Chapter 439: The Heart Is Hell
This rain of corpses lasted for nearly half an hour, with countless bodies falling—a truly horrifying sight!
When the corpse rain finally ceased, the Gray Immortal quickly led Deaf down into the underground, only to see the dozen or so stone statues standing motionless around the altar, while the teleportation light had already extinguished.
They looked toward the palace and saw a sapphire-blue flood dragon coiled around its roof, its head held high, long whiskers gently fluttering. Qin Mu stood atop the dragon’s head, gazing at the altar in the deity statue’s palm.
The two hurried across the long floating bridge to the palace and climbed onto the roof. Deaf looked down and froze for a moment.
Below, the stone statues around the altar, though motionless, had all raised their heads, their stone eyes staring in their direction.
“Mu’er, what happened?” Deaf asked nervously.
“They’re looking at me.”
Qin Mu said softly, “Have they realized that I killed their kin?”
Deaf shook his head. “In their hearts, these demon armies were meant to be sacrificed. Even if they hadn’t died by your hand, they would have been blood-ritualed. Don’t dwell on it. On the contrary, you stopped them from awakening that deity statue—that’s a great deed, sparing countless people of the Eternal Peace Kingdom from death.”
Qin Mu stared straight at him. “Grandpa Deaf, I’ve never killed so many people before. Perhaps many have died because of me, but personally sending so many lives to their end still fills me with dread. When those demon armies were teleported, some were already dead, some still alive, but they all died charging into the Gate of Heavenly Succession. I counted—over a hundred thousand. I’ve never killed so many with my own hands… Just now, in the Gate, I saw paper boats drifting in the darkness, with underworld officials sitting in them, pulling away their souls. It was I who sent them there…”
Deaf was taken aback, unsure how to comfort him. After a moment, he said, “When I was still the crown prince of the Tian Tu Kingdom, the kingdom was destroyed. I woke from seclusion and walked alone through the palace and streets, everywhere littered with corpses. Because the resistance was too fierce, the Rong Wolf Kingdom, which attacked us, suffered heavy losses. To vent their anger, the Rong Wolf king ordered a city-wide massacre.”
He stared blankly, as if still unable to escape that shadow. After another pause, he continued, “I saw my father and mother’s heads hanging on the palace gate, saw the heads and bodies of the consorts and maids. Soldiers took my father’s head down, hung it on a spear, and paraded around boasting. I ran into the streets and saw Rong Wolf soldiers looting everywhere, beheading people, raping and pillaging. I went to my crown prince’s mansion—my wife and child were dead. My daughter was trampled to death by warhorses…”
His eyes widened, still trapped in that nightmare, the depths of his gaze reflecting the destruction of the Tian Tu capital—a hell on earth.
“I was obsessed with painting, with the art of painting, neglecting state affairs, and it led to the ruin of my country and family. I tore off my own ears—what use were ears that couldn’t hear the world’s troubles?”
“I used the bones of the people as brushes and the blood in the streets as paint. I turned that place into hell, heh heh. The Rong Wolf army was dragged into hell—a million troops, I buried them all. But what good did it do? My homeland would never return. The dead would not come back. So I fled into the Great Ruins.”
Deaf looked up at Qin Mu, raised a finger, and tapped his chest. “Mu’er, harden your heart. Don’t be like me, waiting until your country is destroyed and your family lost before you steel yourself—by then, it’s too late. This is war. There’s no right or wrong. On the battlefield, your heart is hell, is the Netherworld!”
Qin Mu’s mind suddenly cleared. He bowed deeply. “I am taught.”
Deaf smiled. “Let the burden of sin be settled by Earth Lord after we die. Our task now is to send more enemies to meet him first!”
Qin Mu laughed heartily. “Send them to see Earth Lord!”
The Gray Immortal looked at the stone statues below. “What’s wrong with these statues?”
“I don’t know. They suddenly stopped moving.”
Qin Mu was also puzzled. “These statues are incredibly powerful, hardened by petrification. Since their ritual failed, they’ll likely try something else. They won’t give up easily.”
Suddenly, the stone statues around the altar leaped up one by one, diving into the abyss below. Qin Mu quickly looked down and saw them burrowing into the ground, vanishing without a trace.
“This…”
The three exchanged bewildered glances. Qin Mu turned his gaze to the blade embedded in the deity statue’s forehead. The divine sword was dazzlingly bright, as if it had struck the statue’s head in a single blow, nearly splitting it open.
The sword’s surface was flawlessly smooth, without any visible patterns, brighter and more translucent than the clearest mirror in the world. The souls of Granny Si, the Eternal Peace National Teacher, Mute, Butcher, and others lay flat within its surface, like a plane, battling the gods of the heavens. They couldn’t see the outside world.
Suddenly, streams of gray mist surged from nowhere, filling the underground space. The three stood in the fog as it grew thicker, and within it, countless mountains and rivers surged forth, engulfing them.
Not only them, but even the deity statue that had emerged from underground and the gleaming long blade were swallowed by the mist, with only faint chains visible here and there.
After a moment, the mist stopped flowing. Around them, towering bone mountains rose from the sea of fog, vast and imposing, as if the entire underground space was filled with bones.
Countless skeletons crawled over the mountains, eerie and terrifying.
“The Realm of the Living Dead!”
Qin Mu’s heart pounded. He looked deep into the fog and saw a dock at its farthest end—the only path into the Realm of the Living Dead!
The Realm of the Living Dead and Fengdu had come to the underground of the Divine Fault Mountains, overlapping with this strange space!
“Does anyone have Fengdu gold coins?” Qin Mu asked urgently.
The Gray Immortal and Deaf had never seen such a sight and shook their heads. The Flood Dragon King God, being a deity of the heavens, naturally wouldn’t have Fengdu coins either.
Just then, a battered boat sailed out of the fog. Qin Mu raised his hand and waved, shouting, “Boatman, can you give us a ride?”
The oars creaked as the boat approached between the fog and the mountains of skulls. Qin Mu was excited, while the Gray Immortal and Deaf were on high alert, staring at the approaching wreck.
After a moment, the boat reached the palace, floating before the Flood Dragon King God’s massive head, looking tiny in comparison. The boatman wore a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat that hid his face.
The Flood Dragon King God lowered its head. Just as Qin Mu was about to jump into the boat, a skeletal hand extended from under the raincoat, and a sinister voice came from beneath the hat: “Young friend, do you have money?”
Qin Mu shook his head.
“The treasure boat doesn’t carry penniless guests.”
The boatman said, “Our business is small and our profits thin. Wait until you have money before entering Fengdu.”
Qin Mu was disappointed but then noticed the skeletal hand—it had only four fingers, with one missing, likely from a sword wound.
His body trembled. At that moment, the boatman rowed away, disappearing into the depths of the fog.
“When did Fengdu change its boatman?” Qin Mu called out.
From the fog came that sinister voice, but strangely, it carried a note of joy: “The day I died, they changed the boatman!”
Qin Mu shouted, “Have you seen the Demon Ancestor?”
“Heh heh, when you have money, come in and see for yourself…”
Qin Mu stood stunned. The Gray Immortal, alarmed, quickly asked, “Qin Renhuang, do you know that underworld official?”
Qin Mu nodded. “He seems like an old friend. That friend also had only nine fingers. The missing one was cut off by Village Chief.”
“You mean, he’s Ling Jing?”
The Gray Immortal realized with joy and shouted, “Senior Brother Ling Jing, do you still remember old friends?”
No reply came from the fog.
The Gray Immortal called out several times but still got no response, and he felt a sense of loss.
Suddenly, the mist surged again, retreating westward, and quickly vanished without a trace. Qin Mu looked up and saw the divine sword still embedded in the deity statue’s forehead, still dazzlingly bright, but the souls of Granny Si and the others were gone.
“Did Granny Si and the others get taken by Fengdu?”
Qin Mu’s heart sank. He and the Gray Immortal and Deaf rushed to the surface. The light was suddenly bright and blinding—a rising sun, its first rays hitting their faces. Behind them, the darkness of the Great Ruins rapidly receded.
“That’s where the bodies of the hundred-thousand-strong demon army fell.”
Deaf pointed to a spot in the Great Ruins and said to Qin Mu, “You teleported them about a hundred li.”
Qin Mu activated his Fire Heaven Eye and looked over. There, only a mountain of bones remained—the flesh of the demon army had been devoured by the monsters in the Great Ruins’ darkness.
The bone mountain was also illuminated by the sun, looking eerie.
Qin Mu turned and walked toward the Sun Boat, his voice carrying: “My heart is hell—let the sins be as vast as the sky!”
Deaf smiled and followed him. Near the Sun Boat, the countless stars formed by the Great Luo Heaven Array were rapidly dimming one by one. The woman who had set up the array opened her eyes and fell from midair.
Qin Mu quickened his pace, intending to catch her.
Another person fell from the air, gasping weakly, “Aba, Aba…”
Qin Mu hesitated, his arms shifting left then right. Just then, Blind Man tumbled down headfirst, and Qin Mu rushed to catch him.
“Mu’er, are you going to let me and Old Man Ma break our necks?” Butcher’s voice came.
Qin Mu looked over and saw Butcher and Old Man Ma also falling from the sky. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead—he truly didn’t know who to catch.
As for the Eternal Peace National Teacher and Yi King, who were also falling, Qin Mu had no intention of catching them.
Fox Ling rushed out of the Sun Boat, shouting, “Maha!”
“Maha! Maha! Maha!”
A group of flood dragons dashed past her like the wind, catching the falling people on their backs.
Qin Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
Thud!
In the distance, the Eternal Peace National Teacher hit the ground. Qin Mu was startled and quickly looked at the flood dragon that was supposed to catch him. He was stunned—the dragon was carrying the Zhen Ding, happily shouting “Maha, Maha” as it ran back to the Sun Boat with the others, completely unaware it had missed its target.