Chapter 424

I have always held a reverent heart toward this unknown abyss, so almost instinctively I leaned to the east, skirting the edge and moving forward quickly.

At this moment, I only wanted to leave this strange place quickly.

Just then, an ancient, heavy bronze bell rang suddenly from inside the courtyard wall behind me.

Dang……

That sound was like ten thousand horses galloping from behind me, shaking my eardrums as if they would burst; I stood frozen in place, my ears and head buzzing nonstop.

Immediately after, a wave of heat carrying a strong incense smell surged from behind; the Soul-guiding Lamp trembled incessantly, the ghost faces on its lamp chamber shrinking into wrinkled lumps, they were afraid.

I bit hard on the tip of my tongue to calm myself, reached out and lowered the black cloth that had been lifted on the Soul-guiding Lamp, covering its chamber.

I ran a few more steps forward, and my body finally touched the wall of Yin Dang Hang.

The icy touch made me calm down a bit, and only then did I dare to look back.

Upon looking, another layer of cold sweat broke out over my body.

What met my eyes was a expanse of fiery red.

Accompanying the bronze bell's ring, large amounts of incense ash mixed with sparks, combined with a viscous liquid, came rolling from the abyss at one end of the wall.

That magnificent yet terrifying scene gave me a shock no less than the huge waves rolling up on the Linghai Sea Surface.

It's hot!

Where it passed, nothing grew.

No wonder even the ghost faces were frightened into shrinking.

It's obvious that not only I and the ghost faces were afraid.

Just as the scorching, fiery red wave of incense ash passed over the abyss opposite Yin Dang Hang, a heart‑rending scream rose from below, one after another, each louder than the last.

Hearing that scream made one's scalp go numb, teeth clenched, every inch of flesh trembling along with it……

From the street entrance came the sound of a fight; Liu Junyan and the others had started fighting.

They must have heard the shout as well and were worried about me.

I had wanted to rush over to join them at once, but the incense‑ash flood had already swept across the area in front of Yin Dang Hang, and the shout cut off abruptly.

I couldn't help wondering what lay hidden in the abyss opposite.

My dealings with Yin Dang Hang can't be just this one time; if I don't have a clear plan, what will I do if I encounter such a scene again?

The ground still retained the scorching heat left by the passing incense‑ash flood.

The closer to the abyss, the higher the temperature.

I moved step by step, cautiously peering into the abyss.

The abyss was no longer pitch black; below, specks of firelight dotted the darkness.

I stood at the edge of the abyss, gazing downward.

In the depths below, it seemed a pair of blood‑stained eyes stared at me without blinking.

The next moment, I was enfolded in a pair of strong arms: 'Xiao Jiu, don't be afraid.'

It was Liu Junyan.

I snapped back to reality, shaking my head: 'It's fine, Āyàn; let's leave this place quickly.'

Liu Junyan firmly gripped my hand and brought me back to the street entrance.

There, Hu Yulin was still fighting that strange person.

Just now, he had restrained the strange person, allowing Liu Junyan to come find me.

Fortunately, the worst scenario I had imagined did not occur.

Seeing us retreat, the strange person and Hu Yulin tacitly stopped fighting and drew apart.

The three of us returned the way we came.

We didn't fully calm down until we reached the riverbank.

Hu Yulin shook water droplets from his fan and asked, 'Xiao Jiu, what happened in there? Who was shouting ghostly cries?'

Liu Junyan reminded, "We've been in Gui Shi for over two hours already; the temperature there is too low, swinging between cold and hot makes it easy to get sick—let's go back first."

Having said that, he grabbed my hand and walked off.

Hu Yulin hurried to follow.

Gui Shi is clearly not a suitable place to discuss these secrets, whether it's Yin Dang Hang, or the bell sounds coming from within the wall, as well as the flood of incense ash and shouting in the abyss.

We walked quickly, and at this moment nothing interesting in Gui Shi could distract our attention.

After leaving the gate of the Earth God's Temple, we returned to the car.

Liu Junyan drove, I sat in the passenger seat, and Hu Yulin sat in the back.

Only then did I recount everything I had seen and heard, in detail, to them.

After hearing what I said, they both fell into silence.

After a while, Hu Yulin said, "So you mean that weird guy who stopped us was actually protecting us?"

Liu Junyan glanced at him in the rearview mirror and said, "Don't get carried away; I feel he's guarding something—only someone with a sense of mission and belief can persevere in such an environment for so long."

Hu Yulin frowned: "What is he guarding? Yin Dang Hang? Or that wailing ghost?"

We currently cannot get an answer to that question.

"Don't you find it strange?" I voiced my doubt, "Where exactly is Yin Dang Hang?"

On the surface, Yin Dang Hang lies beneath that river.

But whether it's Yin Dang Hang or the wall I later saw, both are extremely tall.

If these massive structures are actually hidden underground… then the builders' skill can be described as supernatural craftsmanship.

Hu Yulin said, "From the wall you described, with all those various roofs inside it, I actually think it resembles… the Chenghuang Temple?"

I shook my head: "No, that's not right—since we're standing on this side of the river, we can see the wall of the Chenghuang Temple opposite, the wall is above, while if Yin Dang Hang were below… how did I end up at the base of that wall?"

Everywhere is full of paradoxes.

At this moment, Liu Junyan said: "Is it possible that the space where Yin Dang Hang is located belongs neither to Gui Shi nor to Chenghuang Temple, but is an independent existence?"

I didn't understand.

Hu Yulin, however, understood: "It is the legendary \"No-man's Zone? \" that exists independently of the Three Realms Six Paths."

I asked curiously: "What is a \"No-man's Zone? \""

"The \"No-man's Zone\" here does not refer to a place uninhabited or unexplored, but to an area not under the jurisdiction of the Three Realms Six Paths." Hu Yulin explained, "In China there are some remote mountain areas where the villagers have many centenarians; even after they die, their souls do not go to the Underworld to be reincarnated, because their names are not even in the Book of Life and Death."

I exclaimed in shock: "There's such a thing?"

But then, thinking of my own birth, I felt that anything was possible.

"Actually, they suffer quite a bit." Hu Yulin said, "That region protects them from the suffering of reincarnation, yet it also imprisons them there; they spend their entire lives in that backward, cramped area, unable to take a single step out."

I asked: "What happens if one steps out of that area?"

"They will completely disappear." Hu Yulin said.

I understood.

Those living in the "No-man's Zone" have two eternities: either staying in the ivory tower, repeating the same unchanging life day after day, year after year, or, if they grow tired of living, walking out of that area and disappearing forever.

No matter which they choose, for them it is a tremendous psychological challenge…