Chapter 00193: The Person on Stage, The Person in the Audience (Part 1)
# The Person on Stage, The Person in the Audience (Part 1)
Chapter 193
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 193 The Person on Stage, The Person in the Audience (Part 1)
The older generation often says you should not tell ghost stories in the middle of the night, or you will really summon a ghost.
Let's not even discuss whether this counts as feudal superstition, but the act of those scoundrels on the ground, pretending to be ghosts and gods, was pretty much the same as telling ghost stories.
Yang Yiyi, who had been half-asleep, saw that the clothes of the person in white outside the door looked like an opera costume.
She immediately shivered and became wide awake on the spot.
Especially when she recalled the story the little girl from the inn had told them not long ago, goosebumps rose on the back of her neck one after another, like waves of wheat in autumn.
At the same time, a softly sung opera verse entered everyone's ears.
It sang:
"The person on stage, every step and every line is longing; the person below, yet does not recognize the old acquaintance on stage. The person below, upon achieving scholarly honor; the person on stage, sighs for the lovesick fool in the play."
The voice was gentle, pleasant, yet sorrowful and mournful.
If it were on a stage, it would surely draw cheers from the crowd, but to hear such a performance in the middle of the night would make anyone panic.
Many people were paralyzed with fear on the spot.
The few scoundrels who had been beaten were so scared they scrambled and crawled away.
"Don't panic, what ghost is there! Someone must be playing tricks. Let me, Li Sheng of the Zhenjiang Pestle, meet you!"
As he finished speaking, a man leaped out from the crowd, holding a refined steel pestle, and flew towards the white shadow at the door, smashing down at it.
With a peng, the refined steel pestle smashed onto the ground at the inn's entrance.
Li Sheng, who called himself the Zhenjiang Pestle, was stunned.
He had clearly aimed his strike, so how could he have missed?
He turned around to face the inn and said:
"Strange, where's the person?"
The others who stood still saw it clearly.
Just as Li Sheng's iron pestle smashed down, the white figure vanished as if it had teleported.
"Brother Li, be careful! That person disappeared!"
Just as someone in the crowd reminded him, they suddenly saw the bewildered Li Sheng fall to the ground without any warning.
Immediately after, the main gate slammed shut with a hu.
The door panels, which seemed to have been blown open by the wind, closed tightly with a peng as if controlled by an invisible person, locking Li Sheng outside.
Of course, no one was in the mood to worry about Li Sheng's safety, because as the main gate closed, the person in white appeared above it, below the crossbeam, floating towards the crowd as if weightless.
Everyone was scared out of their wits and at a loss, thrown into chaos in an instant.
"When leaving, the vows of eternal love were not forgotten; upon returning, we became strangers who do not interact. This parting is like being separated by life and death. How can there be a Xiangxiao Water Wall, how can there be a scholar matched with a beauty?"
The ethereal singing still lingered in everyone's ears.
Its source was unclear, yet it could be heard distinctly even in such chaos.
This made people even more afraid.
"This person's martial arts are extremely high and their internal energy is outstanding, to be able to fool us with the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission technique. Let me, Gu Tao of the Thunderclap Sword... Ah!"
It seems the Thunderclap Sword was not all that great either.
The figure in white flickered in and out of sight among the crowd, truly moving like a ghost in the literal sense.
From time to time, someone would fall to the ground on the spot, as if their vital essence had been drained, falling into a peaceful sleep like a baby.
Now everyone was even more terrified.
Many people rushed towards the main gate, trying to open it and escape.
But the door, which was not even bolted, seemed to weigh a thousand jun, impossible to push open no matter how they tried.
Of course, it also had something to do with everyone being terrified, their hands and feet having gone soft.
While chaos reigned around them, the trio of Yang Yiyi hid in a corner of the main hall.
Although they appeared calm, their darting eyes were filled with terror.
With their eyesight, they could not follow the white figure's movements at all.
Yang Yiyi was frantically shaking the Jade Tablet, looking as if she was about to shake it apart, desperately hoping Li Chengxi would say a few words to bolster her courage.
He was an immortal, after all.
With an immortal present, what ghost was there to fear?
But unfortunately, in the middle of the night, Li Chengxi was already on a date with the daughter of the Duke of Zhou in his dreams.
He had no idea what was happening, so no matter how Yang Yiyi shook the tablet, there would be no response.
Previously, Li Chengxi had told them how to distinguish a real ghost from someone just pretending, but there was no time to carefully discern that now.
For example, when a ghost appears, the first thing you feel is coldness—not the cold of low temperature, but a chill that seeps deep into your bones.
But having been terrified, the three of them had temporarily lost their sense of temperature.
Another example was to light a candle.
When a ghost appeared, touch the wax.
If it had solidified, it was a real ghost; if it was still molten and hot, it was a fake ghost.
But the candles were all in the Sumeru Realm, and without Li Chengxi, they could not take them out.
The inn used oil lamps anyway; there were no candles at all.
Just as the three were panicking, a voice suddenly came from the side:
"Big sisters, over here, over here, look down."
The child's voice startled the three of them, but when Yang Yiyi looked down, she saw the little girl they had met not long ago hiding under a table in the main hall, waving at them.
She sure knew how to hide.
The three quickly crouched down and, while the white figure was flitting about among the crowd of 'Jianghu heroes', they quietly hid under the table as well.
"A real ghost actually appeared, are not you scared?"
Hearing Yang Yiyi's words, the little girl actually showed a disdainful expression.
"What real ghosts or fake ghosts? It's all just people scaring themselves."
She was short and crouched into a small ball under the table as she said:
"A bunch of grown men actually got scared to tears. Don't they feel ashamed?"
"But that white..."
"Look carefully. Don't panic, take a good look."
Hearing her say that, the three calmed down and looked carefully.
They felt that although the white figure's movements were ghostly, there were still some traces to follow.
It was not as erratic as a ghost, more like...
"A profound lightness skill?"
"That's right. I've seen countless Jianghu martial artists. This little trick can only fool these small fries."
"But how did the main gate close?"
The little girl picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it towards the door with a biu.
The three saw the pebble wobble in front of the door for a moment before falling to the ground.
"See? It's an extremely fine silk thread."
Now the three had completely calmed down.
It felt like they had just watched two episodes of Approaching Science; their hearts were completely unruffled.
"You're so smart, when did you discover it?"
The little girl wrinkled her nose:
"If it were not for the fact that the candy you gave me was pretty good, I would not have bothered to say anything."
Yang Yiyi's heart settled.
As long as it was not a ghost, things would be much easier to handle.
Before Li Yingluo and Zheng Yinping could even speak, they saw Yang Yiyi dart out from under the table with a swoosh.
She did not just rush out blindly.
She had figured out the pattern and dashed over when the white figure's back was turned, raising a fist and aiming for their back.
Unexpectedly, however, the opponent acted as if they had eyes on their back, swaying their body to suddenly evade.
Yang Yiyi was not discouraged.
She immediately let out an angry shout:
"Left Pushing Hand!"
At the same time, she formed a palm with her left hand and slapped upwards.
The Black Bear's Three Pushing Hands was not entirely a pugilistic art; it mainly used palm energy to harm the enemy.
Yang Yiyi's internal energy was not very strong yet, so this palm strike only stirred up a strong gust of wind.
But this seemed to have hit the mark by accident.
The strong wind made the white figure sway, seemingly causing some interference.
Yang Yiyi was relentless, seizing the opportunity to unleash a Mantis Combo, exchanging three moves with a series of peng peng peng.
The warm sensation she felt on her hand settled her heart even more.
This was just a person pretending to be a ghost!
"Primordial Chaos Finger!"
Switching from Mantis Fist to Eagle Claw Technique, she hooked with three fingers and with a ripping sound, tore a piece of cloth from the white figure.
At the same time, she clenched her left hand into a fist, following up with a Black Tiger Snatches the Heart.
Yang Yiyi finally had some combat experience now.
Unlike at the beginning when she only knew how to follow set routines, the key was knowing when to use which move she had learned.
Being flexible with her moves gave her an advantage.
The opponent was caught in the Mantis Combo and had not had time to break free.
Having just dodged the Primordial Chaos Finger, they saw Yang Yiyi's Black Tiger Snatches the Heart aiming for their chest and hastily tapped their feet to retreat.
Yang Yiyi's punch did not land squarely; it felt like hitting a ball of cotton.
Immediately after, she was repelled by the opponent's internal energy and took several steps back.
The person in white took the opportunity to fly away.
Their lightness skill was extremely profound, and with a single flicker, they blended into the crowd.
But Yang Yiyi did not rush to chase.
Instead, she turned back excitedly to Li Yingluo and Zheng Yinping, who were hiding under the table, and said:
"She's huge! About as big as you guys!"
"..."
This child, why is she speaking such blunt truths.