Wu De turned his head away, his pupils immediately shrinking. Such an outstanding person, once seen, would never be forgotten; the familiarity was frightening.
“Wait, how can you see me? I’m a ghost!”
Those police officers earlier clearly couldn’t see him! How could a person see a ghost? Was this fortune teller really that amazing?
An Rugu glanced at him but ignored him.
The little jiangshi laughed, “Uncle, you are a ghost, that’s true, but she’s a yin envoy who specializes in catching ghosts like you.”
Wu De: “…”
As soon as the little jiangshi finished speaking, Wu De, who reacted quickly, turned around and tried to escape.
Damn it, this fortune teller is really skilled; she’s even a yin envoy.
I’m going to seek revenge, not to go to the Underworld!
However, before he could take a single step, with a whoosh, his soul was suddenly enveloped by a powerful suction force, and his entire body was sucked into the black banner.
An Rugu took the Soul-Summonning Talisman and walked towards the Land God Temple, turning back to look at the little jiangshi. “Remember to stay close to me, don’t get lost.”
“Okay!” The little jiangshi immediately followed.
After watching the whole process, the Land God exclaimed in amazement, “It’s obvious your soul-summoning talisman can greatly improve work efficiency; it’s truly a treasure.”
An Rugu didn’t need to be nearby to use the Soul-Summoning Talisman to summon souls to her. She only needed to write the birth date and time on the Soul-Summoning Talisman, and those souls will be drawn to her.
Her task completion rate was 100%, and her completion speed was also the fastest.
After learning about this, many yin envoys sent her messages via mobile phone, requesting to buy this kind of soul-summoning talisman.
She now has business not only in the living world, but also in the Underworld.
“If you want some, you can buy it from me.”
An Rugu sold it to them, but refused to accept ghost money, only gold and silver treasures of equal value. After all, she was currently unable to use ghost money.
The local land god was quite interested, and so, using the gold he had accumulated during his lifetime, he bought several talismans.
Cash on delivery.
An Rugu’s clothes had no pockets, so she casually tossed the gold to the little jiangshi to play with. “Land God, where is the passage?”
“I almost forgot you’re a new Underworld official. Let me bring you there.” The Land God put down the interesting summoning talisman, walked to the back of the temple, and pushed open the door, “Go in.”
“Thank you.” An Rugu recited the Golden Light Mantra once, and walked in with the little jiangshi.
The passage ahead was pitch black, devoid of any light, like a monster capable of devouring people. The eerie atmosphere in the air was incredibly dense.
This was precisely the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
An Rugu pulled out the paper phone with her right hand, opened the livestreaming app, and paused, her gaze falling on the number of followers. The Shark Livestreaming platform in the mortal realm had over 100 million followers, but in the Underworld, it had over 500 million…
As soon as the livestream started, both the Underworld and the living world began streaming simultaneously, quickly attracting countless fans from the living world who had been waiting in the wings.
[Why is the screen black? Is there something I, a VIP fan, can’t see?]
[This is the first time I’ve seen a streamer do an extra broadcast since I started following them. I’m so happy!]
[I didn’t eat dinner tonight, I was just waiting for the second episode of the Underworld live stream, and it’s finally here!]
Before long, the livestream channel finally lit up, and an ancient archway came into view, with the three large characters ‘Gate of Ghosts’ written on it, exuding an incomparably majestic aura.
The Gates of Ghosts was the first gate to enter the Underworld, guarded by eighteen ghost kings and lesser ghosts. Many of the ghosts have green faces and fangs, and their forms were other-wordly; the ghost kings were especially enormous.
[Wow, wow, this set design is amazing! The budget must be incredible!]
[Go check out the summaries from the experts on Weibo; is it possible that this is true?]
[Holy crap, I can’t find it during the day, and I can’t hide from it at night.]
[My God, the Most Venerable Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder and Universal Transformation1!]
[Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing2!]
[Lying in bed, I quickly pulled the covers up. According to the laws of the Underworld, ghosts cannot harm the person under the covers!]
[I’m too scared to watch, but I really want to. I’m both timid and incredibly curious. Help!]
[May Buddha protect me from all evil! May the comments section protect me!]
As An Rugu stood before the Gate of Ghosts, a strange thought inexplicably arose in her mind.
She didn’t go underground but directly arrived at the Underworld. Moreover, all the local land temples had passages leading to the Underworld. It seemed the Underworld wasn’t underground, but rather another dimension. No matter which passage you entered through, you’d arrive at the Gate of Ghosts.
She revealed her identity and showed the travel permit to the little ghost, and the Gate of Ghosts opened in response: ‘Boom boom boom!’
A long avenue came into view.
This road was similar in length and width to a road in the human world, but it was a bluestone road and the surface was not smooth.
This was the Yellow Springs Road.
The Yellow Springs Road wound and undulated like a snake, leading to a distant place. Countless ghosts have trod this bluestone path before and after.
It was said that when ancient people dug deep wells, the groundwater was yellow in color and they believed this was because people were buried underground after they died; and so the ancients believed that the Yellow Springs was underground, and the world where people lived after death was underground.
The Yellow Springs Road got its name from this.
An Rugu led the little jiangshi onto the Yellow Springs Road, passing by the sea of spider lilies beside the road.
The red spider lily had a beautiful appearance and bright red petals, so vibrant that it resembled a sea of flowers or a sea of blood.
[Holy crap, this is the Yellow Springs Road! It’s so atmospheric.]
[Are the Underworld and the human world in the same dimension? Why can they receive signals from each other?]
[10G signal connects directly to the Underworld (just kidding).]
[Flowers bloom without leaves, leaves fall without flowers. Like lovers, never to meet again in lifetimes to come.]
[Oh my god, these flowers are so beautiful! Can anyone give me one?]
[I need to sit at the children’s table during the banquet.]
[I’ve heard that the lycoris radiata flower, also known as the red spider lily, is poisonous, though not very toxic, and it’s exceptionally beautiful. It’s said that ancient sleeping potions were made from powdered red spider lilies.]
As An Rugu walked forward, she explained to the audience like a tour guide, “This is the Yellow Springs Road. Ghosts must pass here in order to be reincarnated.”
Ahead lay the River of Forgetfulness3, the Bridge of Helplessness4, and the Terrace of Longing for Home5. Beside the Terrace of Longing for Home, there’s Meng Po selling Meng Po’s Soup…
There was an old poem that went: ‘On the Bridge of Helplessness, one can only lament; right and wrong cannot cross the River of Forgetfulness.’ Remember not to ask about the future nor the past, or it would bring a lot of trouble.
Moreover, many evil spirits could not cross the Bridge of Helplessness and fell directly into the River of Forgetfulness, becoming wandering ghosts unable to be reincarnated.
An Rugu walked to the vicinity of the Bridge of Helplessness. The water of the River of Forgetfulness was blood-yellow, teeming with insects and snakes, and a strange, fishy smell wafted towards her.
Countless water ghosts thrashed about inside, their faces sinister and terrifying.
She glanced at them briefly; the scene was a bit terrifying. To protect the audience’s hearts, she didn’t turn the camera that way.
I Livestream Divination to the World translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
T/N: When deep wells were dug during ancient times, the people would invariably encounter ‘yellow-colored water’ because of the clay content. People believed that since the dead were buried underground, then naturally the world of the dead is underground and because of the yellow-colored water that seeps through, it must have a yellow spring. Eventually, the road that the dead spirits walk became known as the ‘Yellow Springs Road.’
…
This is the ‘Gate of Ghosts’ as depicted in the Fengdu Ghost City.
Enjoying my translations? Check out my PATREON. You can subscribe to get advance access to all ongoing translation works, single work only, or bundled works. Or just leave a tip! Thanks for your support.
FOOTNOTE:
- You couldn’t have forgotten him with that name, right? He’s the supreme thunder deity. ↩︎
- This is the ‘Nine Syllable Mantra’ to ward off evil and avoid misfortune. ↩︎
- River of Forgetfulness or ‘Wangchuan River’. It’s a blood-red river that separates the world of the living from the Underworld. Fun fact, in Greek mythology, the body of water in Hades is called River Lethe or River of Oblivion ↩︎
- Bridge of Helplessness or ‘Naihe Bridge’; crosses the River of Forgetfulness. It reflects the regret and helplessness the souls feel towards their unfulfilled hopes and desires. ↩︎
- Terrace of Longing for Home or the ‘Wangxiang Terrace’. It’s a long ridge beyond the Yellow Springs but before Meng Po and her soup of forgetfulness. It’s meant to give souls one last chance to look back and lament what they left behind before moving on. ↩︎
Leave a Reply