Ancient Ruins

When they arrived near the golden pillar of light, the celestial phenomenon had gradually faded. This wasn't surprising; it was just an anomaly, not the sun, so it couldn't possibly shine for ten days or half a month.

Ning Chen looked at the large crack in the ground, his brows furrowed repeatedly. He really had no interest in going down.

He was there to find treasure, not to seek death. With such a massive crack, even if there was treasure, he might go down alive but never return.

Ning Chen wanted to leave, but Little White Horse held onto Ning Chen's sleeve, refusing to let go.

"You're a horse, where do you get such curiosity?"

Ning Chen frowned and scolded it. This fellow was becoming more and more human-like, but what good was being human-like if you were a horse?

However, no matter how Ning Chen reprimanded it, Little White Horse still wouldn't let go. It even slowly dragged Ning Chen toward the crack.

Have you ever seen someone bully a disabled person? Ning Chen had seen many, but this was his first time seeing a horse bully a disabled person!

"You really want to go?"

Ning Chen felt a surge of anger and asked impatiently.

"Hmph."

Little White Horse let out a snort from its throat, indicating its stance.

"Then let's go."

Ning Chen replied. If a horse wasn't afraid, what did he have to fear?

The crack was very steep and looked very deep. Ning Chen drew Ink Sword, grunting as he plunged it into the earth, frozen solid by the winter. Then, he untied the reins from Little White Horse's head and secured them around his waist to the wheelchair.

Then, Ning Chen, still in his wheelchair, calmly jumped into the crack with Little White Horse.

What kind of person is the most terrifying in this world?

Not the reckless, not the foolish, but the one who doesn't care about their life!

Today, Ning Chen and Little White Horse had clearly surpassed recklessness and foolishness, directly reaching the level of not caring about their lives.

After jumping into the crack, Ning Chen held Ink Sword. When they had descended about a zhang, he suddenly plunged Ink Sword into the frozen earth of the crack.

Clatter.

Ink Sword carved a fan-shaped arc about half a chi long before finally stabilizing. For a moment, dust flew everywhere.

Below, the small horse hung beneath the wheelchair, swinging, its body chafed raw by the reins.

"You need to lose weight," Ning Chen said irritably. He actually went along with this beast's nonsense; he must have too much time on his hands.

Little White Horse was in great pain, its waist and belly bound by the reins, yet it stubbornly didn't cry out. In this regard, it was very much like a certain person: when it got stubborn, it was more obstinate than a donkey.

Ning Chen pulled out Ink Sword, and his body plummeted again. Then, a Woodcutter's Blade plunged into the frozen earth.

This time, however, Ning Chen miscalculated. The part that had been bent by the Old Eunuch earlier twisted again. Immediately, Woodcutter's Blade bent into a bizarre arc, like a fried dough twist that had gone bad.

Then, one person and one horse couldn't stop their fall and continued to drop.

"You really get what you pay for," Ning Chen said, throwing away Woodcutter's Blade and complaining about the Academy. Then, Ink Sword once again took over.

Thus, after an unknown amount of struggle, the person and the horse finally reached the bottom of the crack. Ning Chen was covered in dirt from the ordeal, and Little White Horse had lost a lot of fur where the reins had chafed it.

A phoenix without feathers is worse than a chicken; a white horse shedding its fur is worse than a donkey. The handsome and dashing Little White Horse now looked as if it had just been boiled and plucked.

"Why do you think we came down here?"

In the pitch-black crack, Ning Chen and Little White Horse stared at each other, extremely annoyed.

"Hmph."

Little White Horse snorted defiantly and turned to leave, but it bumped its head directly into the stone wall, causing its mouth to stretch in pain.

"Serves you right."

Ning Chen took out a tinderbox, blew on it, and followed the light. Ignoring Little White Horse, he walked off on his own down the only path ahead.

The path was long, very long, endlessly long. Ning Chen grew somewhat annoyed and tired, and his attitude towards Little White Horse worsened.

Little White Horse didn't dare to openly resist, occasionally snorting to show its displeasure, but it was suppressed by even fiercer storms of rage.

About half an hour later, just as the tinderbox was about to run out, Ning Chen finally saw a glimmer of light ahead.

Both the person and the horse were excited. They sped up and reached the light. Ning Chen held Ink Sword and split open the grotto entrance, which had been blocked by rock and earth.

With a bang, the rock and earth collapsed. The sight that greeted them instantly shocked both pairs of wide eyes.

What lay before them was indescribable. It was a labyrinth of twists and turns, like the meridians within a human body, with corridors everywhere. The blood-red earth was also completely different from the previous rock and earth, looking eerie and even terrifying.

"We didn't end up in hell, did we?"

Ning Chen looked at the dark red world ahead, then turned his head and asked with difficulty.

"Hmph."

Little White Horse answered with a snort. Ning Chen couldn't understand it, but from the expression on the horse's face, he could tell that the horse was also very shocked.

"Keep going."

Ning Chen gritted his teeth. What's there to be afraid of once you're down here? A man dies facing the sky; if he doesn't, he lives forever.

There were many paths ahead. Ning Chen ignored everything and simply chose the biggest, widest, and brightest one. Since he didn't know what lay ahead anyway, it made no difference to him which path he chose.

Little White Horse had no opinion whatsoever. It followed Ning Chen no matter which path he took.

Two kes later, the man and horse returned to their starting point.

Because the path ahead was a dead end, completely empty…

"Which one do you choose? You tell me."

Ning Chen glared at the remaining paths, gritting his teeth.

Little White Horse hesitated, pacing back and forth in front of each path for a while before finally choosing the smallest, narrowest, and darkest one.

"Are you sure?" Ning Chen asked reluctantly.

"Hoo-ch!" Little White Horse responded.

"I'll trust you this once." Ning Chen hardened his heart and turned his wheelchair, heading towards the small corridor diagonally ahead.

A quarter of an hour later, the man and horse returned again…

Ning Chen's face darkened. He felt like roasting Little White Horse on the spot.

Seven paths remained, and Ning Chen didn't know how to choose. He glanced at the Ink Sword in his hand, stood it upright on the ground, and then watched it fall.

"This one then," Ning Chen declared without hesitation, pointing in the direction the Ink Sword's hilt indicated.

Beside him, Little White Horse let out a soft huff, clearly displeased with Ning Chen's extremely casual attitude.

"If you're so capable, then don't follow me," Ning Chen scoffed, glancing sideways at Little White Horse.

Little White Horse stopped huffing and obediently followed along.

As it turned out, Ning Chen's casual choice was the correct one. After walking for another half shichen, the scenery before them changed once more.

A river, a very wide river. Its murky yellow water bubbled slightly, and a faint fishy smell emanated from it.

Ning Chen narrowed his eyes. He recalled a legend from his previous life, a river mentioned in it that was very similar to this one.

Legend had it that in the Underworld, there was a river flowing before the Netherworld, named the Weak River.

The Weak River, three thousand li wide, was impossible to cross unless one was already dead.

"We have a problem." Ning Chen casually plucked a strand of hair and tossed it into the water. The hair drifted, then slowly sank without causing a single ripple.

Seeing this, Little White Horse was visibly startled, its hooves instinctively backing up two steps, keeping a wide distance from the Weak River.

Ning Chen scoffed at this. He believed this river could definitely be crossed; he just hadn't figured out how yet.

Legend said there was a bottomless wooden boat in the Weak River, the only thing capable of crossing it. He just didn't know if this legend was true or false.

Many legends from his previous life had become reality in this world: Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Black and White Impermanence, and even something like the Weak River had appeared. Ning Chen believed that if there was also a bottomless boat, it wouldn't be surprising.

Ning Chen maneuvered his wheelchair along the riverbank. Suddenly, he paused. He had spotted another legendary item.

The Yellow Springs Flower.

A mythical flower said to grow at the bottom of the Weak River. Consuming it granted eternal life, but after consumption, the body would gradually rot, becoming neither living nor dead. Thus, the Yellow Springs Flower was also considered a poisonous flower.

Ning Chen watched it for a long time but dared not pick it. In this Weak River, no one could guarantee their survival. He wasn't afraid of death, but he wasn't looking for it either.

"Hoo-ch!" Just then, Little White Horse walked up to Ning Chen, huffed, and then tugged at Ning Chen's clothes with its mouth, urging him to look at a pile of refuse about ten zhang away from the riverbank, not far ahead.

Ning Chen narrowed his eyes, changed the direction of his wheelchair, and headed towards the pile of trash.

It was called a pile of trash because it contained bones, broken wood, rotten clothes, and so on. Among it all was a dilapidated boat.

More importantly, the boat was bottomless.

Ning Chen silently pulled the boat out, then slowly dragged it into the Weak River.

The next moment, Ning Chen became even more silent.

The boat actually floated!

This was beyond his comprehension. As someone from an atheistic world, he found it truly difficult to believe the reality before his eyes.

Ning Chen quietly picked up a few pieces of broken wood from the trash pile, creating several footholds on the dilapidated boat. Then, he led Little White Horse onto it.

Since he didn't know why, he might as well continue forward and see what lay beyond this Weak River.

Ning Chen used a piece of broken wood as a paddle, slowly rowing towards the opposite bank. Little White Horse stood on the boat, trembling, looking utterly terrified.

Ning Chen frowned and chided, "What's there to be scared of? I'm not asking you to jump in."

Little White Horse whined softly, feeling a little better. Its body stopped trembling, but its four hooves still quivered, clearly still frightened.

Ning Chen ignored it, quietly watching for any dangers on the opposite bank as he rowed the broken boat.

By now, some Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Ghostly Specters should be appearing.

He didn't believe that such an eerie place would be completely without danger.

Little White Horse was no help; it was doing well enough if it didn't get so scared it jumped in.

As it turned out, Ning Chen had overthought things. There were no Ox-Head and Horse-Face, no Ghostly Specters, not even a skeleton appeared.

However, the Weak River was much wider than he'd imagined. It took a full fifteen minutes on the broken boat before they slowly drifted to the opposite bank.

The broken boat might still be useful, so Ning Chen dragged it ashore after landing, to prevent it from being swept away by the Weak River.

Little White Horse stood on the bank, its body no longer trembling. Its horse eyes stared intently straight ahead.

Ning Chen also sensed that the atmosphere ahead was off; it felt like something was watching them.

"Let's go."

Ning Chen steadied himself, then started moving forward.

Regardless of whether it was the Underworld Netherworld, they had already come this far. They had to go in and see, come what may.

Little White Horse followed, its hooves noticeably heavier with each step.

Half an hour later, Ning Chen stopped turning the wheels of his wheelchair. He looked at the large gate before him and the four large characters carved into it, his eyes narrowing further.

"Underworld Netherworld."

The four characters, written in a flourishing, powerful script, were not difficult to recognize. They seemed to penetrate to the bone, full of force, and even possessed an indescribable demonic quality that made it hard to look away once seen.

Ning Chen felt an ineffable sensation in his heart. Anyone in his situation would probably feel the same. If this wasn't a prank by the Eternal Night Divine Cult, it was truly astonishing.

If the Underworld Netherworld existed, then where were Yama and Ksitigarbha?

If the netherworld was real, then where was the King of the Underworld?

Ning Chen slowly pushed open the large gate before him. He wanted to see what kind of world lay beyond this Underworld Netherworld!