Chapter 770: The Ferryman

Lu Mian nodded, his right hand hanging down naturally, falling onto the "Traveler's Bag".

He then walked to the side of that tattered, gloomy small boat, seeing the highly rotten ferryman turn its body to the side, clearing the path, as if signaling him to board quickly.

"Can you carry me across the River of the Netherworld?" Lu Mian asked "politely" in Intis.

He felt that since the "Death" of the past was from the Southern Continent, speaking Intis in the Netherworld should be more easily accepted by "all parties".

After all, in an environment where the aura of death is so rich that it's like substance and living people can't even last for a second, using mystical languages like Ancient Hermes that can pry into natural forces might very well produce unexpected effects; for example, the word "River of the Netherworld" might cause Lu Mian to have a close connection with this illusory, pitch-black river, causing it to raise huge waves and roll him directly into it.

The "ferryman", whose empty eye sockets were covered in thick blood vessels and yellowish pus, faced the river that was so wide he couldn't see the opposite bank, motionless.

He seemed to be answering Lu Mian with his actions:

Why do you want to communicate with a corpse?

I can't hear what you're saying, and I can't make a sound.

"Using ordinary language doesn't seem to work... I heard that the 'Death' pathway has a 'Language of the Dead', but unfortunately I don't know it..." Lu Mian muttered silently for a moment, and while letting his eyes be dyed with silver-white and black, he walked slowly onto the tattered, gloomy small boat.

In his "Eye of Disaster", the "ferryman's" fate was pitch-black, dead, and nihilistic, with no changes anymore.

"Does this mean that no matter how the 'ferryman' struggles, it cannot change its state as a corpse, and the only ending is to completely wither away with the passage of time, with even the traces of its existence disappearing?

"But this doesn't mean the 'ferryman' can't do anything during the time before it withers; its actions can still affect the fate of others, including me, and including other undead creatures. From this perspective, the 'ferryman', or rather the undead creatures that have been awakened, should still have fate, it's just that the ending cannot be changed...

"They do indeed have fate, but my rank is not high enough to see it yet? Hmm, it's possible; after all, objects also have fate, but I can't see it now...

"It could also be that the fate of the dead needs to interact with others to be reflected in the fate of others..."

Perhaps it was because he himself had temporarily turned into an undead creature, so Lu Mian couldn't help but think about the fate of these "residents" of the Netherworld.

With the mystical knowledge he currently possessed, he couldn't give an accurate definition of fate, nor did he know how much that mercury-colored river of fate encompassed, or if there were dark sides or hidden parts he couldn't see yet.

He felt there should be; this came from a few very simple questions:

Could it be that after I put on the Aigris family's golden mask and become an undead creature, the river of fate corresponding to me that existed before just disappeared, becoming pitch-black and nihilistic?

And when I take off the mask, the river of fate will return instantly?

What does this take the river of fate for, a toy to be driven by us at will?

Although the Aigris family's golden mask was made by Death, it didn't contain Beyonder characteristics; it just had a higher rank, so it shouldn't be able to play with the river of fate so easily and simply!

"If there's a chance later, I'll find a Beyonder of the 'Monster' pathway to observe my fate and see the changes before and after putting on the golden mask...

"Uh... forget it; unless I find a demigod-level Beyonder of the 'Monster' pathway, it will only harm them. When I had Mr. 'Fool's' seal, the false angel rank, and the residual aura of the 'Blood Emperor', the 'machine' Colobo of the Port Pylos patrol team didn't dare to look at me, believing it would bring him great danger. Now I have the seal of the 'Netherworld Taoist' and the bloodline of Omebella..."

Lu Mian stood in the middle of the tattered small boat, letting the eyes hidden by the golden mask turn iron-black.

He wanted to observe the "ferryman's" weaknesses in advance and make sufficient preparations for any accidents that might occur.

At this moment, the highly rotten "ferryman" activated the oars, letting the gloomy small boat sail slowly toward the other side of the illusory, pitch-black river.

Its body was entirely gloomy black; Lu Mian searched for a long time but didn't find the pale white that represented a weakness.

Of course, these blacks also meant that the "ferryman" was completely restrained by sunlight and lightning.

The next second, the voice of "Knight of Swords" Malic rang in Lu Mian's ears:

"Its weakness might not be here."

Not here? What do you mean not here? Can a weakness be separated from the person themselves? Lu Mian had just felt strong doubt when he remembered a few stories his sister had told him.

In those stories, a monster called a lich would make a phylactery and hide it in a secret place protected by heavy layers; as long as the phylactery wasn't discovered and destroyed, the lich wouldn't truly die. This was equivalent to the fatal weakness being separated from the person themselves.

And among the twenty-two divine pathways, it wasn't too surprising to have similar things.

"Knight of Swords" continued:

"Were you trying to observe its fate earlier?

"Its rank is not low; this is a dangerous behavior."

Rank is not low? Lu Mian looked at the "ferryman" hanging with tattered clothing fragments and highly rotten flesh, really unable to see where the other party was powerful.

However, since it could ferry on the River of the Netherworld, which represents death, without sinking into the river, it meant it definitely had great special qualities.

Lu Mian withdrew his gaze, paying close attention to every move of the "ferryman", patiently waiting for the gloomy small boat to cross the River of the Netherworld and arrive at the opposite bank.

The tattered small boat rocked slowly in a posture that looked like it was about to fall apart completely, and it didn't know how long it took before it arrived at the middle of the River of the Netherworld.

Suddenly, the highly rotten "ferryman" lifted the long oar and turned its body toward Lu Mian.

While the gloomy small boat stalled, the "ferryman's" mouth opened instantly, splitting all the way to its rotten chest, splitting to the navel that had been dug out, splitting to the crotch.

The "ferryman's" body was like a piece of clothing that had all its buttons undone, stretching out toward both sides as hard as it could; its chest and abdominal cavities had no blackened internal organs, nor did they have bones belonging to itself, but were filled with a pile of half-melted, half-rotten severed hands and feet.

Lu Mian felt once again a terror that made his body and mind tremble, not daring to generate any thoughts of resistance.

Having been prepared, he gripped his right hand with difficulty.

He gripped the "Sword of Courage" inside the "Traveler's Bag", gripped the hilt of this iron-black straight sword.

Courage quickly filled Lu Mian's entire body, making a crazy smile appear on his face.

What's there to be afraid of about a "ferryman" responsible for ferrying?

Even if "Death" were standing in front of me, I would still slash Him with a sword!

Lu Mian drew the straight sword that was burning with scorching white and cyan flames and slashed fiercely toward the "ferryman" who was opening its skin membrane and pouncing toward him.

Amidst a "poof" sound, the "Sword of Courage" slashed open the pile of half-melted hands and feet in the "ferryman's" belly, slashing onto the layer of skin behind the chest cavity that was rotten to the point of having holes everywhere.

But this straight sword failed to slice open that rotten skin, which looked exceptionally fragile, from the middle.

Lu Mian was about to slash a second sword, accompanied by a massive explosion, when the "ferryman" shrank back suddenly, slowly closing its opened chest and abdominal cavities.

At the same time, the voice of "Knight of Swords" rang in Lu Mian's ears:

"Stop.

"We have already controlled it."

"Then that's just the right time to kill it!" Lu Mian responded without hesitation.

He and "Knight of Swords" were communicating in Intis.

"Knight of Swords" was silent for a second and said:

"I know, you aren't afraid of it and can kill it, but if it dies, we won't be able to cross the River of the Netherworld."

Seeing Lu Mian calm down a bit, "Knight of Swords" added:

"And even if you kill it, you won't get any Beyonder characteristics; it's just the skin of the true 'Ferryman'. It looks like it has been eating other corpses, seemingly wanting to regain a body but never succeeding."

Lu Mian accepted the explanation of "Knight of Swords".

Having courage doesn't mean not listening to others' words; it just means selectively ignoring danger warnings.

He then put the "Sword of Courage" back into the pile of ordinary straight swords inside the "Traveler's Bag".

This time, he didn't feel lingering fear, because this was the goal he wanted to achieve by using the "Sword of Courage"; the only thing he felt terror about was:

"A demigod's skin was peeled off?

"What kind of mutation actually happened in the Netherworld back then?"

Lu Mian saw the "ferryman" slowly, strugglingly pinching the split chest skin and rotten flesh together, just like buttoning up buttons.

Immediately following, the "ferryman" inserted the long, blackened, rotten oar into the illusory, pitch-black River of the Netherworld, rowing at an even slower rate, as if resisting something.

The Temperance Faction demigod possessed the "ferryman", forcibly controlling it, making it continue rowing? It looks like this control is being met with very strong resistance... Lu Mian was ready at any moment to draw the "Sword of Courage" again to deal with any accidents that might occur.

During the process of the gloomy small boat rocking toward the opposite bank of the River of the Netherworld, Lu Mian, having nothing better to do, opened his mouth to ask "Knight of Swords":

"I saw earlier that the entire Netherworld is in a state of circling downward layer by layer; crossing the River of the Netherworld should just mean arriving at the other side of this layer of the world. Why did you say just now that it's equivalent to entering the depths of the Netherworld?"

"Knight of Swords" answered simply:

"The geographical situation of the Netherworld cannot be completely referenced to the real world.

"According to many notes of the Aigris family, there are two ways to enter the depths of the Netherworld: one is to go down layer by layer along the worlds circling the River of the Netherworld used to punish sinners, finally arriving at the kingdom where the followers of 'Death' reside; the second is to cross the River of the Netherworld and enter directly."

Is that so... Lu Mian asked thoughtfully:

"In other words, our destination is the kingdom where the followers of 'Death' once resided?"

"Knight of Swords" was silent for a second and said:

"The palace of 'Death' should also be there."

The palace of that "Death" from the past? Lu Mian's eyelids jumped as he heard this.

Amidst his and "Knight of Swords'" intermittent silence and communication, the boundary on the other side of the River of the Netherworld finally manifested.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 771 =====