Chapter 114: Fengdu Guest (IV)
The water of the Styx is like a piece of black silk, deep and shiny. The boat has now reached the center of the Styx, and the thick fog has dissipated and thinned, covering the river like a layer of gauze. The moon came out, and the hazy moonlight sprinkled on the sparkling river surface, just like someone sprinkled a handful of broken silver in the water.
The huge city gates, the rippling underworld waves, the bright moonlight, the dead ancient trees, the weeping new ghosts... everything looks so desolate, yet it cleverly forms a unique ecological system in the underworld.
But at this moment, Lu Ren had no intention of watching this spectacular sight that others could only see once in their lifetime - he was sitting at the stern with messy hair, staring at Bian Cheng who was leaning on the bow and laughing with sad eyes.
The crow that had made Lu Ren's hair look so miserable had already stopped fighting when the boatman shouted at it, and returned to the boatman's shoulder unwillingly. However, even though it stopped attacking, it still looked at Lu Ren and Bian Cheng with a covetous look.
It seemed like he was looking for an opportunity to kill with one blow.
Raven was just an ordinary crow in his lifetime, with a small brain. Although he couldn't figure out why there were two Bianchengs, it didn't stop him from fighting both of them.
Everyone must die!
Lu Ren, who couldn't even beat a bird, had just finished a battle and finally had a chance to catch his breath. He decided to lean against the side of the ship and rest up.
The boat used by the Styx ferryman was an ancient rowing boat, which was small and shallow, and the side of the boat just reached Lu Ren's armpits, like a handrail of moderate height. So Lu Ren put his hands on the side of the boat, rested his head on his empty fists, and looked down to see the scene in the Styx.
Who knew that this sight would make Lu Ren's scalp tingle instantly. What he saw swimming in the dark river were not fish, but densely packed human souls.
They were all dressed in white, with pale, bloodless faces, sinking to the bottom of the water. They all had their eyes open, staring at the surface of the Styx. Black hair was entangled on their faces and clothes like water grass, looking weird and ominous.
These souls are arranged neatly, with their heads facing the same direction. They are arranged in layers, with one layer of souls below another. The souls on the top layer are still wearing modern fashion clothes, and the next few layers have become clothes from the Republic of China period, and the next layers are dressed in clothes from all dynasties in order.
When Lu Ren suddenly saw this horrifying scene, he took a deep breath and then he was so scared that he hid back in the belly of the boat.
When Lu Ren was bending over to calm himself down, he heard Bian Cheng's breathless laughter.
It’s so infuriating!
Lu Ren prayed that Bian Cheng would die of laughter, but things in the world don't always go as planned. A minute later, Bian Cheng, who had laughed enough, was still safe and sound. He wiped the tears from his eyes and said to Lu Ren, "Don't worry, they can't hurt anyone. I don't know who spread the word that if there is someone you want to wait for, you can jump into the Styx and drift with the current for a thousand years. After that, you can be reborn with your memories and go find your lover from your previous life. So a few people jump in every year."
After listening to Bian Cheng's explanation, Lu Ren finally understood that the people drifting in the Styx were all infatuated lovers from ancient times to the present. It was really sad and lamentable. But he vaguely felt that something was wrong and couldn't help asking, "But I saw several people wearing Han Dynasty costumes. The Han Dynasty should be more than a thousand years old, right?"
Bian Cheng looked at Lu Ren with a look that said, "You don't believe it, do you?" and said, "Yes, that was a rumor in the first place. Erasing memories of one's previous life is the most important part of reincarnation, and there can be no room for error. How can it be allowed to go unpunished simply because of some boring emotions that evolved from human reproductive impulses?"
Before Lu Ren had time to speak, the boatman, who had been silent for a long time, spoke first.
The boatman had been entangled in the oars by the hair of these souls in the river for many years, and he was miserable. After listening to Bian Cheng's words, he couldn't help but complain: "Lord Hades is right. For so many years, both sides of the Styx have been troubled by these people who jump into the lake at will. It's strange, and I don't know who spread the rumors. There are really idiots who believe them! The most outrageous thing is humans, who actually think that love can move mountains and fill the sea, steal the sky and change the day, and the end of the world can be saved as long as two humans fall in love. How arrogant is this..."
Lu Ren was surprised to see the boatman, who was originally wearing a black robe and paddling honestly, with an unfathomable look but firmly serving as a background board, suddenly lose his character.
When talking about these wandering souls in the river, the boatman kept on complaining as if he had endless grievances to vent, and even started to curse at the end: "A bunch of #%￥%￥, why don't they just wander around somewhere else after they die, but they have to come to the Styx to pollute the environment #￥%%......"
It was obvious that the boatman had already begun to dislike humans. He looked particularly excited, and even sought Lu Ren's approval when he was angry. He said to Lu Ren with anger: "Mr. Hades, do you think humans are garbage?!"
Lu Ren mumbled his answer, shrinking his neck and not daring to speak, for fear that the boatman would discover that he was a human and kick him into the River Styx in a rage.
Fortunately, although the boatman cursed, he did not lose his mind and did not make any drastic movements on the boat. He finally rowed the boat to the other side safely in an orderly manner.
As soon as the two stepped onto the other side, the Styx ferryman rowed away again. The underworld was short of manpower, and he was the only ferryman on the huge Styx. If he didn't work quickly, the underworld road would be overcrowded with ghosts and blocked. However, despite being busy, the dead who rushed to cross the river would offer a lot of bribes, which also made the ferryman earn a lot of money.
"Save a little more." The hard-working boatman thought happily, "Then I can go to the Hall of Rebirth to redeem a good next life."
The sound of oars faded away, and only silence remained on this side.
The soil on this side of the Styx was very sticky, and it felt like stepping on a rotting corpse. Lu Ren tried his best not to think about what the ground was made of, and just followed Bian Cheng step by step.
However, just as he reached the gate of hell, Bian Cheng was blocked.
A fork and a halberd were crossed in front of Bian Cheng, clearly preventing him from moving forward. Lu Ren looked up and saw the Ox-Head and Horse-Face wearing armor. They were twice as tall as Lu Ren, wearing old armor. A piece of cloth was tied on the brim of their hats, hanging down from their foreheads, perfectly hiding their true faces. But even so, the outlines of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face exposed successfully revealed their identities.
Lu Ren was shocked: Isn’t this the legendary soul-catcher?
But this time the Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Demons are not here to take souls away. They are assigned to be on duty today to guard the gates of hell.
The Bull-Headed Horse turned to Bian Cheng and asked, "Lord Bian Cheng, the rule of the underworld is that the living cannot enter the netherworld. You should know this."
The dead are full of deathly smell, which smells like a mixture of cemetery soil and yellow paper ashes, revealing a smell of decay. The same is true for the living, so the two are easy to distinguish.
Bian Cheng did not feel any guilt for being caught doing something bad. He just said innocently, "Where did the living person come from?"
Of course, the Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Demons had dealt with the King of the Underworld in the Sixth Palace for many years and knew his character. He was a man who was only afraid of chaos in the world.
The Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced Demon said calmly without even a slight change in his tone: "The person behind you is still alive. He can deceive ordinary ghosts, but he cannot deceive my two brothers."
Bian Cheng said confidently, "What have I hidden from you? Can't you see that he has half of the Ghost King Seal on him? Since he holds the Ghost King Seal of the Sixth Palace, he is the real Lord of the Underworld of the Sixth Palace. Why are you stopping the Lord of the Underworld from returning to the City of the Dead?"
Unfortunately, Bian Cheng was right. The Ghost King Seal was the proof of the Underworld Lord. The one who held the seal was revered as the Ghost King by the entire Underworld. The ghosts in Hell were extremely vicious. But no one dared to disobey the Ghost King Seal. It was something that had been passed down from generation to generation by successive Underworld Lords since ancient times.
The ten kings of hell each control one of them.
The Ghost King Seal will usually only be passed on to the next Lord of the Underworld when he dies. Of course, the Lord of the Underworld lives as long as the heaven and earth, so it is not so easy for him to die. Since Pangu, only the most senior Lord Yama in the Fifth Hall has been replaced three thousand years ago.
Another exception is the Lord of Mount Tai in the Seventh Palace.
The Lord of Hell has lived a long life and has seen many human emotions, as well as the joys and sorrows of human relationships. If he does not cultivate some hobbies of his own, he will easily become too numb and intend to disperse his soul between heaven and earth. Therefore, the Lord of Hell in each hall has more or less some hobbies of his own.
But if your hobbies are not taken in moderation, it is easy to bring yourself trouble.
For example, the previous Lord of Mount Tai.
The previous Lord of Mount Tai was also a strange person, he liked to use ghosts to raise poisonous insects. He built his own private blood pond hell next to the blood basin hell, and every year he would pick out a few of the most vicious and evil ghosts in hell and throw them in, watching them sink and float in the sea of suffering and devour each other.
Hell is used to punish big sinners, so although his hobby is rare, it is not surprising.
However, who would have known that the private blood pool hell would explode in the 9,000th year after its construction.
How could the Lord of Mount Tai be happy without knowing the reason? He hurried to check it out himself, and found that the ghost Gu he raised had come out. The ghost Gu had been surging in the blood pool for nine thousand years, devouring countless evil ghosts, and had grown into a rare ghost king.
The unfortunate former Lord of Mount Tai was ultimately unable to defeat the pet he had raised and was swallowed alive.
Also eaten was the Ghost King Seal.
Based on the principle of recognizing the seal rather than the person, the ghost Gu automatically became the new Lord of Mount Tai.
However, the ghosts in the underworld had no choice but to recognize him. After all, he was an evil ghost who had truly fought his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. There were few ghosts in the underworld who could defeat him.
So the exchange of the Ghost King Seal does exist, it is just rare.
But it was the first time that the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Demon had seen someone like Bian Cheng break the Ghost King Seal in half. After all, it was the power of the King of Hell, and it was too late to cherish it, so who would be willing to damage it easily?
But since the person who did this was Bian Cheng, it seems to make sense.
After all, there is a consensus in the entire underworld: the man in the Sixth Palace is crazy at heart.
After thinking it over, the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Guard slowly put away their weapons and let the two men go inside.
Bian Cheng waved his hand, said frivolously, "Thank you," and walked inside.
But Lu Ren refused to leave. Although Bian Cheng had tricked the Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced Guards, Lu Ren only wanted to go back. Not only did Lu Ren not catch up with Bian Cheng, he also said to the Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced Guards righteously: "Help! I don't want to go in! I've been kidnapped! I want to go home!"
Bian Cheng: ???
