The way leading to the City God Temple could only be opened when night comes. It was the main road of the city, and it was often full of traffic and splendour even at the end of the night, but now it was unusually cold.
It was not that there were no healthy people in this city, but they might have left here long ago to seek refuge, or they might be hiding at home and trying not to go out.
The government was still maintaining order in the city, so there was no chaos in the city. So far, no one died due to the infectious disease, and it had not caused too much panic to the outside world. However, only people in this city knew about how terrible this disease was.
Medical aid was constantly being transported into the city, but no effective treatment had been found. No matter how many people come in, they would only gradually become infected and eventually become delirious.
In Xia Hongshen’s terms, that would be called ‘falling into demonic influence’.
The summer vacation was not over yet; the campus was still deserted, and when it got dark, there was no one on the school road.
Feng Junyuan followed Xia Hongshen out of the school dormitory and walked outside.
Long Xing just received a call and was called back to the Public Security Bureau. He was now on duty 24 hours a day, and he might be called back at any time in case of emergency.
Before Xia Hongshen went out, he asked Xi Anling to transform into a crescent moon bell, put it into his jacket pocket, and then ask Feng Junyuan to follow him.
Feng Junyuan asked him, “Are you going to save Song Jun?”
Xia Hongshen said, “Do you care about Song Jun?”
Feng Junyuan stopped talking.
They came to the river and saw the old man ferrying people by the river. The old man sat on the side of the boat with his head lowered and said nothing.
When Xia Hongshen was about to get on the boat, he suddenly stopped.
Feng Junyuan followed him and looked over with some doubts and saw a woman coming out of the cabin.
The woman was wearing a blouse and short skirt, with an outstanding appearance and elegant posture. She said to Xia Hongshen, “Long time no see. It seems like you’re quite attached to the human world.”
Xia Hongshen said, “Princess Mei Ling.”
Mei Ling reached out and gently tucked her long hair behind her shoulders and said, “Actually, I also think that life here is very good. Would you be interested in buying me a cup of coffee?”
Before Xia Hongshen could speak, the crescent bell in his coat pocket suddenly shook.
Mei Ling noticed the movement, smiled and said, “Yueya is still so stubborn.”
Xia Hongshen stretched out his hand to hold Yueya down, signalling her to calm down, and then said to Mei Ling, “All the cafes in the city have been closed.”
Hearing this, Mei Ling said, “Why don’t you invite me to your home?”
“I still have something to do. Princess, if you are willing, you can come with me.”
Mei Ling asked, “Are you going to the City God’s Temple?”
Xia Hongshen said, “That’s right.”
Mei Ling smiled and turned toward the cabin, seemingly inviting Xia Hongshen and Feng Junyuan to board the ship. However, in the next moment, she lifted her wrist, and a surge of spiritual energy transformed into a slender, delicate sword thrusting towards Xia Hongshen’s chest, forcing him to take a step back.
Xia Hongshen said in a deep voice, “What do you mean, princess?”
Mei Ling turned her wrist, looked at the sword in her hand, and said, “This sword is called Shining Snow. I would like to try the Gilded Phoenix Wings in your hand to see who is more powerful.”
Xia Hongshen let out and ‘Oh’ before saying, “The princess seems unaware that the demonic energy has spread throughout the city, and it is on the verge of a crisis. Yet, at this moment, she chooses to test her martial skills against me?”
Mei Ling chuckled, “You don’t dare? Fair enough. Gilded Phoenix Wings is much weaker than Chunjun. Why don’t you find Chunjun first, and then we can have a proper match?”
At this point, if Xia Hongshen previously had any doubts about Mei Ling’s connection to the anomalies within the city, he was now convinced. It seemed that to reach the City God Temple, he had to first pass through Mei Ling. Xia Hongshen extended his hand to Feng Junyuan and said, “It seems we have no choice but to comply.”
When Mei Ling saw this, she suddenly felt a little emotional and said, “Spending these days in the mortal realm seems to have made you quite adept at human relations, more so than your time in the heavens.”
Xia Hongshen didn’t say anything. Feng Junyuan turned into a Gilded Phoenix Wing with flowing brilliance and fell into his hands.
Song Jun squatted in front of the Lake of Reincarnation in the City God’s Temple. He had already seen his past and present lives, and he could not see more even if he stayed here. But he just wanted to use this method to revive his memory.
He was very curious and eager to know.
“You won’t find anything from here,” a voice suddenly said behind him.
Song Jun was startled and stood up quickly. He turned around and saw a long-haired man in a dark straight robe standing behind him. One side of his face was pale, and the other side was dark, the very same The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division he had once seen when he had come over with Xia Hongshen.
After a moment of hesitation, Song Jun called out, “Sir.”
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division asked him, “What are you looking for?”
Song Jun said, “I don’t know. I want to find the memory of my past life.”
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division said to him, “You won’t find it here.”
Song Jun knew what he said was true, so he was a little frustrated and then asked, “Where is Cen Le? Oh, I mean Lord City God.”
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division said, “The Lord City God is out. There have been changes in the city recently. Don’t you know?”
Song Jun guessed that he was talking about the spread of demonic energy and couldn’t help but ask, “Is it getting worse?”
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division said in a low voice, “It’s precarious.”
Song Jun felt nervous and said to The Lord Magistrate of the Yin and Yang Division, “Sir, can you send me back? I’m very worried about Senior Brother Xia and the others.”
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division hesitated, “You are a guest invited by Lord City God. I have no right to send you away.”
Song Jun said, “I just want to go back to take a look. I will come back again to find Cen Le. He promised to help me restore my memory.”
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division was silent for a moment and said, “Follow me.”
Song Jun followed The Lord Magistrate of the Yin and Yang Division towards the gate of the City God’s Temple. As he approached the gate, he heard someone shouting, “Stop!”
The two people turned around and saw Night Patrol God walking towards them with a long knife in his hand, “Where are you going?”
Before Song Jun could answer, the Lord Magistrate of the Yin and Yang Division said, “You want to stop me?”
“Lord Magistrate!” Night Patrol God bowed his hands, “Lord City God ordered me not to let Chunjun leave the City God Temple.”
“Why?” Song Jun suddenly became anxious after hearing this.
Night Patrol God said, “Lord City God said that it is very dangerous outside now. He was afraid that Chunjun would not be able to protect himself after going out, so it is safer to stay in the temple.”
The Lord Magistrate of the Yin and Yang Division said, “I will accompany him there, don’t worry.”
Hearing the insistence of The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division, the Night Patrol God suddenly became a little anxious, “Lord Magistrate, Lord City God ordered me; please don’t make things difficult for me. Besides, now that City God is not in the temple, how can you leave so easily?”
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division was about to retort when he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet shaking.
“What’s going on?” Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Song Jun looked at the land under his feet in surprise. He found that the entire City God’s Temple was shaking. He heard the bells in the distance begin to ring erratically. It seemed as if it couldn’t withstand the impact and was on the verge of collapse.
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division and Night Patrol God changed their expressions at the same time.
No longer caring about Song Jun, The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division shouted loudly, “Someone come!”
The ghost generals in the City God Temple appeared from the darkness one after another.
The Lord Magistrate of Yin and Yang Division immediately notified the underworld, and he took his people to find out what happened.
Song Jun was left where he was, but there was a guard guarding the door, and he had no way to get out from there.
The bells in the distance were still ringing one after another. He raised his head to look at the soul-suppressing pagoda. He felt that he was in a trance. He couldn’t help but stretch out his hand to press his chest and walk in that direction.
The City God Temple was in chaos, and no one could care about him now.
Song Jun didn’t know the way, so he could only try to walk in that direction, and it took him a long time to stumble to the foot of the Soul Suppressing Pagoda. From the first time he saw this pagoda, he felt that something was holding him back.
The pagoda door was closed, and a seal was pasted on it.
No living person could enter this pagoda; only souls could enter.
Song Jun had been timid, even a little cowardly, all his life. Until now, Chunjun seemed to him to be an individual’s story and had nothing to do with him. But Xia Hongshen once told him that he was Chunjun.
If he was really Chunjun, then he should believe that his body couldn’t die easily. He had no other way now. If he wanted to enter this pagoda, he could only let his soul leave his body.
Song Jun took a deep breath. He felt that maybe he should really do something at this time instead of waiting here endlessly and leaving all his hopes in the hands of others.
It should be very painful, so he needed to do it once.
Song Jun banged his head against the pillar in front of the pagoda.
“The Soul-Suppressing Pagoda can suppress all kinds of ghosts. Once thrown into the pagoda, they cannot come out. The Black Bai Wuchang captures the ghosts from the human world. When they need to be reincarnated, they go to the underworld, and when they need to go to hell, they are taken to the eighteenth level of hell. The rest will be trapped in this pagoda and will never see the light of day.”
Song Jun’s soul left his body and drifted towards the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, and he easily passed through the pagoda door. Beside the door, someone tried to hold his hand, but he shook it off. When he turned around, he saw a headless soul standing by the door, seemingly trying to catch every soul that passed by him.
There were many souls wandering in this pagoda. Once they entered, they never left. As they spend long years in darkness and isolation, most of these ghosts become numb and unconscious.
Song Jun passed by them, but no one glanced at him. Song Jun found that he was no longer afraid. Facing so many ghosts, he felt that there was nothing scary for the first time because he was not even afraid of death. He could not imagine what kind of threat these ghosts could bring to him.
He walked around the bottom of the pagoda in a daze and then noticed the stairs leading to the top of the pagoda. A child was squatting on the stairs, seeming to be carving something on the wooden stairs.
This was the only soul that seemed to have any thought.
Song Jun stood behind him.
The child turned back to look at him and continued to paddle without any change in his expression.
After a moment, he suddenly turned around and stood up with a surprised look on his face, “How did you become like this?”
“Do you know me?” Song Jun asked him.
The child looked at his face carefully, then raised his head and looked towards the top of the pagoda, wondering, “Aren’t you him?”
Song Jun thought he might have found something and asked, “Who is he?”
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