"Having turned into white bones, how can it still be alive?"
Chen Shi's heart leapt. He forcefully pried apart the fingers of the tall, thin skeleton that gripped the copper lamp, hoisted the lamp, and swam upward.
Held in the grasp of the tall, thin skeleton, the copper lamp had not looked large, but once fallen into Chen Shi's hands, it was almost as tall as he was, frighteningly large and exceptionally heavy.
He looked back and saw that the tall, thin skeleton had completely awakened, appearing utterly furious. Its legless-save-for-bone lower limbs squatted on the riverbed, and with a single bound, it actually attempted to leap up and pursue Chen Shi!
With a crisp crack, one of the tall, thin skeleton's thigh bones snapped as a result, and the direction of its leap warped accordingly, causing it to crash to one side.
Chen Shi was both horrified and amused.
The tall, thin skeleton's bones were covered in scars, some inflicted by sharp weapons, some smashed by blunt instruments, and others bearing the marks of magical scorching.
It could not exert force. If it used force, these damaged bones would simply snap.
Not only that, but Chen Shi also noticed that several of its ribs were broken, their whereabouts unknown.
Now, with another leg snapped, swimming made it look like a three-legged toad, its posture unspeakably ridiculous.
Yet ridiculous though it was, its swimming speed still far surpassed Chen Shi's!
Chen Shi did not dare tarry. He poured every ounce of his strength into swimming toward the river's surface, his mind churning with a flurry of thoughts as he swam.
The reason the tall, thin skeleton is still alive is because, just like me, it crossed over from the Yang World into the Underworld, causing its flesh and blood to melt away and turning it into a skeleton.
This copper lamp is surely no treasure of Granny Sha's either; it belongs to him!
Granny Sha has set her sights on this copper lamp, so this item must be extraordinary. But why was Granny Sha certain the copper lamp would end up in the River of Forgetfulness? Ah, back then, this person must have suffered a fatal wound and plunged into the River of Forgetfulness together with the copper lamp!
Granny Sha wasn't certain whether this person was dead, so she waited nine years. In nine years, this person's injuries would undoubtedly have flared up and killed him, which is why she made me go down the river to look for the lamp.
Only, Granny Sha hadn't expected that upon entering the River of Forgetfulness, this person's flesh and blood would vanish, leaving only white bones, which in turn eradicated his fatal wound. Yet he was also unable to leave the river, so he could only slumber at the bottom.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly saw wooden boats shuttling back and forth like a web across the river's surface, coming from all directions.
Standing on the wooden boats were figures of utter might—they were the tall, thin monsters!
Chen Shi's heart gave a jolt. If he went up now, he would surely be caught by these tall, thin monsters and eaten on the spot!
He was just about to change direction when he saw that the tall, thin skeleton below had already given chase.
Chen Shi hoisted the copper lamp with both hands and kicked hard with both legs, trying to evade the tall, thin skeleton, yet the tall, thin skeleton was still drawing closer and closer to him!
On the river's surface above, a bluestone path came from the Yang World, leading straight to the River of Forgetfulness. At the end of the bluestone, Granny Sha's tiny figure appeared towering, standing erect upon the altar.
The sight of the wooden boats reflected in her eyes made her heart tighten.
Oh no. These old nemeses have arrived so fast!
Knowing that if these Yin messengers occupied the passage, Chen Shi would inevitably find it hard to enter and would likely be caught and eaten by the Yin messengers before even showing his face, she hardened her heart, took a single step forward, and stepped onto the bluestone path.
"The Heavenly Emperor gave birth to me, Imperial Heaven nourishes me, the sun and moon shine upon me, the Big Dipper aids me, rivers and mountains guide me, a hundred deities serve me, Yin and Yang connect me, the Wind Master escorts me, the heavenly kitchen supplies me, purple clouds cover me, divine medicine heals me!"
The little old woman's clothes snapped violently, and a grandiose voice echoed from all around.
"Wandering infinitely, enter the sea and emerge through the Heavenly Gate, enter the river and emerge through the Earthly Door! The Arbiter of Fate lifts me up, what is sought that is not obtained, what pointer that is unforeseen!"
Divine light illuminated her entire body, presenting the miraculous phenomenon of the Big Dipper circling her form and the sun and moon hanging brilliantly. Yin and Yang connected, purple clouds formed an ornate canopy, penetrating divine light condensed into divine medicine behind her, and interwoven runes formed the shape of an Eight Trigrams furnace outside her body.
The so-called Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Talisman was actually the simplified version of her Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art!
Granny Sha met those wooden boats head-on.
"Little Ten, follow the sound of my drum and return!"
Thunder rumbled, and suddenly intensely fierce lightning illuminated downward from the water's surface, lighting the bottom of the River of Forgetfulness through and through.
Struggling to dodge the pursuit of the tall, thin skeleton in the water, Chen Shi hastily looked up and saw that on the river's surface there seemed to be an Imperial Daughter whose entire body was shrouded in brilliant golden light, her physique towering, raising her hands and feet to overturn rivers and seas, engaging in combat with that crowd of inhuman-faced wooden boat monsters!
The drumbeats resonated, accompanied by a rustling sound, the drum rolls growing increasingly dense!
That drumming came from the Yang World, guiding Chen Shi and urging him to make haste toward the Yang World.
"Hum—"
A massive Eight Trigrams rune trembled, one long and two short, sweeping across the River of Forgetfulness and churning up great water that caused Chen Shi and the tall, thin skeleton to lose their footing.
That Eight Trigrams rune abruptly transformed into a mountain peak, surging upward from the water to suppress one of the wooden boat monsters.
Granny Sha's voice drifted down from the river's surface: "Come! Nine years ago I single-handedly broke into the Underworld and snatched that child's soul; I wasn't afraid of you back then, and today I won't be afraid either!"
"Whoosh—"
Suddenly, the Zhen trigram from the Eight Trigrams entered the water, transforming into thunder upon leaping out, and thick, massive lightning bolts struck the river's surface. Lightning flashed wildly, and clusters of thunder-fire darted about the river!
Then the Li trigram transformed into flames, the Xun trigram into a roaring black wind, the Kun trigram into heavy yellow soil, and the Qian trigram into the azure sky, battering the surface of the River of Forgetfulness into pitch-black gloom.
The waters of the River of Forgetfulness were swept up by this terrifying turbulence, further destabilizing the postures of Chen Shi and the tall, thin skeleton.
Since they possessed no flesh and blood and relied on bones to paddle through the river, they were already prone to inconvenience; compounded by the churning currents, they grew even more unstable.
Fortunately, Chen Shi was a skeleton and had no need to breathe, otherwise he would have long since drowned in the water.
"Granny is this strong?"
Chen Shi was immensely astonished. Granny Sha looked like a rural little old woman who knew some soul-summoning tricks and relied on soul-summoning to make a living and support her family; he never expected her strength to be so tyrannical!
A single bluestone path pierced through the Yin and Yang worlds, and she had even stepped across the stone path to kill her way into the Underworld's River of Forgetfulness to rescue him!
Was this something a rural little old woman could accomplish?
"Grandpa said that when I was injured back then, she ran this way and that for me, racking her brains to summon my soul."
Chen Shi suddenly thought that if Granny Sha were to use her full strength to summon his soul, what kind of spectacular sight would that be?
Yet he remembered nothing at all.
All memories from prior to two years ago had turned into illusory bubbles, leaving a complete blank.
Chen Shi tried to swim toward that bluestone path, but time and time again he was overturned by the torrents.
The currents here were growing increasingly swift, turning all the more rapid the closer one got to the surface. The strength of that crowd of wooden boat monsters was also no trivial matter; more crucially, their numbers were vast, and they were only increasing!
More wooden boats galloped over from the distance, each carrying a tall, thin monster that joined the fray to besiege Granny Sha!
Potent though the Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art was, Granny Sha was still struggling with all her might.
Looking up from below, Chen Shi saw bluestones continuously flying up and shattering along the bluestone path, causing this path connecting the two worlds to grow shorter and shorter!
There were simply too many of these surging tall, thin monsters; Granny Sha would likely not be able to hold out much longer!
The drumbeats grew ever more urgent, evidently reflecting Granny Sha's intense inner anxiety.
Chen Shi grew gradually restless. The tall, thin skeleton tumbling through the torrents alongside him was also steadily drawing closer and capable of catching him before long.
Suddenly, amid the rushing currents, Chen Shi spotted a bony fish over ten zhang long—none other than Great Gu. His heart stirred involuntarily, and instead of fighting the current, he swam along with the flow toward Great Gu.
That Great Gu was charging upstream. Although it too had turned into white bones, its fish bones and fins retained their fish-like form, and its swimming speed was vastly faster than that of Chen Shi and the tall, thin skeleton.
As Great Gu came rushing head-on, Chen Shi immediately clutched the copper lamp with one hand and grabbed a fish fin with the other. He instantly felt a massive pulling force travel through his arm, accompanied by violent jolts as Great Gu carried him speeding through the water at blistering velocity!
Chen Shi was both startled and overjoyed. Suddenly, Great Gu's speed slowed slightly, and looking back, he saw the tall, thin skeleton grab Great Gu's fish tail, its hands alternating to climb upward.
"You haunting specter!"
Gritting his teeth, Chen Shi successively threaded both arms through the sheep horns, slinging the ram horn copper lamp onto his back, and began climbing forward with alternating hands as well.
The tall, thin skeleton's speed was even faster, and since Great Gu's body was only a little over ten zhang long, the tall, thin skeleton would catch him before long.
Chen Shi buried his head and climbed forward, but the fish bones on the fish's back were too thick and bulky. Clutching the fish spine, he nearly slipped off, forcing him to climb with all his might until he reached the dorsal ridge. Using both hands and feet, he trampled the large bones on the fish's belly and scrambled desperately toward the gills.
The tall, thin skeleton pursued from behind, its skeletal hand—four times larger than a normal person's—stretching open to grab his back leg.
Chen Shi hastily retracted his leg, evading the grab, and finally reached the fish gills, hurriedly burrowing inside.
The tall, thin skeleton also arrived at the gills, but its physique was too massive to squeeze in, leaving it with no choice but to extend its long arms and thrash wildly into the interior.
Chen Shi hid inside the fish's mouth, doing his utmost to dodge the skeletal hand.
The tips of those skeletal fingers were exceptionally sharp; if they touched him, they would easily snap his bones!
Suddenly, Chen Shi's gaze landed on the fish hook at Great Gu's throat bones. This fish hook and iron chain were precisely what had been hooked onto Great Gu's throat bones when he first entered the River of Forgetfulness.
Chen Shi immediately retrieved the fish hook, bound the iron chain to his somewhat frail right arm bone, and swung it toward the skeletal hand.
That skeletal hand bore many deep wounds; if he could smash it to pieces, it would remove a massive threat to himself.
To his surprise, the moment his chain-wrapped fist touched the arm bone of the large hand, his entire body's bones were jolted as though about to fly apart, causing him extraordinary discomfort.
Sensing the contact, the large hand abruptly pivoted, lunging to grab Chen Shi.
At the same time, Great Gu swam faster and faster. Abruptly, a stream of dark blue light surged from out of nowhere, engulfing Chen Shi, the tall, thin skeleton, and Great Gu all at once!
Simultaneously, Granny Sha's bluestone path collapsed with a deafening roar. Standing at the end of the stone path, Granny Sha let out a helpless sigh of impotence as an invisible force dragged her form, pulling her back toward the Yang World.
"Hum!"
On the altar beside the Dejiang River, space vibrated violently. Granny Sha's figure abruptly appeared upon the altar, her aura plummeting at high speed.
The surging shockwave whipped up by the spatial tremor caused the five ghost kings to lose their footing, each sliding backward while the altar was pressed down with a thunderous roar and collapsed into ruin.
Yet Granny Sha stared blankly ahead. On the river's surface before her, the black qi dissipated, and the bluestone path completely collapsed and vanished from sight.
Her body trembled, and hot tears spilled uncontrollably from her old eyes.
In the end, she still hadn't managed to save the child.
Just like back then.
At that very moment, the river's surface suddenly split apart, and a giant fish radiating a cyan-black light leaped out of the water, opening its maw filled with sharp teeth and spitting out a dark shadow with a loud thud.
That dark shadow unfolded mid-air—it was small, precisely Chen Shi, with a ram horn copper lamp nearly his size strapped to his back. The copper lamp was actually still glowing, emitting a faint, dim light.
Chen Shi stretched out his limbs in mid-air, falling toward the riverbank, and in his hand he was unexpectedly still clutching a section of iron chain, the end of which terminated in a large fish hook.
Presumably, the fish hook had snagged Great Gu's throat, preventing the creature from swallowing him, leaving it no choice but to spit him out.
Meanwhile, clinging to Great Gu's gills was still a monster with a human body and a horse's head—thin and tall, standing three to five adult heights tall, yet covered in blood and injuries from head to toe, with a snapped leg to boot.
This horse-headed monster was none other than the tall, thin skeleton that had pursued Chen Shi—an Underworld Yin messenger who, due to severe injuries, had been forced to hide beneath the River of Forgetfulness to preserve its life. Having its ram horn copper lamp stolen by Chen Shi just now, it had disregarded its heavy injuries and followed Great Gu all the way into the Yang World.
Just like Chen Shi and Great Gu, the instant it crossed over, it recovered its flesh and blood.
With its physical body restored, its injuries recovered along with it.
Its wounds were far more severe than the injuries it had sustained nine years ago!
The horse-headed monster categorically refused to allow the ram horn copper lamp to be stolen, and it instantly leaped up on a single leg, lunging toward Chen Shi from behind.
Granny Sha stood dumbfounded, utterly clueless as to the reason behind this turn of events.
With a deafening crash, Chen Shi bent his knees and landed steadily on the ground.
And behind him, Great Gu once more leaped from the water, opening its blood-fed maw to swallow the horse-headed monster pouncing toward him from mid-air in a single gulp, before plunging back into the water with another bang that splashed up waves several zhang high.
Before you continue