My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 520 Meng Shenjun

The City Lord's Mansion of Qingyang City.

Xiao Jingbai sat expressionlessly in the main hall.

Pei Jiang, the head of the Secret Service of Qingyang City, quickly entered the main hall and took out a folded square letter from his gas-eating bag.

"Lord of the City, I just received news that Feng'an City has received a batch of Conferred God Contracts. What I have here is the list of the Daoist temples corresponding to the contracts."

"Everything else is normal, except for one land garrison in a remote location, where they received two contracts."

"Substituting one thing for another? Someone from Feng'an City is going to the mortal realm?" Xiao Jingbai raised an eyebrow. "Is it Lü Liang who wants to go and take a look, or does Lü Chengshan have other schemes up his sleeve?"

“That’s not important.” Pei Jiang shook his head and said, “Targeting Feng’an City on a large scale is not worthwhile. But it’s not difficult to send someone to tamper with the landing point.”

"The mortal world is so vast; a slight deviation could mean a difference of tens of millions of miles. One wrong move and you could be torn to pieces at the gates of hell."

“If that person is Lü Liang, the city lord can finally vent his anger. Even if it isn't, it has still ruined Lü Chengshan's plans, which can be considered a small act of revenge. What do you think…”

"Old man! You're still the most cunning one!" Xiao Jingbai couldn't help but smile: "Let's do it this way."

The Demon King Wuyou has been captured by Yinshan Prefecture, and his path to enlightenment, which he has been preparing for over a hundred years, has been forced to a halt. He hates Feng'an City with a passion.

For months, he had been keeping a close eye on Feng'an City, hoping to find a weakness so he could take revenge.

Unfortunately, Lü Chengshan and his son were cautious, and he never found any flaws.

“Withdraw the spies from Feng’an City. Send someone to inform our living gods to select new Netherworld Spirit Embryos and find a way to send them into the Netherworld. I want to continue my cultivation in the Netherworld Spirit realm.”

"The city lord is wise!" Pei Jiang respectfully clasped his hands: "As long as you complete the transformation of the Yin spirit by merging Yin and Yang, the little Lü Chengshan will be automatically delivered to you by the Lord of Yinshan Prefecture without you having to lift a finger."

Xiao Jingbai nodded slightly, his expression cold: "Let them run wild for a couple more days."

……

Three days later, by the River of Oblivion.

A group of several hundred people fell from the sky and landed on the shore.

"As long as you take the Investiture of the Gods and fly to the other side of the River of Oblivion, the Bridge of Helplessness will appear?" Chen Mu asked in surprise.

Although the River of Oblivion is called a river, it is actually boundless. No matter who you are, you will always only appear on one side of the riverbank.

Apart from the Yin-Yang insects in the River of Oblivion, whose past lives have been washed away and whose primordial spirits have been scattered, no one can reach the other side.

The Bridge of Helplessness is said to be located on the opposite bank of the River of Oblivion.

"Don't worry, sir. The Investiture of the Gods has existed for thousands of years and there won't be any problems," Lü Liang said with a smile.

"Is the substitution method really not a problem?" Chen Mu was still not entirely at ease.

A normal decree of investiture of gods is definitely fine; the key is that the decree in his hand is abnormal. It has been concealed by a secret method, and its energy fluctuations are half that of an ordinary decree.

“As long as you stay with Le Dian, there will be no problem,” Lü Liang explained patiently.

"The Investiture of the Gods contains the aura of the target Daoist temple. Under the guidance of the Daoist temple in the mortal world, it can accurately transport you to the location of the Daoist temple."

"The substitution method does reduce the strength of the contract's energy, but the contract's effect is only slightly reduced."

"Besides, the contract in Le Dian's hand is the same as yours. As long as he stays by your side, I guarantee he can take you to the same place."

Chen Mu looked at the short, burly man beside him who had a respectful expression, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The other person's name is Le Dian, and he will be the one to guard the land temple in Xiaowa Town for a hundred years in the future.

"The contract itself has the power to block the River of Oblivion, so even without residing in the Daoist temple, you can stay in the mortal realm for a while." Lü Liang cupped his hands and said, "After this parting, we probably won't see each other again for a year. Please take care, sir."

goodbye?

It's better if we never see each other again.

Having spent over three years in the Underworld, enduring hardship and near-death experiences, Chen Mu is now determined to stay far away from the mortal realm and never return to the Underworld.

In the short time that followed, Lü Shisan had finished communicating with the living deity dispatched by Feng'an City.

Chen Mu cupped his hands in greeting to Lü Liang and Lü Shisan, then turned into a gust of yin wind, taking Yue Dian with him and following more than a hundred yin soldiers, flying to the other side of the River of Oblivion.

……

"You have two things to do on your journey to the mortal realm," Pei Jiang said to the square-faced, burly man in black below, inside the Qingyang City Secret Intelligence Bureau.

"The first task is to help the city lord find the Netherworld Primordial Embryo."

"We have already found a few suitable candidates in this world. Your task is to repeat the same trick as when you dealt with King Wuyou, and find a way to make him fall into the underworld."

The square-faced, burly man, Qian Huan, took a deep breath, bowed, and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Yes, sir."

Pei Jiang nodded slightly: "You were with me when we captured the Worry-Free King. You know the process. If you follow the procedure, you will surely succeed."

"You don't need to worry. If you really encounter difficulties, just ask the living gods to contact the underworld. I will definitely give you the greatest support."

Qian Huan's expression softened slightly: "I will certainly not fail the trust placed in me by the governor."

"This second thing is a small matter, but you should still do it carefully." Pei Jiang said, handing Qian Huan a white jade bell the size of a walnut.

"Within this Thousand Mile Soul-Locking Bell, there is a sealed aura that points to two identical God-Conferring Contracts."

Qian Huan's expression changed: "The substitution technique?"

"At this time?"
"But now that they know our plan, they want to interfere and cause trouble?"

"Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free, especially since this person is from Feng'an City, so..." Pei Jiang's expression was cold, and he gave Qian Huan a sinister look.

"Understood, Your subordinate!" Qian Huan replied solemnly.

……

On the boundless River of Oblivion, white mist, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, permeated the surroundings, obscuring everyone's vision. Looking back, the bank where they had stood had vanished. At a certain moment, a faint pulling force emanated from the Book of Gods Conferring from Chen Mu's sleeve.

The army of over a hundred ghost soldiers seemed to have received a signal and turned around almost simultaneously. Chen Mu's heart stirred, and he immediately changed direction, following the ghost soldiers as they flew towards the horizon.

They flew for an unknown amount of time, until they broke through a thick fog and a simple, gray-white stone bridge appeared before them.

The stone bridge was extremely long, one end plunging into the thick fog as if it were infinitely long, with no end in sight. The other end led to an embankment that resembled a long, fiery red line.

At this moment, a series of Yinming insects with human heads and long, smoky bodies were floating orderly in the middle of the stone bridge.

The faces of those Yinming insect-men varied, some were furious, some were ecstatic, some were indifferent, and some were resentful. But no matter what their expression was, they all lined up obediently on the bridge and moved forward without exception.

Chen Mu was slightly startled, and quietly flew onto the bridge with the group of Yin soldiers.

The bridge is not wide, only wide enough for three carriages to pass side by side, and it is paved with stone slabs cut from the Wangchuan Stone.

The stone slabs appear to have been weathered by wind and rain for many years, mottled and pitted, as if they have been stepped on and rubbed by countless people, with a smooth and rounded surface that reveals a sense of vicissitude.

Holding onto the railing, which was also carved from the stone of the River of Oblivion, Chen Mu looked down from the bridge.

But they discovered that the reflection on the water's surface was a brand-new bridge inlaid with silver and white jade, as if it were not the reflection of a stone bridge, but rather another brand-new jade bridge hidden beneath the river's surface.

This Bridge of Helplessness?

That's a bit weird!

Chen Mu looked at the line of Yinming insects that stretched out to an unknown distance and stood quietly in line, and couldn't help but tense up.

The other ghost soldiers were also stunned by the eerie silence, and one by one they obediently walked along one side of the stone bridge toward the direction in which the Yin-Yang Insects were moving.

After walking for half an hour, a fiery red scene came into view.

The red line that everyone had seen before slowly stretched out and unfolded, only to be discovered to be not a red embankment, but a large flat riverbank covered with clusters of fiery red flowers.

At the end of the gray stone bridge, an octagonal pavilion with gray tiles and wooden pillars appears.

White jade beaded curtains hung around the pavilion, and a woman dressed in a wide-sleeved red shirt sat in the middle of the pavilion.

The other party was dressed in red, with faint gold dragon patterns visible on it. He wore a colorful brocade robe and a golden phoenix hairpin, looking dignified and majestic.

“That is…” Chen Mu couldn’t help but look at Le Dian beside him.

"My lord, that is Lord Meng, who governs the reincarnation of Yin souls and is the guardian of the Bridge of Helplessness."

A reincarnated spirit?

Guarding the Bridge of Helplessness?
Still surnamed Meng?
Isn't this Meng Po from folklore?!

That Meng Po soup...

Chen Mu immediately became interested and turned to look.

Sure enough, in front of the pavilion stood a jade cauldron, about half a person's height, with three legs and two handles, filled with a pool of emerald green liquid, the faint aroma of wine wafting around. A Yinming worm with a wildly laughing expression was now obediently guarding the jade cauldron, as if waiting to be fed.

"Is the soup in the jade cauldron the soup of oblivion?"

"No, that's wine for the dead!"

Death wine?

This is quite different from the folk legends.

Chen Mu glanced at it with interest for a few moments, then looked up at the center of the pavilion.

Through the beaded curtain, a cold and austere face, as if cast in metal, suddenly came into view. Its face was mottled with black and gold, like shards of broken porcelain.

A cluster of flowers adorned her brow, as vibrant as the endless fiery red blossoms on the shore.

The bright silver hands, clasped together on the abdomen, have distinct joints, resembling a mechanical puppet creation!
As if sensing Chen Mu's gaze, the other person's dignified and cold face suddenly turned towards Chen Mu.

In an instant, Chen Mu felt as if he were standing in front of a towering statue, an invisible pressure descending upon him, as if someone had gripped his heart, leaving him frozen in place, unable to move.

"My lord, you mustn't look any longer!" Le Dian quickly tugged at Chen Mu's clothes.

Chen Mu suddenly snapped out of his daze and quickly lowered his head to avoid eye contact.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the other person's hands, which had exposed joints and looked like mechanical creations, and his expression changed involuntarily.

"This Lord Meng..."

"You know about the terracotta warriors and ghost soldiers, right?" Le Dian whispered to Chen Mu.

"Those paper figures and terracotta figurines?" Chen Mu raised an eyebrow.

Back in Jigu City, he once met an acquaintance, the owner of Yupinxuan, Leyang Anle.

The other party had an extreme fondness for terracotta warriors and ghost soldiers, almost like collecting figurines, with a whole cabinet full of paper figures and pottery figurines of various shapes.

"Could it be that this Lord Meng..." Chen Mu looked incredulous.

Le Dian shook his head: "The Divine Lord is not such an inanimate object."

"It is said that the Divine Lord was personally created by the Yama Emperor and has his own consciousness and primordial spirit."

"Its strength is formidable, capable of creating millions of clones, and it is as long-lived as the Yin and Yang world. Long ago, it had already been guarding all the Naihe Bridges."

"Even if the Lord of Yinshan Prefecture were to appear before me, I would still have to address him as the Divine Lord and would not dare to be negligent."

While Chen Mu felt a chill run down his spine, he couldn't help but feel a strange sensation.

He glanced at the other person's hands, which looked like mechanical creations, and found them increasingly bizarre.

A mechanical puppet Meng Po?
Isn't this Meng Po a bit too cyberpunk?
(End of this chapter)