "Esteemed guests, what would you like to buy? Our shop has top-quality spiritual herbs, whether for alchemy, healing, or cultivation—we have them all, quality guaranteed, and prices are fair!"

He Damin shook his head: "We'll just take a look around."