Lanke Chess Edge

Chapter 304: Switching the World From Day to Night

[T/n: note on chapter title]1Hearing this, Yan Fei’s heart immediately trembled. The idea of a “city of the dead” naturally emerged in his mind. He subconsciously looked at Ji Yuan, and saw that he looked to be deep in thought.

From where the three of them were, looking into the distance, they could see a walled city. From the city gate to everywhere else in the city, everything was brightly lit, with large lanterns hanging.

In ordinary cities, this kind of sight could only appear during large-scale festivals like the Lantern Festival.2

“Mr. Ji, what do you think?”

Niu Batian asked Ji Yuan. Of the three of them, Ji Yuan was the one who could really make the decision; this idea had been subtly ingrained in him over the past twenty days.

Ji Yuan didn’t speak immediately. He looked over at the city in the distance, then looked above the city. There was a thin layer of clouds gathering, blocking the light of the stars and the moon in the sky, but most other areas of the sky were clear tonight.

“The Yin Qi is forming clouds, but there is no obvious external presence. It seems that it is not a spontaneous surge of Yin Qi, but rather an intentional conversion. There must be a skilled ghost cultivator in the city.”

Having spoken, Ji Yuan thought for a moment more.

“It’s brightly lit over there, so it shouldn’t be any ordinary occasion. Let’s wait and see. We won’t join in on the fun if it’s not necessary.”

“Mhm!”

Yan Fei responded. After all, the warrior was still human no matter his strength. He had no desire to enter a city of the dead, where he imagined thousands of ghosts would congregate.

Niu Batian, on the other hand, was a little curious. Now that Ji Yuan had decreed they wouldn’t continue, he felt very restless inside.

“Hey, Mr. Ji, look: this Old Bull has never been to an orthodox City of the Dead in the underworld either. It looks quite lively over there. Why don’t we go for a stroll? Brother Yan probably wants to visit it too, right?”

Yan Fei quickly shook his head, ignoring Niu Batian’s urging looks.

“Elder Brother Niu, I’m a mortal, how could I venture into a ghost town? I would definitely not even entertain such a thought!”

Ji Yuan shook his head, and sat down cross-legged on the hill.

“Let’s wait until dawn, then we can investigate what this city’s background is. It looks so lively; if we rush in now, we may offend someone.”

With Ji Yuan’s words, Niu Batian couldn’t say anything more, so he could only sigh regretfully.

In the night, Ji Yuan rested as he sat with his legs crossed, while Niu Batian and Yan Fei kept glancing at the distant city. They had not seen a single person entering or leaving the city ever since they had arrived here. Yan Fei’s glimpse of the horse-drawn carriage earlier might have been a special case.his Old Bull and Mr. Ji will be there!”

Niu Batian was secretly delighted. Given the current situation, Mr. Ji would most likely agree to enter the city of the dead.

Sure enough, Ji Yuan immediately expressed his opinion.

“In that case, let’s head into the city to look for them. I have dealt with the ghosts and gods of the underworld several times. Under normal circumstances, the ghosts in the city of the dead would be indistinguishable to ordinary people. Around a living person, the vitality of living Yang would be suppressed by the Yin energy. If they don’t get too close to any ghosts, they may not be noticed. They may not even realize that they are in a city of the dead at this moment.”4

“Then… do we need to wait until dark for the city to appear?”

Niu Batian deliberately asked. Although he did not find a suitable way to enter the city at present, he believed that Mr. Ji would definitely have a way. Of course, he could also try to attack and destroy it with demonic methods regardless of the consequences, but this would definitely not be appropriate.

“Delaying for that long would be dangerous for them. We must try to enter now.”

Ji Yuan currently had two options. The first was to directly use his immortal sword to cleave through the ghost realm’s Yin-Yang barrier. This wasn’t truly the underworld, after all; with the Green Vine Sword, this would be easy, but would likely alert some powerful ghosts.

The second method was to attempt to mimic the nighttime environment and integrate themselves into the ghost city. This was contingent upon the fact that this city of the dead’s barriers were far less refined than those of an immortal sect or other locations, and more susceptible to the influence of the outside world. In other words, he might be able to “trick” the ghost town itself.

With this thought, Ji Yuan no longer hesitated. With a single thought, his inner world materialized. Under his control, an infinite realm of mountains and rivers unfolded.

To Niu Batian and Yan Fei, it seemed as though the world around them had suddenly shifted. They felt the illusion of their own figures being pulled infinitely away, as if they were in another world, glimpsing the mountains and rivers from an endless distance.

This feeling was so intense and captivating that, in midst of their trance, Ji Yuan’s mind shifted, and he turned and pointed to the sky of his mental world.

In an instant, numerous chess pieces, both solid and intangible, lit up, resembling brilliantly shining stars in the sky. The color of the world changed, from white to black…

At this moment, scenery began to materialize around them: streets, houses, pedestrians… It gradually shifted from illusion to reality.

Yan Fei was simply amazed, while Niu Batian was dumbfounded and breathless.

‘As the stars shift, the world changes…’

T/n: JY be like, see, I could just cut through the barriers. It would be super easy, and like 99% of other xianxia protagonists would do the same. Or… Or… hear me out… I could

This isn’t an exact translation: 改天 (gǎitiān): another day, 换 (huàn): to exchange/to switch, 地 (dì): ground/place/land. Literal TL is “change the land to another day,” which isn’t exactly correct in context (as we see by the end of the chapter), so I tweaked it The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month (February or early March) as the last day of traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. T/n: Lol JY with the sarcasm To clarify, JY is saying that the Yang energy given off by normal living people would be tamped down by the Yin of the ghost city, so no one would be able to sense their Yang unless they were very close by.