New Times, New Hell

Chapter 111 - Great Emperor of Fengdu Statue

Jiang disappeared into the stone sculpture. The eyes of the Great Emperor of Fengdu statue completely turned red. The red started spreading from the corners of the eyes to the rest of the body. Slowly, it covered the entire sculpture, making it appear as if fresh blood had been painted over this enormous stone wall.

The evil ghosts originating from under Luofeng Mountain reached their thin arms out of the sculpture. They painfully struggled, howling, “Ghost King——Ghost King——”

“Save us——”

Shang Que coldly glanced at those evil ghosts. “You deserve this.”

He shielded Yu Zhengdu behind him; his eyes became dark, like two bottomless pits. The black Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain Magical Seal floated in his palm.

Yu Zhengdu stood behind him. He couldn’t see the battle of strength between the two parties. He only seemed to feel an invisible force slamming into the enormous Great Emperor of Fengdu sculpture.

The stone wall started trembling. The Ghost Emperor’s stone statue gradually opened its mouth. Shakily, it asked, “Shang Que, you’ve returned?”

“Un.” Shang Que lifted his head. He made eye contact with the lowered stone eyes. “You’ve returned too.”

The stone statue slowly shook its head. “That won’t do. Luofeng Mountain can only have one owner.”

Expressionlessly, Shang Que said, “Luofeng Mountain has already sunken into the ground.”

The stone statue suddenly chuckled in a strange manner. “Haven’t you ever thought about saving the residents of the ghost city of Fengdu?”

The red stone eyes were full of pity. “After all, they sank into the ground because of you.”

Shang Que didn’t answer.

Stone statue: “Shang Que, it’s been a thousand years. I’ve never given up. I want to save them, but my strength alone is not enough…… Perhaps you could help me?”

Before Shang Que could say anything, Yu Zhengdu had already spoken up. “Who are you trying to fool? First, you say Luofeng Mountain can only have one owner. Then, you want him to help you save the ghost city of Fengdu? So who gets to be the owner after the city gets brought back?”

The stone sculpture slightly paused after being interrupted. Its stone pupils gently shifted to focus on Yu Zhengdu. Its tone was a bit displeased. “Who are you?”

“My boyfriend,” Shang Que finally replied.

“Boyfriend?” The stone statue seemed to be somewhat confused.

Thus, Shang Que pressed a kiss onto Yu Zhengdu’s forehead.

The stone statue coughed. “……Oh, a cutsleeve.”

“In the past, so many fairies and demonesses expressed their interest in you, yet you weren’t touched in the slightest. I thought that the son of Luofeng Mountain had been born without the capability to love. Unexpectedly……”

Shang Que lowered his voice and boasted to Yu Zhengdu, “Hear that? I didn’t lie to you. I was truly very well-liked back then.”

Yu Zhengdu familiarly praised, “I’m honestly so honored.”

The stone sculpture seemed to have only been offhandedly reminiscing the past. Very quickly, he shifted the topic of conversation back. “Shang Que, have you made up your mind? I know that you definitely want to bring the ghost city of Fengdu back to the mortal realm again too. Without me, though, you also won’t be able to succeed……”

His voice was filled with endless allure.

But Shang Que rejected him without a hint of hesitation. “No, I’ll listen to my boyfriend.”

The magical seal created a huge shadow from where it was floating in midair. The power of Luofeng Mountain rushed at the stone sculpture with the force of a tempest. The enormous Great Emperor of Fengdu statue was completely red. It turned into the Great Netherworld Sea; the evil ghosts in the stone roared and struggled, but slowly became absorbed into the bloody waters too.

The bright ghost fires extinguished one by one. The cave succumbed to an endless darkness. Only the bloody ocean of the emperor’s statue was glowing a faint red. This spread everywhere. the ghosts trapped in the walls painfully tried to escape in panic, yet were unable to escape the bindings of the mountain wall.

“Shang Que, you and I ultimately cannot coexist.”

The giant cave started shaking and trembling. Yu Zhengdu could barely keep his balance. Thankfully, Shang Que kept a tight grasp on him.

Shang Que lowly told him, “Don’t be scared. I’m here.”

Yu Zhengdu held onto him and calmly replied, “I’m not scared.”

Shang Que: “Do you want to try the power of the true Ghost King’s magical seal?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Un?”

Shang Que wrapped an arm around his waist. With his other hand, he covered Yu Zhengdu’s hand. He held onto the other’s hand and lifted it up, then told him to open his fist. Then, he transferred his power into Yu Zhengdu’s palm. After saving up enough energy, he struck again.

In the air, the Ghost King’s magical seal had turned into a long, black sword. It flew up and, with the power to turn over mountains and upend seas, it pierced towards the blood-red Great Netherworld Sea.

The long sword broke past the Ghost Emperor’s barrier, burying itself deeply in the spot between the stone sculpture’s eyebrows.

“Shang Que, we are destined to meet in battle.”

The Great Emperor of Fengdu seemed to release a low exhale. The angry bellows of the Great Netherworld Sea came to an abrupt halt. The stone sculpture returned to its original state. And then, starting from the eyes, it slowly started cracking. Layer upon layer fell off. Pieces of rock incessantly landed on the ground.

The ceiling started shaking. The rock walls all around were cracking too. Innumerous Underworld spirits rushed out from the walls, howling as they shot out the cave entrance.

Yu Zhengdu stared blankly at the cave that was continuously shaking and collapsing. Perplexed, he asked, “Have we……taken care of him?”

“No,” Shang Que calmly said. “The one here was only a fragment of the Ghost Emperor’s consciousness. The real him has just awakened somewhere.”

Yu Zhengdu turned to look at him.

Shang Que looked over at the same time too. He pressed a kiss to Yu Zhengdu’s forehead. “This place is going to collapse. Let’s leave first…… Don’t worry.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded. The two of them slowly strolled out behind the Underworld spirits that were dashing out in complete panic.

It was still raining outside. The tree leaves that had been suffering for several days were slowly starting to become rejuvenated once more. Only, the ground was extremely muddy.

Behind them, the mountain the cave was located in was furiously shaking. Slowly, it collapsed in on itself. The ghosts, who had finally managed to escape, sprawled out on the ground in shock. They knelt and bowed at Shang Que: “Save us, Ghost King. Please save us, Ghost King.”

Shang Que reached a hand out and gently tapped the air. The power of Luofeng Mountain spread out. These ghosts all closed their eyes; they transformed into spots of light and flew towards the reincarnation point for Si Mountain Ridge.

The quaking of the earth was getting worse.

“The mountain is going to topple. Let’s leave too.” Shang Que maintained a tight grip around Yu Zhengdu’s waist. Just as he was about to cast a spell, he suddenly heard the “dadadada” of helicopter blades sounding out from above him.

They looked up, only to see a helicopter right above their heads. A member of the special department opened the helicopter door and threw a rope ladder down. He shouted, “Boss Yu, Boss Shang, hurry and come up.”

Shang Que turned to look at Yu Zhengdu. Yu Zhengdu rubbed his hands together. “Then let’s go up.”

The two of them silently climbed up the rope ladder and entered the helicopter. The special department member gave them a thumbs up. “Put on your seatbelts and hang on.”

The helicopter shot into the sky. A deafening “crash” sounded out from under them. The people in the helicopter looked down through the windows, just in time to see the tall, enormous mountain peak collapse into the ground and turn into flat earth.

The worker was extremely panicked. “This, this……isn’t an earthquake, right?”

“It isn’t,” Yu Zhengdu hurriedly placated him. “That mountain was empty inside. Because the stuff in the ground crawled out, the mountain could no longer support itself, so collapsed.”

“The mountain was empty?” The worker was shocked. “How come?”

Yu Zhengdu solemnly answered, “This place was originally the home of a cult.”

Braving through the rainstorm, the helicopter returned to civilization, leaving Si Mountain Ridge behind it. The mountains were still incessantly collapsing, just like the faith here.

In the “dadadada” of the helicopter blades, Shang Que very seriously looked at Yu Zhengdu. “How come you secretly permed your hair last night?”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

After hearing Shang Que’s explanation, Yu Zhengdu finally understood what had happened in Si Mountain Ridge.

It turned out that fifty years ago, before the Heavens and Hell had collapsed, the Great Northern Emperor of Fengdu had already predicted everything. He had ordered King Qinguang, Jiang, into the mortal realm in advance and prepared to reconstruct Hell in the mortal realm.

But what they hadn’t expected was – because the magical energy of the world had disappeared, the barriers of the Chaos Realm had loosened. The Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain, Shang Que, who had originally been sealed away by the three realms, managed to return to the mortal realm too. Additionally, he happened to be one step ahead of them in taking over the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

The Great Emperor of Fengdu’s consciousness had attached itself to a mortal and hadn’t woken up yet. Jiang’s power also wasn’t enough to defeat Shang Que. He could only hide himself away.

When Shang Que had just returned to the mortal realm, the Six Paths of Reincarnation had still been in a mess. Jiang had taken this opportunity to take over Si Mountain Ridge – a place full of energy and ideal for keeping zombies – first. He had released the evil ghosts of Luofeng Mountain in his possession, creating the human face sore panic in Si Mountain Ridge. Additionally, he had convinced the occupants of Si Mountain Ridge that the human face sores were the result of the grievous sins they had committed in their past lives. Only faithfully and sincerely worshipping the Great Emperor of Fengdu would allow one to escape from the fate of being possessed by an evil ghost. Through these methods, he gained complete control over Si Mountain Ridge’s faith and successfully created a rare drought demon and a mountain full of zombies and skeletons.

Following the advancement of society, Jiang slowly learned how to use the Internet too. However, to him, the Internet was only a way of being able to cast a wider net so that he could secretly seek out death replacements, soul sacrificers, etc.

Only, Jiang, who hadn’t gotten a systematic education about modern technology, hadn’t expected that the Internet would be the source of both his success and downfall. He could more easily reach the darker parts of people through the Internet, but others could also easily use technology to interrupt his plan.

Very quickly, Ming Peiran compiled a list of all the problems regarding Si Mountain Ridge and submitted this report to the higher-ups. The higher-ups specially set up an investigation team. As expected, they found several cult DVDs disguised as variety shows in the houses of all Si Mountain Ridge residents.

The relevant department was very invested in this matter. They used a lot of time, money, and energy to re-educate the people of Si Mountain Ridge: they especially emphasized the idea of materialistic obligation in order to completely remove the cult ideologies from these people’s minds.

The situation with the human face sores became known too. However, Jiang had also sacrificed the evil ghosts of Luofeng Mountain to the resurrected Great Emperor of Fengdu. The human faces sores on the people of Si Mountain Ridge turned into normal sarcomas. Because of the significant impact this could have, and because it was linked to the future development of the entirety of Si Mountain Ridge, this secret was ultimately kept a secret. The higher-ups sent a special team of doctors to Si Mountain Ridge, though. These doctors would perform surgical removals of the human face sores for the locals.

After discussion by the experts, the human face sore problem at Si Mountain Ridge was determined to be a “fetal parasite” phenomenon. This supposed fetal parasite phenomenon was also known as “forgotten parasite syndrome.” It referred to a condition where fraternal twins were of two drastically different sizes in the mother’s womb. Because of this, the smaller twin wouldn’t be able to properly develop. As such, it would slowly become absorbed into the other fetus’ body. Perhaps due to genetic or environmental reasons, in addition to untimely treatment, fetal parasites had become a very common local phenomenon in Si Mountain Ridge.

The population of Si Mountain Ridge, which had been controlled by evil ghosts for fifty years, naturally couldn’t accept these new changes. At first, a lot of people rejected them. After, though, a few people received the removal surgery and the removed human face sores didn’t grow back. Additionally, they managed to start living normally again. Others gradually became convinced too. More and more people started asking about the surgical procedure.

It wasn’t so easy for the trauma of the cult or evil ghosts to dissipate. Following the disappearance of fetal parasites from Si Mountain Ridge, though, their basic education and understanding became more progressive. Investments rolled in and the economy advanced. Soon, this area would be able to slowly walk out of the shadow of its traumatic past too.

Similarly, Luofeng transferred new teams of employees from other places to take over the work at Si Mountain Ridge’s reincarnation point. They re-entered the number of Underworld spirits at Si Mountain Ridge and started teaching the local ghosts new ideologies. They also promoted the Life Management app and taught these ghosts how to use the Fengdu Forum and other functions, allowing the spirits in Si Mountain Ridge to very quickly assimilate into the new Underworld.

At the same time that Si Mountain Ridge’s transformation plan was secretly commencing, several posts relating to Si Mountain Ridge appeared online as well. Among them, one had a very sensational topic:

Topic: Fuck, A Missile Appeared Above Si Mountain Ridge?

Building Owner: Has everyone seen that picture of Si Mountain Ridge that’s being spread around? It seems like someone got a picture of a missile appearing in the air above Si Mountain Ridge?!! I’m so scared. What’s going on?

Floor 1: Didn’t they already dispel the rumors? That was just a cloud seeding bomb for artificial rain enhancement, okay?

Floor 2: 23333 Big bro has ended this building.

From hitting the pile of dry bones, to the standoff with the Great Emperor of Fengdu statue, to saving the trapped ghosts of Si Mountain Ridge, Yu Zhengdu felt like he had lived through an eternity. In actuality, though, only one night had passed.

He and Shang Que took the helicopter back to the hotel in Tongkeng. And then, he slept an entire day away.

When he woke up again, it was already dark. The lights weren’t on in the room. Only the face of the person next to him was illuminated……Shang Que was leaning against the headboard and gaming.

“You’re awake?” Shang Que reached out and rubbed his curly hair. After, he exited the game and started ordering takeout for Yu Zhengdu.

Yu Zhengdu glanced askance at the other’s phone. It seemed that he had originally been in the middle of an instance dungeon. A group of people had been in the middle of excitedly discussing the fact that they had encountered the Ghost King and how they wanted to distribute the prizes after passing this instance dungeon…… And then, the Ghost King had suddenly disappeared.

Yu Zhengdu shook his head and tsk’d. “Too heartless.”

He still hadn’t completely recovered from his exhaustion. However, he was much more alert. Thus, he got up and washed up in the bathroom. When he came out again, the takeout had already arrived.

Yu Zhengdu sat down and slowly started eating. While eating, he stared at Shang Que.

Shang Que leaned forward slightly. In an elegant posture, he watched as Yu Zhengdu ate. Upon noticing that the other was staring, he softly coughed and asked with great restraint, “Focus on eating if you’re going to eat. Why do you keep looking at me?”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” He still hadn’t successfully developed a tacit understanding with Boss through gazes!

He swallowed the last mouthful of food, took a drink of water, and finally hesitantly said, “I want to hear about your past……”

Shang Que’s expression slightly stiffened. Yu Zhengdu hurriedly added, “If you don’t want to tell me……”

“That’s not it,” Shang Que interrupted. He returned to his normal state and offhandedly said, “However, they’re all trivial matters. There’s nothing worth mentioning.”

Yu Zhengdu gazed deeply at him. Very sincerely, he replied, “But to me, nothing about you is a trivial matter.”

Shang Que froze. Then, he revealed a faint smile. “Un.”

Once, a hundred thousand malevolent ghosts had been locked away under Luofeng Mountain. The ghost city of Fengdu, located on Luofeng Mountain, had been home to a hundred thousand Underworld spirits. Luofeng Mountain had been the gathering place of the strongest evil energies of the world. And Shang Que had been born from those evil energies. At birth, he already possessed unlimited power and could command the hundred thousand malevolent ghosts.

Because of his unique identity, since birth, Shang Que had been feared by the three realms. He was too powerful; so powerful that there had once been rumors saying that he could destroy the Heavens and Hell. He would ultimately become the downfall of the three realms.

At that time, though, he hadn’t cared about these rumors. He had also believed that he had the prowess to not care. The Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain even had a lot of worshippers in the mortal realm. He didn’t have any fears at all.

Until eventually, a hole suddenly appeared in Luofeng Mountain. The malevolent ghosts trapped under the mountain escaped and caused the human face sore panic in the mortal realm.

Some people believed that Shang Que had purposefully let the evil ghosts leave. Others believed that his birth had used up too much of Luofeng Mountain’s power, causing the hole to appear in the mountain.

Overnight, all the evidence pointed at Shang Que, who possessed the power to control the evil ghosts. Even though he searched high and low for the escaped ghosts with the other ghost generals of Luofeng Mountain, this did nothing to prove his innocence.

Eventually, Shang Que could no longer tell if the three realms truly believed that he had caused the evil ghosts’ escape or if the three realms hoped that the evil ghosts had escaped because of him.

“……And you already know about everything else,” Shang Que calmly said while leaning against the back of his chair.

He and the Luofeng Mountain ghost generals had arrested the escaped evil ghosts and prepared to lock them away under Luofeng Mountain once more. Unexpectedly, they encountered a joint effort by the three realms.

In the end, Luofeng Mountain had sunken into the earth and he had been sealed away into the Chaos Realm.

Not only so, but in order to diminish the impact of this incident, all records relating to the Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain had been completely eradicated.

Yu Zhengdu silently stared at Shang Que. He was temporarily speechless. After an unknown amount of time, he finally asked again, “Then……what about the ghost city of Fengdu?”

He still remembered Shang Que’s conversation with the Great Emperor of Fengdu. However, he didn’t understand the meaning behind the conversation.

“They were the Ghost Emperor’s subjects.” Shang Que chuckled softly. “But they respected me greatly.”

Yu Zhengdu was struck with sudden realization.

The ghost city of Fengdu had been a city located on Luofeng Mountain. In it, a hundred thousand ghosts had resided. It had been the most prosperous place in the Underworld and had been managed by the Great Emperor of Fengdu.

As the true son of Luofeng Mountain, though, Shang Que had been respected by all ghosts from birth.

Yu Zhengdu fell silent for a moment. He summarized, “Basically, the Great Emperor of Fengdu was the parental official of the ghost city of Fengdu while you were the landlord’s son?”

Shang Que: “……Thanks for not adding a ‘dumb.’”

“That’s not right. The landlord’s son usually isn’t respected.” Yu Zhengdu rejected his own summary.

Shang Que thought about it and said, pleased, “If you have to make a comparison, I was technically an idol.”

Yu Zhengdu observed his face and nodded in agreement. “You really could be an idol.”

Because of this conversation, the atmosphere was no longer as heavy as before. Shang Que’s tense posture slightly relaxed. Only now did he continue, “Actually, in the beginning, the three realms didn’t only want to seal me away. Instead……they wanted to completely eliminate me……”

At the time, Luofeng Mountain had been forced to sink into the ground. The residents of the ghost city of Fengdu had originally had the time to escape. However, to save Shang Que, they had chosen to continue standing on the opposing side of the three realms.

In the end, the ghost city of Fengdu had disappeared along with Luofeng Mountain. As such, the three realms hadn’t been able to completely annihilate Shang Que. They had only been able to seal him into the Chaos Realm.

“So……you’ve actually always wanted to bring the ghost city of Fengdu back?” Yu Zhengdu stared straight at Shang Que.

Shang Que nodded. “Un.”

A rare flash of weakness appeared on his face. “But I’m still not strong enough.”

“Don’t worry.” Yu Zhengdu held onto his hand and said with determination, “I’ll come up with a plan with you.”

Shang Que wrapped his hands around Yu Zhengdu’s. “Okay.”

It was still raining outside. In comparison to the pitter patter of the droplets, the inside of the room was peacefully quiet.

A long time later, Shang Que finally broke the silence. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. He asked, “You should know that humans and ghosts have different fates…… Have you ever felt scared because you’re my significant other?”

“I thought that you would never bring up this topic.” Yu Zhengdu burst into laughter before shaking his head. “No. I’ve never felt scared.”

Shang Que said, “Originally, I was thinking of finding an opportune time to make a covenant with you: I would share my life and power with you. This way, nothing would happen to you.”

He slightly lowered his gaze, as if he didn’t dare to meet Yu Zhengdu’s eyes. “But I’m not sure. If one day, I really can save the ghost city of Fengdu, will I still have any power to protect you?”

Yu Zhengdu stared at Shang Que, dazed. He had never expected for Shang Que to be making such plans in his heart.

Yu Zhengdu solemnly said, “If such a time really comes, I’ll protect you.”

Shang Que lifted his gaze and saw Yu Zhengdu’s bright eyes staring at him. His heart started beating faster. He gently embraced Yu Zhengdu. “I want……”

“Un.”

The next morning, Yu Zhengdu blearily flipped his sore body over. And then, someone wrapped their arms around his waist. “You’re awake.”

He opened his eyes, only to see that Shang Que had already woken up at an unknown time. He was in the middle of passionately gazing at Yu Zhengdu.

Yu Zhengdu’s body was very tired, but his mind was quite pleased. With a faint smile, he leaned closer to Shang Que and rubbed his nose against the other’s. “Un.”

He had just been about to say something sweet that would suit the setting when he heard Shang Que excitedly express, “I still have a lot of stories about the past. Do you want to hear them now?”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

Last night was still fresh in his mind. A thousand-year old single ghost couldn’t be provoked!

He immediately pushed Shang Que away and seriously said, “No. For the next month, I don’t want to listen to your stories ever again!”

Shang Que pounced on him and started massaging his waist. With great determination, he submitted a request: “No! You have to listen to my stories at least once every two days!”

The author has something to say:

Xiao Kui: If you love me, you have to listen to my stories!