CH 155.1

Looking into the distance, an endless fog lingered over the river.

The sky overhead was dark, but this dark color was not the darkness of the night in the real world; it was more like the monotonous black and white after all other colors had been sucked out.

In this monotonous black and white scenery, the large blood-red manzanita flowers looked vivid and bizarre, and even a bit out of place.

The little dumpling was still asleep, so Bai Lixin carried him through the sea of flowers and moved toward the river.

As Bai Lixin moved, the close-knit manzanitas parted with dappled and messy rustling sounds, like a red ocean lapping at the shore or a red beast whimpering.

“Papa, give me a hug.” Bai Lixin heard him murmur in his sleep, “Father, hug Tuanzi.”

Bai Lixin couldn’t help laughing; he used his black cloak to wrap the little dumpling in his arms, and patted his back as he moved around.

He thought that after leaving a copy, the connection between the game lobby and that world would be severed, and there wouldn’t be any contact if a copy was cleared.

Unexpectedly, he ran into so many familiar faces in this copy.

The ghost mother, her children, and the little dumpling all appeared in this copy.

According to the saying that has been handed down from ancient times, the soul is indestructible, the flesh is just a vessel to carry the soul, and with the help of the flesh, the soul can move around in the real world.

But this was a myth, and with the gradual development of science, people became less inclined to believe in the existence of the soul.

At that time, a scientist was so convinced that life had a soul that he carried out an experiment to weigh people at the time of death and compared the difference in weight between the moment of life and the moment of death.

Through this almost constant weight difference, he finally arrived at the weight of a soul.

Even after the scientist completed the weighing, the doubts never diminished. Many believed that the sudden decrease in grams was simply an error caused when the muscles and bones went from tense to relaxed.

There has never been a definitive answer to the nebulous question of whether souls really exist.

But in this world, it was clear that not only were there souls but that those souls also had a place where they belonged.

A thought suddenly flashed through Bai Lixin’s mind.

If Tuanzi, the ghost mother and her children from the [Night Walk of a Hundred Ghosts] copy had appeared in this copy, was there a possibility that the characters from the other copies would also appear here?

They were getting closer and closer to the river, and this thought only appeared in Bai Lixin’s mind for a moment before disappearing in an instant.

After walking for about ten minutes, Bai Lixin left the endless sea of flowers and arrived at the river.

From here, the dark and hazy river was even more mysterious.

The river was not empty; from where he was standing, he could vaguely see a few small sailing boats floating on the surface; the boats were unoccupied, and they just floated there quietly, floating aimlessly around with the current.

In the river were a few swimming bodies in the distance, swaying their limbs in a desperate attempt to swim across the river.

As they reached the middle of the river, several skeletal arms suddenly protruded from the silent river. They were only a few at first, but then they sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

They quickly grabbed the swimming bodies, and amidst the ghosts’ terrified screams, the white bones wrapped around them like ropes and slowly pulled them into the river.

The surface of the water gradually became nothing but gurgling bubbles.

Bai Lixin stared at the place where the ghosts had disappeared. In the blink of an eye, the white bones rose from underwater and slowly floated on the surface.

Looking at the bone shape, it was the same as the ghosts that had just been pulled into the river.

S419M: [This river is called the River of Forgetfulness].

[It also appears in a Shikai myth that describes the underworld.]

The escape system was then added: [In this copy, the River of Forgetfulness is the watershed between the worlds of the living and the dead, and is one of the safeguards to stop the dead from entering the world of the living.]

[Generally speaking, ghosts can cross the Bridge of Forgetfulness to enter the world of the living, but in order to cross the Bridge of Forgetfulness, they need to drink Mengpo soup, so that they are reincarnated.]

[If any ghost tries to sneak across and enter the world of the living, it will be swallowed by the water ghosts in the river and become a new water ghost, just like the ghosts just now.]

[The underworld is a place where you can only enter but not leave, and only ghost messengers with official duties can travel normally between the two worlds.]

Bai Lixin: [What about the former water ghosts?]

While talking to the system, something came swimming toward the shore.

Bai Lixin looked over and saw that the thing was swimming very fast; first, a white bone arm appeared, then a white skull and once the whole body came to the ground, flesh began to grow on the outside of the white bones at a speed visible to the naked eye, and within a few moments, the white bones from a moment ago had turned into a pale, fleshy ghost.

Escape System: [This is a former water ghost, after finding a scapegoat, the former water ghost can climb out of the river of forgetfulness and reincarnate.]

[However, there are too many bones in the River of Forgetfulness but not many scapegoats. So once they detect a ghost entering the river, almost all the white bones will come out, but only one can really come out.]

[Finding a scapegoat by chance is like getting a new life. Those who do not find a scapegoat will have to sink to the bottom of the River of Forgetfulness again and wait for the next prey to appear.]

[By the way, there is a description of the River of Forgetfulness in the introduction.]

The little dumpling groaned, immediately attracting the attention of the rest of the water ghosts that had just landed on the river shore.

The water ghosts were wrapped in water plants, they were all wet, and they looked in Bai Lixin’s direction in unison.

Bai Lixin frowned and took his dagger out of his backpack, looking at them warily.

Fortunately, they only glanced at Bai Lixin with dull eyes, then moved towards the Naihe Bridge mechanically and indifferently.

Bai Lixin silently put the dagger away and patted the little dumpling’s back while following the water ghosts, [What description?]

Escape System: [In the copy’s records, the River of Forgetfulness has the same effect as Mengpo’s soup, if you accidentally drink water from the River of Forgetfulness, you will lose your memory and forget who you are. If you end up as a water ghost, you will only have the instinct to survive, just like these water ghosts who have just come out, you will become a walking corpse, and go to the bridge by instinct to drink Mengpo Soup and reincarnate.]

[In addition, there are power reduction buffs and skill invalidation buffs in the River of Forgetfulness, so when you enter it, your power will be drastically reduced, and you won’t be able to use any system functions or props.]

[So, Master Bai Lixin, even you should stay away from the River of Forgetfulness, it’s dangerous.]

Bai Lixin had followed the water ghosts to the Naihe bridge. He gently nodded his head to show his gratitude: [I know, thank you, sister system; I will pay attention.]

Escape System: [Mm-hmm, that’s good.]

Bai Lixin: [Do you know where Dijia went?]

S419M: [I know, he tore the void and brought you to the sea of flowers on the other side, the masks you were wearing earlier lost their ability and disappeared once you entered the underworld, so you are all back to your original appearances.]

[Not long after you left, two men in black appeared, knelt before the Lord God, and said something that disappeared. Their tones sounded serious, and the Lord God left in a hurry immediately after.]

Bai Lixin held his breath and focused his gaze on the hunched figure hiding in the mist.

There was a grass hut by the river, and the pale woman from earlier was sitting outside it.

She was wearing a green dress and a black cloak, she stretched out her withered hand and poured a spoonful of soup into the empty bowl in front of her, chanting: “Your sinful debt has been cleared and you are ready to reincarnate. Drink this bowl of Mengpo soup when you are ready, and your past will be erased.”

A water ghost picked up the soup and drank it down in one go, slowly walking towards the depths of the Naihe Bridge wrapped in the White Mist.

It had only taken a few steps, but Bai Lixin could no longer see the other party’s figure.

As Mengpo sent the water ghosts away one after another, Bai Lixin stared at the soup in her bowl and found that the soup had not decreased at all.

Having sent the last one away, Mengpo slowly raised her head and beckoned from under the cloak.

Bai Lixin froze, and then shook his head.

Mengpo stared at Bai Lixin, then her eyes widened slightly, and she called out excitedly: “You! You come here!”

Bai Lixin hesitated for a second before walking over to Mengpo.

Mengpo had already stood up from the seat she had not left in thousands of years, looked back and forth around Bai Lixin several times, her one eye flickering a few times, and her voice trembled as she said three times in a row, “Good, good, good!”

Bai Lixin felt a little uncomfortable, so he took two steps back, pulled away from her, and asked in a calm voice, “What’s good?”

Mengpo laughed twice, her dry, pale laugh like a flat-billed duck in a river, “Of course you are good.”

“You are so good-looking, and the color of your soul is pure and beautiful.”

“But you smell ……” Mengpo raised her head and sniffed, “Hehehe, surprisingly, you smell like a living person. Aren’t you dead through?”

Bai Lixin’s body suddenly became tense, and he stared at Meng Po warily. He hadn’t forgotten that Mengpo was on his list of suspects.

He pursed his lips and said, “I just died.”

Mengpo’s voice was hoarse: “So that’s how it is, no wonder, no wonder.”

“You have come to the wrong place,” Mengpo pointed her finger in one direction, “Keep going along this road and you will see Yama’s Palace. The judge and King Yama will judge your time in the world of the living, and if you are a good person, you will go straight into reincarnation. If you are an evil person, then you will go to hell for punishment, and only after the punishment is over will you be reincarnated.”

“But given your soul color, you should not enter Abyssal Hell.”

“I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.”

Mengpo reached into her pouch and pulled out a small jade medal from it and gave it to Bai Lixin, saying, “This is my jade token. Although I am only a small person in the Underworld, many ghost messengers give me a face. With it, other ghost messengers will respect you.”

Bai Lixin looked at Mengpo for a few seconds, and the voice of the escape system quickly rang out: [She is right, but Mengpo’s jade token is far worse than Yama’s, it can be said that they are a world apart.]

[She doesn’t know that Master Bai Lixin already had King Yama’s token, so that’s why she gave it to you. You can take it or not.]

[Besides, her directions to Yama’s Palace are correct, as well as the punishment system.]

[Although I don’t know why she is being so nice to you, it doesn’t seem like there is any malice so far.]

Bai Lixin took the jade token from Mengpo’s hand.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations player! You have obtained a Mengpo jade token x1. This jade token represents Mengpo, and using it will summon Mengpo.]

[Friendly reminder: This prop can only be used in this copy.]

“Thank you,” Bai Lixin looked at Mengpo and asked a direct question: “But why are you being so nice to me?”