Chapter 9 – Dear Lord, The River of Forgetfulness Has Stopped Flowing!
Early the next day, his short housemate went to class.
The night before the two people kicked up a fuss at the police station until 3AM. By the time they arrived home to wash up and go to bed, it was already past 4AM. Lian Xi’s inner clock still woke him up at 8AM as usual so he got less than 4 hours of sleep.
Su Jiao: “Lian Xi, I’m leaving.”
The young man in the kitchen was making instant noodles. He lifted his eyes and glanced at his housemate and lightly made an “en” sound.
There was a ka-da sound of the door closing.
Inside the empty and spacious room, there was only one person left.
After cooking the instant noodles, Lian Xi flipped out his phone and found a streaming video website which had a host who explained the meaning behind movies. He watched it while eating. After ten minutes the short video finished and he also just finished his meal.
Lian Xi yawned and walked towards the bedroom.
This morning after waking up, Su Jiao had raised the matter of Wanderer once but the two didn’t say too much.
Perhaps because Su Jiao saw that Lian Xi didn’t want to bother about this matter anymore, so the two people didn’t continue discussing it.
In this world there were too many pitiful things. Every second hundreds of people die. If you really wanted to help them all then it was impossible.
Also, Lian Xi never took the initiative to intervene in ghostly matters.
In this world, everyone has their own destiny.
He had lived at the fan factory for a year. The ghost of Chen JianJun suddenly appeared next door six months ago, how could he not know?
Of course he knew.
But he only wanted to “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.
It was unrelated to him.
He didn’t owe Chen JianJun anything. He was only an ordinary and plain 18,000 line host who struggled with food and clothing. {T/N: Chinese people denote famous people as belonging to the “first line” or “second line” etc, basically separating them by how famous they are. By saying he’s from the 18,000 line he’s pretty much saying he’s a nobody.}
If it wasn’t because Chen JianJun suddenly came to his house that night and those things happened, probably up until the moment he moved out of the fan factory and it was demolished, he wouldn’t have spoken more than a few words to Chen JianJun. And wouldn’t have accidentally helped him find the murderer from that case 23 years ago.
As for Wanderer, right now his life or death is still uncertain.
But who knew whether or not perhaps it was his destiny to die?
Lian Xi thought for a while then sighed.
Anyway they weren’t that close.
If it was Uncle Li who lost a soul, even if Lian Xi had to be a potential suspect in the eyes of the police, he would definitely help him find it back. People were innately selfish. He and Wanderer weren’t close and the two people’s interactions weren’t happy. He had already thought of all the ways he could and now that things had reached this state, Lian Xi felt he had already fulfilled his responsibility to Wanderer.
After thinking about this, Lian Xi walked to his bedroom. But the moment he stepped foot into his bedroom suddenly the doorbell rang.
Lian Xi stopped. He walked over to open the door: “Did you forget something…”
His voice was abruptly cut off.
The ghost soul outside gazed at him, tilted his head and smiled. “Hehe. Do you want to sign?”
The person inside the door’s mouth twitched: “…..”
……
Can’t you please let me go ah!!
That’s right, it was none other than Wanderer’s soul hanging outside the door.
He was wearing a suit and his face was extremely white. If it wasn’t because of the bloody, dripping wound on his forehead, it was impossible to tell that he was a ghost.
Lian Xi let go of his temper completely. He directly made a phone call and recalled his housemate back.
As soon as Su Jiao got home: ***?!
His eyes moved from Lian Xi to Wanderer and then back for several moments. In the end he looked at Lian Xi and said doubtfully, “How much money do you owe that he doesn’t want to let you go even after he’s like this?”
Lian Xi: “…..”
“I’m not familiar with him at all!”
Su Jiao nodded his head, his face showing the expression “sure, whatever you say”.
Lian Xi: “….”
Su Jiao thought for a while then asked Wanderer, “Right now we can’t help you either. Where do you live and do you have family members? Do you know these things?”
Wanderer looked at Su Jiao for a moment then turned back to Lian Xi. He smiled darkly. “Want to sign?”
Lian Xi: “…..”
Su Jiao: “I think the situation is most likely that he accidentally hit his head. His body and his soul were shaken, and accidentally one of the souls got knocked out of his flesh and became lost. If this soul doesn’t go back to join the others, it will become dangerous.”
Wanderer: “Hehehe, do you want to sign?”
Su Jiao: “If a soul has been out of the body for 49 shichen, then it will really die. Where’s your body? Can you find it by yourself?”
Wanderer: “Hehehe, do you want to sign?”
Lian Xi: “….”
Su Jiao: “…..”
Su Jiao: “You still dare to say that you’re not close?!”
Lian Xi: “??!!”
I goddamn really am not close to him, okay!!!
But right now even if Lian Xi jumped in the yellow river, he wouldn’t be able to wash himself clean.
No matter who talked to Wanderer, he only repeated that one sentence; asking Lian Xi whether or not he wanted to sign a contract with him!
Su Jiao was completely out of ideas.
Compared to Lian Xi, he wanted to save this person more. However he really felt helpless. Su Jiao grumbled sofly, “If shishu was here then it definitely wouldn’t be a problem….” {T/N: Shishu is like the brother of your teacher, doesn’t have to be his actual biological brother, just a male person in the same generation of students as your teacher.}
Lian Xi frowned: “Then why don’t you call your shishu over?”
Su Jiao’s face immediately fell: “My shishu has gone into seclusion, I can’t find him ah!”
Lian Xi: “Don’t you celestial masters have ways to communicate with each other? Can’t you find a few other celestial master friends to come help?”
Su Jiao said, speechless: “Do you think you’re writing a novel? Saying “celestial masters” and “friends” in one line easily. Us XuanXiu each take care of ourselves and walk their own paths. In all my life, the other XuanXiu I’ve met is my shishu! Oh right, also you. You’re the second one.”
{T/N: XuanXiu/XuanXue refers to metaphysical/esoteric studies with a Taoist and Confucian thought base. Basically learning mystical or supernatural arts. XuanXue is the subject matter, and the people who study/cultivate it are called XuanXiu.}
After a pause, he touched his chin. “But it’s strange. It’s not logical that a soul can walk around in broad daylight in Su City without any repercussions. Especially a living soul. The local Black and White Reapers should have discovered it long ago and sent the soul back. How come they’re not doing anything?”
{T/N: Black/White Reapers is the closest English translation but the Chinese one looks quite different to the one carrying the scythe in Western stories. But they are also emissaries/helpers of the Underworld and are responsible for bringing souls of the dead there. See the bottom for a picture reference.}
Lian Xi thought for a while: “Maybe they’re too busy and haven’t gotten around to it?”
Su Jiao: “Have you seen a lot of ghosts in Su City recently?”
After a moment of thinking, Lian Xi said: “Then maybe they didn’t notice him?”
Su Jiao’s face looked like he thought Lian Xi was making fun of him: “Ha? Don’t you know how scary the Black and White Reapers in Su City are?”
Lian Xi: “How scary?”
Su Jiao exposed an anxious expression: “Extremely scary okay! Don’t you know how bad the reputation of Su City is. In all of HuaXia, Su City has the most stinky reputation!”
Lian Xi: “….”
You’re stinky! Your entire family is stinky!
Su Jiao: “The Black and White Reapers in other places are normal people. If XuanXiu go to their territory, they just mind their own business and we don’t bother each other. But only in Su City is their reputation so stinky! These two guys are freaking insane! They don’t allow anyone to enter Su City. If you come then they think you’re trying to steal their rice bowl and will come out to attack you! The problem is these two guys are really strong. They’re an entirely different level to the normal Black and White Reapers. My shishu once came on a trip to Su City. The coach hadn’t even entered Su City yet before those two fellows locked onto him. It almost caused a high speed bus crash! That would have been tragic!”
Lian Xi: “Oh, so serious?”
Su Jiao: “There’s even more serious things than that! Those two guys from Su City, they’re not only vicious to XuanXiu, they’re also vicious to their fellow ghost officials! XuanXiu can’t come here, and other Black and White Reapers are not allowed either. If they come, they’ll be a fight!”
Lian Xi thought for a while: “They’re so territorial?”
Su Jiao coughed. He looked left and right, ascertaining that the Black and White Reapers were not about to suddenly pop out of nowhere. He then huddled close to Lian Xi’s ear and whispered, “My shishu said, it’s because the two of them are ‘rabbits’.” {T/N: Euphemism for meaning gay.}
Lian Xi was shocked: “After rabbits die, they can also become ghost officials?”
Su Jiao raised his eyebrow: “I mean that kind of ‘rabbit’.”
“What kind of rabbit?”
“That kind ah~”
Lian Xi: “What kind ah?”
Su Jiao: “Two freaking gays!!!!”
Lian Xi: “…….”
Wanderer who was smiling idiotishly beside them: “Hehe, want to sign?”
…..
At this time, the thoughts revolved around Lian Xi’s read a few times and finally he connected the dots and finished eating the melon from yesterday!
Previously Su Jiao had said that Su City was a damned place and that after getting into Su City University’s graduate school he was really scared. He was scared of running into those “two guys”. Now it was clear that the reason he was scared of coming to Su City because he was scared of running to the Black and White Reapers!
Some years ago when his shishu had come to Su City to travel, he’d nearly been killed. Now that he had to stay in Su City for three years to finish his graduate problem, it was natural for Su Jiao to be anxious.
However…
Lian Xi: “If the Black and White Reapers in Su City are really that strong, strong enough to…. *cough*, be famous throughout the land, then there’s no way that they wouldn’t notice someone’s soul has left their body.”
Su Jiao: “That’s exactly what I mean. So…”
Lian Xi: “So?”
Su Jiao nodded his head. He said with a very serious expression: “So I’m guessing that they’re dead.”
Lian Xi: “…..”
Su Jia clasped his hands in a salute: “I hope they’re both okay.”
Glancing at his housemate’s face which was full of schadenfreude, Lian Xi said lightly, “What a cliche.”
Su Jiao: “Haha.”
After discussing random things for a while, the two people’s focus returned to Wanderer.
Su Jiao said directly, “I don’t have any more ideas unless we can find his body.”
Lian Xi thought for a moment then said, “Maybe I have a way we can try.”
“Ha? What way?”
Slightly shaking his wrist, Lian Xi lifted his left hand and exposed the thin red string upon which the bronze bell was tied.
“Let’s try this.”
***
3PM in the afternoon, in Su City’s Yuan District.
In the penthouse of a high-end apartment, a young livestreaming host with blonde hair was packing up his luggage and planning to leave.
On a viaduct leading to the Yuan Neighborhood, two old police officers were chatting to each other as they drove back to the place they’d visited earlier that morning.
Some place else, in a certain district across the JingDu lake.
The brilliant sun shines from the living room window, illuminating the gradually becoming transparent soul sitting on the sofa and the two young people standing in front of him and gradually approaching him step by step.
Su Jiao hesitated: “What if you kill him?”
Lian Xi’s expression was calm and so was his voice: “We’ve run out of options, we can only treat this dead horse like it’s alive.” {T/N: Basically a Chinese idiom for saying; since it’s pretty much hopeless anyway and you can’t make it any worse so you may as well just try anything and see what happens.}
Wanderer’s face was still foolishly smiling: “Hehe, want to sign?”
Lian Xi glanced at him and reached out his left hand.
There was an old and simple bronze bell tied to a pale and thin wrist. It wasn’t moving and didn’t seem conspicuous at first, but if you noticed it somehow you felt like you couldn’t tear your eyes away from it. Just by looking at it, it summoned up the feeling of a refreshing open sky, the heavens opening up. Any feelings of anxiety or stress in your heart would dissipate.
In other words.
Your heart would become calm.
Lian Xi’s right hand pressed on the bell.
Lian Xi raised his eyes and looked at the lost soul in front of him. He gently said the other person’s name. “Wanderer.”
He spoke casually however his hand suddenly shook the bell hard!
“Ommm!” {T/N: The echoing sound the bell makes.}
The next second, the semi-transparent soul suddenly stopped smiling stupidly. The short housemate who was curiously watching also opened his eyes wide. He exhaled a short breath of disbelief.
Lian Xi called his name again: “Wanderer!”
His hand shook the bell.
“Ommm!”
The ghost soul opened his mouth wide, and there appeared a light slowly in his eyes.
The short housemate was shocked; the other realm which had been in a stuck status for half a year actually showed signs of loosening!
At this time, Lian Xi called for the third time: “Wanderer!”
The melodious and long chiming spread far and wide, passing through the sparkling JingDu lake, passing through the people crowding the busy streets of Su City, and passing through the modern concrete forest.
Ommm!
It reached the penthouse suite of a high-end apartment.
In the dimly lit room, the blonde haired livestreaming host had already packed his things and was preparing to live.
In the study, a man in a suit wearing a stiff expression was sitting. On his neck a strange thing was twisting. The man was panting hard and his face was strangled red.
A female ghost with disheveled hair was riding on his neck. Her hands were pinching his neck in a deathly grip, at any moment it seemed as though she was about to break his neck!
But at that moment!
A profound bell sound that seemed to echo from the ancient times sounded loudly, scaring the female ghost!
“Ahhhhh!” The female ghost was knocked to one side by the sound and emitted a terrible cry.
The man directly fell backwards due to the force and the chair slammed against the ground.
Hydrogen was packing the last of his clothes when he suddenly heard a loud bang from the study. He ran towards it in a hurry and yelled, “Brother Lang, what’s going on?”
He was halfway there when suddenly the doorbell rang. He had just reached the living room and decided to go open the door first.
Hydrogen: “Ah? Officers? Is there still something wrong? Have you caught the thief from yesterday?”
Captain Wu and Old Li glanced at him then looked into the room: “Where’s Xu Lang?”
Hydrogen remembered something. “Oh that’s right. I think Brother Lang might have fallen over in his study.”
Captain Wu’s eyes flashed. “Go!”
The three people entered the study together. Captain Wu’s eyes were like eagles, he immediately saw Xu Lang who had toppled to the ground. He also saw the red and purple finger marks around his neck. He immediately stepped forward and felt Xu Lang’s pulse. He gave a sigh of relief and said to his colleague, “Call 120”. {T/N: Emergency number in China.}
Hydrogen was shocked by the situation: “What happened? Is Brother Lang okay?” He ran up.
However he was stopped by Captain Wu.
Captain Wu: “Only the two of you live in this apartment right now right?”
Hydrogen: “Oh, yes.”
Captain Wu laughed coldly: “Then you’d better come with us!”
Hydrogen was shocked silly: “What?”
There was a “Ka-da” sound. A pair of handcuffs wrapped around his wrists.
At this time, at a neighbourhood across the JingDu Lake.
Lian Xi had rung the bell three times.
After the first ring, Wanderer’s soul stopped smiling in a silly manner.
After the second ring, some spirit returned to Wanderer’s soul’s eyes.
After the third ring, Wanderer’s soul suddenly stood up and the next minute, marched towards the door.
Lian Xi narrowed his eyes: “Follow him!”
Three bells sounded and the sound continued to reverberate outwards slowly…
Not only did it reverberate in the living world, but his deep and ancient sound also penetrated the limit of the yin and yang words, and with an ommm noise, it rang into the underworld.
But no one could hear this sound.
It stroked the surface of the flowing River of Forgetfulness. No one discovered it, however the waters of the River of Forgetfulness froze for a moment.
It traversed the Ten Temples of Yama and penetrated the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
All the way down.
Finally, it came to a place of nothingness.
The endless black drenched this invisible and shadowless space.
Nothing existed here.
This place was not suitable for any object, and of course it was even less suitable for any living creature.
But when the sound of the bell rang here, it caused a faint ripple.
The bell sound dissipated in the great nothingness and seemed as though it was about to finally die out…
…. Suddenly.
A slender, cold hand caught the ripple.
As though it were a ray of light guiding the way, the owner of the hand grabbed the ripple and followed it. Step by step he started crawling upwards. From his hands gurgled black blood, however he didn’t let go of the ray of light he grasped with all his strength.
Breaking through, seeking the light, going upwards.
Finally, at the last moment before the ripple dissipated, he left the underworld and came to the world of the living!
The world of yin and yang clashed violently, and the entire underworld shook violently for a moment.
The ghost gods of the underworld hurried out of their halls.
“What happened?”
“What’s this?”
“What’s going on?”
At this time, a ghost official standing guard on the NaiHe Bridge looked over at the eternally unchanging River of Forgetfulness and suddenly, opened his eyes wide with terror.
“Dear Lord! The River of Forgetfulness has stopped flowing!”
***
Chapter 9 – Dear Lord, The River of Forgetfulness Has Stopped Flowing!
Early the next day, his short housemate went to class.
The night before the two people kicked up a fuss at the police station until 3AM. By the time they arrived home to wash up and go to bed, it was already past 4AM. Lian Xi’s inner clock still woke him up at 8AM as usual so he got less than 4 hours of sleep.
Su Jiao: “Lian Xi, I’m leaving.”
The young man in the kitchen was making instant noodles. He lifted his eyes and glanced at his housemate and lightly made an “en” sound.
There was a ka-da sound of the door closing.
Inside the empty and spacious room, there was only one person left.
After cooking the instant noodles, Lian Xi flipped out his phone and found a streaming video website which had a host who explained the meaning behind movies. He watched it while eating. After ten minutes the short video finished and he also just finished his meal.
Lian Xi yawned and walked towards the bedroom.
This morning after waking up, Su Jiao had raised the matter of Wanderer once but the two didn’t say too much.
Perhaps because Su Jiao saw that Lian Xi didn’t want to bother about this matter anymore, so the two people didn’t continue discussing it.
In this world there were too many pitiful things. Every second hundreds of people die. If you really wanted to help them all then it was impossible.
Also, Lian Xi never took the initiative to intervene in ghostly matters.
In this world, everyone has their own destiny.
He had lived at the fan factory for a year. The ghost of Chen JianJun suddenly appeared next door six months ago, how could he not know?
Of course he knew.
But he only wanted to “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.
It was unrelated to him.
He didn’t owe Chen JianJun anything. He was only an ordinary and plain 18,000 line host who struggled with food and clothing. {T/N: Chinese people denote famous people as belonging to the “first line” or “second line” etc, basically separating them by how famous they are. By saying he’s from the 18,000 line he’s pretty much saying he’s a nobody.}
If it wasn’t because Chen JianJun suddenly came to his house that night and those things happened, probably up until the moment he moved out of the fan factory and it was demolished, he wouldn’t have spoken more than a few words to Chen JianJun. And wouldn’t have accidentally helped him find the murderer from that case 23 years ago.
As for Wanderer, right now his life or death is still uncertain.
But who knew whether or not perhaps it was his destiny to die?
Lian Xi thought for a while then sighed.
Anyway they weren’t that close.
If it was Uncle Li who lost a soul, even if Lian Xi had to be a potential suspect in the eyes of the police, he would definitely help him find it back. People were innately selfish. He and Wanderer weren’t close and the two people’s interactions weren’t happy. He had already thought of all the ways he could and now that things had reached this state, Lian Xi felt he had already fulfilled his responsibility to Wanderer.
After thinking about this, Lian Xi walked to his bedroom. But the moment he stepped foot into his bedroom suddenly the doorbell rang.
Lian Xi stopped. He walked over to open the door: “Did you forget something…”
His voice was abruptly cut off.
The ghost soul outside gazed at him, tilted his head and smiled. “Hehe. Do you want to sign?”
The person inside the door’s mouth twitched: “…..”
……
Can’t you please let me go ah!!
That’s right, it was none other than Wanderer’s soul hanging outside the door.
He was wearing a suit and his face was extremely white. If it wasn’t because of the bloody, dripping wound on his forehead, it was impossible to tell that he was a ghost.
Lian Xi let go of his temper completely. He directly made a phone call and recalled his housemate back.
As soon as Su Jiao got home: ***?!
His eyes moved from Lian Xi to Wanderer and then back for several moments. In the end he looked at Lian Xi and said doubtfully, “How much money do you owe that he doesn’t want to let you go even after he’s like this?”
Lian Xi: “…..”
“I’m not familiar with him at all!”
Su Jiao nodded his head, his face showing the expression “sure, whatever you say”.
Lian Xi: “….”
Su Jiao thought for a while then asked Wanderer, “Right now we can’t help you either. Where do you live and do you have family members? Do you know these things?”
Wanderer looked at Su Jiao for a moment then turned back to Lian Xi. He smiled darkly. “Want to sign?”
Lian Xi: “…..”
Su Jiao: “I think the situation is most likely that he accidentally hit his head. His body and his soul were shaken, and accidentally one of the souls got knocked out of his flesh and became lost. If this soul doesn’t go back to join the others, it will become dangerous.”
Wanderer: “Hehehe, do you want to sign?”
Su Jiao: “If a soul has been out of the body for 49 shichen, then it will really die. Where’s your body? Can you find it by yourself?”
Wanderer: “Hehehe, do you want to sign?”
Lian Xi: “….”
Su Jiao: “…..”
Su Jiao: “You still dare to say that you’re not close?!”
Lian Xi: “??!!”
I goddamn really am not close to him, okay!!!
But right now even if Lian Xi jumped in the yellow river, he wouldn’t be able to wash himself clean.
No matter who talked to Wanderer, he only repeated that one sentence; asking Lian Xi whether or not he wanted to sign a contract with him!
Su Jiao was completely out of ideas.
Compared to Lian Xi, he wanted to save this person more. However he really felt helpless. Su Jiao grumbled sofly, “If shishu was here then it definitely wouldn’t be a problem….” {T/N: Shishu is like the brother of your teacher, doesn’t have to be his actual biological brother, just a male person in the same generation of students as your teacher.}
Lian Xi frowned: “Then why don’t you call your shishu over?”
Su Jiao’s face immediately fell: “My shishu has gone into seclusion, I can’t find him ah!”
Lian Xi: “Don’t you celestial masters have ways to communicate with each other? Can’t you find a few other celestial master friends to come help?”
Su Jiao said, speechless: “Do you think you’re writing a novel? Saying “celestial masters” and “friends” in one line easily. Us XuanXiu each take care of ourselves and walk their own paths. In all my life, the other XuanXiu I’ve met is my shishu! Oh right, also you. You’re the second one.”
{T/N: XuanXiu/XuanXue refers to metaphysical/esoteric studies with a Taoist and Confucian thought base. Basically learning mystical or supernatural arts. XuanXue is the subject matter, and the people who study/cultivate it are called XuanXiu.}
After a pause, he touched his chin. “But it’s strange. It’s not logical that a soul can walk around in broad daylight in Su City without any repercussions. Especially a living soul. The local Black and White Reapers should have discovered it long ago and sent the soul back. How come they’re not doing anything?”
{T/N: Black/White Reapers is the closest English translation but the Chinese one looks quite different to the one carrying the scythe in Western stories. But they are also emissaries/helpers of the Underworld and are responsible for bringing souls of the dead there. See the bottom for a picture reference.}
Lian Xi thought for a while: “Maybe they’re too busy and haven’t gotten around to it?”
Su Jiao: “Have you seen a lot of ghosts in Su City recently?”
After a moment of thinking, Lian Xi said: “Then maybe they didn’t notice him?”
Su Jiao’s face looked like he thought Lian Xi was making fun of him: “Ha? Don’t you know how scary the Black and White Reapers in Su City are?”
Lian Xi: “How scary?”
Su Jiao exposed an anxious expression: “Extremely scary okay! Don’t you know how bad the reputation of Su City is. In all of HuaXia, Su City has the most stinky reputation!”
Lian Xi: “….”
You’re stinky! Your entire family is stinky!
Su Jiao: “The Black and White Reapers in other places are normal people. If XuanXiu go to their territory, they just mind their own business and we don’t bother each other. But only in Su City is their reputation so stinky! These two guys are freaking insane! They don’t allow anyone to enter Su City. If you come then they think you’re trying to steal their rice bowl and will come out to attack you! The problem is these two guys are really strong. They’re an entirely different level to the normal Black and White Reapers. My shishu once came on a trip to Su City. The coach hadn’t even entered Su City yet before those two fellows locked onto him. It almost caused a high speed bus crash! That would have been tragic!”
Lian Xi: “Oh, so serious?”
Su Jiao: “There’s even more serious things than that! Those two guys from Su City, they’re not only vicious to XuanXiu, they’re also vicious to their fellow ghost officials! XuanXiu can’t come here, and other Black and White Reapers are not allowed either. If they come, they’ll be a fight!”
Lian Xi thought for a while: “They’re so territorial?”
Su Jiao coughed. He looked left and right, ascertaining that the Black and White Reapers were not about to suddenly pop out of nowhere. He then huddled close to Lian Xi’s ear and whispered, “My shishu said, it’s because the two of them are ‘rabbits’.” {T/N: Euphemism for meaning gay.}
Lian Xi was shocked: “After rabbits die, they can also become ghost officials?”
Su Jiao raised his eyebrow: “I mean that kind of ‘rabbit’.”
“What kind of rabbit?”
“That kind ah~”
Lian Xi: “What kind ah?”
Su Jiao: “Two freaking gays!!!!”
Lian Xi: “…….”
Wanderer who was smiling idiotishly beside them: “Hehe, want to sign?”
…..
At this time, the thoughts revolved around Lian Xi’s read a few times and finally he connected the dots and finished eating the melon from yesterday!
Previously Su Jiao had said that Su City was a damned place and that after getting into Su City University’s graduate school he was really scared. He was scared of running into those “two guys”. Now it was clear that the reason he was scared of coming to Su City because he was scared of running to the Black and White Reapers!
Some years ago when his shishu had come to Su City to travel, he’d nearly been killed. Now that he had to stay in Su City for three years to finish his graduate problem, it was natural for Su Jiao to be anxious.
However…
Lian Xi: “If the Black and White Reapers in Su City are really that strong, strong enough to…. *cough*, be famous throughout the land, then there’s no way that they wouldn’t notice someone’s soul has left their body.”
Su Jiao: “That’s exactly what I mean. So…”
Lian Xi: “So?”
Su Jiao nodded his head. He said with a very serious expression: “So I’m guessing that they’re dead.”
Lian Xi: “…..”
Su Jia clasped his hands in a salute: “I hope they’re both okay.”
Glancing at his housemate’s face which was full of schadenfreude, Lian Xi said lightly, “What a cliche.”
Su Jiao: “Haha.”
After discussing random things for a while, the two people’s focus returned to Wanderer.
Su Jiao said directly, “I don’t have any more ideas unless we can find his body.”
Lian Xi thought for a moment then said, “Maybe I have a way we can try.”
“Ha? What way?”
Slightly shaking his wrist, Lian Xi lifted his left hand and exposed the thin red string upon which the bronze bell was tied.
“Let’s try this.”
***
3PM in the afternoon, in Su City’s Yuan District.
In the penthouse of a high-end apartment, a young livestreaming host with blonde hair was packing up his luggage and planning to leave.
On a viaduct leading to the Yuan Neighborhood, two old police officers were chatting to each other as they drove back to the place they’d visited earlier that morning.
Some place else, in a certain district across the JingDu lake.
The brilliant sun shines from the living room window, illuminating the gradually becoming transparent soul sitting on the sofa and the two young people standing in front of him and gradually approaching him step by step.
Su Jiao hesitated: “What if you kill him?”
Lian Xi’s expression was calm and so was his voice: “We’ve run out of options, we can only treat this dead horse like it’s alive.” {T/N: Basically a Chinese idiom for saying; since it’s pretty much hopeless anyway and you can’t make it any worse so you may as well just try anything and see what happens.}
Wanderer’s face was still foolishly smiling: “Hehe, want to sign?”
Lian Xi glanced at him and reached out his left hand.
There was an old and simple bronze bell tied to a pale and thin wrist. It wasn’t moving and didn’t seem conspicuous at first, but if you noticed it somehow you felt like you couldn’t tear your eyes away from it. Just by looking at it, it summoned up the feeling of a refreshing open sky, the heavens opening up. Any feelings of anxiety or stress in your heart would dissipate.
In other words.
Your heart would become calm.
Lian Xi’s right hand pressed on the bell.
Lian Xi raised his eyes and looked at the lost soul in front of him. He gently said the other person’s name. “Wanderer.”
He spoke casually however his hand suddenly shook the bell hard!
“Ommm!” {T/N: The echoing sound the bell makes.}
The next second, the semi-transparent soul suddenly stopped smiling stupidly. The short housemate who was curiously watching also opened his eyes wide. He exhaled a short breath of disbelief.
Lian Xi called his name again: “Wanderer!”
His hand shook the bell.
“Ommm!”
The ghost soul opened his mouth wide, and there appeared a light slowly in his eyes.
The short housemate was shocked; the other realm which had been in a stuck status for half a year actually showed signs of loosening!
At this time, Lian Xi called for the third time: “Wanderer!”
The melodious and long chiming spread far and wide, passing through the sparkling JingDu lake, passing through the people crowding the busy streets of Su City, and passing through the modern concrete forest.
Ommm!
It reached the penthouse suite of a high-end apartment.
In the dimly lit room, the blonde haired livestreaming host had already packed his things and was preparing to live.
In the study, a man in a suit wearing a stiff expression was sitting. On his neck a strange thing was twisting. The man was panting hard and his face was strangled red.
A female ghost with disheveled hair was riding on his neck. Her hands were pinching his neck in a deathly grip, at any moment it seemed as though she was about to break his neck!
But at that moment!
A profound bell sound that seemed to echo from the ancient times sounded loudly, scaring the female ghost!
“Ahhhhh!” The female ghost was knocked to one side by the sound and emitted a terrible cry.
The man directly fell backwards due to the force and the chair slammed against the ground.
Hydrogen was packing the last of his clothes when he suddenly heard a loud bang from the study. He ran towards it in a hurry and yelled, “Brother Lang, what’s going on?”
He was halfway there when suddenly the doorbell rang. He had just reached the living room and decided to go open the door first.
Hydrogen: “Ah? Officers? Is there still something wrong? Have you caught the thief from yesterday?”
Captain Wu and Old Li glanced at him then looked into the room: “Where’s Xu Lang?”
Hydrogen remembered something. “Oh that’s right. I think Brother Lang might have fallen over in his study.”
Captain Wu’s eyes flashed. “Go!”
The three people entered the study together. Captain Wu’s eyes were like eagles, he immediately saw Xu Lang who had toppled to the ground. He also saw the red and purple finger marks around his neck. He immediately stepped forward and felt Xu Lang’s pulse. He gave a sigh of relief and said to his colleague, “Call 120”. {T/N: Emergency number in China.}
Hydrogen was shocked by the situation: “What happened? Is Brother Lang okay?” He ran up.
However he was stopped by Captain Wu.
Captain Wu: “Only the two of you live in this apartment right now right?”
Hydrogen: “Oh, yes.”
Captain Wu laughed coldly: “Then you’d better come with us!”
Hydrogen was shocked silly: “What?”
There was a “Ka-da” sound. A pair of handcuffs wrapped around his wrists.
At this time, at a neighbourhood across the JingDu Lake.
Lian Xi had rung the bell three times.
After the first ring, Wanderer’s soul stopped smiling in a silly manner.
After the second ring, some spirit returned to Wanderer’s soul’s eyes.
After the third ring, Wanderer’s soul suddenly stood up and the next minute, marched towards the door.
Lian Xi narrowed his eyes: “Follow him!”
Three bells sounded and the sound continued to reverberate outwards slowly…
Not only did it reverberate in the living world, but his deep and ancient sound also penetrated the limit of the yin and yang words, and with an ommm noise, it rang into the underworld.
But no one could hear this sound.
It stroked the surface of the flowing River of Forgetfulness. No one discovered it, however the waters of the River of Forgetfulness froze for a moment.
It traversed the Ten Temples of Yama and penetrated the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
All the way down.
Finally, it came to a place of nothingness.
The endless black drenched this invisible and shadowless space.
Nothing existed here.
This place was not suitable for any object, and of course it was even less suitable for any living creature.
But when the sound of the bell rang here, it caused a faint ripple.
The bell sound dissipated in the great nothingness and seemed as though it was about to finally die out…
…. Suddenly.
A slender, cold hand caught the ripple.
As though it were a ray of light guiding the way, the owner of the hand grabbed the ripple and followed it. Step by step he started crawling upwards. From his hands gurgled black blood, however he didn’t let go of the ray of light he grasped with all his strength.
Breaking through, seeking the light, going upwards.
Finally, at the last moment before the ripple dissipated, he left the underworld and came to the world of the living!
The world of yin and yang clashed violently, and the entire underworld shook violently for a moment.
The ghost gods of the underworld hurried out of their halls.
“What happened?”
“What’s this?”
“What’s going on?”
At this time, a ghost official standing guard on the NaiHe Bridge looked over at the eternally unchanging River of Forgetfulness and suddenly, opened his eyes wide with terror.
“Dear Lord! The River of Forgetfulness has stopped flowing!”
***
