Chapter 660: Fengdu

Chapter 660: Fengdu

“Senior Brother Li? You’re really Senior Brother Li? Did you come to save me?”

Seeing Li Huowang appear before him, Yang Xiaohai felt as though he had found his anchor and rushed over to spill out everything that had happened like a bucket full of beans.

Once Yang Xiaohai finished speaking, he noticed that Senior Brother Li was examining him with a strange look in his eyes.

“Come with me,” Li Huowang said, then turned away from Yang Xiaohai without another word and strode quickly toward the west.

Yang Xiaohai hesitated inwardly, but thinking back on how Senior Brother Li had just saved his life from that strange man, he concluded that he wouldn’t harm him and hurried after him.

What he failed to notice was that Lü Juren, pierced through by the Sorrowful Cane, struggled to rise from the ground.

Walking one behind the other in the darkness, with Li Huowang ahead, Yang Xiaohai instantly felt much more at ease.

“Senior Brother Li, where are we now?”

“Where are we? This is the very bottom of Qingqiu—Fengdu.”

“Fengdu? Oh yes, Senior Brother Li, my wife came down with me too. Can you help me find her?”

“You’ve got a wife already? Good.” Li Huowang nodded slightly, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“Senior Brother Li, thank you so much!” Hearing that Senior Brother Li would indeed help him find Zhao Xiumei, Yang Xiaohai expressed his gratitude with great emotion.

“We’re all fellow disciples; why be so formal? Stay quiet and follow closely—we’re almost there.”

They continued walking for nearly an incense stick’s worth of time before the ground began to grow uneven.

Some places rose high with massive pillars thrusting into the dark above, while others collapsed into pitch-black pits. Everything around them became strangely ominous and oppressive.

Within those large pits, green candlelight flickered intermittently. The strange figures Yang had seen earlier were dragging their full Sorrowful Canes toward the pit, leaping inside. Hiding behind a giant pillar, Yang Xiaohai sensed something was wrong. “Senior... Senior Brother Li, this doesn’t seem like a way out.”

“This is your path out,” Li Huowang said, pointing at what lay before them. “Do you know what these caves and those mounds rising from the ground are?”

Before Yang Xiaohai could answer, Li Huowang answered himself. “These are Kui Lei—the Guardian of Death. As for why it lies here motionless—it’s because it’s the very embodiment of death, so naturally, it’s dead. Hahahaha!”

After saying this, Li Huowang found his own words hilarious and burst into laughter, laughing so hard tears came to his eyes.

“Senior Brother Li, what exactly are you talking about? I don’t understand at all,” Yang Xiaohai grew anxious.

“Still don’t get it? You’ve already fallen to your death—you’re already dead. Since you're dead, you fall under Kui Lei’s jurisdiction. Why not merge with it? I’m actually here to escort you on your journey.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaohai’s body went limp and he collapsed to the ground. “I’m dead? I really am dead?”

After pinching himself and confirming no blood came out, he broke down crying. “I haven’t even seen my parents yet—I can’t die! I want to live! I don’t want to die!”

At the peak of his despair and loudest sobs, Li Huowang suddenly clapped his hands in front of him and laughed triumphantly. “Hahahaha! You’ve been tricked! You’re not dead after all! Your ten emotions and eight sufferings haven’t dispersed yet!”

With his laughter, his face changed from Li Huowang to Hongzhong, then back to Li Huowang.

Yang Xiaohai, who had stopped sobbing mid-way, stared blankly at the figure before him, unsure of what to say.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you out,” said Li Huowang with a smile, extending his hand toward Yang Xiaohai, attempting to pull him up.

Yang Xiaohai hesitated—should he take the hand offered to him? He sensed something odd about the Senior Brother Li standing before him. “Senior Brother Li, you won’t trick me again, will you? This isn’t the time for games.”

“Hahahaha, relax. I know when to stop. Just teasing you,” Li Huowang reached out and pulled him up, then started walking back.

Not long after, they met Lü Juren coming toward them. Lü Juren looked at them, confused, and asked, “Young Master Daoist? Yang… You’re Yang Xiaohai, right? How did you end up here?”

“Uncle Juren, what’s wrong with you? Didn’t we just meet?” Yang Xiaohai looked surprised.

“Just met?” Lü Juren looked at Yang Xiaohai with unfamiliarity, standing still and pondering again.

“Enough, no point in arguing with him. Juren’s ten emotions and eight sufferings, three souls and seven spirits have scattered. What remains in him is only death—he’s become part of Kui Lei now. All he does is repeat short moments endlessly. He doesn’t remember what happened before or what’s happening now.”

Hearing this, Yang Xiaohai looked pityingly at Lü Juren. “Then, Senior Brother Li, why did he turn into this? Has Lü Juren died?”

“I don’t know,” Li Huowang replied, continuing forward.

Yang Xiaohai glanced once at Lü Juren still standing in place, then hurried after Li Huowang. This time, Lü Juren didn’t follow, remaining motionless, lost in thought.

In the pitch black, Yang Xiaohai followed Li Huowang onward, this time heading upward.

Just when Yang Xiaohai thought he’d make it out safely, a violent tremor shook the earth and sky, cracking sounds echoing from all directions.

Li Huowang frowned sharply, turning swiftly toward the previous pit and pillars. Seeing the large pit shrink gradually, he cursed silently—another one.

“Senior Brother Li? What’s coming again?” Yang Xiaohai asked nervously.

“Supernatural evil. Evil from elsewhere. Some people seem intent on reviving Kui Lei! We must hurry—we don’t want to be caught in the crossfire!”

With that, Li Huowang grabbed Yang Xiaohai and quickened their pace.

“Senior Brother Li, what happens if Kui Lei comes back to life?”

“Kui Lei governs death. What do you think would happen if it returned to life?”

As they spoke, the trembling intensified. Soon, Yang Xiaohai heard a roaring sound echoing beneath the black earth.

“They’re here! Let’s go up!” Li Huowang stamped his feet against the ground and leapt onto the upper rock layer with Yang Xiaohai.

Hanging upside down, Yang Xiaohai was dragged along by Li Huowang as they sprinted forward. Though inverted, neither of them fell.

Soon, Yang Xiaohai saw vast dark seas surging below him. These waters were bizarrely colored, resembling rotting rainbow skies, dimly multicolored.

The strange sea surged toward the former pit, and from within rose thick vapor that made Yang Xiaohai feel his body melting.

He was like a burning candle, turning into wax liquid dripping downward.

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Next chapter updates at 11:30 PM.

Tomorrow, I'll repay my debts.

(End of Chapter)