Chapter 166

The current of Wangchuan was not rapid, but there are thousands of evil spirits underwater. If one falls in, one will be dragged by countless ghost hands, and the bloody water will gradually make you lose yourself, and you will not be able to get out without a strong willpower.

The Yin servants grabbed the hand of their colleague and dragged him to the shore. He was haunted by evil spirits. Immersed in Wangchuan, unable to get out, a harsh and piercing ghostly howl penetrated the ears, making people shudder.

On one side, the Yin servants were busy saving their colleague, but on the other side, the ghosts who were going to be reincarnated became disobedient. Some of them missed their loved ones and clung to the Three Lives Stone, others wanted to jump into Wangchuan, but more clever ones had already turned their heads and ran ahead, hoping to choose a better place to reincarnate without the escort of the Yin servants. Suddenly, the head of the Naihe Bridge was in a state of chaos.

Xie Bi An was anxious: "Wu She, you go after those who are reincarnating. I'll go and save that Yin servant."

"Okay." Fan Wu She ran towards the Naihe Bridge, and when he passed the Three Lives Stone, he did not dare to look closely. He could not face the Three Lives Stone. Apart from fearing that his identity would be revealed, he was also afraid of revisiting his past life again.

Xie Bi An jumped onto the fence of the Naihe Bridge, drew out his Pei Xue and struck out one sword Qi after another, cutting off the evil spirits that were wrapping around that Yin servant. As he jumped off the bridge, he grabbed the Yin servant by the collar and rose in mid-air with his sword.

Xie Bi An threw the Yin servant on the shore and saw that he was a little disoriented. Other than that, there was no serious problem. As long as he was out of the waters of Wangchuan and rests for a few days, he will get better. When he turned back and looked, that ghost who jumped into Wangchuan had already disappeared.

"White, White Master?" The Yin servants recognized the sword in his hand.

Xie Bi An looked at his sword and helplessly took off his mask.

"White Master, what are you doing here?"

Xie Bi An coughed lightly in a feigned seriousness, "I dressed up like this to come here for inspection, but as soon as I arrived, I saw you all making a mess!"

The Yin servants were so frightened that they knelt down: "White Master, please forgive us. Usually the Naihe Bridge is in good order, even if, even if someone occasionally jumps off Wangchuan, it will not hurt the Yin servants. I really don't know what happened today. This ghost is so powerful."

"You guys are still not cautious enough." Xie Bi An looked at the unconscious Yin servant on the ground and said, "Never mind. He is wounded, so I won't punish you guys, and you guys can pretend that we never came here before, or else if Official Lord Cui finds out, he will not forgive you guys."

"Thank you White Master! Thank you White Master!"

Xie Bi An was about to go to Fan Wu She when he saw white light flash at the highest point of the Naihe Bridge, and with a start, he darted towards the bridge.

The Naihe Bridge is a long arched bridge, where one cannot see one end of the bridge from the other. It’s not only because of the arched structure, but also because the end of the Naihe Bridge is the starting point for reincarnation. Only those who have drunk the Five Flavors Bewitching Soup can move on to a new life. And Meng Po, who serves the soup to every ghost who will be reincarnated, is at the center of the Naihe Bridge, the highest point of the arch.

Xie Bi An ran to the bridge and saw Fan Wu She confronting an old woman with a human upper body and a snake lower body, that was none other than one of the most special underworld generals in the Underworld - Meng Po, Meng Gong Cao*.

"Meng Cao Lao!" Xie Bi An ran over and blocked in front of Fan Wu She, "There's been a misunderstanding, this is my junior brother."

Seeing those ghosts who advanced prematurely lying all over the place, it was obvious that Meng Po had also taken Fan Wu She as a brat full of tricks as well.

Meng Po was dressed in a plain black hooded cloak, with a few strands of silver hair scattered across her face. Her complexion was deathly pale, and the wrinkles on her face were deep and dense, like candles that had been burned for a long time, with layers stacked down and about to melt, but those eyes were sharp and lively, and the lower half of her body was coiled up with a section of the snake tail having green and blue stripes. There were many speculations about her birth in the Underworld, but even the most knowledgeable Official Lord Cui could not say for sure.

"Impermanence ah." Meng Po slowly let out an old, hoarse voice, "What are you guys doing running into my old woman's territory to make a scene?" Her gaze penetrated through Xie Bi An to Fan Wu She who was behind him.

Fan Wu She felt tense. Could it be that Meng Po had recognized him?

Xie Bi An explained respectfully, "Meng Cao Lao, this person is my junior brother, Fan Wu She, who now has my master's permission to be an Impermanence with me. Today, we dressed up like this just to inspect the Yin servants, but we didn't expect a commotion. Wu She ran over to stop these ghosts from reincarnating disorderly."

Meng Po looked at the two gloomily, "Oh, the living person that the Heaven Master brought back. I heard from Official Lord Cui."

"Yes, that's him." Xie Bi An arched his hand, "Meng Cao Lao, this misunderstanding has disturbed you. Junior apologizes." He elbowed Fan Wu She.

Fan Wu She returned to his senses and followed suit with a bow.

Meng Po, however, did not say anything. That snake body slid over without a sound, and in the blink of an eye, she was in front of the two of them.

Xie Bi An stopped breathing. Meng Po was also one of his most feared Underworld generals when he was a child. Because of his minimal contact, he was more fearful towards Meng Po than Jiang Qu Lian. No one knew why Meng Po was here, why she had a human body and a snake tail, and what she was capable of.

"Yesterday, Official Lord Cui came to me to ask for a pill, saying that you occasionally recall your past life and need to purify your mind and clear your spirit."

"Yes, many thanks to Meng Cao Lao." Xie Bi An forced a smile, "Junior is feeling much better."

Meng Po approached Xie Bi An and looked at him for a long time with eyes that seemed to see through everything: "Why do you have memories of two lives entangling in you?"

"... It's a long story."

Meng Po stretched out a withered hand from under her black robe, and her shriveled index finger pointed to a jar behind her, "Drink it, and everything will vanish."

Xie Bi An took a step back: "No, no need, I don't want to forget this life."

"If you don't purge your memory, you will suffer."

"Thank you Meng Cao Lao for your kindness. Junior ... is well aware of the situation."

Meng Po let out a cold laugh as her gaze fell on Fan Wu She.

Fan Wu She subconsciously wanted to lower his head, but immediately strained his neck and did not move. At this time, he should not show guilty conscience.

Meng Po’s snake's tail slid gently and came a little closer, almost sticking to Fan Wu She’s face and observing him.

"Meng Cao Lao ..." Xie Bi An didn't know why Meng Po was so curious about Fan Wu She. She looked at countless ghosts every day, so she should have gotten tired of looking at this thing wrapped in mourning cloth a long time ago.

"You ..." Meng Po trailed off and said in an eerie voice, "look somewhat familiar."

Fan Wu She looked straight at Meng Po, and said unperturbed, "Meng Cao Lao has a good memory. I was reincarnated from here more than ten years ago, and you still remember."

Meng Cao shook her head, seemingly confused as well.

Xie Bi An also wondered, "You send hundreds and thousands of people across the bridge every day, and you can remember one person?" He glanced at Fan Wu She and suddenly said with some embarrassment, "Is it because junior brother is so good-looking?"

Fan Wu She's nerves were on edge and he began to think about how he should react if Meng Po really recognized him. Back then, when he was struggling in Wangchuan, Meng Po had watched with a great interest for a long time, and she obviously enjoyed standing on the bridge and admiring the cruel fate of the obsessed ghosts in Wangchuan, except that he was already almost devoid of human form at that time. If she could really recognize him by his appearance, she definitely has very sharp eyes. But even if Meng Po recognized him, at most she would have guessed that he did not drink Meng Po's soup and had reincarnated with the memories of his past life, not knowing that he was Zong Zi Xiao. That scapegoat who had reincarnated in his place in the Hell Path, was personally led by King Qin Guang.

Meng Po pondered for a moment and slowly backed away again.

Xie Bi An inexplicably sighed with relief, "Then, junior will take my leave."

The two of them turned to leave.

"Hold on." Meng Po's voice rang out behind them, "Impermanence, do you want to know what you said before you drank the Five Flavors Bewitching Soup?"

The two men stiffened and turned around suddenly almost at the same time.

Meng Po smiled faintly. Her eyes were shining brightly, but her smile was hidden by the droppings at the corners of her mouth, and neither of them noticed.

Xie Bi An said in a trembling voice, "What do you mean? Meng Cao Lao, what do you mean by that?"

"Do you know who he was in his previous life?" Fan Wu She gritted his teeth and said.

Meng Po made no comment and once again stretched out her withered hand to scoop up a spoonful of hot, sauce-colored thick liquid from the big jar and poured it into a shallow bowl as she said indistinctly, "Before the ghosts drink this Five Flavors Bewitching Soup, I will always ask them a question. I ask them, 'What is your greatest regret in this life?'"

Fan Wu She gasped, not bothering to hide himself for a moment: "What did he say?"

Meng Po laughed twice: "Many people say that they did not achieve fame and glory, that they did not fulfill their ambitions, and that they ended their lives by doing nothing, or that they did not respect their parents properly, did not find true love, did not raise their children well, or were not a good person and did not do more good deeds. Most of these sayings don't surprise me, and I've heard so much that my old woman’s ears are getting calloused."

"These are the regrets that everyone has, how can common people narrowly escape them?" Xie Bi An's breathing was a little rushed, "Then, then what did he, my previous self, say?"

Yet Meng Po was oblivious to their urgency and said neither too fast nor too slow, "It is because I am tired of hearing these, so if I hear something fresh and unique, I will reward him slightly and let him ..." Meng Po's hand trembled, and that soup was half-spilled. "Drink fewer sips, and keep some remnants of their past life’s memories."

"You!" Xie Bi An widened his eyes, "I remembered my past life is because you made me drink less soup?"

"If you weren't stimulated by someone or something related to your past life, you wouldn't have suddenly thought of it, so what stimulated you?"

The stimulus Xie Bi An had suffered was, of course, the Eight Trigrams Platform, but when he thought of how he had been repeatedly tormented by memories of his past life since he had fainted at the Eight Trigrams Platform was all because Meng Po had nothing better to do than to play around with people, simply he made furious.

Fan Wu She was about to burst into anger. He said in a cold voice: "Why do you know who he was in his past life? When did you know? What did his past self say to you?!"

 

 ----

Gong Cao*[功曹]---An official position during the ancient times. Can be roughly translated as Bureau of Merit/Merit Evaluator/Ect. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_of_Han_dynasty_titles

 

Edited on 9 May 21 (Emzie)

 

←Previous Chapter                                                                                                 Next Chapter→