After entering through the black lacquered gate, the Black and White Impermanence and I came to an arched passage.
The two of them still held my arms and carried me flying in the aisle.
I asked, "Master Bai Wuchang, where are we going now?"
Bai Wuchang explained: "We have come around from the Eighteen Layers of Hell. The black lacquered door you saw just now is the space passage leading to the Offering Pavilion."
"So we are now rushing to the Offering Pavilion. Even though this space passage is not long, it only takes us about ten minutes to travel through it. But I tell you, Brother Yang, this space passage can span hundreds of kilometers in the underworld."
I was surprised.
There is no such thing as a space channel in the world of the living, but it does exist in the underworld. It's really amazing.
Soon, a little light appeared in front of us.
This time, the Black and White Impermanence held my arms and did not stop. With the dark energy surging, they flew towards the light source at an incredible speed.
Suddenly, my eyes were bright and I closed my eyes subconsciously.
The ground beneath my feet was solid; I thought I was stepping on the ground.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw a very desolate mountain range. It was like autumn. Although there were trees growing in the mountains, they were already withered and yellow, and looked very desolate. The wind was very strong, making the branches of the trees rustle.
There are mountains, but there is no grass on them, only grey soil, which contains many stones.
The colors of the stones are also relatively simple, all of them are gray or black.
Hei Wuchang said, "This is a wasteland. It will only take us 20 minutes to get to the Offering Pavilion from here."
Will it take another twenty minutes
I was muttering to myself and a look of boredom appeared on my face.
This whole procession really makes people impatient.
Bai Wuchang smiled and said, "Brother Yang, don't worry, we have transportation."
Means of transportation? This term is quite fashionable in the underworld.
Then Bai Wuchang took out a white paper horse and a white paper car from his bosom. The paper car looked a bit like the kind of canopied cars that were used by princes and nobles in ancient times.
“Are we going to sit on this?”
I looked at the little paper horse and paper car and asked.
Hei Wuchang laughed coldly and said in a deep voice: "Ignorance!"
Bai Wuchang didn't say anything.
Then he threw the small paper horse and paper car in his hand to the ground. He muttered a spell. Then in just a moment, the small paper horse and paper car gradually grew bigger, and in just a few seconds they were magnified many times.
It looked like the paper horse had become even bigger than the tall horses.
But paper horses and paper carts are dead after all and can’t pull people.
I thought to myself, it seems Bai Wuchang still has a way.
As expected, Bai Wuchang took out two more talismans from his bosom. Those two talismans were very different from the talismans on the yellow paper I had seen. But the talismans drawn on them were similar to the talismans I often saw.
Bai Wuchang then explained to me, "Brother Yang, this talisman is similar to the talismans used to catch ghosts in the world of the living. However, we in the underworld don't like to use yellow paper. We use ghost paper! This talisman is called the 'Illusion Body Talisman' and can turn dead things into living things and be controlled by people!"
Illusion Talisman
This kind of talisman is indeed recorded in the Yin-Yang Soul-Ferrying Notes, and its function is the same as what Bai Wuchang said.
Then Bai Wuchang pasted the two "Illusion Body Talismans" on the paper car and paper horse.
The "Phantom Body Talisman" was just pasted on the paper
On the horse's body, the paper horse actually slowly came alive, and was wrapped in a layer of dark energy. It looked like it was standing in the dark energy.
Then I heard a neighing sound. It was the cry of the paper horse.
As for the paper car, after being affixed with the illusion charm, it slowly became solid, with a real canopy and wheels. Just like the paper horse, a layer of dark energy also appeared on the outside of the paper car.
To me, both the paper horse and the paper car have a hazy feeling.
I had just thought about whether I could use the magic body charm to bring my girlfriend Huang Susu back to life, but I quickly dismissed this idea.
Because from what I observed, the paper horse that used the "Illusion Body Talisman" had no spirituality in its eyes, its vision was rigid, and it looked more like a machine. And the Illusion Body Talisman was also time-limited, and could only be used for half an hour at most.
"Okay, get in the carriage! We'll take this carriage to the Offering Pavilion!"
Bai Wuchang urged.
I didn't hesitate any more, I stepped on the pedal of the paper cart and got on the carriage.
Not to mention, the paper cart with the magic charm on it was very hard and not soft. The space inside the paper cart was also very large, and there was a blanket-like thing, which should have been used by ancient people to avoid the cold and cover their legs.
After me, Bai Wuchang and Hei Wuchang also got on the car.
After getting on the car, Bai Wuchang only said one instruction to the paper horse, "Go to the offering pavilion!" Then he left it alone.
Damn, there’s not even a driver, that’s really awesome!
But the paper horse can tell the direction.
Soon, it took us away from here and ran towards the offering pavilion. There was not much noise, and the carriage and the horses were very stable.
Black and White Impermanence sat together.
I leaned over and looked out the window next to the awning.
There was no sun or moon outside, and it was gray everywhere, giving people a feeling of depression and loneliness. I saw many small houses on the road. The houses were not big, about the size of flower pots, and most of them were made of stone or small wooden boards.
I asked Bai Wuchang curiously, "Master Bai Wuchang, what are those small houses on the roadside?"
Bai Wuchang said: "That is the ghost's house. Some ghosts or souls will settle down in the territory of Gongyang Pavilion. Of course, that is because they don't want to reincarnate. But even so, it is impossible for them to live in Gongyang Pavilion for a long time!"
I nodded.
The carriage had been running for only about ten minutes when an attic appeared in front of me.
The attic has three floors and is very large. There are no other houses on both sides. It is just the attic standing on a flat wasteland.
Bai Wuchang raised his hand and pointed, saying, "That's the offering pavilion!"
Is that the Offering Pavilion? It was far from the magnificent and splendid scene I had imagined.
We walked for a few more minutes.
Soon, a series of dark shadows appeared not far away. They were all ghosts, lined up in a long line, with sad faces and droopy eyes. Many ghosts or souls still looked the same as when they died.
There was a kitchen knife attached to the neck of one of the souls. Needless to say, it must have been hacked to death.
There was another soul with a hemp rope vaguely visible around its neck. It seemed that it was hanged.
I also noticed that the belly of one soul was full of holes, and blood was constantly flowing out. It stretched out its slender fingers and used its long nails to dig something out of it. I looked carefully and found that what it dug out was actually bullets.
My goodness, it must have been shot to death before it died.
Yes. And there are quite a lot of bullets. This must be a lot of hatred!
Of course, apart from those ghosts that looked particularly conspicuous, most of the ghosts or souls were pale and weak. Some had already turned into souls. Needless to say, they must have died of old age.
I was surprised for a moment.
Perhaps noticing the carriage's arrival, many ghosts looked over here for a few seconds. But soon they lowered their heads again, without much change in their expressions.
Soon, the carriage stopped in the middle of the team of ghosts and souls.
I also noticed a tree.
That tree was different from other trees in the wasteland. It actually had branches and leaves. The leaves were relatively wide. Symbols were found on many of the leaves.
Under the tree, there was a wide table. On the table were bundles of paper money. Those paper money looked like the paper money we burn in the world of the living. But the difference was that the paper money on the table was glowing with golden light.
Sitting on a chair behind the desk was a woman with gray hair.
The woman was wearing Chinese traditional costume and had a metal hairpin on her head. Her face was not clearly visible, and she was lowering her head, constantly writing something in a notebook with a brush in her hand.
After a while, a ghost or spirit would approach her and take away stacks of golden bills from her.
I looked over there with burning eyes.
This was my first time in the underworld, so I was naturally full of curiosity.
"Okay, get out of the car!"
Hei Wuchang urged.
Soon, the three of us got out of the car.
After getting off the carriage, Bai Wuchang tore off the two illusion talismans on the carriage. The carriage quickly turned into a paper man and a paper horse, and shrank again to the size of a palm.
Looking at the long queue of ghosts, Bai Wuchang muttered, "What bad luck, I actually caught up with the day when the Gongyang Pavilion gave money to ghosts!"
“Give money to ghosts?”
I looked confused.
Bai Wuchang explained, "Every month, the Gongyang Pavilion gives money to ghosts. The money comes from the living world. As long as someone in the living world burns ghost money, the Gongyang Pavilion in the underworld will get it. However, although people in the living world burn a lot, the money that actually reaches the ghosts is not much."
"One thousand square-holed banknotes in the world of the living can only be exchanged for one dollar in the Offering Pavilion."
Shit, one thousand square-holed paper coins can only be exchanged for one dollar
My goodness, it seems that the offering pavilion in the underworld is really a vampire-like existence.
"Then, Lord Wuchang, what can a ghost or spirit do with a dollar?"
I asked curiously.
Bai Wuchang shrank his neck and said with a smile: "One dollar in the underworld is equivalent to ten cents in the world of the living. You can't do anything with it. It's good enough to buy a few candies!"
I was surprised, but didn't say anything more.
Then the Black and White Impermanence took me towards the middle-aged woman under the tree.
However, when we passed through those ghosts, we aroused their dissatisfaction.
"Who the hell are you? If you want to collect your monthly 'interest', go line up in the back, or don't blame us for being rude!"
Several ghosts with fierce eyes blocked our way and prevented us from getting close to the middle-aged woman.
The "interest" they refer to is the money they receive from the offering pavilion every month.
Looking at those ghosts, I thought to myself, they are really blind. Black and White Impermanence are the ghost officials of the underworld after all, but they don’t recognize these ghosts. I guess they are going to suffer! !
(to be continued)
(End of this chapter) (End of this chapter)