usatvline Chapter 161 An Encounter in the Underworld
Chapter 161 An Encounter in the Underworld
Chapter 161 An Encounter in the Underworld
The conversation between Shang Sanguan and his two older brothers was somewhat unexpected; if Liu Qingyuan were to comment on it, it would be that the time was too short.
“I have already told my two older brothers that they will set off home immediately after they wake up.”
On the road to the underworld, the woman standing beside the paper donkey seemed to have little affection for her two brothers from the mortal world.
"I'm very sorry about what happened to your body..."
After the Painted Skin Ghost peels off its skin, it will not keep the original corpse. Shang Sanguan's original body has long since disappeared, and the modified human skin is also tattered. He doesn't even have a complete corpse to be buried in peace. His image has been used by others. How can one word describe his misery?
When Liu Qingyuan first arrived in the underworld, she thought about looking for the body, but ultimately found nothing. Rather than throwing it away, Hongmei probably destroyed Shang Sanguan's body to cover up the crime.
"This is not the Immortal's fault, you do not need to apologize, and besides..."
Shang Sanguan couldn't help but raise her hand to touch her neck. She had hanged herself, and even now that she was a ghost, there was still a shocking ligature mark there.
"When I cut off that old thief's head, I never expected to have a whole body."
She killed the man who killed her father, avenging her great grudge. Her own body was left there, and it was understandable that his family would take her corpse to vent their anger, since the man was a local tyrant.
Anyway, her father's revenge was done, and she was dead. She didn't care much about the state of her body. In fact, she would be even happier if the wealthy man's family only vented their anger on her corpse and didn't make things difficult for the rest of the business.
"Although my two older brothers are usually impulsive, I never expected them to be this stupid."
To be honest, if Liu Qingyuan hadn't found her through various connections in the underworld, Shang Sanguan, who had already adapted to life in the underworld, would never have known that such things had happened in her family. She hanged herself willingly after getting revenge, and left without a trace of regret.
At the time, she thought that once the grudges were settled, her two brothers could return to normal life, study hard for the imperial examinations, and take care of their mother. However, a piece of news, whether true or false, led them to run south to find the White Lotus Sect.
Yes, her disappearance was indeed suspicious, and her two brothers' concern for her and their belief that she was still alive was indeed touching. But that was not a reason for them to abandon their mother and run away so far. Their family's wealth had already been greatly reduced because of the lawsuit that cost them so much money that year, and yet they still ran away on a whim.
What will happen to the family's remaining assets now that they're gone? What will happen to the widowed mother? What if she gets involved with the White Lotus Religion? What will happen to her future imperial examinations? What will happen to all the books she's studied so hard for all these years?
To some extent, when Shang Sanguan went to visit Shang Chen and Shang Li in a dream after learning the whole story, she actually had the purpose of scolding them and sending them home. Her two older brothers had caused her a lot of trouble while they were alive. They were so "filial" that they would not bury their father's body for a year in order to fight a lawsuit. Now that she was dead, they would still abandon their messy family affairs and run so far away because of a woman who supposedly looked like her, without knowing whether it was true or not.
Knowing that the idea of someone coming back to life was bizarre, there was a moment when Shang Sanguan genuinely wished he could come back to life, grab his two older brothers by the collar, and take them home.
"My father is laid to rest, my enemies are dead, and my family has survived the ordeal. I have no other desires but that they can think things through calmly and take good care of my mother."
After saying this, Shang Sanguan mounted the paper donkey, and the boy leading the donkey also took the reins, leading the paper donkey and Shang Sanguan toward the end of the road, and soon disappeared into a thick fog.
This path to the underworld has only two directions: forward leads to the netherworld, and backward leads to the mortal realm.
"She is indeed a heroine among women."
Seeing Shang Sanguan's magnanimity, Liu Qing couldn't help but sigh. When he told the people of the underworld that he wanted to find Shang Sanguan, he was a little nervous. After what had happened, the other party might not want to go to the mortal world again.
Unexpectedly, Shang Sanguan's focus was not on how his body had been desecrated, but rather on the fact that after learning that his two older brothers had run out of the house to meet the person involved in some unverified information, he agreed to appear in their dreams and even scolded his two brothers in the dream.
If such a perceptive girl were a boy in this era, she would surely surpass Shang Chen and Shang Li to become the pillar of her family. Even though she is a girl with many limitations, she could still kill her enemies and avenge her father.
"In that case, I should go back and see..."
Liu Qingyuan turned around and headed in the other direction of the road, the direction leading to the mortal realm. Just as she was about to leave, the thick fog behind her suddenly began to surge, and two men ran out from it. They were clearly fleeing for their lives. Because the surrounding area was thick fog and the sky was gloomy, they bumped into Liu Qingyuan, who was dressed in white, and before they could even see what it was, they went straight around it and continued running forward.
Judging from their condition, Liu Qingyuan could tell that one of them had just died. Having been to the underworld so many times, he could tell what the underworld officials looked like, what the residents looked like, and what the newly captured ghosts looked like.
"Please wait, gentlemen. What lies ahead is..."
"what!"
"Ouch!"
"...It seems I'm too late to say this."
The two of them looked like the kind of people who didn't want to die and were desperately running back. Liu Qingyuan didn't speak to arrest them; he just wanted to remind them that he had just opened a back door for Shang Sanguan to send a dream, and the people of the underworld were afraid that things would go wrong if it was left open for too long, so they had set up a barrier in front of them beforehand.
Ordinary ghosts couldn't see this barrier; only those with a foundation in cultivation, like Liu Qingyuan and the donkey-leading boy, could. Although the two on the other side saw Liu Qingyuan, they couldn't see the barrier further ahead and crashed into it solidly.
"There is an obstacle ahead. If you two want to take this road to the mortal world, you will need a ghost messenger to lead the way."
Liu Qingyuan walked over and looked at the two ghosts on the ground, who had collapsed and were crying out in pain because they had run too fast and crashed too hard.
"Ghost messengers? Where are there ghost messengers!"
Upon hearing those two words, one of the men was so startled that he jumped up. If Liu Qingyuan hadn't reacted quickly, the two might have collided.
Theoretically speaking, the other party is a ghost and has long since lost its body. Although Liu Qingyuan can move freely in the underworld, he is still a living person in the current definition and has a physical body. The two may not necessarily collide. It is more likely that the other party will jump too high and pass directly through Liu Qingyuan's body.
...In that situation, it would be better to just bump into each other and headbutt each other.
"Don't worry, I'm not a ghost messenger."
Seeing that the two turned their gazes toward him after hearing the word "ghost messenger," Liu Qingyuan felt helpless. Although they were both dressed in white, he was not a ghost messenger from the underworld.
"But if the two of you are runaway ghosts, I cannot stand idly by."
One ghost doesn't look like it's been dead for long, and the other seems to have lived in the underworld for a while. Neither of them can just go to the mortal world, and they even appeared in the form of running away, which is very suspicious.
If they really did escape, the ghost messengers would probably be in a real bind by now, having to catch them and bring them back.
"you are?"
The man still on the ground frowned and sized up Liu Qingyuan. This person did not look like a ghost from the underworld at all. The other party was calm and composed, and seemed to still have the aura of a living person on his body, but this was the underworld.
White clothes, white hair, and a bronze longsword—this look is somewhat familiar.
"You are the immortal who followed the Third Prince of the East Sea!"
He remembered that when the Third Prince of the East Sea came to question him, this person had come with the people from the Dragon Palace.
"What a coincidence! Immortal Master, I am also from the East Sea!"
"Stop, we're not familiar with each other."
Seeing the person on the ground suddenly stand up and smile as they tried to get closer, Liu Qingyuan was all too familiar with this combo. She simply held up her whisk in front of her, blocking the other person's path.
Since the other side was a ghost, it obediently stopped when it saw the whisk blocking its way.
"I admit that I, Jianzi, am dashing and charming, loved by all, but don't try to get close to me indiscriminately. Also, I am not from the East Sea."
"Immortal Master, we..."
"This is the road from the underworld to the world of the living. What are you two, who are already dead, doing here?"
Not only did they run in a hurry, but they also headed straight for the mortal realm, clearly intending to go there. If it weren't for Liu Qingyuan being there, and the fact that there was an extra "lock" on this road today, these two might have really run away.
"If they want to escape, I cannot stand by and watch."
The management of the underworld is very lax. There are countless cases of people being brought back to life and possessing bodies in the mortal world. There are also instances of favoritism and corruption in the trial process. Now that things have finally improved a bit, we can't let these two guys take advantage of the loopholes.
"You are such a compassionate and merciful immortal, please just pretend you didn't see us!"
"Reversing Yin and Yang will disrupt the order of the underworld, and even if I don't care, there are locks here, so you can't escape on your own."
Liu Qingyuan pointed ahead. He could see the temporary barrier blocking his way, but he couldn't see the other two. However, the collision just now was a solid impact with something. Upon closer inspection, he realized that this path was indeed impassable.
There are many paths from the underworld to the mortal realm, but they couldn't turn back now because Liu Qingyuan was blocking their way. Even without him, they weren't sure if the ghost messengers had noticed the two missing ghosts and were investigating this way.
"Tell me honestly, what are you trying to do after running away?"
Seeing that he was in a dilemma, the other man took the initiative to explain that he had indeed died recently, and had only just realized that he was dead, but he did not want to die.
This man was named Geng Shiba. He was poor when he died and suddenly fell seriously ill. Although he knew he would not live much longer, he did not expect it to be so soon. In a daze, he arrived in the underworld and was escorted by ghost messengers. On the way, he heard people talking about the underworld and realized that he was already dead.
According to him, he absolutely cannot die now, because if he dies, his wife will definitely remarry, and his elderly mother will be left without anyone to take care of her.
While he was grieving, another person approached him. This person claimed to be a craftsman from the East Sea. After learning about Geng Shiba's worries, the two took the opportunity to escape and ran all the way here.
According to the craftsman, there were no ghosts coming and going on this road before, and no ghost messengers patrolled it. So the two of them ran this way, but they didn't expect that the situation would be special today. Liu Qingyuan took this road, and a barrier inexplicably appeared in front of them.
"Immortal Master, please have mercy! I'll wait for you to come home so I can make offerings to you and set up a memorial tablet for you!"
"It's not necessary."
Liu Qingyuan felt that something was not right. Geng Shiba was indeed a recently deceased soul. Now that he had returned to his body in the mortal world, he could indeed be brought back to life. This idea was not wrong.
The problem lies with the craftsman who claims to be from the East Sea. This guy is clearly a seasoned veteran from the underworld. Geng Shiba was brought here by the ghost messengers, but according to Geng Shiba's description, this craftsman was not wearing any shackles when he approached him.
The other party wasn't a ghost messenger, yet they could move freely within the ghost messenger's procession while the ghost messengers were escorting the ghosts. Knowing that there were no ghost messengers patrolling this road, they were still able to immediately escape with Geng Shiba. They were quite skilled at their job.
"You believe him just because he said that?"
"Hey, Immortal Master, I truly want to help..."
Liu Qingyuan raised his whisk again, and the craftsman obediently shut up. After all, he wasn't someone who had just died and knew nothing; he had experience living in the underworld and knew that these powerful beings wielded formidable magical treasures.
“You were just supposed to enter the cycle of reincarnation naturally, but you ran away this time and were found out, so you will be punished. And you, you clearly reside in the underworld, so going to the mortal world won't bring you back to life. What are you doing here?”
"...Wasn't he just dead?"
Geng Shiba was puzzled. Did this craftsman who was willing to help him have a problem, based on what the immortal said?
"Of course not. The Third Prince of the East Sea came to the Underworld several months ago."
In other words, this craftsman was already a ghost in the underworld several months ago, and judging from his skill level, that time must have been pushed back even further.
Whether he genuinely wanted to help Geng Shiba go back to fulfill his filial duties, or had ulterior motives, requires careful questioning before a conclusion can be reached.
"You two, come back with me."
"Wait a minute, Immortal Master, aren't you going to help me?"
"When did I say I would help you?"
He only asked the two to confess and be treated leniently, but he didn't say he would help them escape to the mortal world. Although he always complained about the flawed management of the underworld, Liu Qingyuan and the underworld were actually on the same side.
Besides, Geng Shiba had clearly reached the end of his lifespan and was sent to the underworld according to the proper procedures. Once a person dies, they are dead. You can't just put him back into the mortal world because of a few words of filial piety towards his mother.
The craftsman, being quick-witted, tried to slip away in a flash, but failed. He was pulled back by Liu Qingyuan's whisk, which indirectly proved that the whisk was a magical artifact in his mind.
"Disrupting order at will is unacceptable. If you have a real reason, explain it to the judges. There is still room for maneuver. Running away will only make your crime more serious."
Liu Qingyuan, leading the two ghosts who had failed to escape, headed back towards the underworld. When they saw the ghost messengers, they also saw a familiar figure.
"...Master Shan?"
"Immortal Sword Master?"
Upon hearing the sound, the Taoist priest turned around and saw Liu Qingyuan leading two men who looked like ghosts. Liu Qingyuan, dressed in white, walked in front, followed by the two ghosts. This scene was almost identical to the ghost messengers capturing souls.
"Master, why have you taken up the job of a ghost messenger?"
Fellow Daoist Xiao Cui, didn't you say that Immortal Sword Master went to help someone else? So, this help is going to the underworld?