Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Reincarnation II

It was 9:30.

The sky was without a moon.

In front of the Northern Yin Emperor Temple, a solitary mountain range stretched out, casting a long shadow beneath the dark clouds and starry sky. The river meandered, flowing from the foot of the mountain, its stench filling the night air, as it carried dirty, murky water.

Chaotic cracks in the earth were scattered across the land, crossing in all directions, lying in front of the mountain and river.

Chen Xiu and Guo Tianyang had exchanged messages and confirmed that nearly half of the Spirit-Sealing Academy students had gathered near the Requital Hall as summoned. He turned around to check the crowd around the Spirit-Sealing Academy students at the Heavenly King Temple—

Also about half.

Good, with these two locations combined, they had nearly all the students from Spirit-Sealing Academy present.

The Northern Yin Emperor Temple was right ahead.

Chen Xiu gazed at the dark temple, unable to see the statue of the Northern Yin Emperor, but that did not stop him from bowing in respect.

Sorry, great deity.

If a fight does break out later, I hope it won't disturb your peace.

On the dark land, the crowds of students from each academy were flowing, packed together, murmuring in low voices, alertly watching their surroundings, fearing that someone would make the first move and start the chaotic battle of this year’s exam.

Yan Jun sat at the entrance of the Northern Yin Temple, his shadow merging with the doorframe.

Chen Xiu walked over and patted Yan Jun on the shoulder:

"Don't worry, young man."

"The police have been informed, and the patrolling demon hunters have been notified as well. The aftershocks are that strong, and yet you stayed by the crack in the earth for half a day."

"You've done everything you can, it’s just a crack in the earth, and it still hasn’t closed up."

"With Mingyue’s physical ability, it’s only a matter of time before she climbs up."

"…" Yan Jun forced a smile, "I know, senior."

"I'm just worried."

A few students appeared at the edge of the crowd. Chen Xiu squinted, recognizing them as students from the Imperial University. He turned his attention back to comforting Yan Jun."Having a sense of responsibility is a good thing."

"I understand, it’s a big impact on you, Mingyue fell in front of you."

"Setting aside whether it was within your ability or not, just facing the possibility of a life falling is already enough to shake anyone."

"But you need to understand, in our line of work, it’s not just friends who can’t be saved, even family may face the same fate."

"You have to keep your mentality in check."

Yan Jun forced a laugh, but the heavy unease in his heart didn’t lessen, it felt like a stone lodged in his stomach:

"So, are you saying that demon hunters are better off dying alone?"

Chen Xiu shrugged: "I didn’t say that."

"I’m just saying, it’s best if we take care of our own problems and not bring harm to innocent living people."

Yan Jun chuckled a few times, his expression stiff. Watching him, Chen Xiu almost wanted to slap his face and tell him, “If you don’t want to laugh, then stop laughing.”

The students from Spirit-Sealing Academy automatically formed a formation: the senior students at the outer perimeter, and the junior students at the center. Under the moonlight, everyone’s faces showed signs of tension. Chen Xiu sat at the entrance of the Imperial Temple behind the group, suddenly feeling a sense of relief.

Graduation was almost here.

He hoped everything would improve.

He hoped everyone’s wishes would come true.

Yan Jun stared at the ants carrying grains of dirt beneath his feet, his vision going dark in waves.

He couldn’t tell if it was his palm or his heart that was trembling.

He was terrified.

The scene of Mingyue being swallowed by endless darkness, the earth cracking open, repeated in his mind, pulling at his nerves and his heart, filling him with fear and pain.

Yan Jun couldn’t articulate the main thought in his mind at that moment.

It floated and sank, drifting in the sea, carried by the rain and wind.

Chen Xiu placed his hand on Yan Jun’s shoulder again, sighed, and said: "Alright, after the gathering is over, I’ll call a few people to accompany you to that crack in the earth, we’ll go down and take a look."Yan Jun shook his head, his face pale: "No need."

"I don’t think Mingyue will get into trouble."

"She’s bold and unconventional, yet she always manages to find her way back."

"She said she would come back, and I believe her." I can only believe her.

Chen Xiu: "......"

Chen Xiu had a thought and felt that this could effectively distract Yan Jun, so he asked, half-seriously, half-jokingly:

"Yan Jun, you know Mingyue very well."

"So, what, do you want to be the son-in-law of the Ming family?"

"Are you twenty yet? Hahaha."

Chen Xiu expected Yan Jun to get angry or argue, but instead, Yan Jun remained silent for a moment, then nodded:

"That's right, I like Mingyue."

"I started school at seven, just turned twenty." Yan Jun didn’t know what came over him, but suddenly a strong desire to confide surged in his throat.

And just so happened, Chen Xiu was a reliable person.

Chen Xiu: "......"

Chen Xiu’s laughter stopped abruptly.

Trying to plant flowers, but they don't bloom.

Carelessly inserting a willow branch, and it turns into a shade.

When you don’t truly intend to inquire into someone’s private thoughts, but then share your own, it feels incredibly awkward.

Sharing secrets is dangerous; it’s like dragging someone else into a predicament only known to a few.

Chen Xiu helplessly said: "Junior, you don’t need to be so honest."

"Having a secret crush is a beautiful thing. Having someone you care about isn’t a nightmare."

Yan Jun covered his face, his voice trembling: "But Senior... I watched her fall in front of me.""I... I couldn't hold onto her."

Chen Xiu was speechless for a moment, then calmly placed his hand on Yan Jun's shoulder, saying:

"Then you should be thankful that this time it was just an exam, just a seemingly dangerous situation."

"Not a real life-and-death moment."

"Understand?"

The chairman hinted as such: "Pick the flowers while they bloom, don't wait for the flowers to wither before you regret it."

Yan Jun paused, gathering his emotions: "We'll talk about this later."

"Right now, I just hope she’s safe."

"Exams, and everything else, don’t matter."

Chen Xiu nodded in understanding. Just as he was about to say something more, a few screams suddenly came from the crowd to the west, followed by chaotic noise and cries mixed with pain. Chen Xiu laughed lightly, saying, "Here it comes," and it seemed that the school couldn't contain things anymore, and the chaos had begun as students scrambled for points. But then the cries in the night sky grew louder, rapid and dangerous:

"Ahhhhhhh—!"

"Zombies!"

"Help, my hand—!"

"Help me, ahhhhhh! They're killing me!!!"

Chen Xiu: "......"

Chen Xiu's expression stiffened. He jumped up, kicked Yan Jun, and shouted coldly:

"Enough! We’ll talk about this after the exam!"

"Something’s happened! Gather all the lower-year students together!"

At this moment, the field bathed in moonlight echoed with screams, spreading like an infectious disease.

Shadows of the crowd twisted and struggled in the moonlight. Black and red zombies poured out continuously from the wide crevice in front of the lonely mountain. They used both hands and feet, their faces torn open, exposing fragile inner bones. They were smeared with deathly blood, bathing in the clear moonlight from the crevice, and began to wildly grow flesh!The feeling of drifting in the dirty river was not pleasant.

Mingyue was pushed and jostled by the swift currents along the way, and several times she almost choked to death. The key issue was that the river's yin energy was incredibly thick. Every time her head popped above the surface of the water, she would take a breath, but it was filled with yin energy. It was so heavy that she felt like she could faint even while still alive.

The reverse-flowing river slithered along, from the depths of the abyss, winding through mountains and grass. Where there were mountains, it would dig through them; where there was a gap, it would slip through. All the while, it carried Mingyue, tumbling and crawling, like a gray mud loach, slowly making its way toward the surface from deep underground.

Gradually, her head broke through the water, and she could see the stars drawing closer—this wasn’t an illusion; it was the real sky of the living world.

Despite the icy cold of the water, Mingyue shivered but couldn’t help but smile.

She knew.

Jumping into the reverse-flowing river beside the Reincarnation Pool, surrounded by countless wandering souls, was an incredibly risky move.

After all, as Li Heshun had said, there was only one river in Fengdu now.

It was called the Wangchuan.

Mingyue knew this.

However, the Wangchuan Li Heshun spoke of was a scenic river, clear and pristine.

Mingyue understood that the dirty river she was seeing had nothing to do with cleanliness in any way.

The water ghosts of the underworld come from the river.

There is only one long river in the underworld.

This river is the Wangchuan.

No one knows how long the Wangchuan is, and it’s likely that the underworld doesn’t concern itself with such mundane things as statistics, like the longest, largest, or highest.

What Mingyue knew was that, as Li Heshun said, the only river in Fengdu passes through the North District, the East District, and the three central rest areas.

She was gambling.

Gambling that this strange reverse-flowing river was the Wangchuan, and that the Wangchuan, on its way to the North Yin Emperor Temple, would definitely pass through the Central District.

The river's waters swelled upwards, inch by inch, the moon growing ever closer, the deep blue sky becoming ever more magnified.

Splash, splash.This ancient, rare reverse-flowing river surged with waves that flew towards the sky, displaying the scenery beneath the ground as it connected with the moon on the surface, wetting the land. Mingyue wiped the water from her face, and for some reason, the memories that surged in her heart were overwhelming, layering over each other like cotton fluff, blurring her vision.

The water of the Wangchuan, tracing back memories.

The top of the crack in the earth was almost within reach.

With a clang.

She firmly embedded the trident into the damp earth wall, tying a rope to the top. Then, with swift movements, she jumped onto the trident's handle, gripping tightly to the edge of the abyss!

Ming Yue’s second brother shed a crocodile tear in his heart.

It had been so hard, but she finally made it up.

She then pulled the rope hard, dragging the trident up.

The Wangchuan river flowed merrily at her feet, and the moment it reached the surface, everything reversed. The riverwater succumbed to the physical laws of the living world and began flowing in the natural direction. Mingyue looked at the clear stream, her heart filled with endless emotions.

Alright, I’ll follow you.

Please take me to the Central District.

Mingyue jogged, chasing the Wangchuan river beneath the moonlight.

In front of the North Yin Emperor Temple, chaos broke out.

The zombies crawling out of the cracks in the earth completely disrupted the students' plans for a fight. At this moment, no one cared about snatching communication devices; everyone was yelling and trying various ways to subdue the zombies.

But there were too many zombies, and too few students.

The zombies were still crawling endlessly out of the cracks!

Su Xiu cleaved a zombie’s spine with one stroke of his blade, anxiously looking around. He noticed that the number of people from the Spirit-Sealing Academy was still acceptable, so he hurriedly shouted into the communicator:

“Guo Tianyang! What’s going on at the Baoyan Hall?!”

Guo Tianyang’s voice came through, messy and chaotic:

“Ahhhhh! Just like you!”

“Damn! Where did all these huge zongzi come from?!”"Has the lid of Fengdu's underworld been lifted?!"

Chen Xiu quickly turned his hand, helping Su Hui, who was struggling not far away, to decapitate a zombie. He shouted, "Sister Hui! Don't just focus on mind games; at least practice some physical strength too!" He then responded to Guo Tianyang:

"Chaos!"

"After this exam, I’m definitely going to report the Ghost-Slaying Guild! What the hell! A junior sister just fell into the earth crack, and in the blink of an eye, the zombies are crawling out!"

"Why not just fly to the sky?!"

"Are students not even human?!"

Guo Tianyang retorted, "Why are you yelling at me, big brother?!"

"Thanks to the high-speed train, we even encountered a bunch of them on the way here!"

"If you really have no experience, just wait to be wrapped up like dumplings!"

"Alright, enough talk! I still have to manage the arrangements at Baoyan Hall!"

Chen Xiu quickly added, "Hurry up! You have more juniors in your group! Don’t let the little flowers get into trouble!"

Before he could finish, a clawed hand swooped down from above. Chen Xiu barely had time to duck, and then the severed head landed on his neck, sending goosebumps all over his body. The head then dropped to the ground with a thud.

Su Hui slapped a golden spell on the ground, freezing the area and pulling Chen Xiu out. She squeezed through, saying, "How about it, Brother Xiu, still saying I don’t have physical strength?"

Chen Xiu: "…"

Chen Xiu, flexible and adaptable, cupped his fists, "Thank you, Sister Hui, for saving my life!"

Su Hui shook her head and smiled. Looking around at the chaos, with countless students wounded, her heart ached. "Enough of that," she said.

"Chen Xiu, think of a way."

"It's just barely twelve."

"If this goes on until three when the exam is supposed to end, some of our classmates… someone will definitely have to answer for this."

Su Hui paused, then emphasized, "This is just an exam."

"It’s not worth losing lives over."

"This is just an exam, the organizers are in big trouble!"The two of them were both student council presidents, and Chen Xiu immediately understood Su Hui's underlying message. A thought flashed in his mind, and he quickly applied a cleansing spell, then shouted to the crowd of students in front of the North Yin Emperor Temple:

"Are there any students from Yu University here?!"

"Please come over here!"

"Fengling and Yu University have a request!"

"We’re right in front of the third pillar on the left side of the North Yin Emperor Temple!"

After saying that, he pushed aside a wind talisman, which, carrying the essence of the mysterious spell, floated in the air, forming a barrier that blocked the screeching zombies.

Su Hui: "..."

Su Hui: "Why didn’t you say 'Yu University and Fengling' have a request?"

Chen Xiu rolled his eyes: "Why do you have so many questions!"

"We need to find someone familiar with the situation to come over and ask."

"Otherwise, our message will be way too one-sided."

When Ming Yue arrived, she could hardly believe her eyes.

So many people on the ground!

Black and red!

Some were alive, some were dead!

The moonlight cast the same shine on both the students and zombies, creating a dazzling, radiant glow, making the bloodshed even more striking.

Ming Yue spotted an opening, kicked up some river water to block a zombie leaping toward her, and seized the chance to rush into the chaotic crowd.

Coincidences always happen when you least expect them.

No matter how coincidental, if two people are meant to meet, they always will.

Just by mingling in the crowd, she was able to spot Li He Sun, who was about to have his eye gouged out by a zombie’s claw. Ming Yue swiftly stabbed the zombie from behind, puncturing it completely, then tossed it aside. Turning to the still-shaken Li He Sun, she teased:

"Brother Bird, are you okay?""Long time no see, and you're still getting worse at fighting?"

Ming Yue, with a face full of water stains, laughed out loud, her clothes in disarray.

Li He Sun: "..."

Li He Sun looked at her in disbelief. Under the moonlight, he had never thought Ming Yue looked this good before.

Ming Yue: "What? Why are you stunned? I—" She was suddenly tackled by Li He Sun, who hugged her tightly while relentlessly pounding her back and cursing:

"Damn it! Why didn’t you say something earlier!"

"Fuck! You smell horrible!"

"Did you fall into a shit pit or something!"

"Ming Yue, you scared the hell out of me!"

Ming Yue: "......."

Ming Yue laughed again, hugging her cousin after many years apart.