The ultimate master in the city

Chapter 75 The Courtyard

Behind the window was a thatched path, which looked quite desolate, and I had no idea where it was.

The fox ran along the grassy path without daring to disappear into the bushes, and as it ran, it would turn back and chuckle maliciously, as if in a provocation.

Zhou Fengchen was furious and used his lightness skill to chase after him.

The fox wasn't fast, but it was incredibly slippery and cunning. Whenever Zhou Fengchen approached, it would dart around and circle, making it impossible to catch.

They chased each other for a while, and then fog rolled in all around, growing thicker and thicker. The fox chuckled a few times and disappeared into the fog in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, a large courtyard appeared in front of them, brightly lit, with a group of people huddled together screaming in agony. No one knew what kind of eerie place it was.

Zhou Fengchen stopped, looked around, and dared not go any further. Recently, he had come across two large courtyards, one under the Osmanthus Fairy and the other the lair of the actor ghost, neither of which was a good place.

Just then, Monk Yuanzhi and Zhang Qing caught up from behind, panting heavily. "Where...where's the fox?"

Zhou Fengchen pointed ahead, "They disappeared in the blink of an eye. I wonder if they went into that big courtyard."

The two looked ahead and heard screams coming from the courtyard. They were both startled. Monk Yuanzhi said, "Holy crap! This is terrifying. Could this be a slaughterhouse? Zhang Qing, you're a local, do you know this place?"

Zhang Qing looked around, widened her eyes, and shook her head. "I've never seen this place before, but... this can't be a slaughterhouse, can it? There are people shouting everywhere. Could Xiaoya and Qi Qi... be inside?"

Zhou Fengchen gritted his teeth, "Let's go in and take a look first."

The three of them didn't dare to go through the main gate. They crouched down and quietly ran to a corner of the courtyard wall. They found that the wall was particularly tall, probably more than two meters high. When they got there, the screams became even louder, like the struggles of those about to die.

Zhou Fengchen gestured, meaning, "I'll hold up from below, you two step on my back and go up first."

Zhang Qing was the first to climb up the wall and look inside. She found the wall completely still, and she didn't know what the person was doing.

Monk Yuanzhi called out twice, but received no response. Anxious, he stepped on Zhou Fengchen and clumsily climbed to the top of the wall. He looked inside and then stopped moving.

Zhou Fengchen was puzzled and lowered his voice, asking, "What are you guys up to?"

Monk Yuanzhi turned around, revealing an expression more like a grimace: "Let's run, it's not a good look inside."

"Hey! Move aside, I want to go up and take a look."

Zhou Fengchen became even more curious. He lightly stepped onto the top of the wall, but before he could see what was inside, the damned monk Yuanzhi stuck out his foot.

Zhou Fengchen tripped and fell headfirst. He instinctively grabbed Yuan Zhi's leg, and the monk Yuan Zhi pulled Zhang Qing up. Then all three of them fell down together.

When it landed, it felt like it had hit some kind of hemp stalk or tofu, and a strong smell of rotten eggs went straight into my nose.

Zhou Fengchen looked up and immediately felt bloated, almost vomiting.

All that could be seen on the ground was a pile of half-dead people, each one as thin as a stick, groaning weakly, just piled up like garbage. The worst part was that their bodies were too fragile; they would fall apart at the slightest touch.

Zhou Fengchen's hand was stuffed into the stomach of a middle-aged man, his palm full of rotting intestines, while his buttocks were sitting on a woman's face, her head flattened.

He quickly got up and turned around to see Zhang Qing lying in the arms of three "rotten people," her face contorted with fear, her mouth agape as she was about to scream.

Zhou Fengchen quickly rushed over, covered her mouth, and looked up to search for her.

Not far away, Monk Yuanzhi was in the worst condition. His head had been plunged into the stomach of an old woman. He staggered up and raised his head, his face covered in rotting flesh, with a section of his small intestine still hanging from it.

"Pee..."

Zhou Fengchen whistled softly to Monk Yuanzhi and pointed to the open space inside, indicating that they should go over there first.

The three of them helped each other as they struggled to get out of the pile of half-dead people, but there were too many people and they couldn't get out of the way. All they could hear underfoot was the cracking sound of bones breaking. It was disgusting and terrifying.

They finally reached a bamboo grove in an open space outside, where Zhang Qing suddenly fainted. Monk Yuanzhi finally wiped his face clean and looked at Zhou Fengchen, wailing silently.

Zhou Fengchen chuckled dryly, glanced back at "Half-Dead Mountain," and whispered, "A shower will do the trick. Don't make a sound. I'm going to see what they're doing over there!"

The bamboo grove ends at the middle of the courtyard, where many people are screaming in agony.

Zhou Fengchen tiptoed over and peeked out.

In the middle of the courtyard, more than a dozen torches were burning brightly. Hundreds of men and women, their hands and feet bound by iron chains, were being slowly led forward by a group of people dressed in blue robes and small hats.

At the end of the crowd were two signs, one of which read: Good and evil will be rewarded accordingly!

One of them reads: "Heaven's justice is clear!"

In the middle of the sign are seven oil pots emitting blue smoke and seven guillotines.

At the very back there is a very grand house, which looks like an ancient government office.

Behind the table at the yamen gate sat a blue-faced man in official robes, next to an old man who looked like a clerk. The old man held a book in his hand and read a sentence from it. Then, ghost messengers would either throw the "prisoners" into a pot of oil to fry them or chop them up with a dog-head guillotine.

The screams rose and fell, chilling to the bone.

Zhou Fengchen's expression changed, and he turned to walk back, hoisting Zhang Qing onto his shoulder. He then said to the anxiously watching Monk Yuanzhi, "Run!"

Monk Yuanzhi had calmed down considerably by now and asked, "Aren't you looking for your sister anymore?"

Zhou Fengchen asked, "Do you know where this is?"

Monk Yuanzhi found it strange, "Isn't this just a trick by that fox spirit?"

"What a load of nonsense!" Zhou Fengchen kicked him. "Get up right now! This is the damn Yin City God Temple! That old fox led us astray! Damn it!"

Monk Yuanzhi's expression changed as well. He scrambled to his feet and exclaimed, "The City God's Palace in the Underworld? Isn't this the place where evil spirits are judged?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Let's go!"

Unable to use the main gate, the two ran side by side into a secluded area, intending to find a place without any "half-dead" people to climb over the wall.

Just as I stepped out of the bamboo's range, a woman dressed in ancient costume suddenly swayed towards me from the front. Her face was covered in foundation that was about two centimeters thick, and she looked disgusting.

The three of them stared at each other, stunned!

Zhou Fengchen swallowed hard and said, "Sister, we got lost while shopping, do you believe me?"

The woman opened her mouth and suddenly let out a piercing scream.

That shout was quite something; a commotion immediately broke out in front of the yamen, and a group of ghost messengers rushed over fiercely.

"Damn it! Run away!" Zhou Fengchen kicked the woman to the ground, grabbed the terrified monk Yuanzhi, and ran away.

In the blink of an eye, they reached the base of the wall. Zhou Fengchen threw Zhang Qing out of the courtyard, grabbed Yuan Zhi and the monk, and threw him out as well. Then he jumped over the wall.

When I got outside, I was a little dumbfounded. I was going the wrong way. The path I came by was gone, and in front of me was a wide road. It was all foggy and I didn't know where it led.

In the blink of an eye, three ghost messengers came chasing after him from the gate. They were pulling a giant iron cart drawn by a hedgehog, which looked quite intimidating!