Chapter 306 - Queue for Reincarnation.
Daji peeled a grape. She reached out with her delicate fingers and gently held it to the corner of Li Nianfan’s lips. She smiled and said, “Mr. Li, come, open your mouth.”
Li Nianfan opened his mouth and ate the grape. His lips touched Daji’s small fingers. Her scent was sweeter than the grape. He said with satisfaction, “Hm, Daji’s so good, you smell good.”
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Nanan rubbed her arms. “Hmm, I have goosebumps all over.”
Dragin scoffed, “I know right, you have two kids by your side. Shameless!”
“How dare you say that? Daji and I were living happily and now we have two extra light bulbs.” Li Nianfan ruffled Dragin’s head.
“Watch the battle. Learn from it. When you two are as powerful, I’ll be proud of you.”
Nanan pouted and said, “I’ll be more powerful than all of them one day!”
Li Nianfan smiled and said, “Daji, don’t mind them. Come, continue peeling the grapes, and don’t stop.”
He was being served grapes by Daji while watching the exciting fight. It was like watching a movie, how luxurious!
Ziye and the other four were fighting a close battle with the three ghosts. All kinds of special effects were spreading out in the sky, Li Nianfan was stunned. What a sight!
Li Nianfan looked at Daji. He asked, “Daji, is this exciting? Are you scared?”
“As long as I’m beside Mr. Li, I’m not scared of anything.” Daji shook her head. She said, “The fight between Immortals is so exciting. The battle’s so fierce!”
Li Nianfan nodded. He said sincerely, “Yeah, it’s so awe-inspiring.”
He felt rather disappointed. Although he agreed with what Daji said, he thought women would instinctively be scared of things like ghosts. Was she not supposed to cry out in shock and launch herself into his arms for protection?
This was like bringing one’s girl to watch a horror film. Instead of being horrified, she said, “As long as I’m beside you, I’m not scared of anything”! How speechless was that!
On the battlefield, Ziye and the other four exchanged looks. They were communicating.
“Immortal Ziye, how’re you doing? Almost?”
“Almost, I’ve used all my beautiful and powerful routines once. The performance is good.”
“Same here, if we go on, we’ll have to repeat the routine.”
“We’ve put in so much effort to perform. I’m sure the expert’s pleased. We should end soon.”
“Alright! Let’s have a final move. Let’s join forces to create the coolest effect!”
Instantly, the five of them came together and their effects rushed out all over. The sky and air changed colors. Flames, wild wind, and thunder were everywhere. It was extremely scary.
The powerful effect of the tornado was extremely destructive as it crashed toward the three ghosts.
The three ghosts were delighted instead of scared. They had a look of relief on their faces.
“Finally, we’re able to die in peace. Sigh, it’s so hard.”
The battle ceased.
The Oni in black armor quickly floated over with his staff. He said with respect, “I’m the night-shift Oni, Bing San. Greetings to all Immortals.”
Ziye nodded. “Hurry up and shut the Ghost Door.”
“Right away.” Bing San made an order. The originally broken chain reappeared in the hands of the four Onis. They tossed the chains over the door.
This time, they were not hindered. They easily shut the Ghost Door.
The grey smoke lost its source and gradually faded away.
Immortal Linzhu and Ziye knew quite a bit about the things in the Underworld. They could not help asking, “Why are there only a few of you coming out from the Underworld?”
Bing San smiled bitterly and said, “You probably didn’t know about this but the Underworld’s no longer the same as before. There’s been a severe shortage of manpower. Now that the entire Underworld has been shaken up, most of the Onis were kept there to tame the ghosts. Some were sent to other places to prevent the ghosts from messing up in the ordinary realm.”
Ziye shook her head. “Who’d have thought that the Underworld would turn out this way? Even the ghosts can’t be tamed?”
Bing San sighed. He said in a low voice, “During the last Natural Tribulation, countless Onis died in the Underworld. The Acheron was broken up and many stones were crushed. Hell collapsed. More importantly, even the Reincarnation Gate was broken down. The Underworld today is merely just a name.”
Everyone’s faces changed. “No more Reincarnation Gate? How would they reincarnate, then?”
“They can only rely on Heaven’s mechanism. Now, there’s a long queue for reincarnation,” Bing San said with mixed feelings. “Now that the Underworld’s chaotic, there’s no way we can take in so many ghosts. Therefore, half of them went into the Styx. They committed more crimes while doing so. However, we have no other choice.”
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He paused and then continued, “Back then, Fengdu Emperor didn’t want the ghosts to mess up in the ordinary realm. Thus, he disconnected the road between life and death. Recently, however, someone was bold enough to use his means to reconnect the road.”
“Mind your language!” Ziye and the rest scoffed in unison. They all had cautious expressions as they hastily cut him off.
The doings of the expert were not something he could simply talk about.
Bin San was terrified. He then said, “This is indeed something I shouldn’t be speaking of.”
After halting for a moment, he asked with an uncertain tone, “May I ask…if you all were messing with the three ghosts?”
He felt that these five Immortals had some weird ticks. They seemed to like showing off their prowesses in front of those who were about to die.
“That was not messing around, we were performing!” Ye Liuyun said with a straight face. “A big figure likes watching Immortals fighting, so naturally, we had to perform well.”
“Per—perform?”
Bin San was stunned. He almost could not believe his ears.
Immortals performing for someone else? If they had a look at the Time River, this had never happened before, let alone now. How rare!
There were musicals and street art in the ordinary realm, but this was not something that was looked up upon.
The Immortals would actually perform while fighting? Were they not lowering their standards?
Most importantly, Ziye and the rest were the winners among the Immortals. What kind of big figure was worth them doing so?
Bing San did not dare to think further. Even the thought of it was scalp-itching.
Ziye thought for a moment and warned him seriously, “This man’s a figure beyond the world. He enjoys living an ordinary life. He’s the one who reconnected the road between life and death. When you meet him, you must be extra cautious in what you say!”
Bing San’s face turned pale. He asked, trembling, “He reconnected the road between life and death? He’s nearby?”
“Nonsense! If not, who were we performing for?” Xiao Chengfeng said. “Enough, let’s not make the expert wait for too long.”
Instantly, the crowd walked toward Li Nianfan while Bing San followed behind them uneasily.
Li Nianfan had been watching them. Seeing that they were walking toward him, his face straightened up.
He was from the Underworld. With Ziye introducing him, he might be able to befriend this staff member.
He said with a smile, “Exciting, how exciting! Good job, everyone.”
Urchin said, “The three ghosts are powerful, it took us some effort.”
“I can tell,” Li Nianfan nodded. He looked at Bing San and asked, “You must be a staff from the Underworld?”
Bing San’s heart sank. He wasted no time as he said hastily, “I’m Bing San, a night shift Oni. Greetings to Mr. Li.”
Bing San? The names of the Underworld were strange.
Li Nianfan made a greeting gesture and said, “Nice to meet you, Bing San.”
Bing San said, embarrassed, “The ghosts from the Underworld came to mess around in the ordinary realm. I’m sorry to have caused you trouble.”
Of course, Li Nianfan would not expose them. He shook his head and said, “Not long ago, I met two Onis in a village not far from here. The ghosts are fierce. You’re doing a respectable thing by capturing them.”
Bing San said hastily, “Thank you for reminding me. We must ease the chaos here so that no one gets hurt.”
“Let’s go and have a look.”
It did not take long before the group arrived at the village.
Compared to before, there were fewer ghosts around and it was no longer as chaotic.
After all, most of the ghosts were not too powerful. With the involvement of the cultivators and the two Onis, many of the ghosts were taken care of.
Of course, many of the ghosts also escaped. They had no choice but to capture them later on.
However, what surprised Li Nianfan was that even though most of the ghosts were taken care of, the two Onis were surrounded by the ordinary villagers. There was a wailing coming from the crowd.
Furthermore, some of the cultivators seemed to be trapping the two Onis.
Among the crowd, a male ghost was protesting with the two Onis. Beside the male ghost was an old woman. Half of her hair had turned white.
They seemed to be arguing.
“Mr. Li.” The Holy Emperor saw Li Nianfan. Instantly, he turned into light and flew over. He looked restricted as every one of the bigshots around Li Nianfan was way beyond his level.
Li Nianfan asked with curiosity, “Holy Emperor, what’s the matter?”
The Holy Emperor told him the backstory. Everyone looked rather uncomfortable.
Li Nianfan looked at the male ghost and the old woman with disbelief. He could not help verifying, “You’re saying that they’re a couple?”
The Holy Emperor nodded, “Exactly.”
To be exact, they used to be a couple 20 years ago. Since the man had died 20 years ago, the old woman had been widowed for 20 years. That was what caused the scene.
It was such a tragic love story.
After 20 years, this man came out of the Underworld as a ghost. The first thing he did was to go back to his village—to guard the village and his wife. Earlier on, he fought on behalf of the villagers against the other ghosts. He was still guarding them.
The Holy Emperor continued, “This man used to be the hunter coach of the village. He was also the leader of this village and he was well-respected. He even died for the village.”
Li Nianfan nodded, “I can tell.”
He had been dead for 20 years. Even though he had turned into a ghost, he was still protected by the villagers. They even protested against the Onis for him. He was clearly well-respected.
Li Nianfan said sincerely, “This man’s respectable indeed!”
Ziye and the rest agreed without hesitation.
“Mr. Li’s right. Even I have to say that he’s brave!”
“He’s indeed respectable!”
Bing San heard that Li Nianfan was speaking for that male ghost. He made a decision and instantly said, “This man has earned the right to become an Oni!”