Yinshan Record

Chapter 136 The Ghost of the Crow
As dawn broke and the night still lingered in the sky, the city gates of Guobei County were already open.

As is customary, city gates in various places open at Chenshi, which is around 8 or 9 a.m., when the sun is already high in the sky. People outside the city bring their goods to trade, and the area outside the city gates is bustling with activity.

In contrast, Guobei County opens its gates at dawn, just as the sun rises.

There is no other way.

Because of the unique ecology of Guobei County, where humans and ghosts live together, every household has a habit of pasting yellow talismans on their doors and windows and closing them tightly before sunset.

The time people in Guobei County can freely move around during the day is closely tied to the sun, which has led to the development of different lifestyles among the people there.

Life in Guobei County is inextricably linked to sunrise and sunset, unfolding slowly after sunrise and abruptly ending after sunset.

After all, the profession with the highest mortality rate in Guobei County was the night watchman.

Before daybreak, merchants and people coming to town gradually arrived at the sheds to wait for their turn.

They carried goods or shoulder poles, preparing to enter the city to work, but they all had one clear characteristic: they kept their mouths tightly shut.

The usual business conversations and everyday chatter of ordinary people are nowhere to be seen here. Everyone is quietly observing with an almost indifferent attitude, their black eyes and whites showing.

Su Che counted the door studs on the city gate. Those brass studs were already covered in rust, like yellow teeth on the dark, gaping mouth of the city gate.

Young Master Su felt that Guo Bei County wasn't lifeless, but rather rather dull and uninteresting.

Da Gui Taigong Chong stood silently in the shed, wearing his black robe. When the observing eyes saw the black feather on his hat, they seemed to be stung by something and immediately looked away.

They waited like this until the city gates slowly opened, and the people waiting in the sheds entered the city one after another as if they couldn't see Taigong Chong at all.

Interestingly, neither the gatekeepers nor the people entering or leaving the city paid any attention to the big ghost Taigong Chong dressed in black, as if they hadn't seen him at all.

This made Su Che wonder if the bald ghost was some kind of illusionary genius, creating an illusion that even the perceptive Su San Gongzi couldn't detect.

However, when they were about to pass through the city gate, a child ruined their chances.

A chubby-faced little boy, who looked to be about five or six years old, followed an old woman into town carrying a basket. He pointed to Taigongchong's hat and spoke to the old woman.

"Grandma, run! There's a black bird demon here!"

Then, the old lady quickly covered his mouth with her wrinkled and chapped hands.

The child's eyes darted around, his little chest heaving. The old lady looked at her great-grandfather with fear and numbness in her eyes, and Su Che even saw a hint of envy in them.

People passing by immediately quickened their pace, and the air around them seemed to freeze.

Taigong Chong smiled, nodded to the gatekeeper, and led Su Che and Lu Bai through the city gate into the city.

Before long, the sounds of a child crying and whispers could be heard from behind.

Su Che smiled. The boy was crying very hard, which meant that the old woman was really trying her best to educate the child.

The ghosts and spirits of the Yin-Yang realm have a bad reputation.

"Blackbird Demon?"

Su Che was a little curious about where this nickname came from.

"The ghost messengers in the area all have a feather of a three-eyed ghost crow stuck in their hats, so the people around call the ghost messengers black bird ghosts."

Taigong Chong smiled and said, "In recent years, the Lord has not been too strict in managing the realm, and the ghost messengers often misbehave, so their reputation has become bad. When I first entered the Yin-Yang Realm, the ghost messengers actually had a good reputation." "When did you enter this Yin-Yang Realm?"

"That was more than three hundred years ago. I was originally a minor military officer in the previous dynasty. When the Great Liang Dynasty rose to power, I led troops to fight against the Liang army and lost my life. At that time, the emperor was searching for wandering ghosts on the battlefield, and I entered the Yin-Yang realm."

"Three hundred years, that's a very long life."

Su Che sincerely praised him, saying that it was quite legendary that Taigong Chong, as a ghost, had survived for so many years.

Humans have a lifespan in life and a death span.

Lifespan is the number of years a person can live comfortably.

After a person dies, they become a ghost, and the length of time they exist as a ghost is called their "ghost lifespan".

Su Che had read in "The Records of the Mysterious Center" that there are generally two views on so-called ghosts in the cultivation world.

One school of thought believes that ghosts are the transformation of the human body's spirit, and that the remaining traces of the spirit can be considered a form of life's continuation.

Another school of thought believes that ghosts are not closely related to the original living people; they are like shadows of people. When a person dies and becomes a ghost, an irreversible change has already occurred. Hence the Buddhist saying: "Once you lose your human form, it is difficult to regain it for countless eons."

Regardless of whether one side's view is right or wrong, there is a core argument here: becoming a ghost after death is a very unstable state compared to being born as a human.

This manifests itself in two main ways: a short lifespan in the afterlife and difficulty in attaining a spiritually enlightened being.

Ghosts have varying lifespans. Most people's ghostly lifespan lasts only a month or so after death. Scriptures often contain phrases like "within the forty-nine days, life and death are hard to know," which means that this ghostly life is very short.

However, even ghosts can cultivate themselves. By guiding the moonlight and consuming incense, their lifespan in the underworld can gradually increase.

This is why wandering ghosts are the most pitiful, because without anyone to offer sacrifices, their lifespan in the afterlife is often not extended.

For all living beings in this world, wandering ghosts are a truly real and vicious curse.

As a military official of the previous dynasty, Taigong Chong was able to be guided to the Yin-Yang Realm by the Yin-Yang Dharma King after dying on the battlefield, and has continued to exist for more than three hundred years. His luck and cultivation are indeed worthy of praise.

Besides the difficulty of the deceased's death anniversary, another key factor is the difficulty of finding a spiritually enlightened being.

While a person is alive, as long as they are willing to improve, whether through reading or observing their surroundings, their mind will gradually grow.

From childhood ignorance to wisdom and understanding, and finally maturity, it's like a sapling; growth may be slow, but with time and effort, it will eventually bear fruit.

For ghosts, however, it is a completely different process. Once they die, the biggest problem is the irreversible decline of their intelligence.

Sometimes, their lifespan may not have ended, but their spirit has already been completely lost, and they eventually become vengeful ghosts.

Taigong Chong, as a lone soul who died on the battlefield, has lived for more than three hundred years and his spirit has not departed.

Su Che felt that this indicated that Taigong Chongqi's ghost must have something extraordinary about it, and also that the Yin-Yang Dharma King's opening of the Yin-Yang realm was not a good thing for the people of Guobei County.

But for the ghost cultivators, it was indeed a pure land, offering more possibilities.

I apologize to all my readers. I had a fever a few days ago. I live alone now, and it's quite difficult being alone, especially since I have a criminal record...

The good news is that I no longer need IV fluids today, so I apologize for not updating at least three times a day during the National Day holiday. There will be one more update today.

Thank you everyone.

(Fake news: The surgery was a success, and I'm a beautiful girl now.)
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(End of this chapter)