Chapter 648: River Styx and Seaming (2)
This was a house constructed out of stone. It wasn’t small by any means, and it sat on a plot of land of approximately 400 to 500 square meters in size. Furthermore, the roof of the house was surprisingly ten meters tall. There were numerous cowhides hung inside, all of which appeared rough, but practically translucent. It looked no different from a tailoring workshop.
He had pinched the knife a little bit too hard between his fingers, and the excessive force caused his finger to twist at an inhumane angle.
Just then, he heard a tinkling sound come from the roof of the house. There were numerous bones strung together with a red string hanging at the top of the roof, jangling like wind chimes as the gentle breeze swept by.
As he drew closer and closer to the door, the Yin energy emanating from his body gradually grew denser and denser, from that of a Netherworld Operative, to that of a Soul Hunter, and then to that of an Anitya Hellguard! The netherflames in his eyes also began to pulsate wildly.
Unlike the refined flair of regular jewelry, his accessories emanated a rougher and wilder flair about it. That said, it wasn’t in the slightest bit less opulent or magnificent in any way.
Creeeaaak… He was momentarily blinded by the light. However, it wasn’t light from the sun. Rather, it was light from the torches around. As though long accustomed to this, the man drifted out of his abode an inch above the ground.
He was situated on an island.
That said, this was a massive island measuring several hectares in size. At the heart of the island lay a beautiful grotto temple with strong Aegyptian flair and colours. A vivid, carved statue of a cobra was erected at the top of the temple. Both sides of the grotto temple were flatlands covered with hundreds of stone platforms, each of which were carved with the designs of various animals.
And if one looked close enough, they would see that each of the stone platforms… were covered with countless corpses!
Meanwhile, each and every one of these ladies had their own long hair running through the eye of the bone needles, and they were furiously seaming up the cowhides with their own hair! This bizarre sight, coupled with the brightly lit human-height candle stands all around the stone platforms made the surroundings eerie and chilling to the extreme!
They had their arms crossed in front of their chests as they lay in the middle of their own cowhide. Everyone had their eyes closed and an expression of peace and solace written all over their faces.
This was the mouth of River Styx!
“347 corpses, Lord Mopti.” A man clad in multicoloured feathers who had clearly been waiting for some time responded respectfully.
“Impossible.” Mopti turned back, “We didn’t receive any reports of a powerful ancestral spirit crossing over to the underworld today. At present, the strongest Ancestral Guardian here in Malagasy is no more than at the level of a Defender.”
“No. It has to be an error. Don’t bother the Mythic Spirit and the top Ancestral Guardians with such matters.”
“This damned job…” Mopti sighed softly as he massaged his temples.
The work here was easy. All he needed to do was to count the number of deaths in the mortal realm, and then extradite the souls of the dead into the kingdom of the Mythic Spirit. Nothing could possibly go wrong here. Day after day, he faced the exact same repetitive work, and there seemed no end to this humdrum of life.
He shook his head and sighed softly. He felt no different from the bird in the cuckoo clock. When it was time, he would pop out and ask for a report, before shrinking back into his abode to mind his own business. The only thing that made him feel remotely useful was the respect given to him by the soldiers guarding the gateway.
There was no one.
It was almost as though he’d just entered the tiger’s den, and something was staring at him through the layers of cowhides.
No response.
Still no response. The netherflames around him crackled softly.
Emptiness. As the corpse’s clothes swayed about slightly, an intense sensation of fear gripped his heart, and his entire body began to tremble wildly.
And it’s watching me!
But unfortunately, it didn’t move in the slightest bit.
No, in fact, they shifted in an orderly fashion, almost as though something were moving through the middle of the cowhide that was being tanned!
“Men… MEN!!!” Mopti desperately turned back and hammered on the wooden door, “Enemy attack! This is an invasion of the Black Mamba Underworld! Inform the Chieftain at once!!”
Haa… An electrifying sensation surged from the base of Mopti’s spine and straight through his mind.
How long has it been since I’ve experienced a feeling like this?
The Yin energy warning earlier wasn’t an error! It had actually accurately detected the presence of a powerful intruder! I’ve been too careless!
His voice trailed off.
His dressing…
It was at that moment that Mopti suddenly recalled a rumour that he’d heard some time ago.
Before Mopti passed on, there used to be four top underworlds in the netherworld, otherwise known as the Four Permanents or the P4 underworlds, and each of them was a regional leader. But several decades ago, the Cathayan Underworld had for some strange reason abruptly locked itself off from the rest of the world. Everyone was therefore watching them intently.
“It’s fine.” Qin Ye waved his hand casually, “I’m here for a private visit. It’s only natural that you’re unaware of something like this. Stay here and don’t make any sudden movements. Abra.”
A figure slowly crept out from behind Qin Ye. Abra had somehow lost his ability to walk ever since entering the underworld.
“Babulu…” Mopti froze, and then his body shuddered violently.
Meanwhile, streams of Yin energy slowly began to converge from every direction, before transforming into a ten-meter large vortex of Yin energy that continued to swirl madly atop the grotto temple. Furthermore, a terrifying source of Yin energy erupted from the heart of the vortex!
He… finally remembered.
After decades of being a bottom scraper, Mopti had finally found the change he’d always wanted. Unfortunately… the change that he got was far more than he’d asked for.
“What the hell is going on?!”
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