Chapter 112 of the Garbage Collector
What is this place...?
The little robot steadied itself and looked around.
He was mining ore in the Thousand Ravines when suddenly, without knowing what he touched, a dense darkness swept over him, and he was plunged into a state of weightlessness.
It was as if the little robot had been thrown back into a time tunnel. When it could see its surroundings again, the scenery was completely different from that of the Thousand Ravines Land.
If the Land of a Thousand Ravines is predominantly yellow, constructed entirely of sand and pebbles, then this place is predominantly black, with even the smoke in the air carrying a hint of darkness.
Even the plant-like things on the ground were all mixed up in shades of black.
...It seems that it's not just black, there are also some white things.
Upon closer inspection, the little robot spotted some white things in the corner and near the plant roots.
He looked around and, finding no other movement or danger, walked toward the nearest white figure.
The little robot stopped after taking only a few steps.
He had already seen what it was.
It's bone.
All those white things around were bones.
The good news is that the bones weren't just human; most were from animals, and they were of various sizes and species, and their condition varied, indicating they weren't from the same batch.
So, what exactly is this place?
I've never heard of rock dragons eating meat.
Just as the little robot was about to randomly choose a direction to explore, a ripple came from the air.
Something is approaching!
The little robot's gaze sharpened, and it looked in the direction indicated.
However……
There's nothing there?
That's unlikely.
The little robot then used its spiritual energy and its own detection system to perform another inspection.
There is something there!
Suddenly, the little robot had an idea.
"...Is this the realm of ghosts?"
He asked the question.
All around was silent.
The little robot wasn't in a hurry. It waited a while longer and finally heard a low, faint response from the air: "...A living...person?"
The little robot understood; it seemed this really was the realm of ghosts.
The little robot knew that ghosts existed in this world while it was in the library of Qilian Mountain.
The Ghost Realm and the Cultivation Realm have a border, but this entrance is basically protected by a barrier that is not easily broken to allow living people to enter the Ghost Realm. Correspondingly, the ghosts of the Ghost Realm also rarely leave this place.
However, occasional oversights still occur.
Clearly, this is one of the problems the little robot has encountered.
He had read in the library that teleportation arrays were not universally usable between different realms, but that didn't mean there was no way to get out.
In the Ghost Realm, there is an Ascension Platform at the very upper reaches of the River Styx. If you have mistakenly entered the Ghost Realm, you can leave once you reach that point.
With this in mind, the little robot didn't panic.
Normally, a living person entering the ghost realm might be corrupted by ghostly energy if they stay there for too long, but he is not a living person, he is a robot, so he is not afraid of this.
Therefore, the little robot decided to take a look around here.
To borrow a human phrase—since we're already here…
But the most important thing now is to find a way to "see a ghost".
The little robot looked in the direction of the ghost that had just made the sound: "How can I see you?"
The ghost clearly hadn't expected that a living person would come to the ghost realm, see a ghost, and remain completely calm, even having the mind to ask how to see a ghost.
After a moment of stunned silence, she finally realized what was happening and hesitantly gave the little robot an answer: "Eat...things from the Ghost Realm...and you'll be fine."
The little robot suddenly realized.
He then bent down and picked a leaf from a nearby plant, not caring that it was dark and looked like a drop of poison, and put it directly into his mouth.
It has a slightly bitter and fishy taste, but overall it's not too bad.
The little robot, while chewing, still had the mind to offer its own evaluation.
Before he had finished chewing the leaves, he discovered something new in front of him.
A semi-transparent humanoid creature.
"Hello," the little robot greeted politely, taking a small half-step back.
It wasn't fear, but rather that the ghost was too close, probably taking advantage of the fact that the little robot couldn't see it earlier; it was practically right up to his face.
Even the little robot could feel the chill emanating from the other party.
It must be the influence of ghostly energy.
Having successfully encountered the ghost, the little robot became increasingly natural.
Believe it or not, there are quite a few ghosts around, not just the one that just spoke.
There were five or six humanoid creatures close to the little robot, and others further away carrying things back and forth on the road, not much different from the world above.
Besides the humanoid ghosts, the little robot also found one or two animal-like creatures, but there didn't seem to be many of them, and there weren't any smaller insect-like creatures at all.
The little robot looked further afield. From its elevated position, it could see a turbulent black river in the distance, with a lively scene along its banks.
The little robot could vaguely make out the shape of the building.
Such a scene prevents the little robot from perceiving it as a chaotic place.
It seems that apart from the species and environment being different, it is no different from the human world.
He thought for a moment, then continued to ask the ghost that had just spoken: "Excuse me, are there any places or people here to receive guests?"
Since these ghosts are quite orderly, there might be similar places.
However, the little robot's words caused the ghosts around it to suddenly laugh.
The talking ghost was quite enthusiastic. He first mocked the little robot's naivety, then said that he could tell the little robot about the ghost world, but the little robot would have to exchange it for something interesting.
The little robot agreed.
"Then come to my house with me."
As it spoke, the ghost floated forward, leading the way.
The little robot actually followed.
The ghost didn't go far; it disappeared after stepping into a clump of black bushes.
The little robot followed and stepped inside.
The scene before me changed instantly; I went from outdoors into a spacious room.
I must say, the interior decoration is quite luxurious.
"Not bad, right? My grandson cooked it for me." The ghost said, bringing out a plate of roast chicken and eating it by himself.
Seeing the little robot looking at his roasted chicken, the ghost explained, "It's not that I don't want you to eat it, but a living person like you can't eat it. This is all yin food, and if a living person eats too much of it, they won't be able to leave this place."
In other words, if a living person like the little robot accidentally enters the ghost realm without having enough food, the only consequence will be being left in the ghost realm.
After all, whether you starve to death or eat ghost food, you will become a ghost.
Fortunately, the little robot has countless edible things in its mustard seed space, and what's even more amazing is that it doesn't need to eat at all.
The little robot thanked the ghost for his kindness.
He added that if there was anything he wanted to eat or use, he could cook it for him right now if he had it.
The ghost, who introduced himself as Zhou Zhuang, was quite uncouth. Not only did he order another plate of fish, but after learning that the jsg robot was a weapon refiner, he also asked him to customize a magical artifact that a ghost could use.
The little robot agreed.
Then, while eating, Zhou Zhuang introduced the basic situation of the Ghost Realm to the little robot.
Just as the little robot knew before, to leave the Ghost Realm, one must travel to the upper reaches of the River Styx. The River Styx is the wide, boundless black river that the little robot had seen earlier.
This is the only river in the entire ghost realm.
"To get to the upper reaches of the River Styx from here, you have to pass through three large cities, each inhabited by a ghost king. The life force of a living person like you is like a lantern in the night to a ghost, very bright. It won't be easy to get through the ghost king's territory."
However, despite saying that, Zhou Zhuang still gave the little robot a brief description of the ghost king's characteristics.
And tell the little robot that if it wants to cover up its anger, it can wear Styx water on its body.
"However, you can only be in contact with the Styx River for a maximum of one hour a day. After that, the ghostly energy will damage your body very quickly," Zhou Zhuang said.
While Zhou Zhuang was speaking, the little robot kept working and quickly modified a magical artifact that a ghost could use.
It's not difficult to modify this thing. The biggest problem is that it's no longer driven by spiritual energy but by ghost energy. Then, it's burned with a raging fire, filled with ghost energy, and becomes an item that ghosts can use.
Zhou Zhuang was extremely satisfied.
The little robot also received a map as a special gift from Zhou Zhuang.
The latter stated that the path drawn on the map is the route that can avoid the Demon King to the greatest extent possible.
There was no way around it; not only were the living afraid of the Ghost King, but even these little ghosts were afraid of him.
The little robot expressed its gratitude.
However, when he saw the map, his gaze fell on another key point marked on the map besides the Ascension Platform.
"here it is?"
"Hmm?" Zhou Zhuang leaned over and took a look. "Oh, there it is, that's the Reincarnation Monument."
The Reincarnation Monument...
Upon hearing the name, the little robot's sensors lit up again.
He felt he should go and take a look.
Could you tell me more about this place?
"There's nothing to see there. You can tell from the name that it's in charge of reincarnation. We ghosts who want to reincarnate can just line up. But there's nothing good about reincarnation anyway. The difference between the human world and the ghost world isn't that big. We just live our lives the same way, and we're not even sure if we'll be reborn as humans in the next life."
As Zhou Zhuang spoke, seeing that the little robot seemed interested in going to take a look, he became very curious, "Even if you, a grown person, went to the Reincarnation Stele, you wouldn't be able to reincarnate, would you? Besides, this thing doesn't have any of those legendary functions that allow you to see three lifetimes. It's just a stone stele, what's so interesting about it?"
That's what he said, but when the little robot said he really wanted to go and see, Zhou Zhuang, considering how useful the magic weapon was in his hand, still drew a route for him.
"The Reincarnation Monument is located in the very center of the River Styx. Besides these eight proper paths to reincarnation, the only other options are to go through the sky or the river. Be careful, and if you can go through the sky, do so. The waters of the River Styx are not to be trifled with; if you get even a little bit on them, you might not be able to get back."
After learning so much, the little robot really did say goodbye to Zhou Zhuang.
He was naturally going to the place where the Reincarnation Monument was located.
As the only river in the ghost realm, the River Styx is not far from any direction. The little robot quickly followed the route to the riverbank where the Reincarnation Monument was located.
He naturally carried the Styx Water on his person, and his special constitution meant he was not affected by the one-hour restriction. So, even though he was constantly mixed in with the ghosts, no one noticed anything amiss.
And you know what? Although Zhou Zhuang said in every word that reincarnation was not a good thing, the ghosts at the Reincarnation Monument were incredibly numerous.
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