Chapter 83: Nether Ghost Realm

Shen Siyuan had often seen this umbrella in Lan Duoduo's memories.

Whenever it rained, Lan Duoduo liked to summon this umbrella to shield herself from the rain.

There seemed to be nothing particularly special about it; after all, ghosts possessing items were not uncommon.

For example, Lu Guanchang's walking stick earlier was actually materialized from his mind-image, a part of his body.

But Lan Duoduo's umbrella clearly was not; it existed as its own entity and could be used by ghosts—this was a nether artifact.

"Do you know where your umbrella came from?"

"It's Mommy's," Lan Duoduo said.

"Then where did your mommy come from?" Shen Siyuan pressed on.

Hearing this, Lan Duoduo tilted her little head; clearly, she did not know the specific origin of this umbrella.

Then she instinctively turned the umbrella handle, and her figure suddenly vanished from the spot.

This was not invisibility—no ghost or deity, once mounted on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, could still conceal its movements from the banner's master.

Lan Duoduo had completely vanished from this room, not even in Binhai; otherwise Shen Siyuan would surely have sensed it and known her approximate location.

But now Lan Duoduo had vanished entirely. Shen Siyuan hurriedly used the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to re-establish contact with her, sharing her sight and hearing.

Then he saw a stretch of grey sky, black clouds churning across it, countless fierce souls and vengeful ghosts roaring and struggling within them; on the ground, bones lay scattered everywhere, wails filling the wilds.

Yin wind blew the bones against each other, producing eerie knocking sounds; ghost fires drifted about on the yin wind.

Lan Duoduo's eyes went wide; she was so frightened she froze in place, not daring to move.

The nether fire blazing from her entire body, like a giant torch, attracted countless wandering souls rolling toward her.

These wandering souls, long since invaded by karmic energy, grievance energy, baleful energy, and the foul miasma of yin poison, had lost their minds; they feared no nether fire and rolled straight at Lan Duoduo.

The black cloud formed by these wandering souls uttered the world's most venomous curses, weeping, shrieking, howling savagely; the cacophony of ghostly wails made one's spirit waver, one's mind grow hazy, and one's soul feel ready to leave the body and merge with them.

Fortunately, Lan Duoduo was sheltered beneath the umbrella; this umbrella was quite miraculous and blocked most of the harm for her, but even so, she was frightened to the point of her liver and gall splitting, unsure for a moment what to do.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Shen Siyuan's voice rang out in Lan Duoduo's mind, giving her immense comfort and courage.

The nether fire on her body, which had been flickering unstably as if about to go out, now seemed to receive the blessing of some mysterious power and blazed skyward, meeting the onrushing yin wind and wandering souls head-on.

And so these wandering souls became fuel for the nether fire, instantly setting half the sky ablaze.

But these wandering souls could not be burned to the end; moreover, having long lost their minds, they came wave after wave, and even though nether fire blazed from Lan Duoduo's body, for a moment she felt her strength running out.

At this point Lan Duoduo instead calmed down, curiously looking around, quite puzzled as to why she had come here.

But Shen Siyuan, observing the surroundings through Lan Duoduo's vision, could not help but grow anxious.

He had no time now to puzzle over what this place was; instead he was wondering how Lan Duoduo had gotten here.

Lan Duoduo could not stay here long; though protected by nether fire, given enough time she would eventually be devoured by the omnipresent fierce souls and vengeful ghosts and merge with them in the end.

"Turn the umbrella handle?"

Shen Siyuan recalled Lan Duoduo's action before she vanished.

So he hurriedly reminded Lan Duoduo; Lan Duoduo, very obedient, immediately turned the umbrella handle in her hand once.

The immortal crane on the umbrella's surface immediately let out a crane's cry, and then Lan Duoduo vanished from the spot in an instant.

But she was still in This World, just in a different place; she could even see the distant sky where nether fire burned.

Just then, countless wandering souls again rode yin clouds, pouring down like a waterfall from the sky toward Lan Duoduo in a dive.

Lan Duoduo, now bolder, raised the umbrella handle and used the umbrella's surface to block the lunging wandering souls.

Ghostly blue flames instantly ignited the wandering souls, spreading upward along the yin wind they formed, setting half the sky ablaze once more.

But just then, from the distant horizon came a burst of eerie laughter; the laughter was like demonic sound, and on the faces of the wandering souls drifting through the air—faces already full of desire—a hint of madness appeared, and they began tearing and devouring each other; the whole world seemed turned upside down, reversed in every direction; it was a very peculiar sensation…

The yin clouds formed by the skyful of wandering souls, already mindless, now seemed to feel terror; they wailed and fled in all directions, and for a moment the sky churned with black clouds, as if the entire sky were about to collapse…

Even with the umbrella's protection, Lan Duoduo felt a wave of dizziness, her mind grew hazy, and her body felt as if a towel had been wrung hard by someone—extremely uncomfortable; this sensation was also transmitted to Shen Siyuan, who shared her five senses.

"Quick, go—try turning the handle the other way."

Shen Siyuan urged in Lan Duoduo's mind, already preparing to take over her body.

Lan Duoduo, in a fluster, turned the umbrella handle once and vanished from the spot in an instant, but immediately appeared in another place, still within this world.

This time, however, without waiting for Shen Siyuan's reminder, Lan Duoduo turned the umbrella handle the other way once and vanished again.

This time, Lan Duoduo completely vanished from this world and returned to Shen Siyuan's rented room.

Lan Duoduo looked around in terror; seeing the familiar scene, and seeing Shen Siyuan sitting before her, she finally let out a long breath of relief.

But she quickly came to her senses and hurriedly threw the oil-paper umbrella in her hand away—she had truly been scared out of her wits.

Yet the oil-paper umbrella did not fall to the ground; it suddenly vanished in midair.

Lan Duoduo couldn't help but stare blankly. Shen Siyuan, seeing this, asked: "Can you still take it out?"

The moment his words fell, the oil-paper umbrella reappeared in Lan Duoduo's hand; but this time she did not dare turn the handle again, looking at Shen Siyuan with a pitiful expression.

Shen Siyuan beckoned to her and said: "Let me have a look."

Hearing this, Lan Duoduo hurried forward and handed the umbrella to him.

Shen Siyuan took it and examined it carefully, but could not see anything special; it seemed to be just an ordinary oil-paper umbrella.

Of course, that was assuming one ignored the nether fire leaping and dancing on the umbrella's surface.

Shen Siyuan thought for a moment, summoned the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and released the Nether Fire Fireflies from within.

Seventy-seven Nether Fire Fireflies circled around him once, then one after another landed on his body.

The soul-locking chain tied at his waist, like a spirit snake, spiraled out and coiled around his shoulder.

Only then did he carefully turn the umbrella handle clockwise once, but found he was still in the same spot.

So he carefully turned the umbrella handle counterclockwise once; still nothing happened.

After thinking for a moment, he reached out, pulled Lan Duoduo—who was standing nearby watching curiously—over, picked her up, and then stuffed the umbrella back into her hand.

"Try turning the umbrella handle again."

Duoduo took the umbrella, and without hesitation, turned the handle. A crane's cry rang out from the canopy, heaven and earth inverted, and the two vanished from the spot in an instant.