Chapter 11
The Netherworld is different from the human world.
There’s no concept of a sky here; naturally, you can’t see the sun, moon, or stars.
Except for the small area visible, it’s misty everywhere, making it difficult to see clearly.
There’s also no wind.
Often, little ghosts carrying chains bring back souls, or are preparing to collect souls.
They come and go frequently.
The mist obscures the vision, making it impossible to see their exact appearance, only a vague outline, making it difficult to distinguish their gender.
“Consider them your colleagues,” Luo Wenshu joked, holding Luo Xingyu’s hand as they walked through the mist.
The feeling underfoot wasn’t the firmness of human land; it was like walking on clouds.
Luo Xingyu’s face was wooden; he didn’t know how to respond.
He suddenly felt a little regret, the thought “Staying home alone wouldn’t have been so bad” popping into his mind.
“The Netherworld and the human world are two different worlds. On the surface, the boundary is clear, but in reality, it’s not. There are countless boundaries between them…” Luo Wenshu calmly explained some unconventional common sense to Luo Xingyu.
This child has excellent innate potential, almost catching up to the former Luo Wenshu. He’s undoubtedly a top-notch cultivation talent.
It’s just a matter of his aptitude.
But judging from the present, he’s only five years old and already so intelligent and insightful; his future will surely be bright.
In the strange memories Luo Wenshu had additionally received, Luo Xingyu would embark on the path of cultivation in the future, and after overcoming countless hardships and trials, eventually reach the peak.
If those images were indeed a glimpse of the future, then the human emissary status Luo Wenshu had obtained from Xie Fei, the White Constable, would be a great opportunity for Luo Xingyu.
It doesn’t matter if it’s false. If Luo Xingyu only wants to be an ordinary person, he just needs to return the seal.
As for these experiences, let’s consider them a bizarre and fantastical dream.
“…We’re here,” Luo Wenshu suddenly stopped.
Luo Xingyu, who had been listening intently, was startled.
In the dim light, Luo Wenshu began to manipulate the seal, a green light appearing, and then the Ghost Gate reappeared.
She put the seal back around Luo Xingyu’s neck and held his hand, walking towards the Ghost Gate.
Passing through the gate, they returned to the human world.
Dark clouds obscured the moon, leaving only a faint silvery glow outlining the edges of the clouds.
The surroundings were pitch black; Luo Xingyu couldn’t see anything.
He only heard the howling wind overhead and the rustling of plants and trees.
“Mom…” Luo Xingyu was a little scared, instinctively gripping Luo Wenshu’s hand tighter.
“Close your eyes,” Luo Wenshu said, her right index and middle fingers together, spiritual energy floating above them. She quickly and gently swept a line across Luo Xingyu’s eyelids.
“Okay, you can open them now,” she said.
Luo Xingyu tried to open his eyes.
The surrounding scenery appeared before his eyes in a strange state.
It was as if he were seeing it in bright daylight, even clearer.
Luo Xingyu was curious. After quickly scanning his surroundings, he softly asked, “Mom, where are we?”
They seemed to be in a forest, surrounded by tall trees and lush weeds and vines, with no trace of human activity.
“At the foot of a mountain in the southern suburbs,” Luo Wenshu said, taking out her phone, turning on the screen to show Luo Xingyu the digital clock. “Two minutes, from the city to the suburbs. This is one of the benefits of the human emissary seal.”
Cultivators with high cultivation could also achieve this with the “Shrinking the Earth” technique.
But her current body has no cultivation, so she has to borrow power.
“However, accurately locating the corresponding coordinates between the human world and the Netherworld is a slightly difficult problem.”
“This time, it was actually a failed case. I’m not very familiar with this area, so the location wasn’t very accurate. The Ghost Gate didn’t open precisely next to Jin Youqian, only nearby.”
Luo Wenshu didn’t hide her mistake.
Luo Xingyu seemed to understand vaguely.
Much later, after he actually came into contact with other cultivators, he realized that Luo Wenshu’s seemingly ordinary words were the ultimate display of wealth and status in the eyes of others.
Of course, that’s a story for another time.
A ringtone rang in the midnight forest; it was Luo Wenshu calling Jin Youqian on WeChat.
The other side answered almost instantly.
“Master!!!” Although he hadn’t seen her yet, Jin Youqian’s tone was as excited as if he’d been saved.
“Calm down, I hear you; I’m coming,” Luo Wenshu said and hung up.
She had set the coordinates near Jin Youqian; making the call was merely to capture his voice to pinpoint his location.
She took Luo Xingyu’s hand and walked to the front right. Where they passed, the plants and trees automatically parted to make a small path.
Soon, she saw Jin Youqian.
A tall man of 1.8 meters, with long arms and legs, was now trying to shrink himself, crouching in a small and dilapidated stone house.
His carefully styled yellow hair was a mess, with various grasses and leaves stuck in it.
His face was dirty, his clothes were too, wrinkled and torn in several places.
He looked as haggard as could be; he could go begging with a stainless steel bowl.
There was another person next to him, similarly tall and strong, also crouching in the stone house, visibly injured.
The two were whispering.
Luo Wenshu looked away from them to the stone house.
Jin Youqian’s luck wasn’t bad; he arrived here before the amulet shattered.
It was a temple, common in the countryside years ago. Some were made of stone, some of wood, and even tree hollows or small caves; they housed statues of the Earth God.
These temples didn’t have dedicated caretakers; the offerings were random, anything could be placed there.
With rural urbanization in recent years, roads and houses were built everywhere, these temples had almost disappeared.
Along with them, the gods inside disappeared.
Yes, there were gods in the temples.
They exist in people’s beliefs, sustained by human incense offerings, which is also the source of their power.
The more people believe, the more sincere their hearts, the stronger they become.
The opposite is also true.
The stone temple where Jin Youqian is now hiding once also housed a god, but it has dissipated.
Only a faint candle flame remains, emitting a faint light barely able to repel evil and protect living beings.
It could extinguish at any time.
A thought flashed through Luo Wenshu’s eyes, then she withdrew her gaze and came before Jin Youqian.
“Hello.”
————————
Jin Youqian was whispering to Wen Ge, “I don’t know when Master will come…”
Before he finished speaking, a calm voice sounded.
This was the voice he’d been waiting for countless times tonight. When it actually sounded, it felt unreal; he wondered if he was dreaming.
“M-Master?!”
“It’s me.” With the voice, a light shone down.
Luo Wenshu had turned on her flashlight.
Facing the light, Jin Youqian felt like crying, “Master! You’re finally here, woohoo!”
Wen Ge was hesitant. Along the way, he had learned about the Master from Jin Youqian, but the latter hadn’t told him that the Master was a seemingly frail woman, and she was even holding a small child!
He had imagined the master as an old man in a long robe and Taoist attire, with white hair and beard, looking like a fairy.
Or a monk in a Kasaya, with a shaved head and a brand, a kind-faced monk.
But then again, in the middle of the night, in the wilderness, a woman and a child dared to come; they weren’t ordinary people.
“We agreed on WeChat; this will require additional payment,” Luo Wenshu didn’t have much sympathy for a twenty-something-year-old, taking a businesslike attitude. “Getting you out of here is 18,888, plus 8,888 for travel expenses, totaling 27,776. You’re a returning customer; I’ll round it down to 26,666.”
“If you want to deal with the thing that attacked you, the starting price is 28,888; the final amount will depend on the situation after I find it.”
“Choose.”
Wen Ge’s mind was filled with 88,888…
Jin Youqian chose the second option almost without hesitation, “I want to know why!”
Although ghosts don’t need a reason to harm people, Jin Youqian knew Yu Zhen well. They had met several times before; he had courted her, so why did she choose today to attack him?
Luo Wenshu nodded, “Fine, I’ll find out.”
Although what harmed Jin Youqian wasn’t nearby, its aura remained. Luo Wenshu formed hand seals and used a special tracking method, quickly determining its approximate location.
“Let’s go,” she said, taking Luo Xingyu’s hand and walking ahead.
Jin Youqian called Wen Ge, turned on his flashlight, and followed quickly.
Soon, a familiar wooden gate appeared in sight.
Jin Youqian froze, “…How did we get back here?”
He clearly remembered that he and Wen Ge had first escaped by car, then escaped on foot, almost exhausted before reaching their hiding place.
How long had it been? Five minutes?
How did they get back here?
“Illusion,” Luo Wenshu roughly understood his confusion, using one word to explain it.
Jin Youqian had thought the ghostly hands from the ground and other similar encounters were illusions. He hadn’t expected that everything was an illusion from the beginning.
Luo Wenshu continued, “Time in the illusion is different from reality. Look at your phone.”
Jin Youqian hadn’t paid attention to the time. After she reminded him, he glanced at it, then froze, “…It’s only 12:10 AM???”
He clearly remembered that when he arrived, he saw Yu Zhen, around midnight. After so much happened, he escaped, and it only took ten minutes?
No, not even ten minutes. It took about five minutes to walk with the Master, plus the time waiting for her…
In that case, the incredibly long and terrifying experience, during which he almost lost his life, was only two or three minutes??
“Tell me what happened,” Luo Wenshu ignored Jin Youqian’s surprise. Looking at the burned-down gate, she asked.
Jin Youqian suppressed his surprise and quickly recounted what had happened.
Luo Wenshu instantly grasped the key point, “Trying to lure you into this gate at midnight…”
Behind the gate, it seemed like nothing, a barren wilderness.
But it wasn’t. You must cross it to truly enter.
This is a special domain. The aura Luo Wenshu was tracking disappeared here, clearly having gone inside.
She wasn’t sure what the situation inside was.
Normally, ghosts who possess a domain are rare and powerful.
But Luo Wenshu could clearly feel that the owner of that aura was very weak.
Otherwise, even with her amulet, Jin Youqian wouldn’t have lasted that long.
Furthermore, a true malevolent ghost wouldn’t fear the faint light left by a dissipated god.
“Master?” Jin Youqian called cautiously.
“Let’s go, let’s take a look,” Luo Wenshu said calmly.
She wanted to see what was inside.
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