Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
“Oh? Generally, those who believe they are not dead are the ones who have died unjustly. When one dies without clarity, they end up like you. This place is the Underworld, and you’re quite lucky; only one in ten thousand gets to enter the Underworld after death. So, you should consider yourself fortunate,” the man said.
I certainly didn’t believe him. I had no faith in this so-called Underworld; it wasn’t real. However, I didn’t immediately call him out on it. I wanted to gather some information from him, so I asked, “The Underworld? How can there be an Underworld? You speak just like me; I didn’t know the Underworld used Mandarin too.”
“Mandan what?” he muttered. “This is Thought Language. You’re such an idiot! I need to get some sleep. Listen, stop shouting here.”
Seeing that he was about to leave, I quickly called out, “Wait, sir! I just want to ask how I can get out of here. I can’t just remain trapped without knowing why!”
“You still want to leave?” The man laughed. “Buddy, just accept the fact that you’re dead. Honestly, you’re one of the lucky ones. Most people’s souls scatter after death, but you’ve entered the Underworld and can continue living—what’s wrong with that? Just listen to me and stay here.”
I sensed something was off about this man; he definitely had ulterior motives. This was a figment of my imagination—how could such a character suddenly appear in my mind? He probably wanted me to give up on leaving.
After careful consideration, I decided to confront him. Right now, I couldn’t see my surroundings clearly; it was likely an expansive wasteland with nothing special around me, making it impossible to break through this illusion.
As I approached him, I asked, “So what you’re saying is that once you come here, you have to stay?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” His tone was laced with impatience. “My brother, I’m old enough not to lie to you. When I stumbled into this place, I thought I could go home and see my kids too. But guess what? The Enforcers of the Underworld caught me for disrupting order. I’ve only just been released for a short while; look at me—I’m stuck living in mud out here in the wilderness. But thinking about it, it’s not so bad; only a few lucky humans from Earth can come here.”
As I listened to his nonsense, my steps drew closer. When I estimated that I was about a meter away from him, I suddenly lunged at him and landed a punch squarely on his face.
The moment my fist connected, it felt soft and mushy against his skin. Honestly, I didn’t know if he felt any pain, but I certainly did—I felt nauseous, extremely nauseous. It was as if my fist had struck a mass of rotten flesh!
He stopped talking abruptly, likely taken by surprise.
At that moment, there was no time for me to think or feel disgusted; I kicked him hard in the chest.
"Awwo..."
The man suddenly screamed at me, his voice ringing in my ears, making them buzz as if they were about to burst.
"You ungrateful bastard! I only wasted my breath on you because we're both Earthlings. How dare you hit me, damn it..."
He shouted loudly, clearly furious, and lunged at me. At the same time, a strong stench wafted toward me.
I was scared now. Damn it, I thought hitting this guy would help me find the exit of this illusion, but now the illusion hadn't shattered, and I had only angered him.
The man seemed incredibly strong. His hands were sharp like daggers and suddenly pierced into my chest.
I froze for a moment. Was I really going to die like this? What kind of place was this?
As I was still in despair, a bright light suddenly shone from my chest. The Cosmic Pendant actually floated out from within me.
Under the glow of the Cosmic Pendant, the man let out a horrific scream.
I turned to look at the source of the sound and saw a man in a World War II Japanese Military Uniform, clutching his head in agony. He looked human only because of his clothes; otherwise, he was just a mass of rotting flesh.
"No! Get it away! Turn it off! I hate light! I hate light!" he yelled loudly.
I was a bit surprised. Looking down at my chest, there were no wounds; the Cosmic Pendant that had been missing for so long had unexpectedly reappeared. There was nothing around me, and the ground wasn't dirt but rather swirling black mist that rolled along the surface, with some areas bubbling up.
"What is this place? Hurry!" I didn't understand why the Cosmic Pendant had emerged or why I wasn't hurt. However, it was clear that this Rotting Japanese Soldier was terrified, and that was enough for me.
"I, I, this is the Underworld," the man continued.
"Shut the hell up! Do you think I'm an idiot?" I was furious. Even at this moment, he was still lying to me.
"Really, really! It's just that this is the edge of the Underworld, a chaotic region, not the true Underworld. Please turn off that damned light; I will tell you everything," he shouted.
Of course, I couldn't agree. Setting aside the fact that he was a Japanese soldier, encountering someone like him in a place like this made it impossible to trust him. "I don't want to hear your nonsense. Tell me how to get out of here! Now! Or I'll reach into your stomach!"
"Down! Down!" he pointed to the ground below. "You can get out from here! Hurry back! I don’t want your soul anymore!"
I glanced at the ground; it was shrouded in mist. "You're talking nonsense. How can I go back from here?"
"You'll know if you stick your head into that bubble of water! Hurry up! I'm really going to lose my mind!" he yelled.
I sensed that this guy wasn't a good person, so I moved the Cosmic Pendant closer to him.
"Ah!" he screamed. "Don't kill me! I've died once; I don't want to die a second time!"
The Cosmic Pendant illuminated his face as I said, "If you don't want to die, then tell me the truth. What is going on? Why am I here?"
"It was that Onmyoji!" he shouted. "It was someone from the Yin Yang Master Family who did this. They can communicate between realms and wanted to trap you here so you couldn't return. I could also use your soul to live a little longer, really!"
"So you're not exactly a good person either!" I replied, pressing the Cosmic Pendant hard against the decaying corpse's face.
"Ah!" The Japanese soldier collapsed onto the ground, his body transforming from rotting flesh into a puddle of pus and blood. Before long, all that remained was a yellowed World War II Japanese Military Uniform left behind.
I was taken aback. Was it really that easy to die? But there was still no way out.
I looked around, the area was vast and empty, with black mist swirling on the ground. I couldn't understand how I was able to stand on this black fog.
The Golden Light Talisman in my hand finally began to weaken. After hesitating for a moment, I knelt down. I decided to follow the advice of that Japanese Soldier from earlier.
Kneeling on the ground, I leaned my head closer to the bubble of water. The swirling black mist beneath me was perplexing; as my face approached, I distinctly felt that the strands of black mist were akin to surging steam, containing some kind of energy.
I didn't have time to think too much; this place was undeniably strange, and I didn't dare linger.
I glanced towards the bubbling spots, and one bubble rose up. Fixating on it, I slowly brought my face closer.
A peculiar light refracted from the bubble, and as the light entered my eyes, a sharp pain shot through my head. Suddenly, the bubble burst and enveloped me.
I watched in shock as everything unfolded. In the distance, I saw the Massage Girl silently praying for something. Inside the tavern, Gao Zhi and two other Japanese Stars were lying there. Then I witnessed water flowing, storms brewing, lightning flashing—seeing the entire Earth transform into a blue water sphere, becoming insignificant.
My head throbbed more intensely, and then I felt a dizzying whirl. It felt like my brain was about to explode when suddenly, my feet landed on solid ground!
I opened my eyes wide and quickly rubbed them.
Everything had returned to how it was before!
Before me was a corridor—the very same corridor from the tavern! Not far behind me was that Massage Room from earlier!
At that moment, a woman in a kimono stood before me, looking at me in astonishment. She was the one who had given me a massage—the woman who carried a hint of decay in her scent!
The woman held a sphere in her hand, about the size of a soccer ball. The sphere was hollow, intricately carved with numerous pentagrams, many of which intertwined to form a three-dimensional pentagram sphere. Its blood-red color gave it an eerie appearance.
There was a hint of surprise in the woman's eyes.
I sighed in relief and looked at her. "That's impressive. Where exactly did you just take me?"
"Impossible! No one has ever returned! Ever since that ghoul made a pact with my ancestors, no one has been able to come back!" she muttered, surprisingly fluent in Chinese.
"Who are you? How do you speak Chinese? What ghoul?" I asked, staring at the woman.
Suddenly, with a crack, the pentagram in her hand shattered into countless pink crystals that fell to the ground.
"No!" The woman suddenly went mad. She looked at the broken pentagram on the floor and then at me. "You damned Han person! Why did you come to Japan to ruin my plans?" With that, she charged at me.
Comment 0 Comment Count