Chapter 261: Recognized

To Wen Xishu, the Upper Spirit Realm felt very much like a prosperous city from ancient times.

Of course, there was no doubt that this was merely one of the Upper Spirit Realms.

According to the Seven-Colored Crow, the world of the dead is just a single door, yet it is infinitely vast; the worlds contained within it are, in the true sense, a Great Thousand World.

What he was seeing right now was very likely some place from ancient times.

The souls here were also dressed in extremely retro attire.

But occasionally, one could see some dressed in more advanced, near-modern, or even very postmodern styles.

After walking out of the dark alley, the location where Wen Xishu stood seemed to be a very famous "snack street."

The fact that the dead also needed to eat truly surprised Wen Xishu. And it seemed some "tourists" from other timelines came here specifically to eat.

"Time travel in the world of the living causes major bugs, but in the world of the dead, it is truly, absolutely fine."

[These spirits are so at ease, but you are even more surprised that spirits actually need to eat. Can people who are already dead even starve to death? Fine, let me tell you the answer: what they eat is desire. The Upper Spirit Realm is a world for those judged as 'good people' during their lives, though you will find many people in this world whom you would consider evil. Time can change everything, can't it?]

A hint?

Wen Xishu was not too surprised; he guessed the result immediately. This was an ability brought by the Seven-Colored Crow.

"Suddenly, I have a feeling of playing word games... This crow mentioned earlier that this is using a bug to attempt a dead person's smuggling, which has one and only one chance of success."

"Then who was the one who initially contacted the crow?"

Wen Xishu thought of the constellations.

The concept of the Upper Spirit is similar to Heaven.

In Heaven, naturally, reside the souls of those who were good people.

Of course, good, bad, kind, evil—these actually change in the future. And a person's kindness or evil is indeed very hard to define.

"They eat desire... That is quite reasonable. Many good people could not obtain what they wanted while alive, so naturally, they must satisfy various desires after death."

Wen Xishu did not linger too long and headed toward the relay station.

The space-time carriage has different names in different eras. In the postmodern era, it is called the space-time tourist train.

The area in front of the relay station was naturally bustling, with long queues. It didn't look like much from afar, but after entering the relay station, one was immediately teleported to a vast area, and this area... was packed with human souls.

Wen Xishu arrived at the relay station and just took a ticket; the ticket stated there were 194,551 people ahead of him.

Wen Xishu frowned:

"This is too many people..."

Wen Xishu had heard of things like "NetEase's hundred thousand ghost soldiers" before; today he had truly witnessed it, and the scale of one hundred thousand was quite exaggerated.

The relay station, which could process about seven hundred people per minute, wouldn't take long to wait through, but Wen Xishu was still unwilling to wait.

At this moment, a person wearing a hat taller than a human and a white robe, looking like mourning clothes, was shouting: "Six merit coins can take you to the VIP area to wait, thirty merit coins can enter the VVIP area, one hundred and twenty-eight merit coins enjoy VVIP monthly card service, six hundred and forty-eight merit coins to board immediately."

Wen Xishu was a bit stunned; so... even in the world of the dead, one has to earn money.

Although they had the ability to enjoy some "desires," it was clear that not everything went as they wished.

[In the world of the dead, everyone needs to accumulate merit. As a newcomer, you will possess one thousand merit. Your time is very tight; you had better make a choice.]

The text prompt appeared again.

Wen Xishu was not a real dead person after all; according to the Seven-Colored Crow, there was no guarantee that some Ox-Head or Horse-Face wouldn't come to arrest him.

Therefore, he really could not stay in one place frequently.

"I'll pay 648 merit coins; I need to board immediately."

The monster in the tall hat had eyes that lit up:

"Really? Oh! Although I have never seen your face, at this moment you are so great! You must have saved the world in your life to allow you to spend merit like this after death."

In fact, after death, all souls are equal. At least in terms of wealth, they are equal. During life, only kindness and evil are judged to determine which spirit region one goes to.

Merit is actually something that can only be earned after death.

Wen Xishu said:

"Lead the way. I'm in a hurry."

"No problem."

The monster in the tall hat and mourning clothes led Wen Xishu deep into the relay station. Along the way, many gazes were cast toward them, looking at Wen Xishu with envy.

Wen Xishu didn't know what one thousand merit meant, but as far as emotional value went, it was certainly maxed out.

The envious gazes of the people around, even those with slight bitterness and jealousy, made Wen Xishu realize that the Seven-Colored Crow was very generous.

Or rather—

The person who bribed the Seven-Colored Crow was very generous.

It was just that Wen Xishu found it strange that in a rescue mission with only one possible chance, that person didn't specify a target but let the tower climber search freely?

What if I save a piece of trash? Wouldn't he be blown up?

Wen Xishu would certainly not save a piece of trash. But he became increasingly curious about which constellation was behind this, and even more curious about how the subsequent experiences would unfold.

The carriage was right in front of him. The coachman's head looked like a starry sky; although it was small, looking at it was like looking at a piece of the starry sky.

"Guest, which timeline do you wish to go to? Your identity is quite special; you actually possess two timeline starting points, which is truly amazing."

The coachman looked at Wen Xishu with his starry-sky head.

Wen Xishu was a "pay-to-win" player after all; the treatment of a first-time 648 purchase allowed Wen Xishu to receive a very layman-friendly explanation. Just as Wen Xishu was about to ask for details—

The coachman said:

"Respected VVIP, due to your support for the relay station, I will explain it to you according to the world name from your life. Do you need to go to the timeline of the Sinful Earth period?"

"Or do you need to go to the timeline of the Three Towers period? Of course, even more distant ones are possible."

Wen Xishu was truly shocked this time; this service was too thorough. But at the same time, he became vigilant.

"You... are sure I come from the Sinful Earth."

The coachman smiled, and on that starry-sky head, countless stars squeezed together, emitting a dazzling light:

"You don't need to worry. No matter how many secrets you had in your life, or how many cross-boundary violations you committed... but you are dead, all your sins have been cleared. You were not assigned to the Lower Spirit Region, and were even assigned to the Upper Spirit Region, which shows you are a good person."

"And having come to the Underworld, you are also very wealthy; you are already a sinless body."

Good heavens, even the coachman of the Underworld is so observant? So knowledgeable? Wen Xishu couldn't help but ask:

"Why is the Sinful Earth called the Sinful Earth?"

"That is a magical place, because there are always people from other worlds who, when their own world is teetering on the brink... go to the Sinful Earth to seek foreign aid. But foreign aid often triggers huge chaos, and over time, that place became known as the Sinful Earth."

This was reasonable.

But Wen Xishu immediately realized the problem.

So I really am a transmigrator? But according to the coachman, it was that world that was teetering, so someone invited foreign aid...

Then who was the person who invited the foreign aid?

Capricorn? The only thing Wen Xishu could think of was that Capricorn could smuggle people.

But he also felt that the possibility of it being Capricorn was not high, and why him specifically? Besides, whose handiwork was the Dice of Reversal?

Wen Xishu thought of Wen Zhaohua.

The feeling this man gave him was becoming increasingly far from simple.

At the same time, Wen Xishu had another question:

"I hope that before I set off, you can answer one question for me. Your Underworld is divided into many worlds according to timelines..."

"Including what I understand as the future hundreds of years later? People will die hundreds of years later too, right?" The coachman said:

"Of course. Aren't you, right now, equivalent to a person traveling from the future to the past? The Underworld has no concept of future, only regions. To us, time is more like space."

Wen Xishu was shocked by this answer.

He suddenly realized a key point.

In the timeline where he was, he hadn't died yet, and Albert hadn't died, but what about a hundred years later?

If he went to a hundred years later... would he encounter the soul of himself from a hundred years later?

Just because you haven't died now doesn't mean you won't die later.

Wen Xishu asked this question directly:

"I actually just died not long ago, if according to what you said... couldn't I immediately go to the region where my friends who haven't died yet are?"

"Couldn't I immediately reunite with them?"

This is like a person dying today, and he and his friends are separated by life and death. But as long as he takes the time carriage and immediately goes to the Underworld region of several decades later, he could immediately see his friends from several decades later in the Underworld.

If this operation were possible, it would be equivalent to being able to meet his already-dead self.

At this moment, Wen Xishu suddenly had a goal.

But the coachman first nodded, then shook his head:

"I am sorry, although the thing you mentioned exists in theory, because of the rule of the lifespan time difference, you cannot immediately reunite with your friends."

Wen Xishu was puzzled:

"What do you mean? What is the lifespan time difference?"

The coachman said:

"Respected VVIP, I will answer all your questions, but please allow me to give a simple example. For instance, my friend died in the year 2000, and I died in the year 2050."

"Then my friend would be assigned to the Underworld region of the year 2000. The regions of the Underworld are all divided by year. He could, of course, go to the region of 2050... but he must stay in the 2000 region for a full 50 years."

"The reverse is the same. Whether it is forward travel or reverse travel, for example, if I died in 2050 and I want to go to the world of 2000, then the difference is 50 years, and I would also need to stay for 50 years."

Wen Xishu was silent for a while.

He understood.

After a person dies, they are assigned to a fixed time region. Time in the Underworld is more like space... People who died in 2000 will live fixedly in the world of 2000. This world will not have any changes; time is just a serial number.

If you stay for one year, you can go to the world of 2001, or the world of 1999.

If one stays for a full hundred years, they can head to the world of 2100, or the world of 1900.

Wen Xishu could not help but admire those transmigrators he had just seen on the snack street...

They must have stayed in their own worlds for thousands of years to be able to transmigrate to the ancient Underworld. Of course, as the saying goes, the Underworld has no concept of past or present.

This concept made Wen Xishu feel it was quite reasonable.

[You suddenly realize that you have only just arrived in the Underworld a few hours ago; it seems you can only travel to the world a few hours before or a few hours after. But even more absurdly, you are not actually dead at all; you have merely fallen into this world, the world of the dead, where there is no place for you.]

[Fortunately, the great and reliable Crow-brother forged your death certificate, so say thank you.]

Wen Xishu saw the suddenly appearing text prompt again.

At this moment, he had to ask:

"I seem to have forgotten the time difference I possess."

The carriage driver was somewhat puzzled, to the point that many stars in his starry-sky face were flickering on and off.

"I must help you check; can you authorize me to look up your lifespan difference?"

Wen Xishu had to give it a try:

"Fine, I agree."

The carriage driver nodded, and the countless stars in his starry-sky face gradually dimmed. After a good while, those stars slowly brightened again:

"Oh, well, you are actually such a distinguished guest. According to the display... you can return to the timeline within three years before or after your death. That is to say, your lifespan time difference is three years."

"However, because certain actions during your lifetime earned the favor of the administrator, you have been granted one opportunity for time-space travel."

The carriage driver was a bit puzzled at first.

Because the guest's time difference was three years, whether it was the Sinful Earth or the Three Towers, both were far removed from this current ancient-style world.

With a time difference of three years, it was naturally impossible to come to such an ancient world.

However, since the guest possessed one opportunity for travel that ignored the difference, the guest could also come to see this world, which was one thousand years prior to the era when the guest was alive.

"Then three years later. I want to head to the world three years after my death."

"No problem, but according to your special experience, you have died twice... once in the Sinful Earth world, and once in the Three Towers world," the carriage driver asked.

"The Three Towers world," Wen Xishu added.

Wen Xishu realized that the crow had been boasting again; all that talk about free travel and free choice... in fact, with a difference of three years, he had no choice at all.

However, this difference was not too large, which did help reduce his indecisiveness quite a bit.

The carriage driver nodded:

"Sit tight, I will ensure you enjoy the most efficient service."

Wen Xishu sat on the carriage.

The carriage driver's starry-sky-like head began to slowly grow larger, and Wen Xishu only felt his consciousness becoming somewhat blurred.

The world in his eyes began to become as brilliant and complex as a starry sky.

The starry sky began to slowly contract.

Soon, Wen Xishu discovered that the carriage driver's head had returned to its previous size.

The entire journey lasted only a few seconds.

Yet Wen Xishu actually felt a sense of vicissitude and length.

Everything he was experiencing now was something a living person could absolutely never experience. He opened his eyes and discovered that he had arrived in a quite modernized city.

"Time travel requires merit and lifespan difference. But space travel does not; you can contact other carriage drivers to head to other spaces at any time. I wish you a pleasant journey, and I hope you do not see your friends here."

A very thoughtful blessing.

Because after all, with only a three-year difference, if he saw a friend, wouldn't that mean his friend had died three years later?

This city was almost indistinguishable from the city before Wen Xishu transmigrated, and it also looked like Shencheng, Jiangcheng, and other places that had not been ravaged by the apocalypse.

Wen Xishu looked at the people coming and going, and indeed did not see any familiar faces.

But soon, passersby stopped and looked at Wen Xishu with incredulous gazes.

[This is an area specially provided for Bunker people. Although you don't recognize many people and haven't met them... your appearance, as a legend in the Bunker, is familiar to countless people. Although there are many other dead people here from other areas, non-Bunker worlds but the same time, you are just too famous, aren't you?]

[They recognize you. What are you going to do?]

"Lord Wen Xishu... My god, I just died! Lord Wen Xishu! How could I see you here!"

"This... the sky has fallen, what is this Upper Spirit District! This is simply hell! God, why would you let a believer of the Xishu Divine Sect see the Sect Leader in the Underworld!"

Wen Xishu was a bit stunned now. He had been recognized just like that?

(End of chapter)