Eternal Life Starts as a Hunter

Chapter 646: Chapter 196: Black Lotus Blooms in Jade Capital City, Burial Garb Awaits at the Alley’s End

The river of white flowers continued to flow, transforming into a massive spinning twelve-petaled lotus.

The black hue seemed to be the very breath of this lotus, permeating everywhere.

Buzz...

Buzz buzz buzz...

Clatter, clatter.

Bang, bang.

Clang.

Various sounds suddenly erupted.

Li Yuan stared in shock at the distance, only to see people of all ranks collapsing on the city wall, even the obviously extraordinary Daoist from before had completely lost his strength.

One instant, Daoist Qingfeng was pondering how to respond, but the next, he began to forget, with thoughts like "Who am I," "Where am I," "What am I supposed to do" flashing through his mind in confusion.

However, there were still sporadic fragments of memory sprouting up, allowing this True Master of the Celestial Master’s Mansion Outer Hall to occasionally recall the purpose of his journey.

But ultimately, these memories were merely fragmented.

Daoist Qingfeng’s memories were swiftly being stripped away...

And as a petal fell on him, he collapsed entirely, like a soulless piece of wood, falling back to the ground, his life or death unknown.

Immediately, the black hue descended, enveloping the petals.

The petal instantly transformed into a small black sphere, like a dewdrop on the lotus, quietly suspended in mid-air, with black and white intertwined inside, as if nurturing something.

Li Yuan watched this scene.

He was all too familiar with this sight.

This was the first great terror he encountered since arriving in this Otherworld — the Flower Shop.

The plight of these people was exactly the same as his back then.

But evidently, the extent was completely different.

The flowers of the Flower Shop had undergone some kind of qualitative change, even that Fourth Grade Daoist couldn’t escape.

And the black hue... Li Yuan instinctively thought of the Miracle Beast Garden.

The things being nurtured should be Exotic Beasts.

The Flower Shop stripped away memories, and the Miracle Beast Garden nurtured Exotic Beasts.

But the Exotic Beasts nurtured in this manner might be different.

Sure enough... After a while, a strange creature with a snake’s head and a pig’s tail appeared in mid-air, the creature howling, charging mindlessly into the distance.

Soon, more and more creatures appeared.

Peng Mingyi slightly stepped back, the troops stationed outside, never entering, just raising his head, intoxicatedly saying, "Appearance arises from the heart, everyone is a beast."

Riding closer, Lü Xuanxian sternly said, "Don’t turn Jade Capital into a Ghost Realm!"

Peng Mingyi said, "The suffering will die, while the happy will live."

Beside him, Zhao Guyue waved his sleeves forward, saying, "General Lü, at most half will die."

Lü Xuanxian said, "Half dead? How many would that be?"

Zhao Guyue sighed, "Isn’t it all for the future?"

Lü Xuanxian silently retreated.

A long time...

Another long time...

Half a day passed...

A day passed...

The commotion behind the city gates finally subsided.

These Exotic Beasts created by the Black Lotus evidently couldn’t last, and now there was no movement.

The spinning Black Lotus in the sky was completely gone.

"Your Majesty, it’s time to enter the city."

Zhao Guyue said.

Li Yuan was silent for a moment, then said, "Enter."

The army slowly entered the city, walking on roads now dead silent, with corpses lying everywhere on both sides...

These corpses first had their memories stripped, turned into Exotic Beasts, but these were mad beasts, difficult to control, even Peng Mingyi couldn’t intricately manipulate them, which is why he had the troops wait outside.

On the other side, those who had their memories stripped quickly died from trampling and gnawing by the Exotic Beasts.

The body disappeared, and the thoughts derived from the body vanished, the Exotic Beasts... also slowly vanished.

The prosperous Jade Capital was now a lifeless wasteland, at least at this entrance.

Li Yuan felt something, glancing out the window.

He saw the string of lanterns on the streets, as if they were grinning human heads.

The lanterns were clearly without a flame, yet they lit up, emitting an unsettling red glow, shining upon the countless corpses...

’The lanterns illuminate the Netherworld Road...’ Li Yuan silently thought, ’Can it really light up for the dead as well as the living?’

...

Elsewhere, on the Ghost Street unseen by mortals.

An unimaginable number of people were flooding onto the street.

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions....

Each one of them had sinned by desiring to transform into Exotic Beasts, so even in death, they were dragged here by some force.

And here, they regained their memories of life, but all their power vanished completely.

And within their hearts, a voice was urging them.

’Keep moving forward...’

’Keep walking...’

’Don’t stop...’

’Ahead is the path home...’

Like they were bewitched, they followed this voice forward.

Countless streams of people formed a long line, marching into the depths of Ghost Street.

The entrance of the Ghost Street was street vendors, inside were Ghost Shops, deeper were large Ghost Shops, and at the end was the "specialty Ghost Shop" of Ghost Street.

But... what lies beyond the specialty Ghost Shop?

Long ago, Li Yuan had asked Pang Yuanhua, even Yan Yu this question, but neither knew.

Because everyone thought places like the Miracle Beast Garden or the Paradise Garden were already the end of the street.

But in fact... it wasn’t.

...

"Hurry!!"

For once, Peng Mingyi showed a rare anxious look.

The cavalry galloped, rushing ahead.

And an hour later, after this army entered another area of Jade Capital, Peng Mingyi again cupped his hands and blew out a Black Lotus.

This world-ending Black Lotus directly formed a river of white flowers in mid-air again, along with black ghostly qi...

Exotic Beasts, the dead, lanterns, all these things layered up again.

...

On Ghost Street, there were even more people now.

Zhao Guyue suddenly stopped as he walked, his gaze resting on a sinister alley in the bustling market.

He looked at the alley, seemingly nonexistent before, now suddenly appearing, with an ancient mansion faintly visible at the end.

He glanced sideways at Peng Mingyi.

Peng Mingyi nodded.

Zhao Guyue quickly approached the Golden Dragon Palace Carriage, respectfully saying, "Your Majesty, the moment to fulfill our agreement has arrived."