The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 150 Encounters in the Underworld and the Pursuit by Ghost Messengers
Li Zhen's figure disappeared into the yin energy, and the whole room returned to silence.

Kong Zhaoming and Xiao Yulong wiped the sticky liquid that had splashed on their faces, stood up, and stared blankly at the ground.

Around the crater, there were bits of flesh and blood from the explosion of the ghost messengers.

Large chunks of meat were occasionally twitching, which looked quite horrifying.

"What's going on now? The ghost messengers... the ghost messengers seem to be gone?" Master Chen groped his way to his feet.

He heard the ghost messenger's panicked shouts, his desperate screams, and the final explosion.

But in his heart, he still believed that the ghost messenger had escaped at the last moment.

Even if you don't kill the ghost messenger directly, just driving him away would be a remarkable achievement.

In this world, ghost messengers represent the suppression of all fierce and malevolent spirits.

So far, he has never encountered a ghost that the ghost messengers could not handle.

The terrifying perception of ghost messengers had been deeply ingrained in Master Chen's very being.

This was the first time Master Chen had ever heard of a human confronting the ghost messengers head-on, unafraid of the intimidation of the underworld.

Kong Zhaoming's words, however, were not the case.

“Dead… Master Chen, the ghost messengers seem to be dead, they’ve all been blown into pieces.” He said to Master Chen.

"Is he really dead?" Master Chen asked blankly.

"What I saw was death."

"Where...where is that monk?"

"He jumped into the pit and now we don't know where he is."

"In a pit? They chased after them to the underworld? That's incredibly audacious."

Is that really the underworld?

"It should be, this aura, it's definitely right."

"What kind of place is the underworld? Are there ghost messengers, ox-headed and horse-faced demons?"

"do not know."

"Even Master Chen doesn't know."

“When you invited your father up there that day, you should have asked him how people like us dared to go to the underworld. There are so many evil spirits there, and we could be eaten if we’re not careful.”

"Even when we die, we'll go to such a terrifying place?"

"Forget about the underworld. If the ghost messenger really died, then you must have accumulated good karma in your past life to survive this calamity. That sorcerer... the one you invited killed the ghost messenger, that's a big problem." Master Chen groped his way forward. "I don't know where you found such an evil sorcerer. Not only is his magic power profound, but he's also so bloodthirsty that he dared to kill even the ghost messenger."

"Where is my senior sister? Is she alright? Can someone take me there to see her?"

Kong Zhaoming helped Master Chen up and led him to the edge of the pit.

Looking nervous, Xiao Yuling stood up and asked Xiao Yulong, "Brother, are we safe?"

Still feeling a lingering fear, Xiao Yulong remained silent.

The two monks opposite helped Du Sangu up and walked towards the four-faced Buddha statue in the crater.

As they passed the vampire, the group kept a safe distance from the aura-stirring vampire to avoid provoking it and the terrifying creature.

Now that Li Zhen is not here, if that terrifying vampire goes berserk, none of them will survive.

……

The entire depression is funnel-shaped, becoming narrower as you go down.

Li Zhen walked for more than ten meters before reaching the bottom of the pit.

Looking around, Li Zhen found himself standing on a cluttered platform made up of various pieces of furniture and flooring that had slid down from above.

The surroundings were shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see if there was any sky at all.

Li Zhen's primordial spirit is extremely powerful; even in dim light, it cannot obstruct his perception.

However, the environment here is very special; even he cannot see through the fog.

A red-eyed bat landed on Li Zhen's shoulder.

Li Zhen glanced sideways.

The ghostly face that had just formed behind the red-eyed bat had disappeared, leaving only the original ghostly face.

It still has quite a few injuries, but it looks to be in good condition.

They seemed to particularly like the environment here; the red-eyed bats became especially excited after entering.

Several pieces of gravel rolled down, and the ghost fetus fell from above, but was caught by Li Zhen.

The demon fetus touched the table below with its tentacles and rolled off Li Zhen's hand.

The ghost fetus was in much worse condition than the red-eyed bat. Not only was it covered in wounds, but almost half of its tentacles were also broken off, and its head was almost flattened, with a brain-like mucus clearly visible flowing out.

This is still because the ghost fetus has extraordinary recovery ability, and it has already recovered quite a bit of its original appearance.

It's clear how badly it was beaten by the ghost messengers during their fight.

Li Zhen himself wasn't in a good state either.

The nose kept bleeding, and a sharp pain would occasionally shoot through his head, giving Li Zhen the hallucination that his own brain matter was flowing out of his nose.

Poor physical condition is only one aspect.

After absorbing most of the ghost messengers, both the demonic statue and the will of Damasul within Li Zhen's own body became somewhat different.

The latter, in particular, became increasingly active in his consciousness, and the wills of the other two great demons were unable to suppress it for the time being.

This must be because Damasulu devoured the ghost messenger, causing his condition to change.

Li Zhen knew that his body was nearing its limit, and it was best to rest for a while and adjust his physical condition before doing anything else.

However, he also knew that the appearance of the underworld in the mortal world was a rare opportunity.

If I miss this opportunity, I don't know when or how I'll get such a good chance again.

He had to seize this rare opportunity to see what the rumored underworld was really like.

The little ghost appeared beside Li Zhen, warily surveying the surroundings: "Is this really the underworld? Do all the souls of the dead have to come here?"

“Perhaps.” Li Zhen stepped down from the unstable platform.

The ghost fetus and the little ghost followed closely behind Li Zhen.

The ground was black mud, somewhat damp, and there was nothing in sight.

Numerous evil spirits lurked in the mist, surrounding Li Zhen, yet dared not make the slightest move to attack.

Li Zhen walked forward.

The evil spirits lingered far behind Li Zhen like hyenas.

The thirsty demonic fetus ran backward.

The evil spirits scattered in all directions, giving the ghost fetuses no chance to catch them.

The red-eyed bats had no interest in the evil spirits; they merely glanced at them before looking ahead into the mist.

The little devil following beside Li Zhen said nervously, "The further we go, the more scared I get. There are things here that I'm very afraid of."

Li Zhen glanced back.

The crater was shrouded in mist, making it look like a beam of light shining down from above, forming a pillar of white light.

He knew he couldn't go too far, or he wouldn't be able to find his way back.

Li Zhen turned his head and continued walking forward.

A figure appeared in the mist ahead, walking towards Li Zhen.

The vigilant Li Zhen did not stop.

The little devil was so frightened that he hid behind Li Zhen.

The demon stared intently at the figure.

The figure became clearer and clearer.

Li Zhen could see the other person's tattered clothes, but he couldn't see the other person's face.

Just as they were about to touch each other, the other person's body suddenly turned into mist and dissipated.

The demonic fetus that had extended its tentacles towards the human figure then retracted them.

Li Zhen reached out and grabbed a handful of the mist formed by the figure.

After withdrawing his hand, Li Zhen sniffed the mist on his hand.

It's a very strong resentment...

Li Zhen frowned.

He walked on.

A scene of ruins appeared ahead.

With his vision limited by the fog, Li Zhen had no idea how big the ruins were.

But everywhere you look, there are only desolate ruins.

After going around an earthen wall, Li Zhen saw a river.

The river is not wide, and the water in it flows slowly.

From Li Zhen's perspective, he could see all sorts of evil spirits on the other side of the river.

They walked silently along the riverbank.

Li Zhen couldn't see the end of them in front of him, nor could he see the way they came from behind him; it was as if the number of evil spirits here was endless.

It seemed like he had only been watching for a short while when Li Zhen suddenly became alert.

The scattered consciousness regrouped at some point.

As if seeing through some kind of illusion, the scenery before Li Zhen's eyes suddenly changed drastically.

He didn't know when he had arrived at the riverbank; the rippling water was only a dozen or so steps away. Standing on the riverbank was an old woman dressed in a bright red dress.

The old woman grinned, revealing a mouthful of large, yellow teeth.

Its withered right hand rose and swung mechanically.

"Come on, come on... come quickly!"

With a blank expression, Li Zhen walked forward step by step.

Upon reaching the riverbank, the old woman reached out and grabbed Li Zhen.

"What a good child..."

Li Zhen suddenly reached out with his right hand, grabbed the old woman's head, and instantly crushed it.

The old woman's "body" fell backward into the river.

Just as Li Zhen drew his palm leaf whip, before he could even lash the old woman a few times, her "corpse" was swallowed up by the seemingly calm river.

Upon inspection, he saw that the ghost fetus, the red-eyed bat, and the little devil's eyes had just recovered from their daze.

This place is really eerie...

The old woman wasn't very strong, but she was able to briefly confuse him and the red-eyed bat.

Is this place really the underworld?

This place is completely different from what Detective Li had imagined...

Li Zhen looked up at the opposite bank of the river, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

The demons on the other side of the river had stopped at some point and all turned to look at Li Zhen.

From the mist further away, the sound of chains being dragged could be heard.

Li Zhen began to consider withdrawing.

If he were to encounter a ghost messenger in this place, he wouldn't be able to kill him.

If he were to encounter the legendary Ox-Head and Horse-Face, or judges of the underworld, he would find it difficult to even become a ghost.

He turned his head and looked back, and found that the fog behind him had become thinner, as if the presence of the entire "underworld" had become much weaker with the thinning fog.

It's time to go back...

Li Zhen was somewhat disappointed that he didn't see what he wanted to see, but he didn't insist.

He turned and quickly walked back the way he came.

By the time Li Zhen reached the bottom of the pit, the fog had thinned into a thin layer.

The evil spirits that used to guard this place have all disappeared.

Wiping the blood from under his nose, Li Zhen led Gui Tai and the others quickly out of the pit.

Upon seeing Li Zhen return, Kong Zhaoming, who had been watching from the edge of the pit, breathed a sigh of relief: "Master, you're finally back!"

Li Zhen climbed out of the crater and nodded to Kong Zhaoming.

After the ghost fetus devoured the pieces of flesh on the ground, he looked at Aunt Du and asked her, "What exactly does the underworld look like?"

Slumped on the ground, Du Sangu asked weakly, "You didn't go deep into the underworld?"

Li Zhen shook his head.

“That’s normal. The underworld is not a place for the living,” said Aunt Du. “You’re asking me about the underworld, but you’ve asked the wrong person. I probably don’t know as much about the underworld as you have, who have personally set foot there.”

Li Zhen asked curiously, "Have you never communicated with ghosts who have been to the underworld?"

Du Sangu coughed.

Master Chen, who was standing nearby, quickly patted Du Sangu on the back.

Seeing that Du Sangu was not in good condition, he answered for her: "When communicating with those vengeful ghosts, we are always very careful and dare not ask any questions for fear of displeasing them. Only a sorcerer like you can make them answer questions obediently."

"However, we were also curious about this kind of thing when we were young. When we encountered ghosts that were easy to communicate with, we also inquired about this kind of thing from the side."

“A ghost told me about its experiences in the underworld, but it was very vague.”

“Once, I asked someone where he went after he died, and he said he had been walking for a long time and then I called him back.”

At this moment, Du Sangu said, "I once encountered a ghost... She said she had seen Ox-Head and Horse-Face, but I don't know if it's true."

“I have spoken with monks who know how to walk in the underworld, and they all said that they only dare to walk in the mortal world and dare not go to the underworld.”

"Especially on days when the gates of hell are wide open, they are afraid of encountering something terrible that will devour them."

Li Zhen frowned and asked, "There's no concrete information about the underworld?"

Du Sangu coughed and said, "I... I don't know. The only person I know who entered the underworld in physical form is you."

Li Zhen stopped talking.

He quickly gathered up the demon statue on the ground and the props needed for casting spells that he had just laid out, wrapped them in the cloth he had brought, and threw them behind the banshee.

The vampire's body was battered and bruised, and its backpack was also badly damaged, so it couldn't carry anything. Therefore, the banshee had to carry everything.

Li Zhen found a piece of Xiao Yulong's clothing and draped it over the vampire's body.

Before long, the ghost fetus had eaten half of the pieces of meat on the ground.

Its belly was swollen, and it kept burping, no longer able to devour the bits of flesh.

Feeling it was a bit wasteful, Li Zhen had Xiao Gui and Mahjong Gui find suitable things at Xiao Yulong's house and filled them with a lot of scraps of meat.

Unfortunately, after the ghost messenger died, its chains and fork fell apart...

With his head spinning more and more, Li Zhen led the vampire zombies and the others straight to the door.

Seeing that Li Zhen was about to leave, Du Sangu hurriedly reminded him, "You killed the ghost messenger, which will cause you a lot of trouble. It won't be long before an even more terrifying ghost messenger finds you."

"If you use some methods to conceal yourself, you might be able to keep them from finding you for the time being."

A thought struck Li Zhen, and he asked, "Will the underworld's ghost messengers definitely come looking for me?"

When he asked that question, he and Kong Zhaoming and the others looked at the dent.

The yin energy that had been emanating from it completely disappeared, and the bottom of the pit returned to normal, becoming an ordinary, unremarkable deep pit.

Du Sangu also glanced at the dent and nodded, saying, "They will come. It's not a simple matter for a ghost messenger to die."

“They escaped unscathed, but the matter is not over yet. We are also planning to have someone perform a ritual for them to change their luck and cover up their past misfortunes, otherwise they might be implicated.”

"If you need it, we can also find someone to help us think of a solution."

If it weren't for Li Zhen, Du Sangu knew that everyone who appeared here today would have died before even seeing the ghost messengers.

It was Detective Li who saved their lives, so she naturally wanted to repay him.

"No need to trouble yourself, I have my own way." Li Zhen, looking somewhat dazed, opened the door and walked out of the house.

"I'll go drive for the mage." Kong Zhaoming ran out of the house before the vampire could get to him.

Watching the vampires and the others leave the house, Du Sangu coughed a few more times and sighed, "This sorcerer looks evil, but what he does is so much better than those fame-seeking guys... cough cough...

Master Chen said, "There are very few people who can go directly to the underworld in their physical body and return successfully. However, he has offended the underworld badly. Even if he has temporarily escaped the underworld's pursuit, he will still face endless troubles in the future."

……

After driving the car to the hotel, Kong Zhaoming asked with concern, "The Master doesn't seem to be in good condition. Should I take him to the hospital?"

"No need." The excruciating pain in his head intensified with each passing moment, and Li Zhen was in little mood to speak.

He pushed open the car door, got out with the vampires and others, and went straight into the inn.

Kong Zhaoming leaned out of the car window and sincerely thanked Li Zhen, saying, "If it weren't for the mage, Ah Xiao and I would have died countless times."

"I'm going back to Ah Xiao's place now to help him deal with some troubles at home. Tomorrow, Ah Xiao and I will come to see the Master together."

Back at the inn, Li Zhen sensed the information emanating from the runes on his arm.

The rune was already urging him to return.

However, Detective Li was not in a hurry to return.

Waves of excruciating pain surged through his brain, leaving him with no energy to do anything else.

After placing the demonic statue, whose aura had become even more eerie, in place, Li Zhen lay down on the bed.

Amidst wave after wave of excruciating pain, his consciousness grew increasingly hazy.

During his battle with the ghost messengers, his primordial spirit was severely depleted, and he could only gradually recover through a long period of rest.

If I went back to the main world and lay on the ebony wood, I should recover much faster...

In a daze, Li Zhen had a dream.

In his dream, he became a ghost messenger who could lash out at all kinds of evil spirits.

After various images of enslaving and even devouring evil spirits flashed by, all the images shattered simultaneously, transforming into a pair of enormous eyes.

Those eyes kept magnifying in Li Zhen's eyes.

All that remained in his mind were those eyes that shimmered with an eerie red light.

Driven by a strong sense of crisis, Li Zhen broke free from a certain oppressive force, suddenly opened his eyes, and sat up in bed.

The curtains were drawn, and Li Zhen had no idea how long he had slept.

Before Li Zhen, whose heart was still pounding, could savor the scene he had just witnessed in his dream, he looked up and saw a thin mist rising in his room.

In the thin mist, everything in the hostel room became hazy.

The rattling sound of chains being dragged rang out.

Li Zhen's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

He was mentally prepared for the ghost messengers to come looking for him.

But he didn't expect the scale of this operation to be so large.

In the thin mist, he saw three or four enormous ghostly figures.

Behind these ghostly figures, there seems to be an even larger and more terrifying shadow...

(End of this chapter)