Not to mention how the little mummy, who had always appeared in the underworld as a "comic relief," had undergone a dramatic transformation, going from a dried-up strip of jerky to a sleek little ride with no bad angles.
From the perspective of the others accompanying the coffin, today's trip to the underworld had been an undeniable stroke of fortune, especially for psychic overlords like Triss and Hathor.
In the past thousand years, there had been only a handful of cases of the living entering the underworld and returning unharmed. The underworld was unquestionably the most mysterious place in the entire world.
Countless fanciful legends described the underworld, but no one could imagine what this otherworldly place looked like without seeing it for themselves.
Walking along the tranquil Road of the Dead, Triss made her way down the broad, dignified avenue, its ancient grandeur solemn and imposing. She kept glancing back. At the end of the road lay a beach and an endless sea of the dead.
They said this was where the living first entered the underworld.
The souls of the dead had to cross the endless Sea of the Dead in the ferryman's little boat to reach the other shore. But ferrymen were no saints. If the dead failed to meet their demands, they could be cast into the sea and become part of its crying, wailing waters—the most miserable fate of all.
According to Sanghaian custom, three soul-calming coins were the most important things to prepare for one's affairs after death.
One coin to thank the ferryman as payment for passage, one to atone for the sins of one's life, and one to keep in reserve.
Of course, the truly wicked needed to prepare more soul-calming coins, because their sins couldn't possibly be settled with just one.