Chapter 509: Great Terror
Even the King of Hell was taken aback at this moment. He suddenly turned around to look directly at Qin Mu, his black cloak rippling like waves as if stirred by a wind rising from beneath it. "Netherworld? You weren't born in Carefree Village, but in the Netherworld?"
Qin Mu still couldn't see the face beneath the black robe. He nodded. "My parents were traveling from Carefree Village to the Great Wasteland when they were ambushed. Many on the ship were killed or wounded, and the survivors fled to the Netherworld. That's where I was born."
He had discovered his origins in the Valley of the Dead. From the images shown by the time imprints on that treasure ship, he learned that his mother had been pregnant with him at the time. The ship was attacked by divine demons, driven deep into the Valley of the Dead, and wedged between the seals of two realms.
To escape the celestial demons, his mother led the survivors to take refuge in the Netherworld. Qin Mu must have been born there. Later, for reasons unknown, he was brought to the Great Wasteland after his birth and drifted down the Yong River to the Village of the Crippled.
Granny Si heard a baby's cry and picked him up, bringing him back to the village.
He was born in the Netherworld—of that there was no doubt.
"You were born in the Netherworld..."
The King of Hell's tone carried a hint of disappointment. "I had hoped it was the old Yan returning to lead us in continuing the unfinished campaign. I never expected a new swallow to arrive. But a new swallow would have been fine too. Yet in the end, I find it's not a new swallow, but a fledgling. Heh, Emperor of the Kaihuang Era, you truly achieved carefree contentment in Carefree Village, forgetting that your people in this world still await your return!"
Anger crept into his voice. "Carefree Village is not a place of comfort, not a place of forgetfulness—it is your ground for resurgence, not your pit of stagnation! In this Great Wasteland, countless divine beings and demons lie dormant, waiting for your return, waiting for you to raise the banner, waiting to fight for you!"
His cloak continued to tremble. It only shook violently when his heart was stirred or his battle intent surged.
Suddenly, his aura waned, a note of dejection creeping in. "I refuse to believe that an emperor who once defined an era would accept defeat so readily and sink into silence. Yet I've waited twenty thousand years. The stone statues of the Great Wasteland and the ghosts of Fengdu have waited twenty thousand years too. Why haven't you returned..."
Qin Mu stood quietly, watching him, unsure what to say.
The King of Hell must have been expecting a visitor from Carefree Village, expecting news of the Kaihuang Emperor. For that, he had waited twenty thousand years.
But what he got was Qin Mu—someone with the bloodline of the Kaihuang Emperor from Carefree Village, yet born in the Netherworld.
Qin Mu was not the one he was waiting for. Even if the visitor had been Qin Hanzhen, it would have inspired him and brought news from Carefree Village.
But Qin Mu, born in the Netherworld, knew nothing of Carefree Village.
The identity of being a descendant of the Kaihuang Emperor could not soothe the hearts of loyal ministers and righteous warriors who had waited twenty thousand years.
After a long pause, the King of Hell's aura steadied. His eyes beneath the black robe fixed on Qin Mu. "You were born in the Netherworld. Both the Netherworld and Fengdu are realms of the dead. I've never heard of a human being born in the realm of the dead. I want to see if there's anything wrong with you."
Qin Mu was startled, not understanding his meaning.
Suddenly, the King of Hell began to walk, circling him slowly. His voice deepened. "There are very few living beings in the Netherworld, but demonic creatures can be born there. These demons are aggregates of vengeful spirits and the Netherworld's malevolence. You've seen the demons beneath the Bridge of Helplessness—they come from the Netherworld. You were born there, but your birth differs from theirs. They are born from the world's resentment and malevolence; you were born from a womb. Yet you may still have been tainted by the Netherworld's malevolence."
"Tainted by the Netherworld's malevolence?"
Qin Mu ventured, "What do you mean?"
His heart trembled. A demon god had once told him that they were both demons. Could it be that the demon god wasn't lying, and that he truly carried malevolence within him?
And had it been with him since birth?
The King of Hell didn't continue. Instead, he pulled back the hood of his black robe, revealing his face beneath.
Before Qin Mu could see his features, he saw the King of Hell's eyes become like two spinning vortexes, drawing his mind in.
"Don't be afraid. I'm only probing your soul to see if it differs from those born in the normal world."
Qin Mu felt the world spin. He seemed to be at the center of two enormous eyes. Those eyes were blood-red, immense, their pupils staring at him—one on his left, one on his right. He kept spinning and falling, as if he would never hit the bottom!
He seemed to plunge into endless darkness, sinking deeper and deeper.
The King of Hell's voice came from what seemed like an impossible distance, far beyond the nine heavens. "No human has ever been born in the Netherworld. I don't know what changes it would cause, but I can guess that something extremely terrifying must have happened at your birth. The malevolence and lingering souls drifting in the Netherworld would have tried to enter your body. Your mother could probably block the wandering spirits, but she might not have been able to block the Netherworld's malevolence. I want to see what effect the Netherworld has had on you..."
Qin Mu struggled to steady his mind. Suddenly, the jade pendant on his neck floated up, its light bursting outward with a hum, as if resisting the King of Hell's blood-red eyes.
The blood-red eyes grew larger, and the jade pendant's light grew brighter. In the end, the King of Hell's blood-red eyes suppressed the pendant's radiance.
Qin Mu tried to struggle, but not a shred of strength could he muster from his body. He could only let those nightmare-like blood-red eyes continue to probe him, continue to press down on him.
He felt as if his physical body had lost all weight, as if his soul was peeling away from his flesh.
He was like a drowning man, unable to breathe, his soul slowly drifting away from his body.
Just then, Qin Mu's spinning stopped. Whispers surrounded him, as if countless demons lurked in the endless darkness, murmuring softly.
The whispers grew closer, louder, more chaotic, until they became a thunderous roar of countless voices, speaking different words, different languages, clamoring until his head ached, until his thoughts and consciousness scattered into chaos!
Finally, all the voices merged into one, overlapping into a single sound!
It was the demonic tongue of the Netherworld!
"Silence!"
Qin Mu roared in fury, but the sound that came from his mouth was not human language—it was the demonic tongue of the Netherworld!
Suddenly, an incredibly terrifying force erupted from within him. His body could move again. He was still standing alone between the two blood-red eyes, but behind him, in the boundless darkness, a crack split open!
The crack widened, the rustling whispers rising again. The gap grew larger, and light spilled out. With a hum, a massive eyeball appeared behind him, rolling left and right.
This eye behind him had a bizarre pupil—three pupils squeezed together. As the eyeball moved, the three pupils rotated, shifting positions!
The demonic light spilling from this eye made it seem to have black butterfly wings, both eerily beautiful and grotesque.
"Silence!"
Qin Mu clutched his head and roared, "Stop the noise!"
Crack!
The space around him trembled violently, cracks appearing like shattered glass.
The King of Hell, too stunned by the power in Qin Mu's roar, could only stare blankly at the bizarre eye behind him. He murmured, "You were born in the Netherworld, so you were indeed affected by its malevolence. The malevolence within you was suppressed by the jade pendant. Now that I've suppressed the pendant, I've released your Netherworld malevolence..."
"Stop the noise!"
Qin Mu's Netherworld demonic tongue flowed with unprecedented fluency. As his voice rang out, the surrounding space shattered with a crash, and the realm created by the King of Hell's blood-red eyes crumbled!
Another crack appeared behind him, and a second eye was about to open.
The King of Hell felt a chill run down his spine, as if facing a primordial beast about to awaken.
"Such fierce malevolence! I can't let you release it!"
He struck without hesitation. The two blood-red eyes retreated rapidly. His cloak spread out, covering the sky, enveloping the entire King of Qin Hall as he mobilized his power to suppress the malevolence within Qin Mu.
A grim and malevolent voice echoed from within the King of Qin Hall, speaking fluent Netherworld demonic tongue: "A mere little ghost dares to suppress me?"
Boom!
The King of Qin Hall shook violently. Another boom followed. The hall trembled several times in succession. The pillars tilted and swayed. The roof cracked with a sharp sound, and the entire hall became crooked, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Finally, silence returned to the hall.
Qin Mu opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. In front of him, several massive pillars had snapped, as if sliced into segments by sharp claws. Other pillars were bent from impact.
Blazing pure yang true fire seeped through the cracks in the King of Qin Hall, its tongues of flame licking at the wood.
It looked as if a fierce battle had taken place. From above the hall came creaking sounds, and occasionally clumps of ash, stones, and tiles fell.
"What happened?" he asked, bewildered.
"You don't know what happened?" The King of Hell's voice came from the darkness within the hall.
Qin Mu quickly looked over. The King of Hell was embedded in the center of a bent pillar, his limbs splayed out, as if driven into the pillar by an incredibly terrifying force.
Qin Mu was horrified. He hurried forward to rescue him, but the King of Hell waved his hand and pulled himself free with effort. "You really don't know what happened?"
Qin Mu shook his head. He had no memory of what just occurred. He only knew that when the King of Hell's eyes looked at him, he had been sinking endlessly between the two blood-red eyes.
"Not knowing is a good thing for you. You must always wear the jade pendant from Carefree Village. Never discard it. Absolutely never discard it."
The King of Hell exhaled a breath and spoke calmly, "This jade pendant is crucial to you. Lose it, and something terrifying will happen."
Qin Mu took off the pendant. "Can I show it to others?"
The King of Hell's body twitched violently. "Better not!"
Qin Mu smiled. "I've taken it off and shown it to others many times."
The King of Hell let out another breath. "Then they were lucky. They should count themselves fortunate to still be alive. You may leave. Chi Xiu, see him out!"
The divine being Chi Xiu poked his head in, curiously looking around. Seeing the devastation in the King of Qin Hall, he shrank his neck. "Chief Qin, come with me."
Qin Mu was puzzled. He quickly walked out of the hall and whispered to Chi Xiu, "What just happened?"
"I don't know."
Chi Xiu shook his head. "It felt like some terrifying entity attacked the King of Qin Hall. Don't speak. You smell like a living person..."
"One more thing!"
The King of Hell's voice came from behind them. "You can walk into the darkness of the Great Wasteland. The darkness won't harm you. If you have the chance, you should go to the Netherworld."
Qin Mu was startled. He turned back, exclaiming, "I can enter the darkness of the Great Wasteland?"
Before the King of Hell could answer, a thunderous crash rang out. The King of Qin Hall collapsed, burying him beneath the rubble!
— Thank you to the readers who waited until now! Zhai Zhu apologizes for the late update!