The spirits of famous generals and civil officials who have passed away are somewhat awe-inspiring, especially the exhaustive descriptions in popular and unofficial history books. Lu Liangsheng has naturally read many novels other than classics. At that time, he had three full bookshelves in Zhou Zhen's house, and he had read almost all of them. He also had a certain understanding of Guan Yu, who lived in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
Fortunately, he had been through so much and had seen many gods, demons and monsters, so he did not lose his composure. His face was solemn, and he shook out his sleeves and bowed to the ancient man in front of him.
"Meet Lord Guan."
Over there, the general with a face as red as a date held a knife in one hand and stroked his beautiful beard with the other. He nodded with half-closed eyes, turned over and dismounted, arched his head heavily with the knife, and fell to the side.
"Master Lu, please!"
"Sir, please lead the way." Lu Liangsheng stared at the paper umbrella floating over. Looking at this famous general from the late Eastern Han Dynasty whom he had only seen in books, he smiled and stretched out his hand, inviting him to walk together and showing respect.
As he walked, he would occasionally see majestic generals. As for why Guan Yu appeared here to greet him, Lu Liangsheng guessed that it was because Han Qinhu had won over some spirits of former generals after he came down to the underworld. After all, they were all warriors who had led troops in battles, and the time difference between them was not too far, so they could communicate and persuade each other.
The figure holding Red Hare slightly opened his phoenix eyes, his gaze flashed with a hint of coldness, "Master Lu, what do you think of Guan?"
"Lord Guan, you misunderstood. I just thought of an old friend when I saw the general."
Lu Liangsheng changed the subject, not hiding the fact that he had just taken a second look, and smiled as he talked about the City God of Tianzhi, with whom he had dealt several times and had some friendship.
"He is from the same era as you. His last name is Zhou Yu. He is currently serving as the City God of Tianzhi. So he couldn't help but look at you a little curiously just now."
"Zhou Gongjin."
With his beard fluttering in the cold wind, Guan Yu walked slowly, leaning on the hilt of his sword, and nodded as he looked ahead at the Gate of Hell: "I recognize him. We saw each other across the river, so we were quite familiar with each other. I didn't expect to hear his name again after my death. It's a pity that he is the City God, while I, the dignified Marquis of Han Shou Ting, can only wander the netherworld and become a ghost king."
Lu Liangsheng didn't say anything. He looked at Guan Yu, who was once a powerful figure in China but fell at the height of his power. He felt sorry for him. In fact, anyone who encountered such a disastrous change would be deeply obsessed and unable to let go of everything and reincarnate. Then he spoke a few words to comfort him and asked about some matters in the underworld.
"Outside the Ghost Gate, in the Netherworld, are there any famous generals like Lord Guan who have not been reincarnated?"
“Yes, but I can’t see it.”
Guan Yu thought for a moment and sighed, "Just like my third brother is here too, I can only see his shadow from afar and hear his voice, but I can't be with him. The netherworld is vast, we are in one place, and one place is divided into countless realms. We can't see each other even though we are right next to each other. Alas..."
It turns out that such a thing exists in the netherworld. It seems that only after entering the Ghost Gate can all the ghosts reunite...and a ghost king like Guan Yu who is too obsessed cannot enter. He is arrogant and unwilling to work for others, so he can only wander in the netherworld.
… I just don’t know what method Han Zhuguo used.
While they were thinking, the two of them had already arrived outside the Ghost Gate. Seeing the huge ghost head again, Lu Liangsheng raised his hands and said, "Lu Liangsheng, the national teacher of Sui, requests to see the two gods Shentu and Yulei!"
"Master Lu, there is no need to be so humble to them."
At the side, Guan Yu pressed down Lu Liangsheng's clasped hands, picked up his sword, mounted his horse, raised his hoof and ran to the pass, raised the tip of his sword and pointed upwards, shouting: "Shen Tu Yu Lei, open the city gate and welcome Master Lu in, otherwise Guan Yu will lead his troops to attack the pass again and capture you two!"
Well…
Looking at Guan Yu riding a horse and brandishing a sword, Lu Liangsheng lowered his hands and was speechless. It seemed that this was not the first time this had happened. No wonder he became the King of Ghosts but could not even enter the gates of hell and get an official position.
"With his temper, he might even fight with the Emperor of Mount Tai if they disagree with him."
As he was thinking, the words of Hong Zhong echoed in the gloomy world. When the ghost head with a wide-open mouth turned his eyes to look over, on the city wall, the two gods Shentu and Yulei in colorful armor appeared with halberds in their hands. When they saw the general in green robe and golden armor holding a sword below, their faces all looked unhappy.
"It's this Ghost King Guan Yu again..."
"It seems that no ghost soldiers were brought here this time."
Shen Tu patted the wall in a tangled manner, walked back and forth for a while, and turned back: "Open or not?"
"The new King Yama is very powerful. Since he has spoken in front of the Emperor, we should just turn a blind eye."
The two gods lowered their heads and huddled together, whispering to each other for a moment. Then they made up their minds. Yu Lei walked to the top of the ghost head, gathered Yin energy in his palms, and slapped the wall.
roar!!!
The ghost head opened and closed its big mouth, dragging the bricks and stones with the grinding sound which gradually increased, revealing a black cloud rotating. The ghosts that had originally lined up in a "long dragon" were pushed to the left and right to make a path. The two gods Shentu and Yulei on the city wall raised their hands.
"Master Lu, please enter the customs."
"Thank you!"
Lu Liangsheng bowed in return, and as the paper umbrella and Guan Yu floated into the center of the black cloud, his vision twisted, and the scenery in front of him pushed away the darkness and faded away. What unfolded in his eyes was a long stone path paved with white rocks, with green trees on both sides showing winding mountains in the distance and birds singing in the woods.
Apart from the still gloomy sky, there were no houses of wealthy families in the world of the living. Lu Liangsheng walked along the road. There were more and more ghosts floating around. Amid the scolding of the ghost messenger, they lined up in a long line to the high arch bridge in front. Standing below, he could vaguely see an old woman with a hunched figure, holding a porcelain bowl and handing it to the passing souls, watching them drink it.
"Master Lu, this way please."
He was lost in thought when he heard Guan Yu's voice. Lu Liangsheng came back to his senses, smiled to hide his embarrassment, and followed him. "Then let's go to Naihe Bridge?"
"yes."
Guan Yu nodded, retracted his gaze, and led the way to the side. He was not concerned about these things. Instead, he was interested in the other buildings and introduced them to Lu Liangsheng. They walked down along the Naihe path and saw a building standing in the shadows in front of them. It had high walls with glazed tiles, and a pair of white lanterns lit up the door, emitting a faint green light.
"That temple belongs to King Qin Guang, Jiang Ziwen. Jiang Xin was from Guangling and was the lieutenant of Moling in the late Han Dynasty. He was a contemporary of Guan, but unfortunately I have never seen him. After his death, he relied on scaring the people and the children of Sun Quan to build a temple for him. Only then did he have the status of a deity today. Humph, Guan was disrespectful."
After hearing this, Lu Liangsheng finally understood how Han Qinhu convinced Guan Yu. He must have told him about the gods coming to the world to cause chaos and profit from it. Combined with the deeds of Qin Guang Wang Jiang Ziwen, it's no wonder that Guan Yu reacted so strongly.
"So, I came to the underworld for the sake of the people in the world of the living."
Guan Yu, who was walking in front leading the way, turned around, glanced at the First Hall, and snorted heavily.
"That's why Guan is willing to help."
The two looked at each other and burst into laughter. While they were talking and laughing, they had already arrived at the fifth hall. Looking at the building extending from the dark green bonfire, with the words "Yan Luo Hall" written on it, Lu Liangsheng stretched out his hand and said, "My lord, please!"
"Let's go!"
Far away, outside the hall shining with the light of colored glaze, King Yama Han Qinhu, dressed in a black robe and a square crown on his head, had been waiting there for a long time. When he saw his old friend coming down from the world of the living, he laughed and went forward to greet him.
"Master, how are you? Please come in."
The old man was the same as before, without any airs at all. He invited Lu Liangsheng into the hall, called over a big man with a bull's head, brought over two big chairs and asked the two to sit down.
The hall was gloomy, with dim lights flickering and the occasional sobbing of ghosts. After reminiscing about the past for a while, Han Qinhu walked to the desk, took out a list, and then got down to business.