"No! You’ve died already, how can you still cling to the mortal world?" Xian Qianling moved the token in her hand, and it actually made the "clang clang" sound of iron chains!
Xian Qianling unexpectedly made a decisive rejection of Xian Qianzhong. But upon closer thought, it made sense, after all, they were siblings, and she was afraid that once Xian Qianzhong showed any semblance of that childlike deanor of life-and-death parting, she, as his sister, would be unable to conceal her turmoil.
"Let’s go, you’re not alone on the Netherworld Road because soone else will accompany you."
"What!?" Xian Qianzhong’s face changed dramatically, and he demanded loudly, "Who, who is it!?"
Because, just like him, his grandfather, Great Grandfather, and father had also gotten drunk to oblivion!
"When you get there, you’ll know."
Xian Qianling was more familiar with the terrain here than you, she walked ahead, Xian Qianzhong was in the middle, and you followed behind.
Xian Qianling’s pace was faster than yours, and she quickly went upstairs.
Xian Qianzhong, on the other hand, seed sowhat desolate, his steps were very heavy, and you all went straight through a door, into Lord Xian’s room.
By now, Lord Xian’s soul had already been summoned by Xian Qianling.
Compared to Xian Qianzhong, Lord Xian seed much more composed, maintaining his usual faint smile. Looking at Xian Qianzhong coming in, he only let out a light sigh, and said, "Let’s go."
"Mm."
The grandson and grandfather exchanged a look, their faces reflecting an emotion hard to sever.
Xian Qianling turned to look at you, and you picked up the token in hand, drawing a circle in front of you in the air. Then, a hole resembling a spatial tunnel appeared before you all.
You strode into it, with Lord Xian and Xian Qianzhong following. Xian Qianling glanced around, and when she entered the tunnel, the void slowly dissipated into the air.
First ca utter darkness.
Even if you stretched out your hand in front of your eyes, the darkness was so complete that you couldn’t see your fingers.
There were no sounds from the surrounding environnt, no chirping insects or birds, no gentle breeze brushing against the face, only darkness, an infinite expanse of it.
Gradually, specks of light appeared in front of you, scattered and mottled. They floated up from the ground, circling around you.
Walking, as the sight slowly returned, what appeared before you all was a narrow mountain path.
The path, paved with bluestones, stretched ahead; on both sides were depressions in the mountains, sparsely dotted with trees, forming dark silhouettes. Now and again, you could see white floating shadows between the trees.
You kept walking down the bluestone road, this seemingly endless path going downward, with the scenery unchanging all along the way.
No sound, no wind, no moonlight, no stars, nothing...
"Ahem, that is, Brother Ghost, where are we now?" Xian Qianzhong asked, speaking up to you walking ahead.
Without an answer, you turned your head and asked Xian Qianzhong, "What do you think?"
"This... this couldn’t be the Netherworld Road, could it?"
Hearing this, you couldn’t help but let out a slight smile while raising your voice in song, its sonorous lody wandering and drifting down the silent mountain path—
"Rember this journey of affectionate words, love deep as the ocean, imasurable in thought,
Even knowing today turns to dreams, on the Netherworld Road, I thank you for the love bestowed.
A thousand descriptions can’t complete the tale, I urge you to never look back toward ho,
Thinking is futile, pondering is empty, a century ends and all becos a tomb.
Do not recall the splendid scenes of yesteryears, throw your yearnings into the sea’s embrace,
Even if a thousand years bring one reincarnation, the lights of ten thousand hos will have faded away.
In the mountains, rare is the sight of the Child Year Tree (Note 1), in the world, hard it is to retain a centenarian,
Since ancient tis, no man has known a thousand days of good fortune, nor has a beautiful flower blood for a hundred days,
Everyone loves the splendors of the world, yet our fates are inevitably determined by Yan Wang.
..."
The Netherworld Road snakes and winds, with seven bends and nine steep slopes, the road stretches on endlessly; looking ahead, it is long and unending...
Not knowing how long you have walked, you slowly ca to a halt.
Seeing the leading figure stop, Xian Qianzhong and Lord Xian exchanged glances. The forr asked you, "Brother Ghost, why have you stopped?"
Without speaking, you simply tilted your head slightly upwards.
Before your eyes appeared an archway, an archway so dilapidated it could not possibly be more so,
As you lifted your eyes toward the archway, a very strange sensation washed over your entire body.
"This... is this the Ghost Gate?"
Indeed, Xian Qianzhong was not mistaken; the structure before you was the Ghost Gate, for on the archway, there were three characters, eroded by ti and barely legible—Ghost Gate.
Of course, this was also your first ti seeing the Ghost Gate; before coming, you had imagined many shapes it might take, but upon arriving, you found it to be much different from what you had envisioned.
To say it was the Ghost Gate, there actually wasn’t much to it, rely an archway erected on the road, its two-hundred-year-old pillars standing aside the Bluestone Road, its center was vacant, seemingly allowing passage for anyone.
Yet curiously, from your angle, the road beyond the archway appeared twisted.
However, you did not linger too long; you raised the token in your hand and walked straight toward the archway.
After the four of you smoothly passed through the Ghost Gate, and moved forward about ten ters more, you noticed that the path was no longer sloping downwards but instead encountered a small hillside that you now had to ascend.
Once you stood on the hillside, a gust of wind carrying the scent of flowers brushed against your faces.
"This..."
"This is the Three Origins River."
Standing on the hillside, gazing out, a river as vast as the sea unfolded before you.
The river seed boundless; even from your vantage point on the hill, the opposite shore was out of sight.
Along the riverbank blood red spider lilies, also known as Red Spider Lilies, and the fragrance within the wind was the scent of these flowers.
"Let’s go, we must not miss the appointed ti."
You noticed Xian Qianling seed captivated by the scenery before her and couldn’t help but remind her.
Unlike before, on the descent from the hill, you encountered many people, no, to be exact, many souls.
There was a dock on the banks of the Three Origins River, with many boats moored nearby. The closer you got to the dock, the more souls you encountered.
These souls all walked with their heads down and staggered steps. Oddly enough, most of them were not escorted by Ghosts, and those who were emitted a much stronger Ghost Qi.
"Brother Kan, it’s rare indeed to see you here by the Three Origins River."
At that mont, a fierce-looking Ghost escorting a burly middle-aged soul walked over.
Without waiting for you to speak, Xian Qianzhong suddenly approached the middle-aged soul: "Old Xiao, you... you’re dead too!"
The surna Xiao’s middle-aged soul then slowly lifted his head. When he saw Xian Qianzhong clearly, he exclaid in shock, "Qianzhong? What are you doing here? You were in such good health."
"Ah, don’t ntion it." Xian Qianzhong had always been in good physical shape, but the truth proved him to be dead, most likely from alcohol poisoning.
"Old Chief, you’ve co as well?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)