Chapter 86: The Realm of the Living Dead
Qin Mu sat beneath the lantern, the jade pendant on his chest emitting a faint fluorescent glow. The pendant still wanted to float up and fly into the distance.
"Is this Carefree Village? If not, then where exactly is Carefree Village?"
The little boat drifted along, its speed not slow. After boarding this boat, Qin Mu noticed that the skeletons paid them no attention, as if they couldn't see them at all.
The mountains of skeletons returned to normal, and these skeletons seemed to sink back into death, falling into silence.
Qin Mu shook his head, feeling that the encounters along this journey were utterly baffling. Things he had never dared to imagine before were happening, and each one was stranger than the last.
The demons in the darkness, the yin emissaries in the riverside village, the world within the gray mist, and now the small boat they were riding, the skeleton boatman beneath the straw cloak—all of it seemed so incredible, yet it was all happening.
Moreover, the world within the darkness of the Great Ruins was not as simple as Village Chief had imagined. The Village Chief had originally thought there was only a Dark Realm, but now it seemed that a single Dark Realm could not explain everything they had seen and experienced.
The Dark Realm might exist, but there might be more than just the Dark Realm. Perhaps other worlds existed within this darkness.
"Village Chief, who was that passenger who gave us the Fengdu coins?" Qin Mu turned to look at the boatman and asked in a low voice.
"An old acquaintance."
The Village Chief's expression was calm. "I haven't seen him in a long time, nor heard any news of him. I thought he was dead, but it turns out he's still alive. People from our era who have managed to survive until now are all remarkable."
Qin Mu's mind wandered with longing. The Village Chief's era must have been a time when heroes emerged in abundance, like a galaxy of brilliant stars. It must have given birth to many earth-shattering figures, people as astonishingly talented as the Village Chief.
It was just a pity that time aged everyone. Even the most dazzling grace of those days had now withered in old age, with life soon to end.
"I didn't expect him to still be so restless, always running around. I wonder how he ended up here this time."
The Village Chief smiled. "He's better at maneuvering than I am and has seen more mysteries. Actually, I envy him for living so freely, much more carefree than me. Mu'er, you might run into him someday. This guy has no fixed abode and loves to join in on the excitement wherever it is. His name is Ling Jing. He has a black mole under his left eye and is missing the ring finger on his right hand—I cut it off."
"Village Chief, where is this boat taking us?"
Qin Mu looked around. They were already far from the entrance to this strange world, unable to see the path they had come from. Drifting like this, he had no idea where they would end up.
Moreover, who knew if this place was even part of the Great Ruins?
It might not even be in the same world as the Great Ruins!
The Village Chief frowned slightly. Qin Mu's jade pendant had drawn them here. In all his years living in the Great Ruins, he had never encountered such a bizarre situation or come to such a strange place. But since Qin Mu's pendant had brought them here, it was likely connected to the pendant's origin.
Now, they didn't know where they were and couldn't get off the boat. They could only let this vessel and the strange boatman take them into the unknown.
"Mu'er, if I hadn't brought you out, I might never have discovered this place."
As he spoke, the gray mist ahead gradually thinned, revealing vast stretches of land. The mountains stood tall and majestic, no longer made of skeletons. Near the edge of the misty sea, a wooden dock appeared, where boats could moor.
The little boat gave a gentle jolt and came to a stop beside the dock.
Qin Mu quickly took out a Fengdu coin to pay the fare, but the boatman raised two bony fingers.
Qin Mu took out another Fengdu coin, and the boatman nodded. The two of them disembarked and headed toward the land. Qin Mu looked back and saw the little boat and the skeleton boatman disappear into the mist, leaving only the lantern at the bow casting a faint light in the fog.
"What a strange place..."
The jade pendant on his chest floated up lightly, pointing ahead.
Qin Mu followed the Village Chief forward. Before they had gone far, they came across a boundary marker inscribed with several seal-script characters.
"Realm of the Living Dead: The living stop here, the dead proceed."
Qin Mu read the words aloud, and both of them were taken aback. Qin Mu hesitated. "Village Chief, should we keep going?"
The Village Chief looked ahead, faintly seeing many villages in the distance, and smiled. "Since we've come this far, how can we not continue and see what lies ahead? Let's keep walking."
Qin Mu followed him, and as they crossed the boundary marker, Qin Mu suddenly gasped. He raised his hands and saw that they had inexplicably turned into bare white bones!
He quickly pulled open his clothes and saw that beneath them, his flesh and blood had vanished, leaving only bleached white bones!
He looked at the Village Chief, who had also turned into a skeleton floating in the air. Strangely, the Village Chief had grown arms and legs!
His chest and head were bones, but his legs and arms were covered in flesh and blood!
But the Village Chief had clearly lost his arms and legs—how could he suddenly have grown them back?
"Realm of the Living Dead... Realm of the Living Dead... Mu'er, let's step back," the Village Chief said suddenly.
Qin Mu retreated to the boundary marker and looked down, seeing his flesh and blood return. The Village Chief's hands and feet disappeared, while the flesh on his chest and head restored itself.
"I see. What a wondrous world..."
The Village Chief smiled faintly and stepped back into the Realm of the Living Dead. "Let's go in and take a look."
Qin Mu suppressed his shock and followed him into this strange world. The Village Chief's legs touched the ground, and he began to walk. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at his own hands, his expression filled with emotion, as if reminiscing about the limbs he had lost.
Ahead, mountains rose, temples stood in layers, and a village of considerable size appeared before them.
The two arrived at the village, where birds sang and flowers bloomed in peaceful tranquility. The villagers lived contentedly, raising chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and pigs. As they reached the village entrance, a plump white pig waddled past them, grunting.
Qin Mu and the Village Chief stopped at the village entrance without entering. A few villagers turned to look at them, their gazes strange. After a moment, an elderly man tottered out of the village, a smile spreading across his wrinkled face. "Two travelers from afar, what business do you have here?"
Qin Mu and the Village Chief bowed in greeting. Qin Mu asked, "Old sir, may I ask how to get to Carefree Village?"
The old man raised his hand and pointed behind the mountain. "Cross a few mountains, pass through a gateway, and you'll see Carefree Village."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Qin Mu and the Village Chief headed up the mountain. Qin Mu looked back and saw the villagers still staring at them with eerie eyes.
The Village Chief said, "In their eyes, we are dead people. That's why they look at us that way."
Qin Mu turned his head back. "Village Chief, I think something's off... Grandpa Blind opened the Ninefold Heavenly Eye for me. Even though my eyes are gone now, I can still vaguely see some things..."
The Village Chief stopped. "What do you see?"
Qin Mu said, "They have demonic energy on them."
The Village Chief pondered. "The Realm of the Living Dead should alter the rules of life and death. This is the power of gods and demons. When we enter here, we appear to lose our flesh and blood, but when we step out, it immediately returns, meaning the flesh and blood still exist—it's just twisted by the rules, unable to be seen or touched. Mu'er, your Ninefold Heavenly Eye is still there. Can you channel your primordial energy into your eyes to activate it?"
Qin Mu immediately tried. Soon, he felt his eyes again, and his primordial energy flowed into them, activating the Ninefold Heavenly Eye formation patterns that Grandpa Blind had imprinted there. Suddenly, everything before him became crystal clear.
He looked back. Everyone in that village had transformed—no longer human, but skeletons. Even the chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and the fat pig had turned into bones!
The villagers' bones were different from human bones, twisted and misshapen, clearly not human.
Qin Mu described what he saw. The Village Chief thought for a moment and said, "They are the Heavenly Demon Horde."
"The Heavenly Demon Horde?" Qin Mu was stunned.
"The Heavenly Demon Horde is a demon race. Although your Heavenly Demon Sect has the words 'Heavenly Demon' in its name, you are all still humans, just bearing the sect's title. But the Heavenly Demon Horde is different. They are a race said to have come from another realm, extremely aggressive. As for where they came from, no one knows. Some legends..."
The Village Chief paused, not finishing his sentence, and looked ahead. "Could this be the world of demons? It doesn't quite seem like it. Let's keep going. If it turns out to be a demon world ahead, we'll retreat immediately!"
They crossed several mountains and finally reached the gateway the old man at the village entrance had mentioned.
Two mountain gates stood, with a stone bridge spanning them like a beam. On the cliff face were carved the words "Fengdu."
Qin Mu's heart leaped, and a sense of foreboding washed over him. Fengdu was said to be the legendary Gate of Ghosts. Could this be the world of the underworld?
But the Village Chief walked past it as if he hadn't noticed, and Qin Mu quickly followed. Both of them looked ahead and felt a jolt in their hearts.
Before them, square and orderly cities stretched out, with towering temples and shrines rising into the clouds—majestic, vast, and magnificent. Countless cities, countless palaces, countless temples—as far as the eye could see, there was no end!
This was the world beyond the Fengdu gateway—boundless, immense, and awe-inspiring!
"This should be the capital of Fengdu."
Just as Qin Mu thought this, he suddenly saw a dilapidated ship. It was a ship made of a mountain, with chains floating in the air like kite strings. At the end of these strings was tied a gray sphere.
A massive sphere, but half of it was broken.
It was a moon.