Chapter 54: First Entering the Ghost Cave

Falling, an endless, seemingly endless fall. The moment the three souls were sucked into the rift, they completely lost all sense of time and space. A chaotic, sticky darkness surrounded them. No sound, no light, even the concept of "direction" vanished. All Chu Yun could sense was Li Ge and Mo Li's cold hands, tightly gripping his. These were their only "references" in this void. "Is this... the legendary 'Yellow Springs Road'?" Mo Li's voice echoed directly through their soul connection, a hint of unconcealed nervousness. "No," Li Ge's voice was remarkably calm. "This isn't the Yellow Springs Road yet. It's merely the 'gap' between the 'gate' and the 'road,' a chaotic zone between life and death. Guard your minds carefully, and don't be assimilated by the nothingness here, or we'll never reach the underworld." Chu Yun remained silent, his entire focus focused on maintaining the stability of the three souls. It was unknown how much time passed, perhaps just a moment, or perhaps eons. Amidst the endless darkness, a faint yellow light finally appeared. "We're here!" Li Ge's voice trembled for the first time. The three souls seemed to be drawn to the light, their descent accelerating rapidly. With a loud boom, as if piercing an invisible, icy membrane, the three finally stepped onto... solid ground. The scene before them shocked even the three, who had already prepared for the worst. This was the underworld, but it was nothing like they had imagined. There were no legendary gates of hell, nor were there long lines of souls waiting for judgment. Instead, there was a desolate, endless plain of dim yellow. The sky was an unchanging, oppressive gray, without sun or moon. The only source of light came from the quietly flowing, faintly luminous river at the end of the plain. "That's... the Forgotten River," Li Ge whispered, gazing at the river. All three gazed upon it. They saw a massive, ancient, bluestone bridge spanning the river—the Naihe Bridge. But at that moment, the bridge, where souls should have been constantly passing through, was… deserted. The entire world was shrouded in a deadly, desolate, and unsettling atmosphere. "Is this… the underworld?" Mo Li looked at the apocalyptic scene before him.

Falling, endless, seemingly endless falling.

The moment the souls of the three people were sucked into the crack, they completely lost all sense of time and space.

All around him was a chaotic, sticky darkness. There was no sound, no light, and even the concept of "direction" had vanished. All Chu Yun could feel was Li Ge and Mo Li's cold hands, tightly gripping him. These were their only "coordinates" in this void.

"Is this... the legendary 'Yellow Spring Road'?" Mo Li's voice rang out directly in the connection between their souls, with a hint of nervousness that could not be concealed.

"No." Li Ge's voice was unusually calm. "This isn't the Yellow Springs Road yet. It's just the 'gap' between the 'gate' and the 'road', a chaotic zone that belongs neither to life nor death. Be careful to guard your minds and don't be assimilated by the nothingness here, otherwise we'll never reach the underworld."

Chu Yun remained silent, his entire focus focused on maintaining the stability of the three souls. He didn't know how much time had passed, perhaps just a moment, or perhaps tens of millions of years. Finally, within the endless darkness, a faint yellow light appeared.

"We're here!" Li Ge's voice trembled for the first time. The three souls seemed to be drawn by the light, their descent accelerating. With a loud "boom," as if piercing an invisible, icy membrane, the three finally touched... solid ground.

The scene before them deeply shocked the three people, even though they had already prepared for the worst.

This was the underworld, but it was completely different from anything they had imagined. There were no legendary, forbidding gates of hell, nor were there long lines of souls waiting for judgment. Instead, it was a desolate, endless, dimly-colored plain.

The sky was an unchanging, oppressive gray, with neither sun nor moon. The only source of light came from the quietly flowing, shimmering river at the end of the plain.

"That is... the Forgotten River." Li Ge looked at the river and said softly.

All three of them turned their gaze toward the river. They saw a massive, ancient, bluestone bridge spanning it—the Naihe Bridge. But at that moment, the bridge, where souls should have been constantly passing through, was… deserted. The entire world was shrouded in a dead, desolate, and unsettling silence.

"This... is the underworld?" Mo Li looked at the apocalyptic scene before him, his voice a little dry. "Why... is it completely different from what I imagined?"

"Because this place is already 'dead'." Li Ge's eyes were extremely solemn. She pointed at the Wangchuan River and said, "Look at the water."

Chu Yun and Mo Li immediately took a closer look. They discovered that the river, emitting a faint glow, was actually... still. The water no longer flowed, becoming stagnant and murky. A viscous, stench of decay and resentment emanated from the water, making the three of them feel a wave of discomfort.

"The Wangchuan River is the 'bloodline' of the underworld. Its constant flow can carry away the obsessions of the dead, cleanse their memories, and allow them to be reincarnated cleanly." Li Ge's voice was as cold as a piece of ice that had been frozen for ten thousand years. "Now it's 'dead'. This means that the entire reincarnation system of the underworld has...completely stopped."

This conclusion made Chu Yun and Mo Li feel a chill rising from the depths of their souls.

Just then, a steady, metallic-like sound of footsteps echoed from the distant plains. The three men immediately became alert. They saw a group of tall figures in ancient armor, marching in unison, patrolling towards them.

"It's a ghost!" Chu Yun's heart instantly rose to his throat.

"Don't move." Li Ge was remarkably calm. "Constrain all your breath. Remember, we are now in a 'half-alive, half-dead' state. As long as we don't actively reveal the breath of the living, they... can't 'see' us."

The three of them immediately did as they were told and restrained the fluctuations of their souls to the extreme.

The team of ghost officials quickly passed by them. As they got closer, Chu Yun could finally see their appearance clearly. Each one had an expressionless face, their eyes blank and dull. Their movements, though coordinated, were strangely stiff, like... puppets being controlled by something. And behind them, Chu Yun could even clearly "see" invisible black threads composed of pure, sinister energy, connecting their necks and extending all the way... to the end of this plain.

"They... are controlled." Chu Yun's voice sounded in the soul connection.

"Yes." Li Ge nodded, "And it's the same technique as those puppets in the Mechanical City. It's the evil magic of the Shadow Pavilion."

This discovery completely destroyed the three people's last glimmer of hope. The underworld had truly fallen.

Just as the ghost team was about to walk away, one of them suddenly stopped, as if sensing something. Its empty eyes slowly turned in the direction of the three people.

"Not good!" Chu Yun was shocked, "We've been discovered!"

"No." Li Ge said immediately, "He didn't discover us. He sensed... something on you." She was referring to the yang energy in Chu Yun's soul that could not be completely concealed and belonged to a living person.

The ghost slowly raised the long spear in his hand, and a cold, bloodthirsty red light flashed in his empty eyes.

"Back off!" Li Ge shouted immediately.

But it was too late. The ghost let out a roar that was not human, and suddenly rushed towards the three people! Its movements were as fast as lightning, and the long spear in its hand, carrying a cold aura that could tear apart the soul, pierced Chu Yun's chest!

"Damn it!" Chu Yun didn't have time to think. He subconsciously condensed from his soul a familiar, shimmering golden evil-repelling talisman. However, the moment the talisman appeared in this world, Chu Yun's expression suddenly changed. He could clearly feel that the moment his talisman appeared, it was fiercely suppressed by an invisible, powerful "law" from this world! The golden light on the talisman dimmed instantly, and its power was less than one-tenth of what it had been in the human world!

"Bang!" The talisman, whose power had greatly decreased, hit the ghost messenger's spear, making only a dull sound before being easily shattered. However, the spear continued to move forward with unabated momentum, still fiercely stabbing towards Chu Yun!

At this critical moment, a dark figure flashed in front of Chu Yun. It was Li Ge! In her hand, a translucent black dagger, condensed from pure Yin energy, had appeared. "Ding!" She used the dagger to precisely block the ghost messenger's long spear.

"Here, all the 'spells' from the Yang world will be suppressed by the laws of the underworld!" Her voice rang out rapidly in Chu Yun's mind, "Only the power that also originates from the 'Yin' can exert its greatest power here!"

"Damn it!" Chu Yun cursed inwardly. He looked at the ghost messenger, temporarily blocked by Li Ge but still frantically attacking, his mind racing. A power derived from the same "yin"? He didn't. But... he possessed another power that transcended both "yin" and "yang"—the Taiyi Yuanqi!

A bold idea flashed through his mind. He stopped trying to gather those "talismans" that might be suppressed. He extended his finger and carefully drew a strand of golden Taiyi Qi, as thin as a hair, from his soul's source. Then, he injected this strand of Qi into... a most ordinary, blank shadow of talisman paper.

"Om—" The moment that strand of Taiyi Yuanqi was injected into the talisman paper, the once dull and lifeless paper suddenly... burst into an unprecedented, dazzling golden light! This light was no longer the previous "yang energy" from the mortal world, suppressed by the laws of the underworld. It was a kind of... a higher level, as if innately endowed with absolute control over all evil in this world, a domineering power like a "king"!

"Go!" Chu Yun snapped his fingers. The talisman, emitting a thousand-foot-long golden light, instantly struck the ghost messenger battling Li Ge like a golden meteor.

There was no explosion, no loud bang. The moment the talisman made contact with the ghost messenger's body, it burned like a red-hot iron into the snow. A piercing sound, like melting ice and snow, echoed. The moment the golden light struck the ghost messenger, he froze. The foul, sinister aura emanating from him, a product of Shadow Pavilion's sorcery, was swiftly purified and dissipated by the golden light, as if it had met its nemesis. The black puppet thread connecting him to the back of his neck was instantly incinerated by the golden light!

"Ugh..." The ghost messenger let out a complex groan, filled with both pain and relief. Miraculously, a glimmer of clarity returned to its hollow eyes. It glanced at the spear in its hand, then at Chu Yun and the other two. A complex expression of gratitude and apology crossed its frozen face. Then, its body, unable to maintain its form, transformed into a scattering of light, dissipating into the dim sky.

"This..." The incredible scene before them completely stunned Li Ge and Mo Li.

"Your power..." Li Ge looked at Chu Yun, his voice filled with disbelief and shock, "It's actually... not suppressed by the laws of the underworld?"

"No, it's not that I'm not suppressed." Chu Yun looked at his finger that was still gleaming with light and muttered to himself, "It's... I'm above it."

"The One Qi is the fundamental force that constitutes this world. Whether it's 'life' in the mortal realm or 'death' in the underworld, they are merely two different forms of it."

"So here, it is...absolutely 'dominant'."

This discovery filled the hearts of the three with an indescribable excitement. They had finally found... the only, most powerful solution to this deadlock in this despairing world.

However, before they could rejoice, the powerful Taiyi Yuan Qi fluctuations released by the purification of the ghost messenger were like a huge rock dropped on a calm lake, instantly startling all the controlled... "puppets" on the plain.

Waves of uniform, murderous footsteps echoed from all directions. Hundreds of ghost messengers, their eyes glazed over, emerged from the dim horizon.

The long spears in their hands reflected a cold, bloodthirsty light in the dim light. They surrounded the three people.

The situation became extremely critical in an instant.