Chapter 200
Chapter 200
I quickly explained my theory to Tang Tang. Sure enough, it matched Yu Nian’s conclusion exactly.
Then I said solemnly, “Senior Sister, Senior Tang, I’m counting on you to keep Aunt Tang safe. I’ll do everything I can to complete the mission and bring Aunt Tang’s Souls back as soon as possible!”
Tang Tang nodded firmly, while Yu Nian reminded me, “Xiao Jiu, keep yourself safe.”
I acknowledged her, picked up the Soul-Guiding Lantern, and headed out the door.
On the way downstairs, I told Liu Junyan everything that had just happened in the room.
He didn’t seem surprised at all, as if he’d known from the start that this would happen.
By the time I reached the ground floor, I could feel a chill permeating the entire Tang Family Old Mansion.
Acting on instinct, I hurried to a rear window and looked out into the back garden.
Sure enough, a large number of Ghost Soldiers were standing guard there.
There weren’t as many as there had been a week ago, but it was still quite a force.
Understanding dawned on me. Tonight was a critical moment for Tang Xun, and these Ghost Soldiers had come to protect the Tang Family Old Mansion!
Aunt Tang’s destined partner… was actually quite thoughtful.
Liu Junyan drove, and as we pulled away from the Tang Family Old Mansion, I asked, “Where are we entering the Netherworld Realm from?”
I had prepared everything, yet somehow I’d overlooked such a crucial detail.
There were many entrances leading from the Realm of the Living into the Netherworld Realm, but few people knew their exact locations.
The one most commonly mentioned was a place called Fengdu Ghost City.
The only one I knew about, however, was at the westernmost edge of the Ghost Market, where it bordered the Netherworld Realm.
But the Ghost Market couldn’t be entered whenever one pleased, and its Ghost Gate couldn’t be opened at just any time either.
Aside from those fixed locations, there were other ways in-like when my soul had been taken, or the Ghost Gate that had appeared before the Underworld Emissary arrived on New Year’s Eve. Either could be used to enter the Netherworld Realm.
However, those methods required very specific circumstances and timing.
None of them were available to us right now.
Liu Junyan’s answer caught me by surprise. “We’ll enter through Hushan.”
Hushan?
Tang Xun had picked the Crystal Orchid in the Hushan Ancient Tomb and become afflicted by the Ghost King Butterfly there.
So that place was also an entrance to the Netherworld Realm.
Hushan was a two-hour drive from Huicheng. Throughout the journey, I kept my eyes fixed on Tang Xun’s soul fragment inside the Soul-Guiding Lantern.
No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
Could a mere fragment of a soul really live so normally in this world?
I remembered how surprised I’d been when I first learned that Tang Xun and Fengwu had once been friends. I’d asked Tang Tang how old Tang Xun actually was, but even she hadn’t been able to give me an answer.
Could it be that Tang Xun hadn’t been born through normal means?
Just like the villagers of Tafeng Village.
Just like… me.
At the thought, my heart began pounding wildly.
An inexplicable sense of kinship with Tang Xun welled up inside me.
Hushan was vast, but the instant our car crossed into its territory, every building, flower, plant, and tree ahead of us vanished.
Everything was shrouded in murky darkness. The only thing we could see was a straight road stretching ahead.
The road glowed with a hazy white light, making it especially conspicuous amid the surrounding darkness.
The Mercedes G-Class followed it for another fifteen minutes before a mountain range suddenly appeared ahead. From the foot of the mountain all the way to its midpoint, both sides of the road were packed with Ghost Soldiers.
Their sheer numbers and strict discipline were more than enough to display their master’s authority.
The car stopped at the foot of the mountain. I climbed out with the Soul-Guiding Lantern in hand, and Liu Junyan took my other hand.
At first, the Black Cat lay sprawled across Liu Junyan’s shoulder.
After we started up the mountain, the Black Cat sprang to its feet and went on high alert.
I had assumed that if we followed the mountain path upward, we would enter the ancient tomb where Tang Xun had once gathered the Crystal Orchid when we reached the mountainside.
From there, we would pass through one of the tomb’s entrances and enter the Netherworld Realm.
But the moment Liu Junyan led me onto the mountain path, the scenery around us changed again.
The mountain range vanished, and the path beneath our feet turned white.
The Ghost Soldiers were still there.
The glow of the Soul-Guiding Lantern, which had originally shone with the golden light of Merit, abruptly turned an eerie green.
The entire Hexagonal Palace Lantern changed in appearance.
The raised skulls that had decorated its housing transformed into six ferocious ghostly faces, each glaring around with bloodred eyes.
Anyone even slightly fainthearted might have been scared to death by the Soul-Guiding Lantern alone!
The farther we went, the more uneasy I became. My palms were slick with sweat.
Fortunately, the scenery before us soon changed once more.
The entire space brightened.
But it was only bright compared to the darkness before. The sky itself remained blanketed in gray.
Waves of fragrance drifted in from every direction. As far as the eye could see, flowers and plants covered the hills in white, red, purple, and black — the four most prevalent colors.
The Ghost Soldiers had vanished at some point. Flowers and plants now surrounded us, all within easy reach.
Yet I didn’t dare touch a single one.
I looked up at Liu Junyan. “Is this… the Netherworld Realm?”
“It should be one corner of the Netherworld Realm.”
As Liu Junyan spoke, he scanned our surroundings as if searching for something.
He soon found his target and pointed toward a distant mountain hollow. “Over there, Xiao Jiu. Let’s go!”
Liu Junyan kept a firm grip on my hand as he led me through the flowers and stopped at the rim of the hollow.
The moment I saw what lay below, I couldn’t help exclaiming, “It’s so beautiful!”
The hollow was also filled with flowers and plants, but unlike the monotonous colors on the slopes outside, the vegetation here was dazzlingly vivid.
Almost every plant bore more than one or two colors.
Even those without blossoms had leaves in a brilliant array of hues.
It was breathtaking.
But what truly amazed me were the vast swarms of butterflies fluttering through the hollow!
Their shapes and colors were every bit as spectacular as the flowers.
They drifted freely through the hollow as if they lived in a hidden paradise untouched by the outside world.
Yes — a hidden paradise.
That was my strongest impression upon entering this place.
Just then, the faint remnant of Tang Xun’s soul floated out of the Soul-Guiding Lantern.
She drifted straight into the hollow and came to a stop amid the flowers.
The next moment, countless butterflies flew toward Tang Xun’s remnant soul, gathering in a dense mass as they attached themselves to her.
The sight left me stunned.
It was both incredibly beautiful and deeply unnerving!
Tang Xun, however, seemed to revel in it.
She spread her arms in contentment and tilted her face toward the sky. Like someone basking in sunlight, she accepted the baptism of countless butterflies.
Before long, the first wave of butterflies clinging to Tang Xun’s remnant soul fluttered to the ground like withered leaves.
Then a second wave took their place.
Wave after wave surged toward her, only to fall in wave after wave.
As time passed, Tang Xun’s Souls grew clearer and clearer, gradually becoming almost corporeal.
It was a silent pilgrimage.
More than that, it was a breathtaking Sacrifice…