Chapter 485

Voluntarily sacrifice one's remaining yang lifespan?

How come this sounds somewhat familiar to me?

This immediately reminded me of those azure hawks, those so-called voluntary sacrifices—whether blood corpses, Yin corpses, or the little novice monk's heart lamp, as well as the mutually slaughtering azure hawks… all were labeled as voluntary sacrifices.

All of these things, without exception, are related to Ditian and them.

Then, what about this batch of monks wearing shackles before us?

If Ditian and them really brought Hu Sanmei hidden in Wǎngsǐ Chéng, then the entry of these three batches of souls—is it a coincidence or a trap?

Just then, on the side of Wǎngsǐ Chéng, a suspension bridge was slowly lowered.

Just then that yin constable ran back again, saying: "General Jin, passage is cleared there; we need to go in and report back."

General Jin nodded: "You go onto the bridge first; I'll come later."

Then he looked at me: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I will take this batch of souls into the city; we'll part here."

I immediately became anxious: "Can I go in with you?"

"No." General Jin said, "Wǎngsǐ Chéng has strict discipline; there are rules for entry and exit; I cannot arbitrarily bring living people into Wǎngsǐ Chéng."

Seeing those people already on the bridge, I couldn't detain General Jin no matter how much I wanted to say.

After thinking, I somewhat awkwardly asked: "General Jin, I want to ask how I should leave the Nether Realm."

I have been to the Nether Realm.

But those few times I asked the Seven Halls Yama for help; entering and exiting required no effort on my part, so I don't know how I would leave on my own.

General Jin first expressed surprise, then seemed to recall something, saying: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui hasn't achieved Nirvana yet, so cannot freely enter and exit the Nether Realm; I was negligent."

He said, taking a token from his waist and handing it to me: "From here go southeast, find the Wangxiang Terrace; I have a friend who should be on duty there now; please ask him to help send you out."

That token is gold, palm-sized; both ends are carved with a grinning ghost face; in the middle are three staggered round holes, one large and two small.

At first I was curious: why would the token have holes carved?

But soon I realized, those are shackles.

Just now this is what was used to shackle those souls!

"My friend is easy to recognize." General Jin pointed at his own head, "He also has a hoop here; the token hanging at his waist is a silver lock; you'll recognize him at a glance."

Only then did I notice that the edge of the hat General Jin wore indeed had a gold hoop.

If one didn't know, one might think it was just a decorative trim on the hat's edge.

I took the token and asked: "Then how should I return the token to you? Give it to your friend?"

General Jin said: "No need; as long as you leave the Nether Realm, it will return to my hand on its own, Xiao Jiu Zhanggui; farewell."

After saying that, he waved at me, turned and went onto the bridge.

I watched them leave, then stared at the willow-branch bracelet on the willow treetop for a while, until I faintly felt some restlessness in my body, realizing I needed to hurry back to Dang Pu; after the transaction is completed, that kind of painful, burning torment might come.

I kept walking forward along the direction General Jin pointed.

Wangxiang Terrace is high; before truly entering the Nether Realm, souls will stand on it for a moment, look back at the mortal world, and make a final farewell.

Lonely ghosts and wild spirits in the wandering area sometimes climb up to gaze into the distance; it's unclear whether they are looking back at the mortal world or gazing at Wangchuan River.

I walked quickly; as time passed, a layer of hot sweat appeared on my forehead, and my body gradually felt pain.

As I walked, I suddenly felt as if something was following me from behind.

A faint bloody smell floated in the air.

I furrowed my brows, wondering if I had again been targeted by some fierce ghost.

I immediately quickened my pace, and whatever was behind also immediately sped up.

In an instant I was certain: something was indeed following me!

But at this moment I didn't want to entangle with whatever was behind; Wangxiang Terrace was just a hundred meters away, quite near—leaving the Nether Realm was more important.

Although I wanted to keep the peace, that fellow behind didn't know what was good for him.

A strong yin wind surged from behind; I dodged with a sidestep, simultaneously summoning Feng Wu; the moment I grasped the long bow in my hand, I had already turned around, but what faced me was actually a Qiankun YuanYang Hook.

The Qiankun YuanYang Hook is Ditian's natal magic artifact; one of them I shattered, the other had its hook broken halfway during a fight with Hu Yulin in the Linghai Forbidden Ground.

This one before me is exactly the same!

Yet after dodging the Qiankun YuanYang Hook's attack again and facing its wielder, I could not be entirely certain.

I have seen Ditian and fought him before; I clearly remember his appearance.

But the person before me is actually a skinless… blood person?!

Because he lacks skin, his visage is ferocious, his eyeballs slightly protruding; with his movements, it seems as if they might fall off at any moment—disgusting and terrifying.

His target is especially clear; each strike of the broken Qiankun YuanYang Hook is aimed straight at my belly.

Perhaps because the Qiankun YuanYang Hook is damaged, or perhaps because he has no skin and has suffered Heavy Damage, this fight is far less perilous than that time inside the divine temple.

He attacks quickly; to protect my belly I find it hard to divert energy to draw the bow, so I put away Feng Wu and directly release those few ghost faces.

The ghost faces clamor as they lunge forward, actually able to disturb the opponent's attack rhythm.

This makes me even less certain whether the opponent is Ditian or not.

Moreover, the one in my belly has already been confirmed to be a Dharma-body Buddha reincarnation; this is the existence they have been seeking.

Even if they wanted to kill or perform Body Seizure, it would only happen after the child is born.

Before this child is born, they haven't even had time to protect him; how could they be targeting him like this?

But if the person before me is not Ditian, how could he possibly wield the Qiankun YuanYang Hook?

Or perhaps… Ditian has fallen out with the other party?

The more I speculate, the more absurd it becomes.

I simply shouted 'Ditian!' at the top of my lungs while the opponent's attention was intensely focused on my belly.

As I spoke, I fixed my gaze firmly on the opponent's eyes.

At the moment I called out Dìluán, his pupils trembled.

There was a reaction!

He actually really is Dìluán!

But why?

Dìluán's status is far higher than Fèngxiànqiū's; he is Hēimǎng's right-hand man, he is that powerful, so why has he become like this?

In this world, few can get close to him, scheme against him, even skin him!

Either they are much stronger than him, or they are someone he trusts immensely.

To achieve this, the only ones I can think of are Hēimǎng and Fèngxiànqiū.

In the midst of the fight, I suddenly thought of Liǔzhèngfēng again!

That layer of snake skin on Hēimǎng's body is the one peeled from Liǔzhèngfēng.

Not long ago, Hēimǎng shed its skin…… I suddenly widened my eyes!

Could it be…… could it be that after Hēimǎng shed its skin, it then re-sutured a new skin?

And that new skin…… is Dìluán's?