Chapter 496: Life and Death, a Single Stele
Qin Mu, the box, and Dragon Qilin, along with the swirling skeletons and bones, crashed down with a clatter. Qin Mu was in despair. He had intended to make no sound at all, to evade Star Vicious's freakish hearing, but man proposes, heaven disposes; his plans were now completely ruined!
Thump, thump, thump. They tumbled into a pile of chaotic bones.
All around, a crowd of skeletons was shouting and arguing, debating whether one had shattered another's pelvis, or if another had broken a thigh bone. Some were even snatching ribs, the noise deafening.
Suddenly, some skeletons started fighting, grabbing bone clubs from who-knows-where and swinging wildly, bashing skulls with a *bang bang bang*.
Unless Star Vicious was deaf, there was no way to hide this from his ears!
Qin Mu staggered to his feet, looking around blankly. The previously dense fog had thinned considerably here, and the space had gained some light.
He looked to the east and froze.
Within the mist of the Yong River, a vast, boundless world of white bones was moving rapidly, overlapping with the central region of the Great Ruins!
"You're stepping on me..." A weak voice came from beneath the box.
The box was startled and jumped up. When it saw that the speaker was a pile of bones, it became delighted and happily opened its lid, "swallowing" the talking bones inside. Ever since Qin Mu had awakened its spirit, it loved collecting these strange things.
"Ghosts!"
Dragon Qilin's fur and scales all stood on end, his body stiff. Seeing the mountains of dry bones everywhere, the big fatty flipped over, legs straight up in the air, pretending to be dead.
Seeing him "dead," the box wanted to swallow him too. It started from the tail, and when it reached the butt, Dragon Qilin kicked his legs and muttered angrily, "Stop it, I'm playing dead..."
"Fengdu... this is the outer world of Fengdu..."
Qin Mu saw the rapidly moving world. When this world overlapped with reality, the mountains and rivers of reality seemed to vanish from the world, an eerie sight.
His heart stirred. He kicked Dragon Qilin and said, "Fatty Dragon, get up. Your acting dead isn't as good as Ling'er's. If you don't get up, these skeletons will come over to eat your flesh."
"Meat! Meat!" A skeleton beneath Dragon Qilin caught the scent of flesh, grinned with joy, opened its mouth wide, and bit into Dragon Qilin's leg.
"Meat! Meat!"
In the sea of skeletons, countless dry bones grew excited, running towards them, fanatical. The running skeletons raised a wave of bones a hundred zhang high that crashed towards them.
Splash.
The wave of bones collapsed, and then countless skeletons rolled together, forming a giant white-bone giant that charged forward excitedly to eat flesh.
"I have no flesh, give me your flesh!"
"Leave me a piece of skin, my skin has rotted away!"
Dragon Qilin quickly flipped over, crushing the skeletons clinging to him into powder. Seeing this sight, he nearly fainted from fright again.
Qin Mu's body radiated great Buddhist light, and the phantom of a white jade Buddha appeared behind him. The charging bone giant immediately collapsed, and the skeletons scattered in all directions.
"Not tasty, it's that young bald monk from last time! Run!"
Qin Mu was speechless. He took out a gold coin and shone it towards the misty ocean. A lone boat was sailing in from the mist.
"Everyone, get out of the way!"
Star Vicious's voice came from afar. He had retrieved his eyes and, following the sound, had broken into this place, rapidly approaching. He shattered and sent flying countless skeletons that pounced on him.
In his fury, a single strike leveled a mountain of bones, smashing countless dry bones, and he lunged at Qin Mu with overwhelming power and fury.
Qin Mu had repeatedly frustrated him, igniting a true, inexplicable rage within him. He was determined to eliminate this fellow who had toyed with him time and again!
Qin Mu hurriedly activated his teleportation divine ability, wrapping up the box (which was still collecting skeleton monsters) and the trembling Dragon Qilin, teleporting towards the lone boat faintly visible in the mist!
"You think you can use the same trick a second time? Get down here!"
One of Star Vicious's eyes flew over and shone down. Qin Mu's teleportation runes were instantly severed, and he, the box, and Dragon Qilin appeared in mid-air, falling towards the misty sea below.
In the misty sea, monsters churned with excitement. Just then, the lone boat suddenly appeared where Qin Mu and the others were falling, catching them.
"Senior Brother Star Vicious, long time no see?" The boatman lifted his bamboo hat, revealing a fleshless skeleton, and grinned sinisterly.
Star Vicious chased to the shore, paused, and stopped. He didn't recognize him. Suspiciously, he asked, "And who are you?"
"Senior Brother Star Vicious doesn't recognize Lingjing Daoist? You once hunted me everywhere to seize my divine blood, yet now you've forgotten it all. How disheartening."
The boatman pushed his bamboo pole and sailed the boat away, laughing. "This is the territory of Fengdu. Senior Brother Star Vicious is a living person. Please turn back. This is not a place you can tread."
Star Vicious retracted his eyes, stepped into the misty sea, and the clouds and mist below churned as monsters stirred up trouble, restless.
The monsters in the mist were incredibly powerful, but he showed no fear. He continued chasing the lone boat, saying calmly, "If living people cannot tread here, then why can they board the boat? Fellow Daoist Lingjing, we are old acquaintances. Isn't it a bit much to deceive me like this?"
His speed was astonishing. Even in this eerie misty sea, he strolled as if on a leisurely walk. The lone boat couldn't shake him off; instead, the distance was gradually closing.
"Do you have money?"
Lingjing Daoist said leisurely, "Money makes the ghost push the boat. He has money to pay the fare, so naturally, he can board my boat and enter Fengdu. You have no money, so you can only drink the northwest wind. Go back. Fengdu is truly not a place for you. There are too many beings here that you cannot afford to offend."
Star Vicious snorted coldly and continued forward. Suddenly, a massive monster rose from the misty sea, dragging him into the depths.
In the lone boat, Dragon Qilin was startled. He quickly crawled to the side to peek over. Lingjing Daoist raised his bamboo pole and gently nudged his head back into the boat, laughing. "Foolish thing, there are some terrifying things down there that don't reason. Be careful, or they'll bite your head off in one gulp."
As he spoke, the misty sea shook violently. The roars of monsters came from within, and the mountains in the mist also trembled violently. The mountains, composed of countless white bones, immediately transformed into giants and scattered in all directions.
Dragon Qilin quickly lay down in the cabin, covering his eyes with his paws, peeking through the gaps.
The battle in the misty sea grew fiercer, raising monstrous waves that lifted their boat high into the air before crashing down from the crest.
Qin Mu activated his Jingxiao Heavenly Eye and could barely see more than one massive monster fighting Star Vicious in the misty sea. His heart shook, and he let out a breath, praising, "Star Vicious is truly remarkable!"
Lingjing Daoist, now a skeleton, shook his bamboo pole and said with a sinister grin, "He is indeed remarkable. But he won't cause much trouble here. The misty sea is formed from the resentment of those who died in the late Kaihuang era. These people, after death, couldn't enter Fengdu or live properly, so their resentment condensed into the monsters in the sea, blocking anyone daring to enter Fengdu. Too many people died in the Great Ruins at the end of the Kaihuang era. The strength of these monsters rivals that of gods and demons."
Qin Mu was startled. "These skeletons are the people who died in the disaster of the Kaihuang era? Why couldn't they enter Fengdu?"
"Fengdu only accepts useful souls."
Two faint flames flickered in Lingjing Daoist's skull. "They were useless. They didn't meet the conditions to enter Fengdu. To enter Fengdu, one needs the strength of a god or demon. Even I barely meet the conditions. They can only gather on the outskirts of Fengdu, unable to cross this misty sea..."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. It was the resentment of these skeletons that formed the misty sea, and their grudges that created the monsters. In the end, they were blocked here by their own resentment and grudges!
Cause and effect, karma never misses.
"King Yan actually wanted to ferry them across, but Fengdu is too small. Also, Fengdu has to be wary of Youdu..."
Lingjing Daoist clearly knew many secrets but was unwilling to say more. He was now a dead man, trapped in Fengdu in a strange state between life and death.
Qin Mu couldn't tell if he was alive or dead. If he was dead, entering the realm of the dead would give him a physical body. If he was alive, leaving Fengdu would immediately cause his death and annihilation.
The commotion beneath the misty sea grew more intense. Clearly, the struggle between Star Vicious and the monsters was escalating, a heart-pounding sight.
To be fair, Star Vicious was incredibly powerful. Even facing these monsters born of resentment, he could still hold his own!
"This freak..."
Lingjing Daoist glanced into the misty sea and saw Star Vicious and the monsters had already fought to the surface. The monsters towered into the clouds, larger than the surrounding bone mountains and islands, with terrifying attack power. But Star Vicious was even more terrifying.
"Human Emperor Qin, hurry and go ashore."
Lingjing's eyesight was sharp. "He will break free soon. Also, the four Fengdu coins I lent you last time, plus this fare, makes five coins total."
Qin Mu took out five Fengdu gold coins. Lingjing Daoist accepted them, stretched lazily, and laughed. "They all have connections up there. They come in and enjoy the blessings of Fengdu right away, while I have to earn money. Only with enough money can I enter Fengdu. To have a place in Fengdu, you have to spend a lot..."
He sailed away, disappearing into the misty sea, his voice drifting back. "Fengdu is very interested in living people like you. If you do some tasks for the dead, they'll pay you with Fengdu gold coins. That way, you can travel to Fengdu often. That's what I used to do..."
Qin Mu quickly led Dragon Qilin and the box, rushing towards Fengdu.
Before long, he finally arrived before the boundary stele of the Realm of the Dead and breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, a loud *boom* came from behind him. Star Vicious had finally shaken off the monsters, burst out of the misty sea, and landed on the dock.
Qin Mu's expression changed. He rushed into the Realm of the Dead at full speed, running frantically.
Dragon Qilin also sprinted with all his might. As he ran, he suddenly noticed that his master beside him had vanished, replaced by a skeleton running hard!
The skeleton was still wearing Qin Mu's clothes and shoes!
Dragon Qilin's fur stood on end. He let out a piercing scream, but then he saw that he, too, had turned into a skeleton.
Dragon Qilin's limbs went limp, and he fainted—this time, truly unconscious.
Qin Mu quickly stopped, about to lift him and flee for his life, when he suddenly saw Star Vicious also rush into the bounds of the Realm of the Dead.
*Bang!*
Another head suddenly squeezed out from Star Vicious's neck. An arm sprouted from his armpit. Then, four or five more legs grew out!
Qin Mu was stunned. Star Vicious was equally shocked. Then, with a series of *bang bang bang* sounds, more bodies grew out of him. Heads sprouted all around his head. Countless bodies were pushing out from within him, giving him dozens of hands, dozens of legs, twenty or thirty heads, and multiple bodies fused together!
*Thud.*
Star Vicious fell to the ground. His many hands grabbed wildly. His many heads struggled and roared, as if trying to crawl out of this hodgepodge of a body!
They clearly didn't share a single consciousness. They were twenty or thirty individuals fused together, all trying to escape, all trying to leave!
"The Realm of the Dead... the Realm of the Dead..."
Qin Mu abandoned the thought of fleeing, murmuring, "So this is the way to counter Star Vicious. This body of his was pieced together from twenty or thirty near-god-level powerhouses. In the Realm of the Dead, these missing parts will reappear..."
Suddenly, a large bird flew out of the darkness, landing on a hilltop ahead. It tilted its head, curiously observing them.
"Is that the Human Emperor, Qin Mu?"
The bird flapped its wings, transforming into a bird-headed, human-bodied deity. It folded its wings and spoke in human tongue: "Your crimes have been discovered. King Yan has been looking for you for a long time!"
Qin Mu was surprised. "I committed a crime? How come I don't know about it?"
—Wishing Xiaoyao Shouhu Xingfu and Jimo Ruyan01 a happy birthday!