I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 176 - 149: Dream Ghost

"Why are there evil spirits causing trouble in Wangshan City?"

On the way to Horse Hoof Alley in the western part of the city, Sang Que asked Yu Da.

Yu Da quickly replied, "The city walls and the Feng Shui Formation of Wangshan City can indeed prevent some evil spirits and ghosts from invading from outside, but as long as there are people, evil can be born. There will still be various reasons for evil spirits to appear within the city, even malevolent ghosts. Even Shengjing, and the Imperial Palace Inner Court, are not entirely free of impurities."

Following the informant Chen Sheng, Sang Que and Yu Da returned to the city’s west side. The troubled Horse Hoof Alley was close to the Evil Suppression Bureau and was named for its resemblance to a horseshoe.

This area in the city’s west, because it’s near the foot of the mountain and also close to the Evil Suppression Bureau, is dense with yin energy. Wealthier families are unwilling to live here, so it is populated by Wangshan City’s poor, who engage in various trades to make a living day by day.

At the alley entrance, Sang Que saw a few people standing under the eaves across the alley, observing from a distance. Kou Yushan stood at the alley entrance like an iron tower, his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist, not allowing anyone to approach.

At the entrance of the alley, a mulberry tree was planted. Its purplish-red mulberries were left unpicked. Flying insects circled around, and some berries had fallen on the stone floor, leaving large purple stains and a smell of rotting fruit.

Kou Yushan is currently also a White Servant, and he is paired with Chen Sheng, who is in his thirties. They are responsible for patrolling the city’s west alleys daily.

Yu Da doesn’t have a fixed patrol route or assigned tasks, but it’s tacitly understood that any minor evil spirit incidents among the ordinary citizens of Wangshan City should first involve him.

Evil spirit incidents involving officials and nobles aren’t Yu Da’s responsibility; there are specialized people to handle those.

Sang Que nodded at Kou Yushan in greeting; neither of them spoke.

As Yu Da walked into the alley, he asked, "Has anyone woken up?"

Chen Sheng replied, "No, we checked each house thoroughly when we discovered it."

Yu Da pushed open the large door of a household in the alley. Upon entering, they all felt a coldness. As Sang Que would describe, it was like suddenly stepping into an air-conditioned room from the summer heat outside.

"I feel like every wall has shadows," Kou Yushan said in a deep voice from behind.

Since joining the Evil Suppression Bureau, Kou Yushan had learned the Observation Method, enabling him to enter the Nine Netherworld. He discovered he was currently on the Second Floor of the Nine Netherworld, with just enough Heart Lamps to stabilize his soul on this level.

Chen Sheng had always been a White Servant, cautious in his daily duties, rarely directly confronting evil spirits. He was still on the First Layer of the Nine Netherworld and saw less than Kou Yushan.

Yu Da surveyed the courtyard, went inside the house to check on the sleeping people, and finally led his team through the alley, inspecting each house.

By noon, they had finished checking over twenty households in this alley.

"Old Yu, could it be a Dream Ghost?" Chen Sheng asked cautiously.

Kou Yushan also looked worried. He knew Sang Que was clueless about Dream Ghosts, so he quietly explained to Sang Que.

"Dream Ghosts, like Water Ghosts, are omnipresent entities. They can pull people into terrifying dreams once they fall asleep. If someone dies in the dream, they die for real. Those who have recurring nightmares or sleep unprotected in the wild, are more likely to encounter Dream Ghosts."

"Can’t you wake up those who are dreaming?" Sang Que asked softly.

Yu Da overheard and said, "It’s not that easy. Once someone is pulled into a nightmare by a Dream Ghost, they can only try to wake up from the dream. But in a nightmare, whether you’re a Daoist, monk, Day Traveler, Night Traveler, Yin Walker, or Evil Person, you’ll lose all your abilities, just like ordinary people."

"Dream Ghosts are stronger than levels above the Sixth Level unless you can find a Ghost God-level being to forcibly wake you from the nightmare. Oh, there’s another way—if a person carries a curse, they can’t be killed directly by a Dream Ghost until the curse is completed, but it’s like quenching thirst with poison."

In the alley, Yu Da pondered for a while, "At first glance, it does seem like a Dream Ghost. Sang Er, what did you see inside?"

Sang Que couldn’t judge whether her level was deeper than Yu Da’s, so she described everything she saw.

"I saw water seeping from every wall, forming ghostly faces as it trickled down. The people in a deep sleep were surrounded by insects, like flies."

"Insects?" Yu Da’s eyes widened slightly. "I only saw the watermarks on the walls, so it seems your Nine Nether Level is deeper than mine."

Yu Da’s comment caught Chen Sheng’s attention. He hadn’t seen Sang Que with any identification token and thought she was a relative of Yu Da’s family; he hadn’t considered her to be the newly recruited Night Traveler girl.

Now, Chen Sheng’s gaze toward Sang Que was filled with a mix of envy and sympathy. He envied her for becoming a Night Traveler at such a young age while sympathetically noting that Night Travelers often didn’t have long lives—such a pity at her age.

Yu Da also looked at Sang Que intently. For someone with such a deep level not to go mad and still being a Yin Walker taming evil spirits, this was no ordinary talent. No wonder He Buning took notice of her.

"Since Sang Er saw insects, it’s not a Dream Ghost; it’s a different lower-level evil spirit that hasn’t been seen for years. I’ve forgotten its name; let’s not be superstitious and try to name it specially."

"So how do we handle it?" Chen Sheng asked.

Yu Da said, "It’s simple. You go find some brambles, light a fire at each house, and the smoke from the burning brambles will drive away this evil spirit, waking them up. Then have each household, every night after dusk, thrash the walls with the bramble sticks three times, curse a few intimidating words, and go to sleep. After seven days, hang the bramble sticks on the door, and take them down after the New Year’s Eve this year, and everything will be fine."

After giving instructions, the rest was left to Kou Yushan and Chen Sheng to handle. Finding and burning brambles didn’t require either Yu Da or Sang Que to be present.

Exiting the alley, the afternoon sun dispelled the coldness of the alley. Yu Da rubbed his chubby belly and looked around.

"I’m hungry. Let’s go back to the Evil Suppression Bureau for lunch."

Sang Que was speechless. Despite having eaten a lot in the morning and done nothing, she wasn’t hungry.

"Sang Er, if you didn’t know burning brambles would solve it, how would you have dealt with the situation just now?"

Sang Que thought for a moment and said, "I’m a Yin Walker. I’d use the Evil Mist to cover the entire alley, exterminating the lower-level evil spirits inside."

Yu Da snickered, "I guessed as much, Sang Er. You’re just like Captain He in the old days, relying too much on the power of evil spirits."

"Did you also mentor Captain He?" Sang Que asked curiously.

Yu Da gestured for Sang Que to follow him back to the Evil Suppression Bureau, speaking as they walked, "Yes, when Captain He joined the Evil Suppression Bureau six years ago, he didn’t immediately become a Night Traveler like you did. He started as an ordinary White Servant, following me around. At that time, when he encountered powerful evil spirits, without a second thought, he’d cut his own arm, sprinkle blood, and ignite yin fire to take care of it."

Sang Que nodded slightly, recalling her first time seeing He Buning, being shocked by the crisscrossed new and old scars on his arm.

"Later, one time his yin fire got out of control, he couldn’t stop the bleeding, and the yin fire burned down a forest. He almost got himself burned to death, after which he gradually became more restrained."

"Whether it’s yin fire or evil mist, they are all powers of evil spirits. Whenever they are used, they will inevitably backfire on the user. Even if it doesn’t happen immediately, it accumulates somewhere, waiting to claim your life all at once in the future."

Sang Que subconsciously moved her right hand. Was her Yansheng coin also merely temporarily suppressing the Yin Child’s backlash, storing the power somewhere?

"Old Yu, since you mentored Captain He, how do you find him as a person?"

Talking as they walked, the two headed back to the Evil Suppression Bureau for lunch.

...

In the southern part of Wangshan City, at Ruyi Building. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The sound of throat exercises echoed from inside, and a servant placed a sign with black characters on red paper at the building’s entrance.

The sign announced the performance of the Qing’an Troupe.