Chapter 769: The Underworld (April Vote-First Bonus Update)

As Lu Mi's figure vanished before the crystal skull, the human skulls, already riddled with cracks, lost their support.

They shattered with a roar, dragging the shadow above down with them, while the grass-choked wasteland split into countless fragments.

Osaeto's "Otherworld" collapsed toward the similarly cracked crystal skull, and everything within it turned silently to dust.

The undead dispersed, the light extinguished, and a void of darkness swallowed all.

After an unknown length of time, a faint, gentle light glowed within that absolute darkness, revealing a barren, dim, pale, nearly frozen wasteland.

At the center of the wasteland lay the sacred, clear, still Dalsh Lake.

A headless lady clad in a somber black dress, carrying four skulls, swiftly materialized beside the lake, silently gazing at the utterly still, transparent surface.

…………

Immediately after being passively thrust through the bronze gate, Lu Mi felt countless eyes fixated on him, his body growing colder and more numb.

Simultaneously, arms reached out from nowhere, grasping his head, neck, chest, abdomen, and legs.

Some had dull skin and rows of bone-white teeth; others were rotting flesh falling away, their open wounds slowly writhing with equally decayed insects; some had no skin at all; others were mere spectral phantoms…

Their common trait was the chilling cold that froze the soul.

The golden mask on Lu Mi's face, painted with white or black pigment, emitted a faint, pure glow; the reaching arms halted, then retracted.

The eyes watching him from the depths of darkness withdrew their gaze.

Lu Mi regained his thoughts, regained sensation of his body.

He discovered a bottomless, boundless abyss beneath him.

The edge of the abyss was composed of layers of blurred worlds, circling the pit, descending endlessly until the limit of vision.

These blurred worlds overlapped chaotically; Lu Mi could not discern their contents, only knew each was vaster than the Star Plateau, and that all the watching eyes had originated from the abyss's bottom—the endless darkness below.

Lu Mi plummeted violently, and in the blink of an eye, he fell into one of the blurred worlds.

He stood miraculously upon a barren land of exposed gray-white rock, surrounded by piles of bone-white skeletons, dense and stretching toward distant horizons.

At this moment, all the skeletons remained motionless, as if asleep within time.

Is this the Underworld? Where is the part of my "Pus-Swollen Stump" body? Lu Mi glanced around, murmuring silently.

It was precisely because he recognized this as an opportunity to enter the Underworld that he volunteered to help, using the Ags family's golden mask and the "Ming Dao Ren"'s seal to open the bronze gate within the crystal skull.

The problem now is that the Underworld is far vaster than he anticipated—he has no idea where to begin searching.

Likewise, the rotten infant Osaeto sent in had vanished—he didn't know where it had gone or what it intended.

Perhaps I can use the contract I made with the "Pus-Swollen Stump" to locate it; it and the rest of its body are fundamentally one, bound by mystical ties, and my contract with it is, in some sense, equivalent to a contract with its other parts… Lu Mi quickly formed a plan, speaking in a cold, hoarse voice:

"'Knight of Swords,' have you entered as well?"

"Yes." The voice of "Knight of Swords" Ma Liqi grew fainter.

He paused, then added:

"One of my companions has entered too."

Lu Mi nodded:

"Why don't you come out?"

"You're in the state of vengeful spirits now—you don't have to fear dying instantly in the Underworld."

You're already undead—what's there to fear about the Underworld's peculiarities?

"Knight of Swords" replied:

"But we are still living beings at our core; if we remain in this vengeful spirit state too long in the Underworld, we will never return to human form, existing forever as vengeful spirits."

"By using your body, we can temporarily avoid the Underworld's effects, and emerge only when necessary."

"I see…" Lu Mi looked up at the pale, dim sky. "I can't wear this Ags family mask for long either—we probably have only three hours."

As he spoke, Lu Mi attempted to activate—without using—the black sigil on his right shoulder, the "Spirit World Transit" inherited from the "Pus-Swollen Stump."

Through this sigil, he faintly sensed something calling to him from the far end of the wasteland to his right.

Is that the part of the "Pus-Swollen Stump" in the Underworld? As Lu Mi had this thought, a figure appeared before him.

It was a young woman of exquisite features but an unnaturally pale complexion, her eyes deep blue and emotionless, her long golden hair tied into a severe bun, crowned with a soft hat adorned with fine black gauze, dressed in a complex, ornate black Gothic court gown.

Is this the half-god of Temperance who possessed me before? Lu Mi recalled the two blurred figures he had seen through the crystalline ice.

One of them matched this woman exactly!

The Temperance half-god floated midair, slowly turning, then pointed in one direction and nodded to Lu Mi.

The direction she pointed was precisely the far end of the wasteland to his right.

"You mean Osaeto's premature, rotten child is probably over there?" Lu Mi asked for confirmation.

The lady in the black hat gave a slight nod in affirmation.

She immediately vanished into the air, and Lu Mi felt another cold mass settle within him.

All of them are in that direction… Coincidence? No—not a coincidence. More likely, something in that direction drew them there… Lu Mi shifted his body and prepared to "Transit" to the horizon.

His form had just turned translucent when countless pale hands suddenly pressed against his body, gripping his arms.

Lu Mi felt the same paralysis, as if invisible forces were tearing at his soul.

This time, the faint glow from the golden mask had no effect.

Lu Mi tried igniting blazing white flames to dispel the cold, stiffness, and numbness—but he was utterly suppressed by invisible terror, trembling uncontrollably, unable to respond effectively.

When he regained clarity and reason, he found himself still standing in place, but the bone-white skeletons around him had all risen, forming layer upon layer, encircling him as if protecting him.

At the same time, Lu Mi heard the voice of "Knight of Swords" Ma Liqi:

"Once you wear the Ags family mask and become a pure undead being, you acquire all traits of the undead—including one: you are suppressed by higher beings of the 'Death' Path, unable to form rebellious thoughts, your mind and body willingly accepting servitude."

"Compared to us, we vengeful spirits—who are not pure and can freely switch states—are affected far less."

So this is why I couldn't resist just now? Could the "Sword of Courage" counter this effect? Theoretically, it should… Lu Mi suddenly understood:

"Was it you who saved me just now?"

"Knight of Swords" did not continue the topic, instead warning Lu Mi:

"So far, it appears you can 'Transit' in the Underworld—but not 'Transit'; the latter is considered blasphemy against the 'Death,' and will draw punishment from the Underworld."

According to the esoteric knowledge mentioned by the "Magician" lady, the Underworld originates from the Spirit World—so 'Transit' is normal, but to call 'Transit' blasphemy against the 'Death' is… too rigidly hierarchical. Yet this does align with the higher beings of the 'Death' Path suppressing lower-sequence ones… Lu Mi considered for several seconds, then slightly bent his back.

A spear of blazing white flame shot forth, illuminating the pale, dim sky, streaking toward the horizon of the wasteland.

As the blazing white trail with crimson streaks faded inch by inch, Lu Mi transformed into a series of flame-spears, moving at his maximum possible speed.

During this, he noticed the wasteland sloped downward; his destination, along with those of "Knight of Swords" and the Temperance half-god, lay at the bottom of this "hill."

After a while, the blazing white light scattered outward, and Lu Mi's figure, clad in a thick jacket, descended to the ground.

Before him stretched a vast, illusory black river, too wide to see the opposite shore.

The river flowed from the edge of the sky to its end, silent and unnervingly still.

"Is this the River of the Underworld?" Lu Mi asked the Temperance half-god within him.

The reply came again from "Knight of Swords" Ma Liqi:

"It should be. It connects every layer of the Underworld; crossing it means entering the Underworld's depths."

"If you hadn't stopped just now and flown over it, you'd have fallen straight in—no one could pull you out."

Good thing the earlier 'Transit' incident warned me—when encountering potentially dangerous environments, pause first… Lu Mi glanced left and right, seeing the wasteland blooming with withered blood-flowers, among which countless corpses, skeletons, and shadows lurked.

"How do we cross the river?" Lu Mi felt the lost portion of the "Pus-Swollen Stump" on the other side.

No sooner had he spoken than the illusory black river abruptly materialized a broken, grim, pitch-black skiff.

Standing on the boat was a figure draped in countless fragments, rowing a long oar, guiding the skiff to stop beside Lu Mi's left, at the river's edge.

Lu Mi stared closely: the boatman was a highly decayed male corpse, much of his body exposed, his eyes gouged out, leaving hollows wrapped in thick veins, oozing yellow pus.

"Take this boat across?" Lu Mi asked the Temperance member within him, voice low.

"Knight of Swords" Ma Liqi replied, voice ethereal yet grave:

"It's the only way."

"But be careful of the boatman—the Underworld has undergone changes; he may be compromised as well."

ps: April vote-first bonus update~

(End of Chapter)