Chapter 2205: Questioning of the Soul
Back then, the Necropolis Emperor hadn’t given him too many details, so Zu An hadn't paid it too much heed. After he became a Naihe Oblivion Ferryman, he'd wondered if the one he shared destiny with was Grandmother Meng. But earlier, after he did a rough scan of the entire underworld, he'd discovered that those deities in the underworld were all gone, including Grandmother Meng.
If it wasn’t Grandmother Meng, who was it?
He didn’t go to the Naihe Oblivion River; instead, he closed his eyes to think. The Netherworld Book of Life and Death was now one with him. He was now the underworld emperor. With just a single thought, all kinds of things in the underworld appeared in his mind.
Naihe Oblivion River...
A pair of eyes seemed to manifest and scan the entire river.
Suddenly, when Zu An's gaze landed on the Bridge of Helplessness, his entire body shook! In that instant, he vanished from the arena. A moment later, he reappeared next to the bridge. He had passed by the Bridge of Helplessness before, but that was just a time fragment and not the real Bridge of Helplessness of this world. As such, some things were still the same, but other swere different.
The surging Naihe Oblivion River was full of howling water ghosts. The stone bridge that hadn’t changed for countless years was still here. Cold winds surged and bloody waves overflowed. The sounds of howling and grief in the air were unending. Forget about a living being, even a departed spirit would shiver in fear here.
However, Zu An turned a deaf ear to all that. Instead, he looked beneath the bridge and saw a woman there.
Her figure was as graceful as a swaying willow, and her temperament was calm and cool. She sat atop a lotus seat on the Naihe Oblivion Water, deep in cultivation. Her eyes were closed. As her eyelashes gently trembled, her beautiful and tranquil face seemed to be entirely different from the sinister and warped souls around her.
Zu An’s heart began beating incredibly quickly; this was Chuyan, whom he had dreamed about day and night! All of the blood in his body almost turned cold. He understood the Naihe Oblivion River better than anyone else. Even the most powerful creature would have all of their memories washed away and be turned into an idiot. Then, they would end up as a water ghost. Thus, he didn’t dare to stall for even half a second. He parted the waters and moved to Chuyan’s side.
When she sensed the changes happening around her, the blue-clad woman slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Zu An, she was stunned at first, but then a bit of emotion stirred on her originally calm expression. She couldn't help but stand up from the lotus leaf and reach out to caress his face. However, she stopped in midair and looked at him from a short distance. She opened her mouth, and yet couldn't say anything. There was only endless grief in her expression.
Zu An could no longer hold himself back. He had endless things he wanted to say, but in the end, he could only say, “Chuyan...”
These two syllables were uttered in a shaking voice. He was really scared that she had lost her memories, that perhaps she had already became a water ghost just like Zhao Han and the others, scared that she...
He didn’t dare to think about anything else. The only thought in his mind was that he had to find a way to save her no matter what.
The woman had a look of disbelief in her eyes as she said, “Ah Zu...”
Her voice was incredibly beautiful, and Zu An was shocked and happy to hear it. He couldn't hold himself back anymore and hugged her firmly.
Chu Chuyan was also incredibly moved. A warm smile appeared on her face as she hugged him back tightly.
The two embraced each other just like that without saying anything. Only the strength their slightly pale arms exerted showed the strong emotions they felt. In contrast, Chuyan’s hair was a beautiful black, unlike the Snow Lady's icy white hair.
A while later, Chu Chuyan said with a groan, “Ah Zu, you’re hurting me.”
Zu An let her go with a big smile. “Sorry, I was just way too excited.”
Chu Chuyan looked straight at him with eyes as beautiful as a snowy mountain. Her expression was full of surprise. “You... You can see me?” “Of course I can see you,” Zu An began, then quickly realized what she was saying. “Why would you say that?”
Chu Chuyan gently bit her lip before explaining, “Crossing over the Bridge of Helplessness requires one to drink Grandmother Meng’s soup and have all of one's memories erased to enter the cycle of reincarnation. But I... I didn’t want to forget about you, so I chose another path, which was to spend a thousand years beneath the Bridge of Helplessness. Yyou shouldn’t be able to see me.”
Even so, Zu An was now the underworld emperor. After investigating for a second, he immediately understood what she was saying.
Normally, once people died and entered the underworld, if their goodness exceeded their evil, or they had experienced enough punishment in the Hells to clean away their wrongdoings, they could cross the Bridge of Helplessness and be reincarnated. Usually, that required one to drink Grandmother Meng’s soup to wash away memories of their previous world. Once they reincarnated, they would be a completely different person; otherwise, the world of the living would become a huge mess. Of course, there were some who were so attached to their loved ones that they weren’t willing to forget them. They thus refused to drink Grandmother Meng’s soup.
The underworld had sympathized with these people and prepared another path for them. That entailed spending a thousand years under the Bridge of Helplessness and enduring the corrosion of the Naihe Oblivion River day after day, experiencing lifetimes of endless loneliness. Because of their unique choice, the underworld’s laws could temporarily shield their minds from being immediately erased by the river; instead, it would slowly wear them down. As long as they could endure a thousand years, they could reincarnate with all of their memories of their past life.
And yet, the cruel reality was that during those thousand years, their loved ones would likely have already reincarnated several times, crossing the Bridge of Helplessness each time. The lover beneath the bridge could only hope that their lover would also choose to not drink Grandmother Meng’s soup and endure for a thousand years as well.
On the other hand, they would still have to worry about their lover truly making that choice and being forced to endure a thousand years of torment. Furthermore, the laws of the underworld made it so that only the one below the bridge could see the one above, but the one above couldn't see them. They couldn't meet with each other, so they couldn't warn each other.
Most people who chose to go beneath the bridge could only watch as their beloved decisively chose to drink Grandmother Meng's soup to reincarnate, rather than holding on to their feelings. That choice showed that their beloved's feelings weren't as strong as their own.
At first, the ones below the bridge would understand out of love, not wishing for their loved one to suffer like themselves. But as time went on and the endless years passed, and they thought about how they had to remain down here alone and endure this seemingly endless torment, they would start to question their own persistence, wondering whether their love truly carried any meaning. Once that love was shaken, their conviction would collapse. Then, they wouldn’t be able to resist the corrosion of the Naihe Oblivion Water and would ultimately become a resentful soul of the river, forever unable to be set free.
As such, there was almost no one throughout history who had truly been able to endure for a thousand years.
Zu An’s heart trembled when he realized that. He immediately took Chu Chuyan into his arms and exclaimed, “How could you be so foolish?!”
Chu Chuyan smiled and said, “Because I didn’t want to forget about you, of course.”
When he heard what she said, Zu An used even more strength. “This was just too much of a risk! What if I couldn't see you? Wouldn’t you be forced to spend a thousand years all by yourself here?”
"I've always enjoyed peace and quiet to begin with, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. Besides, I was protected by the Pure World Icelotus, so there wasn’t too much suffering,” Chu Chuyan replied.
Only then did Zu An notice the lotus beneath her. It surrounded her, and indeed seemed to block the corrosion of the river.
“This Pure World Icelotus is quite extraordinary,” Zu An said in surprise. He understood fully well how powerful the laws of the Naihe Oblivion River were, and yet this lotus was actually able to block them.
Just then, he suddenly thought of something and continued, “Right, didn’t you ask why I could see you? Well, because of the river’s laws, other lovers can’t meet, but I’m different. I’m now the underworld emperor and manage the entire underworld! Aren’t I amazing?” He couldn't help but be a bit proud as he said that, just like a young man showing off in front of a young woman.
“I know.” A strange look appeared on Chu Chuyan’s face as she said, “All of the departed spirits saw how you defeated the other three candidates. By the way, what does ‘your wife is so good’ mean?”