"Wooooo..."
With ease, Mo Wangchen stepped into the Ghost Gate.
The howling sound of gusting wind reached his ears.
Upon stepping into the Ghost Gate, he felt as if he had entered a ghost city, enveloped by endless deathly aura.
He was not a wandering soul and thus could not enter the Ghost Gate; the deathly aura repelled him.
However, due to the special Dao Pattern left by Ksitigarbha in his palm, the deathly aura could not harm Mo Wangchen.
If an ordinary living person were to enter this place, their soul would likely have been eroded long ago, and even if they did not die, they would be unable to awaken forever.
"This is the Underworld Road..."
Looking ahead, there was a long, eerie Ancient Road.
The deathly aura was pervasive, with nurous bones scattered along the road, indistinguishable whether they belonged to humans or Monster Beasts.
Yet above these bones grew Other Shore Flowers, with only leaves visible, but no petals.
Yao Yuntian and the Heavenly Sea Saint, seeing such a sight for the first ti, couldn’t help but look shocked.
They had died for ten thousand years, but Mo Wangchen retrieved their three souls and seven spirits. If not, even a single soul entering the Ghost Gate would have been instantly devoured by the pervasive deathly aura, leaving nothing behind.
"Whooo..."
The howling wind was like the wails of ghosts and spirits, chilling to the bone. Mo Wangchen carried the souls of Yao Yuntian and the Heavenly Sea Saint along the endless Underworld Road.
This road appeared to be bathed in blood, long dried and congealed, but still showing a vivid red hue.
The road seed endless, as if it would never end. Ghost City knew no day or night, and Mo Wangchen did not know how long he had been walking.
Until ahead, a crashing sound, like waves pounding, with the force of ten thousand horses galloping, echoed.
Wangchuan River!
The river’s murky waters were blood-yellow, and from afar, Mo Wangchen could see the terrifying scene.
In the river, countless insects and snakes slithered about, a sinister breeze hitting his face with the waves, a scene terrifyingly otherworldly, visible only in this legendary Netherworld.
A grotesque figure sat cross-legged in the water, letting insects and ants bite on them, yet not moving. At first, Mo Wangchen thought it was soone who had been dead for who knows how long, until he brought Yao Yuntian and the Heavenly Sea Saint to the riverbank.
The person sitting in the bloody water opened their eyes and glanced at Mo Wangchen and Yao Yuntian behind him.
Then the person shook their head, a hint of disappointnt and lancholy in their eyes, saying nothing before closing their eyes again.
The Wangchuan River wasn’t particularly wide; an ancient wooden bridge spanned the two banks, so dozen feet long.
The bridge reached the other shore, none other than the legendary Naihe Bridge!
In ancient terms, crossing the Naihe Bridge and drinking the ngpo Soup would erase past dreams and sever all causes and effects, enabling one to enter Reincarnation.
Mo Wangchen, with Yao Yuntian and the Heavenly Sea Saint, walked over the Naihe Bridge. At the end stood a Three-Life Stone, inscribed with a person’s past, present, and future lives.
Beside the Three-Life Stone stood an elderly woman with long white hair, who had already noticed Mo Wangchen and his companions.
"ngpo?"
Mo Wangchen squinted; could this be the legendary ngpo?
"Cross the Wangchuan River, traverse the Naihe Bridge, drink Wangchuan Water, enter the Reincarnation Road..."
ngpo spoke, her voice ethereal and filled with ancient sorrow, as if telling endless tales of the ages. She had stood there for who knows how long, perhaps ten thousand years, or perhaps countless Eras.
"What is Wangchuan Water?" Mo Wangchen frowned; could it be the legendary ngpo Soup?
"The old woman here guides souls, washing away past affairs. One bowl of soup requires only one Soul Crystal," ngpo said with a smile.
"Soul Crystal?"
Mo Wangchen hesitated; he didn’t have such an item. "Must one have a Soul Crystal to get a bowl of Wangchuan Water?"
ngpo shook her head, smiling, "The Netherworld summons souls from all eras; by now, who knows how many have passed through Reincarnation. Three thousand Eras ago, the Netherworld King decreed that wandering souls must offer a Soul Crystal to drink this Wangchuan Water. These two souls are guided by the Netherworld Envoy; they need not offer a Soul Crystal."
"Will drinking Wangchuan Water make one forget their past life?" Yao Yuntian asked.
ngpo nodded, "You two are not mortal; even if you drink the Wangchuan Water and forget the past, in the next life, if your cultivation can reach your past level, you may still recall so of it."
The Wangchuan Water has the effect of washing away mories, yet for those who have entered the Immortal Realm, it has long since lost its potency.
"Master..."
Upon hearing ngpo’s words, Yao Yuntian and the Heavenly Sea Saint looked at Mo Wangchen with so reluctance.
Mo Wangchen sighed, fully aware of their feelings at this mont. A bowl of water to wash away the past; who in this world would willingly choose such a path?
Yet, to enter Reincarnation, one must drink the Wangchuan Water.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a piercing scream ca from the Wangchuan River, from the man sitting in the bloody water, as insects and snakes crawled all over him, devouring his flesh and bones, a scene of horror.
However, the blood and flesh that were bitten off quickly grew back; the insects and snakes continued to feast but could never fully consu him.
Eventually, who knows how long passed, the insects and snakes seed sated and left the man in the bloody water alone.
"This person was once a peerless hero; he drank a thousand bowls of Wangchuan Water yet couldn’t wash away his past," ngpo stated.
Hearing this, Mo Wangchen was astonished. A thousand bowls of Wangchuan Water couldn’t erase this person’s mory; it’s hard to imagine how powerful he was in life.
"In the mortal world, he had a wife to whom he was deeply attached, a devotion rare through ti. The Wangchuan Water couldn’t cleanse his past, so the Netherworld King decreed he must jump into the Wangchuan River to endure the tornt of insects and snakes. After millions of years, if his yearning remains, and he can rember past lives, he may enter the mortal world again to seek his loved one."
"For millions of years, he watched countless tis as his beloved crossed the Naihe Bridge, drank Wangchuan Water, and entered Reincarnation, ti and ti again. Unfortunately, he could see her, but she could not see him."
Listening to ngpo’s words, Mo Wangchen’s heart couldn’t calm down for a long ti.
Countless millennia, enduring the tornt of insects and snakes daily, the man in the water did all this just to gain the chance, in the next life, to carry mories of his past life, to enter Reincarnation with his beloved, to rekindle their past love...
And yet, through all these years, his beloved died countless tis, crossed this bridge countless tis, entered Reincarnation countless tis; he could see her, but she could not see him.
Mo Wangchen couldn’t fathom what kind of pain this must be.
Compared to this man’s suffering, Mo Wangchen’s nine hundred years in Reincarnation for ng Yurou seed utterly insignificant...
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