Chapter 834: Heading to the Netherworld

Looking at the massive Saigyou Ayakashi before him, Lingyun fell silent for a moment before walking into the courtyard. Now was not the time to worry about the Saigyou Ayakashi; Yuyuko's condition was what mattered most.

"Yukari, how is Yuyuko doing?"

"The situation is not very good. Yuyuko is only a human, but right now, a massive amount of Death Qi and Demon Power has been poured into her body, and she has reached the point of near collapse," Yakumo Yukari said with a worried look on her face.

Lingyun reached out and took Yuyuko's hand, and a powerful Source Power surged into her body, temporarily stabilizing her physical condition.

"Lingyun, what is the current state of the Saigyou Ayakashi?" Yakumo Yukari asked.

"I have temporarily shattered its consciousness. But the Saigyou Ayakashi seems to have the protection of the Will of the Netherworld behind it; it will inevitably recover after some time," Lingyun said. "Although completely obliterating the consciousness of the Saigyou Ayakashi is not a difficult task, we might end up standing directly in opposition to the Will of the Netherworld. Moreover, it is not too difficult for the Will of the Netherworld to reshape the consciousness of the Saigyou Ayakashi."

"The protection of the Will of the Netherworld? Why would the Will of the Netherworld protect the Saigyou Ayakashi?" Yakumo Yukari's brows could not help but furrow.

If it were merely the Saigyou Ayakashi, she would naturally have nothing to fear. But adding an inscrutable Will of the Netherworld made her feel quite troubled.

"I haven't figured this matter out for the time being either. After all, the Netherworld and the World of the Living are two different worlds; the Will of the Netherworld cannot interfere in the affairs of the World of the Living for no reason. If we truly want to know, we might have to take a trip to the Netherworld," Lingyun said, frowning. With so little existing information, he could not analyze anything.

"Head to the Netherworld? That is not an easy task! After all, there are many old-fashioned fellows in the Netherworld, and those fellows are not so easy to talk to!" Yakumo Yukari frowned, but in her heart, she was already calculating where to enter the Netherworld from.

After calculating for a while, Yakumo Yukari stood up abruptly: "We can't worry about that much anymore. Lingyun, let's set off for the Netherworld! Youki, I leave your young mistress in your care!"

As Yakumo Yukari spoke, the fan in her hand swung forward violently, and a Gap opened before her. As the Gap opened, wisps of Death Qi drifted out from the other side; clearly, the other side of the Gap was the Netherworld.

Lingyun opened his hand, and strands of golden light intertwined in his palm, eventually forming a golden Crystal. Lingyun placed the Crystal on Yuyuko's chest, and a layer of golden light film appeared on Yuyuko's body, enveloping her within it.

"Let's go!" After finishing this task, Lingyun followed Yakumo Yukari and stepped into the Gap.

"Is this place the Netherworld?" Lingyun asked, looking at the scene before him.

Unlike the colorful World of the Living, the main colors of this world were black and white. The entire sky was gloomy, as if it were in a dark place. Faint Death Force permeated this world; this was the Netherworld, the forbidden land for the living.

In the grayish-white sky hung a Nether Sun. This Nether Sun was different from the sun in the World of the Living; it emitted no light or heat, and the pale sunlight instead added a sense of eeriness to this world.

"This thing looks just like a moon!" Lingyun said, looking at the sky.

"This place is the Netherworld; the concepts of the World of the Living don't apply here!" Yakumo Yukari closed the Gap and spoke. "It looks like we have arrived before the Sanzu River."

Beside Lingyun and the other were countless Higanbana. The Manjushage spread across the ground added a sea of blood to this black-and-white world, which looked extremely impactful.

"Something is not right!" Yakumo Yukari looked around and said.

"It is indeed not right!" Lingyun frowned slightly.

This place was the Netherworld, the domain controlled by the Grim Reapers and Yama. They were living beings, and they were uninvited guests; one could say they were intruders in the Netherworld. Under normal circumstances, when they appeared here, they should have been facing a siege by Grim Reapers and Yama. But now, the surroundings were completely silent, revealing a sense of strangeness.

"Perhaps something has happened to the Netherworld, and it's not just some minor event!" Lingyun speculated.

Just at this moment, a roar came from afar. In Lingyun's line of sight, Evil Spirits with strange forms came from far to near, pouncing in their direction.

"These are... Evil Spirits?" Lingyun raised an eyebrow.

In Lingyun's assumptions, he could understand if it were Grim Reapers or Yama appearing before him. But now, the fact that Evil Spirits appeared before them—and they were malicious Evil Spirits that wanted to devour all living beings—was interesting.

"Ah, you bastards, why do you keep popping out? You've ruined my rare time for slacking off!" Just as Lingyun was about to make a move, a slightly frantic shout suddenly came over.

A figure suddenly appeared before the two, staring angrily at the Evil Spirits in mid-air.

The young girl had a head of fiery red hair, and her ample bosom was the most eye-catching feature. She wore a blue-based long dress with a white hem and stepped on a pair of thick-soled wooden clogs. In her hand, she carried a massive Grim Reaper Scythe that was longer than her own body.

"So it's her!" Lingyun looked at the person who appeared in front of him, a flash of realization in his eyes.

There was perhaps only one Grim Reaper in the Netherworld who could speak of slacking off with such righteous indignation, and that was the ferryman of the Sanzu River, a lazy Grim Reaper famous for her sloth, who still repeatedly offended despite the lectures of her own superior—Onozuka Komachi.

"Hah—" Only hearing Onozuka Komachi give a light shout, the scythe in her hand swept out, directly knocking all the Evil Spirits in front of her flying.

"This Grim Reaper's strength is not weak!" Yakumo Yukari narrowed her eyes. From this single move just now, she judged that this Grim Reaper possessed at least the strength of a Great Youkai.

"This Grim Reaper is probably one of a kind in the Netherworld," Lingyun said.

After knocking all the Evil Spirits away, Onozuka Komachi finally cast her gaze onto Lingyun and the other, and immediately, an expression of astonishment appeared on her face.

"Two living beings, and a combination of a human and a Youkai at that? This is truly strange! Eh, no, no, why would living beings appear in the Netherworld?" Onozuka Komachi's expression suddenly turned serious. "Living beings, this is Mingtu, a place you should not set foot in. Hurry back to the World of the Living!"

Seeing Onozuka Komachi's appearance of wanting to drive them away, Lingyun said: "That won't do. We came to the Netherworld because we have business; how could we go back so easily?"

"You have business in the Netherworld? Then that's even more impossible. The Netherworld is in chaos right now; if you come here to cause more trouble, it will be a nuisance!" Onozuka Komachi thought about how her hard-won time for slacking off had just vanished, and her mood suddenly turned sour, with a hint of impatience in her tone.

"The Netherworld is in chaos right now?" Lingyun and Yakumo Yukari exchanged a glance; perhaps this situation was related to the previous mutation of the Saigyou Ayakashi.

"If that's the case, then we can't go back even more!" Lingyun snapped his fingers, and invisible Chains appeared around Onozuka Komachi, binding her firmly.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?" Caught off guard and bound by the Chains, Onozuka Komachi immediately cried out. "Attacking a Grim Reaper is a grave crime!"

"Sorry about that. The matter we need to resolve might be related to the current situation in the Netherworld, so we'll have to wrong you for a moment!" Lingyun waved his hand at Onozuka Komachi.

Yakumo Yukari beside him directly pulled open a Gap, and after the two stepped into the Gap, they disappeared.

"Hey, hey, let me go first!" Onozuka Komachi struggled and said.

"Komachi, what are you doing?" Just at this moment, a voice came over.

Onozuka Komachi's body stiffened. In her field of vision, a small figure was rushing over from afar.

"It's, it's over!" Onozuka Komachi seemed to have thought of some terrifying matter, and her complexion suddenly turned ashen.