Chapter 112: Fengdu Guest (Part 2)
After hearing what Bian Cheng said, Lu Ren immediately realized what he meant: "Are you trying to catch me to take your place?"
Bian Cheng shook his head and explained to Lu Ren seriously, "How can you say it's a substitute? I'm clearly giving you the authority of the Lord of Hell. It's a supreme honor and an opportunity that other humans dream of but never get."
Being able to describe the substitute job in such a refreshing and refined way, Bian Cheng can be considered a natural born capitalist and a master of empty promises.
However, although Bian Cheng made the conditions sound so tempting, Lu Ren had been a worker for many years after all, and he had seen all kinds of cakes. This cake was hard to swallow at first glance, the kind that could choke someone to death.
Refuse to make empty promises, start with me.
So Lu Ren decisively rejected Bian Cheng and said, "Although you look anxious, I have to go to work on Monday and can't help you. You should find another human who is interested in this authority. I don't want to be deducted from my salary again for absenteeism."
Bian Cheng smiled even more happily: "No, I have already chosen you. And don't worry, even if you become the Lord of Hell, you will not be absent from work on Monday."
"You won't be absent from work?"
Lu Ren was shocked when he heard this: "Could it be that Bian Cheng's job is actually very simple? Impossible, if it was really that simple, he wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to come to the human world to capture able-bodied men... Could it be that Zhou Baopi wanted to trick me into running around?"
Just when Lu Ren was thinking about it, Bian Cheng spoke.
Bian Cheng had no intention of hiding his plan. After all, since Lu Ren got on the bus, he couldn't run away. Now, it would be fine even if he told Lu Ren all the plans. After all, he was just a mortal and couldn't pass through the Nine Netherworld barrier to pass the message to the outside.
Bian Cheng said: "The thing I'm looking for in the human world this time is in the Alien Household Registration Bureau, so naturally I need a safe identity to get in."
As he spoke, Bian Cheng's appearance began to change. His height suddenly shrank by two or three inches, becoming the same height as Lu Ren. His slender eyebrows became soft and round, and the color of his pupils also became lighter.
In just a moment, Bian Cheng turned into exactly the same as Lu Ren.
Lu Ren was stunned. The person standing opposite him was dressed differently from himself, and it was like he was looking in a mirror.
At this point, how could Lu Ren still not understand: "You want to pretend to be me and sneak in?!"
Of course, Lu Ren could not agree to this plan. The true identity of the person in front of him was still under consideration, and it was not clear whether he was an enemy or a friend. Even if he was from the Jiuyou Realm Division and a public official as Bian Cheng said, it could not prove that he would not harm the Foreign Household Registration Bureau. Since Lu Ren had come into contact with the people from the Shanjian City Realm Division, he had been extremely vigilant against the people from the other Realm Divisions. After all, he had personally experienced the undercurrents between the Realm Divisions.
Lu Renke had no way of predicting the future and had no way of knowing whether the sudden appearance of Bian Cheng would be detrimental to the Foreign Household Registration Investigation Bureau.
Therefore, Lu Ren categorically rejected Bian Cheng's idea: "I don't agree."
But Bian Cheng did not show any displeasure after being rejected. He still kept smiling, but the words he said were chilling: "You seem to have made a mistake. I am not asking for your consent." It was obviously the same face, but Bian Cheng looked unpredictable, and one could not help but feel in awe.
After saying that, Bian Cheng motioned Lu Ren to look at the scenery outside the bus.
Although Lu Ren couldn't guess, he still hesitantly turned his head and looked out the window through the front windshield of the bus.
The scene outside the window shocked Lu Ren.
It was clearly afternoon when he got on the bus, and the two of them only talked for a few minutes, no more than five minutes in total.
At this moment, outside the window, there was a sunset. The huge red sun was setting at an abnormally high speed, and soon all the light was instantly collected on the other side of the world. Thousands of lights gathered in one second, brilliant but also extremely short-lived.
This dusk scene lasted only a moment, and soon, the world fell into darkness. As darkness approached, the bus automatically turned on its lights.
Through the not-so-bright headlights, you can see that the bus is driving on a road. This road is not wide and is a one-way street. On both sides of the road stand countless five- or six-story old buildings, which are almost built right next to the road. Their presence makes the already narrow road look even more cramped. In the night, these buildings with dark outlines make the environment even more depressing and uncomfortable.
Most of these buildings are made of reinforced concrete, but the doors and windows are all black holes, without aluminum alloy doors and windows, and they look abandoned for a long time. There are electric poles standing at regular intervals on both sides of the road. In the starless and moonless night, the old-fashioned street lamps on the poles are the only light source besides the bus lights.
Lu Ren recognized this road, this was the city he had seen when he was very young. More than 20 years later, with the demolition and development going on at the same time, this road and these buildings were no longer what they used to be.
Lu Ren looked at everything in front of him in amazement, muttering, "How is this possible? This place should have ceased to exist a long time ago."
Bian Cheng was also looking out the window with great interest at this moment. He even whistled and commented, "Oh? So your vagina looks like this."
Bian Cheng mentioned a word that Lu Ren had never heard of: "Yinlu?"
Bian Cheng replied: "Yes, after a person dies, before going to the gates of hell, he has to walk the Yin Road. Different people see different Yin Roads, which are generally related to the deceased's experiences in his previous life."
Lu Ren was stunned after hearing what Bian Cheng said: "You mean, I'm dead?"
Bian Cheng laughed again when he heard that. He said to Lu Ren in a relaxed tone, "Not yet."
But Bian Cheng's words not only failed to comfort Lu Ren, but the hidden meaning in his words made Lu Ren even more panicked: "Not yet...what does that mean?"
Is it almost time?
Bian Cheng did not rush to answer Lu Ren. Instead, he slowly walked to the seat closest to the door and sat down calmly.
Seeing that Lu Ren didn't move, he invited Lu Ren to sit with him: "You're welcome, sit wherever you want. This road is not short, and the car will take a long time."
Lu Ren just stood by the car door, looking at Bian Cheng with a frown, neither responding to his words nor making any movement.
Bian Cheng continued to persuade him: "Sit down. Once the door is closed, even a Daluo Jinxian can't open it. Don't waste your energy. If you listen and sit down, I can still tell you about this Yin Road."
Lu Ren knew that his life was now in Bian Cheng's hands. And Lu Ren's only trump card, A Bing, had now turned into a crying monster who could only cry in his arms.
The situation couldn't get any worse, so he might as well listen to how much information Bian Cheng could reveal. So after repeated consideration, Lu Ren finally decided to sit next to Bian Cheng.
However, even though the bus was traveling on a shady road, it was still a bit bumpy.
Just as Lu Ren was about to reach the seat closest to the door, the bus body shook violently, causing Lu Ren to lose his balance. In order to stabilize his body, Lu Ren held onto the seat back. The feel of the seat back surprised Lu Ren.
The backrest was not made of plastic at all, it was actually made of paper.
Lu Ren was so scared that he suddenly let go, but the bus was still shaking and Lu Ren fell to the ground. He touched the floor of the bus, which was also made of paper.
This car is actually made entirely of paper? Isn't that... something for the dead?
"So am I alive? Or dead?" In an instant, Lu Ren felt cold sweat running down his back. He was frozen like a rabbit hiding under the nose of a predator, not daring to move.
Just when Lu Ren was at a loss, Bian Cheng's voice came: "Did you find out? Don't panic, this is the public vehicle used by the Jiuyou Realm to pick up and drop off souls. It's made of paper because it's cheaper. Don't be afraid."
As he spoke, Bian Cheng stretched out his hand towards Lu Ren, pretending to pull him up.
Lu Ren avoided Bian Cheng's hand and stood up without saying a word. He had received too many shocks today, and he collapsed on the bus seat with a numb face.
Seeing that Lu Ren was so frightened that his face turned pale and his soul was already out of his body , Bian Cheng finally stopped teasing him and explained to him: "Don't worry, you are still alive."
After hearing the news, Lu Rencai, who had been stiff, finally reacted. He turned and looked at Bian Cheng's face that looked exactly like his, as if trying to analyze whether what Bian Cheng said was true or false from his cynical expression.
Bian Cheng knew that Lu Ren had doubts about what he said, so he shrugged and said, "Believe it or not, it's up to you. The Nine Nether Realm has never taken the souls of people whose life span has not yet ended in the Book of Life and Death."
After hearing this, Lu Ren felt that the three souls and six spirits that had just gathered in his head and were running around had finally returned to their places, and he immediately calmed down.
"Since I'm not dead, why are you using a paper car to take me to the underworld?"
"Didn't I tell you everything? This car is the bus of Jiuyou Jiesi. I borrowed it from Qin Guang. The more money you save, the better. As for Yinlu... If you want to go to Jiuyou, Yinlu is the only way. You must take this road."
Lu Ren understood what Bian Cheng meant, that the scary atmosphere was purely coincidental, and that he had no intention of scaring Lu Ren. But when Lu Ren looked at Bian Cheng's face, which looked like he was enjoying the fun, he knew he was lying, and that he was doing it on purpose.
Seeing that Bian Cheng looked confident, Lu Ren had to reiterate his position: "Stop the car, I want to go home."
Bian Cheng said, "Even if I really stopped the car, you couldn't go home. If you force yourself to get off the car on the dark road, you won't be able to reach the human world at all. You will only be eaten by lonely ghosts."
“Besides—” Bian Cheng’s expression became serious. He looked straight ahead, as if he could see far away through the windshield of the bus, and then said, “The road to the afterlife cannot be turned back. This is the destiny of heaven and earth.”
