Chapter 85: A Solitary Boat in the Sea of Mist
They continued forward along the river, now only about a hundred miles from the source of the Yong River, and the strange occurrences grew more frequent.
Qin Mu saw bright lights ahead, illuminating the darkness. It was a village, the lights standing out starkly in the dark.
In the village, an old man was pasting paper to make paper boats. As each boat was finished, it flew out of the village on its own and docked by the riverbank. One by one, soaking wet men and women climbed aboard from the river, and then the paper boats drifted toward the river’s center, where thick fog shrouded everything. The boats vanished into the mist.
“Those are spirit emissaries.”
The village chief said in a low voice: “They appear at night to ferry the souls of those who died in the river. Don’t disturb them.”
“Spirit emissaries?”
Qin Mu was curious and took a few more glances at the old man. The old man’s face was blurry, as if veiled by a layer of gauze, making his features impossible to see.
The old man in the village seemed to sense something and looked up toward him. Qin Mu’s hair stood on end as he felt his own soul waver, as if it were about to fly out of his body. But at that moment, a resonant Buddhist chant rang out from between his brows. The Tathagata imprint that Master Ma had planted in his forehead blazed with light, blocking the old man’s gaze.
“The living, stop here.” The old man lowered his head and continued pasting paper boats, his voice barely audible.
The village chief said cautiously: “Mu’er, do not interfere with the world after death.”
“The world after death?”
Qin Mu was startled and said: “But we’re clearly in the Great Ruins. This isn’t the afterlife. Why would you say that, Chief…”
“The Great Ruins has many eerie places that connect to multiple worlds. That small village is where the world after death meets the real world.”
The village chief said: “It’s not just the Great Ruins that has such places. There are similar spots outside the Ruins as well. If you ever leave the Great Ruins and see such a village with such an old man, don’t go up to question him. As long as you don’t provoke them, they won’t interfere with the real world. However, they know a great deal, and you can ask them for directions. Senior, may I ask how to reach Carefree Village?”
The old man in the village raised a finger and pointed into the darkness: “You cannot reach the true Carefree Village…”
The village chief thanked him, and they continued on their way. They traveled for who knows how long, when suddenly the jade pendant on Qin Mu’s chest gently floated up, pointing ahead.
Qin Mu’s heart stirred: “Chief!”
The village chief turned around and, seeing this, nodded slightly. Qin Mu took off the pendant, hesitated for a moment, then let go.
The pendant floated up and flew forward. The village chief immediately led Qin Mu to follow it. The pendant’s flight grew faster and faster, streaking through the darkness like a shooting star.
Qin Mu and the village chief hurried after it. Suddenly, with a sound like a small ball falling into a lake—*shwoosh*—the pendant struck an invisible membrane, sending ripples spreading through the air.
Before Qin Mu and the village chief, a strange world seemed to slowly unfold with those ripples. Ahead of them was a vast expanse shrouded in gray mist—towering mountains, vast and boundless, hidden deep within the darkness, overlapping with it yet not of it.
“There truly is another realm hidden in the darkness!”
The village chief pursued it with him. Qin Mu reached out and grabbed the pendant, unable to suppress his excitement: “Is this Carefree Village? Will my parents be here?”
In his hand, the pendant still pulsed, as if trying to fly to where its master was.
Qin Mu hung the pendant around his neck, letting it guide him as he walked forward. The village chief quickly stepped in front of him, his expression calm, and said: “Mu’er, we’ve already arrived. No need to rush. Take it step by step. This place is very strange…”
Qin Mu steadied his emotions and walked forward. The mountains here were beautiful and elegant, but shrouded in gray mist, making them blurry and indistinct. Was this really Carefree Village?
Hadn’t that spirit emissary said they couldn’t reach Carefree Village?
Ahead, the gray mist stretched endlessly, the mountains appearing and disappearing. Suddenly, a crisp *crack* sounded beneath Qin Mu’s feet, and a voice said: “You’re stepping on me…”
Qin Mu jumped in fright and quickly looked down. A skeletal hand pulled out from under his foot, and then a skull poked its head out of the mist, its hollow eye sockets “looking” at him.
“A human!”
The skull let out a shriek, its piercing voice echoing through this misty, hazy world.
Qin Mu quickly stepped back, and another *crack* sounded under his foot. Only then did he see that the ground was covered with countless bones—an untold number of them piled together, stacked who knows how deep!
The nine heavens spun in his pupils as he looked toward the misty mountains, and he couldn’t help shivering several times.
Those mountains in the mist were actually built from countless bones! These dry bones had been piled into peak after peak, hidden within the fog!
Qin Mu’s hair stood on end. The bones on the ground began to rise one by one, skeletons staggering to their feet in the gray mist. Twisted voices echoed through the fog: “A human? Where is there a human?”
“It’s been so long since a human appeared here! What kind of person could break through to this place?”
“They have flesh, we don’t. Let’s take their flesh—”
…
The village chief frowned and looked into the distance. The distant mountains were also trembling, and then the mountains stood up, like monsters made of countless white bones, striding toward them. As the bone mountains moved, countless skeletons ran over joyfully, climbing onto the mountains, making these bone beasts grow larger and larger.
Some of the bones still carried divine or demonic might—clearly the bones of gods and demons!
The skeletons’ clamorous voices were chaotic and noisy, countless voices shouting about eating the people who had broken into this place.
“Where did so many dry bones come from?”
Even the village chief felt a chill. A few small skeletons, only three feet tall, ran out of the gray mist and latched onto Qin Mu’s legs, biting. Qin Mu smashed them with one palm each, but more skeletons came clattering and charging like ocean waves—truly terrifying!
The village chief’s primal energy overflowed, transforming into beams of sword light, but there were simply too many skeletons here. Even he found it troublesome, especially those divine and demonic bones, which would be even harder to deal with.
Just then, light burst from between Qin Mu’s brows. The phantom of a great Buddha appeared, standing behind them. Instantly, countless skeletons screamed and fled in all directions.
Many skeletons, as they ran, gathered together into running giants. Some giants tripped and fell, scattering into countless skeletons that sprinted away, only to gather again into skeletal giants as they ran.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. The great Buddha phantom that Master Ma had left in his forehead was remarkably effective against these strange skeletons, keeping them from coming near.
The distant bone mountains also halted, watching from afar. Seeing the great Buddha behind Qin Mu, they dared not approach.
The gray mist rippled gently, and the space between the bone mountains made this place look like a sea of fog. Suddenly, a light appeared. Qin Mu focused his eyes and was startled to see a small boat drifting between two bone mountains.
This little boat floated on the mist. At the bow, a single lonely mast held a lantern, but there was no sail. The lantern gave off a faint glow.
At the stern, a boatman in a tattered straw raincoat stood there, working an oar, a bamboo hat on his head. Beneath the lantern sat another person, also wearing a bamboo hat, his face hidden.
The small boat soon drifted in front of them. The person under the lantern stood up, turned to the boatman, bowed respectfully, and took out a gold coin.
The boatman reached out and took the coin. Qin Mu immediately saw that the boatman’s hand had no flesh at all!
Under that bamboo hat, inside that raincoat, was a skeleton!
A skeleton rowing a boat!
The person under the lantern stepped off the small boat. Seeing Qin Mu and the village chief, he paused briefly, bowed, and said in an aged voice: “Senior.”
Qin Mu and the village chief returned the bow: “Senior.”
The man pressed down his bamboo hat and walked away.
Suddenly, the village chief said: “Senior, please wait.”
The man stopped.
The village chief said: “Senior, do you have any spare money?”
The man laughed hoarsely: “You didn’t bring any money, and you want the ghost to turn the millstone?”
The village chief smiled: “That’s why I wanted to borrow some from you, Senior.”
Laughter came from under the bamboo hat: “Old Sword God, it’s been a long time since I last saw you. There are few of us left from our era. Meeting here is fate. Very well, I’ll share a few Fengdu coins with you.”
He extended his hand, and a few gold coins floated in his palm.
The village chief’s expression grew solemn. His primal energy materialized, forming arms and legs, and slowly reached out to grab the gold coins in the man’s hand.
Their palms touched, and both figures swayed slightly.
The man under the bamboo hat withdrew his arm, turned, and walked away, sighing: “You’re old, but you’re still a bit stronger than me. Still, I’m a few years younger, so I can outlive you.”
The village chief watched him go and said: “You’ve grown stronger than before, but you may not outlive me.”
“Hard to say.”
The man under the bamboo hat leaped and vanished. The village chief opened his hand, and four gold coins fell into Qin Mu’s palm. Then the arms and legs formed from his primal energy gradually faded. He said: “Mu’er, let’s board the boat.”
Qin Mu’s heart was uneasy, but he stepped onto the small boat. The village chief also floated aboard and leaned against the mast. The boatman at the stern turned the boat around, and the little boat drifted gently and steadily into the deep mist between the bone mountains.