Chapter 97 Eyeballs
Okay, I get it. I know how deep your brotherhood is. There's no need to restore the faces of the people in the lake. There are still a group of them.
Qing Bai was speechless as he looked at the densely packed human-faced skeletons on the lake, vying with each other and crying for food... They were all unique and each face was unique, and each one was terrifying in its own way. While frightening, it also added a bit of discomfort, as if ants, insects, fish or snakes had drilled into the blood vessels and were crawling towards the heart.
Qing Bai consoled himself mentally. Although his sanity had dropped significantly, he'd gotten a taste of the underworld's unique characteristics, so the trip wasn't in vain. Thinking back to the past nine years, he'd been confronted with similar 'underworld characteristics' day in and day out, and the possibility of encountering even more 'underworld characteristics' again—if even the local underworld was like this, what about the vast and open underworld? What about the infamous Eighteen Levels of Hell?
Qing Bai suddenly felt a surge of pity in his heart.
"Hahahahaha!" Yin Weihuai's hearty laughter interrupted Qing Bai's thoughts. Unbeknownst to Qing Bai, as he turned to look at 'Fish', the Shangjing Yin Lord, who was exchanging pleasantries with Jiu Nian, was actually observing him calmly. "Isn't this the little Lingxi that Lord Jiu Nian was so worried about? Hearing about her is worse than seeing her in person. As I expected, she's a beauty!"
You mean the idiot beauty? Qing Bai, who knew what had happened before, looked calm but secretly resented it.
Qing Bai felt that he could not pretend to be the "stupid beauty" persona that Yin Weihuai had imagined for him, nor was he willing to settle for second best and only pick up half of it. He simply remained silent and gave the right to speak entirely to the owner of this place to see what he could say.
Fortunately, Yin Weihuai was a talkative person who could go on and on without anyone else interrupting him. He was also sharp-eyed and immediately noticed the pity that had just flashed across Qing Bai's eyes and then sank back into them... It was a pity that he had mistaken the person for the one he was talking to.
"Little Lingxi, there's no need to feel pity for the creatures in this water. My lake is unlike any other. It's a pool of stagnant water, devoid of life. All that's kept within are blind creatures. Most of them were people who trusted the wrong people in their lives, yet refused to repent, bringing suffering upon their parents, children, and friends. After death, their souls are imprisoned in this lake, doing the work of clearing silt and swallowing up filth. They must suffer before being sent to the underworld for reincarnation."
Qing Bai looked at the black holes in the white skulls in the water and tried to put on an expression of sudden enlightenment: "Are those eyeballs in that little porcelain jar?"
Yin Weihuai shook his head: "It's their passport to cross the bridge and reincarnate. As for why it looks like an eyeball..."
Yin Weihuai reached his right hand into the small round porcelain jar and picked up a round and sticky eyeball. When he placed it on his slender, fair palm, which looked pampered, his fingers gently stroked the tangled blood vessels, nerves and meridian membranes behind the eyeball, as if he was playing with some beloved treasure.
Yin Weihuai said with a smile: "Because it's very interesting~"
Blind... Qing Bai didn't find it funny, but instead tasted a strong sense of bad taste and was a bit disgusted.
Yin Weihuai lightly pushed down the finger that was holding the eyeball, and the eyeball sank into the ink-black lake water with a "pop". The densely packed human-faced bone fish on the lake surface with their faces raised and mouths open seemed to have received a signal, and they flicked their tails and followed the movement of the eyeball entering the water. The lake water was so dark that the people in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, at least Qing Bai, could only see the violently surging water surface. From time to time, some bone fragments that could not be identified would float up. It was obvious that a thrilling struggle was unfolding below.
After a while, the fierce struggle under the water came to an end. The lake suddenly calmed down, and then a bony fish with a face and tail that were much bigger than other bony fish suddenly jumped out of the water. The eyeballs that Yin Weihuai had just thrown in were roughly stuffed in its originally dark eye sockets.
It is really rough, and you can see that it is not easy for it to stand out from many similar ones. In a hurry and without the help of hands, even the front and back of the eyeballs are installed incorrectly, the pupils are facing inward, and all kinds of messy blood vessels and meridians are exposed, the tendons are hanging, and the intestines are dragging.
But it did not care about these small details, because from the moment the "eyeball" was placed in the eye socket, a long-lost and familiar softness slowly started from the "eye" and gradually spread to the whole body. The cold feeling that had been tormenting it and following it like a shadow because of being trapped in the sticky shell of a aquatic creature was finally dispelled. Although it had not yet drunk the soup and crossed the bridge, it seemed to have been reborn.
Qing Bai watched helplessly as the bony fish leaped into the air, shedding its outer white skeleton bit by bit, just like when he worked part-time at an amusement park distributing balloon dolls and got off work on time, revealing the tired and twisted human figure that was trapped inside the skeleton. But when he was working part-time before, he was still a flesh and blood body, and after he came out, he was a handsome young man again. But the one in front of him was a soul that could only barely make out the human shape, and it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman.
Qing Bai felt a little relieved while opening his eyes. He was relieved that he transformed from a cat back into a human in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. Although with his Lingxi identity, he shouldn't be so horrified and embarrassed when he transformed into a human...but what if?
Yin Weihuai first nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand. The unrecognizable soul floating in the air bowed to Yin Weihuai twice in a proper manner, and then dived into the lake.
Yin Weihuai explained: "This lake leads to the Nai River, where it is reincarnated."
After saying that, Yin Weihuai clapped his hands and brushed off his sleeves, then leaned lazily against the railing, openly slacking off during work hours and in front of his colleagues: "Alright, alright, everyone, let's go. The quota is limited, and today's workload is complete~"
The bone fish in the water seemed to understand what he said. Although they were reluctant to leave, they swam around the pavilion twice and then dispersed as he said.
Qing Bai subconsciously looked at Jiu Nian. In his mind, Jiu Nian was a beast who took his work very seriously. To see a colleague blatantly slacking off like that...
"I'm sorry to bother you, Lord Yin. We're here for..." Jiu Nian suddenly paused, then spoke again, "for the takeaway you ordered for me a few days ago."
This was obviously a last-minute change of words, but Qing Bai and Yin Weihuai were both surprised, but their surprises were different.
Qing Bai hadn't expected Jiu Nian to be so accustomed to the seemingly unassuming Yin Weihuai. Could it be that the underworld wasn't as busy as he'd imagined, with no clearly defined working hours? Or perhaps Jiu Nian wasn't what he'd imagined... But then he thought again: after all, the underworld's important tasks had only been repeated over and over again for thousands of years, and with years of practice, they'd become proficient. Could it be that the work efficiency in the underworld was so high, and the atmosphere so relaxed?
As for Yin Weihuai, his expression of surprise was mixed with a guilty conscience that could be seen at a glance.
After Qing Bai came to his senses, he did not miss the guilty look on Yin Weihuai's face. He secretly sighed that Jiu Nian still had some tricks up his sleeve, and even if he changed his words at the last minute, he could still hit the key point.
Jiu Nian frowned slightly, not optimistic. He had been dealing with all kinds of old foxes in the netherworld for tens of millions of years, and he knew too well that if these people really wanted to hide something, they would have a hundred or a thousand ways to do it. Even if they were caught with solid evidence, they would have other excuses to deal with it, and would not just let it float on the surface. He felt guilty the moment he opened his mouth... It was a bit pretentious.
I did this just because I wanted him to know, at least this Shangjing Yin Jun wanted him to know.
Since that’s the case… Jiu Nian simply took the initiative and didn’t rush to speak. He just looked at Yin Weihuai expressionlessly, waiting for him to speak.
Yin Weihuai coughed dryly when he was stared at, and his eyes drifted slightly. This was not intentional, but he really couldn't bear Jiunian's solemn gaze... Who in this world can remain calm under such a gaze from this adult?
"Ahem...you're talking about...the umbrella delivery? What happened to that takeout order?" Yin Weihuai tried hard to act like he'd finally remembered something he'd long forgotten. "It's been so many days. If anything went wrong, I'd be notified. But I remember that order was delivered on time..."
After Yin Weihuai finished mumbling to himself, he said to Jiu Nian in a serious tone, "Don't worry, Master Jiu Nian. This food delivery platform has a deep connection with our underworld. If there really is a problem, it's okay. We have after-sales service!"
There is quite a bit of information contained in this sentence.
"Nothing..." Jiu Nian spoke very slowly, and it became increasingly clear that every word he uttered was carefully considered. "I just wanted to trouble Lord Yin for some introductions."
Yin Weihuai hinted in these indirect and cryptic ways. Jiu Nian was no fool. He connected the various fragmented clues he had gathered over the past few days in his mind, and the suspicion that had been lingering deep in his heart suddenly became much clearer. "I want to meet that... 'Yuan Yuan'."
After listening to what Jiu Nian said, Yin Weihuai's superficial guilt finally disappeared. At the same time, the playboy-like nonchalance in him disappeared as well. He became calm and subtly noble.
From this perspective, he and Pei Ci finally have some similarities.
"Although it is troublesome, since Master Nine has requested something, I dare not disobey."
"It's just..." Yin Weihuai suddenly glanced at Qing Bai beside him meaningfully, "Today is not a good time."
Jiu Nian also looked at Qing Bai, his eyes flashing, as if he understood something, and followed Yin Weihuai's words: "In that case, let's talk about it another day-"
"That's not necessary." Qing Bai looked at the two beasts and ghosts in front of him, who were clearly talking to the point but seemed to have reached some kind of consensus. He felt a little annoyed. He carefully observed their expressions, trying to discern something, and said slowly, "Since we're here, we're not idle people. The Lord of the Underworld is also... very busy, so it's not good to make a wasted trip... Don't worry about me. The Underworld is so big. Whatever you want to discuss or see, don't you have a quiet place? I'll wait here."
Jiu Nian opened his mouth to say something, but Yin Weihuai spoke first: "Of course there are quiet places, but the person Lord Jiu Nian wants to see is a little special, especially that nose... Even in the underworld, if it doesn't find you, Lord Jiu Nian and I are here today, so although nothing will happen, I'm afraid of trouble in the future."
Yin Weihuai's words made Qing Bai even more interested. However, there were also hidden meanings behind asking questions. If he kept asking, it would only make him seem difficult and annoying. Qing Bai didn't want to rely on others to answer everything. This wasn't his style. His style had always been...
"So that so-called food delivery app is a business outsourcing platform created by your underworld?"
"Cough, cough, cough!" The ghost stopped breathing, but Yin Weihuai was still choking on his own energy. After calming down the energy in his body for a while, he asked with a strange expression, "Why do you say that, little Lingxi?"
Qing Bai suddenly had an idea. If he really wanted to tell him one, two, three, four, five, six... it was not impossible, but he had to: "Wait for me to sort out my thoughts and see how to write it."
Nine years: "..."
"...take your time, don't rush, don't rush..."
Yin Weihuai was in a complicated mood and even began to doubt himself. He had really only intended to reveal the matter to Jiu Nian bit by bit. After all, it was indeed the work of those old ghosts that was done dishonestly... How come in just a few words, this Lingxi cub also... Or was it that without him knowing, the word "origin" in the human world had been directly equated with "making trouble"?
No, source originally means origin!
Tsk, mistake, big mistake! What's wrong with this little Lingxi?
The stupid beauty is clearly me!
Yin Weihuai sighed and said that he still couldn't fall behind in academic subjects!
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