"Creak, creak, creak..."
Accompanied by a grating sound that set his teeth on edge, a chilly wind laden with moisture blew straight at him.
A hoarse, obscure voice intoned, "Nine!"
The instant the voice fell silent, Pei Ling opened his eyes. Above him stretched an empty, dusky-yellow sky, where scattered blue flames drifted, illuminating the desolate wilderness.
He lay alone inside a pitch-black coffin. Beside it stood a person in black robes, wrapped from head to toe.
The figure's appearance was hidden beneath the hood's shadow, not a single detail visible. Pei Ling could only sense a chilling gaze, impossible to read for anger, goodwill, or hostility.
Pei Ling immediately rose and climbed out of the coffin.
The coffin floated on the water. All around him, the waters stretched into a vast expanse; he couldn't see so much as a hint of another Post Station. This was an utterly unfamiliar place.
The turbid yellow river surged onward. Nothing else existed between heaven and earth. There seemed to be only this one coffin. Su Xirou and Meng Hongxuan, however, had vanished without a trace.
The black-robed figure raised a hand and produced a lantern the size of a human head. Sealed inside was a wisp of blue flame. Unlike the lantern given to him by the black-robed figure at the first Post Station, this one also held a faint tinge of blood-red, lending it an even more sinister air.
The figure handed the lantern to Pei Ling and rasped, "Board the boat."
"Head to the next stop."
Pei Ling took the lantern. As its chill seeped into his palm, the river beside him suddenly began to churn. Great clusters of bubbles rose from the riverbed, and soon a black-canopied boat broke the surface, shedding cascades of water as it floated quietly