Chapter 502: 502
Xue Wei and Lan were both somewhat nervous, but they knew that they could not rush anything .
The middle-aged ghost invited them to follow their caravan all the way to the next city, and then begin their search from there on .
It was the capital of a region . They were in the Blood Star Region, and the county was called the Ice Flower County . This county was one among the eighty-nine counties within the Blood Star Region, and it was also the biggest .
Although there was a constant battle within the regions to advance the ranking on the county rank, the Ice Flower County had been on the top for the last thousands of years . No one had been able to shake the glory and foundations that had been built .
The caravan was coming from three counties away; they were moving from the Sunset County, towards the Blood Star Capital, which was the name of the capital city of the Blood Star Region .
The Sunset County was famous for its Ghost Vehicles . The carriage they were in right now was one of those mechanic vehicles that ran solely on the heaven and earth essence .
The Ghosts could not use this energy in order to advance, so there was an abundant amount of it in the air, and Sunset County had invented a way to let carriages run on it . Other items absorbed the essence and transformed it into energy that could fuel their machines .
Xue Wei was curious about how it worked, but the middle-aged ghost was guarding the mechanism with his life, and Xue Wei quickly gave up his idea of understanding its intricacies .
He was not willing to insult their guide, who was so kind and offered them a lift .
The carriage did not have any windows; however, inside there was a large screen that was made from energy . It showed everything that went on outside the carriage on an incredibly life-like display .
However, there was nothing to see . The land was desolate . The carriages kicked up the sand, and the only shrubs that were visible were all dead .
There were no signs of animals, not even insects . The Ghost Realm seemed too empty .
Xue Wei and Lan had both reached a rank where they had transcended the human body's physical needs . They did not need to sleep, nor did they need to eat or answer nature's call .
This was not something they usually thought about . However, while being in the Ghost Realm, they realized just how important this was .
There was nothing to eat since the ghosts only consumed other ghosts and souls . While there were some water sources, according to the middle-aged ghost, they were scarce, and they should not be used for drinking .
The water in the Ghost Realm could poison a living cultivator due to the overwhelming yin energy within .
Xue Wei and Lan listened to every word that the middle-aged ghost told them . They understood that their lives would not be comfortable while they were in this place, but they would not be uncomfortable either .
The middle-aged ghost also went on to tell them that they were not in danger when staying in the ghost realm .
While they too had souls, these souls were within their bodies, and could not be consumed by a Ghost .
While the ghosts were somewhat envious of their life force, and the fact that they were alive, they would not feel any greed towards them . They knew their position well and understood that they were already another being than living humans .
Xue Wei found it extremely comfortable to speak with the middle-aged ghost, and even Lan was finding it fortunate that they had encountered this caravan on the way .
While they were very grateful, they never lowered their vigilance . They understood that although this ghost was telling them many things, they had no way of knowing if he was telling them the truth or not .
However, as their journey advanced, their connection grew closer .
The caravan would not stop, apart from when it reached villages . They did not need to pause at night as there was no need to eat . They did also not need to be careful of beasts attacking their caravan after twilight .
The only thing they had to watch out for was bandits . Bandits existed everywhere, especially in the Ghost Realm, where cannibalism was the only way to advance .
The middle-aged man was always keeping an eye on the display that showed the outside, even when speaking with Xue Wei and Lan . He was never tired, nor was he unhappy .
They had traveled for a few days, and up until now, Lan and Xue Wei had still not met anyone else in the caravan apart from the middle-aged ghost . However, a village was appearing in front of them .
It was not a big village, but it still housed around five hundred ghosts .
Xue Wei was shocked to see that although it was a small village, a giant wall had been erected around it, and one needed to enter through a small gate to visit the village .
The middle-aged ghost looked at the puzzled expression of Xue Wei and chuckled .
"This is literally a man eat man world," he began to explain . "Merchants such as myself are very suspicious . We need to accept a seal when we enter the city, making it so that we cannot attack their villagers, apart from self-defense .
"The seal only lasts for a week, and after that week, we will have left the village again . Each village and city has its own seal, and the seal they draw on your hand will only work for you, and only within the confines of that city . "
Xue Wei frowned . They had a lot of technology he had never seen or heard of before .