Chapter 389: Hitching a Ride Through the Netherworld
The opera singing drifted out from a shadowy vendor stall. The proprietor was a floating ghost made up entirely of eyes. When the many-eyed ghost noticed Xu Qing looking over, about half of its eyes shifted to look at him.
Xu Qing didn’t care. Walking over, he noticed a small bronze bottle among the items for sale.
He immediately recognized what it was.
It’s a recording bottle.
He had once acquired a recording bottle that he used to capture the sound of countless ghosts haunting the night, which he used when summoning the giant and the sun’s imperial carriage. That was how he had acquired Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits. Unfortunately, because of the immense pressure exuded by the giant, that bottle was destroyed. [1]
The opera singing was coming from this bottle. After mulling the matter over, Xu Qing pointed at the bottle, then tossed a bag of discarnate souls to the many-eyed ghost.
The many-eyed ghost took the bag and examined it. Then all of its eyes closed as if in thought. A moment later, it shook its head.
Xu Qing looked at the ghost. He knew that the inhabitants of ghost wards were greedy, therefore, he handed over yet another bag. At the same time, his eyes flashed with a grim coldness that the many-eyed ghost couldn’t miss. Whether it was because there were now enough souls, or whether it was because of Xu Qing’s grim expression, this time the many-eyed ghost nodded.
Xu Qing took the bottle and closed it, causing the singing to stop. Then he turned and left. Back at the tavern, as he waited for dawn to arrive, Xu Qing looked suspiciously at the little bronze bottle.
The voice is definitely the same as that woman in the pentagonal log cabin in the ghast hollow. Someone obviously collected that sound in this recording bottle. [2]
Xu Qing thought back to that incident in the ghast hollow. He remembered the woman’s singing, as well as the eye of the god in the depths of the chasm, slowly opening. He wasn’t sure if the song was specifically being sung for that god, or if it just contained some unknown power to keep the god’s eye closed. Regardless, Xu Qing was convinced it was a good decision to buy the bottle.
Not long thereafter, he heard the sound of footsteps outside. Putting the bottle away and straightening his clothes, he opened the door and walked out.
The disciples of the Eight Sect Coalition had gathered in the main room of the tavern, except that the Captain was nowhere to be seen.
Xu Qing wasn’t surprised. The other disciples might have been hesitant to explore a ghost ward, there was no way the Captain would be able to resist the chance. However, the Captain was apparently still focused on getting to the county capital; just when it seemed like he would run out of time, he dashed in from outside.
Rushing over to Xu Qing, he excitedly said, “Did you explore the ghost ward, little Ah Qing? Let me tell you, there was some great stuff for sale.”
Xu Qing was about to respond when his expression suddenly flickered. The same thing happened to the other disciples present. An astonishing pressure had suddenly weighed down on the tavern from outside. It was indescribably grim and fierce, making it feel like the inn was suddenly submerged in an ancient, icy river. At the same time, a sudden feeling of incredible terror rose unbidden in the hearts and minds of all the disciples.
Xu Qing wasn’t unfamiliar with the sensation. It was just like the first time he had ever run into a grue. What was more, he had experienced that same feeling when looking into the depths of various forbidden regions during his time working as a treasure custodian for three months.
As everyone shivered, Arch-Immortal Plumdark emerged from her room, walked to the front door of the tavern, and gently pushed it open.
When the outside was revealed... it looked completely different than when Xu Qing had been out earlier. The ghost ward was still there, but so was the regular city. It was as if light and darkness, yin and yang, both existed at the same time. They were transposed over each other, creating something indistinct and blurry.
And in that indistinct blurriness, high in the dome of heaven... was a black ship some 3,000 meters long, floating silently. It was pitch black and very dilapidated. The sails were ripped and torn, as though they had existed for countless years. And the entire thing pulsed with a strong death aura. That ship was the source of the frigid pressure which was weighing down on the tavern. It was a ghost galleon.
As it hovered there in the sky, it made it seem like the city below was a harbor, and it was waiting for people to get on board....
“Board the ship!” Arch-Immortal Plumdark said calmly. Stepping forward, she floated up toward the extremely sinister ghost galleon.
Xu Qing and the Captain exchanged a glance, then simultaneously flew up into the sky. The other disciples braced themselves and also followed. Just like that, the Eight Sect Coalition delegation boarded the ghost galleon.
Once aboard, the grim coldness seemed even more apparent. To Xu Qing, the ghost galleon’s dilapidated state was even more obvious when close up. The deck was half rotted away, and there were holes in many other locations. The stern was so decayed it looked like it might collapse at any moment. That said, there didn’t seem to be any ghosts on the ship.
Xu Qing soon noticed that there were others boarding the ship besides coalition cultivators. There were a few dozen people from the city who also chose to get on the ship. Among them were the two swordsages they had encountered on the road. They noticed Xu Qing and the Captain, and didn’t seem surprised at all. They nodded in greeting, then went belowdecks.
Down below, it was just as dilapidated as above. Xu Qing found that there were seats for everyone. Arch-Immortal Plumdark and Master Fifth sat alone some distance away.
Finding an appropriate corner, he sat down. The Captain looked around for a bit before sitting next to Xu Qing.
“Where there are ghost wards, there are ghost galleons.” Arch-Immortal Plumdark didn’t just project her words to Xu Qing, but also to the Captain and all the other coalition disciples. “Ghost galleons are one of the most common supernatural phenomena in the Revered Ancient mainland. They can take you great distances, and move much more quickly than ordinary flying ships. After all, flying ships move through space, but ghost galleons slip through the netherworld.
“In any place where death exists, ghost galleons can lock onto the threads of death and travel there. For the next month, we will travel across the lands on this ghost galleon. During that time, as long as the ghost galleon is moving, you must not open your eyes under any circumstances.
“That is forbidden on ghost galleons.”
Everyone nodded in response
“Xu Qing, Chen Erniu, bring out the flesh of the cloud trolls you killed and place it on the deck above. That flesh serves as our ticket.”
Xu Qing nodded. Together with the Captain, they went up to the main deck, took out the corpses of the cloud trolls they’d killed, and placed them down. The two swordsages did the same. So did the other passengers.
Xu Qing went back inside, which was when he noticed the Captain wasn’t with him.
“Go drag him back down here, Xu Qing,” Arch-Immortal Plumdark said coolly. During the entire journey, this was how she had spoken to him. Only when they were alone would her eyes glitter when she looked at him.
He was used to it. Turning, he went back up to the main deck. After looking around a bit, he found the captain at the entrance to one of the ship’s holds.
The Captain squatted there with a curious look on his face. It seemed like he was planning to go in and look around. Noticing Xu Qing, he whispered, “Little Ah Qing, this ghost galleon definitely has some treasure in it we can use to speed up our cultivation. I just heard a voice calling to me! It said it wanted to trade!”
Xu Qing stopped in place for a moment, then squatted down next to the Captain and cocked his ear. A moment passed. “Probably a scam.”
“I’d say there’s an eighty to ninety percent chance that it wants to lure me down there. I’m just trying to decide if I should take a chance and find out.” The Captain grinned. This was one reason why he liked Xu Qing so much. He didn’t need to offer lengthy explanations about things. Xu Qing always understood what he meant immediately.
“Not now,” Xu Qing said. “Maybe you can try when we get to our destination.”
The Captain nodded. “Alright. I guess if something went wrong right now, the ghost galleon might not let us stay on board. And that would be problematic.”
With that, the two of them went back belowdecks.
Upon seeing them, Arch-Immortal Plumdark cast a vicious glare in the Captain’s direction. “Ghost galleons have Void Returning ghosts sealed in them. Are you looking to get yourself killed?”
Looking hurt, the Captain glanced begrudgingly at Xu Qing, as if the whole thing had been his idea....
Xu Qing sat down cross-legged and pretended not to notice.
Before long, the sun appeared on the horizon, and the ghost galleon vibrated and started to fade from view.
The last thing the disciples heard was Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s voice in their minds.
“Close your eyes!”
Everyone complied.
Xu Qing felt the ghost galleon vibrating beneath him. It seemed to be on the move.
As the sun rose, the ghost galleon vanished from view in the dome of heaven. The ghost ward below faded away completely, leaving behind only the ordinary city. Meanwhile, a grim and sinister will swept back and forth on the ghost galleon, Everything was quiet except for the creaking of the ship.
Xu Qing had his eyes closed, but thanks to his shadow, he could see everything around him.
They were in the passenger hold of the ship. Everyone had their eyes closed, except for the Captain.... Underneath his clothes on his chest was an open eye. It was a very gruish eye, bright blue and extremely fierce and sinister-looking. In fact, it perfectly matched the atmosphere, as if it were some sort of ghost eye.
Xu Qing wasn’t surprised by that. Sending his shadow above deck to the troll flesh, he saw a host of shadowy figures, all of them with bright red eyes, ravenously devouring the corpses. Occasionally they would snap at each other, or look greedily at the people in the passenger hold. They were clearly brutal and vicious fiends, yet there was something restricting them from entering the passenger hold.
A few of them, after finishing their meal, seemed like they couldn’t restrain themselves, and rushed toward the passengers.
Upon passing Arch-Immortal Plumdark, one of them vanished. Upon reaching Master Fifth, another vanished.
One appeared near Xu Qing. It looked at him sitting there with his eyes closed, and it opened its mouth. But then Xu Qing inhaled, and the shadowy ghost shivered and was absorbed into one of his heavenly palaces.
Another ghostly shadow appeared in front of the Captain and was looking at his ghost eye. But then it noticed its companions disappearing, and in its alarm, turned to leave. However, that was when the ghost eye on the Captain turned into a gaping mouth. It devoured the shadowy ghost, then transformed back into an eye. The eye looked at Xu Qing and blinked.
Out on the main deck, none of the other ghostly shadows noticed their companions were dead. Eventually, when the last of the flesh was eaten, the ghosts drifted to various parts of the ghost galleon, and took up various positions like sailors. Before long, the ship was picking up speed.
Surrounding it was a pitch dark netherworld, through which it flew.