Master Tongtian had sat motionless on his cushion for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh.
He prayed that Houtu was still asleep, or at least in a good mood today, and wouldn't stoop to arguing with a little kid.
"Forget it. Out of sight, out of mind."
He simply closed his eyes and began meditating.
But his Divine Sense couldn't help quietly probing in the direction of Youming Blood Sea.
He had to keep an eye on things.
If something truly disastrous happened, maybe... he could at least collect his daughter's corpse?
Bah, bah, bah!
Master Tongtian hurriedly banished the unlucky thought from his mind.
Xiruan and Holy Mother Wudang soon arrived in a vast, hazy world.
The sky here was eternally gray, without sun, moon, or stars.
The earth was covered in dark red soil, with not a blade of grass in sight. A chilly, lifeless air hung everywhere.
Countless ghostly shadows drifted through the air. They were all homeless, wandering spirits, their faces numb and their eyes vacant.
"Senior, this is the Netherworld."
Holy Mother Wudang's expression grew solemn. "That enormous pass up ahead is the Ghost Gate, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead."
Xiruan curiously looked around.
"This place is so shabby. Even Grandpa Wang's house—the poorest in our village—is fancier than this."
She watched the drifting ghosts, a hint of pity in her eyes.
"They look so hungry. Doesn't anyone feed them?"
Holy Mother Wudang's mouth twitched. She explained, "They are no longer living beings, so they don't need food."
"They're waiting for the ghost guards to lead them to the underworld to register."
"Oh, so they're lining up for job interviews," Xiruan said, suddenly enlightened. "This heartless company doesn't even give its employees a waiting room. What a cheapskate!"
As they spoke, they had already reached the imposing Ghost Gate.
The pass towered into the clouds, entirely black, with two bloody characters carved into it: Ghost Gate.
A chilling yin aura poured from within, enough to freeze the minds of any Great Being below the Golden Immortal realm.
Two rows of Ghost Generals stood before the gate, armed and armored. They all had green faces, fangs, and a fearsome aura.
"Who goes there? This is a forbidden area of the underworld! The living may not pass!" a Ghost General stepped forward and shouted.
Holy Mother Wudang immediately shielded Xiruan and brought out her magical treasure, ready to force her way through.
But Xiruan tugged her aside, tilted her little head back, and looked up at the Ghost General, who was dozens of times taller than she was.
"I'm here to collect a debt! Tell your boss to come out and see me!"
The Ghost General froze, then burst into laughter along with the others.
"Hahahaha! Collect a debt? A little kid comes to the Ghost Gate to collect a debt?"
"Whose child is this? Did she get lost? Run home and have some milk!"
They didn't take Xiruan seriously at all.
To them, she was just a clueless human child who had wandered into the Netherworld.
"Don't laugh!" Xiruan grew angry. "If you laugh again, I'll beat you up!"
"Oh? Got some fight in you!" The leader laughed even harder. "You little thing, do you even know where you are?"
"I've guarded this place for a hundred thousand years, and I've never seen anyone as insolent as you! Men, throw her out!"
"Yes, sir!"
Two ghost soldiers immediately stepped forward to grab Xiruan.
"Hmph!"
Xiruan snorted and tapped the ground with the Chaos Baby Bottle in her hand.
"Thud!"
A visible crack instantly spread across the entire plaza in front of the Ghost Gate, with the bottle's point of impact at its center!
Then an indescribably terrifying force erupted with a thunderous roar!
"Rumble—!"
The entire Ghost Gate began to shake violently. The Ghost Generals and soldiers who had been laughing lost their footing, stumbling in every direction.
"W-what's happening?!"
"An earthquake?!"
All the ghosts were stunned.
They hadn't even realized what was going on.
Xiruan had already hoisted the bottle onto her shoulder and charged toward the two bewildered ghost soldiers on her short little legs.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
Two dull impacts rang out.
The ghost soldiers, each several yards tall, didn't even have time to scream. One swing of the bottle apiece smashed them into two clouds of black smoke that dissipated into the air.
The Ghost Generals' laughter caught in their throats, their faces frozen as if they'd seen a ghost—or rather, they were ghosts themselves.
They stared blankly at the tiny figure carrying a gigantic baby bottle, a chill shooting straight through them.
What... what kind of monster was this?!
"Anyone still want to laugh?" Xiruan swept her gaze around, the bottle over her shoulder.
Silence fell.
All the Ghost Generals shook their heads like rattles, their faces filled with terror.
"I'll say it again." Xiruan cleared her throat. "I'm here to collect a debt, and while I'm at it, find our employee."
"Are you going to open the gate and let me in, or... should I tear you down along with it?"
The leader looked at the bottle shimmering with Chaotic Ghostly Light and thought of his two dead subordinates. He swallowed hard.
"O-open the gate!" he roared with all his might. "Quick! Open the gate for this... this young lady!"
At the Ghost Gate's guards' command, the massive, incredibly heavy gates slowly swung inward.
"Miss, please... please come in."
The Ghost General gave Xiruan a fawning smile that looked even worse than a grimace.
"Hmph. You should've done that from the start." Xiruan gave a smug snort and marched in at the head of the group.
Holy Mother Wudang followed close behind. She looked at the Ghost Generals, who had been so arrogant moments ago, and felt deeply moved.
That was the power of strength!
In the face of absolute strength, all rules were worthless.
The two passed through the Ghost Gate, and the view opened up before them.
A yellow dirt road stretched into the distance, winding out of sight.
Great swaths of strange red flowers bloomed along the roadside. The flowers and leaves never appeared together. They were like blood, like fire.
"Senior, this is the Yellow Spring Road. The flowers by the roadside are called Flowers of the Other Shore."
Holy Mother Wudang explained.
"Oh, the Yellow Spring Road." Xiruan nodded. "That name sounds unlucky. And those flowers are blood-red. They're ugly."
With an environment this bad, the employee benefits couldn't be any better.
The two followed the Yellow Spring Road onward.
Along the way, they encountered more and more ghosts, all walking numbly in long lines.
Every so often, a ghost with lingering attachments would refuse to move on. Then two figures, one black and one white, would appear like specters, swinging their chains and dragging the ghosts away by force.
"Stop!"
A sharp shout made the two figures pause.
The famed Soul Snatching Messengers of the underworld—Black and White Impermanence—turned around together and saw Xiruan and Holy Mother Wudang. Both frowned.
"What living being dares trespass on the Yellow Spring Road?" White Impermanence's voice was sharp and chilling.
"Leave at once, or the Soul Snatching Chain will take you, living soul or dead ghost!" Black Impermanence's voice was rough and menacing.
Holy Mother Wudang immediately grew alert.
Although Black and White Impermanence were only Ghost Marshals, together they were as powerful as a Da Luo Golden Immortal.
What made them feared was the Soul Snatching Chain in their hands, a sinister magical treasure designed to suppress the soul.
Xiruan curiously sized up the underworld's two celebrity employees.
First, she looked at White Impermanence.
White Impermanence wore a white robe and a tall white hat, with the words "A Fortune at First Sight" written on it.
His face was as white as paper, and his tongue hung out long enough to look rather comical.
"Huh? Why are you so pale?"
Xiruan asked curiously, "Are you sick? Grandma Li in our village gets just as pale when she's sick."
White Impermanence: "..."
He was the illustrious Seventh Master Fan Wujiu, a renowned figure in the underworld. When had anyone ever spoken to him in that tone?
Xiruan turned to look at Black Impermanence.
Black Impermanence wore a black robe and hat, with the words "Peace Under Heaven" written on it. His face was fierce, his skin dark, and he held a black iron chain.
"You sure are dark," Xiruan said with a nod. "But you're not as dark as the watchdog at our village chief's house. That dog's so black it shines!"
Black Impermanence: "..."
He, the Eighth Master Xie Bian, felt that his afterlife had suffered an unprecedented insult.
"You insolent little demon! How dare you spout nonsense and insult my brother and me!"
Black Impermanence flew into a rage and swung his Crying Stick at Xiruan.
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