The Rich Cultivator-Chapter 22. The Village OF Ghosts

As Tyler and his companions ventured through the narrow passageway, a dense black mist began to envelope them. The air grew heavy and the visibility diminished to mere feet in front of them. Each step forward felt like wading through a cloud, the darkness pressing in from all sides. Yet, the moment they stepped through the other side, the world transformed. The mist cleared abruptly, and they were greeted by the radiant warmth of a brilliant sun. The sky was a deep azure, dotted with fluffy white clouds. It was as if they had walked through a gateway into another realm.

Despite its ominous name, ’The Village of Ghosts,’ the scene before them was bustling with life. Neat rows of crops stretched out toward the horizon, where farmers worked diligently under the sun’s golden rays. The air was filled with the earthy scent of freshly turned soil and the distant aroma of ripe fruits. Along the pathways, vibrant stalls were set up with a variety of goods, where cheerful women, their aprons tied at the waist, sold fresh produce and colourful trinkets. The chatter and laughter of the villagers filled the air, creating a harmonious backdrop to the lively scene.

In the centre of the village lay a big banyan tree where lot cultivators had gathered. The village seemed to pulse with vitality, yet Tyler couldn’t help but wonder why it is called ’The Village Of Ghost’ when it literally looks like any other village. Tyler saw a warning sign saying ’Warning : Don’t Fall in Love with the Villagers’

Looking at Tyler deep in thought, Priscilla laughed and said with mystery, "Don’t think about it too much. You will understand everything soon."

"Well well well. Enemies do meet on narrow paths." A man appeared while excluding a rich merchant aura.

"Do we know each other?" Tyler asked.

"I am Ximen, Ximen from Dragon Phoenix Auction House. Also an outer disciple of Soaring Cloud Sect." Ximen’s mouth twitched as he said.

"Oh I remember now. But when did we become enemies?" Tyler couldn’t help but ask in confusion.

"You!!!! " Ximen is also lost in words.

Suddenly one of the Lackey who accompanied Ximen looked at Tyler and said, "From now you and the young master are made for each other."

"Sorry I don’t swing that way." Tyler hurriedly said as he hid behind Priscilla.

"N-no.. I mean enemies made for eac-..." Before he could say anything he was slapped by Ximen.

"Sorry Young master. This time I will say it correctly." Lackey said and turned towards Tyler, "My Young Master will make you bend."

Priscilla: "Pffts~"

Chi : (⁠☉⁠｡⁠☉⁠)⁠!

Chen Xi : ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Ximen : (⁠╯⁠°⁠□⁠°⁠）⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ┻⁠━⁠┻

Lackey : ( ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ )

"Sorry, I might break but never bend." Tyler said.

"I m-mean, Bend your knee- ahhhhhh ", He was once again slapped by Ximen.

Ximen left their eyesight immediately.

Suddenly a elderly man who looked around 80+ years old walked under the tree. All the Cultivators who were chatting suddenly stopped and respectfully cupped their hands towards them.

Everyone calls elderly man the Village Head Chou.

Village Head Chou nodded his head towards the Cultivators. He is wearing a white and grey dress holding a stick for balance. His long beard almost touches the ground.

"Since Everyone is here. Let’s start. Welcome to the Village of Ghosts. Usually the competition takes place every year during this week. But an unusual phenomenon happened. The Wandering Ghost suddenly appeared before us and asked us to conduct the New Moon Phantom Competition.

Hearing this Tyler could see everyone’s face turned into surprise and Joy. Even Priscilla is showing the same face.

Priscilla who saw that explained, "The New Moon Phantom Festival is the competition of wits. As long as you participate, you will be able to receive Ghost sense beads as reward. These beads are Very useful to practise spiritual sense. The only thing is people will forget about the things that happened in the competition."

Tyler White was surprised. As long as he can get one Ghost Sense Bead on his hand. He can expand his spiritual sense easily by their copies.

"One more thing. You can’t take this Ghost Sense Bead outside. So when you get Ghost Sense Beads, collect them all and practice fully before leaving." Chen Xi said.

"We are really lucky to get this opportunity. Because the New Moon Phantom Festival only happens on the last new moon day of the year and it is not easy to get a quota." Priscilla said.

Tyler understood the basics. He is looking forward to the so-called festival.

---

The sun is about to set. All the Cultivators sat below the Banyan tree. Its Aerial roots swayed gently in the wind.

Suddenly, the Village Head Chou stood up and said, " The Darkness is coming."

Instead of slowly reaching the darkness, the Sun suddenly disappeared, the light ceased to exist, since there is no moon in the sky.

Tyler White is still at the third stage of Qi Refining Realm. He couldn’t see clearly in darkness.

The Banyan Tree let a small growl, Tyler looked back. The Village Head Chou is nowhere to be found, but the tree has a giant face on its body which is identical to Village Head Chou.

A ghostly voice sounded out , "Let the New Moon Phantom Festival begin."

Tyler understood that the Village Head Chou and the Ghostly Banyan Tree are the same entity.

Suddenly a candle appeared before everyone. It produces warm orange light.

Then the Banyan tree opened its mouth again, "The rules are simple, whenever you reach a Ghost that gives a task the Candle burns in Blue. Try to satisfy the Ghosts by doing the tasks it provides. Whenever it turns white, there are Ghosts nearby, but it doesn’t care about you. And whenever there are hostile ghosts nearby the candle turns Red, which means Run.. hahaha.

"Blue means Task. White means don’t care. Green means satisfied. Red means Run." Tyler simply said.

Tyler understood why this village is called ’’The Village of Ghosts’ every villager is a Ghost. He is now more interested in the history of this village.

---

"Let’s Go Junior Brothers and Junior Sister. Let’s stay together and wander the village. If we complete the task we will get Moon Sensei Bead." Priscilla said as she grabbed the candle.

Tyler and others did the same.

Tyler thought of something and asked, "Senior Sister, what about the warning sign ’Don’t Fall in Love with the Villagers’ ? Is it because they are ghosts?"

"There are many Cultivators who fell in love with ghosts and the ghost practised Yin Cultivation technique to materialise. So it’s not because of that reason. The biggest reason is the Souls in the village can’t leave the village. They are trapped here for more than thousands of years. Well their memories always get wiped for every generation. That is for every 100 years." Priscilla said.

"That’s so sad and.... cruel?" Tyler mumbled as they walked towards a hut.

"There is a big story behind this. Actually as long as you can find out the real reason, there is a chance for you to free us." This time a young girl who suddenly appeared behind Priscilla said.

Everyone was shocked. Suddenly the Candle fire in everyone’s candle turned blue.

"A request." Tyler said.

"Hello. My name is Yui. My task is simple. Get me some water from our Village Well." The Young girl named Yui said.

"We accept the task." Priscilla said and others followed by.

Yui nodded happily and said, "You can find me in the same place."

Yui then disappeared in thin air.

Tyler let out a sigh of relief, "Thankfully it is a friendly Ghost."

"Most of the villagers inside the village are friendly ghosts. Only those in the forest are the problem. It all depends on one’s luck." Priscilla said.

"I thought the New Moon Phantom Festival happens only inside the village." Chen Xi asked.

"Nope. Didn’t you guys already notice that the village has expanded." She replied.

"Our Spiritual senses are restricted." Chi said.

They walked towards the well while talking about some random things.

"Senior Sister, have you attended the New Moon Phantom Festival before?" Tyler White took out a bucket from his storage ring. He packed many useless and useful items in his storage ring.

"No. But even If I participated, my memories of those won’t stay. There was once a foundation building realm Daoist who used some sort of method to forcefully write things about what happened in the Village. Usually the Power of the village would wipe the evidence, but he still managed to bring some information." She said,

"What happened to him afterwards?" Tyler’s curiosity piqued.

"That Daoist head was bitten by something when he was sleeping. People said they heard loud crunching noises that night and all of them were paralyzed and unable to move." Priscilla said.

In the middle of creepy village, four people two male and two female were talking about Ghost stories while holding candles in their hand.

Just like that they reached the well.

But when they reached near the well, the candle light slowly began to turn Red.