Chapter 27: The Legend of the Four Poisons

  Just as I was having goosebumps, a melody of "Dirge" echoed in my mind. This tune should be a fragment of memory. I sensed that this was a pre-death reminder. Ox-Head and Horse-Face began their work again, and Ancestor handed me a cigarette. We squatted by the River of Forgetfulness, smoking and chatting.

  Listening to the unfamiliar name "Naihe Sodu", I curiously looked at my ancestors and asked: "Ancestors, our underworld has quite a few combinations, I know that Buzi Guo loves to form groups and whatnot, but I didn't expect our underworld to be affected too? This combination doesn't seem to be small either!" My ancestors, the top ten Yin Shuai, Heibai Shiye, Liang Da Gui Zhu, Naihe Sodu, almost made me dizzy.

  An ancestor spat out a circle, indignantly saying "The stick doesn't have a face, when the stick was still in its hairy and bloody years, our Huaxia had already produced the Guangdong Ten Tigers, Nine Great Dragon Sons, Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics, Seven Gentlemen, Six Six Great Auspiciousness, Five Golden Flowers, Four Great Heavenly Kings, Three Sheep Open Prosperity, Black and White Two Messengers and whatnot, too many to count. This group of sticks doesn't have a face, previously they actually said that my four great judges were all from the stick country, letting the underworld's monitoring department investigate me for several years, seriously affecting my job title evaluation. It's infuriating just thinking about it!"

  Listening to the ancestors' words, thinking about this Cui family's bad luck is indeed a harmonious blend of yin and yang, neither human nor ghost can escape. However, it is indeed true that the ability of the stick country to change nationality is a remarkable sight.

  "Ancestors, what the hell is this Four Poisons thing? That poor devil from just now looked like it was going to devour us whole, and biting people's heads off seems as easy as chewing gum." Just thinking about that scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere makes my legs weak even now.

  "These four poisons, belonging to the yin division of birds and beasts, are under the management of the yin beast breeding department, equivalent to the position of police dogs in the human world. They are all fierce beasts that bite ghosts like their lives depend on it. Their main responsibility is to reside in the Blood River Pool, tormenting evil spirits who committed evil deeds before death and were kicked into the Blood River by Ox-Head and Horse-Face after death. You also know that this Blood River Pool is a direct passage to Naihe's detention center, where those thrown into the Naihe waters wait for their sentencing to hell. This retribution has already begun. These four poisons are responsible for serving an appetizer, allowing evil spirits to mentally prepare before entering hell and adapt to the rhythm of the unpleasant retribution in advance."

  It seems that being a bad guy comes with a huge price after all.

  "The process of the four poisons tormenting the evil spirits can be streamed for free, and all good spirits who are about to reincarnate into the cycle of rebirth can click to watch on site, firming up their determination to continue being virtuous in their next life, which serves as a spiritual encouragement."

  This underworld is really considerate for the ghosts, the basic infrastructure is just a little bit worse than that of the mortal world, and the service is indeed personalized.

  I made a prompt decision and immediately vowed in my heart, "This life I will be a good person!"

  "But, ancestors, this appetizer is quite impressive!" I exclaimed from the bottom of my heart.

  "It's far from enough, these are just the leftovers of the 18th level of hell, with this intensity, it's just the most gentle punishment. Anyone who falls into hell, no matter how they're repaired, can recover and continue to be repaired, experiencing unimaginable torture, endless darkness, repeatedly dying, constantly dying, persistently dying, yet unable to die. The longer the torture lasts, the more bearable it becomes, but the boredom will eventually lead to a change of pace. The key is that there's no hope in sight, and the fear brought by despair is what makes it thrilling!"

  Listening to this, I shuddered all over, unable to imagine the pain that was worse than death. Calculating it, doing evil in the world, at least for a few seconds, and at most enjoying a few years, but after dying and going down to the underworld, being subjected to various cruel tortures and repeated torment, is completely not worth it! This is even more usurious than loan sharks!

  At this time, the ancestor nodded at me and continued with the previous topic: "Everyone knows that the Blood River is bitter. This Blood River leads directly to the Naihe Water, and the source of suffering is these four poisons of Naihe. The means are so cruel that even I, as a judge in the underworld, can't bear it when I see them, and thinking about it makes me feel sick. It's simply infuriating. In the eyes of these beasts, ghosts are just like steamed buns, salted vegetables, and big pancakes."

  I recalled the half-head being gnawed into meat scraps like sand grains earlier and I felt nauseous. I asked my ancestors, "This torture of the four poisons, according to your words, should be considered as a setup in the detention center, but I saw that the poor devil's half-head was gnawed into powder, how can he still be sentenced to prison?"

  I looked at my ancestors and laughed loudly, saying, "Death is the most terrifying thing in the world of the living; but it's the happiest thing in the underworld! Hell has no death, only souls flying away and dispersing. As long as the soul exists, even if it's tortured to ashes, it can be reformed. Therefore, having one's soul fly away and disperse is the greatest dream of the ghosts in hell."

  "Look at my curious expression, the ancestor continued: "Do you know how many evil spirits' biggest dream is to have their souls scattered? The half head you saw earlier will be restored to its original state tomorrow. To experience the process of death again, for death, the most painful thing is not the result, but the process of dying, bit by bit watching your body being devoured, bit by bit feeling the fear of death, that's the heaviest punishment." After listening to the ancestor's words, I felt goosebumps all over my body, and they kept popping out.

  "How long will the evil spirit that has been condemned have to stay in the Naihe River?" The ancestor said: "It's a month of statutory working days, if it's good luck, it may be delayed for a few more days, and if it's bad luck, it's estimated to be less than a day. According to the level of sin determined by the underworld, it will experience the main course of death!" Listening to the ancestor's popular science, my eyes were opened wide, and my conscience was suddenly kind.

  "What's with these strange teeth of yours? Have you seen them?" My ancestor asked me in a puzzled tone.

  I touched the package on my forehead and said apologetically, "Just now I was a bit nervous and didn't look clearly, it seemed to be very sharp buck teeth." I tried hard to recall the scene just now, but the focus was all on the half-length portrait.

  "That strange tooth on each of its teeth has billions of small hooks, called 'Naihe Whirlwind Gnawing', in less than a microsecond, it can gnaw an entire ghost into a skeleton. The remaining ghostly residue is as fine as sand, also known as 'Ghost Sand'! That's the stuff." As Ancestor spoke, he pointed to the thick layer of red sand by the Naihe River, excellent building material, and I shuddered at once.

  The ancestors looked at me with a kind expression, saying the most cruel reality: "The cruelest punishment in the world is to be sliced into pieces. This slicing usually falls into several categories: 24 cuts, 36 cuts, 72 cuts and 120 cuts. The most severe one was when Liu Jin, a eunuch from the Ming Dynasty who committed many evil deeds, was cut for three days, with a total of 4,700 cuts. This is already considered extreme, but compared to this whirlwind's bite, it's simply the gentlest caress."

  "Nowadays, evil spirits are much happier compared to thousands of years ago. Think back to when Naihe Qiongqi first came, it was even more brutal. In order to show off his title, he even gnawed bones into powder. Later on, because he got gallstones, he only gnawed at meat and didn't eat bones anymore." My ancestor's words made the hairs on my body stand up, almost turning me into a porcupine.

  "In this underworld, it's not easy for ghosts to die. Dying is easy, but going through the most perverted death process repeatedly is the most painful. These are evil spirits that have been thrown into the Naihe River, experiencing the torture of Naihe four poisons every six hours, 24 times a day, basically in a rhythm of dying four times with suffering, lasting for a whole month. After this month, even someone as stupid as Li Xiaogang wouldn't be able to withstand it!"

  Looking at the ancestor's expression, I can tell that the pain is simply unimaginable. Fortunately, I didn't do anything shameful in my lifetime, Xiaojing, take care... For the first time being defeated by an opponent who was beaten up, there is always some inexplicable feeling that cannot be shaken off.

  "What are the other three poisons like, will they be better?" As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, a hundred battles without danger. According to my ancestors' words, it seems that I will also become a contract ghost, so it's best to understand as much as possible about the underworld situation, which is always beneficial.

  "This bloody river is not only strange, but also has three poisons that are not easy to deal with. Each of them is a tough character. Among the other three poisons, Huangquan's appearance is like a tiger and a dog's hair, two feet long, human face, tiger feet, pig mouth teeth, tail one foot eight inches long, basic tactics are gang fights! Just like wolves in the human world."

  The most numerous are the Youming Xiezhi, which have a special feature that is opposite to the Xuehe Qigu. The Xuehe Qigu are from outside to inside, using general teeth like a meat grinder to scrape off flesh, whereas the Youming Xiezhi are from inside to outside. They first enter through the ghost's nose, ears, mouth, navel, and eyes, and then hold a party inside the body. The food for this party is the ghost's internal organs. The Youming Xiezhi directly enter the ghost's consciousness, slowly devouring the ghost's thoughts, starting from the psychological defense line, destroying it inch by inch, making them feel the fear of death. After devouring the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, they exit by tearing open the belly, leaving behind only a piece of skin for those who have been ravaged by these creatures.

  But this Naihe Blood Eel is even more terrifying, it can directly swallow you whole into its belly without biting, and the thing's belly is filled with a stomach full of ghost fire. Being swallowed by it basically means experiencing the entire process of being burned alive. After hearing my ancestor's words, I quickly retreated backwards, this Naihe Water that looked like a pot of crimson meat soup actually had such terrifying creatures in it, if one accidentally fell into it, they would be done for.

  As the saying goes, evil will be rewarded with evil and good will be rewarded with good. If you want to avoid suffering in the underworld, don't do anything that harms your virtue in this life!

  "All the evil people in the world, before entering the underworld for judgment, will first pass through Naihe Bridge. After being judged good or evil, if they were good in their previous life, they would drink Meng Po's soup and forget all about their past life, then be reincarnated. If they were bad, they would be kicked into the Blood River Pool by the ox-headed and horse-faced guards, directly into the Naihe water, where they would suffer from the biting and pecking of the four poisonous creatures, circulating through the punishment." I nodded thoughtfully as I listened to my ancestor's words.

  "I just wanted to stop you but didn't, this Blood River is really strange, the IQ of the Four Poisons is the highest, ordinary ghost messengers don't dare to offend them easily, it's said that their background is quite hard, seemingly having a relationship with some leader in the underworld, and they've been cultivating in the Yellow Spring for thousands of years already. If I wasn't here this time, I estimate your consequences would be very severe, these things are notorious for being vengeful, they must repay grudges. In the past, there was a newly dead little ghost who accidentally fell into this Blood River and was caught by the Four Poisons, pecked to eat bird-like food, when reborn, although he was born as a male, he didn't have any bird-like features, in the end, he became a eunuch."

  After hearing the ancestor say this, I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat. My hands involuntarily placed themselves on my chest and then slowly moved down. I was terrified in my heart, fortunately, there were people in our mansion, otherwise, I would have fainted.

  But at this moment with ancestors around, I'm more courageous and have the guts. I think that blood river can't do anything to me. At this moment looking at the ancestors again, perhaps it's because of the reason that blood is thicker than water, the initial fear has long been forgotten in the clouds, a sense of closeness arises, and a sense of security like a tsunami wraps me up.

  After that, my ancestors continued to tell me many strange and bizarre stories about the underworld, such as Meng Po's secret crush on him when she was young, Yan Wang's fashion sense, and other true or false stories. I listened with great interest, finding it quite entertaining. When we were in high spirits, one of my ancestor's suggestions made me break out in a cold sweat: "It's not easy to come to the underworld, but since you're already here, why don't I take you on a day trip to the 18th level of hell? I guarantee you'll be thrilled from start to finish."

  I quickly got up and excused myself, a day trip to hell was already exciting enough, this eighteen-layered hell tour is for those who want to go. Even thinking about that scene made my goosebumps swell, who would think of traveling in hell for no reason!