Chapter 37: Return of the Soul

  Just as I bid farewell to my ancestors and the door-squeezing ghost king with a strong pretence of sadness, I quickly slipped into the hole beside the east wall of the Ghost Gate City. Who would have thought that as soon as I poked my head out, an empty image resembling an ancient battlefield appeared before my eyes? My ancestor stood facing the wind with a man in brocade clothes and a jade-like face, exuding an aura of dominance.

  Yellow sand fills the sky, dust and dirt are everywhere, the air is reflected with a bloody color, two armies are engaged in fierce battle, war flags are fluttering, flying severed arms and heads, spraying fresh blood, new flesh blocks, falling all over the place. I was suddenly shocked, could it be that I just escaped from the tiger's mouth, only to enter the wolf's den?

  I hastily thought about drilling back to the underground palace along the hole, and when I turned around, I found that there was nothing behind me, a gray and hazy piece, and the hole had disappeared, as if it had directly drilled into another space.

  The head of the blood-dripping person flew towards me, as if still winking and smiling flirtatiously, scaring me so much that I yelled and ran, just when my blood was boiling, gasping for breath like a cow, farting and urinating, overflowing with excitement.

  The bloody scene in front of me suddenly changed direction and disappeared into thin air.

  I stared in astonishment at the scene before me, where just moments ago a fierce battle had raged, now only littered with corpses, severed limbs, and a sea of dead bodies, filling the air with an eerie silence of death.

  Tattered war flags, rolling gun smoke, accompanied by rolling yellow sand, in the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of corpses were buried, and with the sudden appearance of one sand dune after another, the scattered organs and flesh blocks gradually disappeared from sight.

  This was no small fright, I wiped the sweat from my head and muttered to myself at the position of my heart: Old buddy, brother, I owe you an apology, these successive shocks have scared you numb.

  Who would have thought that just as I let out a sigh of relief and was pondering my next move, those rotting corpses suddenly stretched out their withered and wrinkled arms from the yellow sand like dry branches, each one holding a cold weapon and rushing towards me like a swarm of white ants.

  I hadn't even had time to run before being surrounded by Wan Gu's corpse.

  Thousands of skulls and white bones filled my pupils, I screamed and closed my eyes, feeling the separation of parts of my body...

  I'm crying with a face full of complaints, this family's luck is simply amazing!!!

  I don't know how long it took, but with a stifled roar, I opened my eyes to find that the skeleton frame that had just been in close contact with me was now nowhere to be seen, as if it had never appeared at all.

  ……。

  If I'm not mistaken, I should have been startled awake by my own screaming.

  Along with that sexy, long moan at the end, I wiped my hand and found myself all wet, with an even bigger puddle underneath. Alas, I didn't expect my old habit from three years ago to relapse again. As expected, the smell of urine in this puddle clearly verified what I had just done.

  I wiped the sweat off my face, accidentally touching the towering package on my forehead, which sent a surging wave of pain through me, making me much more alert. I looked like a duck that had just been fished out of Old Li's stew pot.

  This lump on my forehead, of course, is the work of my ancestors. It's all because of the word "rely". This package on my head, one string after another, looks like a bunch of grapes and has some Buddhist flavor. If you don't recognize me, you might think I'm some kind of Bodhi ancestor or something, and people might even kneel down to worship me, which would be quite embarrassing and hurt my self-esteem.

  It wasn't until I was talking to myself that I realized something - now...now...I seem to be...at the Choi family villa.

  This discovery is more exciting than winning the jackpot, I touched myself all over and found that except for the top of my head being blown away, everything else was just like before entering the underworld. The yin soldier ghost symbol on the bed, looking at the patterns on both hands, everything reveals a thrilling fact: I have returned to the world of the living!

  I leap and jump with wild abandon, expressing my excitement at the fact that I am alive.

  Only those who have died once, no, several times can discover how exciting it is to be alive. I vowed on the spot not to commit suicide again and enjoy life well, and become a good person.

  As luxurious furniture pieces entered my sight, I finally let out a long sigh of relief. Thinking about the scenes from my journey to the underworld, I realized that every single blade of grass and piece of wood, every brick and tile in this world above has made me feel so nostalgic.

  It's only after losing something that you realize its value, fortunately this time it's not too late.

  Looking out the window, it's probably around dawn. This bed is covered in saliva, tears, urine stains and who-knows-what, I guess I can't sleep anymore. Besides, if I fall asleep again and continue from where I left off earlier, that would be the end of me.

  But fortunately, no matter what, I'm still alive.

  As the saying goes, once you've died and come back to life, twice you're familiar with it, three or four times you can do it casually. Logically speaking, I've been through this process of dying and coming back to life multiple times, taken a trip to the underworld, met many fierce ghosts and demons, and have had my fair share of close calls that made my skin crawl and my internal organs shudder. By now, when facing something scary, I should be able to remain calm and composed, with no change in expression, no racing heartbeat, no trembling legs, and a clear mind.

  But at this moment, I feel that after going through the underworld and experiencing life and death, I not only didn't gain the courage to easily face life and death, but instead made me cherish the opportunity to be alive even more.

  Those things we take for granted, overlook and are indifferent to are actually the most precious to us.

  I always thought I had nothing, but at this moment my heart is full of hope. Being alive, after all, there are some things that must be done. When I know what I should do, I must live.

  I know, with hope on my shoulders, I can only live and strive to live. At this moment, I am not fighting alone!!!

  As my consciousness gradually cleared, I recalled that when I let out a loud cry just now, faintly and vaguely, it seemed like the door moved slightly, and a black shadow flashed by. But in front of me, apart from the luxurious furniture, there was nothing else. Was I seeing things? Once bitten by a snake, for ten years one fears the hemp rope.

  I rubbed my eyes hard and tried to increase the recognition degree and clarity of both eyes.

  At this time, I heard

  "Are you okay?" With a cold sentence, I almost got scared to death. I quickly turned my head back and didn't know when Iron Clothes had already stood behind me, and it seemed like he had been standing there for quite some time. Although the face in front of me was icy cold, it could also be described as beautiful as a flower, but I still had an urge to punch him.

  Could it be that this iron lump just saw my crazy dance? Could it be that this iron lump discovered the sweat stains and urine stains on my bed and the big package of domineering aura on my head? Could it be... that I can no longer be handsome in front of this iron lump?

  For a few seconds, I was thinking of ways to get rid of this guy. All the sad scenes in my life were seen by him, how can he not be ashamed?

  "How long have you been here?" I seemed to be asking a somewhat rhetorical question, but in order to break the awkwardness as soon as possible, I had no choice but to ask like this. How I wished that this iron lump could show some expression and say "I just came in, didn't see anything", how great would that be.

  "From the moment you called out." I listened with a black face.

  "You didn't all see that, did you?" Can't this foolish guy tell how much I need a way out right now?

  "Hmm, I see!" Tie Yi's sincere expression almost made me collapse.

  I slowly raised my head and said to the iron-clad man in front of me: "Actually, you shouldn't have come. It seems I can only take action now. You can only blame yourself for seeing what you shouldn't have seen. Sorry, but I'll have to silence you, brother! By tomorrow morning, you won't be waking up from your dreams anymore."

  This domineering gaze, combined with the terrifying big bag on his forehead, makes me surrender to my own ferocity, secretly pleased and crazily giving a thumbs up.

  Tieyi didn't say a word, flexed his hands, and I heard the cracking of his finger joints. Is this some kind of demonstration? Remembering that Qinghua porcelain vase he had pulverized with a single punch from afar, my anger surged to the brim, my eyes gleaming with intensity. I took a step forward, grabbed Tieyi's collar, and said: "Brother Tie, just kidding, don't be like this, it's just a nightmare."

  Alright, I heard Tie Yi let out a dry retch, actually I also felt like vomiting.

  If it were a weak and sickly old ghost, I would have directly ignited the Netherworld Capturing Hand with the twelve-character mantra. However, Iron Clothes' skill is definitely something that would have been used on me before I even lit the capturing hand's flame. With my current fully recovered intelligence, I certainly wouldn't do such a foolish thing.

  Gou Jian could still endure humiliation and taste the bitterness, Han Xin could also bear the shame, I have already happily persuaded myself to compromise temporarily.

  At this moment, I am a cultured person, a person with status and ID, a person with a background and a background. The title is so long, it must be won by wisdom. My greatest weapon is not the devouring dark hand, but my IQ. Fighting and killing affects the scenery too much, it's not harmonious.

  No matter how high your kung fu is, you can still be afraid of a kitchen knife; no matter how well-dressed you are, you can still trip over a brick.

  "Are you sure nothing's wrong?" This guy's lukewarm official tone is really getting on my nerves.

  "Yeah, it's fine, go back to sleep," I couldn't wait for this guy to leave, just seeing him annoyed me.

  With a sudden "oh", Iron Clothes flashed and in the time it takes for lightning to strike, he had moved from behind me to the doorway. It seems that earlier I wasn't seeing things, but rather Iron Clothes' movements were just too fast, so fast that they couldn't be described as fast.

  Even as a liberal arts student who prides myself on my writing skills, I still can't find the words to describe how fast he is. His iron-clad movements are absolutely those of a top-notch martial artist!

  This is the second time I've met Tie Yi, a man who's always as cold as a piece of iron, with an expression that seems to be begging for a beating. His icy tone made me lose my gratitude and concern.

  As the first rays of sunlight pierced through the window and shone in, I finally saw what seemed like centuries of unseen sunshine, feeling great, I decided to let bygones be bygones.

  Anyway, I still remember those despicable things like the back of my hand. If you want to hit me, you can't beat me; if you want to destroy me, you can't eliminate me. One more thing won't make a difference, one less thing won't make a difference either. As the saying goes, "a lot of lice don't bite", it's just scary enough to wet your bed. Actually, maybe, probably, roughly speaking, it's not that serious, right? I'm only 27 years old, still in my youth, at an age when I should be growing up...

  I found a reason for myself that is so reasonable and not arrogant, it makes me feel very calm inside. In short, being able to live is worth any cost. Besides, having a thick skin is a major obstacle to growth in today's society. Not having a thick skin means you can't survive. On this trip, I feel like I've grown a lot, and my heart has become so broad-minded.

  It really proved that sentence, setbacks are the best teachers!