"Is there really no way at all?"
I asked again. Yuna Ji pressed her lips together and shook her head.
"Maybe the only way is what happened during my years at Universal Temple. Back then, I couldn't sense Netherhell at all, and my Netherstone became transparent. You saw it before, Ethan Zhang."
I nodded. The first time I picked up the Netherstone, it was feather-light and almost transparent.
"It was during those days that I gradually felt my instincts fading away. Not disappearing, exactly—more like being completely suppressed, unable to surface. That's why, when I left, I had no intention of returning to Netherhell."
"Sorry. To help me, you went back there again."
I said. Yuna Ji smiled. Because we were trapped in Exile Town, Yuna Ji took Red Hair and passed through Netherhell to reach Exile Town directly.
But then I reconsidered and continued.
"Do you really not want to resolve everything here? I don't believe it."
Deep down, I knew Yuna Ji was a responsible empress. She would never abandon these things. She was just tired, needing a brief rest.
Yuna Ji gazed into the distance, eyes brimming with tears, and began to sob. I walked over and patted her shoulder.
"If, someday, my situation is resolved, I'll help you figure something out."
"Really? Ethan Zhang, you’re willing to help me clean up this mess?"
I nodded solemnly.
Yuna Ji immediately beamed and grabbed my hand, swinging it back and forth.
I felt a bit embarrassed, turned my head aside, and muttered.
"After all, my instinct is Coexistence. Maybe I can discover something."
Here, I had tried to sense everything around me, but found nothing—only dead silence. Aside from the lingering yin energy, all I could feel were the ghosts trapped here.
"You just said those monsters would protect you. Did something happen before?"
"It was the Nine Nether Generals."
Yuna Ji began to speak. Over the endless years, because of this place, the stronger the beings here became, the more their desire for war grew. They went mad. Every resident here, until Yuna Ji returned, only then did her instincts begin to stir, and the residents slowly regained some sense.
"At that time, the Generals of Nine Nether were completely out of their minds, constantly fighting each other, endlessly slaughtering. Even rebellion broke out. In this Netherhell, there was only killing, never-ending. I vaguely sensed it too—this was my instinct, my newly awakened Battle Instinct, causing all this."
The Generals of Nine Nether had completely lost control. They had no consciousness, only the urge to kill. Eventually, the slaughter reached the royal city itself, and those monsters from the River of the Dead fought the generals in a battle that lasted for months.
It wasn’t until Yuna Ji became aware of her own instincts that the slaughter finally ceased, and the residents regained their senses.
But once the residents regained their senses, they began to rebel. Hearing this, I understood completely—what happened here wasn’t all Yuna Ji’s doing.
This Netherhell seems to have a will of its own.
"Alright, I won’t go on about the old days. Tell me, what brings you here? You’re kind of adorable, coming all this way to see me. If I didn’t already have someone I liked, who knows..."
"Cut it out, Yuna Ji. I’m here to talk business."
I told Yuna Ji about the plan in the Artifice Realm to hold a negotiation with the Seven Ghost Sovereigns.
"Oh, those little ones. Looks like they can’t sit still. The seven of us are gradually regaining our strength—they’re bound to be afraid. Heh, interesting."
"So, I hope you can leave soon, but on this side..."
Yuna Ji hooked her arm around mine, smiling brightly.
"Let’s go. Let’s head out first, Ethan. Don’t worry, everything’s fine here. My instincts have returned, and I can control them now. The war will continue, but it can’t be resolved overnight. So, Ethan, it’s alright. As long as the rebellion is suppressed, the war will pause for now."
I pushed Yuna Ji’s arm away, and we went downstairs. As soon as we stepped outside, my corpse lay at the door, and Lance Quinn seemed to be discussing something with The Engineer.
"Oh, this is tricky. You want us to get it done in such a short time, sigh."
Lance Quinn sighed, looking troubled.
"What’s wrong, Mr. Engineer?"
"Ethan, you came at the right time."
I responded, walking over. The Engineer explained that my bullets easily pierced my corpse’s skin, and now there was a major issue: for the next phase, if my corpse’s skin couldn’t reach the hardness he expected, the process couldn’t continue.
"Basically, after bringing Ethan Zhang’s body back, we always bathe it in moonlight, letting it absorb the essence of sun and moon. But some things, we won’t try. Although the Blood Clan is the strongest physically among all our zombies, there’s a problem."
"It’s the Blood Clan’s traits, right?"
The Engineer replied immediately. I let out a sound of surprise and walked over.
"Wait, Lance Quinn, you tell me—what exactly did you do to my body?"
"Good point, Quinn. You should explain to Ethan how his body was transformed into this state. He’s the original—he has a right to know."
Lance Quinn smirked, glanced at me, then came over and leaned in close, smiling.
"Do you really want to know?"
I nodded, and just then, Lance Quinn burst out laughing.
"Here’s how it went: After your bones were removed, I took your flesh back to the Corpse Realm. Tan Tian threw your body into the Corpse Pit. It took forty-nine days for the corpse transformation to begin, then we placed it under the Moonlight Tree to absorb the essence of sun and moon every day. That’s it."
"That simple?"
I was shocked. Lance Quinn covered his mouth, stifling a laugh, looking like he wanted to say something but held back. The more he acted like that, the more my skin crawled.
"Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore. I don’t want to know what comes next."
"Uncle Engineer, you may not know this, but zombies are hard to control—especially ones like Ethan, who were artificially created. Our Moonlight Clan uses pure corpse jade, so he’s fine. But he did go berserk once. Luckily, without bones, he wasn’t too dangerous, just fragile enough to hurt himself. If Ethan’s body had Blood Clan traits, things would be bad. The need for regular blood-drinking would be a real problem."
I didn’t want my corpse drinking human blood either. The Engineer looked at me and was silent for a long time.
"Alright, seems Ethan doesn’t want his corpse to become a blood-drinking zombie. We’ll wait for Hua Tuo to return and discuss it with him."
I’d been here a while, but strangely, I hadn’t seen Hua Tuo.
"Hua Tuo went to Evil Shade Mountain to gather herbs."
I acknowledged, but then I remembered—Hua Tuo was a legendary healer from ancient times. Maybe he could solve the mystery of the Immortality Society’s bodies, and even Fang Datong’s condition. I quickly explained this to The Engineer.
"Got it, Ethan. When Hua Tuo returns, I’ll tell him. You can go now."
"Let’s go, Ethan. I’m suffocating in here."
Without another word, Yuna Ji shimmered with green light and immediately dragged me into the air.
"Is it really that urgent?"
But Yuna Ji just shook her head.
"Among the Seven Ghost Sovereigns, except for Yvonne May, the other six will probably agree to attend the meeting. But Yvonne May is different—she really hates those people from the Artifice Realm. So, Ethan, when you get back, you should find Yvonne May quickly, just in case."
"Why the rush?"
Yuna Ji gave a mysterious smile and told me I’d know once I was outside.
Yuna Ji and I flew over the River of the Dead, following her to a place far from the royal city—so far, the city was barely visible behind us. That’s when the giant stone gate I’d seen before appeared.
"Alright, Ethan, let’s go."
With a thunderous rumble, the stone gate slowly opened. Yuna Ji and I entered, swallowed up by a flood of green light.
"Brother, you’re finally back, haha."
As soon as I stepped out, I realized I was in Redmond’s meeting room. Except for Yvonne May, the other six Ghost Sovereigns were already gathered.
Seeing Yin Choujian’s smile and Yuna Ji giggling, I realized I’d been set up by the two of them, working together.
"You two, don’t go too far. Couldn’t you give me a heads-up next time?"
I roared in anger. Yin Choujian just laughed.
"Hey, brother, I told you before—thinking too much isn’t as useful as just experiencing it. As for your corpse, most of the ghosts here already know. You’re the only one who didn’t."
"Tianshuo, you knew too?"
I muttered, looking at Hu Tianshuo’s smile. He nodded. I was angry, plopped down on the ground, and laughter echoed around me. Hu Tianshuo came over and reached out a hand.
"Ethan, now that you’ve seen it for yourself and learned the truth, isn’t it easier to accept? Knowing about your corpse is better than letting your imagination run wild."
I smiled, took Hu Tianshuo’s hand, and stood up.