Chapter 6: The Ruined Realm

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Bright red lanterns hung high, illuminating a bustling banquet scene. The courtyard was teeming with people, and the aroma of dishes wafted through the air. Around him, cheerful chatter filled the atmosphere. Every door and window was adorned with paper cutouts of the “Double Happiness” character. Everywhere radiated festivity and joy. Clearly, a lively wedding banquet was underway.

This sudden shift made Ji Yun doubt his eyes once more. Looking around at the high walls and grand courtyard, it was unmistakably a landlord’s mansion styled in the Republican era from a century ago. The spacious yard held dozens of tables, with several hundred guests dressed in attire reflecting that bygone era. The men wore long gowns and mandarin jackets with straw sandals; the women donned qipao and patterned linen clothes.

It was early evening. Though the sky still held traces of fiery clouds, darkness had descended. Without electric lights, the lanterns alone provided illumination. The warm red glow cast a festive yet slightly eerie ambiance over the old estate.

As an avid reader of online fiction, Ji Yun’s first thought was, “Have I traveled back in time?” He tested his senses—sight, touch, hearing—but detected no abnormalities. Even when he deliberately touched someone nearby, they were warm, breathing, and alive. It felt too real to be a dream.

Still, Ji Yun remained calm. After encountering ghosts tonight, suddenly crossing over to another time or place didn’t seem so strange. However, he recalled the cat-faced old woman mentioning something called the “Xu Realm.” That suggested this was not a simple time slip.

Turning his gaze, Ji Yun saw the cat-faced old woman and the official-dressed zombie approaching. They sat at the next table, also guests at the banquet. Perhaps because Ji Yun no longer held the registered letter he had before, they lost interest in him. Judging from their cautious, wary glances around, they seemed aware of the situation.

Looking around, “Shang Xiaoyu” was nowhere to be seen.

Before Ji Yun could make sense of what was happening, a man with greasy food around his mouth beckoned him, “Hey, young brother, don’t just stand there. Sit down and eat something. We’ll need to make room for the next guests soon.”

Tilting his head, Ji Yun saw an old Taoist with yellow teeth, dressed in a dingy long robe, his graying hair tied in a Taoist topknot. He looked anything but ethereal, more like a common street fortune teller. This fellow was no different from the other guests, so Ji Yun paid him little mind, focusing instead on the cat-faced old woman and zombie nearby.

They were the ones who knew the truth.

Seeing no sudden moves, Ji Yun sat down as well. Though he didn’t understand everything, the fact that two supernaturals were so cautious about this “Xu Realm” meant it was no ordinary place.

The table was laden with aromatic fish and meat dishes. The yellow-toothed Taoist eagerly stabbed a large steamed fish with his chopsticks, juice dribbling from the corner of his mouth. The delicious scent stirred Ji Yun’s appetite; he swallowed hard.

Just as he wondered if the food was safe to eat, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Opening it, he saw a new message from Shang Xiaoyu: “Don’t eat the food here! It’s meant for the dead! This is the Xu Realm. If a living person eats it and becomes tainted by ghost energy, death is certain!”

“???” Ji Yun recognized all the characters but couldn’t quite grasp the meaning.

Ghost energy? Eating it leads to death?

Shang Xiaoyu was definitely here after all.

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Ji Yun glanced around but saw no sign of her. Before he could ponder further, another message popped up: “We’re now inside the ‘Xu Realm.’ Don’t provoke the evil spirits here. If you break certain death rules, even I can’t save you!”

Shang Xiaoyu clearly knew what she was talking about.

But how was there phone signal in this Xu Realm?

Ji Yun’s eyes shifted but he didn’t dwell on the minor detail. He quickly replied with his biggest question: “Xu Realm? What does that mean?”

The cat-faced old woman had mentioned it earlier. These supernaturals all seemed aware. Presumably, they feared Ji Yun triggering some rule.

The reply came swiftly: “It’s hard to explain in a few words. You can think of it as a horrifying extra-dimensional space formed by evil spirit consciousness—like a multiverse, parallel world, or lower-dimensional space in physical terms. No one can clearly define what the Xu Realm is. But one thing’s certain: it’s real, and it’s a historical event that truly existed—mostly sites of violent deaths with intense grudges! Except for outsiders, no one here is truly alive; these are all ‘evil spirits.’ Everything here exists to kill intruders—wedding banquets, guests, the manor... all you see may be deadly. Those trapped have only two choices: exorcise the evil spirits by finding the ‘evil object’ to escape, or die here. Don’t wander. The spiritual pressure here is terrifying. I suspect the Xu Realm’s danger level is very high...”

Ji Yun’s eye twitched slightly. Reading the lengthy reply, he began to understand.

No wonder his short sleeves and sneakers seemed so out of place among the Republican-era attire, yet the guests noticed nothing odd. They weren’t human.

And after exorcising the evil spirits, one could leave.

So, he wasn’t traveling in time.

Instead, he was in a special state, trapped inside a kind of… game dungeon?

But a terrifying one.

Ji Yun mentally framed his situation in a way he could grasp.

He wanted to ask more, but Shang Xiaoyu didn’t reply again. He gave up.

Being new to such mysteries and unclear on the Xu Realm’s exact nature, he didn’t feel especially scared.

Rather, he found the world suddenly more interesting.

So, this world didn’t just have demons and ghosts, but also a mysterious Xu Realm?

Ji Yun’s mind raced. As he mulled this over, fragments of conversation from the banquet guests reached his ears.

Only then did he grasp the wedding’s true purpose.

...

“Oh, we tenants get to come eat too, with such fine dishes and wine… Master Liu is truly generous.”

“Yes. We don’t get to eat this well even at New Year. But Aunt Zhang, whose wedding is this? Why didn’t we hear about it beforehand? It just suddenly started.”

“I heard… the young master of the Liu family is ill, and Master Liu is holding this wedding to bring good fortune.”

“Oh, that’s it. Wonder who the lucky bride is, marrying young master Liu for happiness?”

“I heard she’s a tea merchant’s daughter from out of town, seeking refuge from war… and a fair-skinned beauty at that…”

...

Listening to the guests, Ji Yun understood the banquet’s story. The landlord was marrying off his sick son to bring good luck. In old times, it was believed that ailing people lacked yang energy, and a joyous wedding could boost their vitality and health.

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There was some basis for this belief.

So, it was just a wedding banquet. What was so terrifying about it?

As Ji Yun listened, the zombie and cat-faced old woman nearby whispered quietly.

“This Xu Realm feels very wrong. The danger level of the evil spirits is probably high…”

“Old woman, don’t overthink. Since we’re trapped here, no matter what, we can’t leave now. Besides, since it’s formed into a Xu Realm, there must be an ‘evil object.’ That’s good news. Maybe we’re lucky enough to get it. If it’s a level-two evil object, we might advance further. Even selling it could fetch billions. Much better than some black market job.”

“Heh, those two ‘colleagues’ should be in here too. Old ghost, do you think we can profit?”

“You’re right. The employer really set us up big time. Strong opponents like these, and no warning at all. I’m more interested in that ‘letter’ the employer wanted. Too bad the banshee snatched it... Forget it, I’ll explore the manor and assess the situation.”

“Old ghost, don’t act recklessly. I sense something strange about this manor…”

“What’s there to fear? Anyway, I can’t cure this corpse toxin from my Zombie Supplement Suit. I’m not going to live long. Besides, I was badly injured by that white dumpling before and need to feed on blood to recover. This Xu Realm is perfect…”

...

Ji Yun didn’t hear the rest of their conversation but soon saw the zombie slip away quietly into the backyard. He pondered whether to follow but noticed the cat-faced old woman still at the next table. Ji Yun dared not move rashly.

The old Taoist beside him kept eating heartily. Heeding the warning, Ji Yun didn’t touch the food.

Now without the “letter,” his sense of danger faded. He carefully observed the lantern-lit Republican manor, contemplating Shang Xiaoyu’s messages.

Though his ex-girlfriend’s sudden reappearance was strange, she had saved him once. Ji Yun instinctively trusted her words as the only reliable clue amid tonight’s supernatural chaos.

Perhaps because he grew up around coffins, even hearing words like “ghost” or “evil spirit” didn’t frighten him much. After all, he’d already seen ghosts tonight—more than one kind.

Nothing seemed truly terrifying.

Instead, the mysterious Xu Realm sparked his curiosity.

A parallel universe?

A multidimensional space?

The gateway to a magical world had opened. Ji Yun’s heart brimmed with confusion and anticipation.

For a young man in the prime of life, it was irresistibly compelling.

Could he also become a supernatural, like the zombie and the cat-faced old woman?

From the clues so far, the Xu Realm felt like a game dungeon—a special space.

Once cleared, escape was possible.

And there was something called an “evil object.”

Though Ji Yun had no powers, he wasn’t about to wait passively.

He planned to seek clues and maybe seize control of his fate.

“Shang Xiaoyu said the Xu Realm has evil spirits that must be exorcised to leave… but where are the evil spirits?”

Ji Yun was puzzled.

Looking around at the hundreds of banquet guests, surely they couldn’t all be evil spirits?