"Come, look."
He walked to the window, opened a crack, and beckoned to the others. The guests, filled with curiosity, gathered around, shoulder to shoulder, body pressed against body.
Squeeze in, make some room.
From time immemorial, the human nature to watch a spectacle has been innate.
But it was different this time.
Some of those closest, initially quite curious, craned their necks, their eyes darting, rolling, shining with light as they peered through the opened window crack.
Then, the curiosity in their eyes vanished, replaced entirely by terror.
They saw a shocking sight, their faces instantly turned pale, and their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably!
At this moment, the eighteenth day of the sixth month, in the twenty-fifth year of Wanli, at the second watch of the first period.
Heaven and earth had completely surrendered to the darkness.
The "people" who were ringing bells, from Chang'an Right Gate within the inner city, had walked to Zhengyang Gate, and at this moment, they emerged.
The sound of bells grew ever closer.
And those carrying the bells were also seen by the mortals observing from the shadows.
Most of those carrying the bells were dressed in black or white. They held lanterns, rang bells, carried chains and sabers, their expressions solemn, devoid of any emotion.
One person, dressed in green, held a ledger, led a reddish-brown horse, his hair disheveled, his black knee-high boots reaching almost to his knees.
And besides these "people" who transmitted the bells, there were also giant figures with blue faces and fangs, and fierce tigers with mottled fur.
Thus, this bizarre and terrifying combination, on the pitch-black, deserted streets, carried lanterns and rang bells. The surroundings were vast and empty. As these people walked, a faint blue fire emanated from them.
"What... what are those things?"
The guests lowered their voices to a mere whisper, trying to maintain coherent sentences. Some even retreated, trembling all over, their faces deathly pale with utter fear.
"Ghosts, they're all ghosts!"
"What nonsense are you speaking? These are not ghosts. They were people before, and now they are gods!"
The Korean official with the small mustache's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Look closely, you won't see such a solemn spectacle anywhere else."
"The Underworld emerges, and a hundred ghosts flee!"
"Dressed in green, holding a ledger, disheveled hair, black knee-high boots, leading a reddish-brown horse... it's the Night Roaming God!"
This Korean official with the small mustache was extremely animated, explaining to the guests as if he understood the situation in the Ming capital better than the Ming people themselves:
"Do you know why there are seventy-two red shops in the outer city of Shuntian, but seventy-six bells? In the past, there were seventy-eight, and the current seventy-six represent the seventy-six departments of the Underworld!"
"When the watch begins, the Underworld emerges, entering the inner city from Dongyue Temple to the Imperial City, patrolling Shuntian. If mortals venture out at this time and collide with the Underworld, and Yin energy enters the body, they will suffer from countless illnesses, or even die suddenly in the street!"
The guests marveled, though their complexions remained unpleasant. The innkeeper, an old man with a short white beard, praised the Korean official:
"How do you know so much about our affairs here?"
The Korean official smiled. "I visited the capital in the twentieth and twenty-third years of Wanli, but I was only a minor official then. Because it was late, I was fortunate enough to witness this scene, though only the tail end of it."
"Now that my official rank is slightly higher than before, I am able to come out of the Imperial City in the evening and into this outer city."
The innkeeper asked, "May I know your esteemed name?"
The Korean official chuckled. "Not at all, not at all. In the Celestial Empire, how could I dare to be called an esteemed official? My humble surname is Liu, my given name is Mengyin, and my courtesy name is Yingwen."
"And yours?"
"My humble self is called Lei Xuan."
The innkeeper replied, then walked behind the counter where money was collected and sat down, without looking up.
The Korean official with the small mustache exchanged pleasantries with the innkeeper for a moment, then immediately turned back, peering through the crack of the window at the situation outside. He appeared very animated and excited, as these were all "materials" he would use in his tales of the strange. However, at this moment, one guest's eyes widened, and he said to the Korean official:
"No, listen, do you hear something, like chanting?"
At this point, the guests and the Korean official with the small mustache were drawn by the new sound. They widened the crack in the window and turned towards another direction.
In the center of this main road in Zhengxi Fang, this road led directly south to Yongding Gate.
The gods of the Underworld had only just emerged.
They were all looking south.
A woman stood on the road not far away, holding three sticks of incense, her eyes vacant:
"Taiyin gives birth to light, illuminating the sacred fire..."
The woman stood there blankly, and the gods of the Underworld also halted, but they did not stop ringing their bells.
The bells continued to ring.
The green-robed Night Roaming God at the forefront spoke in a strange voice, like the grating sound of two stones rubbing against each other:
"The 'Taiyin Gives Birth to Light, Illuminating the Righteous Treasure Scroll'... remnants of the Yellow Heaven Cult..."
The green-robed Night Roaming God looked at the yellow ledger in his hand. The yellow paper rustled as it turned, and on one page, a certain name was gradually turning black.
A person's choices influenced the life and death changes of their name on the yellow ledger.
Until the moment the name turned completely black, the green-robed Night Roaming God began to chant the name, simultaneously raising his hand, extending a finger, and pointing at the woman:
"Gao Wan..."
"Life and lifespan have ended."
"Kill..."
The inn's occupants broke out in a cold sweat, hearing the eerie voice of the green-robed Night Roaming God. Beside him, a mottled tiger suddenly pounced. A mere gust of Yin wind stirred up a terrifying tiger's roar that swept the ground, leaving several deep claw marks on the earth. The woman standing in the middle of the road holding incense had already been disemboweled, her head rolling to the ground with a thud.
The gods of the Underworld did not move, and the bells continued to ring.
"Wh-what... what is that... I've seen this woman before."
Suddenly, someone from within the inn spoke, his expression filled with extreme terror. The other guests nearby were startled and each took three to five steps back, giving him space, before asking him to begin his performance.
"She's a weaver from near Yongding Gate. I bought some cloth from her before it got dark, and she even gave me a stick of incense..."
As this guest spoke, the terror in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by confusion, and then by a vacant stare, as he began to mutter:
"Taiyin gives birth to light, illuminating the sacred fire..."
Whoosh!
The surrounding guests were immediately thrown into a panic, overturning tables and chairs. The place descended into chaos. Meanwhile, the gods of the Underworld outside all turned their heads in unison, looking towards the inn!
The Night Roaming God's yellow ledger was flipped again, and a name gradually turned black!
The gods of the Underworld seemed to be somewhat angered.
The green-robed Night Roaming God raised his finger, staring at the name on the yellow ledger, and uttered a syllable:
"Liu..."
And at this very moment, the innkeeper, that unassuming old man, lightly tapped the edge of the table with his finger.
The guest, who had suddenly become a follower of the Yellow Heaven Cult, immediately fainted.
At this moment, the name on the yellow ledger instantly reverted from completely black to clear.
The gaze of the gods of the Underworld also withdrew. The green-robed Night Roaming God's voice stopped. He held his finger up for two seconds, then lowered it, as if nothing had happened, and began to walk away.
The many guests, as well as the Korean official with the small mustache, whose every hair had been about to stand on end like porcupine quills, suddenly found the Underworld no longer paying them attention. They immediately felt sweat soaking their clothes. Some, overcome with weakness, collapsed onto the ground.
"Damn it! Damn it! The nights in Shuntian are so terrifying, I never want to come again!"
Someone sat on the ground, gasping for breath. The Korean official, however, turned his gaze towards the Imperial City and frowned.
"Will something major happen tonight?"
As soon as he spoke, it was as if some unseen connection had been made.
The Korean official Liu Mengyin, with the small mustache, almost had his heart stop from fright. He slowly closed the crack in the window, his face as pale as a corpse, leaning against the wall, he slowly sat on the ground, breathing heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
Moments ago, the surroundings had been pitch black.
But now, they were brightly lit!
The shops and houses around them suddenly, without any warning, lit up. Within them, countless figures were silhouetted against the windows, performing the action of lighting three sticks of incense!
Liu Mengyin muttered to himself, his terror unabated, "What exactly were those..."
The innkeeper sat behind the counter, without looking up, his tone lazy:
"Nothing much. That's the Yellow Heaven Cult. Back during Emperor Jiajing's reign, there was an old soldier named Li Bin who, after retiring from the army, met a wandering Taoist who taught him magical arts. Thus, he founded this cult, calling himself Zen Master Tiger Eye. Taking advantage of Emperor Jiajing's fondness for cultivation at the time, it spread quite widely in Hebei. Now he is dead, and this sect has become the White Lotus Society."
"Go to bed early tonight, don't go out and wander around. Everything will be fine by morning."
...