Chapter Ninety-Eight: Commissioned by the Underworld
The song of being beheaded haunted Zheng Fang's ears again, and his eyes instantly became confused, and as soon as he stepped forward, he was about to step onto the black desert burning with raging flames below.
The expected pain did not appear, Zheng Fang only felt that his eyes were dark, and a voice sounded in his heart, the voice was old and distant, as if it was a voiceover of an epic film.
"You're finally here. The voice said.
"Who are you? we know each other?" asked Zheng Fang, looking around, unable to see anything, as if drowning in the darkest of dreams.
"It doesn't matter who I am, it doesn't matter if we know each other or not, what matters is that you're here. The voice replied in a monotonous voice.
"Don't pretend to be a ghost, there is a kind of stand up and let me see, I don't dare to show my face, what is it?" Zheng Fang didn't bother to pay attention to the mystery in his words, and asked impatiently.
"Benjue is not here, this is a spiritual voice, although you have the qualifications to enter the underworld at the moment, but because you have not been blessed, it is unpredictable to enter the underworld, so I left a spiritual imprint here to save your life. Zheng Fang's tone didn't cause even the slightest ripple in the voice, it still reverberated in Zheng Fang's heart flatly.
"So, I still want to thank you?" Zheng Fang couldn't help laughing, where did Lei Feng come from, doing good deeds here.
"Everything is exchanged, I took the initiative to save you once, so that you can find the scepter that was lost for me many years ago, and when you find the scepter for me, I will give you a blessing and help you enter the underworld of forgetting worries. The voice replied emotionlessly.
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested in the underworld at all, you just let me go back, you want the scepter, please find it yourself, I can't find it." Zheng Fang shook his head again and again, he already had a lot of troubles, so he was not interested in adding another one.
"The scepter itself contains a trace of power that can help you solve an impossible task, and after that, the scepter will return through the spiritual imprint I left on you, so you should think carefully about when to retrieve the scepter. The voice was unaffected, and he still said on his own, as if it didn't matter whether Zheng Fang was willing to accept it or not.
"Hey, I haven't said anything yet, don't leave anything on me!" Zheng Fang couldn't help but scream when he found that the voice was talking to himself, and the development of things was out of his control.
"It's not that I'm limited by the oath, I've already crossed the realm to retrieve the scepter on my own, where do I need to entrust someone else, but since you can come here, it means that you are destined for me, I remind you again, after that, my spiritual imprint in all the passages of the underworld will disappear, and you will not be hindered from stepping into the underworld again, if you are not blessed to enter the underworld, you will sink forever, and you will not be able to extricate yourself, remember!" the voice continued indifferently, as if it was replaying what had already been recorded on a gramophone.
As soon as he finished speaking, the black desert that radiated flames everywhere appeared in front of Zheng Fang's eyes again.
"Don't look back, everything is over. Don't turn around, the old love doesn't exist. Don't close your eyes, the past is no more. Don't stop, say goodbye to the end of the world. ”
The song sounded again, as if urging Zheng Fang to set foot on this desert, but Zheng Fang recalled the warning of the voice, and couldn't help but hesitate, he wandered on the edge of the black desert, watching the sparks fly over the desert, and quickly disappear, and suddenly heard a call that seemed to come from a long distance behind him.
"Zheng Fang, Zheng Fang, what's wrong with you......"
He subconsciously turned his head to look back, and with just one glance, the whole world collapsed in an instant, and it felt like the world was turned upside down, the desert, the head, the stump, the red flames, the strange singing...... All the visions receded like a tide, and those familiar buildings, street scenes, and pedestrians resurfaced little by little.
"Zheng Fang, what's wrong with you??...... The voice of the call was clear and urgent, quickly pulling Zheng Fang back to normal time and space.
Tong Jie's anxious expression appeared in front of Zheng Fang's eyes, her mouth was constantly opening and closing, Zheng Fang was in a trance for a moment, and only then did he associate the voice with the person.
"What happened to you? Seeing Zheng Fang looking at him in confusion, Tong Jie breathed a long sigh of relief.
"You didn't see anything?" Zheng Fang asked, quizzling, as he shook his head, which still looked a little wooden.
"See, it's common here at the entrance of the vegetable market, those dirty things are very disgusting, what's there to see?And they disappeared after a while, why did it take you so long to wake up?" Tong Jie replied casually, as a cultivator, it is not a strange thing to see those things, Tong Jie's family history, he has long regarded everything as normal.
"How long?" asked Zheng Fang. In his impression, from the time he saw the slaughterhouse to the time he returned to reality, it was only about ten minutes at most.
"At least an hour, you have been standing on the side of the street, as if you were stunned, if I hadn't pulled you and the car over, you would have been watched by people a long time ago. Tong Jie said angrily.
After listening to Tong Jie's reminder, Zheng Fang looked around, only to find that he and Tong Jie were standing by the wall of a building on the corner of the street, which was not noticeable. He didn't think about the difficulty of Tong Jie pulling him back to the side of the road, after all, it was a car and a person, and he had to pay attention to not being noticeable, Zheng Fang was still puzzled by what he had just experienced.
He remembered what had just happened as if he had had had a nightmare, very different from what he had seen before.
"What did you see just now?" Zheng Fang asked as he looked at Tong Jie.
"Kill the head, what else can you see at the entrance of the vegetable market?" Tong Jie looked at him impatiently, his time was wasted by this guy, and he couldn't go anywhere.
"Can't you get into that slaughterhouse?" Zheng Fang asked with a frown.
"You're in......? That's some pictures, how did you get in?" Tong Jie looked at Zheng Fang as if she didn't know her.
It's just some vague and frozen pictures, which can only be seen, but it is impossible to walk into it immersively, Tong Jie said, it is similar to Zheng Fang's previous situation when he saw this kind of thing, but what is it that makes his ability change this time? Zheng Fang pondered.
"Tell me, what did you see when you went in?" Tong Jie understood Zheng Fang's confusion, and her heart was also full of curiosity.
"Kill the head, what else can you see?" Zheng Fang shook his head, remembering that thing was not a happy experience.
"It's not that I'm afraid to pick up the garbage and pick you up, I'm going home early, stingy!" Tong Jie said angrily.
"I really didn't see anything, it's just a group of people playing with heads there, really playing, I didn't see the heads killed so happily. Then, I heard a voice......" Zheng Fang hurriedly laughed, but as he spoke, he suddenly stopped.
"What sound?" asked Tong Jie puzzled.
Zheng Fang suddenly remembered, the voice said, to leave a spiritual mark on his body, but he didn't feel very nervous, he had already put a few things on his body, it felt a bit like a school storage box, anyone who wanted to put things in it. He hurriedly pressed his hand on his body, and he didn't know where the voice had left the spiritual imprint, it shouldn't be in his mind, otherwise he should have felt it.
"What's wrong? Stunned again?" Tong Jie asked as she looked at him, but then suddenly screamed in surprise.
"Oh, look good, Zheng Fang, I don't know you still have this hobby?"
Zheng Fang looked at Tong Jie inexplicably, but saw Tong Jie's eyes staring at his left hand, he raised his hand to see that a black lifelike butterfly was imprinted on his wrist, this butterfly almost overlapped with the Yangchi acupoint, only the size of a penny coin, but it was vivid, and there was a feeling that he was about to fly away immediately.
"Is it flower embroidery?Nine-patterned dragon Shi Jin?When did you get it?" Tong Jie asked excitedly.
This little butterfly is very good-looking, but is it appropriate to give yourself a big boy? Zheng Fang looked at the embroidery on his wrist with a strange expression. Why not tigers, leopards, eagles or something? Well, tigers and leopards can't do it, they are so small and they have become cats. Thinking in his heart, Zheng Fang wiped the butterfly mark vigorously with the fingers of his right hand.
"Don't rub it, it's pretty good. Tong Jie shouted nervously on the side.
I didn't run, this should be the spiritual imprint left by the voice, it's okay, it's just a small pattern, it's not too much. Zheng Fang found that his fingers touched the butterfly, and he didn't feel anything, he wiped it hard, but he didn't wipe it off, and he was secretly worried in his heart.
No longer obsessed with the spiritual imprint on his wrist, Zheng Fang reorganized his thoughts and briefly told Tong Jie what had just happened after entering the slaughterhouse.
"Is this what the voice left behind?" Tong Jie asked softly as she stared at the butterfly on Zheng Fang's left wrist.
"Eight or nine is not far from ten, how can I have the heart to do this thing on my body. ”
"The voice told you to find the scepter, do you have a clue?"
"How can I have it? If I find it, I may not give it to him, and I can't hand it over to the school? I can't give it to Liang? Listening to what he said, the scepter seems to be very important, and when the time comes, asking for some rewards from the school is not much better than going to the underworld? I haven't figured it out yet, what are I going to do in the underworld?" Zheng Fang said nonchalantly.
"That's right, there's no punishment for not finding it anyway, well, this little butterfly is pretty good, and it's good to keep it. Tong Jie nodded, feeling that what Zheng Fang said was very reasonable.
The two chatted for a while, and they didn't take this matter too seriously, if it was the spirit world, the two might still be a little interested, the underworld, it's too far away, plus there is no loss, so naturally it won't be taken seriously. However, Tong Jie still reminded Zheng Fang that when he saw these things in the future, he turned his head decisively, don't go in, the singing voice of those heads is too demagogic, and if you are not careful, you may not be able to come back, and the reminder of the voice is still necessary to listen, Zheng Fang thought so.
The two of them saw that it was not early, and they didn't have the heart to continue playing, so they hurried home. Grandma is already waiting for them to prepare a meal, braised pork ribs, sweet and sour fish, stir-fried pumpkin shreds with chili, pancakes with shredded pork in Beijing sauce, and a bowl of steamed eggs. This steamed egg is steamed by mixing minced meat and eggs together, and it is delicious as both a dish and a soup.