Chapter 17 Negotiations in the Underworld (1) “Fortunately, there are no survivors among us…
Si Ling and Xie Bian finally met at the Ghost Academy that night.
Si Ling ended the call and saw Xuan Chi looking at her, so she asked, "What's wrong?"
"You've been a ghost for thirty thousand years?" Xuan Chi frowned deeply, standing up from the bedside. An unmistakable tremor lingered in his voice. "How long have I been dead?"
"I don't know." Si Ling shook his head. Thinking of the time it took Lucifer to discover him, he could only say, "At least more than a hundred years, but I think it must have been longer than that."
Hsuan Chi asked again, "What year is this year?"
Si Ling said, "2025, the Year of the Snake in the lunar calendar."
Xuan Chi lowered his head and fell silent. Si Ling pursed his lips: "So...how many years have you been dead?"
"I don't know." His thin lips moved, a faint smile twirling at the corners of his mouth, adding a touch of sadness to the ghost's already pale complexion. "Everything is different now."
His deep eyes looked out the window.
Today is actually a good day, with a clear blue sky and no clouds. It is noon now, and the bright sunlight is shining from the sky, spreading a sacred golden glow on the world.
It was all exactly as he remembered.
But... nothing is different.
These buildings, the people's clothing... even the calendar—the whole world was different. Aside from the sky, sun, and moon, which had remained unchanged for millennia, he could no longer sense a single familiar aura.
After a long moment of silence, he shifted his gaze back from the window view and asked her, "That... the Suhuang tribe, that's my race. Where are they... where are they now?"
Si Ling avoided his gaze and clenched his hands unconsciously on the hilt of the sword.
She didn't know how to answer. In the past 30,000 years, she had seen real dragons and unicorns, and heard of countless ancient mythical beasts, but she had never heard of Su Huang.
This means that not only have they not appeared in the past 30,000 years, but no legends have been left behind.
The mythical beasts certainly have the ability to hide their tracks from the human world and Fengdu, but hiding so completely is definitely not a good sign.
She stared at the ground, a stiff smile forming on her lips. "I'm a ghost. It's rare for me to see a divine beast. I've never heard of any divine beast appearing in hell."
"Okay." He laughed, and his noncommittal tone made Si Ling breathe a sigh of relief.
But the moment she raised her eyes, she felt the mist in his eyes, and the suppressed pain pierced her heart.
...He saw it, he saw that she was trying to hide something, and he easily figured out what it meant.
A layer of cool sweat broke out in Si Ling's hand that was holding the hilt of the sword.
When the idea of immortality exists for thirty thousand years, many things will become indifferent. Many things that mortals care about have long been a joke in her eyes.
But now, she just put herself in Xuan Chi's shoes and thought about it for a moment, and the overwhelming grief and loneliness overwhelmed her - in the long years before, his soul was suppressed in a cave deep underground, roaring and struggling day after day, it was an endless pain, and he didn't even know what he had done wrong.
Now, he finally sees the light of day again, but everything has changed. He doesn't know what day it is, or what happened in the past few years. His people have disappeared, leaving no record of them in this world, which means they most likely no longer exist. Even if they do, he doesn't know where to find them.
Si Ling felt a long-lost feeling of depression. She lowered her eyes and silently cast a spell. Her cracked, porcelain-white face returned to a pale complexion, and her bloodshot eyes returned to white and black. Her fitted black dress transformed back into a casual white shirt and light blue jeans. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and the twin swords in her hands vanished without a trace.
She walked up to Xuan Chi, looked up at him, with a compassion in her eyes that was very rare for a ghost, and even her tone became very light involuntarily: "I know this is not comfortable, but..." She took a breath and put her right hand on his arm.
She tightened her grip, and a hint of ghostly energy seeped out from her palms, carrying the same breath and temperature as his.
"The sun and the moon cycle, the stars shift, and no one knows what will happen next." She paused, her tone suddenly becoming more resolute and powerful. "If you want to ask the Emperor of Heaven for clarification, I will help you."
This sentence came out a little abruptly. Xuan Chi paused and looked up: "What?"
Their eyes met, and her worry met his.
Xuan Chi held his breath, feeling a sense of unease at having his thoughts seen through. He uncomfortably pushed her hand away, coughing lightly as he took two steps away: "I'm not trying to commit suicide."
Si Ling had no intention of exposing his forced pride and smiled: "That's good."
.
At 6:30 in the evening, Xie Bian arrived at the Ghost Academy on time. Fan Wujiu was supposed to come too, but he was temporarily assigned a night shift and could not come with him.
Lucifer took the initiative to ask to join the conversation. Si Ling thought that the current trouble was caused by Lucifer, so he did not refuse. The four of them walked through the cellar of Hohenzollern Castle together, pushed open the door at the end, and entered Lingbo City.
It was the time for office workers on earth to get off work, and the same was true for the cattle and horses in the underworld. Si Ling pushed open the door and found the streets much more crowded than when he had gone to barbecue with the three werewolf brothers the previous night. Fortunately, he had Lucifer with him—this demon of hell, renowned in the human world, was even more feared in the underworld. Even in his simple human form, the ghosts and monsters on the street would still stay away if they noticed him.
When Si Ling arranged to meet Xie Bian, they had originally planned to go back to the barbecue restaurant they'd been to the previous night, as it was the only place she knew in Lingbo City. But now that Lucifer was accompanying them, Si Ling suggested finding a Chinese restaurant with private rooms, which would be more friendly to Xuan Chi and more convenient for discussing matters.
Lucifer thought about it and used magic to bring them to a small alley in the north of the city. Si Ling raised his head and saw an antique Chinese-style building in front of him. The plaque on the door read "Xiangyun Building".
Lucifer introduced: "This shop has been open for nearly two hundred years. The owner came here to study abroad in the late Qing Dynasty."
"Then it should be very authentic." Si Ling agreed with a smile.
She subconsciously looked around at the street scene and soon found that Xiangyun Building was located in a small alley similar to the Human Electronic City. It was the only restaurant, but there were quite a few small shops selling underworld plates and similar items. There was also a bookstore diagonally opposite. There was a simple German sign hanging at the door, which read "Various textbooks, exam books".
Si Ling said, "You guys go in first, I'm going to buy some things and will be right back."
Lucifer nodded without asking any more questions. Xie Bian said, "Then I'll send you the room name later."
"Okay." Si Ling nodded, then turned and walked towards the shop across the street that sold the Tongming Plate. The remaining three went straight into Xiangyun Tower.
A quarter of an hour later, Si Ling walked into Xiangyunlou carrying a large cardboard box. He was led by a waiter into a private room on the third floor. Inside was a round table for four. Xie Bian was sitting at the front seat. Hearing the noise, he turned around and was stunned. "What did you buy?!"
Si Ling put the cardboard box on the ground next to Xuan Chi's seat. Under Xuan Chi's confused gaze, he squatted beside the box and rummaged through it. He first took out a rectangular box at the bottom of the box and handed it to him.
Xuan Chi: “?”
"A gift pack for newbies to Hell!" Si Ling stood up, kicked the box with his toes, and handed the box over again. "This is the Hell Disk, similar to a cell phone in the human world... Never mind, you've never seen a cell phone before. It's okay, I'll teach you how to use it when we get back."
"Ha, that's thoughtful." Xie Bian laughed dryly and looked at the box again. "What else? Clothes?"
Si Ling walked around Xie Bian's chair and sat in the empty seat opposite Xuan Chi. "Books. Language books, religious books. I'd also like to buy some history books on China, but they're not here. Burn them for me when you get back."
"..." Xie Bian was solemn, "If I didn't know you had been dead for 30,000 years, I would have thought you were from Haidian."
Xuan Chi looked at her quietly, bent over and picked out a book from the top of the box, and nodded: "Thank you."
Lucifer was concentrating on taking his order with the waiter. This high-ranking member of Hell, who had lived for six thousand years, was no stranger to Chinese food. He skillfully arranged four cold dishes, eight hot dishes, two soups, and two dim sum dishes, including a complete set of Peking duck.
After ordering, Lucifer said without the waiter asking, "Duck bones for soup."
"Okay." The waiter wrote down the request and left the private room with the menu.
Lucifer adjusted his tie out of habit and cleared his throat. "Alright, let's get down to business—" He glanced at Xuan Chi, and considering that the next topic might not make him happy, he switched to English. "What are you going to do with this beast... uh, evil spirit... I mean, the evil spirit version of the beast? When will you arrange for him to return to China?"
"I'm fine with either. After I go back, will I be able to see the Emperor of Heaven?" Xuan Chi asked while reading a book.
The room suddenly became quiet, and the three people stared at him in shock.
Because he not only understood it, but also responded in fluent English.
The only strange thing was that he used the word "god" when referring to the Emperor of Heaven, but this did not prevent them from guessing what he meant. After all, no one would think that he wanted to see Jehovah or other Western gods.
Hyun Chi was completely unaware of what he had done. His eyes were still on the page, and he finished reading three pages in five seconds. He finally noticed the strange silence around him, so he raised his head and looked around blankly: "What's wrong?"
"You speak English?" Xie Bian looked him up and down in confusion.
"English?" Xuan Chi was stunned for a moment. He closed the book in his hand and handed it to him, pointing at the cover and asking, "You mean this?"
The cover reads: "Speak Nowmunicate with confidence."
——This is an English oral communication textbook published by Oxford.
"Uh, yes... this is in English." Si Ling was speechless. "I know it's not difficult for you to learn it, but how do you know the pronunciation?"
Even ghosts couldn't understand pronunciation through text-only books, so when she asked Xie Bian for language teaching materials, she emphasized the need for audio of listening and speaking.
Xuan Chi put the book on the table and said, "Just now, when I was waiting for the elevator, I heard the three werewolves chatting."
Si Ling recalled that this incident did happen, but it only lasted five minutes at most.
...What he meant was that he memorized the pronunciation rules and grammar in those five minutes, and was able to successfully compare and deconstruct them after getting the text version of the book.
Xie Bian lowered his head and supported his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Fortunately, there is no one alive among us, otherwise he would have been pissed to death."
Lucifer's smile stiffly shifted back to Chinese after the language encryption failed. "Okay, that's unnecessary."
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Author's Note: Si Ling: Speed-mastering most Western languages in one afternoon
Hyun Chi: Half-Hour Speed English
Xie Bian’s inner thoughts: You don’t know how many mortals have studied for their entire lives and still only know how to abandon!
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【Notes】
① [Using duck bones to make soup] Let me explain to friends who don’t know much about Peking duck. If you order a whole Peking duck (half one is not acceptable) at a restaurant, there will be a duck bone with quite a bit of meat left after the chef has sliced the duck meat. The restaurant will usually ask what to do with it. Generally, they will make salt and pepper duck bones or soup. Of course, you can also choose not to let the restaurant do anything with it and just pack up the whole duck bone to take home.
② [The only oddity is that he uses the word "God" when referring to the Emperor of Heaven.] In some contexts, "God" specifically refers to God, while in others it's a general term for deities. However, in Eastern languages, "Emperor of Heaven" isn't usually translated as "god." I've also read the expression "Jade Emperor," meaning "jade." I suspect this term specifically refers to the "Jade Emperor." I haven't researched this further, so I'm not sure.
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