New Times, New Hell

Chapter 130 - The Truth

What had Yu Zhengdu actually seen?

Only a nameless illusion? Or was it truly the future?

Before the future arrived, nobody could say anything for sure. Even if there was only a one in a million chance that it could come true, that was still enough to cause an entire city to collapse and the mortal realm to fall into chaos.

“Is it the Ghost Emperor?” The hand that Yu Zhengdu was using to hold the mask started trembling slightly. “What does he ultimately want to do?”

“No matter who it is……” Shang Que held onto Yu Zhengdu’s wrist. “I won’t let Fu City end up like that.”

At the edge of the ocean, the sun had already completely left the water’s surface.

Yu Zhengdu closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he and Shang Que were already standing at the foot of Impasse Mountain. The man-made stone steps leading up the mountain were right in front of them.

The entire area was empty. It had obviously been emptied out ahead of time: the location had been blocked off.

Yu Zhengdu glanced at the time. The blessing ceremony was about to start. He wrapped his hand tightly around Shang Que’s. “Let’s go.”

But Shang Que didn’t move. Yu Zhengdu turned to look at him, confused. Only to see Shang Que slightly lift his chin and look at the path up the mountain. His expression was cold. “There’s a barrier.”

At this time, in the eyes of normal people – including Yu Zhengdu – Impasse Mountain didn’t seem much different than usual. However, in Shang Que’s eyes, this entire mountain had been wrapped in an enormous and powerful barrier, forbidding all unrelated persons from nearing.

“You can’t get in either?” Yu Zhengdu was somewhat surprised. Shang Que was already the most powerful individual remaining in this world. He could even enter and leave the Hungry Ghost Path, which had trapped innumerous hungry ghosts, at will. If this barrier could stop him, how powerful must it be?

“I can.” Shang Que’s gaze darkened. “But it’s going to take some effort.”

Just as they finished conversing, the Ghost Emperor’s voice suddenly sounded out. That voice sounded distant. They momentarily couldn’t figure out from which direction it was coming from. “Shang Que, so you’ve ultimately come.”

Shang Que coldly gazed into the emptiness. “Un.”

Ghost Emperor: “You’ve finally understood and have decided to collaborate with me?”

Shang Que didn’t reply to his question. He only said, “If you want to collaborate with me, you should first explain things clearly.”

Ghost Emperor: “I already did……”

Shang Que coldly interrupted, “It seems that there’s still no trust between us.”

The Ghost Emperor didn’t understand. “Why do you say that?”

Shang Que was apathetic. “Fu City’s collapse. Heinous Ghosts crossing the Great Netherworld Sea.”

The Ghost Emperor’s voice suddenly changed. He sounded like he was in slight disbelief. “How do you know?”

Only now did Yu Zhengdu say with great realization, “So, these are all real.”

Luo Wanxiang’s Buddha Eye had seen the collapse of Fu City and the Great Netherworld Sea flowing into the mortal realm. To living beings, this was the equivalent of the end of the world.

If this was the case, then it could explain why the relevant department would care so much about this incident. Only, the Ghost Emperor probably hadn’t shared the whole truth about whether this Armageddon’s arrival would be because of natural catastrophe or human behavior……oh no, ghost behavior.

By now, the Ghost Emperor didn’t need to keep things secret anymore either. Only, he was still confused. “How do you guys know?”

Yu Zhengdu didn’t feel like there was any need to hide the reason. He casually waved the mask in his hand around. “I saw it.”

“You saw it?” The Ghost Emperor didn’t believe this at all. His tone was also filled with scorn. “A load of bullshit. How could you possibly see it?”

Luo Wanxiang had been born with the Buddha Eye. Even so, it had taken him twenty years of continuous cultivation and the power King Qinguang had offered to him to finally awaken it and sense the truth of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Yu Zhengdu was merely a mortal human. How could he possibly possess such power?

The Ghost Emperor didn’t believe him; Yu Zhengdu wasn’t planning on convincing him either. He only coldly asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“I have no choice,” the Ghost Emperor’s voice sounded out from the empty void. Upon realizing that Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que already knew about the future, he no longer tried to hide anything. Instead, he exhaled out a long sigh. “This is the price to pay to bring the Ghost City back to the mortal realm.”

“Shang Que, I saw the truth…… Not only the truth about the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but also the truth behind the collapse of the Heavens and Hell.”

Shang Que’s cold expression finally changed minutely. Those eyes, which always looked like dark, still pits, finally slightly shifted too. “What is it?”

“The Chaos Realm,” the Ghost Emperor softly said. “The Chaos Realm is healing……”

In prehistoric times, Pangu had created the universe. He had split off the Chaos Realm and formed the Heavens, Hell, and mortal realm. The Heavens had been home to the gods; Hell had been home to the ghosts; in between them had been the mortal realm. Additionally, there were also the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

The three realms and Six Paths of Reincarnation were actually a crack in the Chaos Realm. In prehistoric times, the magical energy of the Heavens and Hell had mainly originated from the Chaos Realm. However, just as wounds slowly healed, the crack in the Chaos Realm incessantly mended itself across the years too.

Mending needed energy. This was the reason why the magical energy of the Heavens and Hell had continuously been depleted. In actuality, it had been reabsorbed by the Chaos Realm to fix up the crack.

The mortal realm hadn’t collapsed because the mortal realm’s existence had never been built on the base of magic.

“Mortals have an impressive intelligence. They used their own hands to create mountains and rivers, to construct their own cities……They don’t need magical energy to survive. They can produce machinery that can conquer the skies and oceans. To some degree, their immovable faith is not lesser than the power of the Chaos Realm…… The mortal realm is a scar in the Chaos Realm.”

The wound that had been split open had gradually healed over the long years. However, it left an everlasting scar: the mortal realm.

“So, you want to place the resurrected Ghost City in the mortal realm?” Yu Zhengdu’s gaze was dark.

“I already said. I have no other choice.” The Ghost Emperor’s voice was filled with longing for the past. “Shang Que, I saw the current state of the Ghost City of Fengdu. A hundred thousand citizens relied on their remaining one hun and one po to survive for a thousand years. They don’t have any time left……”

Shang Que: “This isn’t a reason to destroy an entire city.”

The Ghost Emperor didn’t agree with his statement. “I’m not destroying anything. I’m only turning them into citizens of the Ghost City too. Humans are destined to die. Isn’t this for the better?”

“No,” Shang Que replied. After, he held his palm up. A black magical seal appeared out of nowhere. He used his other hand to pull Yu Zhengdu behind him. “You cannot save one city at the cost of destroying a different city.”

“The negative energy surrounding Luofeng Mountain is already heavy enough.”

Innumerous historical records had long since proven that after destroying a city, the citizens of that city definitely wouldn’t happily and unreservedly become a part of the destroyers. As soon as they gained enough power, there would definitely be a new round of battles.

The Ghost Emperor’s voice became very resentful. “Shang Que, you have wronged the hundred thousand citizens who disappeared for you.”

Shang Que was unaffected. “I’m going to say this once more. You were the one who hurt them.”

The magical seal turned into a long sword. Wrapped in enough power to shift mountains and upturn seas, it travelled towards the barrier that was invisible to the mortal eye.

And then, the long sword was stopped in midair. It started furiously shaking.

Yu Zhengdu knew that this meant the sword was in the midst of battling with the barrier.

Shang Que stood in place. He looked the same as he usually did. Standing tall, looking immovable. However, the difference was, this time, he was also incapable of moving the barrier.

Time slowly passed. Shang Que’s gaze gradually darkened. “This isn’t your power.”

“Have you finally discovered?” The Ghost Emperor’s voice sounded out once more.

Shang Que slightly lifted his head. He looked in the direction of the mountain peak. “……This is the Chaos Realm’s power.”

“So you’re not completely oblivious either.” The Ghost Emperor chuckled lowly.

Shang Que didn’t answer. He had been trapped in the Chaos Realm for a thousand years. He could naturally sense this, but he……still wasn’t close enough to the truth.

Yu Zhengdu heard something that sounded a bit off. With furrowed brows, he asked, “What does that mean?”

Shang Que gravely answered, “He’s using……the power of the Chaos Realm.”

“How?” Yu Zhengdu was slightly surprised. Though he didn’t have much of an understanding of the Chaos Realm, from the earlier conversation, he had more or less figured out the sequence of events. If the Heavens and Hell had collapsed because the Chaos Realm had absorbed that magical energy, how come the Ghost Emperor could now use the power of the Chaos Realm?

“This is all thanks to Shang Que.” The Ghost Emperor’s tone was filled with satisfaction. “He escaped from the Chaos Realm, ripping another hole into it and causing the power of the Chaos Realm to leak into the mortal realm once again.”

“Shang Que, this is what I saw. The way for the Ghost City of Fengdu to return to the mortal realm…… It doesn’t actually matter whether or not you work with me. What matters is if you’re physically here.”

The Ghost King of Luofeng Mountain had been birthed from the resentful energies surrounding Luofeng Mountain. He had been born with the ability to harness the power of hundreds of millions of evil ghosts. After being imprisoned in the Chaos Realm for a thousand years, not only was he not completely swallowed by the Chaos Realm, but he actually cut a hole in the Chaos Realm and returned to the mortal realm.

And, the hole he had made worked to the same concepts of when Pangu had created the universe in prehistoric times. Though it couldn’t be compared with the one made by the axe of a prehistoric god, it was still enough to allow the energy of the Chaos Realm to leak out once again.

This was the truth behind the recovery of magical energy.

The skeletons at Si Mountain Ridge, the Wuqi citizen, the demon who had taken form after the founding of the new nation. Those worlds that ought to have been closed off eternally, never to be connected with the mortal realm again: the Hungry Ghost Path, the Great Netherworld Sea, the Ghost City of Fengdu. They now all had enough power to reappear in the mortal realm.

However, neither the Great Emperor of Fengdu nor Shang Que had the power to recreate Heaven and Hell. Thus, the Ghost City of Fengdu could only take over land in the mortal realm.

Not overlapping and existing together, but completely replacing.

From the beginning, the Great Emperor of Fengdu had never needed Shang Que to collaborate with him. What he truly needed to do……was sacrifice Shang Que.

To use the power of hundreds of millions of ghosts to alter the power of the Chaos Realm and consequently resurrect the Ghost City of Fengdu.

“As expected, there’s no trust between us.” Shang Que didn’t seem surprised at all. His expression was as cold as usual. “However, I’ve never trusted you either.”

“Shang Que, this is what you owe the Ghost City of Fengdu,” the Ghost Emperor said.

“Only you’re good at chitter-chattering.” Shang Que flipped his wrist. The black sword started shaking even harder. “We’ll talk about it when you’re capable of holding me back.”

“I can’t hold you back forever, but keeping you at bay for only a period of time is enough.” The Ghost Emperor was very well prepared. “Originally, I wanted you to start the blessing ceremony with me. Since you’re unwilling to, though, leaving enough time for me to be able to is okay as well.”

At the top of the mountain, the sound of chanting could faintly be heard.

Yu Zhengdu looked up. Only to see that a white column of smoke had started rising from the top of Impasse Mountain. This was a sign that they were burning incense.

The blessing ceremony had started.

At the same time, his phone started incessantly buzzing with notifications. He unlocked it and checked. The Luofeng employee groupchat was a big mess:

Kang Jin: 【What’s wrong? The Life and Death Accounts system is on high alert!】

Kang Jin: 【Fu City is about to experience a large quantity of deaths!!!! The predicted death count is ten million?????】

Kang Jin: 【What the heck?!!! At this rate, the entire city is going to die?】

Kang Jin: 【@Shang Que @Yu Zhengdu @Zhao Ruola, hurry and look. Our system has a bug!!】

Lu Lingxi: 【Calm down!】

Qu Guangzhao: 【What’s wrong? We got a virus?】

Kang Jin: 【Didn’t they say that our system won’t get viruses?】

Zhao Ruola: 【Theoretically speaking, our system can’t catch a virus.】

Employee A: 【Then what’s going on? Ten million people are really going to die? Quit joking!】

Employee B: 【Where are Boss and Boss Yu? Ey, how come they just so happen to be out of the company today?!】

Zheng Yan: 【Take a look at this [link]】

Yu Zhengdu clicked into the link Zheng Yan had sent. It was a topic that was trending on Weibo: Fu City’s White Cloths

Almost instantly, every Fu City netizen who was online had uploaded the same thing to their Weibos and Moments: What’s going on? Why are there so many white cloths on the streets? [picture]

The accompanying pictures were of varying different streets in Fu City. On these streets, square, white cloths with little holes in them were everywhere.

Facial garments.

Currently, lots of people no longer knew what this object was. However, there was a lot of information on the Internet. Very quickly, someone recognized it.

【I asked my grandpa. He said that this object looks like a facial garment. In the past, it was used to cover dead peoples’ faces.】

【Wow, such bad luck!!】

【What’s wrong with Fu City?】

The appearance of a huge number of facial garments in Fu City caused a small-scale panic. In Huaxia culture, white cloths were originally quite frequently used as signs of bad luck. Not to mention that someone had said that these were used to cover the faces of dead people. Just thinking about it made one feel upset.

There were also optimistic people who wondered if these had accidentally fallen out from somewhere. However, the facial garments had appeared in too large of an area. Despite how technologically advanced and materialistic Fu City was, it was unavoidable that people would feel on edge.

Luofeng’s employee group chat was still furiously @’ing Yu Zhengdu. Yu Zhengdu didn’t respond. He only turned to look at Shang Que. He wanted to ask, but ultimately didn’t.

But Shang Que noticed his gaze. He calmly said, “Just a bit left. Wait a moment longer for me.”

“Shang Que, you won’t make it in time.” The Ghost Emperor’s voice sounded out again. “If this were a thousand years ago, this barrier wouldn’t even be anything to you. But you’ve spent too long in the Chaos Realm……”

“A thousand years. You ought to know how much the Chaos Realm reduced your power.”

“Luofeng Mountain is deep within the ground, separated from you by ten thousand miles. No one worships gods or ghosts in the mortal realm anymore. Shang Que, how much more power can you use?”

Yu Zhengdu had an epiphany. He silently pulled out his own phone and unlocked it, then logged into Shang Que’s Weibo. Ever since they had confirmed their relationship, Shang Que had saved the passwords for all his accounts into Yu Zhengdu’s phone as a means of expressing his complete trust in his boyfriend…… Even though Yu Zhengdu only felt like this was so that Shang Que could conveniently play with Yu Zhengdu’s phone when his own was out of batteries.

After Yu Zhengdu logged into Weibo, he opened his own photo album, chose nine photos, and uploaded them.

From Today On I Will Be A European God: [photo*9]

As soon as he posted this Weibo, the number in the red dot of his notifications started furiously increasing.

【Aaaah, what kind of boyfriend POV is this?】

【It’s him asleep! Him asleep, which has never appeared before!】

【CEO, Mom refuses to allow you to post these kinds of photos!】

【Who took these photos for you?! Not allowed!!!】

【Let me catch my breath!】

As the number of notifications started wildly increasing, Shang Que’s voice sounded out from nearby, “Enough.”

The Ghost Emperor’s pleased laughter suddenly halted. “Impossible!”

Yu Zhengdu: = = Plan succeeded.

The faith of facial appearance lovers is really very strong!

The author has something to say:

Facial appearance lovers: We’ve also done our part in saving the world!

The relationship between the Chaos Realm, three realms, and Six Paths of Reincarnation were mentioned in chapter 3.