Chapter 2178: Endless Souls
When he imagined a white-haired old woman latching onto him with a big smile, Zu An’s face couldn"t help but twitch.
“The Ministry of Judgment is made up of local guardians of different regions. Every single guardian is in charge of a smaller town or bigger city to ensure that no phantoms cause mischief.”
When he heard what the Black Guard of Impermanence said, Zu An couldn"t help but grumble internally. There were alien monsters invading the human world, but why didn’t he ever hear these so-called guardians paying any attention to it?
“The Ministry of Inferno is quite important in h.e.l.l. Under its administration are the Goodness Appreciation Ministry, Evil Punishment Ministry, Investigation Ministry, and Yin Law Ministry. The Goodness Appreciation Ministry records the achievements and virtue of one’s life, while the Evil Punishment Ministry records all of one"s wrongdoings. The Investigation Ministry investigates cases inside the underworld to prevent incorrect punishment. The Yin Law Ministry is in charge of the Book of Life and Death and Soul Drawing Pen. They can increase one’s predestined lifespan or draw one"s soul to the underworld respectively.”
Zu An recalled that in Journey to the West, Sun Wukong had broken into h.e.l.l to forcibly change his own fate written in the Book of Life and Death. He hadn’t expected this world to have such a thing too! He really wanted to check to see what was written about himself and his friends. If possible, he was tempted to change it like Sun Wukong himself.
The White Guard of Impermanence said, “As for the Ten Great Ghostly Officials, they are roughly divided into three categories. The Yin Ghostly Officials are separated into day-wandering deities, night-wandering deities, and the ghost kings you mentioned before. They are frequently in charge of patrolling the land of the living and capturing rogue souls that have escaped.”
Zu An was surprised.
Could it be that the Skin-Flaying King isn’t actually from the punishment h.e.l.ls and is instead a ghostly official?
“The Soul-Capturing Officials are our brothers, including Ox Head, Horse Face, and the General of Chains and Shackles. They are in charge of bringing in the souls of those whose predestined lifespans have already ended.
“Another type are the Beast-Capturing Officials. They are in charge of bringing in the souls of beasts, birds, aquatic creatures, bugs, and others.”
After saying that, the White Guard of Impermanence added, “These might be individuals you might encounter in the future while working. It will be good to remember these things.”
Zu An couldn"t help but ask, “Then what is a Naihe Oblivion Ferryman like me considered?”
The Guards of Impermanence were stunned when they heard that. They stroked their long tongues and said, “It is quite strange; we actually cannot recall whose jurisdiction you fall under. It feels as if individuals like you do not belong to a certain ministry, and your status in the underworld is high...”
When he saw their conflicted appearance, Zu An thought to himself, Could it be a position that the giant statue created out of nothing, so that"s why the two can"t think of anything? But if this was the case, the abilities of the giant statue would be a bit too exaggerated, right?
“The Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen have always been mysterious and do not frequently interact with others. Someone like brother Zu who is so easy to interact with is actually a first,” the White Guard of Impermanence said with a big smile. “Once you interact with the other ferrymen, you might then learn which sir you are under.”
Zu An was stunned. “Are there a lot of other Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen?”
“Of course there is more than one; how could we rely on a single person to ferry so many souls into h.e.l.l every day?” the Black Guard of Impermanence replied, then added, “It is not just the ferrymen. There are more Guards of Impermanence than just the two of us too.”
Zu An figured that nade sense. If there were only a single pair of Black and White Guards of Impermanence, there was no way they would be able to catch all of the deceased souls.
As they chatted, soon after, they heard the sound of rushing water. Zu An looked up and saw a wide river several miles directly ahead. The Yellow River of his previous world was already yellow enough, but he hadn’t expected the water here to be countless times more turbid than that. At the same time, there was a faint blood-red hue coming from the river, making it seem rather eerie.
With Zu An’s cultivation, he could even see some indistinct ghostly figures in the water from time to time. He figured that they had to be the water ghosts that were mentioned previously. These water ghosts were doomed to never be able to leave the Naihe Oblivion River, which was why their faces were distorted and malicious. They were always trying to draw even more people down into the water, as they only felt a bit of consolation when they saw others’ fates become as tragic as their own.
“The Naihe Oblivion River is just ahead. We won’t be seeing brother Zu all the way there.” The Guards of Impermanence couldn"t help but give the river a fearful look.
Zu An recalled the river’s power, which these two had mentioned. Even if these two were now deities in the underworld government, if they fell inside, they would still have their entire minds erased, and then be dragged down by the water ghosts to be trapped within eternally. It was no wonder they didn’t want to get any closer.
“Thank you, brothers. Once I"m settled on this side, I"ll invite you two for a drink,” Zu An cupped his hands and said sincerely. He was actually extremely grateful that he had these two to help him answer many questions. Otherwise, he would have been completely in the dark here. Who knew how long it would’ve taken to obtain all of this intelligence?
When they saw how friendly he was, the Black and White Guards of Impermanence were all smiles as well. “This brother is too polite. We will have a proper gathering once you’ve gotten settled down.”
Afterward, they waved goodbye to Zu An, and then with just two or three steps, they disappeared and reappeared several miles out.
Zu An clicked his tongue in amazement. These two Guards of Impermanence were probably much stronger than the Firedevil Sea Beast and other aliens. When he thought about how many more Guards of Impermanence there were in h.e.l.l, and how they were all a part of the underworld government, he could only feel more shock toward the strength of h.e.l.l. Could a trifling Skin-Flaying King really cause any trouble in this kind of place?
And how am I supposed to succeed in that trial in this kind of environment?
To be honest, he didn’t even know how to start that trial, or even where it was. He had tried to make insinuations about it to the Guards of Impermanence along the way, but they didn’t seem to know about any trials.
Meanwhile, he had unknowingly arrived near the Naihe Oblivion River. He could see a huge line of souls in queue to get on boats one after another.
“Are those Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen?” Zu An muttered, noticing that the boats weren’t as small as he imagined. He ha thought that they could only seat a person or two, but he now realized that they could actually seat several dozen each.
The ferrymen were dressed in black coats, with cowls on their heads that hid their appearances. They each had an oar in hand. With a single stroke of those oars, seemingly not needing much strength, their boats moved away from sh.o.r.e.
Many of the souls were doing their best to get the attention of the ferrymen so as to get onto the boats. The souls frequently fought with each other to get ahead in queue. The Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen only watched them indifferently without any intention of interfering. To them, any souls could get on the boats as long as they paid the fare.
Zu An could only shake his head when he saw that. These ferrymen naturally didn’t have to pay them any attention. Either way, there were still many halls belonging to the h.e.l.l kings awaiting these souls. The souls that committed evil acts to get ahead in line would know regret then.
There were many souls who saw that Zu An had a rather impressive bearing, thinking that he was a fat sheep ready to be exploited. By chance, they agreed to rob him. Unfortunately, their expressions changed as soon as they came within a certain distance of him. They could feel a mysterious pressure coming from Zu An’s body, a kind of power that they couldn"t defy. It was as if they had encountered one of the deities of the underworld. They could only turn around and run away miserably. They knew that if they came any closer, their souls could break apart.
Just then, a Naihe Oblivion Ferryman in the distance saw the activity and remarked, “Hm? So it was a colleague.”
When Zu An noticed that the ferryman was looking at him, he cupped his hands and tried to show goodwill. “Excuse me...”
However, the other party turned around and didn’t pay him any attention, leaving him stunned. It seemed that these individuals weren’t as easy to get along with as the Black and White Guards of Impermanence, Ox Head, or Horse Face! No wonder the Guards of Impermanence had said that the Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen were all antisocial and strange, and that they weren’t easy to a.s.sociate with.
But he suddenly realized something and went up to the riverside. He reached out his hand and waved. Sure enough, a boat appeared and slowly came to the sh.o.r.e.
Is this the boat that the underworld has a.s.signed to me?
He didn’t need anyone to teach him, and naturally jumped onto the boat and picked up the oar. Many water ghosts initially swam over to drag him down, but when they sensed the boat and oar, they all shrank back in fear. However, they weren’t willing to go too far away.
“Another ferryman has appeared!” Just then, the departed spirits saw the activity on the sh.o.r.e and rushed over. The other ferrymen had long lines, so who knew how many months or years it would take to cross over? There was a new line opening up here, so naturally, a huge group rushed over.
When he saw how lively it was, Zu An suddenly felt a bit dizzy. He felt as if he was traveling during a holiday in his previous world.
Soon after, people began to argue and fight for places in line. There were many that cut in line, fought, and cursed. Zu An didn’t pay them any attention. He wasn’t so bored that he would try to take charge over justice for these souls. Instead, he began to think to himself. Just how was he supposed to start the trial?
I’m not going to be a ferryman my whole life, right?
Wait, previously, that mysterious giant statue mentioned that I needed the ident.i.ty of a member of h.e.l.l to partic.i.p.ate in the trial. I"m now a Naihe Oblivion Ferryman. Is this still not enough?
While he was feeling puzzled, there was suddenly a disturbance. Some of the souls who were fighting over a spot had ended up being pushed toward the sh.o.r.e. A foot landed in the river.