Chapter Ninety: The Inn of Rebirth

No sooner had Qin Yu said this than Bai Rushuang frowned and said, “Sister Yu, aren’t you practically sending Wu Dao to his death? Putting aside how vast the Underworld is, how could he possibly find Han Qiang on his own? And Wu Dao’s cultivation is nowhere near enough to let him come and go through the netherworld like the great Taoist masters do. If he recklessly crosses over and ends up offending one of the underworld officials down there, he might not even know how he died.”

Qin Yu said that this was exactly why she had just warned that the plan was extremely dangerous. Still, it was not nearly as terrifying as it sounded. After all, there were many underworld officials in the Underworld who had once been powerful masters of Mao Mountain in life. Among them were even several who worked in the underworld registration bureau. As long as I carried a token from Mao Mountain when I went down, I could go straight to the registration office and look for the great masters of past generations. If Han Qiang truly was serving in the Underworld, then perhaps I could find him there.

With that, Qin Yu solemnly pushed the soul-guiding lantern on the table toward me and said that if I truly intended to go down, I should take this lantern with me. If I met any of the elders of Mao Mountain, they would surely recognize it. Then I could ask them to help me check whether Han Qiang was indeed on duty in the Underworld. Of course, descending into the netherworld was no ordinary matter, and there would certainly be grave risks. As for whether I wanted to go or not, that was my own decision.

After a moment of silence, I took a deep breath and said that since this was the only way, no matter how perilous the journey might be, I had to make the trip to the Underworld.

Bai Rushuang had originally wanted to persuade me otherwise, but seeing that I had already made up my mind, she said nothing more.

So Qin Yu then prepared the ritual for me to cross over. She had me lie down on a single bed nearby and tied a red cord around the middle finger of my left hand. She told me that after I went down, I had to keep hold of that red cord, and under no circumstances could I let it break. Otherwise, I might never find the way back to the world of the living.

At the same time, I had to keep the soul-guiding lantern in my hand at all times. I absolutely could not allow the Taoist flame on its wick to go out. Once it was extinguished, in a place as heavy with yin energy as the Underworld, it could never be lit again. If that happened, then even if one of Mao Mountain’s elders saw the lantern, they would not believe that I had been sent by Mao Mountain to cross over into the netherworld. Instead, they would think I had stolen one of Mao Mountain’s sacred treasures, and might very well beat me until my soul scattered to the winds.

I nodded and carefully remembered Qin Yu’s instructions. Then, amid the chanting of her incantations, I drifted into sleep. When I woke, I found myself standing on a very long, very straight road.

The road on both sides was pitch-black, with nothing visible at all. Ahead too was a vast darkness, and I could not tell where this straight avenue led.

At the same time, I was not the only one on the road. From time to time, all kinds of people passed by me, along with some underworld escort officers dressed in black traditional Chinese suits.

It dawned on me at once that this must be the Road to the Yellow Springs leading into the Underworld.

At first I worried that those escort officers would realize I was a living person who had crossed over and might mean me harm. But as time went on, I noticed that each of them was busy restraining the souls under their care and had no mind to pay me any attention. Only then did I finally relax.

Looking at my left hand, I saw that the middle finger was indeed wrapped with a red cord. The cord seemed endless; no matter where I went, it remained looped around my finger. I guessed the other end must have been tied to Qin Yu’s Three Flowers Mystic Hall, and the ghosts and underworld officers down here probably could not see the cord at all.

I drew in a long breath, then without overthinking it, immediately headed forward along that straight road.

I do not know how long I walked, but at the end of the road I suddenly saw a very large inn. By then, the place was packed with all manner of souls, each sitting there with a dull, vacant expression, as if they had been reduced to fools. Beside every table sat an underworld escort officer, however, and those men looked vigorous and full of life. It reminded me somewhat of the legendary corpse-driving inns of western Hunan: the souls were the corpses, and the escort officers were the corpse drivers.

Above the inn’s main entrance hung three large characters I could not make out. I had no idea what place this was exactly, but beside the inn stood a massive desk, and behind it sat a middle-aged underworld official wearing an ancient judge’s robe. Behind him stood two underworld soldiers dressed like old-time constables, both exuding a formidable air.

After the escort officers inside the inn had eaten and drunk their fill, they would lead the souls to the desk to queue up. Then the underworld official in the ancient robe would register each soul one by one. Once the registration was complete, a set of white clothes would be issued for the souls to change into, and then the official would point them toward another straight road behind them and let them pass on.

I was puzzled and had no idea what was going on, but I did not think too much about it. I simply joined the line behind the souls, because although I did not know how one was supposed to enter the true Underworld, I was certain that following these souls could not be wrong.

After waiting for nearly two more hours, it was finally my turn. Just as I was eagerly about to step up to the desk to register, someone suddenly grabbed me and pulled me to the side.

I jumped in alarm. Before I could even react, I found myself yanked out of the line. The souls behind me said nothing and simply stepped into my place.

At once, a surge of fury rose in my chest. I had stood in line for more than two hours to get to the front, and which damned fool had suddenly dragged me out of it?

Just as I was about to curse at the top of my lungs, I saw a scruffy old Taoist priest standing in front of me, glaring at me with open anger.

“You?”

I recognized him at a glance. Wasn’t this the old swindler who had sold me the Mao Mountain Secret Record and taken me to Clear Wind Temple last time? I pointed at him in surprise and said, “You old fraud, why are you down in the Underworld too? Don’t tell me you got beaten down here by the Taoists of Mao Mountain.”

“You little brat, you’ve got some nerve. Which disciple of Mao Mountain was bold enough to let you cross over and come to the Inn of Rebirth? Are you trying to die?”

I was startled and said, “This place is the Inn of Rebirth?”

The old Taoist did not answer. Instead, he grabbed me and dragged me into the inn, finally bringing me to a private room on the second floor. Once inside, he snatched the soul-guiding lantern out of my hand. After inspecting it for a moment, he frowned deeply and said that it was Qin Yu, that girl, who had helped me cross over.

I was shocked and had originally planned to keep calling him an old fraud, but then I thought that he actually knew Qin Yu. Perhaps he really was a Taoist of Mao Mountain after all. So I said, “Senior, how do you know Qin Yu? And how did you die, to end up here as well?”

“We’re still a hundred thousand miles away from the real Underworld,” the old Taoist said irritably as he set the soul-guiding lantern on the nearby octagonal table. Muttering to himself, he said, “That girl really is something else. With nothing but that pathetic little bit of half-baked skill, she still dared to help someone cross over. She doesn’t realize she’s doing harm with good intentions. If this goes wrong, she might even end up killing this fellow.”

Hearing the old Taoist muttering under his breath, I said, “Senior, before Qin Yu helped me cross over, she already warned me that it was dangerous. I was the one who insisted on coming down.”

“What exactly did you come down here for?” the old Taoist asked.

So I told him everything that had happened before, then said that this time I had come down to find someone in the Underworld. Only by finding that person would I have any chance of saving my brother.

After hearing me out, the old Taoist sighed and said, “Do you think the Underworld is a marketplace? You can go whenever you please? You’re only alive because you ran into me here. Otherwise, you’d be facing disaster today.”

Only then did I realize what was going on. I said, “So the road behind the Inn of Rebirth is the real Road to the Yellow Springs. Then what road was the one I came by?”

“No road at all,” the old Taoist said, glaring at me. Then he went on, “The Inn of Rebirth is merely the first stop for souls after death. Some people who still have a breath left in them, whose souls have left their bodies only temporarily, may also drift here, and they may even have a chance to return to life. But once you had just now registered and stepped onto the Road to the Yellow Springs, you would not even have a chance to regret it and turn back.”