Lin Zhao said that with the right equipment, people should be able to dive into hot springs around seventy or eighty degrees Celsius, but there wasn't enough time to custom-make equipment now.

As I was frowning, Lin Zhao said, "Actually, we should have an advantage. Although your newly mastered Disha Blood Qi is on the aggressive side, the qi should actually carry a yin chill."

"You are a Transcendent expert, and your qi can extend about two meters around you. If you protect us with your true qi, we should be able to go in."

I hadn't really used the qi since mastering the Disha Blood Qi, and I didn't even know what attributes it had.

As a result, the test was just as Lin Zhao said. My qi carried an extreme chill that could just suppress the water temperature to a level that wouldn't cause burns.

Going down from the well opening, it was indeed as I had thought. There was a dragon-slaying stone that had been pushed aside by the water flow.

The design of the dragon-slaying stone was very ingenious. When the hot spring rose, the water flow would activate a mechanism, moving the stone to one side and opening the door to the secret realm. When the hot spring receded, the mechanism would turn again to seal the door.

People outside who wanted to enter the door had to walk through the hot spring first. Without yin qi to protect them, no one could pass this hot spring barrier.

Did Xie Sanbao enter Erlin Town from here back then?

I didn't think so. Even if Xie Sanbao could walk through the underground hot spring, how could he gain a foothold in the ghost and god territory ahead?

Beyond the barrier was a completely dark underground world where no stars or moon could be seen. Looking ahead, the town seemed to be built in a giant tomb. The streets were orderly, and the shops were fully stocked, but there wasn't a sound to be heard.

From the entrance of the town to the end, fire pits were lit everywhere, and the faint light was like hundreds of ghost fires jumping up and down in the town.

I had just taken a step forward when I saw a line of regular script characters made of firelight erupting from the ground: "I'm waiting for you in the town's teahouse. Jun Jixue."

As the writing on the ground gradually faded, Lin Zhao grabbed a handful of dirt: "Jun Jixue used the yang qi from our bodies to trigger the message. Interesting!"

I asked back, "Why do you think this place is called Erlin Town?"

"Could it be because there are two forests? Or are there two families named Lin in the town?" Lin Zhao said, "If it's the latter, then the ghosts and gods here are warlocks who became gods after death. They might be even more difficult to deal with."

Although warlocks who became gods after death were inherently weaker than ghosts and gods born from nature, they knew the warlocks' abilities inside and out, making them even more difficult to deal with.

But we had already arrived at the town entrance. Could we just not go in?

I asked as I walked, "Leng Gou, have you ever seen a town built underground like this?"

"The Ye family's records mention such things. It depends on whether the town is made of paper or wood and earth." As Ye Yang spoke, he reached out and grabbed the wall of a street-side building, pinching off a piece of real adobe: "It seems we are still in the Yang realm."

Ye Yang said that we were in the Yang realm, but I didn't feel like I was in the mortal world at all. From the moment I stepped into the town, I felt like I had entered a ghost domain.

The streets in the town seemed deserted, but there was more than one pair of eyes watching us from the shadows.

Out of the corner of my eye, I clearly saw a pair of gleaming eyes peeking out from a crack in a roadside door. But when I turned my head to look again, the owner of those eyes had been pulled behind the door by a hand.

I walked straight to the door and knocked on it twice: "How do I get to the teahouse?"

Someone inside the door answered, "Turn a corner ahead."

"Thank you!" I had just taken a few steps when I heard someone behind me say, "Thanks aren't given like that."

When I turned my head, there was already another person standing in the doorway, looking at me with a smile: "In Erlin Town, even the smallest things require a transaction. You asked me for directions, and I told you. You have to leave something behind."

I looked directly at the person and asked, "What do you want?"

"Just that knife of yours!" The person was referring to my Ziye.

"I can't give you my knife. You can ask for something else." I put my hands behind my back and said, "Besides, I don't think your one sentence is worth my knife."

The person's face immediately darkened: "Here, only we decide what's worth it. Outsiders don't get to haggle."

I also darkened my face and said, "What if I say no?"

The person chuckled, "You'll give it. If not now, you'll have to give it in the future, and you'll have to give even more."

As the person spoke, his figure gradually faded until he disappeared.

Lin Zhao whispered, "This is probably a place for transactions between ghosts and gods."

"Let's go to the teahouse first." When I followed the ghost's directions to the town's teahouse, Jun Jixue was sitting there. There were plenty of tea, fruit, and snacks in front of him, and he seemed quite content.

My gaze shifted slightly and landed on the storyteller in the teahouse. It was clearly a corpse with white powder painted on its face.

I don’t know how long the corpse had been sitting on the stage, half of its face was covered with spider webs, but the clothes on his body were spotless.

Such a corpse did not affect Jun Jixue's interest in drinking tea.

When Jun Jixue saw me, he immediately greeted, "Hall Master Li, please sit down! This teahouse is small, but the tea and snacks are not bad."

I sat down opposite Jun Jixue: "Brother Jun, what is this all about?"