Holy Bone

Chapter 2006 Underworld Dragon Tiger Market, Figures

The capital city in the underworld remains unchanged.

Many buildings, piled up one on top of another, densely packed together like a woven fabric, exude an extremely gloomy and dark atmosphere. It is both creepy and chilling, and just a few glances are enough to make one shudder and feel a chill run down one's spine.

Seeing too many of them can be intimidating and unsettling, making one fear that some difficult, eccentric, or deviant person might emerge from those layers of buildings.

The Wuzang Taoist Temple in Jin'an is also built on a high, layered mountain, overlooking a large part of the town.

After all, the Five Organs Taoist Temple is a newly built structure.

In the underworld, what appears is a building being constructed atop layers upon layers of towering peaks.

The Taoist temples for the five internal organs in the underworld are not as flat as those in the mortal world. Because they are built on layers of buildings, it is inevitable that there will be a sense of hierarchy and undulations.

From his vantage point, he could roughly see the imperial palace in the distance.

The palace in the underworld is the lowest point in terms of terrain, because the palace has stood through all dynasties without ever being demolished or rebuilt.

Even though dynasties changed and the palace was renovated several times, the renovations were all based on the original structure, and the changes to the palace were not significant.

The palace in the underworld is not suppressed by the imperial family's fortune. It is the coldest place in the entire capital, a place where the yin energy gathers in the best way. It has been a gathering place for countless people throughout history. The yin energy is so cold that even evil people dare not easily venture near it.

When Jin An was in the mortal world, he had heard many stories about "palace maids' ghosts", "the well of Consort Zhen", "strange events in Chuxiu Palace", "faceless corpses", "door knockers", "the path of Yin and Yang", "fishing in the North Sea", "human shadows"... Everyone in the palace was scheming against each other and crushing one another. Living people who entered were first skinned alive, and then there was drinking blood, eating flesh, and cooking people, like going through the eighteen levels of hell, eating people without spitting out bones.

There is an old saying among the people that the greater the person, the more resentful and bitter they are after death.

Jin An glanced back at the thick, dark clouds that seemed to collapse and cover the palace, then stopped paying attention and prepared to leave the Wuzang Taoist Temple.

However, before leaving the Five Organs Taoist Temple, Jin An did as usual, first offering a stick of incense to the statues in each hall before he began to walk outside.

Jin An had just left the Wuzang Taoist Temple when he suddenly encountered an old man and a young man who looked remarkably alike, with seven or eight points of resemblance in their facial features, walking cautiously down the street.

Jin An noticed the old man and the young man, but he didn't linger and instead left immediately.

Only after Jin An's figure disappeared around the corner and could no longer be seen did the old man and the young man breathe a sigh of relief, feeling as if they had escaped death and narrowly escaped a calamity.

This is the capital city.

In the mortal realm, the capital city is teeming with demons and monsters, and in the underworld, they are even more numerous, like carp crossing a river, impossible to count.

In the mortal realm, one only encounters living people from the same era.

In the underworld, it is not uncommon to encounter the resentful spirits of people from thousands of years ago or several dynasties ago.

Therefore, you may encounter any danger in the underworld.

When the living walk in the underworld, they are extremely cautious. But when they walk in the capital, they are a hundred times more cautious. They proceed with utmost care, fearing that they might encounter a vengeful spirit or a fierce ghost along the way and face a great crisis.

"Phew, even though I'm a living person walking in the underworld, I was almost scared to death just now. Walking in the underworld in Beijing is definitely not something a normal person can do!" The old man breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and said to Putin after he calmed down.

"Father, is he alive? How did you tell?" the young man asked in surprise.

The old man patted the young man's head lightly and glared at him, saying, "Didn't you notice just now? That person had a shadow."

"This is clearly a living person walking into the underworld, not a dead ghost from the underworld."

"After all, have you ever seen a ghost with a shadow?"

"Oh."

The young man nodded somewhat bewildered, then exclaimed in even greater surprise, "That's not right, Father. You mean... that person used their physical body to walk directly through the underworld?"

"But that's even more wrong. If it's a living person, why would they use their physical body to travel to the underworld? Why not use their primordial spirit? After all, when the physical body travels to the underworld, the aura of the mortal world cannot be concealed. The fresh aura of the internal organs and the smell of masculine blood are constantly emanating outwards. There's nowhere to hide in the underworld; it's completely exposed!"

The young man grew increasingly surprised as he spoke, his mouth slightly agape as he exclaimed in astonishment.

The old man patted the young man on the head again and said, "How would I know what you're saying? We'd better leave this place as soon as possible."

"Regardless of whether that person is an expert or a fearless newbie, the fact that they are using their physical body to travel to the underworld means that the underworld is destined to be in turmoil. The safest thing for us is to get away from this place as soon as possible."

The young man nodded quickly, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, let's get out of here quickly."

However, as he left, the old man turned back to look in the direction Jin An had disappeared, a question rising in his mind: "Could that person... be the 'I'm not surnamed Chen' from the Corpse Painting Cave?"

"I've heard my martial uncle mention that the 'I'm not surnamed Chen' in the Corpse Painting Cave recently had a ghostly journey, which involved both a headless body and a physical form..."

"Unfortunately, my cultivation level is not high enough to participate in the opportunities and blessings of the Corpse Painting Cave. I haven't seen 'I'm not surnamed Chen' in person, so it's difficult for me to recognize him at a glance..."

……

The capital city of the underworld is filled with towering buildings, one layer upon another, and some streets have cracked open, revealing hundreds of layers of buildings in the abyss.

Even on the ground, there are hundreds of stories high.

These buildings are a mix of new and old, some are magnificent palaces with green tiles and red eaves, brightly lit, while others are dilapidated and dark.

A new dynasty is built upon an old one, the old capital is destroyed by war, and a new capital rises from the old site. This cycle repeats itself, creating the spectacular sight of a hundred-story building where prosperity and ruin overlap.

Jin An still remembered that when he used to walk through the underworld with his physical body, he had to rely on the oil from a thousand-year-old corpse to cover his yang energy and the scent of a living person. He could only move freely in the underworld by using the stench of a thousand-year-old corpse and not be entangled by the vengeful spirits and evil ghosts there.

With three drops of thousand-year-old corpse oil dripped onto his shoulders and head, he was no longer a living person, but a thousand-year-old corpse king.

It would be much easier for him to travel to the underworld.

However, he no longer needs any additional millennium-old corpse oil.

Even if one's head is severed, one will not die; even if one's spirit and energy are severed, they will not collapse.

Having mastered the twenty-first transformation of the Decapitation Technique, once he uses it, the absence of a head allows him to isolate his own aura, keeping it contained and preventing it from being exposed.

Although Jin An used the Twenty-First Transformation of the Decapitation Technique to isolate the living from the world of the living, he still did not dare to be arrogant in the underworld. He kept a low profile and slowly made his way forward step by step in the dark and deep streets.

Instead of shattering the void or leaping across the rooftop, they did not resort to force.

The contrast between the capital city of the underworld and the capital city of the mortal world was too great. The mortal world was a royal city with auspicious fortune and most of the world's wealth was hidden. The underworld, however, was a hellish place where a slight mistake could lead to annihilation. Jin An felt increasingly cold and gloomy as he walked, and a chill ran down his spine.

It wasn't because he was timid that his hair stood on end, but because the environment was so cold that his hair stood on end on its own.

The underworld is a world of lingering attachments after death; it's another world where resentment and yin energy abound. The prosperity of the mortal realm doesn't reduce the number of the dead. On the contrary, the more people there are, the more people die, and the more deeply entrenched and complex their attachments become.

After walking through several streets, Jin'an came to a deep abyss-like crevice. Within the crevice stood layers upon layers of ruined skyscrapers, riddled with holes and utterly devastated. The hundred-story buildings seemed to lead straight to the eighteenth level of the underworld, their depth unfathomable. A few scattered candlelight flickered, while the rest of the area was shrouded in darkness.

On the ground floor of the hundred-story building, there also stands a multi-story pavilion with dozens of stories high. Some are dilapidated, bearing the marks of war with swords and axes, while others are just a few broken walls, filled with the atmosphere of wasteland and ghost tombs; others are magnificent, with carved railings and jade steps, extremely luxurious.

Jin An had a memory of this place. When he was attacking the Holy Land of No Life and traveling through the Underworld, he had unintentionally passed through this place in the capital. This place was one of the most dangerous places in the capital. He had experienced many battles here.

However, Jin An did not take a detour, as that would have taken too much time. Instead, he chose to pass through the crevice in the ground, just like last time.

Last time, this place failed to keep him.

This time, he was far stronger than before, and he was even more confident that he could get through this place.

and.

He is now using the twenty-first transformation, the decapitation technique, to travel to the underworld. His entire body is devoid of energy, so he has considerable influence in the underworld and is no longer afraid of the demons and monsters there.

However, even as he walked through, he chose the most cautious and safe method, passing between buildings rather than through the streets.

Whether it was Jin An's twenty-first transformation, the decapitation technique, that worked, or whether his cultivation level prevented ordinary vengeful spirits and ghosts from actively seeking him out, he passed through the crevice of the earth unharmed this time.

His journey thereafter went smoothly; he was not harassed by any vengeful spirits or ghosts from the underworld and arrived at Longhu Market without incident.

Even before he entered Longhu Market, just standing in front of the market signboard, he could feel that this market was very different from other places.

First, it is dark.

Utter darkness, pitch black.

Secondly, it's cold.

It was cold, eerily cold, so cold it seemed to freeze straight into the depths of one's soul and spirit, freezing one's very being.

Third, heart palpitations.

A chilling, lingering fear lingered in my mind, as if some unknown terror lurked within, ready to devour me at any moment.

Jin An frowned slightly, but then, without hesitation, he walked into the Dragon Tiger Market.

Longhu Market was deserted and desolate. Dilapidated oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages were parked everywhere by the roadside, ignored by everyone. These oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages were so broken that they were missing wheels and frames and could hardly be reused.

Furthermore, each oxcart and horse-drawn carriage was covered in thick dust, clearly indicating that it had been abandoned by the roadside and had not been used for a long time.

Jin'an ignored the oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages and continued along the main road of Longhufang Market. Strange noises could be heard from time to time in Longhufang Market.

It sounded like a mournful, soft sob...

It sounded like a fierce and violent noise...

It sounded like incessant chatter...

It sounded like chopping or cutting...

It sounded like the strange hissing of snakes, insects, rats, and ants...

Jin An remained unmoved by all of this. As long as they didn't provoke him, he had no interest in them. He only wanted to reach the entrance of the Longhufang City tunnel as soon as possible to find the missing Chen Zhiyun, Guo Zihao, and the three ghost walkers Zhang Weishan, Jiao Liang, and Jiang Jun.

As Jin An walked, he could sense that from within those dark, unlit buildings, eyes were fixed on him, greedily watching him…

However, no one came out to stop him.

After all, if you want to provoke him, you have to first consider whether your combat strength is sufficient. Although Jin An concealed his aura, he did not conceal his cultivation level.

"Hahaha……"

"Hahahahaha..."

Behind Jin An, there was a commotion. It sounded like several people were running back and forth happily behind him, and they were getting closer and closer to him.

However, when Jin An turned around to look behind him, he saw nothing and no one behind him.

However, as he turned back and continued walking, he heard the sound of someone running back and forth joyfully behind him again, and the sound was getting closer and closer to him.

When Jin An turned around again to look behind him, strangely, he still saw nothing.

After trying this several times without finding anyone behind him, Jin'an simply stopped paying attention to what was behind him and focused on walking forward.

As long as the strange people behind him don't bother him, he won't get too entangled with them for the time being. Finding the eight missing people from the Criminal Investigation Department is the most important thing.

Strangely enough, the commotion behind him kept getting closer, but it didn't interfere with Jin An. In the end, Jin An arrived safely at the entrance of the tunnel in Longhufang Market.

Jin An bent down to examine the tunnel entrance. The iron fences at the entrance were all broken, quite different from those in the mortal world.

Fatty Li had told Jin'an that the entrance to the tunnel in the mortal realm was intact and showed no signs of damage, but in the underworld, it was clear that the entrance had been damaged for quite some time.

Whether the damage occurred ten or twenty years ago is now impossible to know.

Although he saw that the iron fence at the entrance of the tunnel was broken and the tunnel was exposed, Jin An did not immediately go inside to investigate the case. Instead, he first got up, turned around, and carefully looked around.

He first walked a few steps to a table. The table was still very new and free of dust. On it were braised meat, pig's head meat, melon seeds, candied fruit, and dried fruit.

Furthermore, these dried fruit snacks were all very new and showed no signs of rot or spoilage.

Based on these details, Jin An could roughly deduce that this table was set up by the Criminal Investigation Department, and that the Criminal Investigation Department was sitting in front of this table guarding the entrance to the tunnel.

Jin An had heard of Linya Street before and had some understanding of the situation there. Next, he left the table and walked towards the edge of the cliff.

His purpose in traveling to the underworld this time was to investigate the case and find the eight missing people, so naturally he wouldn't let any clues slip by.

Snapped!
Snapped!
Snapped!
……

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him, unlike the previous running sounds. Jin An turned around, and soon after, a bamboo lantern rolled out of the darkness and slowly rolled to Jin An's feet.

The sound that resembled footsteps was coming from this bamboo lantern.

Then, Jin An ignored the bamboo lanterns and turned to continue walking towards the edge of the cliff.

As a result, just as Jin An reached the vicinity of the cliff, he saw five people standing vaguely at the edge of the cliff...