Chapter 74: Entering the Underworld
February 22 midnight
Shen Kuo looked at the monster carefully and found it was exactly the "bull-headed jailer" described in the notes of his predecessors.
"Who is trespassing into my underworld?" A loud shout came from the minotaur. "You hid in the dark and thought I couldn't see you? Haha, you don't want to take the easy way out in the world, but come to hell to enter?"
The monster came towards this side holding a steel fork, and the handle of the steel fork made a heavy sound as it rubbed against the ground.
Shen Kuo's feet were in pain and he didn't dare to get up. He didn't know if he could run fast at this moment, so he could only lie still on the ground, hoping that the monster didn't see him. However, he couldn't move at all, and his whole body was shaking like a sieve.
He suddenly realized one thing. He had misunderstood Yang Wei De. He was right in saying that the tower was built at the intersection of yin and yang. It was also true that some evil path leading to the underworld was suppressed under the tower. He must have been ignorant of the immensity of the world and accidentally entered hell. Now he was in big trouble.
You don't have to look up to feel that the Minotaur is approaching. Not only are the iron rings on the steel fork clanging, but you can even hear the heavy breathing getting closer.
Hiding where he was was nothing but deceiving himself, so he pulled himself together, stood up, and ran desperately towards the tower he had come from, hoping to find the door at the bottom of the tower and see if he could run back along the stairs.
"Grandma, stop the stranger who breaks in. Don't let him run away. Take him to the King of Hell to kill him and settle the account." Another loud shout came from behind, making the eardrums hurt.
He dragged his injured leg forward. The tower door that was faintly lit was right in front of him, but he saw a shadowy figure blocking the way. It looked like a huge rock, but it was clearly moving.
The "boulder" slowly stood up, staring at Shen Kuo with a pair of copper bell-like eyes. At first, the two could look at each other straight, but as the monster stood up, its body suddenly grew. Shen Kuo could only look up and confront it. It was holding an iron halberd, but unlike the bull head that was already close behind it, it did not have horns on its head, but had disheveled hair and a long donkey-like face.
"Want to run?" A rough and fierce woman's voice came from above, "I'm afraid Lord Yan won't allow it."
"Is it the horse-faced old woman?" Shen Kuo blurted out. At this moment, he was already scared out of his wits. He had already lost all his rationality.
Before this moment, he had never thought of such an absurd scene, that he would be able to see these two underworld officials while alive. Even though he had seen the so-called "bull-headed jailer" and "horse-faced old woman" on the stage, the couple of the underworld who seduced people, they were all played by people. He never thought that when he saw it in real life, it was as tall as a two-story building. The panting horse-faced old woman held the long halberd in both hands and walked slowly towards him. When he turned around, the bull-headed jailer holding the steel fork was not far behind him.
He didn't care about the pain in his knees, and turned around and ran out diagonally. The ox-headed jailer and the horse-faced old woman were not walking fast, and they came towards Shen Kuo together. He looked back and saw that the ox-headed jailer was much taller than the horse-faced jailer, even without counting the horns on his head.
In the darkness, Shen Kuo couldn't see the way forward at all. He kept stepping into ditches or kicking rocks. He couldn't run fast in the dark. He made up his mind and went back to the direction of the pagoda, hoping to use his speed to bypass the two clumsy monsters. However, when he got close, he was blocked by the two giant monsters. Their weapons were too long, and it was difficult to bypass them from the side. He was timid for a moment and didn't dare to force his way in. He could only run towards the only light. There was always the lingering sound of chanting in his ears. He didn't know where it came from, but he felt that the sound went into his heart, like the sound of Sanskrit entering his body, and it greatly increased the horror of this hell.
The two red lights were getting closer and closer, and they were getting brighter and brighter in front of him. There seemed to be a wall in front of him, and the two red lights were floating on the wall. He didn't care about being afraid, and he ran towards the two red lights like a moth desperately flying into a flame. He no longer had the luxury of thinking about what to do next.
The ox-headed jailer and the horse-faced old woman behind him laughed coldly and did not chase him too closely, as if they were watching him fall into their trap with a smile. He realized something was wrong, and saw two red lights rising in front of him. The outline of the huge skeleton and face was already clear. How could it be a lantern? It was clearly the skeleton of a dragon. It was coiled there, looking down at him.
The sound of chanting incessantly lingered in his ears. He felt that he had completely fallen into the Avici Hell. Since there was nowhere to hide, he might as well accept his fate. During the stalemate with the dragon, two cold lights rose from behind the giant dragon skeleton. It was much larger than the dragon bones, and the cold light reflected a terrifying pale human face. This human face was indifferent and rigid, and chains fell on both sides of the face.
He felt that it was the gigantic Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva looking down upon him, so strange and solemn, so imposing without even getting angry. Looking back, the two minions of hell were approaching calmly.
He knew he had no way out, so he decided to give up the fearless escape. After all, he hadn't done anything immoral, so if he was caught, he probably wouldn't be fryed in oil.
Then he heard someone calling him from the darkness: "Don't stop, come this way."
The voice was distant and slow. When it slowly floated into Shen Kuo's consciousness, the horse-faced demon who arrived first had already swung his halberd to stab him. It seemed that he was not prepared to follow the procedure and take people to the underworld for interrogation first.
Shen Kuo recognized that it was Huai Liang's voice - yes, he shouldn't have heard it wrong.
This former teacher, old friend, and evildoer hiding in the dark, is he still trustworthy now? He didn't waste time on this question and turned to go into the darkness. The horse-faced warrior behind him stabbed the air with his halberd. Not only did she move slowly, but she also didn't move fast.
"Quick, this way." Huailiang's figure was in front, but he could not see him. However, Shen Kuo followed him without hesitation. In addition to having no principles, he also believed in this person.
The sound of water gradually came to my ears, and the sound of chanting Buddha's name that penetrated my brain gradually disappeared. The two hell minions behind me did not catch up with me. They seemed to be more afraid of the darkness. The face of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva hanging in the air turned to the side, as if he had forgotten the intruder and did not stare at this place closely.
Shen Kuo stumbled forward, not caring about running into a waist-deep cold river, and even forgetting the pain from the wounds on his hands and feet.
Gradually, there was light in front of us. It was no longer a light hanging in the air, but a stream of water that was faintly glowing.
A monk in white robes stood by the river in front of him. It was Huailiang. He was still a little fatter, but he was wearing the same monk's robes.
Shen Kuo waded forward and climbed onto the shore.
The monk stood there with a mask thrown at his feet.
Shen Kuo walked closer and the monk turned around.
"master……"
"I didn't expect you to come here. Amitabha, it seems that there is no turning back."
"I……"
"No need to say. They will be here soon. If you want to stay alive, just follow this spring and you will reach the ground."
"This is Huangquan. Can you, Huangquan, still reach the ground?"
"Let's go quickly, or you won't be able to escape." The monk shook his head.
"and you?"
"No need to ask me, just go, and it's better not to come back. When you come back, it will be the time when I go to hell. Alas..." The monk sighed bitterly.
Just as Shen Kuo was about to ask further questions, he heard a noisy sound coming from the direction he had just come from, as well as the faint flickering of fire and the presence of people.
"They are coming." The monk said calmly.
"Is it a ghost from the underworld?"
"If you don't leave now, you will really die here."
Shen Kuo did not dare to hesitate. He jumped into the shallow "Yellow Spring" and walked forward. After walking a few steps, he looked back and saw the monk still standing there. He probably guessed that Shen Kuo was full of questions, so he put his hands together and chanted: "If I don't go to hell, who will?"
Shen Kuo turned around and ran forward desperately, running towards the light in front. The pain in his knees was much better, and he sped up his pace, leaving the noise behind him. Unknowingly, he was in a patch of water grass. The water was up to his chest, and it was difficult to stand on the bottom of the water. He had to paddle with both hands to move forward. When he looked up again, the dim moonlight was already overhead. Looking back, he saw a dark cave entrance. He thought to himself: Did I escape from hell from here? I only heard that people who were taken to the underworld to suffer after death could not come back. Who would have thought that not only would I go there alive, but I could also escape?
Suddenly, he felt his blood boiling, a fishy smell in his throat, and a mouthful of blood was gushing up. He knew that he had overdrawn too much energy, and the cold river water might make him faint. He swam forward slowly, climbed ashore or at least found someone to hold on to, to avoid falling into the water and drowning. At this time, the water was up to his neck, and he saw a row of boats parked in the moonlight in front of him. He swam to the side of the boat with his last consciousness, and when he used his hands to support himself to get on the boat, he could no longer hold on. He lost consciousness after only half of his body climbed into the cabin, and fell headfirst, falling on something that was neither soft nor hard.
In the fragmented dream, the hellish ghosts chasing after me along the Yellow Springs were waving their steel forks behind me, almost catching me. But I escaped into the light. The blue light enveloped me and saved me. The light gradually became dazzling and cold, like lying on floating ice. This time, there was no warm little fox to crawl into my arms. The coldness continued.
February 22, noon
He finally woke up and found himself lying in a pile of burlap bags.
When he stood up from the sack full of millet, he startled the boatman. The boatmen were joking that the millet sent to Hebei was old and moldy, and as soon as the weather got warm, bugs as big as rice grains would come out. The northerners from Liao State actually paid twice as much as in previous years to buy it. Isn't that stupid?
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, a living person in tattered clothes, not just the size of a grain of rice, crawled out from the pile of old millet and stood in front of everyone.
The boatmen who were boiling water at the bow were all in the dark. They had loaded the grain onto the boat a day in advance, and were only waiting for the Wuzhang River Canal Gate in the north of the city to open before heading north into the canal all the way to Hebei. No one checked the grain in the morning, but they didn't know that there was a person lying inside.
"Where is this place?" Shen Kuo asked loudly.
"Who are you?"
"Why ask who I am? I just want to know where this place is." Although he was covered in wounds and his clothes were torn like a beggar, at this moment he put his hands on his hips and his voice rose, which was quite impressive.
"This is the Bian River, 40 miles outside of Tokyo City." The boatman said timidly. He could sense Shen Kuo's authority, which didn't seem fake. These common people were naturally a little scared, although they didn't understand who this person was.
"Hurry up and take me back?"
"Sir, this is the Bian River. How can the boat turn around and take you back? We can only dock and let you go ashore. You can hire a car to go back by yourself. Is that feasible?"
"What are you making so much noise for? Come to the shore quickly." Shen Kuo shouted.
"It's not possible here either. Look at these grain-carrying ships, they are connected end to end, and we can't untie one of them. We can only wait until noon, when the boatmen in front stop to eat, and then we can let you go ashore."
Shen Kuo looked around and saw that the boats in the canal were indeed connected to each other, and were only pulled by the boatmen in front. He sighed and sat down on the sack. The two boatmen asked him a few more questions about who he was and how he got on the boat, but he turned a deaf ear to them and did not answer them. He was stuck in his own questions again.
The scenes from last night flashed through his mind quickly, including the last words Huailiang said as he stood on the shore: "If I don't go to hell, who will?"
He thought about it several times and finally figured it out. Hell obviously does not exist. Huailiang's final sentiment was nothing more than a reference to something else. The answer to everything was already clear.
After a while, the fleet finally stopped. He hurried ashore and hired a carriage to go to Tokyo.
At 5 p.m., he finally returned to Lao Ya Lane. As soon as he reached the door, he ran into Xu Chong rushing out, and the two almost bumped into each other.
Xu Chong raised his whip and was about to scold the beggar for daring to bump into the officer, but he found that the man in front of him looked familiar.
"Could it be Brother Shen? Oh... You made me spend a whole day and night looking for you. Where have you been? Mr. Bao is so worried that you have been eaten by a monster."
"Xu Jieji, hurry up and talk inside."
The two men entered the yard. Shen Kuo simply fetched a bucket of water from the well and washed his face. He did not have time to go upstairs to change clothes, so he pulled Xu Chong to the corner of the yard.
"Without delay, go to the Military Headquarters and request two teams of soldiers. One team will surround the Kai Pagoda. The other team will find a ditch with spring water flowing out of it at the Wuzhang River in the north of the city where the grain ships are parked. We must guard it tightly and not let anyone get out."
"Why?"
"I don't have time to elaborate. I suspect that the Maitreya sect's lair in the city is right under the tower."
"Well, did you wait for Master Huailiang yesterday? Is he related to this matter?"
"I did wait for him last night, but I don't know whether he is involved or not. I have to wait until I see him and ask him in detail. Just go to my husband and ask for soldiers to guard those two places immediately. Don't move. Just keep your hands out and don't let anyone out. Just wait for me."
"You're going out again?"
"Yes, I have to go to Xiangguo Temple to see if Huailiang is still there."
Shen Kuo did not dare to explain too much. As the saying goes, too much talk leads to mistakes. He did not want to implicate the monk. He left Xu Chong, who was confused, to the backyard to get his horse, jumped on it and galloped towards Daxiangguo Temple. In fact, he had already answered most of the questions he had about Huai Liang. At this moment, he just wanted to ask the last question in person: "Why do you do this?"
