Chapter 39: Rainstorm Wild Temple 1 Part 2
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While Zhang Wubing excitedly interacted with the audience on the livestream, the central figure of the discussion, Yan Shixun, remained completely unaware of what was happening.
According to past experience, when such a large number of people simultaneously mentioned Yan Shixun’s name, he, as someone with innate spirituality maximally preserved, should have sensed it strongly. This would lead to curiosity and ultimately trigger him to figure out the truth.
—Although the concerns of the Yan Mais were speculative, they had accidentally guessed right.
If Yan Shixun were awake at this moment, he would undoubtedly try to disrupt this outcome.
Unfortunately, at this moment, Yan Shixun was in his room at the Gui Mountain Villa, half-leaning on the sofa, fast asleep.
But he didn’t seem to be sleeping soundly; his brows were furrowed the entire time.
Yan Shixun’s tall figure was sprawled across the sofa, pressing against his chest. His posture didn’t look like he was prepared for peaceful slumber.
Instead, it seemed like he had suddenly drifted off to sleep without any prior intention.
Yan Shixun felt like he was in an extremely cold place.
This kind of coldness wasn’t the common cold experienced in the mortal realm, nor was it the cold of winter or an icy cellar.
This coldness had no interest in freezing his physical body, and Yan Shixun’s movements were unaffected.
Instead, it was his soul…
This coldness seemed to directly penetrate one’s three souls and seven spirits, inspecting a person’s soul and their accumulated sins and merits, reviewing all the good and evil deeds of their past life.
Suddenly, Yan Shixun realized that this process and sensation were exactly like what one experiences after death when they are guided to the Yama’s Court in the underworld for judgment of their deeds and determination of their next life.
Was he dead?
Yan Shixun furrowed his brow but didn’t panic.
In a pitch-black vision, he slowly closed his eyes and silently recited an incantation in his mind, attempting to detach his soul from his body and descend to the underworld.
However, the expected effect did not occur, and his attempt to leave his body and enter the underworld failed.
Yan Shixun had great confidence in his abilities and didn’t believe that his lack of ability had led to his current state of existence.
There was only one explanation for his situation——
He was already in the underworld and in a state of separation from his physical body right now.
Having confirmed his current situation, Yan Shixun didn’t open his eyes but instead relied on his senses to move forward steadily.
When a living soul whose allotted lifespan hadn’t ended entered the underworld, it was best not to open their eyes. This was to prevent the surrounding spirits from realizing that a living person had entered the underworld and to avoid losing vital life force (yang energy). It also served to prevent the underworld officials from discovering them.
Although he had confirmed that he was no longer in the living world, he had not yet determined which specific underworld he was in.
Because of the long and ancient historical roots in China, spanning thousands of years, the beliefs and interpretations regarding the afterlife have seen significant variations.
And the term the nether world has become a unified reference. Under this term, there are not only the frequently mentioned the netherworld, but also places like Fengdu Ghost City, Dongyue Hell and so on.
Spirits and deities are closely tied to the lives of living beings, the thoughts and beliefs of the living can greatly influence the strength and influence of these spiritual entities. Therefore, in different eras, the specific entities wielding power in the underworld can vary significantly.
Just as in modern times, it is commonly referred to as the Yama’s Court in the underworld. The mention of Fengdu Ghost City has become rare and has entered a period of decline.
Yan Shixun originally thought that he had entered the netherworld he had dealt with before. However, with the surroundings he sensed as he walked, it turned out that he was not in the Yama’s Court.
Instead, it seemed more like Fengdu, a place that Taoists and Shamans had not visited for many years.
This unexpected situation made Yan Shixun’s heart sink, and his guard was raised to the highest level.
However, Yan Shixun soon realized that he existed here like air, and no one noticed his presence. The grotesque Yin Officials and evil spirits all walked past him as if he were invisible.
A powerful force suddenly emanated from the front, accompanied by a familiar voice that piqued Yan Shixun’s interest.
He furrowed his brows, held his breath, and cautiously approached.
Fengdu, a gathering place for spirits and a land where souls were judged.
On a platform ten yards high, the eaves soared high into the sky, pointing directly toward the pitch-black, lightless canopy of dark clouds.
From within, there unexpectedly came a voice filled with pleasant surprise, belonging to a female ghost named Xi Shuang.
“Nanny!”
Having eluded all the Yin Officials and concealed his form with the towering temple doors, Yan Shixun heard this voice and couldn’t help but pause in astonishment.
In an instant, a trace of his soul leaked out.
Inside the eerie Fengdu Hall, a pair of sharp yet composed eyes opened from the inky darkness, calmly gazing in the direction outside the temple where Yan Shixun was hiding.
However, the others inside the temple didn’t notice this unexpected development and continued with their own affairs.
Yan Shixun saw Xi Shuang, dressed in a pure white rose-patterned qipao, standing in the center of the main hall. She looked both surprised and joyful as she looked to the side, opened her arms, and ran toward someone, throwing herself into their embrace.
It was none other than the gentle and benevolent nanny.
She embraced Xi Shuang and reached out her frail hand with a loving smile, caressing Xi Shuang’s delicate, coiled hair.
Xi Shuang, both surprised and choked with emotion, asked, “Nanny, didn’t Mr. Yan say you had already been reincarnated? Why are you still here? I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you again, but here I am, meeting with you. This is wonderful.”
The nanny lovingly looked at the child she regarded as her own, smiled, and said, “Because I was worried about you. I was afraid you would be too stubborn, and Mr. Yan couldn’t bring himself to send you here. I was also afraid that when he did send you here, you would be frightened of the darkness. So I waited here for you. I can only rest assured once I see that you are safe and sound.”
Xi Shuang hugged her nanny, crying, choked up, not knowing where to begin with her overwhelming guilt and longing.
Xi Shuang’s louder calls and the heartwarming scene of the reunion between mother and daughter disturbed the officials in the hall, much to their displeasure.
“On the grand hall, how can there be such noise?”
A cold and stern voice sounded. “Malevolent spirit Xi Shuang, do you recognize that you killed more than seventy-three people a hundred years ago?”
“According to Fengdu’s laws, those who take human lives, malevolent spirits should be sent…”
“I do not believe they should be subjected to punishment,” another deep, magnetic male voice suddenly interrupted, cutting off the words of the stern voice.
Surprisingly, the official did not refute or become angry at being interrupted. Instead, he fell silent, as if preparing to listen to the male voice.
“Though the malevolent spirit took lives, humans also took the lives of malevolent spirits during their lifetime, leaving the wronged souls with no recourse but to transform into malevolent spirits to seek revenge for themselves.”
The voice continued, “This, I approve of. Moreover…”
The owner of that voice seemed to chuckle briefly before continuing, “The matter of Xi Shuang becoming a malevolent spirit was my promise, the power comes from me.”
The officials fell into prolonged silence.
Then the main figure let out a long sigh, seemingly helpless, as if sighing in resignation, and tossed down a black wooden token from above.
The black wooden token landed, and the judgment took effect.
“The malevolent spirit, despite committing murder, has reached a karmic balance. Condemned to reincarnate in thirty years.”
Xi Shuang had originally expected to hear the same sentences she had heard when she was still alive, being cast into the 18th level of hell for punishment. However, after that mysterious voice intervened, she found out that she could actually be reincarnated!
Instantly, she cried and smiled with joy, bowing deeply to the sky and also to the source of the voice in the dark distance.
“Thank you, thank you…”
As Yan Shixun watched all of this unfold, he felt a slight movement in his brows, showing relief for Xi Shuang’s favorable outcome, but at the same time, he frowned and looked towards that dark area.
What was there…
Yan Shixun’s gaze had just swept over, and the sharp, vigilant eyes from that dark place found him and stared at him intensely.
Yan Shixun’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly reacted, his long, nimble fingers forming seals as he forcibly summoned back his detached soul.
The next moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, assuming a guarded stance with his hands forming seals.
But the surroundings were no longer the darkness; it was his familiar, cozy hotel room.
Yan Shixun, still on high alert, scanned his surroundings cautiously. After a moment, he confirmed that he had indeed left Fengdu and returned to the realm of the living.
The throw pillows and thin blanket on the couch still held the same appearance as when he fell asleep, and a half-empty glass of lukewarm water sat on the table.
Everything appeared exactly as it was before he fell asleep.
But why had he inexplicably fallen asleep? And why did he not know what happened, only to find himself descending into Fengdu, witnessing Xi Shuang’s fate?
Yan Shixun glanced at his wristwatch; it had just passed midnight.
This was the time when spirits and gods were active, a time when the living couldn’t perform divinations. He couldn’t use divination right now to understand the specific reasons and circumstances.
Just as Yan Shixun sank into contemplation, his room door was suddenly knocked.
The knocking was accompanied by an air of inexplicable caution, as if the person outside was afraid of someone inside rushing out to confront them.
Yan Shixun’s eyes narrowed, and his heavy aura, not yet fully released from his previous vigilance, surged as he strode toward the door.
He quickly reached the door, flung it open, and cast a sharp gaze at the intruder.
Outside the door, Zhang Wubing stood frozen in the midst of knocking, holding a live streaming device in his other hand. He rushed towards Yan Shixun.
“Brother….”
Zhang Wubing had just managed to squeeze out a smile, ready to call him “Brother Yan” but was instantly frightened by the fierce gaze from Yan Shixun.
The audience, squatting in front of the camera, was also frightened.
In the previous moment, they had been happily discussing what kind of expression Yan Shixun would have if he knew he hadn’t been eliminated at the end.
In the next moment, they raised their heads, ready to burst into laughter, but unexpectedly locked eyes with a pair of sharp, knife-like gazes.
They instantly took a sharp breath, their smiles disappeared, and their scalps tingled as an instinctive urge to escape surged from their souls.
The once lively barrage suddenly fell silent.
Unlike the viewers behind the camera, Zhang Wubing was facing all the heavy pressure and the astonishing aura brought by Yan Shixun directly. It was like being preyed upon by a top-notch hunter, unable to escape.
Zhang Wubing was scared backward several steps, stumbling and falling over when he collided with the railing behind him.
“Bro-Brother Yan,” Zhang Wubing called out with a trembling voice, almost crying. “It’s me, I’m Xiaobing.”
After his eyes gradually adjusted to the sudden brightness that poured in from outside the door, Yan Shixun finally saw clearly that it was indeed Zhang Wubing who had fallen in front of him.
His tense muscles slowly relaxed.
“It’s you?”
Yan Shixun’s formidable aura gradually subsided, and he snorted, asking, “It’s already midnight. What are you doing here instead of sleeping?”
Zhang Wubing: …
Now he really wanted to run, but he couldn’t say a word.
Under Yan Shixun’s compelling gaze, Zhang Wubing, who couldn’t escape, mustered up the courage to tremble and open his mouth.
“I… I came to tell Brother Yan…”
Zhang Wubing hiccupped, with an image utterly destroyed in front of the live camera, and continued, “Brother Yan, you are ranked third in the popularity vote, you haven’t been eliminated at the bottom.”
Yan Shixun: “?”
“……”
Yan Shixun, who quickly understood the situation, gritted his teeth and shouted Zhang Wubing’s name, “Zhang, Wu, Bing.”
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