Being a Saint since the age of myth

"Next, let me see which direction Tenma is in!" He solemnly took out the fragment of the Pegasus Cloth the Pope had given him.

Chapter 57: Crossing the Sanzu River

Under Wuxin's expectant gaze, the Cloth fragment in his palm slowly floated into the air, then swung from side to side like a needle, beginning to sense the direction of the Tenma Constellation.

After swaying nearly a dozen times, the Cloth fragment finally steadied, its pointed end facing north.

"Over there!"

Wuxin's eyes lit up, and he strode in that direction.

Before long, he arrived beneath a massive stone archway.

It was the Gate of Hell.

However, Wuxin saw no sign of Tenma nearby.

Undiscouraged, he passed through the Gate of Hell and continued searching, soon arriving at the bank of the Sanzu River.

It was the boundary of the Underworld's First Prison, and a road of no return for all departed souls.

For the Sanzu River was no ordinary river. It was a filthy river formed from the resentment of departed souls and the blood of the dead.

If a departed soul fell into it, it would immediately be tainted and dissolved, leaving not even a trace behind.

Thus, once departed souls crossed the Sanzu River, they could never turn back. That was why it was called a road of no return.

Seeing that the Cloth fragment in his palm still pointed ahead, Wuxin immediately understood. "Looks like I'll have to cross the Sanzu River and keep searching farther ahead!"

"But to cross the Sanzu River, I'll have to deal with that money-grubbing Heavenly Interlude Star Charon!"

Charon was the ferryman of the Sanzu River, specifically responsible for carrying the dead across.

If the living wanted to cross, they had to pay.

After all, his duties did not include ferrying the living across.

At that thought, Wuxin put away the Cloth fragment and turned to enter the mass of corpses behind him.

He had brought no gold, silver, or valuables. To deal with that money-grubbing Heavenly Interlude Star, he could only find valuables on the other dead to use instead.

Before long, Wuxin had found three gold necklaces, five gold rings, and some gold coins and other things on the dead.

"This should be enough!"

Weighing them in his hand, Wuxin nodded.

Then he returned to the riverbank and soon found the Heavenly Interlude Star, who was loading departed souls aboard.

Perhaps because they were scrambling to cross, many departed souls were fighting by the river, throwing that stretch of bank into utter chaos.

Wuxin frowned slightly. Having no intention of getting tangled up with those ghosts, he immediately leaped high, cleared the many departed souls, and landed on the bow of the Heavenly Interlude Star's boat with a crash.

His sudden landing made the little boat rock violently on the river, giving the Heavenly Interlude Star, who was taking departed souls aboard, a terrible fright.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"If you capsize my boat, can you afford to pay for it?" Charon hastily steadied the boat and cursed in some anger.

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry!" Wuxin shrugged, then opened his right hand to reveal a handful of gold and silver in his palm.

"So what if you're in a hurry..."

Heavenly Interlude Star Charon was initially indignant, but once he saw the gold and silver in Wuxin's hand, he could no longer look away and kept swallowing.

"This should be enough for an apology and my fare, shouldn't it?" Wuxin asked with a curl of his lips.

"Enough, plenty!"

Charon nodded repeatedly and eagerly snatched the gold and silver from Wuxin's hand.

He had no other hobbies. He simply liked such things.

"All right, go stay at that end of the boat. Don't get in the way of me taking souls aboard!" His attention was entirely focused on the gold and silver, and he did not even glance at Wuxin.

Seeing this, Wuxin did not make an issue of it and silently moved to the other end of the boat.

Perhaps sensing the powerful fluctuations coming from him, the departed souls did not dare get too close and all moved aside.

Fortunately, departed souls had no tangible bodies, so even crowding together had no effect on them.

That was also why Charon could transport departed souls across the Sanzu River in a little boat barely five meters long.

However, although departed souls occupied no physical space aboard the boat, they were drawn by the Sanzu River and kept sinking downward, placing an additional load on the boat.

This also meant that Charon's little boat could not transport an unlimited number of departed souls.

As more departed souls were taken aboard, the boat's waterline kept rising.

Only when he saw that it had reached a warning line did Charon stop taking them aboard. He planted his oar against the bank and pushed the little boat away from shore, heading toward the middle of the river.

Only then, finally having a moment to spare, did Charon have time to examine the young man aboard.

"I don't think I've ever seen you among the hundred and eight Malefic Stars. Are you new?" Charon asked with some confusion as he looked at Wuxin's unfamiliar face.

Apart from the hundred and eight Malefic Stars, the Underworld sometimes took in additional talent.

Of course, there were not many such people.

Wuxin immediately nodded and bluffed, "Yes, I only joined recently!"

"I was fortunate enough to gain Lord Heavenly Chief Star's appreciation, so I was brought into the Underworld!"

Heavenly Chief Star Yoma was rather mysterious within the Underworld and had little contact with the other Specters, so borrowing his name as backing would not be easily exposed.

"Heavenly Chief Star?"

Charon thought back carefully, only to discover that he had little impression of that Malefic Star. He could not even remember what the man looked like.

To be precise, he had barely even seen him.

"By the way, I recently heard that Lord Hades awakened in the human world, causing quite a stir up there. What's the situation here in the Underworld?" Wuxin asked, pretending to be casual.

"The Underworld has been peaceful all along, but the day before, Lord Heavenly Heroic Star Lune suddenly mobilized all the ghost officers and Specters in the First Prison, ordering everyone to search for the soul of the Tenma Constellation that fell into the Underworld!" Charon replied without any wariness.

"Oh? The Tenma Constellation? Is that the Bronze Saint Tenma Constellation from Sanctuary?" Wuxin asked further.

"Yes, that's him!"

Charon nodded and said as he rowed, "I heard that fellow has a fated entanglement with Lord Hades, so the higher-ups issued an absolute order to find his soul and seal him away forever!"

"Have they found him, then?" Wuxin hurriedly asked.

"Not yet!"

Charon shook his head and said helplessly, "There are too many departed souls in Hell. Finding the Tenma Constellation among them is like looking for a needle in the ocean."

"Even with the higher-ups narrowing the search to the First Prison, it isn't a job that can be finished in a short time!"

Hearing this, Wuxin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Tenma had not been caught by the Specters, things were still manageable.

Otherwise, with Wuxin's strength, he had no confidence that he could snatch someone from the Specters.

Especially since there were quite a few Specters here whose strength had reached the Seventh Sense.

Besides that, he had also gained a crucial piece of information: Tenma's soul was in the First Prison, which would allow him to find Tenma faster.

Soon, as the little boat passed through the mist on the Sanzu River, Wuxin saw the bank ahead.

Charon put more effort into another two strokes, speeding the boat up a little, and they soon reached the shore.

They had arrived at the First Prison.

Chapter 58: Meeting Tenma again

The First Prison was called the Hell of Judgment.

As its name suggested, this was a place devoted to judgment. It judged all departed souls entering Hell and passed different sentences according to their experiences in life, serving as the final verdict on a person's lifetime.

Originally, Heavenly Noble Star Minos presided over this place.

However, Minos was also one of the Three Judges of the Underworld. He had many duties and could not be everywhere at once, so his deputy, Heavenly Heroic Star Lune, usually guarded this place on his behalf.

Responsible for guarding an entire prison, the Heavenly Heroic Star was naturally no weakling. He had reached the Seventh Sense, and was even close to the upper ranks within that level.

Wuxin had to take care to avoid him.

"See you again if fate allows!"

Taking one last look at the Heavenly Interlude Star at the bow, Wuxin stepped onto the riverbank and quickly left.

Only after he had completely disappeared from the Heavenly Interlude Star's sight did he take out the fragment of the Pegasus Cloth.

The fragment swayed again, then soon steadied once more, pointing northeast.

"Over there!"

Wuxin did not linger and immediately strode in that direction.

Perhaps because he was getting closer and closer to Tenma, he encountered more and more ghost officers along the way.

They seemed to have also pinned down Tenma's approximate location and were conducting an intensive search of the area.

"Tenma is in danger!" Wuxin immediately understood and quickened his search.

Fortunately, the pure death aura shrouding him made him practically identical to a Specter. The ghost officers did not dare provoke him upon seeing him, much less come over to block his path, which made his search very smooth.

After searching for an unknown length of time, Wuxin suddenly sensed a fluctuation of Cosmo ahead.

Looking into the distance, he saw silver meteors flashing far away, followed by a slightly illusory figure breaking out of the encirclement of countless ghost officers.

"Found him!" Wuxin was overjoyed.

He recognized at a glance that it was Tenma's soul form.

Without hesitation, he immediately accelerated toward him.

"A Specter?"

Spotting Wuxin with a trace of pure death aura from afar, Tenma turned pale with shock.

He was not afraid of ordinary ghost officers, but facing a Specter, he truly had no confidence.