New Times, New Hell

Chapter 131 - Fleshed Great Year

Shang Que was too lazy to bother responding to the Ghost Emperor’s surprise. He held onto Yu Zhengdu’s wrist; this time, Yu Zhengdu didn’t even get the chance to close his eyes. It only felt like they had teleported. The two of them instantly appeared at the peak of Impasse Mountain.

In the past, there had been a huge temple at the peak of Impasse Mountain. Eventually, because of obvious reasons, worshipping stopped for several decades. As such, the temple also became a tourist location.

And now, the enormous courtyard in front of the temple had once again been arranged in a magical formation. Banners whipped in the breeze and round yellow pieces of paper floated through the air.

Yellow paper and facial garments. This was exactly what Yu Zhengdu had seen in the future.

The Ghost Emperor sat, legs criss-crossed, in the center of the courtyard. His face was even paler than before and he was wearing white ceremonial clothes. However, because he was overly thin, the clothes looked very empty. His large sleeves fluttered in the wind.

With him as the epicenter, strange symbols had been drawn in a radiating pattern. There was a cliff behind him. In front of him was a gigantic bronze incense burner.

The Buddhist and Daoist religious masters were all present. They sat in two opposing rows. At a glance, there seemed to be at least fifty to sixty people. There were even more people than the number that had participated in the Battle of Si Mountain Ridge.

By the time that Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que arrived, these religious masters’ heads were all drooping: they had surprisingly fallen into a deep sleep.

“It’s a magical formation,” Shang Que said as he stared at the patterned symbols on the ground.

A bad feeling rose in Yu Zhengdu’s heart. “Which magical formation?”

Shang Que flipped his wrist and held up his long sword. “The magical formation that sealed me into the Chaos Realm a thousand years ago.”

The Ghost Emperor lifted his head and looked at Shang Que. He gently stroked the Bodhi beads that made up his bracelet. His tone was also slightly surprised. “I hadn’t thought that you would be so fast.”

He leisurely revealed a smile, eyes still glued in front. “However, you’re still a step too late.”

In the incense burner in front of him, the incense – which was the thickness of a person – had already completely burned down. The ash crumpled and collapsed.

The sky suddenly darkened. Yu Zhengdu looked up, only to see that an enormous black whirlpool had appeared in the sky above the peak of Impasse Mountain. Thick black clouds were leaking out of the whirlpool, rapidly spreading out in all directions. Very quickly, everywhere the eye could see seemed to be covered by a huge black curtain. From the sky to the ground, not even a single opening could be seen.

Impasse Mountain seemed to have become a dark, secret realm. Everything in front of Yu Zhengdu’s eyes had disappeared. He couldn’t see anything. At this time, a familiar hand clutched onto his wrist. Shang Que softly said, “I’m here.”

Immediately after, the dull roar of thunder sounded from in the sky. A bright red ball of fire fell like a meteor, landing in the bronze incense burner with a “thud——”. Like a bonfire, it re-illuminated the pitch black mountain peak.

Separated from them by the burning flames, the Ghost Emperor’s face was sometimes dark and sometimes light. He wore a confident smile. “I hadn’t thought that you would still be capable of summoning unlimited hellfire. As expected from the son of Luofeng Mountain. Even tens of thousands of miles away, you can still use such mighty power from Luofeng Mountain.”

“But so what?” In the light of the flames, the Ghost Emperor flicked his wrist and plucked a Bodhi bead off of his bracelet. “Since humans and ghosts have their own paths, why not……”

Shang Que completely ignored him. He lifted his right hand. The black sword flew into the air, aiming straight at the Ghost Emperor.

At this time, the Ghost Emperor made a gesture with his fingers. That Bodhi bead floated into the air and blocked the tip of the sword’s blade.

“Shang Que, everything about this is very familiar, isn’t it?” The Ghost Emperor lifted his head and stared into the sky. The thick, dark clouds seemed to be solid; they looked like large pieces of lead as they lowly hung over the top of the peak. It was almost as if they wanted to swallow Impasse Mountain, causing one to feel suffocated upon simply taking a glance.

A thousand years ago, Shang Que had been sealed into the Chaos Realm in this manner.

A thousand years later, the Heavens and Hell had collapsed. No gods or ghosts remained. Yet, the Ghost Emperor had borrowed the power of the religious organizations in the mortal realm to use this magical formation and summon the power of the Chaos Realm, recreating the same scene from the past.

“Un.” Shang Que’s expression didn’t change. His tone was still calm. “However, you don’t have the power of the three realms. You can’t stop me.”

“I don’t need to stop you. I only need to slow you down.” The Ghost Emperor picked up the second Bodhi bead. “Just like you were unable to protect the Ghost City of Fengdu a thousand years ago, today, you’ll also be unable to protect Fu City.”

Shang Que flipped his wrist again. His face turned slightly pale. Only to hear the crisp sound of metal: the tip of the sword had cut through that Bodhi bead and was now flying towards the Ghost Emperor.

At the same time, the second Bodhi bead floated into the air. The scene before Yu Zhengdu’s eyes suddenly turned into a blur. The long sword pierced into nothingness. Immediately after, the entire mountain peak changed in accordance with this development.

Towering trees reached into the sky. Green and blue ghost fires were as far as the eye could see. A black river flowed through the forest.

The Hungry Ghost Path.

Yu Zhengdu instinctively assumed that they had been brought into the Hungry Ghost Path by the Ghost Emperor. However, when he focused and looked again, he discovered that he was still standing on the stone steps at the top of Impasse Mountain. Buddhist and Daoist religious masters were sitting in two rows on both sides of him. They were still in deep sleep. An enormous bronze incense burner stood in the middle; in it, unlimited hellfire was burning steadily.

Yu Zhengdu furrowed his brows. “What’s going on?”

The black sword floated in midair. Behind Luo Wanxiang’s physical body, an enormous Bodhi tree had suddenly appeared. Its branches were like a shield, protecting the thin monk in white with its leaves.

Luo Wanxiang’s eyes turned gold. Buddha opened his eyes.

“Since humans and ghosts are destined to have separate paths……” The Ghost Emperor used Luo Wanxiang’s mouth to slowly ask, “Why not combine those paths into one?”

Shang Que’s face turned even paler. “The barrier between the Hungry Ghost Path and the mortal realm has collapsed.”

Yu Zhengdu’s eyes widened. “The barrier has collapsed?”

The Hungry Ghost Path and mortal realm were located in the same area. However, because of a barrier, these two worlds were separated. As soon as the barrier collapsed, that meant that……the two worlds would really and truly overlap.

The cities of the mortal realm would appear in the vast territories of the Hungry Ghost Path. All the hungry ghosts in the Hungry Ghost Path would appear in the mortal realm.

Just like right now.

“Humans were originally ghosts. Why fear turning into ghosts again?” The Ghost Emperor inquired, “Why not let the beings of the Hungry Ghost Path have a taste of this worldly realm?”

Yu Zhengdu’s phone started furiously buzzing again:

Kang Jin: &#k3010;What’s happening? Why is it so dark outside?&#k3011;

Lu Lingxi: 【There are facial garments everywhere. They’re even floating around the technology park!】

Qu Guangzhao: 【Holy shit, what’s going on? The end of the world?】

Zheng Yan: 【@Yu Zhengdu, Leader, hurry and come back! I can’t handle this alone—— Erkang hand.jpg】

Zhao Ruola: 【Shut up. You guys are disrupting my work!】

Zheng Yan: 【You emotionless work robot.jpg】

Shang Que faintly tapped the air. The long black sword returned to his grasp.

Luo Wanxiang’s Buddha Eyes turned to look into the void. He saw the truth: “Shang Que, the border between the mortal realm and Hungry Ghost Path has already collapsed. Fu City is destined to become a ghost city……”

“Is that so?” Shang Que asked. His dark eyes, which never reflected anything, turned blood red. The completely black curtains covering the sky were ripped into innumerous pieces. Flashes of lightning illuminated the entire mountain peak instantly.

Immediately after, a “boom——” sounded out. The roar of thunder echoed everywhere, causing everyone in Fu City’s hearts to shudder in fear as they uncontrollably looked up at the sky.

“That’s no use. No matter how powerful you are, you alone aren’t enough to save an entire city. Not to mention that you’re already no longer the you of the past.” Those golden eyes turned to look at Shang Que.

The third Bodhi bead floated into the air. “You can stop me, but you can’t stop all the ghosts in the Hungry Ghost Path. They……desire to conquer the mortal realm more than anyone else.”

Yu Zhengdu didn’t know what the Ghost Emperor ultimately wanted to do. He could only guess from bits and pieces of the other’s speech that it definitely wasn’t anything good.

His expression slightly changed. Almost reflexively, he looked up. Only now did he discover that the heavy clouds were practically already hanging over his head. He suspected that if he reached a hand up, he would be able to touch them.

The layer of clouds became a whirlpool, ripping open an enormous black hole, almost like a vicious beast opening its gargantuan mouth.

In the direction the gargantuan mouth was swallowing, the Bodhi bead created a strange ripple of power. A figure appeared out of the darkness. It was a woman wearing common clothes and an apron.

The woman seemed to be slightly confused as to why she had suddenly appeared in this location. Her first reaction was to scan her surroundings. Thus, her gaze landed on Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que. Her eyes brightened as she passionately greeted, “Boss Shang, Boss Yu, long time no see. Where am I?”

Yu Zhengdu: = =

Yu Zhengdu coughed softly and waved at her too. “Ghost Mother, long time no see.”

The person who had just appeared was exactly Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s mother, the Ghost Mother of Xi Mountain who was dedicated to creating dark cuisine.

Ghost Mother asked, “Were you the ones who summoned me?”

Yu Zhengdu waved his hands around. “No.”

“You know each other?” The Ghost Emperor’s surprised voice sounded out from behind Ghost Mother. Afterwards, the Ghost Emperor then revealed a look of sudden realization. “Oh, that’s right. A thousand years ago, Shang Que went to the Hungry Ghost Path to save the Underworld spirits who had accidentally entered it.”

Ghost Mother turned to look at him. She slightly narrowed her eyes as she wracked her memory, then finally exclaimed, “Great Emperor of Fengdu! You’re still alive!”

“Yes, it’s me.” The Ghost Emperor nodded while replying, “Ghost Mother, I’m the one who summoned you.”

The Great Emperor of Fengdu had previously been in charge of all beings of the Underworld. Theoretically speaking, the Hungry Ghost Path was also under his command. Ghost Mother still maintained an instinctive respect for him. Thus, she politely asked, “May I ask what you summoned me for?”

The Ghost Emperor faintly smiled, then turned his head to signal for Ghost Mother to observe her surroundings. “Take a look. Where is this?”

Ghost Mother had actually already scanned her surroundings. But only now did she finally dare to confirm her suspicions. She couldn’t help revealing a shocked expression: “The mortal realm!”

“Exactly right. Haven’t you always wanted your ghostly offspring to return to the mortal realm? I’m giving you the opportunity now……” The Ghost Emperor’s voice was eerie and extremely persuasive. “Go forth, Ghost Mother of Xi Mountain. Take your ghostly offspring with you to conquer this land……”

“Lunatic!” Ghost Mother immediately interrupted before waiting for him to finish speaking. “I’m warning you, don’t say such random things. I’ve never had such thoughts before!”

While saying this, she turned to look at Shang Que, revealing an ingratiating smile. “Boss Shang, you absolutely mustn’t trust his bullshit. I love the Hungry Ghost Path. I never want to leave the Hungry Ghost Path.”

Shang Que, who had been apathetically watching the scene unfold from off to the side this entire time, finally coolly nodded. “Got it.”

“Fuck, you should’ve told me earlier that your helper is Ghost Mother!” Yu Zhengdu spat out the breath of air he had been holding in and stroked his chest in placation. “Scared me to death!”

The Ghost Emperor’s charlatan-like smile gradually disappeared. In disbelief, he stared at Ghost Mother. “What do you mean? Could it be that you don’t want to come to the mortal realm anymore?”

“What’s so good about the mortal realm? It’s not like us ghosts can use the wifi in the mortal realm!” Ghost Mother put her hands on her hips like a village woman. Very loudly, she said, “What’s the point of a ghostly life if we can’t use the Internet?!”

Ghost Emperor: ???

Ghost Emperor: “You have wifi in the Hungry Ghost Path?”

“Of course. And, the signal is super strong. There’s no lagging at all when I watch cooking videos,” Ghost Mother said while pointing into the distance. “Look.”

The Ghost Emperor looked in the direction she was pointing, then: “……”

In the distance, as the border between the mortal realm and the Hungry Ghost Path collapsed, not only did the Hungry Ghost Path’s dense forests, ghost fires, and black river appear, but what simultaneously appeared as well were……two big, tall signal towers.

“Hehe.” Ghost Mother patted her stomach. “I, as a pregnant ghost, am not scared of radiation. We can get the signal as strong as technologically possible.”

The Ghost Emperor’s entire face had turned green. He looked at Shang Que. “You actually added Internet to the Hungry Ghost Path?!”

“It is the goal of socialism to push for informatization and modernization of distant and isolated areas. It is also the mission of our new Hell in these new times,” Yu Zhengdu humbly replied.

“Exactly, exactly.” It could be said that Ghost Mother was a big fan of her current leaders. She immediately expressed her loyalty by following up Yu Zhengdu’s explanation with: “Under the leadership of the new Hell, not only has our Hungry Ghost Path been connected to the Internet, we’ve also arranged for reeducation classes for the little ghosts. With the double guidance of cooking classes and socialist values, our education plans have achieved great success. I trust that in the near future, the little ghosts will be able to smoothly return into the paths of reincarnation……”

Ghost Mother probably had attended quite a few classes. In the end, she very familiarly raised her speech to a higher level. “It is all thanks to Luofeng’s great leaders that the Hungry Ghost Path has achieved its current accomplishments!”

The Ghost Emperor hadn’t thought that he would suffer such a huge setback at the first step of his careful plan. This was basically a textbook example of losing before the battle had even started. He momentarily didn’t even know what expression to have on his face. In the end, he only inhaled deeply. “Ghost Mother of Xi Mountain, you really don’t want to enter the mortal realm?”

“No, not at all.” Ghost Mother was short and to the point.

“Emmm.” Yu Zhengdu coughed softly. Like a neighbor who was trying to break up a dispute, he suggested, “Ghost Emperor, maybe you should give up?”

“In your dreams.” Luo Wanxiang’s golden eyes started faintly shining gold once again. The Ghost Emperor’s voice sounded out. “You guys can’t be thinking that the Hungry Ghost Path was my only arrangement, right?”

Yu Zhengdu went on high alert.

Shang Que’s long sword incessantly quivered, ringing because of this constant motion.

The fourth Bodhi bead floated into the air. That strange power rippled out once again.

The peak of Impasse Mountain slightly shook. From in the distance, a rustling noise could be heard. It seemed like something was travelling through the dense forest and was charging in this direction.

Yu Zhengdu looked in the direction the sounds were coming from. Only to see many big, tall trees falling down one after the other. It appeared as if something enormous, yellow, and white was moving towards them.

He exclaimed, “What’s that?”

Shang Que’s sword turned around in midair. With immense speed and power, it flew towards that enormous blob of yellow and white.

He coldly said, “A fleshed great year.”

But the long sword was unable to reach the yellow and white object. The fifth Bodhi bead lifted into the air, stopping the tip of the sword again.

The Ghost Emperor said, “Shang Que, you can’t stop this thousand year old great year……”

The power of Luofeng Mountain and the power of the Chaos Realm slammed into each other once more. The ripple effect caused everyone to shake.

Yu Zhengdu practically couldn’t keep his balance. He could only familiarly cling onto Shang Que’s shoulders and hide behind the other’s back.

At this time, the fleshed great year revealed its true appearance too.

Only to see an enormous blob of sticky, yellowish white, soft “flesh” slowly squeezing through the dense forest. At first glance, the soft flesh looked like a giant piece of clam meat. It seemed smooth and slippery, but was actually quite strong. Large trees with deep roots and plenty of leaves immediately fell over when they got pushed by it, becoming completely uprooted.

The soft flesh appeared in front of everyone with an unparalleled entrance. It was about the height of a two story building and spread out in all directions, like fat. Completely spread out, it was about the size of a gymnasium. Its flesh was bundled in layers and continuously dripped with a sticky liquid.

Great years, also known as fleshed lingzhis. The Classic of Mountains and Seas named them “visible flesh”, “bundled flesh,” etc. In appearance, they seemed like a bundle of soft flesh with both heads and tails. Modern science normally considered great years as a large type of compound slime mold. They were extremely hard to kill and could regrow no matter how cut up they got. Because of this, fleshed lingzhis had survived over hundred of millions of years of evolution, staying alive until now.

Fleshed lingzhis were of varying different colors. The red ones looked like coral, the white ones looked like fat, the black ones looked like Sun Euphorbia herbs, the green ones looked like spikemoss herbs, and the yellow ones looked like purple gold.

The great year that had been summoned by the Ghost Emperor was a yellowish white that was similar to fat. Though great years were very hard to kill, they were also extremely rare. Among the general public, if someone found a great year about the size of an infant’s arm, this was already enough to make the news. However, the great year before their eyes now had already been growing underground for who knows how many years. It had actually grown to such a large size and gained a consciousness.

The fleshed great year’s body was big enough to block all sunlight. Fire wouldn’t burn it and water wouldn’t cause it to turn moldy. It was a monster that was exceptionally difficult to deal with.

“Go……” The Ghost Emperor pointed to the bottom of the mountain; that was the direction Fu City was in. “Great Year, go towards the mortal realm……”

The enormous fleshed great year started rolling once again in the direction of the Ghost Emperor’s hand, heading to the bottom of the mountain.

Shang Que’s eyes turned even redder. He flipped his wrist once more. The long sword split into two. One turned to aim at the Ghost Emperor while the other flew at the fleshed great year.

“It’s useless. You and I are evenly matched,” the Ghost Emperor said. He slowly stood up and walked toward Shang Que.

In the bronze incense burner, unlimited hellfire was burning brightly. Luo Wanxiang’s face was sometimes illuminated and sometimes in the shadows.

The Bodhi bead flew into the air again, blocking the sword that was in pursuit of the fleshed great year.

The Ghost Emperor clasped his hands together and pushed forward. A nameless force surged toward Shang Que.

But as soon as the force rippled out, Shang Que’s body disappeared. Yu Zhengdu, who was clinging onto his shoulders, only saw a blur before discovering that they had already appeared behind the Ghost Emperor and were now facing the gigantic fleshed great year.

Standing at the foot of the fleshed great year, he could more directly sense how large and scary this monster was.

The Ghost Emperor seemed a bit surprised. He turned around. “Shang Que?”

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t really understand what was going on. He only instinctively felt like Shang Que was in anger. He reflexively gently called out, “Xiao Shang?”

“We can’t let the fleshed great year get to the bottom of the mountain,” Shang Que said, expression dark. The black sword flew up, forming an enormous shadow. The sword handle was pointed up as the blade pointed down, straight at the fleshed great year.

“Shang Que, are you sure you want to take care of the fleshed great year first?” The Ghost Emperor’s voice sounded out from behind. “Then don’t blame me for being impolite……”

The seventh Bodhi bead floated into the air and turned into a sharp blade.

“Fuck, how are you still not done using your beads?” Yu Zhengdu couldn’t stop himself from cussing. “Not even the 7 Dragon Balls are as annoying as you!”

However, his yelling couldn’t stop the Ghost Emperor. That nameless blade pierced straight at Shang Que’s lower back.

Danger!

The warning bells were going off in Yu Zhengdu’s head. He forcefully pushed down on Shang Que’s shoulder. “Xiao Shang, you take care of the Ghost Emperor. Leave the fleshed great year to me!”

Upon hearing this, the Ghost Emperor burst into laughter. “How dare a mere mortal bluff like this!”

From beginning to end, he had never truly considered Yu Zhengdu a threat. The other was only a mortal. By Shang Que’s side, he seemed more like a burden……

But Shang Que was listening to the burden. At the same time that Yu Zhengdu shouted out, the long sword changed directions and blocked the Ghost Emperor’s Bodhi bead blade at the last moment.

The Ghost Emperor wasn’t annoyed at all. Instead, he smiled and looked at Shang Que. “Shang Que, think carefully. If you’re going to stop me, you won’t be able to stop the great year……”

That great year was enormous and sticky. While sliding down the mountain, it achieved the same effect as a landslide.

“Zhengdu can do it,” Shang Que said.

“Him?” The Ghost Emperor revealed an amused expression. “Shang Que, you’re the Ghost King. You’re actually placing hope in a mortal……”

Yu Zhengdu was too lazy to bother responding to his passive-aggressive mocking. He told Ghost Mother, “Ghost Mother, hurry and summon all of your sons! It’s harvest time!”

Ghost Mother momentarily didn’t understand. “Harvest for what?”

Yu Zhengdu pointed at the fleshed great year and said, “That thing is an excellent ingredient for making soup. Aren’t you guys always worried about your materials for your cooking classes? You can use this for several days if you cut it up!”

《Shennong’s Materia Medica》 recorded: fleshed lingzhis, not poisonous, nutritional supplement for the abdomen, strengthens the kidneys and life energy, increases intelligence, cures knots in the chest, long term consumption can mitigate discomfort in old age.

“Ey, I almost forgot. This is a wonderful opportunity!” Ghost Mother of Xi Mountain rubbed her hands together and roared in the direction of the forest, “Sons, hurry and come out——”

“Mom, I’m coming!” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost, who was the size of a small hill, thudded out from the forest. After, he widened his big eyes and stared at Yu Zhengdu while happily saying, “Milk Tea Didi, we meet again!”

But Yu Zhengdu wasn’t very pleased. “How come there’s only one?”

The fleshed great year was so big. How could Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost alone be enough?

Ghost Mother apologetically explained, “My other ghostly offspring are a bit further away. It’ll take some time for them to arrive.”

“Ah, then let me try,” Yu Zhengdu said. In his heart, he activated the Ghost King’s magical seal and yelled, “Hungry Ghosts, come out now, all of you.”

As he finished speaking, several ghost heads with sunken cheeks and ghastly expressions popped out from the shadows of the forest that was the overlap between the mortal realm and the Hungry Ghost Path. They all shouted out, “Boss Yu, what do you need from us?”

“Yi, where is this place?”

“Boss Yu, please wait for me to finish this game first. Plants vs. Zombies is so fun!”

Upon closer inspection, they all had phones in their hands…… Current times really couldn’t be compared to the past!

The Ghost Emperor’s expression changed. “You can summon the hungry ghosts?”

“It’s a good thing you broke down the barrier to the Hungry Ghost Path. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have succeeded.” Yu Zhengdu pointed at the fleshed great year and said to the hungry ghosts, “Minions, go! Cut that piece of flesh off!”

Ghost Emperor: ……Why is this person acting like the king of the mountain?

The confusion in his heart hadn’t yet dissipated, but the hungry ghosts’ eyes had all already brightened. They revealed their sharp nails; others pulled out frying pans, knives, and forks. In clusters, they swarmed toward the fleshed great year. In only a moment, they had entirely surrounded the great year.

The Ghost Emperor was completely dumbfounded. Quite agitated, he asked, “Hungry ghosts can’t even eat anything. Why are you guys cutting up the great year?”

“As materials for their cooking classes,” Yu Zhengdu explained.

A string of question marks hung over the Ghost Emperor’s head. “Why do the hungry ghosts need to attend cooking class?”

Yu Zhengdu, expression solemn: “This is the self-discipline of the hungry ghosts.”

The author has something to say:

Great Year: Refusing social interaction now.

Ghost Emperor: I never should’ve summoned the Ghost Mother of Xi Mountain and made the Hungry Ghost Path appear. I’m feeling regretful now, very regretful!