Chapter Thirty-One: Imagination

Duan Lingqi looked at the tightly closed eyes of Qu Hancheng, unable to bear the sight, and then glanced at Xi Chunxue, who was calmly observing him. His earth-toned face flushed. He had spent many years in the mundane world and naturally understood what the theater and its plays were about.

"But even if these plays are scripted, isn't it possible that they might be true?" Duan Lingqi stubbornly tried to argue.

"It's fine, let's not think so far ahead. We should consider our own situation first. You're lying on top of four stacked souls; if you find it comfortable, just continue lying there," Xi Chunxue said calmly as she turned her head.

He was tired. He was really tired.

"Ha, what's there to be afraid of, just ghosts," Duan Lingqi scoffed, thinking it was no big deal, and pressed down even harder.

"If I'm not mistaken, these four ghosts should be the other four from the Five Odd Ghosts. The Five Odd Ghosts are a group of five, with one ghost having only one eye. The other four rely on this eye to see. Besides the one with the eye, the other four ghosts cannot act freely and must obey the commands of the one-eyed ghost," Xi Chunxue said as she slightly raised her gaze to the one-eyed ghost floating on the ceiling.

"Whatever, I'll take on any number that comes!" Duan Lingqi retorted with a cold snort. He wasn’t afraid of ghostly soldiers; how could he fear these ghosts?

"Of course, you don't need to fear them. They only need to sniff your scent one by one, and once the last one has sniffed you, you'll die. But right now, you're in a soul state, and I'm curious to see what will happen to you afterward," Xi Chunxue said softly, looking at the one-eyed ghost drifting down from the ceiling.

"?!" Duan Lingqi immediately sprang up like a carp, rolling off the soft ghost beneath him. Just as Xi Chunxue mentioned, he was indeed lying on top of four stacked souls. They floated together without any height, merely drifting in a ghostly state.

"I suggest you go back," Xi Chunxue said, watching the one-eyed ghost slowly float towards Duan Lingqi.

"Go back? Why should I go back?! You just said I'd die after they finish sniffing!"

Duan Lingqi exclaimed, still shaken.

"They sniff in order, one by one. You'll only die after the fifth one has sniffed you, and it seems you are already on the fifth," Xi Chunxue said, her calm gaze fixed on the one-eyed ghost hovering above Duan Lingqi's head.

"!" Without hesitation, Duan Lingqi rolled back toward the ground. However, this time the stacked souls began to scatter and flee; they seemed to understand what he intended to do.

"Damn it! If it weren't for this cursed rope!"

By the time Duan Lingqi finally rolled back to his previous spot, the stacked souls had already vanished, hidden in the darkness. But the one-eyed ghost that had been following him was now much closer, and Duan Lingqi felt as if he could hear the sound of its sniffing.

"Damn, damn!!"

Duan Lingqi rolled and fled across the ground, moving far too slowly compared to how quickly he could roll. In the pitch-black cell, the greenish rope was like a guiding light, while four eyeless souls fled before him, and behind him, the one-eyed ghost was slowly pursuing him.

"Shouldn't we do something about him?" Qu Hancheng slowly opened his eyes and asked Xi Chunxue, who was not far away.

"Let him play for now; the most important thing is your situation," Xi Chunxue replied, turning to Qu Hancheng.

"What? What's wrong with me?"

Though the cell was dark, flickers of ghostly fire occasionally passed by, allowing Qu Hancheng to catch glimpses of Xi Chunxue's expression. Her face was currently very serious.

"This evil creature is bound by what should be the Soul Binding Rope, and I am trapped by the Spirit Binding Chain that ties our fates together. Among the three of us, you are the only one with any fighting capability," Xi Chunxue said gravely to Qu Hancheng.

Although it had been said that a year in the underworld equaled a day on earth, no one could tell how to measure time in the dim, starless sky of the underworld.

How long is a day? How quickly does a year pass?

There was no concrete concept, and that was the most dangerous part.

Not to mention the side effects of the Memory Grass, even the place where her physical body was forcibly held was perilous. No one knew whether the deep passage would have other things that could harm her physical form.

If they managed to escape from here but were harmed in the process, they might not be able to return to life. Even if they could be reborn as a ghostly immortal, that wouldn’t be the path Xi Chunxue sought.

"What fighting capability could I possibly have? The only thing I can brag about is injuring three burly men outside the gambling den in the Northern Ghost State's Wei Qi Mansion, but that achievement pales in comparison to what we’re facing now," Qu Hancheng said with a bitter smile.

The experiences of the past few days felt like a dream, and even in a dream, it probably wouldn't be this bizarre. Originally, he had merely been tasked with moving a corpse that had died suddenly in prison, only to encounter a living body instead.

The events that followed were even more absurd. What about the corpse of the creature with the strange name, and the prisoner who could transform into an evil creature? Then he was kicked into a strange, deep passage, inexplicably ending up in the underworld!

And as if that wasn’t enough, he was chased by the blood-red hell and trembling evil spirits. Finally, he was forced by that handsome man to kill Yama?!

Yama!

That was a title that could be described as a lord, king, or even emperor of the underworld.

"You may not have had fighting capability before, but after what happened at the Shadow Mountain, you do now. Don’t forget how you felt in front of him," Xi Chunxue reminded him.

"What feeling? It was just helplessness in front of him. I don’t understand why that evil spirit helped me; you all insist I summoned it," Qu Hancheng said, shaking his head in resignation.

He didn’t know why, at that moment, an evil spirit had emerged from Su Yuanbai's feet to tear at him, helping him escape from the suffocating pain.

He also didn’t understand why the intricate black patterns that had originally only appeared on Su Yuanbai's body now adorned his own.

"Because we saw you summon it," Xi Chunxue said firmly.

She wouldn't forget the situation at that time. When this ordinary prison guard was lifted by the handsome man from afar, he struggled and extended his left hand, which was also entwined with the black, intricate patterns.

On the back of his left hand, the strange patterns shifted and transformed, revealing the image of an evil spirit. As he gripped tightly, the evil spirit image emerged from his hand, becoming a vividly real shadow of an evil spirit.

When it landed, a sudden aura of ghostly energy burst forth.

This was an evil spirit that existed only in his imagination, not documented in the Book of Hundred Ghosts.