161. There Is No Lady Meng (Bonus Chapter for 30 Monthly Votes)

Soon, the voice of the Impermanence Ghost vanished, and its body dissolved into a puff of cyan smoke that drifted away into the air. Chen Fengyun and Ma Dangdang then excitedly walked along the passage ahead.

Before long, the two emerged from the passage to find a gray, hazy world before them. There was no soil to be seen overhead, making it feel as though they had arrived in an underground realm.

Chen Fengyun tried sweeping his spiritual sense upward, only to discover that the space above was entirely empty and not a true underground. He realized inwardly that this must be yet another miniature world similar to a secret realm or blessed paradise.

"Fengyun, could we have come to the Underworld?" Ma Dangdang felt a gloomy, chilly aura surrounding them. Though she was not particularly frightened, she instinctively drew closer to Chen Fengyun.

"It's fine. Let's walk forward and see." Seizing the opportunity, Chen Fengyun took her hand. Ma Dangdang blushed slightly, but did not pull away.

As the two walked on for a little while, they began to notice dim, hazy figures appearing all around them. However, these figures were utterly lifeless and dull, possessing not a shred of vitality. Moreover, they looked somewhat illusory and floated with their feet off the ground.

"What are these? Are they really the ghosts of dead people?" Ma Dangdang asked, her scalp tingling as she pressed tightly against Chen Fengyun.

"You're right. These should be the residual souls of humans who died on Earth. The Ghost race must have used some method to lure them here. However, most people leave behind no residual souls at all after death; only those with intense obsessions retain such a faint fragment of soul, and even then, they can no longer remember anything from their lifetimes," Chen Fengyun said with a sigh. Yet, he felt that the Ghost race's motive for luring these residual souls here likely served two purposes: either selecting suitable fragments to transform into members of the Ghost race and bolster their strength, or utilizing the energy of these residual souls to cultivate and enhance their own power.

However, the quantity of these residual souls was quite small, and the energy they carried was negligible. Unless driven by absolute necessity, the Ghost race would hardly use such residual souls for cultivation.

Soon, the two saw all the residual souls heading in a single direction, so they followed behind them. The surroundings remained gray and hazy, with nothing else along the path.

After a short while, the sound of a rushing river suddenly reached their ears. A massive river appeared before them, its waters surging and roaring violently, so wide that the opposite bank could not be seen.

Furthermore, the river water was a startling yellow, and blooming along both banks were intensely vibrant flowers. However, the color of these blossoms was unnatural—a bloody crimson that looked deeply mesmerizing from a distance.

"Why are there flowers here? They're so pretty," Ma Dangdang said, gazing at the blooms, and even felt an urge to reach out and pick one.

"Don't move. These aren't ordinary flowers; they are Equinox Flowers. Don't let their pretty appearance fool you—they are intensely poisonous, and a poison that targets the soul," Chen Fengyun hurriedly stopped her.

Just then, a residual soul ahead was abruptly jostled off the path and fell into the sea of Equinox Flowers. In an instant, the surrounding blossoms pulled it down, directly swallowing it entirely.

Such scenes occurred frequently. Because the residual souls lacked consciousness, most only knew to drift along with the ones in front of them. Yet a few inadvertently drifted onto the Equinox Flowers, and not a single one managed to escape, all of them transforming into nourishment for the blossoms.

"These are Equinox Flowers? Could this river be the River of Oblivion, and the water flowing inside it the Yellow Springs water?" Ma Dangdang recalled the legends of the Underworld and could not help shivering.

"Don't worry. Whether it's the Equinox Flowers or the Yellow Springs water in the River of Oblivion, both can be dealt with using the divine dragon, and since they lack consciousness, they won't actively attack us," Chen Fengyun comforted her.

Before long, a black bridge appeared ahead. It was not very wide, just enough to accommodate two people walking side by side. Beneath the bridge, the turbulent River of Oblivion surged, and Chen Fengyun suddenly noticed something floating up and down within the water.

As they approached the head of the bridge, they found a cracked stele erected nearby, bearing only two characters: "River Bridge." Chen Fengyun and Ma Dangdang exchanged a glance; this bridge must undoubtedly be the Bridge of Helplessness.

"Roar..."

Just as they stepped onto the Bridge of Helplessness, a residual soul was bumped and fell into the river. Instantly, a series of roars erupted from the water as dark figures suddenly emerged, swarming forward to drag the residual soul down and tear it apart piece by piece.

Chen Fengyun glanced over and discovered that those dark figures were actually countless disembodied heads with pale faces and long black hair, looking exceptionally bizarre and ferocious. The struggling residual soul in the river was torn apart bit by bit until its body was completely devoured, leaving only its head behind, which then looked identical to all the other heads.

"Don't look under the bridge. Listen to me," he said, noticing that Ma Dangdang was about to lean over to peer beneath the bridge. He quickly pulled her back, stopping her from looking.

Knowing there must be something terrifying down there, Ma Dangdang refrained from looking. Instead, she tightly grasped Chen Fengyun's hand, staring straight ahead and not daring to glance down at the bridge.

"Look quickly, is that person at the head of the bridge Meng Po?"

Crossing the bridge, incidents of residual souls tumbling into the river occurred from time to time, so roars continuously echoed along the journey. The two mechanically moved forward with the trailing residual souls, and after walking for who knows how long, Ma Dangdang suddenly pointed ahead and asked.

Chen Fengyun squinted and saw that they were nearing the other end of the Bridge of Helplessness. At the bridgehead stood a hunched figure, handing a bowl of something to each passing residual soul.

"That is Meng Po. However, what she gives these residual souls is not some Soul-Dissolving Broth, but a medicinal liquid that stimulates their potential. Any soul that manages to awaken its spiritual intelligence after drinking it will join the Ghost race, while those that fail to awaken will be sent to the eighteen layers of hell," Chen Fengyun said with a nod.

However, very few residual souls were able to awaken their spiritual intelligence, and even after awakening, they would not remember their past lives; they would merely become members of the Ghost race and be capable of practicing Ghost cultivation techniques.

Along their journey, they noticed that the residual souls crossing the bridge split into two paths. One path was densely packed with souls, while the other had only a sparse two or three—though those sparse few appeared somewhat more lucid.

When Chen Fengyun and Ma Dangdang finally walked up to the dark figure at the bridgehead, it raised its head. It turned out to be a green-faced, fanged fiend, completely unlike the legendary Meng Po.

"Howl..."

The blue-faced ghost roared, and the aura emanating from its body was by no means weaker than that of the Black and White Impermanences they had encountered earlier. However, before it could even make a move, Ma Dangdang lunged forward. Launching a ferocious attack, she shrieked at the top of her lungs:

"Who are you? Why aren't you Meng Po? Where is the promised Soul-Dissolving Broth? Give me back my Soul-Dissolving Broth!"

Chen Fengyun stood dumbfounded to the side, completely thrown into disorder. He never expected that Ma Dangdang would fly into a rage because the ghost at the bridgehead wasn't Meng Po, erupting with a hundred and twenty percent of her combat power to directly suppress the blue-faced fiend, leaving him utterly speechlessly amazed.