New Times, New Hell

Chapter 74 - Hungry Ghost Path

Black tears started flowing out of Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s big eyes again. His arms, that were as short as a T-rex’s, struggled to reach his face and wipe away the tears. He cried, “You’re too much. You dare to mock me!”

Yu Zhengdu hadn’t expected that this ghost would be so sensitive. He hurriedly explained, “No, no, that’s not what I meant. I was just worried that you would eat me.”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost finally stopped crying upon hearing this. He glared at the other for a bit before suddenly asking, “You’re a ghost from out of town, right?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Why? I have a foreign accent?”

“That’s not it,” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost started. “Only ghosts from out of town are worried that they’ll get eaten. If you were a local ghost, you would know that we don’t eat anything.”

“I’m so hungry.” As he spoke, he started crying again. While tears streamed down his face, he didn’t forget to keep staring at Yu Zhengdu’s milk tea. “I’m really very hungry. I want to eat so bad, but I can’t! Wuwuwu——”

“Don’t cry anymore, don’t cry anymore.” Yu Zhengdu realized that this ghost was like a little kid. He wasn’t all that mature, so Yu Zhengdu hurriedly comforted the other, incredibly stressed.

He thought about it, then stuck a straw in a cup of milk tea and handed it over. “This is a drink. Do you want to try and see if you can drink it?”

“Can I drink it?” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost blinked before tentatively receiving the milk tea and taking a sip.

The next second, Yu Zhengdu witnessed his big eyes become starry-eyed. “Ao—— so delicious, so so so delicious. I’ve never had anything so delicious before——”

Yu Zhengdu gazed at the milk tea that hadn’t seemed to decrease in the slightest and carefully asked, “You’re sure you drank some?”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost furiously nodded. “Even though I only drank a little bit, it was very fragrant and very sweet. Is this jade dew syrup from the Heavens?”

Yu Zhengdu: “……Your description is a bit exaggerated. This is milk tea.”

“What’s this?” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost hummed as he chewed something. A while later, he spat out a black blob. His gaze was filled with sorrow. “This is so fun to chew! Unfortunately, I can’t swallow it. I’m so sad, I want to eat!”

“These are pearls.” Yu Zhengdu watched as Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost incessantly slurped at the milk tea. He worried that if they continued talking about this topic, the conversation would never end. Thus, he hurriedly asked, “Oh right, where are we?”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost blinked. “The area near my house.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” This ghost’s IQ seems a bit lacking?

Yu Zhengdu waved his hands. “I mean, what’s the address for this area? Which province, which city, which mountain?”

“I can’t understand your question.” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost scratched his head. “We don’t have an address. I’ve never been anywhere else either.”

Could it be that this was a homebody ghost?

Yu Zhengdu continued to inquire, “Then are there people where you live?”

The current matter at hand was to first find someplace where there were people. Only then would he be able to discover where he was.

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s expression was bewildered. “What people? There are no people here. They’re all ghosts.”

Yu Zhengdu finally realized what was wrong. With furrowed eyebrows, he asked, “Wait. There are no people? Then where did the ghosts come from?”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost: “Born, obviously. Weren’t you?”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

Of course not. Normal ghosts were the deceased spirits of living people. He had never seen a ghost that had been born as a ghost.

Yu Zhengdu’s heart suddenly became cold. He had a faint idea, but couldn’t be sure. He only asked, “Where are the other ghosts, then?”

“Don’t know. They didn’t listen to Mom and ran off by themselves. I don’t know where they went.” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost tilted his head. “You have a lot of questions. How about you just go ask my mom? She knows a lot, so can give you answers.”

“Your mom?” Yu Zhengdu was a bit guarded. “The one who gave birth to you?”

“Yep,” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost nodded. “She told me stories about lots of other places. Maybe she’ll know about the address you were talking about.”

In his heart, Yu Zhengdu was actually against seeing a creature that could give birth to ghosts. But he had no other choice. He could only tentatively ask first, “Is she friendly towards foreign ghosts?”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost led him along the black river, further into the forest. “She is! She likes treating foreign ghosts to meals. She’ll definitely be very happy to see you.”

Yu Zhengdu heaved a secret sigh of relief. “Your mom seems pretty welcoming. Then how did those other foreign ghosts leave this place?”

“None of them left.” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost tilted his head to glance at Yu Zhengdu. He very naturally stated, “They didn’t like the food my mom made, so she ripped them into pieces.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……?!” Holy shit!

Yu Zhengdu turned on his feet, intending to run. However, before he could do anything, Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost pressed down on his shoulder with his tiny arm.

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost: “We’re here.”

Yu Zhengdu lost his balance because of this. He was in the middle of coming up with an excuse, but it was already too late. Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost lifted his other hand to wave. He shouted, “Mom, I’m back.”

The raspy voice of a woman sounded out from the depths of the forest. Her tone was a bit displeased, “Needlepoint? Didn’t I tell you to hide in the water and not make yourself known? How come you’re wandering around again?”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost shrunk into his neck. “I met a ghost from out of town. He has questions to ask you.”

“From out of town?” The woman’s voice instantly became excited. “Let me see.”

At the same time, Yu Zhengdu, who couldn’t move because he was being held down, couldn’t help looking in the direction Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost was pointing.

Through layers and layers of branches and leaves, he saw an area of emptiness in the deepest area of the forest. Half the moon hung over that vast sky. The hazy moonlight lit up the earth, illuminating an enormous black lake. It was connected to the black river. In the middle of the lake was a little island. On top of the island was a cottage, surrounded by ghostly fires. He could faintly discern smoke rising from the chimney of the cottage.

Only to hear a creak as the door to the cottage became pushed open. A short, plump woman wearing an apron over common clothes walked out. From across the lake, her gaze fell onto Yu Zhengdu’s figure. There was obvious excitement in her eyes. “We really have a guest ah. Come come come, come sit inside.”

Yu Zhengdu was a bit surprised. He had assumed that a ghost big enough to give birth to a huge ghost like Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost would be very scary, but in reality, this woman looked quite normal. She seemed like an ordinary woman that could be seen in any village in the mortal realm.

He was just about to give a greeting when he heard Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost scoot closer and whisper, “My mom’s pretending to be a human again. She definitely wants to treat you to a meal. Remember to praise her, okay? Otherwise, you’ll die.”

Yu Zhengdu stared at him, astounded, “This isn’t your mom’s normal appearance?”

“Of course not,” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost shushed him. “Do you think someone who looks like that could give birth to a ghost who looks like me?”

Yu Zhengdu expressionlessly answered, “……You’re right.”

The woman waved at them, “Hurry and come.”

Yu Zhengdu gazed at the enormous black lake in front of him. He had just started wondering if he could reject the invitation on the basis that he couldn’t swim when he noticed Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost directly jump into the lake. The other pointed at his thick back and said, “Come up. I’ll carry you over.”

Yu Zhengdu: “You’re truly too kind.”

“It’s what I should do.” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost blinked his big eyes, then balanced the milk tea on his own head. “You gave me this too, right?”

Yu Zhengdu had no other option. He could only sigh softly and slowly climb onto Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s back, allowing the other to give him a piggyback ride. They swam past the black lake; during the trip, Yu Zhengdu finally discovered that there was actually a mire atop the lake. No wonder it looked so black.

When they reached the small island at the heart of the lake, the woman led Yu Zhengdu inside with a smile. She asked, “How did you get here?”

“I don’t know either,” Yu Zhengdu answered honestly.

“Oh, so you probably got lost.” The woman seemed rather apathetic. She told Yu Zhengdu to sit at a very simple table, then walked into a different room by herself. “Though this place is very remote, there will occasionally be absentminded ghosts who barge in.”

Yu Zhengdu brought up his original question again, “May I ask what this place actually is?”

The woman’s laughter seemed a bit eerie. “Don’t you know?”

Yu Zhengdu didn’t respond.

“Let’s not talk about that right now. You should be hungry, right? How about eating something first?” The woman walked out of the room with a tray in her hands. Three plates and two bowls rested on the tray. Cheerfully, she said, “What a coincidence. I just so happened to finish making dinner. Come try my cooking.”

She set down the tray, revealing three plates of mush – Yu Zhengdu couldn’t tell what the original ingredients had been at all – and two bowls of rice.

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

No wonder Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost said that previously, no foreign ghosts had enjoyed his mother’s cooking.

Only to see Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s originally blue face abruptly turn green. The woman grabbed a bowl of rice and filled it up with mush, then forced it into his hand. “Needlepoint, you eat too.”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost widened his eyes. He pointed at his tiny, needlepoint-sized throat and cried, “Mom, have you forgotten? I can’t eat.”

“Then smell it!” The woman aggressively yelled. “This is a new dish that I just came up with today. You need to sniff it with all you’ve got.”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost received the bowl with shaking hands and pitifully lowered his head to start sniffing the food.

The women then plated another portion and stuffed it into Yu Zhengdu’s hands. “Here, you try some too.”

Yu Zhengdu accepted the food and felt that his entire ghostly being was on the verge of being not okay. Disregarding the taste, he highly suspected that if he bit into this thing, he could instantly become poisoned back to life.

“Hurry and eat!” The woman stared at him diligently. Upon noticing his hesitation, the smile on her face grew fainter and fainter. Her fingers continuously twitched, snapping and popping with every move. “What? You think the food I made isn’t good?”

“No, no.” Yu Zhengdu prodded at the blackish blob and forced himself to calm down. “I’m just curious as to what this dish is. I’ve never seen it before.”

“This is stir-fried ghost shark meat. It doesn’t exist anywhere else.” The woman eerily stared at him. “I just fished it out of the mud. It’s very fresh. Don’t you dare to eat some?”

“Of course. There isn’t anything that us Huaxia ghosts don’t dare to eat.” Yu Zhengdu started spouting lies with a straight face, “However, us modern ghosts have three highs. My doctor told me not to eat anything stir-fried.”

The woman slightly narrowed her eyes. “What are these ‘three highs’?”

“It means high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar,” Yu Zhengdu explained. Upon seeing the woman reveal a confused expression, he started lecturing her about the concepts behind the three highs. At the end, he said, “……That’s basically it. Right now, ghosts have too much pressure. We can’t even completely relax in death. We still have to take care of our health.”

“I hadn’t expected that there would be so many nuances to being a ghost these days,” the woman lamented. Then, she glanced darkly at Yu Zhengdu again. “But why do I feel like you’re trying to fool me?”

As expected, this ghost wasn’t as easy to trick as Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost was!

Fortunately, Yu Zhengdu already had a plan in mind. He instantly pulled out his phone and turned it on, expression calm. “I’m really not. See, this is a reference list of recipes that the doctor gave me. He told me to strictly follow it and not to deviate from it in the slightest.”

According to his plan, he needed to drag things out for as long as possible. If he truly couldn’t keep fooling her, he would just take a bite out of the food. Either way, death was inevitable.

Fortunately, though, the gourmet food recipe powerpoint he had previously made for the fake Fan Li’s interrogation was still on his phone. While opening the powerpoint, he asked, “The ghost……ghost shark you spoke of? What kind of creature is that?”

When he took out his phone and the screen lit up, the woman and Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost scooted closer curiously. The woman said, “It’s a type of fish.”

“Oh, I have the 50 different ways of cooking fish here.” Yu Zhengdu swiped the powerpoint to the next slide and handed his phone over to the woman. “Take a look. The doctor recommended that I only eat sashimi and steamed fish, making sure to avoid deep-fried or stir-fried fish.”

At this time, both the woman and Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s attentions were completely focused on the phone. They wholly disregarded what Yu Zhengdu was saying.

The woman refused to let go of the phone now that she was holding it. She asked, “What’s this?”

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost was preoccupied by something entirely different from his mother. Drool dripped out from his mouth. “Are these all foods? They all look so delicious. I’m so hungry, I want to eat so bad——”

The woman pushed him away and held the phone up to Yu Zhengdu, asking once more, “What is this?”

Now, Yu Zhengdu finally realized that she truly seemed to not recognize the phone. He thought about their surroundings and instantly understood that since they were separated from the rest of the world, they probably didn’t know anything about several new technological advancements. After understanding this, Yu Zhengdu answered, “This is a cell phone.”

Only to see the woman’s expression became bewildered. Thus, Yu Zhengdu explained it to her and also taught her the concepts behind the Internet.

After he finished speaking, the woman was already completely astounded. She seemed slightly surprised but also slightly sorrowful. A pause later, she slowly muttered, “So the mortal realm has already changed so much.”

Her voice was barely discernible. Yu Zhengdu didn’t know who she was talking to either.

Yu Zhengdu caught the hidden meaning in her words. He tentatively asked, “You just mentioned the mortal realm? So this isn’t the mortal realm?”

The woman slowly lifted her head, revealing a creepy smile. “You still don’t know where we are now?”

Yu Zhengdu fell silent for a moment before finally saying those three words: “Hungry Ghost Path.”

Not long after Yu Zhengdu had joined Luofeng, he had once taken care of a case with Shang Que regarding runaway evil ghosts from the Fu City Ancient Well Reincarnation Point. In the end, Shang Que had thrown the spirit of the serial killer, Hong Gentou, into the Hungry Ghost Path.

This seemed to be the greatest punishment Hell could give to these felon ghosts after the Heavens and earth had collapsed.

Because of this, Yu Zhengdu had secretly researched the Hungry Ghost Path in private.

The Hungry Ghost Path was one of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. According to legend, it overlapped with the mortal realm and only contained forests and empty plains. However, the eyes of mortals were unable to see it.

The inhabitants of the Hungry Ghost Path were all born from the womb. In their previous lives, they had all accrued bad karma. In this life, they were all born from a ghost mother. Their lives could last tens of thousands of years, and for this entire time, they were required to suffer through the pain and punishments of their bad karma. At every moment, they endured the torment of extreme hunger.

Such as needlepoint-throated hungry ghosts. They had stomachs as big as valleys, but their throats were only the size of needlepoints. No matter how much delicious food you gave them, they wouldn’t be able to swallow it. They could only stare at the food and smell the scent. Every day, they felt burning hunger. It was an indescribable kind of pain.

Other hungry ghosts had huge bodies but extremely thin and small feet. This made it hard for their feet to carry their body weight, so when they saw food, they could only barely manage to approach it. However, because of their bad karma, when they finally managed to get close to the food, the food would turn into a multitude of inedible objects.

There were also hungry ghosts who could blow fire. Even if they could somehow swallow food, this food wouldn’t fill their stomachs up. Instead, it would cause their stomachs to burn; this was extremely painful.

And the flames he had seen in the wilderness and abandoned forest were the residual fires blown out by these hungry ghosts.

After learning that Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost had been born as a ghost, he had already had a small inkling in his heart. However, he hadn’t dared to confirm anything until the woman before his eyes had outright stated that this wasn’t the mortal realm.

So the woman in front of him was the ghost mother of the Hungry Ghost Path.

Then what was Jiang’s identity? Why could he so easily exile him to the Hungry Ghost Path? What did he need to do to leave?

Yu Zhengdu fell deep into thought. However, Ghost Mother ignored him. Instead, she and Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost bumped heads, squeezing to see the phone screen.

Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s eyes had already turned green. “Mom, this dish looks so delicious. Can you make it for me to smell?”

“And this one, this one, plus this one. Wuwuwuwu, everything looks so delicious. I’m so hungry, I want to eat so bad!”

While looking at the phone, Ghost Mother slapped Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost’s head. “You deserve it. Who told you to be a bad person in your past life. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have reincarnated here in the first place. Now, you’re supposed to repent everyday to decrease your bad karma, but you keep slacking off!”

“It’s not that I don’t want to repent, ” Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost said while hugging his head. “But I don’t have any motivation to……”

“What do you mean you have no motivation?!!” Ghost Mother was so angry she placed her hands on her hips and scolded, “Every day, I work so hard to cook food for you simply to provide you motivation, right? Don’t you feel stimulated by the smell of food and want to immediately decrease your bad karma so you can leave the Hungry Ghost Path and go eat?”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

He gazed at the unidentified food that Ghost Mother had brought over and could only say that Ghost Mother had a very great misunderstanding of how good her own cooking was.

Smelling such dishes every day probably wouldn’t cause anyone to generate a desire for eating food.

Only to see Needlepoint-Throated Hungry Ghost stare at the pictures of food on the phone, drool continuously dripping out of his mouth. He loudly wailed, “I have motivation now. I want to go to the mortal realm, I want to drink milk tea, I want to eat all fifty different ways of cooking chicken!”

Ghost Mother: “……”

The author has something to say:

Chicken: We were both people who did bad things in our past lives. What have I done extra wrong?!