The ghost's expression changed drastically. It instinctively tried to pull its leg back, but suddenly froze and its expression became blank.

Almost simultaneously, countless water ghosts appeared on the shore, grabbing his legs and dragging him into the water. Then, a dense swarm of water ghosts pounced on him and began to bite him.

At that moment, it seemed as if every drop of water from the River of Oblivion was transformed from a water ghost or evil spirit, truly a blessing for those with trypophobia.

Although the soul had lost its senses, it still instinctively felt pain and struggled desperately.

Unfortunately, he was no match for the endless water ghosts around him and was eventually pulled down into the water. After the other water ghosts finished eating and dispersed, a new water ghost floated up. Like the previous water ghosts, its face was full of resentment and viciousness. It stared at the dead souls on the shore, as if it wanted to drag a few more down to keep it company.

Seeing this, the souls all took a few steps back, staring at the River of Oblivion in great fear.

"Alright, one by one. Anyone who causes trouble again will be thrown into the water," Zu'an said fiercely. Judging from the situation just now, these guys were no pushovers, so he had to use reason to subdue them.

Coupled with the miserable state of that unfortunate soul, these words were indeed intimidating. Although the spirits were still pushing and shoving, they managed to form a queue.

Soon, one by one, the dead souls boarded the ship, each handing over a coin with obsequious flattery. Zu An wondered what he would do with these ghost money.

However, he sensed that the coins seemed unusual, so he accepted them nonetheless.

These coins were not the paper money he had seen burned in his previous life, but rather coins that were round on the outside and square on the inside, similar to copper coins, except that they were not made of any metal, but of some special material.

"This is... merit?" Zu An was shocked. He had heard the Black and White Impermanence mention that the most important thing in the Netherworld was merit. If a ghost had enough merit, he would not have to suffer in hell, but could go directly to the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

The higher one's merits, the easier it is to be reborn into a good family.

Some vicious villains, even if they suffer all kinds of torture in hell and wash away their sins, often can only be reborn into the three lower realms such as animals because their merits are too low.

Not to mention the dead souls, even the ghost messengers like Black and White Impermanence seem to have their daily salaries as merit points. Any expense in the underworld can be exchanged for merit points, which is a kind of hard currency.

No wonder the Black and White Impermanence said that being a ferryman on the River of Oblivion was a lucrative job; it turns out that the fare they collected was for good deeds!

I don't know where these dead souls got this kind of money. I suppose it was paper money burned by their relatives in the living world, and then some institution in the underworld, like a merit bank, helped them exchange it.

Soon the ship was full of passengers, and Zuan received dozens of merit coins. Although they were of no use to him for the time being, Zuan still put them away.

They rowed the boat towards the other side, but the waters of the River of Oblivion were particularly turbulent, making the boat rock violently.

The souls on the ship showed no sign of fighting back; instead, they huddled in the center of the ship, away from the sides.

It turned out that the boat was accompanied by water ghosts from the River of Oblivion, who would occasionally reach out their claws to grab the boat and try to drag the souls of the dead off the boat so that they would suffer with them.

However, the ship seemed to possess a magical power that kept the water ghosts from getting too close.

But their vengeful nature drives them to keep trying to drag the dead souls on the boat into the water, making the boat full of ghosts feel insecure.

Seeing the trembling souls of the dead, Zuan couldn't help but find it amusing.

Speaking of the material this ship is made of, it's amazing that it can float on the River of Oblivion without sinking. You know, according to legend, even a feather would sink in the River of Oblivion.

And this oar, it seems to be integrated with the boat, but it's impossible to tell what material it's made of.

In a way, this ship is quite a magical artifact, isn't it? Is it possible to take it away?

Unbeknownst to them, Zuan had already delivered a boatload of souls to the other side. As soon as they reached the shore, the souls hurriedly jumped off, not even wanting to say a word to him, only wanting to get as far away from this terrifying River of Oblivion as possible.

Zaun was in a bit of a headache. Was he really going to be here forever, acting as a ferryman to these souls?

He had an important mission, so of course he wouldn't actually do manual labor here. He also jumped off the ship, thinking about going to the places ahead to see if he could get any intelligence.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang in his mind: "To qualify for the trial, one must become the undisputed king in their respective region of the Netherworld."

Zuan's expression changed; it was the voice of the mysterious colossus: "You followed us too? Where are you now?"

The voice seemed not to hear him and did not respond. Instead, it continued, "As the ferryman of the River of Oblivion, today is the last day of the competition. By midnight, whoever guides the most souls across the river and earns the most merits will be the king of the ferrymen of the River of Oblivion and will be qualified to participate in the trial."

Zuan's pupils constricted after hearing this: "!!!"

What a joke! He's only been here a short time, and he's only ferried fifty souls across one boat.

The other ferrymen have been here for who knows how long, and they have ferried at least eight or ten thousand souls across.

Seemingly sensing his confusion, a message suddenly appeared in his mind.

The top-ranked ferryman has already completed the task of collecting 108,800 souls.

The second number is 108,600 lost souls.

The third place is for 108,500 dead souls.

...

Even the tenth place has tens of thousands of people.

The gaps between the next few are quite large, and it's clear that the final winner will be one of the top three.

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