Buzz buzz buzz…
The sound of a Taoist priest chanting incantations lingered in his ears, and his body felt as if it was sinking into a quagmire. Everything within his sight was flooded with a pitch-black color, pulling Lu Liangsheng as if he was falling into the void, sinking continuously.
Gradually.
There was a whistling sound in his ears, and under his feet he felt a texture as if he was still alive. His body fell lightly. Lu Liangsheng listened to the sound of the wind and opened his eyes. As far as his sight reached, there was no distinction between heaven and earth, just chaos and no light. In the distance, there seemed to be mountains lurking in the darkness from top to bottom, revealing a gloomy outline.
"Is this the Netherworld?"
The dark and soft soil was stepped on with a "hiss", and a white smoke rose up. When Lu Liangsheng frowned, he heard a long "Ah~~" sound, and the fat and sturdy Zhu Ganglie fell from the sky, hit the ground with a bang, and a human-shaped white smoke rose up.
Lu Liangsheng watched the white smoke dissipate, took a few steps and looked back. It was indeed the soil where he walked that rose.
"Why is there smoke on the ground?"
"That's what happens when the living soul comes into contact with the underworld." The old pig flapped his ears like a cattail leaf fan, climbed up from the ground, and the dust particles fell back to the ground. "If there is no cultivation, the living soul of an ordinary person will be 'eaten' by the underworld."
Lu Liangsheng didn't know much about this place. Seeing that Zhu Ganglie's explanation was very convincing, he nodded, spread his hands to reveal the plain and simple paper umbrella in his sleeves, opened it in his hands and raised it above his head. The umbrella suddenly lit up with a faint green light and floated out of his hand, hanging in the air and slowly floating away in one direction.
"Old Pig, follow me."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the paper umbrella, lifted his feet and floated up. Zhu Ganglie stood up and looked around, muttering, "Why did I just fall down?" When he heard the words, he hurriedly chased after him, puffed out his big belly, and pointed around with his two big ears flapping.
"I'm more familiar with this place. Once you pass through the gates of hell, you've entered the underworld. The outside is just like the outskirts of the city in the world of the living. As for how wide it is, I haven't walked to the end. In fact, we can also come in from the foot of Mount Tai. The Emperor of Mount Tai will at least give me some face."
"…Don't be fooled by the fact that it's pitch black outside and the wind is blowing. Some places are almost the same as the world of the living, except that there's no sun and it's chilly. There are also ghost kings roaming the hills. Most of the lonely souls who have lost consciousness or some wild ghosts who have escaped from the underworld gather under the command of these ghost kings…"
Listening to Zhu Ganglie's introduction to this underworld, Lu Liangsheng was also looking around. It turned out that the outline lying in the darkness was really a mountain. It should be called Yinshan Mountain. From the old pig's chattering, he had some understanding. The mountains in the world of the living are upside down in the underworld, hanging down from the sky, and paired with the protruding mountains in the underworld, looking like giant teeth biting up and down.
"… By the way, if you can get through the gates of hell, I, Old Pig, will take you around the City of the Dead. And don't be fooled by the appearance of Meng Po on the Naihe Bridge. In fact, she is a great beauty… When I was reincarnated in the lower world, I also passed by here. I didn't drink her soup, which tasted sour."
Wow wow —
The paper umbrella's dim green light illuminated the surroundings, the withered grass leaves, the crooked dead tree in the distance, and a dark shadow perched on the treetop, with bright red eyes and an ominous hissing sound.
Seeing Lu Liangsheng looking in that direction, Zhu Ganglie shook his head and said, "That's a ghost crow from the underworld. If it were in the world of the living, no living person would be able to hear it. Their souls would be screamed out."
In Lu Liangsheng's sight, the dark shadow on the treetop swooped down, grabbed a ghost struggling and crawling on the ground under the tree, and pecked at it quickly, attracting more ghost crows to fly over. In a few breaths, only the ghost's broken arm was left there.
"It's not much different from the beasts that eat people in the Yang world."
After watching for a while, Lu Liangsheng followed the paper umbrella and floated over here. No one knew how long the man and the demon had been walking or in which direction. It could only be estimated that about three hours had passed.
As for the direction, it was so dark and hazy all around and with the wind blowing, it was impossible to tell. When the paper umbrella hanging above his head stopped, what appeared before Lu Liangsheng was a hazy long dragon. Countless figures lined up in a queue and stretched straight to the front, with no end in sight.
In the midst of the cold wind, a long dragon of human figures stood in various costumes, some still wearing the clothes they wore before, or decent shrouds and shoes. Some had dull faces, as if they had not yet recovered from the blow of death, while others had blood on their faces and were struggling with the same evil spirits beside them.
"Why are you pulling me? If you don't pull me, a can won't fall on my head!"
"How would I know your wife was going to hit you? If you weren't dead, that person wouldn't have killed me to silence me!"
"Bullshit, she's going to smash the adulterer!"
"Blame me... Oh, that's not right, why did it hit you?"
Afterwards the two ghosts rubbed their chins and fell silent. In the long team, there were many with missing arms and legs. Seven or eight ghosts dressed as soldiers were waving their weapons and shouting, and then their broken swords were confiscated by the ghost messengers holding iron chains.
"Why did you take our brothers' weapons?!" "Do you know how we died? We fought to the death!"
"A group of bandits in the Yang world rebelled. I fought hard on the city wall and died. Before I died, I chopped a few bastards. Damn it, my knife couldn't penetrate them, and I was chopped by the knife instead..."
"Hey, there's a ghost cutting in line over there!"
The soldier who was speaking started shouting, pointing at Lu Liangsheng and Zhu Ganglie who were floating over outside the team with umbrellas in their hands. The three ghost messengers who had just confiscated their weapons also saw them, and they rode on the ghost wind, held the ghost-beating sticks horizontally, and blocked the way with the soul-locking chains.
“Stop!”
Seeing three ghost messengers blocking the way, Lu Liangsheng floated forward to a distance of two feet, bowed to the ghost messenger opposite, and explained his purpose.
"Three of you, I am Lu Liangsheng, the Imperial Master of the Sui Dynasty. My soul has come down to the netherworld. I have something important to discuss with the Emperor of Mount Tai. Please inform him on my behalf."
The three ghost messengers were filled with gloomy aura as they looked at the old man who was bowing in front of them. The Qilin cloak on his body contained a magical light, and the mighty energy was gathering in his body, especially his sleeves, which seemed like a bottomless mouth that could suck them in. They quickly slowed down their tone.
"So you are the human master. I am honored to be here."
As he spoke, he returned a salute to Lu Liangsheng, then floated to both sides and pointed in the direction of Ghost Gate: "We are of low rank and cannot meet the Emperor. The human state master should go to Ghost Gate by himself. There, the gods Shentu and Yulei will watch over us."
Lu Liangsheng nodded, bowed his hands in thanks, and floated in the direction the three ghosts pointed. Soon, the end of the long dragon could be seen vaguely. In the dim light, a city wall stretched to the left and right like a towering sky and earth. Under the huge city tower, a huge green-faced fanged ghost head opened its huge mouth. A pair of eyeballs as big as a small house moved back and forth, staring fiercely at the ghosts that entered his mouth one by one. Feeling angry, his eyes suddenly cast over here, and a stream of air blew out of his nostrils with copper rings, which immediately blew up a biting cold wind, causing the ghosts below to scream miserably and roll on the ground.
"Keep away from strangers, return to the world of the living!"
On this side, Lu Liangsheng cast a spell to block the dark wind, and bowed again, "I am Lu Liangsheng, the state teacher of the Sui Dynasty in the mortal world. I have come to the netherworld to ask the Emperor of Mount Tai for something. I hope you can let the two of us pass."
At the side, Zhu Ganglie chuckled twice, puffed out his belly, and walked forward with his hands behind his back. When he passed Lu Liangsheng a few steps, he raised his chin, squinted his eyes, and whispered, "Look at me, old Zhu."
He paused, then spoke in a muffled voice, ringing a bronze bell.
"Shen Tu, Yu Lei, do you two still recognize this Marshal?!"
The voice echoed into the netherworld, became ethereal, and traveled to the city wall above the ghost's head for a while, and then a majestic shout was heard.
"I've never seen it, I don't know it, get lost!"
The whimpering cold wind ran past the parapets, and two generals wearing colorful armor, with dignified faces and majestic postures, walked out, holding golden halberds and silver whips, and lined up on both sides behind the parapets. They looked at the man and the monster below, and the weapons in their hands knocked off the floor tiles, raising the cold wind and ghostly howling.
"You insolent mortal monks, you evildoer! You are not allowed to come here, leave immediately!"
Zhu Ganglie's mouth twitched, and he immediately lost face. He lowered his head and spat on his hand, then took out the Nine-toothed Rake and grabbed it in his hand. His bristles stood up like steel needles, and his pair of big copper bell eyes bulged out, revealing a ferocious look.
"Pretend not to recognize me, you should pay me back for the few drinks you owed me!"
Seeing the old pig being humiliated, Lu Liangsheng remembered the name of Emperor Taishan and roughly guessed what was going on. He stepped forward, pressed down his weapon, and walked up to him.