A master of comedy!

Chapter 13 The Road to Yin and Yang

The living walk the path of the living, the dead walk the path of the dead.

The "path to the underworld" here refers not only to the Yellow Springs Road in the netherworld, but also to the special road at the boundary between the living and the dead.

It belongs neither to the world of the living nor the world of the dead, hence it is also known as the Yin-Yang Road.

Through this path, ghost messengers can reach any place in the mortal realm in a short time, and can also quickly return to the underworld from any place in the mortal realm.

Many souls travel this path before being led to the underworld.

Generally speaking, living people cannot walk this path unless they have a special method of 'borrowing a path' or are highly skilled individuals with profound Taoist abilities who can separate their soul from their body.

Of course, occasionally ordinary people will accidentally wander into the Yin-Yang Road.

For example, Zhang Hua, the sixteenth-generation descendant of Marquis Liu Zhang Liang of the Western Jin Dynasty, recorded such a story in his book "Bowuzhi".

A man fled Luoyang to escape the war, but accidentally fell into a huge cave. He walked in the dark for about several dozen miles before finally escaping the cave and returning to the human world.

But upon inquiring, he discovered that he had actually arrived in Jiao County (present-day northern Vietnam).

Later, he traveled through mountains and rivers, overcoming obstacles, and it took him seven years to finally return to Luoyang.

"Danshan, get in the sedan chair, they will take you to Qinggu County."

Outside the treasury, a dark blue sedan chair had appeared out of nowhere, with four burly men dressed as strongmen, with bushy beards and red eyes, guarding it.

Zhou Sheng knew that these four must be the legendary ghost messengers.

Before the City God, they behaved with extreme respect, bowing not only to Lu Bingyuan but also to Zhou Sheng.

"Lord Lu, I've heard that the Path Between Yin and Yang is not for the living to travel. If I do something opportunistic, will it cause you trouble?"

Zhou Sheng had some concerns.

"It's alright. As the City God, I still have the authority to send a living person on the path between the living and the dead. In addition, you sorcerers also have the qualification to 'borrow a path,' but you have to wait until you graduate."

"Master Lu, but my opera trunk is still at the inn..."

"Don't worry, young master, it's no trouble at all. I'll get it for you right away!"

After getting the address of the inn, the burly man immediately transformed into a whirlwind and disappeared. He returned in just a few breaths, carrying a heavy opera box.

Zhou Sheng clicked his tongue in amazement. This big man must have been walking the Yin-Yang Road. Otherwise, how could he have returned in an instant from the City God Temple to that inn, which is at least several miles away?

"Thank you, brother."

Zhou Sheng clasped his hands in thanks, then took the opera box and entered the sedan chair.

The interior of the sedan chair was spacious, clean, and tidy, with several sachets inside that smelled of mugwort.

"Danshan, the sachet in the sedan chair is to cover up your human scent so that you won't be coveted by ghosts and spirits on the road."

"Remember, before you arrive, do not get out of the sedan chair or lift the curtain to look around. Your skills are not yet sufficient, and you have not yet completed your training, so you should be careful."

Lu Bingyuan gave a few more instructions, and then the four ghost messengers lifted the sedan chair and their figures quickly disappeared into the thin mist.

He glanced deeply in the direction Zhou Sheng had left, and softly sang a few lines of opera lyrics.

"It's pitiful that he was appointed as an official in Dingyuan County, a small county; it's pitiful that he was impeached after interrogating Zhao Da."

"How pitiful that he cut off the sunlight and remonstrated with the emperor, how pitiful that he was sent to the underworld to investigate the matter, wandering through the seven courts, where could he find peace in each and every one of them!"

After a pause, Lu Bingyuan sighed deeply, his eyes becoming profound.

"Yu Zhensheng, I wonder if this young man can continue the play that you didn't finish performing back then?"

……

Ghost messengers carried the sedan chair, traveling between the realms of Yin and Yang.

Zhou Sheng sat upright in the sedan chair, his whole body tense, not daring to relax in the slightest.

After all, it was my first time walking the Yin-Yang Road, the legendary Ghost and God Post Road, and I was afraid of offending some fierce being.

Sensing his nervousness, the ghostly guards carrying the sedan chair chatted with him casually. "Young master, don't worry. You're riding in the City God's sedan chair. No evil spirit would dare to disturb you!"

"Hehe, when they see the City God's sedan chair, they'll immediately make way, unless..."

"Unless we encounter a deity more powerful than the City God, or a ghost king roaming among them, but that's not so easy. We've been traveling for so many years and have never encountered one."

The ghost messenger's words of comfort gradually put Zhou Sheng at ease.

It must be said that although they walked very fast, the sedan chair was carried very steadily, and Zhou Sheng did not feel the slightest bump while sitting inside.

Through a corner of the curtain billowing in the wind, his peripheral vision caught glimpses of many strange houses, shrouded in a bluish light and a thin mist, making them difficult to see clearly.

However, after walking for about a quarter of an hour, even these houses disappeared, and the surrounding area resembled a desolate wilderness, extremely bleak and deserted.

However, Zhou Sheng could vaguely sense that gazes were constantly coming from all around, but they would withdraw after seeing the sedan chair and the ghostly messengers carrying it.

Although it seemed deserted, he always felt that there were quite a few "people" around him.

The behavior of the ghost messengers also proved this point, because they would sometimes slow down and shout something, as if telling those blocking their way to move aside.

At first, Zhou Sheng was excited, curious, and nervous, but as time went by, he gradually relaxed and even felt sleepy.

He began to close his eyes and rest, massaging the acupoints around his eyes, such as Jingming, Chengqi, Qiuhou, and Sibai, with his ten fingers as if plucking clouds.

This is also a form of training, specifically eye exercises.

Traditional Chinese opera emphasizes four skills and five methods. The four skills are singing, reciting, acting, and fighting, while the five methods are hand, eye, body, and footwork.

For practitioners of Yin-Yang magic, eye skills are a crucial fundamental skill.

For example, when playing Guan Yu, the eyes are of utmost importance.

Guan Yu never opens his eyes; if he does, he will surely kill!
If the murderous intent in that instant is not strong enough, Guan Yu will not possess you, and the power exerted when performing the sinister act will be very limited.

Eye skills require both practice and nurturing.

When he was a child, he practiced his eye skills. His master would take many pigeons, draw a very small mark on one of them, and then let the flock of pigeons fly freely in a large cage.

Zhou Sheng then had to try his best to find the marked pigeon and point it out immediately when his master asked a question.

If you make a mistake or are late, you will be punished.

Later, the cage was placed further and further away, three zhang, five zhang, ten zhang...

Now, he can pinpoint the slightly different pigeon in a flock from fifteen zhang away.

This is the practice method; the maintenance method involves frequently massaging acupoints around the eyes and applying medicated oil for nourishment.

Ten minutes on stage, ten years off stage.

Just as Zhou Sheng was using the travel time to practice his eye skills, the sedan chair suddenly stopped.

Arriving so soon?

Just as he was about to speak, the sedan chair suddenly fell to the ground, shaking him.

wrong!

The ghost messengers had been carrying the sedan chair very steadily and carefully, so how could they have been so rough when they got off?
"The Ghost Messenger Brothers—"

As soon as he began to speak, he heard a ghost messenger's panicked voice, filled with barely concealed tension and fear.

"Shh!"

"Don't speak, whatever you do, don't speak!"

"We are worshipping when a ferocious god who we cannot afford to offend appears before us!"

……

(End of this chapter)