New Times, New Hell

Chapter 110 - What is Faith?

Deep within the forests of Si Mountain Ridge, inside a huge mountain cave.

A man with blurry features sat, criss-crossed, under a sculpture that took up an entire rock wall. Extremely tense, he faced the person across from him.

One of Shang Que’s hands was in his pocket. He stood casually in front of the other and expressionlessly said, “It’s time to stop, King Qinguang.”

The previous owner of Luofeng Mountain, the Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu, had had ten yamas under his command.

The yama of the first court was King Qinguang: Jiang. He had been in charge of human life and death as well as the fortunes and misfortunes of the Underworld.

Only, the yama who was supposed to be responsible for the justice of all living beings had now become unrecognizable – he was basically a crazy criminal. This caused one to lament.

Jiang scoffed. “Too late.”

“It’s not too late,” Shang Que replied apathetically. “Either way, you can’t defeat me.”

Jiang was speechless. A while later, he scoffed. “You haven’t changed at all. You’re still just as arrogant as before.”

“Un,” Shang Que calmly said. “You’ve changed a lot, though. A perfectly fine yama has become an underground cult member. What a fall from glory.”

Jiang: “……”

How come Shang Que’s insults had become meaner than before?! Where had he learned this new skill?!

“Isn’t that all your fault?!” Jiang glared resentfully at Shang Que. He clenched his teeth together. “How truly unexpected. You managed to return from the Chaos Realm. And now you’re in charge of Hell.”

Shang Que’s gaze was filled with faint scorn too. “Back then, when the three realms worked together to seal me away into the Chaos Realm, I too thought that I would have to spend the rest of eternity in the Chaos Realm.”

Surprisingly, the Heavens and Hell eventually collapsed. The most powerful beings of the three realms disappeared with the collapse of the Heavens and Hell. Instead, he managed to escape this calamity because he had been locked in the Chaos Realm at the time. Additionally, because the magic in the three realms had diminished, the magical barrier sealing him away had loosened. He had ultimately managed to return to the mortal realm.

“Speaking of, I ought to thank you guys.” Shang Que looked at Jiang tauntingly. “But I know that you guys didn’t seal me away with good intentions, so I won’t actually say thank you.”

Jiang almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

A while later, Jiang finally regained his wits. He continued staring at Shang Que. “So what if you’ve returned to the mortal realm? Luofeng Mountain has sunken. After being imprisoned for a thousand years, you’ve long since lost all your worshippers in the mortal realm. Nobody has worshipped the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain for a long time. You know how much power you still possess. Shang Que, do you think that you’re still a match for me?”

Shang Que motionlessly gazed at him. He asked a soul-searching question: “If you’re so confident in yourself, why have you continuously hidden from me and acted in secret?”

Jiang almost choked because of this question. However, he very quickly revealed another pleased smirk. “That’s naturally because I need to welcome the emperor when he returns.”

A ripple finally passed over Shang Que’s expressionless face. His gaze darkened. “The Ghost Emperor didn’t die with the rest of the Heavens and Hell?”

The Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu was also known as the Supreme Northern Emperor. Those slightly closer to him usually just called him the Ghost Emperor.

“Unexpected, right?” Upon seeing that Shang Que’s expression had finally become serious, Jiang felt slightly pleased. He couldn’t help adding, “The emperor noticed very early on that the magic in the Heavens and Hell was disappearing. He also predicted that those two realms would collapse. Thus, long before the Heavens and Hell actually collapsed, he sent me to the mortal realm with the task of protecting the Underworld’s power. And then, at the very last instant before the Heavens and Hell collapsed, he removed a part of his own consciousness and sent it to the mortal realm. By borrowing a mortal’s physical body, he returned to life……”

“Originally, after the emperor resurrected, we would have been able to reconstruct Hell and continue controlling the life, death, and reincarnation of the mortal realm. Who would’ve thought that you would end up one step ahead of us……”

Jiang’s tone was filled with extreme resentment. “But fortunately, Si Mountain Ridge is still under our command.”

Here, Shang Que’s originally apathetic attitude became solemn. His gaze became cold. “As expected, you’re behind all those human face sores?”

“You’ve already discovered them?” Though this was a question, Jiang didn’t sound surprised at all.

“I didn’t want to do that either, but modern people are too hilarious,” Jiang said. “They believe they’ve learned the truth. They have no faith and don’t respect gods or ghosts. They actually blasphemously believe that they can escape from the protection of the gods; they think that they can live good lives solely due to their own efforts……”

“That’s how things should be,” Shang Que coldly interrupted him. “King Qinguang, you surf the Internet too. Why can’t you learn to open your eyes and look at the world?”

“Right now, only Si Mountain Ridge, which is under your control, is the most outdated area in the whole nation.”

A deadly blow.

Jiang: “……”

Where had Shang Que gotten all these strange reasonings from?! And he actually had no response to them!

“Shang Que, you’re still so naive. You’ve always believed that the mortal realm could survive on its own. But what is the reality?” Upon realizing that he couldn’t win against Shang Que in an argument, Jiang simply decided to give up on arguing. He decided to provide substantial evidence. “I merely sent out a few evil ghosts and they’re already helpless. Their only option is to submit to me and sincerely worship the emperor. They will provide endless faith so that the emperor can once again regain power over the Underworld.”

“Si Mountain Ridge really is a great place. It’s sheltered from the wind and collects life energy. It’s the best place to keep corpses. And there’s so much faith……”

Following Jiang’s speech, the dirt under their feet slightly started trembling.

Red marks gradually appeared under the spot Jiang was sitting. They spread in all directions, forming the shape of a strange rune.

“They’re praying. Praying for the emperor to showcase his godly might and stop this drought. I can feel the sincerity in their hearts……” Behind Jiang, the faces of multiple evil ghosts appeared on the enormous sculpture. They boldly screamed at Shang Que.

“The emperor will return soon and command the Underworld once more.”

“If the way you’re planning on reconstructing Hell is by releasing evil ghosts again to spread human face sores in the mortal realm and cheat humans of their faith……” Shang Que reached a hand out and faintly pointed at the stone sculpture behind Jiang. “I refuse to permit that.”

“Phishing is not allowed.”

The Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain’s Magical Seal was filled with limitless power. When it got stamped on that giant stone sculpture, the evil ghosts immediately released terrified shrieks. Several ghosts reached their hands out from inside the sculpture, doing their best to pull themselves forward. They seemed like evil ghosts trying to escape purgatory.

“Your refusal is useless,” Jiang scoffed. “You can’t stop anything anymore.”

“I can.” Shang Que had never admitted defeat during an argument before. He pointed again.

The trembling underneath their feet became even stronger.

The evil ghosts in the stone sculpture couldn’t handle the Ghost King’s punishment. They had already started dissipating.

Shang Que calmly said, “See? I’m still so impressive.”

Jiang: “……” You’re clearly still so annoying!

At this moment, the “boom” of thunder sounded out from outside the cave. It was impossibly loud.

Shang Que slightly furrowed his brows. “Heavenly tribulation lightning?”

“Hahahahaha——” Jiang finally started cackling flippantly. “Shang Que, you hadn’t expected this, right? There’s a cyan-clothed drought demon underneath Si Mountain Ridge. I’ve kept her around for fifty years. Now, she’s about to become a Hou.”

Shang Que’s expression finally changed.

“You can stop that drought demon from becoming a Hou, but you can’t stop the emperor from returning.”

“Or, you could choose to stop me. But then, you’d have to watch that Hou terrorize the mortal realm.”

The thunder got louder and louder. Lightning continuously struck. The dry heat that was affecting all of Si Mountain Ridge finally spread into this cave.

“Shang Que, even if you’re the son of Luofeng Mountain, there are still things you cannot accomplish in this world. Just like how you were unable to stop the ghost city of Fengdu from sinking into the earth along with Luofeng Mountain back then. Today, you will also be unable to prevent armageddon.”

Shang Que’s finger that was pointed at Jiang started slightly shaking. His expression was completely dark.

Upon seeing Shang Que wear that same helpless expression he had revealed many years ago while watching the ghost city of Fengdu sink into the ground with Luofeng Mountain, Jiang’s laughter became even more arrogant.

“This Hou is going to turn the mortal realm into Hell, and the emperor will reconstruct the order of Hell——”

Behind him, the evil ghosts in the stone sculpture started cackling too. “The mortal realm is ours. It’s ours, ours——”

Shang Que abruptly lowered his finger. He was just about to head outside……

When suddenly, the thunder from outside the cave suddenly got weaker. That horrifying heat gradually disappeared too.

Shang Que suddenly paused.

Jiang abruptly stopped laughing too. “What happened?”

At this time, in the sky above the Si Mountain Ridge vacation resort:

The drought demon, who was in the middle of her heavenly tribulation, was similarly bewildered. She shouted in terror from up in the air, “Where’s my lightning? Where’s my tribulation lightning——”

In front of the villa, the religious masters and members of the special department were all looking up. Expressions conflicted, they stared at the drought demon.

Further away, on the mountain peak at the other side of the wildfire, a gigantic lightning rod stood. It was in the midst of diverting all the lightning strikes from the thunderclouds away.

After Yu Zhengdu had summoned Underworld spirits to transport lightning rods over, the special department had quickly joined in too. Just in time, they finished setting up the lightning rod.

However, this drought demon, who had slept underground for an unknown amount of time, clearly didn’t understand what had just happened. She was only confused as to why her tribulation lightning suddenly wasn’t landing on her anymore.

“Hurry, use this opportunity!” Daoist priest Mu held onto his chest and forcefully exhaled. “This drought demon has expended a lot of magical energy in order to pass her heavenly tribulation. She’s in her weakest state right now. We must hurry and cast spells to try and vanquish her with one strike.”

But when he turned around, he discovered that there wasn’t a single individual present who didn’t look deathly pale. Many still had remaining signs of poison on their bodies from where they had been scratched by the zombies. Right now, it was already very difficult for them to remain alive; casting spells was almost impossible. In actuality, Daoist priest Mu himself was at his limits too. How could he have the remaining energy to open the altar again?

“Let me try,” Yu Zhengdu said.

The religious masters looked at him. Their voices were filled with hesitance. “Can you do it?”

“I’m not sure.” Yu Zhengdu took a step forward and inhaled deeply. “But I have to try, at least.”

“Okay.” Ming Peiran, who had been on the phone all this time, lowered his phone and said, “I’ve already contacted the higher-ups and requested for missile support from the nearest military base. Right now, we’re just missing one person to add magic to the missile……”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” He clearly still hadn’t witnessed enough events.

Yu Zhengdu slowly exhaled out the breath he had just inhaled. “Okay.”

The governmental support arrived very quickly. The missile hit the drought demon. The drought demon released terrifying shrieks as she struggled. “Do you guys think that you can defeat me like this?”

The Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain’s Magical Seal brazenly landed on her.

The drought demon disappeared.

The sound of thunder abruptly stopped.

By now, it was already close to dawn. The silvery moon had disappeared; dawn was approaching. The morning light quickly got covered up by rain clouds, though. Rain poured down.

The wildfire gradually got extinguished. The dry heat in the atmosphere slowly started dissipating too.

The group of people outside the villa finally sighed in relief. They could no longer keep themselves up. All of them collapsed onto the ground.

Ming Peiran was ultimately a captain. Even at such a time, he didn’t forget to be orderly. He ordered his team members to help the wounded into the villa. Additionally, he told the accompanying doctor to help draw out everyone’s poison and give them treatment.

Out of everyone, only Yu Zhengdu was largely uninjured. He silently stood under the roof of the villa and stared at the rainstorm outside. The religious masters’ conversation continuously reached his ears:

“Si Mountain Ridge has been home to corpses for who knows how long. It actually managed to create such a powerful ghost.”

“Right? If we had actually let this drought demon successfully become a Hou, the mortal realm would probably become living Hell……”

“How come Si Mountain Ridge has so much energy and faith?”

Yu Zhengdu kept thinking of what the Wuqi citizen had said: “A thousand years ago, Si Mountain Ridge originally worshipped the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain.”

A thousand thoughts crossed his mind. Suddenly, a notification popped up on his phone. Jiang had come online.

Because of the online death replacement incident back then, he had made a tracking program to track down the mastermind of the operation, Jiang. But after that, Jiang had never logged into the account again. Who would’ve thought that at this time, he would actually log in.

Yu Zhengdu could no longer remain calm. He sent Shang Que a message.

Deep within the forest.

Shang Que stared outside the cave. He looked a bit dazed. “It’s raining.”

Jiang was in utter disbelief. He widened his eyes and yelled, “Impossible, impossible—— Aside from you, there can’t possibly be anyone else on this planet who can prevent a drought demon from turning into a Hou!”

“It’s you who has underestimated the intelligence of mortals.” Though Shang Que didn’t know how the others had done it, this didn’t deter him from his great mood at all. There was also added sympathy in his gaze when he looked at Jiang.

“Even so, you can’t stop me anymore.” Jiang was starting to get a little desperate. He suddenly pulled out a laptop from behind him and turned it on.

“Shang Que, you have no clue how much faith is in my hands.”

At the same time, Shang Que received a message from Yu Zhengdu:【I miss you.】

Shang Que subconsciously revealed a gentle smile:【Me too.】

Yu Zhengdu:【If I go find you now, will I bother you?】

Shang Que:【No, but can you find me?】

Yu Zhengdu:【Yes. I’ve located Jiang’s position. You’re with him, right?】

Shang Que:【Un, then come over. I’ll arrange for the power of Luofeng Mountain to protect you.】

Shang Que lifted his head, only to see Jiang looking at him, pleased. The other’s computer was on. “Though modern humans are no longer faithful, there are still many stupid humans and humans who desire to seek death. These people are willing to ‘sacrifice’ themselves online and give their souls to me.”

Shang Que lowered his gaze and stared at that computer. He reached a finger out. The power of all ghosts flew forward, but before it could reach the computer, it somehow disappeared.

He slightly furrowed his brows. “The Ghost Emperor’s power?”

“Yes. The emperor is about to awaken.” Jiang looked at him. “Si Mountain Ridge has already provided enough faith for him. Only ‘sacrifice’ remains to be completed. I’ve said this before – just like you were unable to prevent the ghost city of Fengdu from sinking, you’re also unable to prevent the emperor from returning……”

Halfway through his speech, his eyes suddenly widened. He stared at the computer screen in disbelief. “What’s going on? Why has the progress bar suddenly paused?”

The “dadadada” of helicopter blades could be heard from outside the cave. Yu Zhengdu thanked the special department pilot who had flown him here.

The other asked, “You really don’t need us to go down with you?”

“No. The circumstances are a bit unique. We can communicate by phone.” Yu Zhengdu waved his hands.

The other was already extremely impressed by Yu Zhengdu’s skills. Upon hearing this, he didn’t force Yu Zhengdu to accept his help. He made a hand gesture. “Then we’ll be waiting outside. If anything happens, tell us at any time.”

“Okay,” Yu Zhengdu said. After properly tying the safety rope on, he jumped off.

Fortunately, because there was a vacation resort nearby, this area had a good number of signal towers. Though they were already deep within the mountain, there was still a faint signal. Yu Zhengdu followed the navigation instructions on his phone and passed through a small portion of dense forest. When he got through the thick vines, he finally saw a tiny cave entrance. Unless one was carefully looking for it, it was very hard to discover.

Yu Zhengdu tentatively shouted, “Xiao Shang?”

“I’m here.”

Yu Zhengdu only sighed in relief after hearing Shang Que’s voice. He walked in. Then, his entire body stiffened. He practically couldn’t catch his breath.

This was an unimaginably huge cave. It was so big it looked like someone had emptied out the entire mountain.

The cave was dark and eerie. Ghost fires floated near the ceiling, illuminating everything in the large cave. This was an underground palace, a literal “underground” palace.

Everything in the cave was clearly a reproduction of the scenes of Hell.

Scenes from the Eighteen Levels of Hell were carved into the enormous stone walls surrounding them. On each wall, there were innumerous ghosts suffering greatly. Those spirits were in the middle of struggling, moaning, and sinking.

“These are the living spirits of Si Mountain Ridge that aren’t recorded in the Life and Death Accounts.” Shang Que gently embraced Yu Zhengdu after noticing how dumbfounded the other looked.

Behind Jiang was an enormous stone sculpture that was almost too big to be seen in its entirety. The Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu’s eyes were lowered in the sculpture. He quietly looked down at his feet. If his worshippers were kneeling there, they would definitely be able to sense his kindness and power.

Only, there were numerous evil ghosts struggling and yelling in the Ghost Emperor’s sculpture. These evil ghosts were different from the ghosts trapped in the stone walls all around, though. They were really and truly evil ghosts. Jiang had taken them with him from Luofeng Mountain.

These bold evil ghosts seemed drastically different from the cowardly and pained ghosts on the walls. This seemed like the two extremes of Hell.

These were the evil ghosts who controlled all of the Underworld spirits in Si Mountain Ridge, forcing them to pray day and night, begging the Great Emperor of Fengdu to remove them from this Hell.

Shang Que didn’t get the chance to give Yu Zhengdu an in-depth explanation when suddenly, Jiang’s outraged yells sounded out from across from them. “What’s going on? Why did my program suddenly break down?”

Yu Zhengdu slightly recovered from the shock of seeing Hell. He stared straight in Jiang’s direction and said, “I planted a virus in your program.”

“You again! You again!” Jiang stared at him with bloodshot eyes. “If not for the fact that you blocked all death replacements and deleted the memories of the Heinous Ghosts in the Hungry Ghost Path, the emperor would’ve already woken up by now!”

“I made plans for so long. Just because you upgraded a supposed system, you messed up all my plans!” Jiang’s resentment seemed to have a physical form. “This is all because of you.”

The “sacrifice” program had been his last secret weapon. After his plans regarding death replacements and the Hungry Ghost Path had been ruined one after the other, he became even more protective over “sacrifice.” He had only logged in again and activated it at the very last moment.

He had never expected that a long time ago, Yu Zhengdu had already placed a tracker on him. The other had been waiting for this moment.

Yu Zhengdu looked at him coldly. “Things can only be blamed on your poor technical skills.”

Jiang had been a ghost for who knows how many years. It had already been a long time since he had felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. But right now, he actually felt like he was suffocating. He pointed at the rainstorm outside and asked, reluctant to admit defeat, “H-how did you guys stop the drought demon from becoming a Hou?”

Speaking of this, Shang Que was a bit curious too. He couldn’t help turning to look at Yu Zhengdu.

Yu Zhengdu: “Oh, we used lightning rods to divert the tribulation lightning away.”

Shang Que: “……”

Jiang: “Pu——” He really spat out a mouthful of blood.

Shang Que held his hands out. “Yi? You’ve lost.”

“Yes, I’ve lost, but you haven’t won either!” Jiang threw his laptop and wobbled as he stood up. He slowly retreated towards the stone sculpture behind him. His voice was full of reluctance. “Shang Que, you were never supposed to have been born. If not for you, Luofeng Mountain wouldn’t have collapsed.”

Yu Zhengdu gazed at Shang Que in confusion. However, Shang Que only coldly replied, “How much longer are you going to continue believing the brainwashing package that says Luofeng Mountain collapsed because of me?”

A question mark appeared over Jiang’s head. “What’s a brainwashing package?”

Shang Que simply replied, “Rumors.”

But Jiang ignored him. He retreated until he was right in front of the stone sculpture. “No matter what, it’s time for everything to come to an end. Hell will soon welcome its true owner’s return.”

The Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu had his eyes lowered in the stone sculpture as he looked down at the worshippers at his feet.

Innumerous malevolent ghosts reached their arms out, tugging Jiang into the sculpture.

“King Qinguang, hurry and cease!” Shang Que abruptly realized Jiang’s intentions. His eyes widened. He reached an arm out, and not only in feint this time. An ink-black magical seal appeared in the air and flew towards Jiang.

But this got stopped by an invisible barrier right before it reached the stone sculpture.

The sound of malevolent ghosts struggling could be heard throughout the entire cave.

The lowered eyes of the enormous Great Emperor of Fengdu sculpture gradually turned red.

Yu Zhengdu instinctively realized something was wrong. He hurriedly asked Shang Que, “What’s he doing?”

Shang Que’s expression was dark. “He’s sacrificed himself.”

Several evil ghosts’ hands tugged Jiang into the stone sculpture. A delighted smile appeared on Jiang’s face. “The emperor will awaken soon.”

“Shang Que, you’ve been maintaining the Six Paths of Reincarnation for all these years. It must be very tiring, right?”

“Without the faith of the mortal realm supporting you, how much remaining power do you have?”

“Do you currently still have the ability to fight with the emperor?”

“Faith of the mortal realm?” Yu Zhengdu fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, he said, “I’m not sure about the other stuff, but in regards to faith, our boss should have quite a bit!”

Jiang’s expression changed. “You think I’ll believe your exaggerations?”

“You haven’t surfed the Internet in a long time, right?” Yu Zhengdu looked at him. “Do you know how many fans our boss has on Weibo?”

Jiang’s heart skipped a beat, but he was still a bit confused. “So what?”

“Boss, give me your phone for a moment.” Yu Zhengdu grabbed Shang Que’s phone, opened up his Weibo, and picked out a selfie from the other’s photo album to post.

From Today On I Will Be A European God: What is faith? [Selfie]

After posting this, he opened up the comment section and told Shang Que to use magic to send the phone to Jiang so the other could take a good look.

【Aaah, male god has posted another selfie!】

【Your face is my faith!】

Jiang: “……”

Shang Que closed his eyes to sense his powers. He sighed. “I’ve gotten stronger today too.”

Jiang’s body was already almost completely submerged in the stone sculpture. Only his face was still outside. He looked like the human face sores that were growing on the bodies of the people of Si Mountain Ridge.

He struggled to yell, “I’m not sacrificing myself anymore!”

“Let me out——”

But it was already too late.

The author has something to say:

Drought demon: Where’s my lightning? Such a big strike of lightning? It was still in the sky just moments ago!