Chapter 344: Born Human, Dead Ghost |
Chen Shi hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
He was currently a ghost, which made things inconvenient in the underworld. At any moment, he could be influenced by the mysterious forces of the underworld, involuntarily following those other ghosts to who knows where. Moreover, the underworld was filled with dangers, and he genuinely needed help. As for running errands for the Eastern Palace, he definitely wouldn't do that.
Peng Ju led the way, and the two followed the mountain mist as they walked. They saw that among the dark mountains, ribbons of white mist flowed along the ground, and on every path, people moved along with the mist.
These people were ghosts—dazed and confused, controlled by some mysterious force, tirelessly walking in the same direction.
Peng Ju's wings were injured, preventing him from flying, so the two walked along the edge of the path.
These ghosts were often those who had died unjustly. They wouldn't appear in the Primordial Palace but had become wandering souls, drawn by the underworld.
Chen Shi suddenly remembered how, when he was young, he had followed his grandfather Chen Yindu to the Moon Festival and had seen a village of wandering souls that weren't being drawn to the underworld. Back then, he didn't understand why, but now he finally figured it out.
The Thirteen Great Clans had seized power in the underworld, fighting tooth and nail with the Ten Kings of Hell, causing the underworld courts to neglect their duties. As a result, many wandering souls were never ferried to the underworld.
"What is the Eastern Palace?" Chen Shi asked.
Chen Shi suddenly understood. "So you work in the palace of the Yama's Crown Prince. Which Yama's Crown Prince?"
Peng Ju was confused. "The Eastern Palace's Crown Prince is, of course, the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom. What Yama's Crown Prince are you talking about?"
Chen Shi was puzzled. "You don't know about the Ten Kings of Hell? You don't know about the Eighteen Layers of Hell?"
Peng Ju shook his head. "What is Hell? And who is Yama?"
Chen Shi explained the Ten Kings of Hell and the Eighteen Layers of Hell, saying, "Among the Ten Kings of Hell, there are ten Yamas, each guarding different hells. Within the Eighteen Layers of Hell, there are respective underworld officials, judges, underworld marshals, and underworld officers, responsible for guiding the souls of the dead to hell, judging them according to their crimes, and making them suffer punishment."
Peng Ju was astonished. "There's a place like the Eighteen Layers of Hell in the underworld? I've never heard of it. Are these Ten Kings of Hell higher in status than our Heavenly Pool Kingdom's ruler? Impossible. Our Heavenly Pool Kingdom's territory is vast beyond measure—it's the number one kingdom among the Dark Mountains."
Chen Shi was even more astonished in his heart.
In Chen Shi's impression, the entire underworld should have been under the control of the underworld courts. But clearly, the Heavenly Pool Kingdom was not within their jurisdiction!
The ghosts and monsters here had never even heard of such a place as the underworld courts!
Suddenly, Chen Shi felt a dizzy spell. Peng Ju quickly grabbed him. Chen Shi snapped back to awareness, only to find himself walking among the ghost procession once again. He shuddered. "What is this power? Why does it keep pulling me, making me walk uncontrollably in that direction?"
He had experienced this strange power before when he died. Only in a state of death could one be summoned by this force. Walking against it felt like treading on a mountain of blades or wading through a sea of fire—excruciatingly difficult.
But if a cultivator were still alive, they wouldn't be affected by this pulling force, nor would they even be aware that such a power existed in the underworld.
Peng Ju stopped and felt around in the mist. Suddenly, he touched a skull and was overjoyed. He grabbed the skull and pulled upward.
A complete skeleton rose along with the skull.
"Chen Shi, possess this one."
Upon hearing this, Chen Shi stepped forward and let his Primordial Spirit attach itself to the white bone skeleton.
In just a moment, he had completed the possession and was moving freely.
He raised his hands, watching each finger bone move as he willed it, and was immensely pleased. He opened his mouth and let out a "click-clack-click-clack" laugh.
Peng Ju asked with concern, "Can you still feel that pulling force now?"
Chen Shi focused his senses carefully and, indeed, could no longer feel that power.
"How did you know that possessing a ghost could break free from this force?"
Peng Ju said, "The demons often possess inanimate objects like this. Some cultivators also like to attach themselves to skeletons and run around. They're often merchants, doing business with us."
Chen Shi found this very novel. "So there are human cultivators doing business with ghosts and monsters. I wonder who they are... Hey, I can have Shao Jing open a Juxian Pavilion branch here. It might be a good business opportunity. But this kind of business would need a dead person to manage it."
He broke into a sprint, then suddenly leaped into the air, performing a series of flying kicks in midair to test the body's flexibility.
He had to admit, the white bone skeleton body was incredibly flexible. His thigh could rotate around the hip joint without any worry of breaking his leg. He could also spin his head around at will, pull off two ribs to stab someone, and not worry about getting hurt at all!
Chen Shi could even take off his other arm and use it to hit someone!
He could also shoot out all twenty-eight finger bones from his ten fingers as bone daggers to assassinate enemies!
"Being a skeleton is great!"
Chen Shi was overjoyed. He landed from the air, and with a crack, his left leg broke.
"But this body is too weak." Chen Shi shook his head.
This white bone skeleton had been in the underworld for too long, causing it to decay, riddled with holes, unable to withstand his roughhousing.
Peng Ju hurried over, removed his broken left leg, and tossed it into the mist. He groped around in the mist for a while, then pulled out another skeleton. He compared it to Chen Shi's right leg and found it was a bit short.
He pulled out several more left leg bones and finally found one that was about the same length as Chen Shi's right leg. Only then did he help Chen Shi attach the new left leg.
Chen Shi quickly thanked him, laughing. "Peng Ju, you're really good at taking care of ghosts."
Peng Ju said hesitantly, "I'm used to being a servant ghost in the Eastern Palace. When I come home, I still have to take care of my little sister. I told her I'd be back in three days when I left this time, and I've already been delayed for two. Let's hurry back!"
Chen Shi followed his pace and tried to activate the Blood Lake Sutra. Suddenly, waves of blood-red energy surged into his body from nowhere, seeping into his Primordial Spirit, nourishing his three souls and seven spirits, enriching his Primordial Spirit, and even strengthening this "body" of his!
Peng Ju looked over in surprise. He hadn't even figured out the Blood Lake Sutra yet, and Chen Shi had already started using it.
As the Blood Lake Sutra operated, Chen Shi silently recited the divine language.
"Contemplate the dark orchid, the great bright purple spirit. Nine spirits save the soul, open up the jade truth. Ah Yi shines bright, flying celestial sounds... Six transformations move the measure, execute the evil transgressions. Vast crown over the dark void, ten thousand measures to become immortal!"
After reciting the divine language, a faint halo of blood light began to swirl behind Chen Shi's head, forming an imperfect circular ring standing vertically behind his skull.
Within the ring was a pool of blood.
Strange power from the blood pool flowed into his body, continuously tempering him.
In just a short time, Chen Shi's bones became sleek and glossy, and he felt that the lifeblood his Primordial Spirit had lost was being replenished!
Chen Shi let out a soft exclamation. The Blood Lake Sutra seemed ordinary, but its enhancement of the Primordial Spirit seemed no weaker than the Xiao Lang Imperial Chapter Technique!
The Xiao Lang Imperial Chapter Technique primarily enhanced the Primordial Spirit, while the Blood Lake Sutra mainly enhanced the soul and spirit. The two cultivation techniques had vastly different focuses!
"The Primordial Spirit evolves from the Nascent Soul. When the Nascent Soul is cultivated to about a foot in size, it can merge with the soul and spirit, evolving into the Primordial Spirit. Therefore, the cultivation path of the mortal world focuses on cultivating the Nascent Soul aspect, without as much enhancement to the soul and spirit. But the cultivation techniques of the underworld seem to be the exact opposite, focusing mainly on cultivating the soul and spirit." Chen Shi thought to himself.
As he activated the Blood Lake Sutra, he explained it to Peng Ju.
Half a day later, Peng Ju had finally grasped the technique and tried to cultivate it.
But he had never cultivated before, relying solely on the power within his bloodline. This was his first time practicing, and Chen Shi showed no sign of impatience, teaching him bit by bit how to focus his mind, how to awaken the Great Bright Purple Spirit, and how to save the soul with the Nine Spirits.
It took several hours before Chen Shi could get Peng Ju to barely run through the technique once.
Chen Shi then guided him through it several more times until he had fully mastered it, then said with a smile, "Your family's ancestral technique is definitely not bad. It's a good technique."
"Really?" Peng Ju's eyes sparkled.
Chen Shi smiled. "Naturally. My insight may not be number one in the entire underworld, but in the mortal world, it's top-notch!"
The two of them cultivated the Blood Lake Sutra as they traveled. Chen Shi felt his soul, spirit, and white bone skeleton growing stronger and stronger, silently praising the wonder of this technique. Peng Ju's progress was also extremely rapid. The Blood Lake Sutra not only strengthened his divine soul but also awakened the bloodline power within his physical body, making the power within him grow stronger and stronger.
As his bloodline power increased, the wound on his wing gradually healed.
During this time, they crossed over a dozen great mountains. The paths paved by mist extended in all directions, and countless ghosts walked along them. After Chen Shi had obtained the white bone skeleton body, even walking against the flow wasn't much of a problem—no longer the torment of walking on blades or wading through fire.
"If I hadn't possessed this body, taking even one step against the current would have been extremely difficult!"
Chen Shi watched as dozens of white mist paths merged into one great road, with tens of thousands of souls walking along it into the distance. He felt a bit curious and wanted to follow these ghosts to see what force was pulling them.
"I'm not strong enough yet. Once I've cultivated my Primordial Spirit to be stronger, I'll go and find out!"
Chen Shi withdrew his gaze and quickly followed Peng Ju.
He saw that the trees in the Dark Mountains were locust trees, extremely tall. Hanging from them were bird-nest-shaped houses, often with dozens of such nest houses on a single tree, forming a village.
Many underworld creatures similar to Peng Ju flapped their wings and flew, coming and going from these houses.
As Chen Shi passed by these villages, bird-beaked strange beings would come out of the nest houses, fold their wings, and tilt their heads to look at them, as if they were very curious about them.
Chen Shi asked Peng Ju and learned that they were the Fu Bird tribe, one of the large races of the underworld, alongside the Ox-Head, Horse-Face, and Yaksha tribes. But because they weren't very powerful and had reproduced too much, their status wasn't high.
Within the Dark Mountains, towering locust trees stood tall against the sky, planted among the mountains or on their peaks. Villages of the Fu Birds followed one after another.
Countless ghosts passed through the mountains, and these Fu Birds paid them no attention.
Suddenly, a Fu Bird village became restless. Many Fu Bird tribe members jumped to the edges of their houses, sticking their heads out to look in the same direction.
Chen Shi was looking up, wondering what was happening, when Peng Ju's expression changed. He quickly pulled Chen Shi aside to a piece of mountain land off the path.
In the distance, waves of mist surged forward, accompanied by giggles from within the mist. Soon, the mist had swallowed them.
Chen Shi widened his eyes. He saw a huge claw reach out from the mist, grab a ghost, lift it up, and pull it back into the mist.
Then, many strange hands reached out, grabbing at the ghosts on the path. Crimson long tongues also flew out, wrapping around ghosts.
It was as if countless gluttonous feasters were hidden within the mist, devouring these ghosts wantonly.
Chen Shi's heart shook violently as he watched this scene.
"This isn't the Dark Mountain! This is Qianyang Mountain!"
He suddenly realized. He had seen a similar scene before—when he was crushed to death by the Cyan Ghost Hand, he had witnessed something similar!
At that time, he had almost been eaten by these monsters in the mist!
"So, I'm still in Qianyang Mountain!"
"I might even be close to Huangpo Village!"
But how could Qianyang Mountain be this vast in the underworld?
According to Granny Sha's Underworld Nine-Region Topographic Map, the scale of Qianyang Mountain in the underworld should be far smaller than the Dark Mountain!
"Qianyang, Dark Mountain, Yin and Yang..."
A thought flashed through Chen Shi's mind. The relationship between Qianyang Mountain and the Dark Mountain might not correspond geographically to the two realms of Yin and Yang!
But he had no time to think too much. His heart was filled with rage. Without a second thought, he rushed onto the white mist path, raised his hand, and activated his Fourth New Talisman. The Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain whirred to life and flew out from his arm, expanding to several acres in size, charging straight toward a bony claw.
"Swoosh!"
The Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain spun, burning the bony claw to charcoal. It continued along the thick forelimb, burning forward, illuminating the monster hidden in the mist. With a whoosh, it incinerated the forelimbs of the four-legged, ghost-headed monster to ash!
The monster looked terrified as it stared at Chen Shi, this little white bone skeleton.
A flash of lightning crackled beneath Chen Shi's feet, and in the next moment, he was in front of the monster's forehead. He threw a punch, and the monster's massive skull caved in. It crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, brain matter spilling everywhere!
"What are you doing?" Peng Ju shouted.
"It was eating people!" Chen Shi's anger hadn't subsided.
"That's livestock raised by the ghost gods!"
Peng Ju was terrified and anxious. "You've stirred up trouble!"
Chen Shi fumed. "The livestock it's raising are eating the souls of our people!"
"This is how the underworld works!"
Peng Ju rushed to his side, pulling him, trying to fly upward. He said hurriedly, "The souls of you people who fall into the underworld are like grass for grazing. They're always being eaten. It's been this way since ancient times."
"Is that so?"
Chen Shi was pulled into the air by him, feeling a pang of sorrow. He exerted force with his arm. Peng Ju couldn't lift him, and became angry. "It's always been this way! When you humans become ghosts, you're no longer human! You're grazing grass! Come with me quickly! The herding ghost gods are coming!"
Chen Shi's body didn't move. He pulled his hand back.
"I'm not leaving. When I was born human, I was never afraid."
Peng Ju was momentarily stunned, and then he heard this little skeleton's light but firm voice.
"Now that I am dead and become a ghost, why should I have any fear?"
"I want to see who dares to treat my human race as grazing grass!"
——
Zhai Zhu is unwell. After taking medicine, he felt drowsy and couldn't concentrate, almost falling asleep. There may only be one chapter tomorrow as well. Sorry about that.