98. The Ferryman, Evil Spirits

Above the Yellow Springs.

The Soul-Reaping Ghost was walking on the water, cradling Chen Huangpi in its palms. It was truly a creature of the water. Being a lifeform birthed by the Yellow Springs, traversing the waves was an innate ability.

In its palms, Chen Huangpi and the Brass Oil Lamp were fixated on the Golden Horn, which was currently the size of a mosquito. The Golden Horn was, naturally, still alive. More than that, it was currently cursing up a storm.

"You base lamp! You wretched ghost!" the Golden Horn roared in fury. "Even though I wanted to return to the Yin Soil of the Yellow Springs, I'm not a fool. If I dared to abandon Father Huangpi and run off on my own, and the Old Master of the Temple found out, wouldn't he tear open the Yin Soil and the Yellow Springs and skin me alive?"

"And you two, with just a few words, branded me a traitor. Are you animals?"

"And that wretched ghost—Father Huangpi, it’s too cruel! If I didn't have such a tough life, you would never have seen me again."

Eight eyes on the Golden Horn were filled with aggrieved tears. Unfortunately, it was currently truly only as big as a mosquito. Chen Huangpi widened his eyes, but he couldn't discern its expression at all.

So, Chen Huangpi consoled it: "If the Ghost tried to kill you, then it certainly did something wrong, but you didn't die, did you? That makes it only half-bad at most. I will definitely lecture it severely later and get justice for you."

"But you said the same thing last time."

"That is not important." Chen Huangpi said earnestly, "What matters is, why did you become like this? Logically, shouldn't you have recovered your original form?"

"This..." The Golden Horn hesitated. "I don't know why this is happening. Could there be something wrong with the Yellow Springs?"

"Don't overthink it," the Brass Oil Lamp teased. "If you ask me, it must be your own problem. The Ghost is a creature born of the Yellow Springs; the Yellow Springs is its mother river. You are the darling of the Yin Soil, so to you, the Yellow Springs is at best a stepmother river. A stepmother is naturally not as good as a birth mother."

"Impossible!" The Golden Horn shook its head like a rattle. "I used to take the Second Brother to bathe in the Yellow Springs all the time, why was it fine before? Becoming like this now, there must be something wrong with the Yellow Springs."

"Then why is the Ghost fine?"

The Brass Oil Lamp’s question left the Golden Horn speechless.

Indeed... why was the Soul-Reaping Ghost fine? Was there really such a thing as a 'birth mother' versus a 'stepmother' in the Yellow Springs? Even if it wasn't the Yellow Springs' own child, it had grown up drinking its water. Even if not biological, there shouldn't be such blatant discrimination, right?

"The wretched ghost is just hardy!" the Golden Horn gritted its teeth. "My life is precious. The Yellow Springs bullies me so; once I get ashore and reach the Yin Soil, I will surely recover."

Being the size of a mosquito was truly pitiful. Forget about being majestic; if one didn't pay close attention, who would even see it? Though the Golden Horn was untamable, it had a stubborn streak. It had boasted to Chen Huangpi that it would carry him around to show off its might; if it couldn't deliver, it would be a total loss of face.

Just then, the Soul-Reaping Ghost spoke: "Contract Master, we seem to be in the very center of this tributary of the Yellow Springs. It will likely take a long time to reach the shore."

"Where is the Luopo Mountain located in the Yin Soil? Is it very far?" Chen Huangpi had come to the Yin Soil and the Yellow Springs specifically for the Soul-Returning Treasure Jade on Luopo Mountain. He did not want to linger here, as his master had already been dead for three days. If he delayed for too long, he might miss the seventh-day funeral rituals upon his return.

The Soul-Reaping Ghost understood the urgency, but the Yellow Springs and Yin Soil were simply too vast. It did not know where they were, so it naturally could not answer.

The Golden Horn sneered, "A wretched ghost is a wretched ghost; it can only show off in the Yellow Springs. Once we reach the Yin Soil, you'll still have to rely on me."

"Father Huangpi!" the Golden Horn called out. "Do not worry. I am the son of Di Ting. Once I reach the shore and my feet touch the Yin Soil, I will know exactly where the nearest Luopo Mountain is."

There were many Luopo Mountains in the Yin Soil. In fact, "Luopo Mountain" referred to the place where souls returned for burial. Before the great cataclysm of heaven and earth, the Yin Soil, the Yellow Springs, the mortal realm, and even the immortal realm were all connected. After the creatures of the mortal and immortal realms died, their souls would fall into the Yellow Springs and the Yin Soil. Those souls would gather and accumulate, eventually forming mountains.

The Soul-Returning Treasure Jade was at the peak of those mountains. If one had the capability to climb up there, even if a person’s soul had already dissipated or they had entered the cycle of reincarnation, one could gather their spirit and resurrect them exactly as they were. Beyond this, there were no other means to bring the dead back to life, for such were the rules of heaven and earth.

"Thank you, Golden Horn." Chen Huangpi sighed in relief, truly grateful. Of course, he did not forget that it was the Soul-Reaping Ghost who had reminded him that he must bring the son of Di Ting when coming to the Yellow Springs. Because the son of Di Ting was the darling of the Yin Soil, it could walk along the Yellow Springs and turn misfortune into fortune—it was truly extraordinary.

Just then, the Brass Oil Lamp suddenly spoke: "Chen Huangpi, Ghost, look at that."

Hearing this, Chen Huangpi and the Soul-Reaping Ghost looked over. In the distance, on the surface of the Yellow Springs, a grey mist had appeared out of nowhere. Within the mist, a figure about four or five meters tall loomed.

The Golden Horn widened its eyes, but since its body was the size of a mosquito, even with eight eyes, it could only see a few hundred meters before everything turned into a blur. It couldn't see anything.

Chen Huangpi was alarmed: "Huang Er, that thing seems to be heading toward us."

The Brass Oil Lamp said: "Could it be an evil entity?"

"It is a Ferryman!" The Soul-Reaping Ghost's tone was somewhat excited. "Contract Master, you may not know, but there are Ferrymen in the Yellow Springs. They never go ashore and spend their entire lives on bamboo rafts. If you give them something, they can carry us across the Yellow Springs."

The Yin Soil and the Yellow Springs were too vast. Without a Ferryman, relying on one's own power to walk or fly would take an unknown amount of effort, no matter how powerful one was. But the Ferryman was different. Tributaries of the Yellow Springs crisscrossed the entire Yin Soil, and the Ferryman could take people to any corner of it. Although it never went ashore, it could drop you off at the bank closest to your destination.

Chen Huangpi hadn't expected such good luck. He was all smiles. However, as he laughed, his smile faded.

"Ghost, I am a human. Will the Ferryman take me?"

Hearing this, the Soul-Reaping Ghost said gloomily, "Do not worry, Contract Master. The Ferryman will not refuse you just because you are human. Besides, whether you are truly human or not is debatable."

Chen Huangpi thought that was fair.

In the time it took to speak, the grey mist had already drifted before Chen Huangpi. This speed was much faster than the Soul-Reaping Ghost walking on water. A bamboo pole emerged from the mist and plunged into the water. Immediately after, the bamboo raft glided over.

Chen Huangpi saw the appearance of the Ferryman. It was an exceptionally tall figure, completely shrouded in a tattered black robe. Only the hands holding the bamboo pole were exposed—they were extremely thin, little more than skin and bone. As if knowing Chen Huangpi and his companions intended to board, the Ferryman stopped.

"Come up."

The Ferryman’s voice was hoarse, cold, and aged, as if it were an old man who had died long ago speaking from inside a coffin. Just hearing it made Chen Huangpi feel uncomfortable, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

"Ghost..."

"Do not panic, Contract Master. I am coming up."

As it spoke, the Soul-Reaping Ghost’s body shrank rapidly, becoming three meters tall in the blink of an eye. It was about to step onto the raft. But the moment one foot touched it, the flesh on its foot instantly turned into yellowish river water, leaving behind only teeth-marked bone.

The Soul-Reaping Ghost froze. It realized that as it bathed in the Yellow Springs, its restored physical form had undergone this strange change.

Chen Huangpi’s expression changed drastically. He immediately gripped the Void-Piercing Divine Sword and said coldly to the Ferryman: "What did you do to the Ghost?!"

"It is not it." The Soul-Reaping Ghost said with a complex tone: "It is the Yellow Springs. There really is something wrong with the Yellow Springs."

As it spoke, the Soul-Reaping Ghost stepped onto the raft. Sure enough, all its flesh turned into river water and merged into the Yellow Springs. It had once again become a skeleton.

It wasn't just it. The Golden Horn also reverted to its previous state. Its spirit-form was no longer the size of a mosquito.

"The Yellow Springs is useless? What about the Yin Soil then?" The Golden Horn's tone was extremely panicked. "If I go ashore and eat plenty of Yin Soil but still can't recover my original form, won't I be a ghost forever?"

Chen Huangpi tried to console it: "Don't worry, Golden Horn. Silver Horn is watching over your body in the Scripture Pavilion. If all else fails, we can just crawl back."

"Silver Horn!" The Golden Horn's face shifted: "Then my body must be gone. It's over! I'm going to be a ghost for the rest of my life!"

Just then, the Ferryman spoke out of the blue: "The son of Di Ting, the Ghost Clan of the Yellow Springs... I did not expect that after ten thousand years, I would see such creatures again. It is a pity, you are about to die."

"What are you saying, you old turtle?" the Golden Horn roared in anger. "Since you know I am the son of Di Ting, how dare you curse me to die? Do you believe that my Father Huangpi will cut you down with one sword strike?"

"Golden Horn, do not speak." Chen Huangpi shook his head and bowed to the Ferryman: "Old man, the Ghost and the Golden Horn are my family. You said they are about to die—what do you mean?"

The Ferryman said coldly: "The heavens and earth have changed, the Yellow Springs is polluted. These two have been tainted by the Yellow Springs. After sunset, those things will come to kill them."

"What things?"

"The things below."

As the Ferryman spoke, he tapped the side of the raft with his bamboo pole. Ripples spread out from the point of impact. Wherever the ripples passed, the yellowish water became crystal clear.

Chen Huangpi looked down. He saw that beneath the surface, countless faces, bloated and whitened by the water, paved the bed of the Yellow Springs. Those faces had no expression; they were simply staring fixedly at Chen Huangpi on the surface.

The Soul-Reaping Ghost and the Golden Horn felt a bone-chilling cold as they looked at the countless faces beneath the water.

"Since the cataclysm, every creature tainted by the Yellow Springs will die at the hands of these monsters, over and over again, like an endless hell. Actually, this is quite fitting. Born of the Yellow Springs, one should become a part of the Yellow Springs after death."

"The mortal realm seems to have similar things, called evil entities, and they are divided into many ranks."

"But here in the Yellow Springs and Yin Soil, they are all called 'Evil Spirits'."

"The Yellow Springs is an evil spirit; they are a part of the Yellow Springs, so they are naturally also called Evil Spirits."

At this point, the Ferryman suddenly lowered his head, and grey, withered hair slipped from his hood, hanging before Chen Huangpi.

The Ferryman said: "And you, too, are a part of the Yellow Springs and Yin Soil. Therefore, you are also an Evil Spirit."