My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 826: Living Ghost

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment. Needless to say, the strength of a monster like the Human Skin Ghost King was absolutely unquestionable. He was able to get rid of him because of their opposing attributes. Whether it was thunder magic or the Kitchen God's fire, they were both natural nemesis to the Human Skin Ghost King. Especially the attack method of the chain gun, which suppressed the Human Skin Ghost's means of escape, and there was no way to get rid of it.

However, although the Human-Skin Ghost King is powerful, he is brutal by nature. Even with the protection of the God-Binding Immortal Talisman, it is difficult to guarantee his loyalty. So it is better to kill him completely. Otherwise, you can only use Meng Po Soup to tamper with his memory. If the Human-Skin Ghost is captured by the Lord of the Underworld, it will bring you endless troubles.

Now, he doesn't want to have too much involvement with those monsters in the underworld, so it would be better to avoid some trouble.

Jiang Xinghuo quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, thinking of all the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the Human Skin Ghost King. Finally, he made up his mind and made a choice according to his own ideas.

"You clenched the chain gun in your hand, and the silver-white arcs on it jumped non-stop, and suddenly gathered into a brilliant lightning. The many human-skin ghosts hanging on the chain turned into ashes in an instant."

"The Human-Skinned Ghost King saw that there was no hope of escape, so he let out a shrill scream and suddenly pounced on you. A strong yin energy lingered around his body, as if he was going to die with you."

“How are you going to deal with this?”

The game text expands to list several options: Nine-Death Cicada, Kitchen God's Fire, So Close Yet So Far Away, Time Reversal, and Dragon Raising Technique.

Jiang Xinghuo glanced at the five options and thought that "A World Away" and "Time Reverse" were too advanced. It would be a waste of talent to use them against the Human-Skin Ghost King. It was a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

The Nine-Death Cicada can transform its body into a fuzzy form to evade attacks, while the Dragon-Raising Technique can mobilize the dragon veins and earth energy. The former seems too dull, while the latter makes too much noise.

Then the only option left is the Kitchen God Fire.

"You used the Kitchen God's Fire."

"You swung your right sword finger, a shadow of a seal flashed by, and a pitch-black wall of fire several dozen meters high instantly burst out from the ground. The ghost king of human skin crashed into it, and the smell of burnt flesh immediately wafted out. Only a sharp howl was heard, and the ghost king of human skin turned into a wisp of flying ash and dissipated."

"You have killed the Human-Skinned Ghost King."

"You gained incense +3500."

"You found a piece of flexible skin in the ashes of the Human Skin Ghost King after his death. That is the essence of the Human Skin Ghost and is a good material for forging protective gear and armor."

"What are your options next?"

"Will you leave Lingnan City? Or will you return to the clay figurine house and talk to the clay figurine craftsman?"

"You chose to return to the Clay Man's House."

"On the way, please wait..."

"When you were rushing to the Clay Man's House, you suddenly found someone following you. But the other party didn't seem to have any bad intentions. He was just following you. Your Mengtou Jutsu was not triggered. So, what are you going to do now?"

"Do you want to stop him and ask him about it? Or do you plan to pretend that you don't know about it and let him follow you?"

When Jiang Xinghuo read the content of the text, he thought to himself that as soon as one problem is solved, another one arises. Why are there so many problems? He just got rid of that human-skin ghost king, and now another person comes out to follow him.

Okay, let’s first see where the other party comes from, and then decide what to do.

"You continued walking along the street. When you passed a secluded alley, you turned into the depths of the alley and disappeared. The person following you saw this and hurriedly followed in, but all they saw was an empty space. Before they could react, your Star Bite had already appeared behind them and silently put its sword on their neck."

"What are your options next?"

"Would you choose to cut its neck with a knife and throw the body into a dirty ditch where no one could see it? Or would you choose to interrogate its origins and identity and ask why it was following you?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose the latter without much thought. He now wanted to find out the other party's identity and why he was following him so that he could decide what to do next.

"You hold the evil star at its throat and ask it who it is and why it is following you."

"And the person who was following you did not hide his identity. He told you his identity very frankly. Only then did you know that he was actually a living ghost messenger from the underworld. However, he was not under the jurisdiction of a certain king of the underworld, but was under the command of the master of the Eight Hundred Mile Yellow Spring."

A living ghost?
Jiang Xinghuo clicked on the text entry that was flashing red.

"You have triggered the talent of the Golden Box Book Collection."

"You want to know the relevant information about the term 'live ghost messenger'."

"Searching for terms, please wait..."

"Search complete."

"Relevant entries have been found."

"Editing for you, please wait..."

"Editing complete."

"You have obtained relevant information about Huo Yincha, please read:"

"Living ghost messengers are the agents of the ghosts and monsters in the underworld in the world of the living. Although they are living people, they have the ability to communicate between the Yin and Yang, and can enter and exit the underworld freely. After death, they will be automatically led to the relevant area. Their duty is to walk in the world of the living on behalf of the ghosts and monsters in the underworld to complete some tasks."

"The living ghost messenger revealed his identity. He is a ghost messenger under the seat of the Lord of the Underworld Huangquan. His duty is to hunt down or find those monsters who have escaped Huangquan, and then send their clues to Huangquan. Then, naturally, a master will come to arrest them."

"These living ghost messengers are scattered in every corner of the secular world. The Human Skin Ghost King is also the number one wanted criminal on the wanted list. It has been paying attention to the other party's information, but it was not until not long ago that the Human Skin Ghost used its methods without reservation that it sensed the whereabouts of the other party. So it hurried to the target location, but when it passed by, it happened to see the scene where you burned the Human Skin Ghost to death with the Kitchen God Fire, which left a deep impression on it."

"Because a living ghost of its level will be sucked dry of its blood by the human-skin ghost in one encounter. Since you can kill the human-skin ghost, it means you can kill it easily too."

"But due to its duty as a living ghost messenger, it can't just sit back and do nothing about it, so it decided to follow you in secret, at least to find out your identity, so that it can give an explanation to Huang Quan later." "Now that you have listened to what the living ghost messenger said and understand the whole story, what are you going to do next?"

"Will you choose to kill the witnesses and make this matter disappear completely, turning it into an unsolved case? Or will you choose to let this living ghost go, and then maybe it will repay you in some way?"

The game gives two options: kill the person to silence him or let him go.

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and chose the latter. There would be no reward for killing this living ghost messenger. At most, he would get three to five hundred incense sticks. It would be better to let him go and see what the consequences would be.

"You put away the evil star bite and decided to let the living ghost go. The living ghost felt a little unbelievable when he heard it. He had already prepared to die if he was discovered, but he didn't expect you to let him go."

"The living ghost looked at you in disbelief. After confirming that you really wanted to let it go, it couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in its heart. In the secular world now, people with good character like you are rare. But it has to remind you that if you let it go alive, it will report everything to the Lord of the Underworld."

"This is the seal that the Lord of the Underworld has branded on the Living Yin Messenger. Any Living Yin Messenger who has been branded with this seal cannot go against the Lord of the Underworld's will and must answer any questions it asks. Even if they want to conceal or tamper with something, they cannot violate the power of this contract."

"Do you still insist on letting this living ghost go?"

Jiang Xinghuo still chose yes. If he had left the Human-Skin Ghost King behind, he would have to think about whether to kill him to silence him. But now he had killed the Human-Skin Ghost King, so it didn't matter even if the Lord of the Underworld knew about it.

"You insisted on your own ideas and let the living ghost go. Your behavior touched the living ghost very much. A good person like you should be safe and sound and live for a long time. But in this secular world where etiquette and music are in chaos, people like you cannot survive. Although your cultivation is very strong, sometimes you don't need too much power to kill someone. A few words may be enough to make someone die without a complete corpse."

"So in order to thank you for your kindness, Huo Yinchai took out something from his body. It looks like an ordinary necklace, but in fact it exudes a mysterious power."

"You have obtained the necklace pendant blessed by the Immortal of Peace."

"The Harmonious Immortal is an ancient and powerful person in the secular world. The power he controls is very strange and can offset the hostility of others to the greatest extent. When the Harmonious Immortal walked in the secular world in the past, he had friends all over the world. No matter if they were monsters in the mountains and fields, or dignitaries in the temple, or royal relatives in the palace, they all had a close relationship with him and regarded him as a lifelong confidant and friend. Even the monsters in the underworld regarded him as a guest of honor."

"And objects blessed by the Immortal of Peace also possess a mysterious power that can greatly increase the favorability of others and offset their hostility."

Is there such a prop? ?
Jiang Xinghuo thought that there really is nothing strange. Although this kind of item doesn't help with strength, it is very useful in exploring the plot. Maybe if the favorability is improved, new tasks will be triggered naturally.

"Do you want to equip this necklace?"

Jiang Xinghuo directly chose yes.

"You have successfully equipped the necklace blessed by the Harmonious Immortal."

"Your favorability will be greatly improved when facing the evil spirits of the secular world."

"Now that the living ghost has left this alley, where are you going next?"

"You chose to continue to the Clay Man's House."

"On the way, please wait..."

"You encountered a matchmaking event in the embroidery building on your way, and watched the green snake girl upstairs throw the embroidery ball towards you. Do you want to catch it?"

Jiang Xinghuo nodded repeatedly, just kidding, he didn't want to find a wife in the secular world. If he really got a monster as his wife, regardless of whether there was species isolation or not, he would not be able to get over it in his heart.

"You quickly activated the power of the Bagua map and drew the power of Xunfeng. An invisible force instantly surged up and blew the hydrangea back into the hands of the Green Snake Girl. While everyone was stunned, you used the magic movement method to rush out of the crowd and disappeared."

"What a pity! You missed a match made in heaven. The Green Snake girl is still waiting to be married. She is as beautiful as a flower. If you can marry her, you will enjoy all the happiness in the world."

"But it's too late for you to regret now. A good snake won't eat its eggs. If you miss a marriage opportunity, it's equivalent to missing the entire fate."

Jiang Xinghuo just thought that the copywriter was talking nonsense and continued to control the character and continued on his way.

"You have arrived at Awakening Lion Street."

"Without the harassment of the two green-clothed ghosts, Awakening Lion Street has gradually returned to its former bustle. The iron lions are dancing on the street again, but this time it's not a lion fight, but to exorcise evil spirits and bring good luck. It's also a test to see if the two green-clothed ghosts have really been taken away."

"After all, seeing is believing. They only heard that the two green ghosts were taken away, but they didn't actually see it with their own eyes, so they only believed it roughly. Once something is wrong and the two green ghosts appear again, they will immediately hide back home. Do you want to release the two green ghosts in the animal skin talisman to scare the people in front of you again?"

Jiang Xinghuo didn’t have that kind of bad taste, so he directly chose no, and then controlled the character to come to the Clay Man’s House.

"You knocked on the door of the clay figurine house, and the clay figurine apprentice came out from behind the door and took you to the yard. The clay figurine craftsman was sitting in the yard repairing clay sculptures. When he saw you walk in from outside, he immediately put down his tool and looked at you with expectant and questioning eyes."

"How do you plan to answer the clay figurine craftsman's question? Will you take out the Guixu Order and show it to the clay figurine craftsman? Or will you just say that you found nothing?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and chose to take out the Guixu Order so that he could continue to trigger the subsequent plot.

But the text that popped up next caught Jiang Xinghuo off guard.

"You took out the Guixu Order and said that this was what you got after repairing the clay sculpture, but the clay figurine craftsman looked confused and asked you what it was?"

Ok?
Jiang Xinghuo was also stunned after seeing the text.

Doesn’t the clay figurine craftsman know what he will gain by repairing the clay sculpture?
Jiang Xinghuo curiously continued to advance the game text.

"The clay figurine craftsman was indifferent when he saw the Guixu Order. Instead, he took out another scroll from his body. When you unfolded it, you saw that the thing drawn on it was actually a round black clay bead. Apart from that, there were no other features."

"But after you saw the pattern on the painting, you suddenly thought of something. You found that the black mud bead on the scroll seemed quite similar to the thing you snatched from the Human Skin Ghost King..."

(End of this chapter)