Chapter 82: Underworld Artifacts

Duoduo's memories did not end there; after an unknown span of time, Duoduo regained consciousness.

She awoke from the darkness, her memories restored.

She stood by a riverbank overgrown with weeds; the river water murmured, and the surroundings were desolate.

Looking down at her feet, there... there gave her a very strange feeling...

Just then, her little head suddenly fell from her neck, rolling onto the ground.

Her view shifted from top-down to bottom-up.

Duoduo frantically tried to catch her own head, but without a head, she lost her balance and fell at once.

Duoduo watched this scene in terror, then burst into loud wails.

"Dad... Mom... save me... save me..."

Yet still no one answered her.

Exhausted from crying, she wanted to pick up her head with her hands, only to discover that her own body had actually picked up the head.

Duoduo hurriedly placed her little head back on her neck; it seemed no different, and she felt no pain.

However, she dared not look down again; she could only hold her little head with both hands, afraid it would fall off again.

The unfamiliar environment made Duoduo a bit panicked; she hurriedly ran up the riverbank.

Then, following a small path along the riverbank, she ran and ran forward; she did not know how far she ran, nor how long, nor did she feel tired...

Yet the barren wilderness filled Duoduo's heart with fear.

She ran while crying out for Mom and Dad.

After an unknown span of time, she finally saw people.

"Auntie..."

She ran forward excitedly, wanting to speak to them.

But the other person directly ignored her and even bumped into her.

Duoduo was startled; her body felt a sharp sting, and only then did she notice the flames atop the other's head and on their shoulders.

The stinging on her body came precisely from those flames.

Terrified, Duoduo hurriedly stepped back, then fell, and her head rolled off again.

The other person ignored her and left directly.

Duoduo's eyes lost their luster; hiding in a corner, she held her head with both hands, sobbing quietly and calling out Mom and Dad in a low voice...

She became a lonely soul, wandering everywhere on the streets.

During this time, she also encountered many "people."

There was Grandma Zhang, Grandpa Lu, Uncle Pang Sheng, Aunt Xiao Jing, and many, many more; they were all very kind to Duoduo.

Yet one by one, they left Duoduo.

Grandma Zhang and Grandpa Lu put everything aside and returned to their hometown...

Uncle Pang Sheng, because Aunt Xiao Min found a new husband, was heartbroken, and then disappeared...

Aunt Xiao Jing went to another place with Brother Brother Aming...

Actually, Grandma Zhang and Grandpa Lu returning to their hometown was not truly going home; it was a ghost's way of speaking: when all living people forgot them, and when they let go of all worries in their hearts, they would return to their hometown and turn into a wisp of smoke and dust, dissipating completely...

As for Uncle Pang Sheng, he was an uncle Duoduo knew in life; shortly after he died in the line of duty, his wife chose to remarry; the last time Duoduo saw him was by the river, and afterward he was gone...

As for Aunt Xiao Jing, she was someone Duoduo met after her death; Brother Brother Aming was Aunt Xiao Jing's son; when Brother Brother Aming was admitted to university, Aunt Xiao Jing went to another place with him...

Besides these, there were many other ghosts, some good and some bad; when encountering the bad ones, she would hide far away, and all was well.

These ghosts were merely passersby to Duoduo; some ghosts wanted to take her away with them, and some ghosts told her that her Mom and Dad had already left...

But in the end, Duoduo still stayed; she had her Route 6 bus, and a home she could never return to.

Duoduo's memories after death were chaotic and disordered; it seemed that lacking a body caused her to lose certain logic and cognition.

Duoduo was also lonely; every day she rode the Route 6 bus back and forth, yet could never find her own home.

Yet Duoduo was also a strong and innocent child; for so many years, she had not chosen to forget Mom and Dad; she firmly believed Mom and Dad would find her and take her home.

Shen Siyuan withdrew from Duoduo's memories, took a deep breath, and was plunged into the emotions, unable to extricate himself; only after a while did he recover.

Then he discovered Yin Xingyue standing nearby, looking at him with some concern.

At her feet crouched a dog; it was no prized breed, but a very ordinary yellow-haired local dog; it did not look very old, and at this moment it too was staring at Shen Siyuan.

"Where is Dou Dou?" Shen Siyuan asked casually.

"She went home," Yin Xingyue said.

"Is this the dog you were talking about?" Shen Siyuan's gaze turned to that local dog.

Yin Xingyue nodded.

"It doesn't run away when it sees you now?" Shen Siyuan asked casually.

"It is mainly afraid of Dou Dou; with Dou Dou gone, it is not afraid," Yin Xingyue said.

Shen Siyuan extended a finger and beckoned to the small local dog crouching on the ground; the local dog hesitated for a moment, stood up, and slowly walked to Shen Siyuan's front.

He too was seeing a ghost dog for the first time.

Reaching out to stroke its dog head, Shen Siyuan said with some emotion, "What is it that you cannot bear to part with, that you are unwilling to leave the human world?"

The puppy could not speak; it only kept wagging its tail.

"It must be unwilling to part with its owner," Yin Xingyue said from the side.

"Take it for a walk; I have a few things to do," Shen Siyuan said.

If it were Dou Dou, she would have instinctively asked, "What 'things' do you have?" and would have been incredibly curious.

But Yin Xingyue simply obediently nodded, then reached out, grabbed the puppy on the ground, and vanished into a gust of cold wind.

Seeing them leave, Shen Siyuan summoned the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, snapped his fingers with a hand seal, and immediately Duoduo drifted down from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

At this moment, Duoduo was much like Dou Dou when she first entered the Ten Thousand Souls Banner; both had nether flames surging all over their bodies, completely unaware of how to suppress them.

The only difference was likely a circle of dark blue light around the wound on Duoduo's neck, as if she were wearing a blue necklace.

"Banner Master Brother~"

Upon seeing Shen Siyuan, Duoduo's face lit up with surprise and joy.

Once on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, one is branded, a memory is imprinted, and one recognizes Shen Siyuan as master.

Shen Siyuan smiled and nodded to her.

Duoduo looked down at the nether flames burning on her hands, clenched her fist, and her face was full of curiosity and delight.

"Wow, I'm burning," she said, somewhat surprised.

Then, curiously, she waved her arms, tracing lines of blue fire through the air.

These flames burned her, yet instead of pain, she felt a warm and comfortable sensation.

Suddenly, she realized something, cupped her head with both hands, and exclaimed joyfully to Shen Siyuan: "Banner Master Brother, Banner Master Brother, my head isn't falling off, my head isn't falling off..."

"I know, but you also... uh..."

As she was speaking, she pulled hard with both hands and yanked her little head off again.

However, the cut on the wound was not a void as before, but shimmered with the dark blue light of nether flames.

Just then, a cold wind sprang up out of nowhere inside the room; Duoduo released her hands holding her head, and her head did not fall to the ground but instead flew in the air...

"Wow, my head can fly..." Duoduo said excitedly.

Shen Siyuan:...

"Could this be the Flying Head Technique, which is of no use?" Shen Siyuan thought.

Actually, he knew clearly that this was merely Duoduo gaining the ability to control cold winds, lifting her own head; it was by no means the Flying Head Technique.

The head circled twice inside the room before settling back onto her neck.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Siyuan asked, "Duoduo, do you still remember where your umbrella came from..."

Before Shen Siyuan could finish speaking, Duoduo said somewhat puzzled, "Umbrella?"

Then, with a wave of her hand, an umbrella appeared out of nowhere in her grasp; immediately, the nether flames on her body rushed rapidly along the umbrella handle, spreading across the entire canopy, and the whole umbrella instantly burst into flames, looking extremely miraculous.

The crane in the pine-and-crane pattern on the umbrella came to life, transforming into a palm-sized immortal crane that danced and circled within the flames rising from the canopy, occasionally emitting joyful crane calls.