Underworld Palace and Ghost Gate
When the ghost messengers burst through the door, Yan Dan was leaning against the bedside, dressed in thin clothes, slowly combing her hair. Zhao Huanqin reacted quickly, pulling the blanket over her and speaking coldly, "What brings you gentlemen here so late at night?" The ghost messengers hurriedly retreated to the outside of the door, leaving it slightly ajar, and said, "Someone broke through the barrier outside the ghost town earlier, and we followed the trail of blood to come and see what's going on."
Zhao Huanqin said calmly, "I see. But was this bloodstain found outside my humble abode? In that case, we should search the entire abode, just to be on the safe side."
"Perhaps the person who broke in isn't here. I apologize for disturbing Mr. Zhao and his wife's rest." The ghost messenger cupped his hands in apology and turned to leave.
Yan Dan turned to look at Zhao Huanqin and couldn't help but think that this man was both bold and meticulous. He could still endure such a serious injury. If she hadn't seized the opportunity to kick him while he was down, he would probably still be silently suffering. Not long after the ghost messenger left, Mang Gui entered the room carrying a medicine box. He gently bandaged his wounds and cleaned up the blood-stained bedding. After hesitating for a while, he asked, "Mr. Zhao, your face... what happened to your face..."
Yan Dan chuckled and leaned over the table to watch them.
Zhao Huanqin was indeed a talented man. He didn't even change his expression and said calmly, "Those ghost messengers have already suspected me. Next time, we must not make the slightest mistake."
Mang Gui lowered his head and responded softly, "Yes."
Yan Dan rested her chin on her hand and said, "Now that we're on the same side, can you tell me what you're planning to do?"
Zhao Huanqin glanced at her, looking down on her: "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
Yan Dan looked at Mang Gui and smiled slightly: "Then you can tell him."
Mang Gui looked at Zhao Huanqin, then at her, and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Sir, you stayed in Ghost Town because of the Underworld Palace. That Underworld Palace is..."
"The Underworld Palace?" Yan Dan suddenly stood up. "The Underworld Palace you're talking about isn't the one where the ancient gods left their last relics, is it? How could such a thing really exist?" When she was still managing the books at the edge of the earth, she found a handwritten copy personally transcribed by the Purple Void Emperor, which said that the secrets of the Underworld Palace were left behind by Nuwa and several other ancient gods. Once the mysteries of the Underworld Palace are understood, the six realms will be controlled by the one who unlocks the secrets.
This shows that Zhao Huanqin was ambitious and not a good person at all.
"So you knew all along." Zhao Huanqin looked at her thoughtfully.
Yan Dan felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze and hurriedly said, "I have absolutely no interest in the Underworld Palace or anything like that. I just want to leave here. Since you made that promise before, I don't think you'll go back on your word, right?" Actually, if he really wanted to go back on his word now, there was nothing she could do. They had fooled the ghost messengers together, so they were like grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
Zhao Huanqin hummed in agreement, and after a moment said, "There is a ghost gate beneath the River of Oblivion. You can go directly to the mortal realm from there. I'll take you there after I've recovered from my injuries."
After thinking it over, Yan Dan couldn't help but ask, "Actually, when the ghost messenger first came back, it was Mang Gui disguised as you, Mr. Zhao, right? So my current appearance isn't actually real?"
Zhao Huanqin smiled and said, "Since you've already guessed it, why ask any more questions? Alright, you two can leave now. I want some peace and quiet."
Yan Dan's lips twitched, but she reluctantly pushed the door open and went out. She heard Mang Gui gently close the door behind her and whisper, "Miss Yan Dan, if you have any questions, just ask me. The master is very badly injured and has no strength to speak."
"Are you staying in Ghost Town for the Underworld Palace? But isn't it only those whose souls are damaged who can stay here?"
Mang Gui shook his head and smiled: "That's right. I'm only here because I'm missing a soul. Before you came, I often had to pretend to be the lady, and sometimes I had to pretend to be Mr. Zhao so that others wouldn't find out that Mr. Zhao left Ghost Town to search for the Underworld Palace."
Yan Dan thought for a moment, then asked, "How was your soul damaged?"
“Mr. Zhao must have a reason for staying in Ghost Town, and I… I am that reason.” Mang Gui smiled shyly at her. “If I disguise myself as his wife, he can beg the Ghost Officer to make an exception and stay in Ghost Town. You have an important matter to attend to, so naturally you can’t harm yourself, therefore…”
"So you damaged your primordial spirit and then pretended to be a loving and righteous person to stay behind, all to find the Underworld Palace?" Yan Dan asked indignantly. If people were divided into different classes, Zhao Huanqin would definitely be the worst of the worst, the epitome of scum.
Mang Gui was startled and waved her hands repeatedly: "This was all my own choice, really, it has nothing to do with Mr. Zhao." She paused, then timidly said: "Miss Yan Dan, don't be angry, you are a good person, good people will be rewarded."
“Good people will be rewarded, but you idiot…” Yan Dan looked at Mang Gui’s bright face and suddenly didn’t want to say anything. Mang Gui and Zhao Huanqin were like her and Ying Yuan; she actually understood them.
Good people are rewarded, but fools are not. That's why she ended up like this.
Zhao Huanqin's injuries had only healed halfway when he suggested going to the Underworld Palace again, and taking Yan Dan to the Gate of Hell along the way.
Yan Dan was happy to leave this awful place as soon as possible, but Mang Gui was very worried: "But what about the master's injury..."
Zhao Huanqin shook his head and gently tapped the corner of the table: "No need to say more, I have already found a way to enter the Underworld Palace. Besides, staying in Ghost Town is not a good idea. It's always better to act sooner rather than later." When he mentioned the Underworld Palace, his eyes were clear and bright. It seemed that this was the only thing he cared about in the world.
Mang Gui had no choice but to comply: "When does sir wish to depart?"
"Let's do it tonight. I still need to think about some details. You can all leave now." He waved his hand impatiently.
Yan Dan placed her hopes on him, and even if it meant swallowing her anger, she would force herself to endure it. However, Zhao Huanqin was quite considerate and polite in his dealings with others, and in a very measured way. Yan Dan felt from the bottom of her heart that someone as despicable as him must be the "state of being" mentioned in the Zen philosophy that she had never been able to understand.
Mang Gui remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Since you're leaving tonight, I'll help you remove your disguise."
Yan Dan didn't know what she was thinking and blurted out, "Actually, it's fine not to wash it off."
Mang Gui let out a sound of surprise and said with a smile, "You're not used to your current face and don't like your old one anymore, are you? But your old face was your true appearance." She took out a small pair of scissors from her medicine box and said softly, "Don't be afraid, your appearance will definitely be better than it is now."
Yan Dan touched her cheek and whispered, "Is there a mirror?"
Mang Gui pulled a small round mirror from his sleeve: "Don't move around too much later, I'm afraid you'll get hurt."
Yan Dan held the mirror, and in it she saw a slender, nimble hand carefully making a cut at the corner of her eye with scissors. The cut gradually peeled away, slowly revealing her true appearance. In this world, her appearance was not unique; there was another person—her sister—in Heaven.
But she was in the underworld.
Sometimes when I think back, those days seem like a fleeting, glorious dream that has suddenly vanished.
It's just unclear whether it was her who disappeared, or those people who came and went in my dreams.
Now that she has chosen this path, whether she cries or laughs, she can only keep going. She wants to finish it with a smile, and she will find back what she lost in the past, one by one, just as she did when she first left them behind.
Zhao Huanqin was indeed quite capable.
Although Yan Dan didn't particularly like this person, she still had to admit that if it weren't for him leading the way, even if she hadn't lost her immortal power, she probably wouldn't have been able to break through the barrier and leave the ghost town amidst the heavy guards: "If the ghost messengers go door to door to look for people later, and none of you are there, wouldn't that cause trouble?"
Zhao Huanqin looked back into the distance, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Who says I'll ever go back there? Once I unravel the mysteries of the Underworld Palace, the Six Realms will be in my hands, and even the Nine Heavens Court will be nothing to me."
There were some people she would never understand in her entire life, nor did she want to. Yan Dan, imitating Zhao Huanqin, slowly waded down the River of Oblivion. The icy water washed over her chest, as if she were back in the days when she hesitated and struggled in the waters of the River of Oblivion. Only back then, when she jumped into the Seven Reincarnations Path, she hadn't thought at all about what she would do afterward.
Now, she wants to leave this place, to become a mortal, or perhaps a demon. She's already weathered the worst; what else could she possibly fear?
On the misty river, a magnificent palace, yet shrouded in decay, appeared and disappeared intermittently, its splendor enhanced by the swirling white mist. Yan Dan murmured, "This is the Underworld Palace..."
“The Underworld Palace doesn’t stay in one place. I’ve searched here for a long time before I realized that it would definitely stop here at this time and disappear in half an hour.” Zhao Huanqin’s eyes were bright, and his tone was not as indifferent as usual. As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of cold wind swept in, and the white fog on the river became even thicker, making it almost impossible to see anything ten steps away.
Zhao Huanqin's expression changed slightly, and he said coldly, "It's the ghost soldiers borrowing the way. Cover your mouth and nose with your hands and don't make a sound."
Yan Dan raised her sleeve to cover her mouth. After a moment, a group of soldiers in bronze armor walked past them, less than six or seven steps away. They carried long weapons, and their armor was dark and dull, yet they remained floating on the River of Oblivion without even making a ripple.
The soldiers walked past them in neat rows, their expressions solemn, and disappeared into the distance. Zhao Huanqin took two steps forward and whispered, "Don't get too close. They'll notice us if we're within ten paces."
Yan Dan suddenly realized that Zhao Huanqin had returned several times with injuries, which meant he must have fought with these ghost soldiers.
After wading in the water for almost half an hour, Zhao Huanqin suddenly stopped and pointed to the whirlpool diagonally: "This is the Ghost Gate. You will fall into that place wherever you live."
Yan Dan was stunned. She had never been a mortal, and she wondered where she would end up. She turned to look at Mang Gui, smiled slightly, and asked, "Why don't you come with me to the mortal realm?"
Mang Gui watched Zhao Huanqin's retreating figure as he headed towards the Underworld Palace. Then, she slowly turned back and smiled at him, saying, "No, I'm not going back. You should hurry up and leave."
Yan Dan nodded, offering no further persuasion, and walked directly towards the whirlpool. Almost instantly, she was swept into it by a powerful force, and just as she was spinning dizzy, she was met with a vast expanse of black water. This black water not only shimmered with an oily sheen, but also contained fragments of broken bodies floating in it.
Yan Dan forcefully covered her mouth and nose; if she swallowed this black, corpse-soaked water, she'd probably vomit for ten days straight. As she struggled, a wave suddenly slammed her against the rocks beside her, causing her to groan in pain as she watched helplessly as the murky, dirty water poured into her mouth. Yan Dan was disoriented from the impact and could only grab at anything to steady herself. She finally managed to grab onto something, but then she heard a strange cracking sound behind her.
She glanced back and saw gaunt, grotesque demons clinging to the stone wall, their eyes like leaping phosphorescent flames, gleaming with an oily green light as they gnawed at the arm she was holding. "Ahhh, what kind of hellhole is this—" A wave crashed over her, pouring greasy black water over her head.
Yan Dan felt like crying but couldn't. She felt herself being tossed up and down by the waves, bumping and stumbling around in the winding stone path. Luckily, she could still use her inner energy to protect herself, otherwise she would have been smashed to pieces long ago. Even so, she could clearly hear her bones cracking and creaking.
Won't all her bones break? And her back, she's so old...
Suddenly, a bright light appeared before her eyes, growing larger and more blinding. Yan Dan fell to the ground with a thud, unable to get up for a long time. She struggled to look up and saw a wooden door about five steps away, with a broom placed in the doorway. The surrounding area was made up of gray brick walls, resembling a narrow alley.
This is the mortal realm now, but I wonder if the first person she sees here will be a kind person?
As she was thinking this, the wooden door creaked open. The person in front wasn't much taller than her, while the person behind was a full head taller. Both were dressed in heavy, brightly colored clothes, the sleeves almost touching the ground. They had pale pink faces, bright red lips, dark eyes, and light pink cheeks.
Yan Dan was struggling to lift her head when she saw the two people and froze. She had always thought that mortals should look similar to her, right? How could they look like this?
Their eyes met, and after a moment of silence, the short, pink-faced man jumped up first, shouting in a loud voice, "A monster! A monster! A monster!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
