NCCnovel Chapter 209 Venturing into the Underworld
Chapter 209 Venturing into the Underworld
As soon as the girl finished speaking, a huge black shadow leaped down from the tall city wall. The dust it stirred up swept outwards, stopping at Xue Chongyu's feet, not touching the girl in the slightest.
Wu Jin looked at the enemy that had suddenly appeared in front of him and couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap!"
Before them stood a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a human, its massive human frame topped with the head of a yellow bull. Dozens of eyes grew from that bull's head.
From each eye, grotesque worms slowly emerged, densely entwining and obscuring half of its head.
"Is this bull's head still alive?" Wu Jin asked, suppressing his nausea.
Xue Chongyu spoke, his tone tinged with impatience: "How can there be living people in the underworld?"
After speaking, the girl took the initiative, her figure transforming into a streak of snow-white light that struck the bull's brow.
"Boom!"
The sword tip touched the bull's head, and like striking a large brass bell, it produced a dull hum. Xue Chongyu's sword tip pierced the bull's brow.
Then it got stuck.
The girl's expression changed slightly, and a cold light flashed on her wrist. A beam of icy blue light spiraled up along the sword and directly entered the crack that the longsword had pierced.
"boom!"
After a loud bang, Xue Chongyu somersaulted in mid-air before regaining his balance and looking at the figure that had crashed down in front of him.
The bull's head, covered in disgusting maggots, slowly rolled to Xue Chongyu's feet. The maggots inside scrambled towards the girl's feet.
Xue Chongyu raised an eyebrow and released a wisp of cold air from her fingertips. The maggots that were constantly wriggling on the ground turned into hard solids the moment they came into contact with the cold air, turning into grayish-white powder at the girl's feet.
Wu Jin stood behind the girl, feeling somewhat superfluous. The young man squatted beside the bull's head, slightly raising the brim of his hat with one hand, and a pale green thread extended from the other, connecting to the corpse in front of him.
"No soul!" The young man's voice was somewhat puzzled.
"Without a soul, without puppet strings, how exactly does the person behind this control the corpse in front of me?"
Xue Chongyu saw a glint of excitement in the young man's eyes, and with lightning speed, he placed his longsword against the young man's neck.
"Not when you're having an episode."
The girl's voice was devoid of any emotion, like a block of ancient ice.
Wu Jin was somewhat unhappy: "Miss Chongyu, what kind of person do you take me for?"
Xue Chongyu sheathed his longsword, stepped forward, kicked open the gate to the Gate of Hell in front of him, and went in first.
Wu Jin heard a girl's faint voice coming from inside the door: "Evil cultivator."
Wu Jin smiled helplessly: "So be it, I'll cultivate heretical arts then."
Then he followed Xue Chongyu's footsteps and disappeared into the dark crack in the door.
What followed their brush with death was not the bleak scene they had imagined, but a peaceful one.
The long streets of the underworld were filled with joyful spirits whose lifespans had not yet ended. The liveliness and peace were no less than that of the Golden Valley City in the mortal realm.
Xue Chongyu looked at the scene before him. The girl slowly raised her hand, a flash of white light appeared at her fingertips, and she pressed it onto her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, the same scene was still there.
Xue Chongyu's tone rarely carried a hint of interest: "It's not an illusion."
Wu Jin walked up behind her: "Of course it's not a fantasy, the ghosts here are all fake."
The young man didn't deliberately lower his voice, so not only Xue Chongyu but also the surrounding spirits heard him.
In an instant, the previously busy and peaceful atmosphere around them was shattered.
Whether it was the ordinary ghosts bustling about the street or the ghost messengers walking among them, they all stopped, their eerie eyes fixed on Xue Chongyu and his companion.
Wu Jin exaggeratedly covered his mouth: "What should we do? Someone heard us."
Xue Chongyu tapped the man on the back of the neck with his longsword.
"I'm not good at dealing with spirits."
Wu Jin smiled and said, "How can we let Miss Chongyu do everything? I will naturally take care of the rest."
The young man stood before Xue Chongyu, facing the assembled ghosts, and snapped his fingers crisply.
"Clap!"
The moment the crisp sound rang out, three illusory talismans flew out from behind the youth. These talismans flew forward, and a semi-transparent figure was faintly drawn from the youth's body.
The moment the semi-transparent figure left Wu Jin's body, the young man swayed twice and slowly fell to one side.
Xue Chongyu reacted quickly and caught him.
A cheerful, laughing voice came from the spirit in front of him: "Thank you for protecting me, Miss Chongyu."
Upon hearing the sound, Xue Chongyu immediately kicked the young man, sending his limp body sprawling to the ground, where he fell flat on his face.
The girl, in a moment of kindness, drew a glittering halo around her body.
"Don't bother me before you die."
Wu Jin: I still really hate people with the surname Xue.
The youth's semi-transparent soul slowly flew towards the ghosts, drawn by the talismans. The three talismans formed a triangle among the ghosts and were inserted into the ground. The youth in the center, with his ethereal form, slowly raised one of his hands.
A crisp sound of tearing silk rang out, and Xue Chongyu stared blankly at the soul in mid-air.
Wu Jin actually tore off one of his own arms.
The translucent arm was held aloft in the youth's other hand, emitting a faint, blood-red glow.
The young man's face was filled with madness as he softly uttered eight hoarse words: "Unravel the mystery, capture the soul from afar!"
"arrest……"
The sound of a single word, as soft as the fluttering of a butterfly's wings, was to the ears of the ghosts the sound of ice cracking on an extremely cold lake.
It started with a tiny crack, but then came a barrage of breakage.
Everything changed drastically, and there was no turning back.
Centered on the youth, all the surrounding souls howled mournfully, their bodies shattering into pieces like pieces of Xuan paper being ravaged in clear water, all gathering at the youth's feet.
"Disperse!"
The young man slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of blood-red pupils.
The shattered "Xuan paper" around them turned into a blizzard at the end of the road and disappeared into the boundless cold.
Xue Chongyu looked at the street, which had been full of souls just moments before, and suddenly it became deserted, with only Wu Jin's soul remaining in the middle.
The bloodlust in the young man's eyes faded, and he smiled gently at the girl. Then, pulled by the talisman, he tried to return to his body.
Just then... a sudden change occurred.
Suddenly, a beam of dark demonic light struck the spot where Wu Jin's soul was connected to the talisman, and the talisman turned to ashes in an instant.
The chill emanating from Xue Chongyu materialized and flew directly towards the direction from which the demonic light had come. It collided with a faint barrier.
Both of them looked in that direction with expressions of horror.
On the pitch-black Ghost Street, an old man with a sage-like demeanor and a kind face walked out.
Behind him were four heads with their necks stretched out and twisted together.