Where do people go after they die?
Does the Netherworld really exist?
If you do evil while alive, will you be judged after death?
Does karma and rebirth exist in the world?
Does the mythical underworld really have five ghost emperors, ten palaces of Yama, and eighteen levels of hell?
Throughout the ages, doubts about life and death have lingered in the hearts of countless people, inspiring endless anecdotes and legends.
Generation after generation of cultivators pursuing immortality have worked tirelessly to explore the mysteries of life and death.
In the long and colorful history of cultivation, there are many sages and sages who have mastered the Taoist teachings and mastered the Mahayana, and finally ascended to the immortal world and enjoyed the bliss of eternal life.
However, the secret of life can still be solved, but in the end, no one can understand the path of death.
There are thousands of ways to kill people in the world, such as commanding ghosts and refining corpses. However, bringing the dead back to life is absolutely impossible. The so-called six paths of reincarnation have been like a mirror, a mirage, and a mirage, breaking the hearts of hundreds of millions of souls.
Although the dead cannot be traced, the souls of the dead have their own destination according to legend.
The land of Kyushu, with Zhongzhou as the center, is arranged in the order of southeast, northwest (that is, clockwise), namely Xuanzhou, Mingzhou, Yunzhou, Youzhou, Leizhou, Yueshenzhou, Cangzhou, and Lanzhou.
The states are bordered two by two, and Xuanzhou and Lanzhou at the beginning and end are connected with each other.
To the north of Leizhou, to the south of Yueshenzhou, and to the west of Zhongzhou, thousands of peaks stand, thousands of hills rise together, vast forests and lush greenery, and are known as the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
There are three giant snow-capped mountains in the extreme west of Shiwanda Mountain, named Nushan Mountain, Beishan Mountain, and Worry Mountain. The three mountains turn into snow, and three rivers flow out, namely Nujiang River, Lamenting River, and Kuyu River.
The three rivers flow westward, passing through thousands of miles of mist, and finally converge into a mysterious and boundless river, known in the world as the "River of the Netherworld", which is the River Styx.
The famous "Western Sea Underworld", one of the ten most mysterious places in Kyushu, is located at the end of the River Styx - the West Sea.
It is said that the Styx is the boundary river between the human world and the netherworld. The Styx Ghost Mother is responsible for the laws of all ghosts. Non-undead ghosts cannot cross the river. Once a living person enters the river by mistake, there is no hope of resurrection, and from then on, he is separated from his relatives and friends in the world.
Cangzhou is adjacent to Yueshenzhou to the west and Zhongzhou to the south. Even ordinary people have heard about the River Styx that thousands of ghosts fight to cross and the underworld in the West Sea where souls return.
Mu Haotian's ancestral skills are closely related to ghost tricks, and he has some knowledge of them. Tashan and Haiyun are both accomplished practitioners, not to mention, they know many more secrets than him.
At this moment, when they first saw the Styx Boundary Monument, the three of them had the same idea, and their first thoughts were:
"This is absolutely impossible! The River Styx is tens of thousands of miles away, how could such a good person break in?"
The territory of Kyushu is vast, and Cangzhou alone is far more than ten thousand miles in length and breadth. Not to mention wading and boating, even if the Taoist monks fly their weapons, it is not easy to cross the state, let alone Cangzhou, which still has to be crossed. Only the vast and mysterious Hundred Thousand Mountains can reach the River Styx.
But the scene in front of them was anything but an illusion. The three of them looked at each other in astonishment and couldn't figure it out for a moment.
The eight characters on the boundary monument were gleaming with blood, and the force was frightening. Haiyun stood on the bulwark. As he got closer, he felt a faint feeling of chest tightness and breathlessness. He tapped his right foot and jumped back into the ship.
The sailboat was still moving forward and passed the boundary river monument. The further we walked, the thicker the fog on the river became. After a while, everyone was only a few steps away from each other, but they were already blurry and couldn't see each other. Clear your face.
"The angry mountain is angry, and the mad sword cuts the river."
Suddenly hearing the sound of a curse, Jingling was extremely frightened. She didn't need to think about the things she was afraid of in her life. She just recited the curse with a trembling voice, which activated the "Tears of the Underworld Mother" and disappeared into the mist. .
After she became invisible, she suddenly found an extra person beside her and shouted:
"Mom!"
He sat down backwards and almost somersaulted.
After taking a closer look, I recognized that this person was Senior Sister Yan'er who had disappeared earlier. She was smiling and jumping happily at her, but no sound could be heard.
Jing Ling called out: "Senior Sister!"
He tried to get closer to Swift, but he was blocked by an invisible and substantial barrier just a few feet away, so he had to stand still.
It turns out that after the "Tears of the Underworld Mother" abilities are turned on at the same time, they can see each other, but they cannot communicate with each other and cannot touch each other.
Mu Haotian saw that Yu Yan and Jing Ling were both safe, and was about to urge Xue Ying to activate the "Tears of the Underworld Mother" as soon as possible. Fang Fu turned around and suddenly thought:
"No! Tears of the Underworld Mother... Tears of the Underworld Mother... Isn't the Styx Ghost Mother the Lord of the Styx? How come I just got the Styx Ghost Mother's tears and ended up here in the Styx by chance? "
She quietly turned her head and glanced at Tashan, only to see that his eyes were closed tightly, and his eyes were rolling rapidly under his eyelids, obviously he was also troubled and thinking.
At that moment, a sharp "chi" sound was heard, and Haiyun's wrist suddenly flipped over, slashing out a golden sword light to the right and front.
The sword was as powerful as a rainbow, flying across the necks of the three boatmen on the right like lightning.
In the blink of an eye, three pale-skinned heads fell to the deck and rolled like bones, but not a drop of blood flowed out of the severed necks as big as a sea bowl.
Sure enough, it was a water ghost who seemed to have been dead for a long time.
Mu Haotian couldn't bear it in his heart. Reason told him that these people were hopeless, but he still kept hope. Seeing Haiyun raising his knife to slash the three woodcutters on the left, he hurriedly shouted:
"Brother Haiyun, stay! Let me see if I can save them first."
The golden sword energy cut off three more heads in an instant without any lag.
Mu Haotian froze one hand in the air and heard Haiyun say coldly:
"Boy! Remember! Kindness is the most ridiculous quality in the world of cultivation."
Mu Haotian was shocked and lowered his head silently. He inexplicably remembered Han Wenjing's ruthless killing methods, and felt confused deep in his heart.
After a while, I suddenly felt the delicate body of Xue Ying in my arms trembling. One hand covered her small mouth, and the other trembled and pointed forward.
He immediately raised his head and looked forward, and saw that after the heads of the six boatmen were beheaded, their hands continued to move, and they were still rowing hard. Their headless bodies were shaking and shaking, which was very terrifying.
Seeing this situation, Mu Haotian knew that he had to stop them as soon as possible! At that moment, he lowered Tuo Xueying, pointed his right cuff at a boatman, pinched a handful of ghost-shaking talismans with his left hand and put it in front of his sleeve, buttoned the sleeve's middle machine to expand it, and sent out beads one after another, each dark bead was wrapped with a yellow talisman. .
After six sounds of "Papapapapapapap", the six boatmen's heads were all struck with ghost-shaking charms.
Mu Haotian made a gesture and shouted: "Go!"
Six clusters of flames ignited at the same time, and the "whoosh" jumped three feet high. The six boatmen's bodies trembled and trembled twice in a row. A wisp of green smoke escaped from the broken neck, and the six dead bodies immediately collapsed. .
The ship slid forward slowly for a while and finally came to a standstill.
Haiyun withdrew the golden sword that was about to strike for the third time, glanced at Mu Haotian without leaving any trace, and showed a hint of surprise.
Everyone looked around, but all they could see was a dark sky, thick mist, and only two blurry lines on the river bank. The boundary monument behind them could not be clearly seen, and there was almost no sound around them.
Mu Haotian leaned against the side of the boat and took a look into the river, but felt a cold air approaching his face. The water in the river was black, like ink that was too thick to dissolve, and there was no light or shadow reflected on the water.
He stretched out his left hand and was about to fish out the water to find out what was going on when he heard Tashan shouting urgently:
"Don't touch the water of the River Styx! This water is made of the condensed Yin Qi of the Netherworld. Anyone who touches it will die!"
There was a hint of fear in his voice. Since they met, Mu Haotian had never seen Tashan lose his composure like this before. His heart suddenly shivered, and he hurriedly withdrew his hands and took two steps back.
After Tashan stopped him, he stared into the darkness and murmured:
"Seeing something invisible and hearing it soundless is called the netherworld. The netherworld is a metaphor for the Tao rather than the Tao. That's it! That's it!"
Mu Haotian said in surprise:
"Brother Tashan, what are you talking about?"
Tashan seemed unconscious and did not reply. He thought to himself and said:
""Yunji Qizhu" says: Taishang Xuanyi, nine stars spit out essence; three, five, and seven changes, one can see into the netherworld. As the saying goes, all changes are inseparable from one's origin, but one can only watch the changes quietly."
Mu Haotian didn't understand the explanations about Netherworld in these Taoist sects at all, and was confused after hearing them.
Haiyun didn't have the time to think too much and snorted secretly:
"The current situation is strange and inexplicable, but you are in the mood to enlighten yourself and chant sutras."
Although he thought very highly of himself, he didn't want to waste time in this unknown situation and things would change for no reason. He immediately grasped the handle of the knife with both hands, locked the golden sword energy on the captain of the ship who was standing with his hands tied, and slashed at him with a sharp knife!
The wind sounded sharply, and the sword light ripped through the air. The captain raised his hand to block it, and there was a "click" sound! The boat boss's arms were broken at the elbows, and the remaining force was slashed into his chest, making a sound like gold and iron.
The two arms fell to the deck with a sound, and blood flowed from the broken arms.
Haiyun was surprised when the blow was successful. Gein's sword had actually exerted 50% of its power. In his estimation, if the opponent dared to take the blow forcefully, he should be cut into two pieces.
His arms were broken and he was bleeding profusely, but there was no pain on the captain's face. He was frowning and shaking his head at them.
Suddenly he raised his severed hand and hit himself hard on the forehead, causing blood all over his head and face, which was very scary.
Tashan suddenly thought of something and shouted:
"Brother Haiyun, wait a moment."
He persuaded Haiyun to stop using his sword for the second time, and then asked the boss of the ship:
"Are you the river god of the Lion River?"
The boss of the ship was very excited when he heard this. He knelt on his knees, put his severed hands on the deck, and kowtowed as if pounding garlic.
Tashan nodded to him, moved his lips, and recited a spell in a low voice. He stretched his right hand forward, raised it above his head, and shook it hard with his open hand.
The mace floating beside the ship's boss suddenly bounced several feet high, flashed red and then fell heavily, hitting him on the forehead.
The boss of the boat did not dodge and was hit on his back.
Mu Haotian exclaimed: "Ouch!"
However, he heard a crisp "click" sound, but the scene of brain sputtering that he imagined did not occur. The mace cracked open an egg, and a long crack appeared on the captain's forehead. A line of blood passed through his nose, lips, and went straight to his chin.
Mu Haotian stared at the blood line without blinking, his heart beating fast.
The muscles on the boat boss's face were twitching, and his pale neck turned green and swollen, bulging like waves, as if some terrifying monster was about to burst out of his body.
