Chapter 30 Rakshasa
Chapter 30: Rakshasa
“Hah…”
As it turned out, even ghost creatures forged from avatar bones couldn’t shake Gu Jing or the brilliant might of the Autumn Maiden sword in her hand.
But Gu Jing was clearly not faring well either.
During the earlier battle, death energy had entered her body, severely obstructing her internal spiritual energy circulation. She couldn’t expel it for the time being.
Her excessive consumption had worsened this condition. Now her face appeared slightly pale, and her movement speed was far slower than before.
Though Gu Jing had sliced clean through that mountain of flesh, the Lord of the Netherworld probably couldn’t make any major moves for a while.
But continuing like this wasn’t feasible.
The bronze street beneath their feet no longer had flowing blood but was instead a patch of dried dark red.
This indicated they were progressing toward deeper regions.
If they stopped and used their remaining spiritual energy to hold their ground, counting on the sword intent accumulated in the two Celestial Seven Swords, they could certainly endure.
But that would also fulfill Huoxin’s wishes.
“Ghost cultivator…”
Luo Hongyu murmured.
Though they needed to escape, wandering aimlessly like headless flies wasn’t the solution.
Was there nothing that could point them in the right direction?
Just as Luo Hongyu was thinking this, suddenly a warmth radiated from her waist.
This is…
Under Luo Hongyu’s slightly astonished gaze, the red jade seemed to be reinfused with fresh blood, becoming smooth and translucent.
“Luohe…”
Gu Jing stared at the red jade, murmuring in a daze, and the Autumn Maiden sword in her hand resonated in response.
Moreover, the red jade actually broke free from the cord at Luo Hongyu’s waist, hovering in the air and slowly drifting in a certain direction.
This red jade seemed to be guiding them.
“Let’s follow it, Senior Sister Gu.”
“…Mm.”
The red jade’s light appeared especially bright ahead. Luo Hongyu followed behind it, her mind tangled with questions.
If the red jade had some connection with Luohe…
Its earlier dimness represented Luohe’s critical situation, then did its current state mean Luohe’s condition had improved?
Or did it have some other meaning?
And why had it abnormally started moving independently in this place, advancing in a specific direction?
It, or rather he…
What exactly did it represent?
Along the way, ghost creatures constantly harassed them, but with a direction, the two moved much faster, escaping the Netherworld Lord’s ghost tides time and again.
“What is that thing, actually able to guide within my Netherworld… Stay here…!”
During one encounter, a withered hand reached out from the darkness, trying to grab the red jade.
Before Luo Hongyu could even react, Gu Jing had already slashed out with her sword, leaving a severed arm that turned to black mist on the ground.
Looking at Gu Jing’s red-eyed appearance, Luo Hongyu lowered her gaze without saying anything.
After walking an unknown distance, Luo Hongyu and Gu Jing stopped.
The red jade also floated quietly in the air, no longer moving forward.
Because they now all had a feeling that going any further would lead them into a completely different place.
Indeed, ahead there was no more path.
The bronze road had reached its end, and beyond, beneath their feet was an unfathomable abyss.
“Hehe…”
The Netherworld Lord’s voice sounded again from the darkness.
“I didn’t expect this thing would actually bring you here… Seems it’s not saving your lives after all, hehe…”
“I might as well tell you, up ahead is the true forbidden zone for living people in the Netherworld. Any living person who has survived in my domain before eventually died in there.”
“If you continue forward, the result will be the same.”
“What’s in there?”
Luo Hongyu raised the Lulan sword and asked calmly.
“What’s there? Hehe, a true, genuine evil ghost that devours its own kind, an evil ghost without any humanity.”
“How is that different from you?”
“I…”
“You seem quite afraid of it.”
“Your title as Lord of the Netherworld… sounds pitiful.”
“Hahaha…”
Hearing Luo Hongyu’s mockery, he laughed instead of getting angry, saying maliciously:
“So what? What choice do you have? I can’t deal with you right now anyway.”
“But if you stay here, slowly letting ghost energy enter your bodies, you’ll become my meal. After death, you might still have a chance for your souls to remain.”
“But if you’re discovered by what’s ahead, it would truly be annihilation of both body and soul.”
“You choose—do you want to die slower and live longer, or die early?”
“…”
Luo Hongyu didn’t respond to that voice, just quietly watching the red jade.
After trembling briefly, the red jade moved downward.
Luo Hongyu glanced at Gu Jing, and they both jumped down after it.
“Madness… madness!”
From above, they could still faintly hear the Netherworld Lord’s exasperated voice.
…
Drip, drip…
Luo Hongyu woke up.
She slowly got to her feet and found herself lying in a river, whose water gave off a scattered blue glow.
“Senior Sister Gu…”
“Young Mistress, I’m here.”
Gu Jing’s voice came from nearby. After jumping down from above, she had awakened earlier than Luo Hongyu and was now guarding by her side, observing their surroundings.
“Where is this…”
“Young Mistress, look there.”
“…”
In the direction Gu Jing pointed, an immense bronze gate with countless reliefs and incomprehensible languages stood coldly not far away.
On the door was a pair of beast-faced locks with rings in their mouths, emanating a suppressive, rejecting energy that felt like needle pricks.
And the river beneath them flowed directly from under that bronze gate to the outside.
“The jade… right, my jade…”
Luo Hongyu felt around frantically until she finally touched that familiar sensation at her waist, and only then did she relax.
The red jade had now returned to its most ordinary appearance of the past decades—red, lustrous, and slightly warm to the touch.
But now Luo Hongyu’s gaze upon it had greatly changed.
Luo Hongyu stood up, intending to walk toward the gate, but was grabbed by Gu Jing.
“Young Mistress, stay away from that gate.”
“Why?”
“There’s… a gatekeeper here.”
Just as Gu Jing finished speaking, Luo Hongyu suddenly felt an extremely cold sensation by her ear.
She quickly pulled back to look, only to see a person-tall dark blade had appeared beside her at some unknown time.
Simultaneously, the water in the river began to churn and boil. On the previously calm river surface, a huge vortex opened up.
A slender figure seemed to walk up steps, slowly emerging from the vortex.
From her build, this figure appeared to be female.
But her entire body was wrapped in a set of rusty, blood-colored ancient armor, with even her helmet sealed tight, leaving only a slit through which two deep blue pupils glowed.
Under Luo Hongyu’s vigilant gaze, she unhurriedly walked to the long blade, pulled it out with one hand, and placed it on her back.
Then, she reached her hand toward Luo Hongyu.
What she pointed at was the red jade at Luo Hongyu’s waist.
…