"Hey, you in line, what are you daydreaming about? Just standing there? The Judge is very busy!"
What's going on?
The burly young man suddenly opened his eyes, only to find himself in this place without even realizing it.
Where is this?
The surroundings were all gray and white, but it was clearly not the suburbs. There was a magnificent stone building, many times taller than the Beijing Stargazing Tower, with marble floors. A large group of people, including himself, were queuing up. He didn't know why he was here; just a moment ago...
By the way, where's my little sister?
He quickly looked around, and after a moment, he finally saw his younger sister on the high steps ahead.
The Yanzi, who was originally on the verge of death, suddenly found the strength to climb such a high staircase and stand on the top, in front of the person dressed in white but wearing a strange mask.
" Yanzi!" The young man was overjoyed to see his little sister come back to life and rushed over immediately!
"Hey hey hey!"
Those who had been cut in line immediately glared angrily, "Where did this brat come from? How dare he cut in line here?"
"Where else could they be? Either those ignorant northerners or those Southern Barbarians."
" Southern Barbarians? They don't seem like it."
The crowd was buzzing with discussion. The burly young man had already climbed halfway up the mountain. The two Ghost General generals above, armed with weapons, saw this and frowned. Just as they were about to make a move, the masked young man stopped them.
"Judging from his clothes, this young man appears to be wearing a green cotton garment from Jiangnan from a year ago, the same as the little girl's. Let him come up first."
The two soldiers glanced at him and nodded slightly, clearly recognizing the clothes the boy was wearing. They were the green cotton clothes that were popular in Jiangnan a year ago, but they were already outdated in Jiangnan. Even the newest refugees were wearing newly developed pure cotton. The boy was probably a peddler from Jiangnan who had fallen on hard times and was now living in Jiangnan.
According to the rules, those people from Jiangnan who have fallen into poverty and are unable to return, or even who have died abroad, are all contributing to the prosperity of Jiangnan. Their virtuous deeds are equivalent to those of warriors, and they can enjoy Underworld Lifespan of at least fifty years!
Even the best-quality supplies would be allocated to martyrs.
Upon thinking of this, the two soldiers became much more serious. As beneficiaries, these Fighter Army strongly supported this policy. Just like them, after death, they would not only enjoy twice the Underworld Lifespan of ordinary people, but also serve as Ghost Commander, earning more Power of Merit and Virtue to extend their Underworld Lifespan, or choose a good Samsara for themselves.
Although these out-of-town vendors are not Fighter Army, they receive the same benefits, and since they are all in the same boat, it's not appropriate to treat them coldly.
After the burly man climbed up, panting heavily, the masked youth asked gently, "Is this your relative?"
The girl next to him widened her eyes when she saw the boy, and immediately ran over and hugged the young man who had climbed up.
Holding his younger sister, the big man burst into tears.
Because at that moment, he realized that his sister was dead. She was dead too!
"Brave warrior, do not grieve," the young man said gently. "Being able to come here is already a great blessing."
The masked boy's eyes gleamed, and he immediately determined that neither the brother nor sister were from Jiangnan. They did not possess any distinctive Jiangnan characteristics. They had simply died in Jiangnan and were taken to Jiangnan Underworld by the wandering spirit.
"Where is this? Hell?" the burly man murmured.
"Insolence!" The two generals could no longer contain themselves. "Where did this wild brat come from? Can't you speak properly? This is the Underworld of Yunzhou. You're really lucky to die here."
" The Underworld." The burly man looked up. " Yunzhou?"
"Tell me, how did you get here?" the boy asked gently.
The burly man dared not be confused any longer and quickly recounted how he and his parents had trekked through mountains and rivers, how he had been chased by the centipede with his little sister, and how they had finally escaped to Yunzhou.
Upon hearing the other party's father's request that he risk his life to bring his young daughter here, the group fell silent.
People in Jiangnan have become accustomed to the idea that the dead are received by the Underworld, seemingly forgetting just how tempting this original benefit was to the outside world.
Only Jiangnan can enjoy peace after his death; this is the way things are now, something no other place can achieve!
"Your father is a man who thinks long-term," the young man said gently as he squatted down, looking at the burly man with a gentle expression in his eyes.
In today's world, it's almost as if coming to Jiangnan is like escaping hell!
According to intelligence reports, demons are rampant outside, cults are rampant, in the Central Plains Mother and Child Ghosts Temple where children are sacrificed, in the north there are giant pythons everywhere, and in other places there are all kinds of evil gods emerging. Human sacrifice, which had disappeared for a long time, is everywhere, and livestock whose parents may mutate into demons at any time. Perhaps one day you will wake up to find that your wife and children have been eaten by the dog you have raised for many years.
What is this world if not hell?
Having come to Jiangnan, even if one dies, one will live a more comfortable life than outside. Samsara is guaranteed. Whether one stays to enjoy Underworld Lifespan or is directly Samsara, one can start a new and hopeful life!
Even a merchant who had only visited Jiangnan once could discern that Jiangnan represented the hope for the future, but his uncles and elders did not understand.
The boy was from a family of sorcerers. He died on the border on his way to study in Jiangnan. He was lucky, though he died, because he died inside Jiangnan. It was his father, who had sharp eyes at the time, who desperately led him to escape to Jiangnan.
The father survived and settled in Yunzhou, Jiangnan. The father himself died tragically, but because of his magical powers, he was valued by the Lord of the Underworld and became one of the judges, enjoying a public lifespan in the underworld.
My other, short-sighted elders are probably still cautiously serving those Southern Barbarians in the southeast, aren't they?
How pathetic!
He had heard that when those Southern Barbarians came to the Central Plains, they burned, killed, looted, and committed all sorts of atrocities. They especially liked to find excuses to abuse the young ladies of prominent families. His cousin had written to him last month saying that she was to be married off by the head of the family to a general from the Southern Barbarians as a concubine. She was unwilling to submit and planned to follow her family's example and escape to Jiangnan.
Now that there's been no news for a month, it's likely either that the patriarch forcibly handed him over to those beasts in the Southern Barbarians, or that he died on the way.
The world is dangerous these days; you can't just come to Jiangnan Jiangnan you want.
"My lord!" Realizing what was happening, the burly man immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "My parents are just outside the border of Yunzhou. The place we came from is plagued by those insect demons. Please, my lord, save them!!"
He knew very well that with his father and mother's physical strength, if they had gone in the same direction, they would never have been able to escape to Yunzhou like he had!
"I'm afraid that won't work," the young man shook his head helplessly. "Anywhere outside the Jiangnan region, even the slightest distance, is beyond the jurisdiction of our Underworld. No Underworld can cross that line, so even if we wanted to help you, we are powerless to do so."
The burly man was stunned. How could this be?
The other spirits, upon hearing this, all shook their heads and sighed with regret.
It would be a real pity if they died outside just a hair's breadth away from the underworld. Many ghosts have seen this, those evil spirits outside the Underworld.
Many of them were Fighter Army fighting in the outside world. When they died, they had all been to the Yin-Yang Road. Although they were instantly pulled to the Underworld in Jiangnan, they had all witnessed the horror of the Yin-Yang Road. After death, going to that kind of place is the real hell!
At that moment, they were very fortunate to have been born in Jiangnan, very fortunate to have Chen Qing in Jiangnan, and even more fortunate to have caught up with this wave of the times and joined the Fighter Army!
In an instant, the resentment that had been there for those who had died in battle vanished completely.
Ugh!!!
Suddenly, just as the burly man was crying and pleading for help, and the young judge was in grave danger, a bugle call from the battlefield suddenly resounded throughout the entire Underworld!
All the spirits inexplicably looked towards the top of the enormous stone building, and the young judge also looked up in astonishment.
The horn that sounded was from the very top of the stone building. That horn hung on the top floor and had never been moved before, but this time, a Ghost General blew it.
The judge's expression instantly turned extremely serious.
That was the battle horn. He'd heard Lord Shen Shiyi mention it before; the Jiangnan Underworld had never sounded this horn since its inception. What was happening today?
"Attention all Underworld Ghost General!"
Above the sky, Shen Shiyi's voice resounded throughout the entire Underworld: "All those who have enlisted as Underworld, immediately bring your armor and assemble at the command tower!"
"This is..." The young judge looked up at the rooftop, his eyes filled with shock!
"War is about to begin!!!"