The souls up ahead were all a bit hesitant, asking, “Can we really just go through?”
What if the waters close in on us while we're only halfway there?
Just the thought of being torn apart by countless water ghosts made all of the souls shiver in fear.
“Just go! Stop wasting time!” Zu An didn’t have the time to reason with them. He decided to just use the Heaven Devouring Sutra to pull the souls at the very front into the path at the center of the river.
The souls were howling in fear and frantically tried to run back, but the vicious demon that was Zu An didn’t let them return. Helpless to do anything else, they could only run for their lives toward the other shore. Perhaps because of their fear toward the Naihe Oblivion River, no one dared to stop. Almost all of them ran as if it was a hundred meter sprint, and they reached the other side in almost an instant.
“We really made it?” the souls on the other side exclaimed as they stepped on solid ground. They realized that they weren’t dreaming and all cheered. With them taking the lead, the hesitating souls all rushed over one after another.
There were some that were especially brave; they saw how firm the walls were and went closer to take a look. They would never have a chance like this to see the river up close! Furthermore, they had been so scared of the water ghosts they wanted to stay as far away as they could, so it wasn’t too often that they could see the ghosts completely. Now that there was this wall of water in the way, they could see these water ghosts bare their fangs and claws viciously, while being unable do a thing to them. They suddenly felt as if they had blown off some steam.
These little things are actually pretty cute.
When he sensed that the souls were moving slower, Zu An quickly noticed what these idiots were doing. He didn’t say anything and just started moving the walls. The sturdy water walls suddenly trembled a bit, as if they were going to come crashing down. The water ghosts all looked eager to come in, causing the souls to be scared witless. Only then did they realize just what kind of incredible power controlling this river was.
That guy doesn’t seem to be all that experienced of a ferryman, so the amount of time he can control the walls for is definitely limited.
What if he can't hold on anymore and the waters come crashing down? Wouldn’t we really be idiots then?
With that, no one else dared to waste any time. The first ten thousand actually quickly ran over. There wasn’t too much of a need to maintain order. After all, after their earlier lesson, no souls dared to approach the water walls anymore. Besides, if there was some conflict between them and it affected everyone else’s passage, it would incur public anger.
The other souls finally realized what was going on. The souls that hadn’t paid the fare looked around, and then they also ran over to try to take advantage of the chaos. Either way, the road was so wide, so a few of them going in too wouldn’t draw too much attention.
But Zu An released a cold snort, and the river around those souls suddenly closed, swallowing them up.
The water ghosts had been forced to watch as these souls ran across because of the mysterious power, and there were even some despicable individuals who had dared to provoke them! The water ghosts already couldn't hold themselves back.
The miserable screams made the souls that were starting to grow restless immediately calm down. Then, they ran over to shore to hand their coins to Zu An. “Sir, please accept our fare! We want to cross over as well.”
Zu An didn’t accept them; instead, he coldly said, “The toll is now either three times, or all of the virtue you have on you.”
He still showed these souls some mercy. After all, not every soul could afford three times the price.
“Didn’t you say double before?” many souls immediately cried out.
Zu An harrumphed and said, “I changed my mind. Whose fault was it that my mood was ruined?”
The souls immediately felt conflicted. If they paid, it was too expensive, but if they didn’t and continued to stay here... With how many souls there were, just when would they be able to cross over? After all, every day they stayed on this side of the shore was another day their minds suffered damage. As time went on, they could quickly become muddle-headed monsters.
Injections weren’t inherently scary; the most terrifying thing was waiting for the needle to enter. These souls felt something akin to that. Once they thought about the halls of the kings of hell, none of them knew what kind of punishment was awaiting them. This sort of wait really was too much of a torment.
/As such, in the end, the souls gritted their teeth and paid three times the fare. They’d just cross over as quickly as possible for now. Still, they were full of regrets. If they had known things would be like this, they would have just paid the fare the first time.
But how could they have known that he could just directly spread the river apart?! Was he the river’s boyfriend or something?
Just then, the ferrymen finally realized what was taking place on Zu An's side. “Wait, what is happening over there?”
There were actually people who had noticed it from the start, but because they were caught up in the financial drama and fighting over resources, they had already started to get infuriated with each other. There were many ferrymen who had even started fighting. That was why even though they noticed, no one had come over to see what was going on.
Now that hundreds of thousands of souls had begun to cross the river, however, it was almost impossible for them not to notice.
“How did that guy do it?!” All of the Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen were shocked. ????????????????????????????????????????????????.????????????
But they quickly reached a consensus. What were they still fighting over here for? If that guy really did ferry over all of those souls, he would definitely end up taking the lead. If they kept fighting back and forth with each other, how could they possibly catch up?
So that guy telling us about installments and lending was just to trick us!
When they realized that they had been tricked, the ferrymen erupted in fury.
You have successfully trolled Naihe Oblivion Ferryman X for +999 +999 +999...
You have successfully trolled Naihe Oblivion Ferryman Y for +999 +999 +999...
...
When he saw the crazy amounts of Rage points, Zu An almost laughed. He had never expected this unexpected return.
He urged the souls to move a bit quicker while flying into the air to face the flustered and exasperated Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen.
“You’re cheating!” a Naihe Oblivion Ferryman shouted. Zu An recognized him as the previously fourth-ranked ferryman.
The fourth-ranked ferryman really was triggered quite badly. Previously, Zu An had treated him with utter respect as if he was an honorable senior. He had even thought about sharing a bit with Zu An once he made his own fortune and taking him in as a little disciple who would help him carry tea and speak flattery. He had never expected the other side to actually be a hidden dragon, that all of that virtue they had been discussing was just to lead him astray!
The clown was actually me?
Zu An smiled and said, “You can all just do this too. Just like before, I can teach you how, and it’ll depend on you.”
All of the Naihe Oblivion River Ferrymen were speechless.
Sure, you can teach us, but how the heck are we supposed to control the river?
The fourth-ranked ferryman roared in anger and charged at Zu An. He couldn't just accept being conned like this. With him taking the lead, the other ferrymen also followed along. Right now, there was only a single thought in their mind, which was that they definitely couldn't let Zu An continue like this. Otherwise, he was definitely going to win this competition.
When he saw their intentions, Zu An’s expression was cold. With a wave of his hand, the Naihe Oblivion River rushed forth violently, forming a screen of water that blocked them from advancing.
The Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen were horrified and quickly backed up. Even though they were ferrymen, if they made contact with this water, they were no different from ordinary souls. Even though they all had some skills related to the river, which one of them could control the river directly like him?
Is he the Naihe Oblivion River’s man?
F*ck!
Just like that, Zu An controlled the water to stop the ferrymen while urging the remaining souls to move along.
As they watched him stop so many ferrymen all by himself, the souls were full of admiration and fear.
It seems he's the true ruler of the Naihe Oblivion River!