The people of Mingjiang Prefecture were in an uproar; those with children held them close, while those without bowed their heads, not daring to breathe heavily.
The area they were in was called the Donkey Market because, in its pri, it was all about donkey business, with tens of thousands of donkeys gathered here.
Nowadays, the donkeys had long been burned to ashes by Xianhuo, but where did the sound of ten thousand donkeys braying co from?
The common folks naturally thought it was the wandering souls of nearby donkeys haunting the place, and the re thought of ghosts made them shiver in fear,
Fortunately, the lanterns of the Spirit Patrol lit up all at once.
With the Day and Night Wandering God of Mingjiang Prefecture overseeing them, the people were not overly panicked.
...
The donkey braying continued, and the fog-enveloped Soul Shepherd City began to loom, along with the clamorous cries and sobs of the people, creating an atmosphere akin to a sinister human purgatory that spread wide.
On the bell tower’s rooftop, Zhou Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the chaos at the Donkey Market. He said to the painter, "This Spectral Play’s main the is eeriness, and the performance is quite realistic. If the people panic too much, it might cause unnecessary stampede accidents. The Spirit Patrol should keep a good watch."
The play is fake,
but if the common folks were injured or even died from this play, those casualties would be all too real.
The painter nodded and said, "Great Master, I’ve already given the orders. The Spirit Patrol will be mindful."
"Yes, the play must be genuine, but safety must also be ensured."
Zhou Xuan looked at the pocket watch in his palm and said, "It’s noon; the Spectral Play is about to begin."
He suddenly turned around and said to Peng Sheng, the Music Master, and King Xishan, "It’s ti for you to use your divine powers... Seal off the Mingjiang Prefecture’s sunlight and let the bright moon cast upon the Mingjiang land."
The the of today’s Spectral Play had long been set by Zhou Xuan—Soul Shepherd City descends, Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, Gate of Ghosts opens, and the deceased return to life.
Given it’s the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, how could there be any atmosphere with the blazing sun at high noon?
The three human gods, with Zhou Xuan’s order, imdiately raised their heads, and the golden divine persona slowly erged from their mouths.
The three divine personas, surrounded by a golden glow, seed to have a strong gravitational pull.
This gravitational pull did not absorb the autumn breeze, nor the dust, but purely sunlight.
In just a few monts, the light around the bell tower dimd, turning dark as the night.
Pan Mountain Eagle was sensible enough to lift the wind lamp, removing the lampshade, and lit the wick.
Thus, there was light around the bell tower.
anwhile, the efficiency with which the divine personas of King Xishan, the Music Master, and Peng Sheng absorbed sunlight increased infinitely.
All daylight was absorbed, and the Donkey Market plunged into darkness. Without having prepared wind lamps in advance—who would have thought to bring lanterns, lamps, or flashlights at high noon?
"It’s dark, it’s dark,"
The cry from soone, whose identity was unclear, echoed in the Donkey Market, stirring greater fear among the people.
Everyone there had once heard those ghost stories as a child—when the sun sets and the darkness falls, wandering souls and wild ghosts roam the streets.
The once-braying donkeys and the current darkness undoubtedly heightened their long-dormant fears.
The tis when families gathered around the fire, shivering in fear as the elderly told ghost stories, returned vividly to them.
"Ghost...ghost..."
"Mingjiang Prefecture is dood. I’ve heard that the Soul Shepherd City belongs to the netherworld."
"The Ghost City of the netherworld descends upon Mingjiang Prefecture—what if the sun never rises over our Prefecture City again?"
"Ghosts and evil spirits will fill the entire Mingjiang Prefecture."
The common folk in the Donkey Market, too frightened to move freely, seed to have forgotten why they ca there in the first place.
Wasn’t it because of the rumor that upon the city’s descent, the deceased loved ones would be reborn?
But now, they were engulfed by endless worry about whether Mingjiang Prefecture would beco a ghost city.
In the darkened Prefecture City, they felt as though so kind of evil spirits lurked in the pitch-black night.
Yet, the hearts of the people were not dood to utter despair; a ray of light broke through their internal haze.
"There’s light, there’s light!"
"Three beams."
"Mingjiang Prefecture is not plunged in utter darkness; maybe the fears we imagined won’t co true."
Indeed, there was light,
For King Xishan, the Music Master, and Peng Sheng’s three divine personas, after absorbing vast amounts of light, beca the light themselves.
The golden divine personas, having absorbed such an imnse amount of sunlight, beca objects emitting moonlight.
"The divine personas have beco a moon, go,"
The three pointed at the divine personas, and in orders, the three divine personas flew towards the Donkey Market.
They were like three falling stars, sweeping over the land and then suspending in the sky, attracting each other, and congealing into a moon.
The moon ford from the flying stars shone even brighter than a regular moon, as they were pure sunlight. Only hindered by the thick layer of lingering fog in the sky, the light was dimd, resembling a hazy moon, not clearly visible.
Yet this hazy moonlight gave the common folk of Mingjiang Prefecture a glimr of hope—after experiencing the despair of utter darkness, that faint hope slowly erged.
The moonlight did not continue to brighten, but to the common folk, it appeared ever brighter because the fog was dissipating.
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