Terrified, Trần Viễn Chương threw the urn in his hands away.
Tống Phỉ Phỉ frowned. “What if that’s your Thái Công?”
I nodded too.
“There are so many urns! The first one that floated by, your Thái Công risked his life swimming to it, and you threw it away. What a disgraceful grandson!”
Trần Viễn Chương looked miserable as he hurriedly swam after the urn.
When he reached it, he froze, his face crumpling.
“I, I can’t tell which one is which…”
Finding Thái Công and Madam Giang’s husband among tens of millions of urns was an impossible task.
Tống Phỉ Phỉ stood up without a trace of emotion and shouted ahead.
“Giang Văn Bân, Trần Khánh Hiền! I’m calling you—do you dare answer? We’re back, this time to give you a proper burial. Hurry up and come with us! I’ll count to three. If you don’t come, we’re leaving! One! Two!”
The sea began to churn.
No, it wasn’t the sea. The urns were moving.
All the urns seemed to come alive, rushing madly toward our boat.
The urn beside me seemed to sprout wings and flew right into my arms.
I stared blankly at the black urn and yelled.
“Row!”
I didn’t care that the oars were made of human bones; I rowed like crazy. It wasn’t just the urns on the sea—the “mountains of urns” rose like giants waking from sleep and headed toward us.
I’d never imagined I’d spend my life fleeing from urns.
“Trần Viễn Chương, you and I row! Phỉ Phỉ, throw all these urns overboard!”
On the still black sea, our bone boat was like a torch, drawing urns toward it like moths to a flame.
The little boat quickly filled with urns, and seawater poured in. Tống Phỉ Phỉ swung her arms, tossing the urns overboard without even looking. She threw one, and two more jumped in. There was no end to them.
Trần Viễn Chương and I rowed frantically, wishing our parents had given us a few extra arms.
Gradually, there were fewer urns beside us, but we were completely lost in the black sea.
“There are two urns left. Should I throw them out?” Tống Phỉ Phỉ’s hands were shaking like she had Parkinson’s. She was exhausted.
I leaned against the boat, gasping for breath.
“Why throw them out? We’ll take these two back and turn them in. Whether one’s Thái Công or Mr. Giang, I don’t care!”
I realized what this place was for: sealing the entrance to the realm of demons and ghosts.
The realm of demons and ghosts exerted a powerful pull on spirits and the dead. These urns must have belonged to people buried at sea in various dynasties, swept here by the undercurrents.
The biggest problem now was how to get out of this cursed place.
“No! I have to find Thái Công!”
Trần Viễn Chương sprang to his feet, clenched his fist, and looked as resolute as if he were about to join the Party.
The little boat rocked. Just before I fell into the sea, I had time to curse.
“Trần Viễn Chương, you bastard!”
Cold. Bone-chillingly cold.
The water hadn’t seemed strange while we were rowing, but when I fell in, the cold seeped right into my marrow, spreading through my body and freezing my soul.
For the first time, I realized that if I didn’t get back in the boat within seconds, I’d freeze solid.
Legend has it that the entrance to the underworld lies in the Endless Sea, a sea without shore or bottom.
Only a bone boat can cross the Endless Sea and reach the realm of demons and ghosts.
Those who fall into the Endless Sea don’t die. They sink forever, down and down—just like I was now.
“Huh?!”
I jolted awake and realized I was four or five meters below the surface. I bit my tongue, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. The pain gave me a little strength.
I vaguely saw a dark shape near my feet. It looked like an urn. I kicked off it to propel myself upward, but after swimming only a little way, my body stiffened again.
With no other choice, I bit my tongue again.
Luckily, another urn floated by. I kicked off it, bit my tongue, and finally broke the surface.
Trần Viễn Chương saw me and looked displeased.
“Linh Châu, are you playing in the water at a time like this?”
“Ptooey!” I spat blood in his face and swung a punch at him.
“Play in the water? I’ll play you, you jerk!”
After giving Trần Viễn Chương a satisfying beating, I was glad to be alive.
A moment ago, I’d truly thought I’d be trapped in the Endless Sea forever.
It was all thanks to that urn.
I fished the urn out of the water and held on to it beside the boat.
“Fine. You help me, and I’ll help you. I’ll get you out of the underworld.”
The souls in the underworld couldn’t be reincarnated; they were trapped inside their urns. Only by leaving the underworld could a soul escape.
Trần Viễn Chương muttered.
“No, I won’t leave Thái Công behind. Turn back and look for him!”
I grabbed him by the collar, shoved him under the Endless Sea, and counted silently.
“One, two, three… nine, ninety-one, ninety-two… nine hundred ninety-one, nine hundred ninety-two…”
When he stopped struggling and lay motionless as if dead, I hauled him back into the boat.
When he came to, I gave him a cold smile. “Still want to look for Thái Công?”
Trần Viễn Chương wiped the water from his face and clutched the urn beside him.
“Damn it, I can tell at a glance—this is Thái Công!”
“Why couldn’t you have figured that out sooner?”
Remembering what had just happened, I got angry and was about to give him another beating.
Tống Phỉ Phỉ tugged at me. “Linh Châu, look!”
A huge tree appeared, its trunk black as ink and its branches white as snow.
I remembered a passage in an ancient text: on the Endless Sea grew the Âm Dương Mộc, twisted for three thousand miles. Its northwestern branches were the gate of death, and its southeastern branches the gate of life.
The gate of death led to the realm of demons and ghosts; the gate of life led to the underworld.
If we made it to the underworld, we’d have a way back to the world of the living.
Here was the plan:
Step one: Find the gate of life.
Step two: Enter the underworld.
Step three: Find the ghost market in the underworld and take the passage between yin and yang back to the world of the living.
Tống Phỉ Phỉ and Trần Viễn Chương nodded, then shook their heads.
Tống Phỉ Phỉ took a deep breath and tilted her head back at a 180-degree angle.
“May I ask, how do we find the gate of life?”
The tree was enormous. I guessed its trunk was several hundred meters tall. It was riddled with deep holes, and shadowy shapes could be seen inside. Who knew how many horrifying things were hiding there?
The demons and spirits here were nothing more than appetizers.
Oblivious, Trần Viễn Chương volunteered to climb the tree.
“I used to climb coconut trees when I was a kid. They’re really tall, but I can get up in no time!”
“Ah!”
In no time at all, he fell.
The Âm Dương Mộc lived up to its name: its trunk was hot as fire, its branches cold as ice. Climbing it was a fool’s errand.
Half-dead, Trần Viễn Chương lay sprawled across the bone boat, arms stretched out to cover it. From a distance, he looked like a corpse floating in the water.
A corpse floating in the water?
An idea struck me.
“If we can’t climb, we can fly up!”
To the demons and monsters of the realm of demons and ghosts, fresh flesh and blood were a great delicacy. I held Trần Viễn Chương down and slashed his arm with a knife.
Blood spurted high. He was a strapping young man, after all.
Next, all we had to do was wait.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Before long, a dark shape swooped down from above.
As it came into focus, I saw a brown-feathered bird with a long neck and red eyes. Two sharp claws grew from the tips of its wings, and beneath them were a pair of hands as white as jade.
Strangest of all, it had a full pair of breasts growing from its chest.
It shrieked and circled over Trần Viễn Chương’s head. Seeing the blue stubble on his chin, it looked disdainful and prepared to fly away.
I pinched Trần Viễn Chương hard.
“Quick, cry like a baby! Hurry!”
He was scared, but he did as he was told and imitated one.
“Wah! Wah! Wah!”
Seeing its strange breasts, I realized this was the legendary Cô Quặc Điểu, born from the resentment of women who died in difficult childbirth. It loved snatching newborns.
Trần Viễn Chương might not look like a child, but he was still fresh flesh and blood.
The Cô Quặc Điểu hesitated, then grabbed him by the wrist.
Tống Phỉ Phỉ and I each grabbed one of his legs. The three of us dangled from the sky like skewered gourds.
That bird was incredibly strong. I was carrying three urns, and the three of us plus the urns weighed at least four hundred pounds.
Luckily, the Cô Quặc Điểu’s nest was right beside the gate of life!
Seeing the black yin-yang fishhole spinning, I was overjoyed.
“The wind’s picking up! Let’s get out of here!”
I kicked Trần Viễn Chương through the gate of life and threw the three urns after him.
Just as I was about to jump, Tống Phỉ Phỉ screamed beside me.
“Linh Châu, watch out!”
I knew it wouldn’t be that easy to escape!
Seeing me let go of Trần Viễn Chương, the Cô Quặc Điểu roared furiously, lowered its head, and pecked at me.
I didn’t have time to fight it. Trần Viễn Chương was alone in the underworld, where he could run into ghosts a hundred or even a thousand years old. He might not make it out alive.
The longer we stayed on the Âm Dương Mộc, the more dangerous it became.
“Phỉ Phỉ, use your big guns!”
Tống Phỉ Phỉ understood. She swung her arm and hurled talismans at the Cô Quặc Điểu: five-thunder talismans, heavenly-fire talismans, demon-subduing talismans—throwing them as if they cost nothing.
The Cô Quặc Điểu was driven back, and I grabbed Tống Phỉ Phỉ and rolled into the gate of life.
Before I could catch my breath, a sharp pain shot through my shoulder. Blood spurted out, soaking my whole shoulder red.
What a mistake! We’d made it through the gate of life, but so had the Cô Quặc Điểu!
Idiot!
“Don’t fight it. Run!”
The three of us each grabbed an urn and ran for our lives.
As I ran, I yelled, “This is bad! The realm of demons and ghosts has invaded the underworld! A monster from the demon realm is here to catch and eat ghosts!”
The Cô Quặc Điểu already had a terrible reputation. It didn’t just eat children; sometimes it ate evil ghosts, too.
Hearing me shout such nonsense, it roared again and again. It ignored Tống Phỉ Phỉ and Trần Viễn Chương and focused solely on me, battering me with its wings, slashing with its claws, and pecking with its beak.
I rolled aside to dodge its sharp claws, but its wing slammed into me. Its feathers were like steel, and the blow left me aching all over.
After all that screaming, there were still only the three of us running for our lives in this ghostly place.
Where had all the foolish ghosts gone?
“Come quick! The underworld officials are handing out money!”
Tống Phỉ Phỉ scattered a handful of paper money into the sky. Gold and silver sheets fluttered down like snow.
This was specially made spirit money, called rebirth money. It was made with gold leaf, rhino horn, and black cat fur. In the ghost market, one sheet was worth a thousand ordinary ones.
“We’re rich! Rebirth money is raining from the sky!”
Ghosts—countless ghosts—surged in, nearly knocking the Cô Quặc Điểu over.
It spread its wings and flew up in a fury, but it couldn’t find us anymore… There were too many ghosts, blocking its view.
Sure enough, money makes ghosts turn the millstone.
Capitalism never lies!
Good news: the urns really did contain Thái Công Trần and Mr. Giang.
Thái Công Trần sat in an armchair, stroking his beard as he recounted his adventures in the realm of demons and ghosts.
“I drifted across the Endless Sea for ages. At last, I spotted a bone boat and struggled to swim up to it, only to be kicked back down by some mysterious force. But I refused to give up and kept fighting. Thankfully, young Daoist Linh Châu pulled me up. Otherwise, these old bones of mine would have been stuck in the Endless Sea forever!”
He looked at everyone.
“Everyone, kneel and bow to thank Daoist Linh Châu!”
I felt a little guilty. I didn’t dare let Thái Công know that I was the “mysterious force.”
“You’re too kind, too kind. Even though I barely escaped with my life in the realm of demons and ghosts, with danger all around me, it was nothing. No need to repay me—just give me a few priceless treasures.”
Thái Công pushed Trần Viễn Chương in front of me.
“This is the next generation of the Trần family, and the greatest treasure our family has. If Daoist Linh Châu doesn’t mind…”
I quickly waved my hands. “I mind!”
Trần Viễn Chương might be strong, but he wasn’t too bright. Letting someone like him join the Bái Nguyệt Hội would be my contribution to society.
Apart from Thái Công Trần and Mr. Giang, the last urn belonged to a girl of seven or eight. She wore a floral dress in the style of the Republic of China era and looked very pretty.
I chose a spot with decent feng shui to bury her, but the girl tugged at my hand.
“Daoist Linh Châu, I have a treasure I want to give you.”
I was immediately interested.
“What kind of treasure?”
The girl glanced around cautiously.
“I’ll tell you in the next episode!”
—THE END—