My stomach kept growling, my whole body was icy cold. We’d soaked in the water several times already. The rest of us men were in the courtyard, while Rufina Howard was in the Blind Old Woman’s room. She was much better now.
A chilly breeze kept blowing through. The old man squinted his eyes—it was already midnight. Then he stood up and placed a clock in front of us.
"Boys, keep an eye on the time. When it’s up, come out yourselves. There’s a fire burning over there—warm yourselves up, then get back in and soak. If you don’t want to go down to the Ghostrealm, do as you please."
With that, the old man yawned and went into one of the rooms.
This was pure torture for us—hungry and cold. The water, which was mixed with who-knows-what, reeked of blood and rot, the stench so strong it made my eyes water and my nose run. And with the water so cold, and the wind blowing from time to time, it was truly misery upon misery.
Finally, the clock chimed. We all leapt out of the wooden tubs, set the timer for the next round, and huddled around the fire. Each of us was shivering, lips pale, but the warmth was pure bliss.
"I can’t take it, Ethan. If this keeps up, I’m going to die."
My cousin’s teeth were chattering; none of us were faring any better.
"Maybe we could eat a little. It should be fine, right?"
Miles Mao said, and all our stomachs started rumbling. Justin Huang, on the other hand, was smiling.
"You guys have only been hungry for a short while. It's nothing compared to what real suffering is like."
"Come on, Justin Huang, you think we're all like you? You spent twenty years starving and freezing in the Ghostrealm."
Dalton Fang muttered, and suddenly I thought I could smell roast chicken.
"You guys want some?" Chief Stone came over with a bottle of liquor and a roast chicken. The aroma was so tempting it drew us in almost against our will.
"Don't you want to save people anymore? If you can't resist even this little bit of temptation, think about it—what you'll face down there will be dozens of times harder than this."
As soon as Chief Stone finished speaking, we stopped, clutching our aching, hungry stomachs, and returned to the fire.
My cousin was drooling, his eyes flicking constantly toward Chief Stone, who was gnawing on a chicken leg, sipping liquor, and grinning at us from his rocking chair.
"Damn it, Old Stone, you’re doing this on purpose."
Mason Yu couldn’t help but curse.
"It’s not on purpose—it’s intentional. You all..."
"I can’t take it anymore, Ethan, I can’t stand it—I need meat!" My cousin screamed like a madman. Suddenly, Chief Stone stood up and shouted.
"Think carefully about what you’re really going down there for. Don’t forget—especially at the critical moment—you must come back alive. When the time comes, whatever you want to eat, even dragon meat, I’ll get it for you. Things have finally started looking up, and there haven’t been any deaths lately."
Chief Stone said, then downed the rest of his liquor and set the roast chicken on the stool.
"I’m heading off to bed. Hang in there, guys..."
None of us touched that roast chicken all night. We held out until the next afternoon, when the sun was slowly setting.
Fortunately, the daytime was clear and sunny. The old man started bustling around, holding a handful of brushes and dipping them into a bucket of black stuff, drawing a huge formation on the ground.
"Is that the Ghostgate Array?"
Mason Yu suddenly asked, staring blankly at the formation the old man was drawing on the ground.
"But it seems a little different."
"Oh, kid, didn’t expect you to know your stuff. Didn’t see that coming—you were banished by the Nether Syndicate, weren’t you?"
Mason Yu gave an awkward smile, then began to explain: this array is used to banish ghosts. For some especially powerful spirits—those that can’t be subdued, even Blue Wraiths—you can use this formation to forcibly send them to the farthest reaches of the Ghostrealm, where they can’t come out for a while.
When the array was finished, there was a grim human face at the center. The square black formation was ringed in red, with the words 'wood, fire, earth, metal, water' and other symbols densely packed all around.
Earlier, Chief Stone had tried to contact the Renegade Monks, but strangely, before the Feast of Ten Thousand Ghosts was even over, all the Renegade Monks disappeared. He asked other sects, but none had a way to reach them.
If we could have reached the Renegade Monks, we could’ve avoided a lot of trouble—but we still had to soak in the black water.
Time crawled by. At last, at 11 o’clock, we were finally released. We washed ourselves and changed into clothes—most of them were torn and ragged.
"Not bad. Now you all smell just like ghosts."
Twelve small copper pillars were set up all around, each engraved with one of the zodiac animals. Mrs. Blake held a sheet of white paper covered in tiny writing. But when she brought it over, three large characters stood out: Life and Death Pact.
"Sign it."
Rufina Howard cut her finger with a knife and wrote her name in blood. The rest of us followed suit, signing our names one by one.
"Heaven and earth bear witness, all directions bear witness, ghosts and gods bear witness, humans bear witness..." Mrs. Blake shouted, sitting cross-legged on the ground. Then she tossed the Life and Death Pact aside and began to chant.
The Life and Death Pact floated in midair above the array, swaying. A strong gust blew through, and then the old man, wielding the Celestial Chord Sword, somersaulted over and began to perform the ritual.
"Humans are yang, ghosts are yin; yin and yang, cause and effect..." He pointed the Celestial Chord Sword skyward, and the Life and Death Pact burst into flames with a roar. Fire shot out in all directions. At the old man’s signal, we slung on our backpacks and entered the array.
"Ethan, remember this: when we cast the spell, you all must close your eyes. Only open them when you can’t hear the bell anymore. To enter the Ghostrealm, you must walk the Yin-Yang Path. Don’t take the wrong turn. The road is wide and straight, but there will be forks. You must head due west—if you get it wrong, you’ll be lost in the Yin-Yang Path."
"Don’t worry, Granny." Miles Mao said, holding a compass.
"It won’t help. Here, Mason Yu, you take this."
The old man suddenly tossed the Celestial Chord Sword over. Mason Yu leapt and caught it, dropping to one knee.
"Thank you, Elder."
"Take this sword. I’ve already imbued it with the Five Elements Directional Spell. Just follow where the sword points. No matter what happens on the road, just keep running. The Yin-Yang Path is extremely dangerous."
"Understood." Mason Yu said, his eyes shining with excitement as he looked at the Celestial Chord Sword in his hands.
"What’s so special about that?"
Miles Mao muttered under his breath.
"Young Taoist, ever seen something this advanced? The Celestial Chord Sword is one of the thirteen treasures of the Nether Syndicate—its power is limitless. If the wielder is strong enough, even Blue Wraiths are nothing to fear, right, Elder?"
As soon as Mason Yu finished, Dalton Fang and Miles Mao shot him a suspicious glance.
"Enough, kid. I’m lending you the sword only because I hope you’ll come back safe. If this sword ever falls into ghost hands, the head of the Nether Syndicate will come for it personally. I’m not worried, just think it’d be a shame."
"Get ready, Ethan, all of you—close your eyes." Mrs. Blake said. We sat cross-legged and shut our eyes. Then a crisp bell rang out.
A fierce energy swept in from all directions, nearly blowing us away. We huddled together, bracing ourselves against the force.
"Born human, descend as ghost—each walks a separate path. Metal first, wood second, water third, fire fourth, earth fifth. Borrow the Five Elements, descend, gather, ha..."
The old man roared, and the bell grew louder and louder, until it rang in my ears. Then, gradually, the sound faded. With a final ding, the bell stopped.
Suddenly, we all opened our eyes. The old man and Mrs. Blake were gone. A straight, wide road stretched ahead, lined with thorny plants—pitch black, strange rocks everywhere. We’d never seen anything like it.
A dark shadow darted between the rocks, startling us. It wasn’t pitch black all around, but when we looked up, we were all taken aback.
Above us was a huge, round moon, and in the distance, a blazing sun. The sunlight split the landscape—day and night divided cleanly apart.
"What was that just now? Some kind of wild beast?"
My cousin muttered, while Justin Huang clenched his fists, making them crackle.
"I’ll cover the rear. You guys move ahead."
We bunched together and moved forward. Mason Yu held up the Celestial Chord Sword, and we followed the main road.
It was eerily quiet all around. Suddenly, my cousin shouted again.
"Look! There’s something over there."
We stopped and looked, but saw nothing.
"Cousin, maybe you just imagined it?"
No sooner had I spoken than a series of sharp, piercing screams rang out. It sounded like monkeys shrieking, but not quite—more like someone screaming at the top of their lungs.
Suddenly, a small figure—about the height of a child, skin stretched over bones, black-green, with a pointed snout and bristly hair—blocked our path. It was a little ghost.
"Let me handle this." Just as Justin Huang was about to make a move, my cousin thumped his chest, strode forward, and pulled out a string of Sanctified Prayer Beads, charging at the little ghost.
"Prajna Paramita, ha..."
My cousin gripped the prayer beads in one hand, and a beam of Buddha light flared. He struck the little ghost with his palm. With a shriek, the little ghost was pinned to the ground, babbling in some language we couldn’t understand.
Suddenly, the little ghost grew more agitated, its eyes bulging.
"I’m telling you, if you cause trouble again, I’ll kill you. Got it? Now scram."
No sooner had my cousin spoken than the little ghost opened its mouth wide, wailing like a child.