Chapter 57 Chapter Six

For a long period of time thereafter, Wuhuan and Houtu often had such conversations. Because his injuries had not recovered, he stayed beside the Styx River in the capital of the underworld, like Di Menghun thousands of years ago, accepting The healing of the back soil.And from Houtu's narration, he also had a rough understanding of the real situation of this Nether City. It turns out that Houtu, Nandou and Yandi are all "centaurs" who came to the world due to another great change in time and space. This kind of aliens once launched an extremely tragic interstellar war against the earth in the 22nd century. It has a very important relationship with the fate of the people on earth, but it is a history that will happen thousands of years later, and it has no direct connection with the three people including Houtu.

Among the three aliens, Nan Dou is an ambitious man. After creating the entire "Heavenly Court", he intends to realize his dream of invading the world. Emperor Yan is relatively calm by nature and only created a small "Southern Heavenly Court". , but in the end he was still killed by Nan Dou. As for Houtu himself, he was not interested in actual creatures from the very beginning, but in a coincidence, he discovered that human beings on the earth have a power that dominates the human body: "soul", so he built the "Ghost of the Nether". "Du" is a space dedicated to collecting souls for research.

Wu Huan was also very interested in the exact location of the Nether City, but Houtu couldn't explain it with words he could understand. He only knew that in the age of mythology, the Nether City had an entrance behind the Heavenly Court of Kunlun Mountain. But with the passage of time, few people in the mortal world can know its entrance. If it wasn't for Wu Huan's chance to connect to the Nether Capital at the entrance of the distorted space in the "Lost Soul Formation" this time, it would be impossible to enter this fantasy world after death. In Wu Huan's life, he first learned about Di Menghun's accumulated knowledge from the stone wall for thousands of years, and later learned about Yao Sheng's magic skills in Kunlun Mountains. Now he is in Houtu again. Houtu's observation and research on the study of the soul is only a lot more than that of Di Menghun and others. During this period of time in the capital of the nether world, Wu Huan was even more coincidental. I learned a lot of knowledge about Houtu.

"Your human body is like an incomparably vast universe," Houtu once said in admiration, "every minute part is a subject that I can't finish studying in my life, and I believe that there is something behind your world. , there must be a creator, a master, beyond my imagination." Wu Huan can only understand the general idea of ​​such a statement, but he also knows that it is an extremely vast subject. "When I study your souls, it's like a child walking through the sea. At most, I can only hold out a handful of fine sand, but it is impossible to touch the bottom of the sea," Houtu's voice seemed a little I am very sorry, "The way your soul combines with your body is the most charming and skillful way, and a soul can be subdivided into many tiny parts. When people are alive, they don't know what they are. Such power, so that they are so harmoniously combined, they will not disperse after death, but arrange them in another more subtle way, go to other places, and even become another person again."

"I know," Wu Huan nodded and said, "Master Di said it was called 'Reincarnation'." "The soul that has come to me also has different understandings and feelings very interestingly," Hou Tu opened a bright picture like a window in the darkness with a big hand move. Wu Huan knew that this is What one of the souls sees and thinks, "Some ideas are wild and unconstrained, and the soul itself believes in this." In that pattern, the owner of the soul imagines himself in a place similar to a palace hall, but the hall has an extremely terrifying scene, with guards with bull and horse heads standing in forests on both sides, and all kinds of torture instruments on all sides.

And in the center of the hall, there is an ugly and majestic king sitting. In the imagination of the soul, the name of this king is "Yan Luo". "The idea of ​​this soul is very interesting," Houtu said: "In his idea, the nether world after death is an eighteen-story hall, and each hall has torture for punishing people. Usually, this kind of The afterlife is also a place where people who make mistakes come." "Yan Luo Palace... Yama King..." Wu Huan murmured, and found it very interesting, "But, is the world after death really just a dark place like you?"

"Of course not," Houtu said, "The ones I house here are only a small part of the many souls. I don't know where the others are. Maybe it's the sky, or maybe it's another ghostly place." All, maybe even more distant, places we can't even think of." As for the three souls and seven souls that are often mentioned by priests in the current world, Houtu also has his own unique explanation. "The soul and the soul can actually be interpreted as a force that makes the human body work," Houtu said eloquently: "The three souls are in charge of people's thoughts, vitality and feelings, and the seven souls are in charge of the energy of the seven internal organs of the human body." .”

It didn't take long to say this, but a strange visitor came to Wuhuan's complete surprise in the Nether Capital of Houtu. This visitor turned out to be Jiang Ziya, the Xiqi soldier who beat Wuhuan to death and abandoned him in the Lost Soul Formation! But Jiang Ziya did not appear in the Nether Capital in the form of a mortal. According to Houtu, it was only Jiang Ziya's soul that came here.Wu Huan saw that Jiang Ziya's appearance was still the same, but his expression was in a trance, and he no longer had the wise look of the past. Although Jiang Ziya used despicable means to kill Wu Huan in the Lost Soul Formation, but Wu Huan was not a person who held grudges. Seeing Jiang Ziya's wandering soul at this moment, he didn't feel any anger in his heart, on the contrary, he felt a little sympathy.

But Houtu didn't take Jiang Ziya's soul into the Nether Capital, but just drew Jiang Ziya's shadow by his side. "Jiang Ziya is not dead at the moment," Houtu said, "He was just worshiped in the way of attracting souls, and a few souls on his body were worshiped, but Xiqi's helpers are coming soon, and they should have a way to kill them." The soul calls back." Sure enough, not long after, there were a few faint cries from outside the Nether City. "Zi Ya...Zi Ya..." The voice called faintly: "I am Chi Jingzi, I am here to lead you back to Xiqi..."

Jiang Ziya's soul seemed to have sensed something, and with a gentle blow from the back soil, he flitted across the Nether River and gradually disappeared into the distance. "The people in Xiqi are quite familiar with this kind of soul-inducing technique, and a few people also know my place," Houtu said, "It's just that I've long been used to a comfortable and dark life, and I've never been in contact with them. " "Then Jiang Ziya..." Wu Huan asked hesitantly, "There is something called 'Fengshen Bang', do you know what it is?"

"'Fengshenbang'?" Hou Tu wondered, "I don't know, what is that?" Wu Huan wanted to narrate in detail, but forgot that Houtu could read people's thoughts in a moment, before he could speak, he heard his soft murmur. "Hmm..." Houtu's voice was strange: "If this thing is related to Nandou, then it's a bit unusual..." "You also feel that something is wrong?" Wu Huan wondered. "It's not surprising that Nan Dou's head is still alive, because our people do have such a strong vitality, but it's a little strange that he wants Jiang Ziya to collect these souls..." Houtu murmured, "Could it be..." "Those souls were indeed collected by Jiang Ziya?" Wu Huan asked curiously, "Didn't they come to you?" "The souls of the dead people you have seen, such as Boyi Kao, Queen Jiang, etc., are not with me, so it is very likely that they are with Jiang Ziya." Houtu said: "Our physique, contact you mortals more. Their souls are a little bit good, but what use is it for Nandou to have them..." "Benefits?" Wu Huan asked curiously, "What does that mean? Why does our mortal soul benefit your body?" "I discovered this by accident, because I have been in contact with your mortal soul force fields for many years. Over time, I found that your souls have a repairing effect on our bodies, but it is only a small help, not of much use..." Houtu thought about it for a long time, and then slowly said: "I can't figure out what Nandou's plot is, and I don't want to know, because he and I have nothing wrong with Qiu, as long as he doesn't come to me to make trouble, what to do? None of my business." Wu Huan said anxiously: "But that's none of my business! After all, I am a person living in the world. If Nan Dou has any schemes, it will make people I know suffer!" Houtu was silent for a while, and then said softly: "It's still none of my business." He said: "I am in this dark city, sitting and watching the wind and water in the world, watching so many people laughing, proud However, in the end, it was still a bad loess. After coming to me, no matter whether you drank Mengpo soup, passed Sanheyuan, or the Eighteen Halls of Yama, it is still the same world, the same sorrow and joy? You have experienced it After such a life and death, can’t you see through this point?” Hearing such words, Wu Huan was a little stunned, and wanted to retort, but felt that something in her heart had been touched a little bit. "Look at these souls!" Houtu pointed to the many wandering souls beside the Nether River. Each soul has a light spot. The joys and sorrows of various memories. "Look at these souls, no matter how much they care about and how beautiful their memories are, after passing through my river, they will start again, forgetting all the human world in the previous life, and go through the sorrow, love and resentment of mortals again... Really It's not important, Wuhuan, really everything is not important anymore..." Wu Huan carefully chewed what he said, and even though she was still unconvinced, she felt that there was no way to refute him. Mother who died young... Because of his enthusiasm, he killed his father at the hands of the goblin... The innocent father-in-law who buried his emotions deeply in his heart all his life... Di Menghun and Yao Sheng, who are deeply in love but have not been able to see each other for several lifetimes... Also, the beautiful girl figure of "Fox" Sister Su who made him toss and turn in the night when he couldn't sleep... But during this period of ghostly experience, subtle changes occurred in Wu Huan's heart, gradually wrapping up his nostalgia for the world, because he was afraid of being hurt again, he no longer let go of his heart, and did not want to love again. Love anyone, care about anyone. The dark river gurgled past my ears. Since childhood, Wu Huan has been very used to this kind of peaceful life with darkness and loneliness. Every day, she sits next to the Nether River, listening to the countless ghost stories told by Hou Tu, sitting and watching the people laughing and crying. The ghosts of complaining, complaining, and thinking floated by in front of his eyes, and Wu Huan felt that he had been closely integrated with this afterlife world, as if it didn't matter if he lived here for the rest of his life. After sending away Jiang Ziya's soul, Houtu began to pay attention to the fighting process between Xiqi and the Shang government army with great interest. His ability is enough to open an open passage between the capital of the underworld and the mortal world, and he can see the mortal world Since Wu Huan had nothing else to do, he watched the battle between Xiqi and Shang Tang Dynasty with him from time to time. It turned out that Jiang Ziya's soul was scattered that day because he was disturbed by the force field of the "Lost Soul Formation", so he was defeated by the Shang Dynasty camp and almost died.But after a few strange people came from Jiang Ziya's master, the whole situation changed. After Jiang Ziya regained his consciousness, the Xiqi camp broke through six formations of "Heaven's Absolute", "Di Lie", and "Wind Roar". But when he encountered the most difficult "falling soul formation", he also met another strange master invited by the Shang Dynasty camp. But Wu Huan has seen this master before, and that is Zhao Gongming who was sent to Dinghaizhu by Yao Sheng after Kunlun. Since then, the battle between the two parties has given Wuhuan the idea that life is indeed a boring game. "Zhao Gongming injured Jiang Ziya, and Jiang Ziya worshiped Zhao Gongming to death..." Wuhuan said with a smile to Houtu: "Zhao Gongming's three younger sisters came to avenge, the army of Xiqi and the army of Shang Dynasty came again after killing them. Killing again, it really looks like a boring chess game..." But Hou Tu didn't say a word, just smiled softly amidst the sound of the Nether River's flowing water. However, such Nether years will come to an end after all. Wu Huan’s physical injuries have finally healed during this strange time. The idea of ​​the capital, but Houtu never agreed. One day, Hou Tu said to Wu Huan: "People often say, You Ming has a different way, you have been here for so long, it is already considered an anomaly, the wounds on your body have healed, and you should leave my place. " Wu Huan knew that although Hou Tu was gentle, his personality was one-sided, so he forced a smile: "That means, I have to die before I can come to you again, right?" Houtu smiled softly. "Yes." He said, "I just hope that after you really die, there will be a better place to go, instead of coming to this strange place like mine." This kind of farewell really makes people feel strange and weird. Wu Huan wanted to say something, but found that the sound of the Nether River's water had become more and more blurred... In the quiet space, only the ever-changing gentle voice of Hou Tu can be heard. "Life in this world is like morning dew..." He said: "Xiqi is empty, Shang Tang is also empty, the world is bitter, and life and death are not as good..." Then, after the sound of the water disappeared completely, Wu Huan found that he was still in the wilderness in front of Jiameng Pass, which was the same place where he was trapped in the "Lost Soul Formation". The same place, but time has passed, and the scenery has long been different. The Jiameng Pass in front of you is a dilapidated ruin, and the surrounding sky is still blue, but the plains where the two armies deployed the ten great formations have long since grown overgrown. Long grass all over the sky. However, the place where the Xiqi camp was stationed at that time has already become a pile of abandoned mounds for mass burials, with many wooden plaques scattered here and there. The names are the names of soldiers who died in the Xiqi camp. Wearing clothes, some wore a helmet, and the spring breeze passed by, and the helmet jingled when it blew. Wherever the soldiers have fought, they are all wronged souls. Wu Huan walked up to the mass grave silently, but saw a pair of white bones wearing armor on a tree. The clothes on his body had long been rotten, but there was a small jade plaque hanging on his chest. . On the jade plate, engrave in small red letters: "Longevity and wealth, my son is full moon". Wu Huan stood silently in front of the white bones for a long time before finding a rusty knife and buried the unknown bones together with the jade plaque. And the old parents who are waiting for the return of their beloved son in the distance can only watch Feng Qi and Yun Mie, day and night, waiting for a hope that will never come back. On the same day, in front of Jiameng Pass, Xiqi Army Division Jiang Ziya broke through the Ten Jue Formation and Jiameng Pass. "Grand Master" Wen Zhong also died in Longling soon after. King Zhou, the emperor of the Shang Dynasty, still played and sang all night with his new favorite concubine, Daji, in an unrestrained licentiousness. After this battle, the army of Xiqi continued to point towards Chaoge City, and would never stop until Chaoge was broken! This is the news that Wu Huan heard from nearby wanderers, but it was also a year ago. No matter what it is and when it happened, it is like a spring breeze to Wu Huan at this moment, and he no longer cares about it superior. In the wilderness in front of Jiameng Pass, on a certain moonlit night, Wu Huan's figure was long reflected in the long grass in front of the pass, and slowly moved away. But in the distant sky, the beacon fire of the crusade is still like bright red blood, staining the suffering world red.