In the middle of the lifeless sea, a flat boat floated quietly.
It was quiet because the people on the boat were obviously rowing, but the oars fell into the water and there was no sound.
There are three people in the boat; the two at the front and back were dressed in black and paddling hard.
Sitting in the middle was a handsome, languid young man with a lazy posture.
The youth leaned against the side of the boat lazily, his eyes casually looking at the water.
The boat was soon in the middle of the river, and every now and then, a few hands would protrude from the calm water.
Some of the arms were black, while others were pale white.
Others had rotting flesh, and the white bones hidden inside were exposed.
They stretched out their arms aimlessly, their palms constantly scratching in the air, and then reluctantly retracted back into the water when they failed to catch anything.
“Be careful, Lord Bai Lixin.”
Lao San, who was sitting in front of him, suddenly spoke, “We’re about to reach the middle of the river; this is the most dangerous place in the river of forgetfulness.”
Bai Lixin smiled and righted himself on hearing that, his hand firmly grasping the edge of the boat.
“Don’t grab the edge of the boat,” Lao Si slowed down his rowing speed, “you will be caught by the water ghosts; hold on to the rope on the boat.”
A rope was thrown in front of the other man, and Bai Lixin moved his gaze from the water to the center of the boat, where several iron rings were welded to the center of the boat, and a thumb-thick piece of hemp rope was attached to each ring.
Bai Lixin withdrew his hand from the side of the boat and didn’t say much, but obediently grabbed the hemp rope in the middle of the boat.
Lao Si couldn’t help but speak again: “It’s better to wrap another one around your waist, so that you’re more stable.”
This was King Yama’s beloved; nothing should happen to him.
Bai Lixin was a little speechless, but still did as instructed. He wrapped the hemp rope around his waist and then again in the palm of his hand several times before asking: “Is this safe enough?”
Lao Si nodded his head and said, “Yes, it’s good enough, let’s speed up then.”
The two black-clad ghost messengers looked at each other, and the oars in their hands suddenly picked up speed as they quickly advanced.
Bai Lixin could only see the river of forgetfulness when he stood at the river shores, but now that he was in a boat, he finally got to see the scene hidden beyond the fog.
The color of the water in the middle of the river was different from that of the dark surroundings. Just like the vivid Manzanita flowers, it was a snowy red color.
Lao San and Lao Si’s expressions changed from their initial diffidence to seriousness.
They swung the oars quickly, trying to get out of the middle of the river as fast as they could.
Bai Lixin grabbed the rope and glanced at the water.
Something seemed to flash by in the water.
The boat soon came to the very center of the red water.
The fig was so thick that they could only see the blood-red color of the water.
The hull of the boat suddenly swayed.
Immediately afterward, a shrill scream rang out from deep in the water.
In a flash, the river became turbulent like boiling water.
One after the other, bubbles appeared on the water’s surface and immediately burst open.
Along with the turbulent water, countless hands suddenly reached out from the surface of the river and frantically pulled at the boat.
The palms gripping the side of the boat looked like they could easily topple the fragile boat with just a slight push.
But the boat was clearly stronger than it appeared to be.
The tiny boat was rocked several times but still managed to move forward.
The arms that were fighting over each other made an eerie picture.
Like a sharp blade, the bot sliced through these maggot-like arms and moved out of the center.
The boiling water then calmed down, and the arms all retracted.
The color of the water returned to its normal black.
Lao Si and Lao San breathed a long sigh of relief, and their tense shoulders relaxed.
Bai Lixin threw away the rope in his hand and looked at the red water behind him that had not yet completely disappeared, and asked with some curiosity, “What goes on in the middle?”
Lao San: “That red in the middle is made of the resentment from the river of forgetfulness.”
“So many dead souls have died in this river over the years, the resentment is too heavy.”
“This thing is like a huge whirlpool; whoever goes in will die.”
“So we don’t worry that those undead will ever escape from the River of Forgetfulness either, because there’s no way to escape.”
Bai Lixin: “Really?”
Lao Si: “Speaking of which, I remember that there was once a very ferocious ghost that tried to escape through here. But in the end, it was swallowed by this vortex.”
Lao San froze for a couple of seconds and said, “Oh, I remember that too. But, it’s not just him, there have been many disbelievers throughout the ages who ended up losing their souls.”
“Lord Bai Lixin, you were wise to call us before crossing the river.”
Bai Lixin: “Well, I think so too.”
“You guys are great.”
———————-
In the live broadcast room.
[I thought I was dead after following God Xin to sightsee the underworld.]
[The River of Forgetfulness, the Naihe Bridge, the Manzanita Flowers, the Hall of Yama, the Abyssal Hell, the Black and White Wuchang, Niu Tou, and Ma Mian—what else?]
[There is also King Yama and the Judge.]
[Isn’t the big brother King Yama? We’ve also seen Mengpo, so there’s the Judge left.]
[Oh, yes, yes, yes, and the judge.]
[I have a bold idea……]
[Please, the floor is yours.]
[Laughing to death, I was thinking about what happened with Mengpo and the Saint. From what Mengpo said, there wasn’t a deep relationship with the saint. It was just a one-night stand, and they only knew each other for a month.]
[The main thing is that Mengpo is pregnant.]
[But have you ever thought that Mengpo is lying? This is just one side of the story.]
[Heh, you’re right, too.]
[In fact, when I listened to Mengpo’s story earlier, I heard a little bit of resentment. She says she doesn’t blame the saint, but she’s not happy about it. She was living a good life when she died at a young age. After that, she was brought here to boil the soup, going from a lively girl to an old, lonely woman. Just imagine that.]
[It’s sad to hear. I’d have gone crazy if I were Mengpo.]
————–
Three soon arrived on the other side of the river. A huge stone door stood before them, and Lao San pointed towards it, saying, “You can enter the living soul area through this door.”
“Let’s go.”
Bai Lixin turned and took a deep look at the thick fog before nodding and saying, “Okay, let’s go.”
As they spoke, the three passed through the stone door, and their figures faded into the fog.
There was a flash of white, and when Bai Lixin opened his eyes, he was standing on the lively street of the area for living souls.
It was still a lively street with yelling vendors, the same as when he first stepped there.
Lao San and Lao Si were gone, and Bai Lixin guessed that they had re-hidden themselves.
He stood in front of a tavern, next to the previous vendor selling jewelry.
The vendor saw him and instantly remembered this big spender.
“Hey, it’s been a long time, where have you been these past few days?”
Bai Lixin: “You might not believe me, but I’ve been to the world of the living, the ghost market, the underworld, and even the eighteenth level of hell.”
“Hahaha,” the vendor laughed out loud, “You’re joking, ghosts can’t go to that many places.”
“If you had said you only went to the ghost market, I would have believed you.”
“But speaking of the ghost market, there is something new happening there,” the vendor suddenly lowered his voice and approached Bai Lixin in a mysterious manner. “Would you like to hear about it, customer?”
Bai Lixin looked into the vendor’s shining bean eyes and asked, “The usual rules?”
The vendor rubbed his hands together and smiled heatedly, “Dealing with clever is easy.”
Bai Lixin took out several incense tiles from his pocket, and the vendor’s eyes immediately went round.
Bai Lixin: “You speak first, I want to hear if the news you say is worth one incense tile or not.”
The merchant gulped, looked left and right, and called Bai Lixin to his side, “Come here, I’ll tell you.”
“About two days ago, the Master of the Ghost Market issued a wanted notice.”
“Do you know why that person was wanted?”
Bai Lixin had a vague answer, but shook his head and admitted, “No, why?”
Vendor: “I knew you didn’t know, all you do is brag.”
Bai Lixin: “……”
I’m not paying for this!
The vendor had noticed Bai Lixin’s abnormality and swiftly continued mysteriously: “A human fled from the auction. In fact, this is something new. All who go to the ghost market never make it out.”
“The strange thing is that the Master of the Ghost Market put the word out that absolutely no harm should come to this person, they must be invited back peacefully.”
“Do you think it’s strange? Even the customers of the auction house have never received such treatment. To think that a class of goods has been treated with such courtesy.”
Bai Lixin raised an eyebrow: “What’s so strange about that?”
“Once the goods are damaged, they lose their value. It is not the goods themselves that are treated with courtesy, it is the value of the goods.”
Bai Lixin’s eyes swept over the surrounding stalls, taking in the expressions: “The ghost market owner must have offered a lot of money, right?”
Vendor: “You’re right, he offered quite a lot, so much that it could be described as a mountain of gold and silver.”
“Heh,” Bai Lixin took two steps back, “that ghost market master has paid a lot of money, the ghost market wants to catch, there must be a wanted portrait, right?”
The vendor’s eyes gradually turned greedy, and he looked at Bai Lixin obsessively, as if he were a hot, meaty bone.
“Oh,” the vendor’s hand reached into the drawer on the side, “yes, I’ve got it right here; wait, I’ll get it for you.”
The vendor’s hand slowly came out, and for a second, his eyes changed, and he quickly brought his hand out of the drawer and raised it towards Bai Lixin.
He was quick, but Bai Lixin was quicker.
The moment the vendor made his move, those around him surrounded Bai Lixin almost at the same time.
They had swords and knives in their hands, all of them reaching out towards Bai Lixin like they had arrived at a running treasure.
Bai Lixin tapped his toes on the ground and stepped on the shoulders of these living souls before jumping to one side of the roof.
The living souls shoved and pushed each other as they shouted.
“So he’s not a living soul, he’s a human.”
“It’s against the Dao for a human to enter here, catch him! We are not going to be punished!”
“Brothers, catch him, but don’t hurt him, we’ll split the money we earn together! We’ll all be blessed together, and with that money, we’ll have an easy time in the Underworld.”
“Brothers, I’m sorry! Sacrifice me to save the greater me.”
Bai Lixin: “……”
You guys are amazing. You want to sell me out just to get rich?
Lao San and Lao Si in the distance: “……”
Who would have thought that retribution would come so quickly?
In the middle of the lifeless sea, a flat boat floated quietly.
It was quiet because the people on the boat were obviously rowing, but the oars fell into the water and there was no sound.
There are three people in the boat; the two at the front and back were dressed in black and paddling hard.
Sitting in the middle was a handsome, languid young man with a lazy posture.
The youth leaned against the side of the boat lazily, his eyes casually looking at the water.
The boat was soon in the middle of the river, and every now and then, a few hands would protrude from the calm water.
Some of the arms were black, while others were pale white.
Others had rotting flesh, and the white bones hidden inside were exposed.
They stretched out their arms aimlessly, their palms constantly scratching in the air, and then reluctantly retracted back into the water when they failed to catch anything.
“Be careful, Lord Bai Lixin.”
Lao San, who was sitting in front of him, suddenly spoke, “We’re about to reach the middle of the river; this is the most dangerous place in the river of forgetfulness.”
Bai Lixin smiled and righted himself on hearing that, his hand firmly grasping the edge of the boat.
“Don’t grab the edge of the boat,” Lao Si slowed down his rowing speed, “you will be caught by the water ghosts; hold on to the rope on the boat.”
A rope was thrown in front of the other man, and Bai Lixin moved his gaze from the water to the center of the boat, where several iron rings were welded to the center of the boat, and a thumb-thick piece of hemp rope was attached to each ring.
Bai Lixin withdrew his hand from the side of the boat and didn’t say much, but obediently grabbed the hemp rope in the middle of the boat.
Lao Si couldn’t help but speak again: “It’s better to wrap another one around your waist, so that you’re more stable.”
This was King Yama’s beloved; nothing should happen to him.
Bai Lixin was a little speechless, but still did as instructed. He wrapped the hemp rope around his waist and then again in the palm of his hand several times before asking: “Is this safe enough?”
Lao Si nodded his head and said, “Yes, it’s good enough, let’s speed up then.”
The two black-clad ghost messengers looked at each other, and the oars in their hands suddenly picked up speed as they quickly advanced.
Bai Lixin could only see the river of forgetfulness when he stood at the river shores, but now that he was in a boat, he finally got to see the scene hidden beyond the fog.
The color of the water in the middle of the river was different from that of the dark surroundings. Just like the vivid Manzanita flowers, it was a snowy red color.
Lao San and Lao Si’s expressions changed from their initial diffidence to seriousness.
They swung the oars quickly, trying to get out of the middle of the river as fast as they could.
Bai Lixin grabbed the rope and glanced at the water.
Something seemed to flash by in the water.
The boat soon came to the very center of the red water.
The fig was so thick that they could only see the blood-red color of the water.
The hull of the boat suddenly swayed.
Immediately afterward, a shrill scream rang out from deep in the water.
In a flash, the river became turbulent like boiling water.
One after the other, bubbles appeared on the water’s surface and immediately burst open.
Along with the turbulent water, countless hands suddenly reached out from the surface of the river and frantically pulled at the boat.
The palms gripping the side of the boat looked like they could easily topple the fragile boat with just a slight push.
But the boat was clearly stronger than it appeared to be.
The tiny boat was rocked several times but still managed to move forward.
The arms that were fighting over each other made an eerie picture.
Like a sharp blade, the bot sliced through these maggot-like arms and moved out of the center.
The boiling water then calmed down, and the arms all retracted.
The color of the water returned to its normal black.
Lao Si and Lao San breathed a long sigh of relief, and their tense shoulders relaxed.
Bai Lixin threw away the rope in his hand and looked at the red water behind him that had not yet completely disappeared, and asked with some curiosity, “What goes on in the middle?”
Lao San: “That red in the middle is made of the resentment from the river of forgetfulness.”
“So many dead souls have died in this river over the years, the resentment is too heavy.”
“This thing is like a huge whirlpool; whoever goes in will die.”
“So we don’t worry that those undead will ever escape from the River of Forgetfulness either, because there’s no way to escape.”
Bai Lixin: “Really?”
Lao Si: “Speaking of which, I remember that there was once a very ferocious ghost that tried to escape through here. But in the end, it was swallowed by this vortex.”
Lao San froze for a couple of seconds and said, “Oh, I remember that too. But, it’s not just him, there have been many disbelievers throughout the ages who ended up losing their souls.”
“Lord Bai Lixin, you were wise to call us before crossing the river.”
Bai Lixin: “Well, I think so too.”
“You guys are great.”
———————-
In the live broadcast room.
[I thought I was dead after following God Xin to sightsee the underworld.]
[The River of Forgetfulness, the Naihe Bridge, the Manzanita Flowers, the Hall of Yama, the Abyssal Hell, the Black and White Wuchang, Niu Tou, and Ma Mian—what else?]
[There is also King Yama and the Judge.]
[Isn’t the big brother King Yama? We’ve also seen Mengpo, so there’s the Judge left.]
[Oh, yes, yes, yes, and the judge.]
[I have a bold idea……]
[Please, the floor is yours.]
[Laughing to death, I was thinking about what happened with Mengpo and the Saint. From what Mengpo said, there wasn’t a deep relationship with the saint. It was just a one-night stand, and they only knew each other for a month.]
[The main thing is that Mengpo is pregnant.]
[But have you ever thought that Mengpo is lying? This is just one side of the story.]
[Heh, you’re right, too.]
[In fact, when I listened to Mengpo’s story earlier, I heard a little bit of resentment. She says she doesn’t blame the saint, but she’s not happy about it. She was living a good life when she died at a young age. After that, she was brought here to boil the soup, going from a lively girl to an old, lonely woman. Just imagine that.]
[It’s sad to hear. I’d have gone crazy if I were Mengpo.]
————–
Three soon arrived on the other side of the river. A huge stone door stood before them, and Lao San pointed towards it, saying, “You can enter the living soul area through this door.”
“Let’s go.”
Bai Lixin turned and took a deep look at the thick fog before nodding and saying, “Okay, let’s go.”
As they spoke, the three passed through the stone door, and their figures faded into the fog.
There was a flash of white, and when Bai Lixin opened his eyes, he was standing on the lively street of the area for living souls.
It was still a lively street with yelling vendors, the same as when he first stepped there.
Lao San and Lao Si were gone, and Bai Lixin guessed that they had re-hidden themselves.
He stood in front of a tavern, next to the previous vendor selling jewelry.
The vendor saw him and instantly remembered this big spender.
“Hey, it’s been a long time, where have you been these past few days?”
Bai Lixin: “You might not believe me, but I’ve been to the world of the living, the ghost market, the underworld, and even the eighteenth level of hell.”
“Hahaha,” the vendor laughed out loud, “You’re joking, ghosts can’t go to that many places.”
“If you had said you only went to the ghost market, I would have believed you.”
“But speaking of the ghost market, there is something new happening there,” the vendor suddenly lowered his voice and approached Bai Lixin in a mysterious manner. “Would you like to hear about it, customer?”
Bai Lixin looked into the vendor’s shining bean eyes and asked, “The usual rules?”
The vendor rubbed his hands together and smiled heatedly, “Dealing with clever is easy.”
Bai Lixin took out several incense tiles from his pocket, and the vendor’s eyes immediately went round.
Bai Lixin: “You speak first, I want to hear if the news you say is worth one incense tile or not.”
The merchant gulped, looked left and right, and called Bai Lixin to his side, “Come here, I’ll tell you.”
“About two days ago, the Master of the Ghost Market issued a wanted notice.”
“Do you know why that person was wanted?”
Bai Lixin had a vague answer, but shook his head and admitted, “No, why?”
Vendor: “I knew you didn’t know, all you do is brag.”
Bai Lixin: “……”
I’m not paying for this!
The vendor had noticed Bai Lixin’s abnormality and swiftly continued mysteriously: “A human fled from the auction. In fact, this is something new. All who go to the ghost market never make it out.”
“The strange thing is that the Master of the Ghost Market put the word out that absolutely no harm should come to this person, they must be invited back peacefully.”
“Do you think it’s strange? Even the customers of the auction house have never received such treatment. To think that a class of goods has been treated with such courtesy.”
Bai Lixin raised an eyebrow: “What’s so strange about that?”
“Once the goods are damaged, they lose their value. It is not the goods themselves that are treated with courtesy, it is the value of the goods.”
Bai Lixin’s eyes swept over the surrounding stalls, taking in the expressions: “The ghost market owner must have offered a lot of money, right?”
Vendor: “You’re right, he offered quite a lot, so much that it could be described as a mountain of gold and silver.”
“Heh,” Bai Lixin took two steps back, “that ghost market master has paid a lot of money, the ghost market wants to catch, there must be a wanted portrait, right?”
The vendor’s eyes gradually turned greedy, and he looked at Bai Lixin obsessively, as if he were a hot, meaty bone.
“Oh,” the vendor’s hand reached into the drawer on the side, “yes, I’ve got it right here; wait, I’ll get it for you.”
The vendor’s hand slowly came out, and for a second, his eyes changed, and he quickly brought his hand out of the drawer and raised it towards Bai Lixin.
He was quick, but Bai Lixin was quicker.
The moment the vendor made his move, those around him surrounded Bai Lixin almost at the same time.
They had swords and knives in their hands, all of them reaching out towards Bai Lixin like they had arrived at a running treasure.
Bai Lixin tapped his toes on the ground and stepped on the shoulders of these living souls before jumping to one side of the roof.
The living souls shoved and pushed each other as they shouted.
“So he’s not a living soul, he’s a human.”
“It’s against the Dao for a human to enter here, catch him! We are not going to be punished!”
“Brothers, catch him, but don’t hurt him, we’ll split the money we earn together! We’ll all be blessed together, and with that money, we’ll have an easy time in the Underworld.”
“Brothers, I’m sorry! Sacrifice me to save the greater me.”
Bai Lixin: “……”
You guys are amazing. You want to sell me out just to get rich?
Lao San and Lao Si in the distance: “……”
Who would have thought that retribution would come so quickly?
