Underworld Palace and Ghost Corpse
Liu Weiyang slowly stood up, raising his hand to cover his chest, his lips still stained with crimson blood, but his eyes regained their composure: "This is indeed the Netherworld." He spoke each word with great force, as if he had remembered something important: "It was here that I lost all my memories."
Yan Dan looked at him, and for some reason, she could still laugh: "I know where the gate to the underworld is. We should hurry back. The yin energy here is too heavy. It would be troublesome if we were possessed by it."
Liu Weiyang seemed not to hear, staring straight at the misty river surface, his face pale.
Yan Dan looked in the direction he was looking, and saw the outline of a magnificent palace vaguely visible in the misty clouds. She murmured, "This... could this be the Underworld Palace?"
She had only heard her master mention it before: the Underworld Palace contained all the ancient mysteries of heaven and earth, and anyone who could fathom even a fraction of them was unparalleled in the world. The ancient primordial god Pangu, along with the creator gods Tianwu, Bifang, Jubi, Shuhai, Zhuyin, and Nuwa, had long since merged with heaven and earth in the torrent of time. It was probably because of these ancient deities that the mysteries of the Underworld Palace were portrayed as even more enigmatic.
This legendary underworld palace, which holds the ultimate secrets of heaven and earth, only appears in places heavy with decay. The last time it appeared was when the demon realm was about to perish, and this time, it appears in the netherworld.
As she was lost in thought, she saw Liu Weiyang suddenly jump into the River of Oblivion and head towards the Underworld Palace.
Yan Dan was startled and hurriedly cried out, "Young Master Liu, this is the River of Oblivion! You can't go down there!"
Once one crosses the River of Oblivion, one can forget their past life and be reincarnated anew. He has only now remembered a portion of his memories. If he were to forget the past again because of this, wouldn't all his efforts over the years have been in vain?
Liu Weiyang stopped and turned around: "Didn't you not forget when you crossed the River of Oblivion before? This time, I won't forget again."
Yan Dan felt her throat go dry and couldn't speak for a long time.
The reason she didn't forget back then was simply because she couldn't forget and didn't want to forget.
However, the current situation is very different from that time.
Liu Weiyang stood in the waters of the River of Oblivion, his dark blue sleeves fluttering. He lowered his eyes and looked into the water, saying quietly, "You should all leave through the Gate of Hell. I just want to find out what else happened back then."
Yan Dan thought for a moment and then said, "Crossing the river like this isn't a solution. I know there are boats at the ferry crossing, but they're always guarded. Let's go get a boat."
Liu Weiyang looked up at her for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Tang Zhou stepped forward and tapped Liu Weiyang on the shoulder, smiling slightly, "Since we're already here, we should all go out together."
Liu Weiyang raised an eyebrow slightly and patted him on the shoulder: "Okay."
Yan Dan found it very strange. Liu Weiyang's personality was so cold that it bordered on aloofness. At the beginning, apart from using Tang Zhou to break the seal on the inkstone, he treated everyone the same and ignored them. But after coming out of the demonic realm, his attitude towards Tang Zhou changed too quickly. However, Palace Master Liu's thoughts were mostly difficult to fathom and were beyond her comprehension.
She turned her head to look at Yu Mo. He remained silent, gazing at the misty river. After a while, he turned to look at her: "Can the waters of the River of Oblivion truly make one forget the past?" Yan Dan nodded: "Of course." Yu Mo didn't speak, but his gaze darkened, becoming a deep, unfathomable black. Yan Dan was puzzled. She hadn't said anything particularly significant, so why was his reaction so strange?
One would be fine, but now two or three are acting strangely. These days, it's not just women who are difficult to deal with, but men are too.
Yan Dan paced back and forth irritably for a couple of steps, then pointed eastward: "The ferry crossing is just over here, but the boats are guarded by Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and they're not easy to deal with."
In the previous twenty years, Tang Zhou had only read about how gloomy and terrifying the underworld was in books. Now, it seemed that the scenery of the underworld was quite unique.
As he was thinking this, he suddenly felt something gently tug at the hem of his robe. He looked down and saw a mouth biting the hem of his outer robe.
It was just a mouth, nothing else, floating blankly on the ground.
Sensing Tang Zhou looking down, the mouth released his sleeve, revealing gleaming white teeth: "It's the lifelike scent of a mortal...delicious..." Tang Zhou calmly turned his head, only to see a pair of eyes suddenly fly in front of him, rolling around happily: "Ahhh, this mortal is so handsome, it must feel so good to touch..."
Tang Zhou gripped the hilt of his sword and swept the pair of eyes that were rolling around happily to the side with a flick of his sleeve.
Liu Weiyang, expressionless, flicked his fingers into a hand seal and chanted towards the nose that was sniffing around him, "Break!" The nose instantly turned into a wisp of green smoke, and the other eyes, mouths, ears, and limbs that were floating in mid-air, eager to try, immediately retreated far away, shouting in unison, "This person is so fierce! Everyone, retreat!"
Liu Weiyang rubbed his forehead: "These are ghost corpses, only a small part of their bodies. They have no ability to think. Never talk to them, or you'll only get entangled in trouble."
He had barely finished speaking when he saw Yan Dan squatting not far away, seemingly having been talking to the group of eyes, mouths, noses, and ears around her for quite some time: "How did you all end up like this?"
"We are ghost corpses! Haven't you heard of us or never seen us? You're so ignorant!"
"Ah, could it be that you were struck by lightning and became fragmented?"
"Little girl, you're so cute, and your skin is so smooth. Let me touch it, touch it..."
“You are all very good-looking too. Your eyes are eyes, your nose is a nose, and your mouth is a mouth.”
"That's right, no one has better taste than you!"
Liu Weiyang waved his hand: "Never mind what I said."
Tang Zhou suddenly walked up to her, grabbed her from behind, and dragged her away: "Are you going to stay here and talk to the ghost corpse, or continue forward?"
Yan Dan pouted slightly: "You mustn't speak later. You have the aura of a mortal. This place isn't for living mortals."
The ferry crossing is not far away, only a hundred steps away.
A perpetually burning soul-guiding lamp hung from the mast of the small boat moored at the ferry crossing, its light dim and yellowish.
Yan Dan stepped forward, bowed slightly to the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guarding the ferry, and smiled gently, "My lords, it's been a long time. How have you been?"
Horse-faced stared at her for a while, then revealed a look of horror: "You...you...you actually let you reincarnate like this? No, wait, how did you get back here?"
Yan Dan smiled and said, "I didn't reincarnate, but there's a road to the mortal world here that wasn't blocked, so I sneaked out. I've been outside for a while now, and I suddenly want to go to Ghost Town to see some old friends. Could you lend me a boat?"
"Don't even think about borrowing the boat!"
"Brother Horse-Face, please make an exception for me. I really want to visit my old friend."
"You must have caused a huge disaster in the mortal realm, so you had to flee back to hide, right?"
Yan Dan's eyes flickered, but she still smiled and said, "How could that be? I never cause trouble. If you're worried, how about you take me to Ghost Town by boat? It's not far anyway."
"no!"
"Why? Anyway, you don't have anything to do right now, it'll only be a little while."
"If I say no, then no!"
Yan Dan sighed deeply and walked back with a seemingly dejected air, silently counting in her mind. Sure enough, before she could reach ten, she heard Niu Tou say beside her, "Wait a moment." She turned around, her expression sincere: "Do you two gentlemen have any further advice?"
Ox-Head hesitated for a moment, then slowly asked, "You just said that there's still a road leading to the mortal world that hasn't been blocked?"
Yan Dan nodded.
"If you lead me to that exit, I'll take you to the ghost town."
Yan Dan smiled broadly: "It's a deal. Anyway, I'm not going back to the mortal realm. That Lord Yelan, who commands the submission of all demons, is really annoying. He's made it so I don't even have a place to hide..." She paused slightly, then changed the subject: "Why hasn't anyone been crossing the River of Oblivion lately?"
Horseman boarded the boat and untied the ropes: "Hurry up and get on the boat. I think those who are chasing you are about to catch up. You might end up like those ghost corpses."
"Even if they really catch up, wouldn't it be a piece of cake for the two of you to deal with them?" Yan Dan turned to look at her companions, blinking slightly. She knew that once she mentioned the unsealed road from the Netherworld to the mortal realm, they would definitely take the bait.
Actually, it doesn't really matter whether this road is blocked or not; those evil spirits and souls simply don't have the ability to escape from there to the mortal realm.
The water gurgled and lapped against the gunwale. A thick mist hung over the river, obscuring everything beyond ten feet. Thanks to the ever-burning guiding lamp, the small boat needed no rudder and drifted slowly forward with the current.
Yan Dan pointed to the east and said softly, "It's not far ahead, about the distance of an incense stick's burning." After she finished speaking, she turned her body slightly, and two gusts of wind swept past her. With two splashes, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face were swept under the boat and floated on the Night River of Oblivion.
Liu Weiyang slowly straightened his sleeves: "With such foolish subordinates, it's no wonder that the underworld is always in trouble."
Yu Mo moved swiftly, forming several layers of protective barriers in the blink of an eye. He placed one hand on the bow of the boat and said calmly, "That soul-guiding lamp is in the way; let's give it back to them." He flicked his fingers and made a hand seal. The ever-burning soul-guiding lamp hanging on the mast swayed and fell into the water with a splash. The ox-headed and horse-faced demons, who were still struggling in the river, immediately scrambled to grab the lamp.
Yan Dan squatted at the bow of the boat, smiling as she watched the river. Suddenly, she noticed the two figures bobbing in the water slightly move their lips, reciting a spell quickly and softly. She could read lips and could roughly guess the spell's meaning, but her expression changed slightly: "Oh no, they're trying to summon the Ghost King!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the river water beneath the boat seemed to boil, with black steam bubbling upwards. A layer of black mist slowly enveloped the River of Oblivion, making the surrounding scenery appear eerie and ghostly. Suddenly, a roar came from below, seemingly the cry of a demon suffering seven lifetimes of torment in the flames of karma, sharp and piercing.
A strange, elongated face slowly rose from the water. The face was gaunt, with sunken cheeks, dark, empty eyes, no nose or mouth, and a perfectly square chin. If this face hadn't risen so close to Yan Dan, she might have laughed; after all, the legendary Ghost King actually had such a strange, square face—it was truly unexpected.
Suddenly, the enormous square face leaped out of the water, revealing its dark body beneath, and swooped down towards the small boat. The square face crashed into the boat's barrier, bounced several feet away with a thud, and then fell back into the water.
Yu Mo placed his palm on the bow of the boat, and the originally transparent barrier slowly flowed with pale blue light. Even though there was no wind, his sleeves and hair fluttered slightly.
The Ghost King roared and leaped back into the air, then swooped down again, only to be bounced back by the barrier once more.
Tang Zhou whispered, "Why does this Ghost King seem to have no feeling, just keep crashing into things?"
“The Ghost King was formed from the ghost corpses at the bottom of the River of Oblivion. It has no consciousness or memory, and even the caster will suffer a backlash.” Liu Weiyang was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Yu Mo. “After you remove the barrier for a moment, then immediately set it up again. Is that alright?”
Yu Mo pondered for a moment and nodded.
Liu Weiyang placed his hand on Tang Zhou's shoulder and said slowly, "When the barrier is removed later, you can use the Seven Luminaries Divine Jade to collect it. The two of us working together should be able to do it."
Yan Dan could only squat to the side and watch the show; she really didn't have the ability to handle this kind of situation.
The pitch-black ghost king slowly climbed up the outer barrier to the top and began banging its head against the wall. Yu Mo slowly raised his hand, his voice low and deep: "Then I'll count to three and then remove the barrier. One, two... three." As soon as he finished speaking, the barrier, which was flowing with azure light, disappeared instantly. The ghost king was banging its head down with its terrifying face, but it immediately hit nothing and rushed down with a whoosh.
Yan Dan heard Tang Zhou softly recite a few incantations and felt her hair stand on end. It was because the square-faced ghost king had already brought his face very close, yet he could still recite the incantation slowly and clearly. It was also because when he had previously captured her into his magical artifact, she had gone through the same incantation. If she were to be imprisoned with the ghost king by accident, it would be a fate worse than death.
But the Ghost King's charge was aimed directly at her. Yan Dan could only watch helplessly as its dark, hollow eye sockets came into view. Its nose was completely flat, with only two nostrils for ventilation. Its long, sharp nails on its thin, black fingers barely touched her eyelids. Terrified, she couldn't speak, scrambling backward until she bumped into someone's legs. She immediately clung to them as if they were her lifeline, crying out, "Tang Zhou, when are you going to stop lecturing?!"
The Ghost King's square face, which had been hovering diagonally above Yan Dan, suddenly stopped, as if pulled upwards by some force. Unable to break free, the Ghost King let out sharp roars from its chest, and finally, with a whoosh, it was absorbed into the Seven Luminaries Divine Jade.
It remained restless inside the jade, banging its head against it as if trying to break free.
Tang Zhou held up the Seven Luminaries Divine Jade and examined it, still somewhat unsatisfied: "This divine artifact is quite easy to use." He lowered his head and said to Yan Dan, "Would you like to take a closer look?"
Yan Dan trembled, her face pale: "I don't want to see! Keep it away, don't come any closer!" Her hands, gripping the hem of the person next to her, tightened even more. Then, Yu Mo's voice came from above: "Yan Dan, can you let go now?"
Yan Dan shuddered, suddenly realizing that they had seen her in such a disheveled state, and felt a pang of heartache: "I was only scared because the Ghost King's face looked so strange. Actually, I'm not that timid..."
Tang Zhou maliciously held the Seven Luminaries Divine Jade in front of her and said slowly, "I know you are very brave. Actually, you won't be afraid after seeing the Ghost King's appearance a few more times."
Yan Dan stared stiffly at the Ghost King in the jade, only to see it poking its head out, its dark, hollow eyes staring at her: "Tang Zhou, you scoundrel! If you had just been face-to-face with it, you would have been scared too, wouldn't you?!"
Tang Zhou stared at her, momentarily lost in thought: "What did you just say?"
Yan Dan was stunned. She didn't seem to have said anything particularly remarkable, so why was he reacting so strangely? "If you had just been face-to-face with it, you would have been scared too, you know?"
"The preceding sentence."
"...You despicable person?"
Tang Zhou was silent for a moment, then murmured, "It must just be my imagination..."
Yan Dan found it very strange that she had never noticed Tang Zhou's peculiar habit of liking to be called a villain. If she had known this before, she should have cursed him more times to get some revenge.
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