The city before us seemed endless, stretching far into the distance. Beyond it, vast undulating mountains rose, visible even from so far away.
"Look behind you."
At Kane's words, we turned around, floated upward, and reached the treetops. Looking out, I finally realized that behind the forest was another vast city, with ancient and modern buildings mingled together. At that moment, we noticed people in both ancient and modern clothing moving through the woods—quite a few of them. Many things in this forest were familiar to me: plants, animals, all identical to those in the living world.
"What is this feeling? People?"
Deathcurse had just spoken when I suddenly felt it—the people gathering herbs below in the forest felt unmistakably human to us. The sensation was unusually strong, a supernatural certainty that set them apart from the ghosts we'd encountered before.
"But something feels different. They're not quite real humans—their bodies are filled with Yin energy, not Yang energy."
I swallowed hard and we quickly concealed ourselves. There were quite a few people in this forest. At that moment, I heard the sound of engines. Looking over, I saw many cars parked beside the woods. The forest itself was vast, surrounded by wasteland, right in the heart of the sprawling city.
"Adjust yourselves. Make your aura match theirs. Let's go into the city and take a look first."
Ghost Painting Book Immortal spoke, releasing Spectral Bindings that attached themselves to the people below. We followed suit, letting our ghost souls automatically adjust to match theirs. It wasn't hard to do.
After a while, we began to change outwardly, appearing just like normal people as we landed on the ground.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here? Don’t you know this mountain belongs to the Lin family? Damn, you’re here to steal herbs, aren’t you?"
Suddenly, a burly bearded man, looking like the leader, pointed a gun at us. I swallowed hard as his shotgun aimed our way, and we all raised our hands.
"We came from over there, but our car broke down on the road. We just wanted to see if anyone was around."
"Well, Blackfang, there’s no helping it. We wanted to test the local security, so eating without paying seemed the easiest way. If you’d made a scene, it’d be fine—just didn’t expect things to turn out like this."
Isabelle Frost glared at a few lecherous men who tried to get close to her. Just then, the forest behind them suddenly erupted in flames with a loud boom. Instantly, everyone in the woods panicked—the fire was fierce, and thick smoke billowed. Deathcurse sneered.
"They really do seem just like real people, huh. Heh."
We quickly left the forest, which was now in chaos as flames raged and thick smoke billowed. We walked onto the wasteland, heading toward the city. Judging by the sun’s position, we were moving east.
Black Moon was silent all the way, saying nothing, as if something was weighing on his mind.
Gradually, the outline of the city ahead became clearer. Ancient and modern buildings were mixed together, but there were no skyscrapers—most structures were only three or four stories tall, with the tallest just five stories. The only truly tall building was far away, like a lighthouse.
We were completely baffled by everything here. If this was human society, none of the people had any trace of yang energy—their bodies radiated only yin energy.
Now, we could hear the clamor from the city. The endless grid-like roads were wide, and cars sped along the highways through the city.
Above, the sound of helicopter rotors echoed—two helicopters flew toward the smoke-filled area behind us, with 'Fire Rescue' written on them.
"It looks like all the systems of human society exist here too. Heh, maybe it's best to treat this as another world, and these things as its people."
Ray Lin commented as we approached the city. The streets were packed with people. We chose a bustling avenue, and the aroma from a restaurant called Le Dexuan wafted out. People streamed in and out—the place was five stories tall and clearly thriving.
"Come on, let's eat first."
Felix Zhou said, and without hesitation, our group entered the restaurant. A chubby man in a suit greeted us, and we found a table by the window on the second floor and sat down.
Soon, our table was filled with dishes and a jar of wine. Seeing all this food, I couldn't help but swallow, and we quickly dug in—the taste was truly excellent.
After eating for a while, Felix Zhou was the first to get up, saying he wanted to go out and look around. We kept eating, but soon Deathcurse and Cao Wanzhi also left together. Isabelle Frost and Ghost Painting Book Immortal left after finishing their meal. I stayed, savoring the food and wine—it had been ages since I'd eaten like this.
"Hey, where is everyone? Why are you the only one left, Victor Duan?"
I asked, and Victor Duan stood up with a cheerful smile, then sighed helplessly.
"You'd better hurry down."
I let out a sound of surprise, holding a half-eaten roasted pig's trotter, then took a swig of wine.
"I haven't even finished eating yet. Why is everyone in such a hurry?"
Victor Duan patted my shoulder, then sighed.
"Sorry, Ya. I'll head down first. Someone has to take care of certain things. Figuring out everything about this world is a real hassle."
Victor Duan left too. I kept eating, but suddenly something struck me—the pig's trotter fell to the floor as my mind collapsed. I stood up and looked around. This world had currency: gold, red, and black coins, each with different characters—Emperor, Cloud, and Flame.
"What now? Trying to eat for free? Damn it."
Four or five burly men surrounded me, cracking their knuckles. I didn’t have a single coin in my pocket. I knew the other nine were nearby, but I could only sigh helplessly.
"Sorry, I left in a hurry and didn’t bring any money."
The owner pulled out his phone and opened a payment app.
"Alright, you have your phone with you, right?"
I grinned and shook my head. Then, three men escorted me to the back yard.
"Here, clean all these dishes, and the bathroom and the floor too."
I groaned, looking at the towering pile of dishes, and walked over reluctantly to start washing. Someone watched me closely. I swallowed hard, but suddenly, there was a loud crash above—the window shattered, and a man, covered in blood, fell into the yard. Blood splattered everywhere. My eyes widened in shock.
In a flash, I saw a figure dressed in black, wearing a veil, descend swiftly on a rope. They pulled out their phone and quickly snapped a photo of the dead man. The guy watching me wash dishes immediately showed a look of terror.
"Are you one of Scarlet Night's people?"
Suddenly, the person in black knocked out the terrified man in front of me, kicked open the back yard door, and left.
I was still reeling from everything, but soon chaos broke out in the restaurant. Sirens sounded on the street. Minutes later, several men in black coats and tall boots, all in matching black uniforms with the character 'Emperor' on them, entered. Someone started taking photos.
"Notify headquarters—the deputy chief Guo is dead. Alright, you, come here."
I wiped my hands and walked over. The uniformed, hat-wearing man with a cold face asked me many questions, which I answered one by one. Someone nearby took notes, and then the owner told me to get lost—he seemed to be in a foul mood.
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw crowds gathered behind the police tape, discussing things. Most of the talk was about Scarlet Night, the anti-government organization.
I looked at them in the crowd with a resentful expression and sighed helplessly. Even with his changed appearance, Kane still stood out at over two meters tall, making it easy to spot them. I walked over, and Isabelle Frost covered her mouth, laughing.
"You guys..."
"Well, Ya, there’s no helping it. We wanted to test the local security, so eating without paying seemed the easiest way. If you’d made a scene, it’d be fine—just didn’t expect things to turn out like this."
We kept watching. Soon, an ambulance arrived, and the uniformed police carried the body out and loaded it into the ambulance.
Then we headed into an alley, where Black Moon began to speak.
"The people here are probably another side of humanity—the yin side, not ghosts. You can call them Yinfolk. They're a different kind of people, completely unlike ghosts, and they can't do anything with yin energy. They're just ordinary people. From what I've observed, there are three rulers here."
We all agreed with Black Moon's assessment.
Three types of currency, each a different color, and the name of this place—Endless City. The center is over a thousand kilometers behind the forest, where the three rulers reside. All the lands extending from their domains belong to them. Where we are now is ruled by the Emperor God.
"Looks like things are complicated. But first, we need money. Without it, you can't survive in this society."
Felix Zhou said, and the only way we could get money was by robbery.