I was communicating with the ghost, and she immediately began to absorb all the yin energy in my body. The other ghost spirits also started dividing up and taking away the power that belonged to me, bit by bit. In no time, I found myself looking like a figure in white, feeling strangely out of place.
My strength was completely diminished. I raised one hand, and the baleful energy seeped out from my palm like wisps of blue smoke, faint and elusive. The shotgun slung across my back had vanished as well. Then, with a swift motion, I drew out the Soulreaver Blade.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"
The Soulreaver Blade immediately started shouting. With a sharp sound, I stabbed the blade into my own body, then wrapped it tightly with ghostly threads and stored it within my spirit.
"Just stay quiet."
"Let me out, Ethan Zhang! Are you trying to suffocate me?"
I ignored the Soulreaver Blade's shouting and looked straight at the massive door, my heart pounding with excitement. The door finally opened with a loud, rushing sound, and I flew inside together with Allen Zhang.
Just then, a burst of black light in front of me suddenly transformed into a hand that grabbed my arm. I was startled by the sensation. In that moment, the light that had sunk into the black sludge emerged, becoming countless hands that grabbed my arms and legs in less than a second.
They tried to pull me down. I cried out in alarm, and with a few swift slashes, the colorful hands grabbing me were severed. Allen Zhang had done it. He smiled, pointed inside the door, and I glanced back one last time at the things sinking into the black sludge.
Those things, it seemed, bore no hostility toward me.
Once inside the door, we were surrounded by walls of dazzling, multicolored light—strange and mesmerizing. Behind us, the massive door closed shut.
The passage wasn't very long; soon we arrived at a vast, tubular chamber. All around us, countless small niches housed a variety of Buddhist statues, each one different from the next.
This tubular structure was enormous, with a diameter of at least a hundred meters. All around were thirteen massive openings, arranged together like the mouths of drainage pipes.
Looking upward, I saw a vast expanse of pure, gentle white light, radiating an incredibly pure energy.
Everything here amazed me. Then, the rushing sound came from below—beneath our feet was a vast, pitch-black abyss, bottomless and terrifying. Allen Zhang and I immediately floated upward, heading to a higher place.
Ghosts—I could sense them. One after another, ghosts seemed to lose consciousness as they floated up from below. There were all kinds of ghosts. When they reached the thirteen pipes, colorful currents suddenly spilled out from within them, splitting into thirteen distinct colors and flowing into the respective pipes.
I watched in astonishment as these ghosts transformed into bright, transparent souls—human spirits. I stared in disbelief at everything before me.
Under our gaze, hundreds of ghosts turned into pure spirits, flying upward. All the impurities within them—the so-called seven emotions and six desires—were completely stripped away.
I finally understood. These thirteen pipes were designed to absorb the ghosts' seven emotions and six desires, then discharge them into the Graveyard Desert.
"Heh, that Ghost Worm really knows what he's doing."
Allen Zhang spoke up, then walked over to a hollowed-out spot beside a Buddhist statue and sat on the edge, smiling.
Witnessing this shocking scene, I felt a deep anger. Normally, souls are cleansed after crossing the Bridge of Remorse, using Lady Meng's Elixir to wash away their desires, which then flow into the Forest of Desire. I had no idea what method Brother Owen used to directly purify these ghosts, leaving only the pure part behind. We continued to fly upward until we reached the top.
Gentle, pure white light filled the space above us. We could go no further; a powerful force, a pure energy conglomerate, blocked our way. Countless souls drifted above, and as they rose, they turned into white light and vanished, becoming part of this powerful force.
Allen Zhang laughed, then spoke coldly.
"This must be the monk's trump card. Whatever he's planning, it doesn't matter. If we can't win when the time comes, heh, just destroy this place. Simple as that."
I nodded and kept looking up, but now, how we would get out was a problem. Still, since those ghosts disappeared and could ascend, there had to be a way in. We decided to search downward, toward the pitch-black abyss below.
As we descended, we encountered more unconscious ghosts. Gradually, we reached the bottom, where, as expected, there was a passage—a stretch of pale blue water. These ghosts had entered from this pale blue water.
"Ready, Ethan Zhang? Heh, this is pretty exciting. Haven't had a thrill like this in ages. Back when I was with John Chou, we used to do crazy things like this all the time."
I let out a sound of surprise, watching Allen Zhang's arrogant, excited smile—his face unable to hide his raw enthusiasm.
With a splash, we plunged into the water. Suddenly, I felt everything spin—though we were heading for the bottom, it turned out we were flipped upside down. To my astonishment, I could see above the water's surface. We were in a giant pool.
There were many lotuses, which amazed me. Beside the pool stood ghosts, each one wearing a blissful smile.
Allen Zhang and I swam up gently, parted a lotus leaf, and looked around. All around were Buddhist buildings—pagodas, halls, temples, monks' quarters—forming a plaza filled with ghosts lined up, all smiling.
With a splash, I saw some ghosts jump into the lotus pool, then immediately swim toward the bottom, as if chasing happiness.
The lotus pool was huge, vast—several football fields in size. All around, I saw no ghost monks.
Gradually, we swam to the edge of the lotus pool and climbed out. Squatting beside the ghosts who occasionally leapt into the pool, we saw red walls and green tiles all around. In the distance, towering Buddhist pagodas rose, and overhead, multicolored light kept shining down.
The rainbow-like halos were even clearer here, brighter and more beautiful—a single multicolored ring in the sky.
We continued weaving through the ghosts, moving constantly, until we finally saw a mountain gate. Strangely, there was nothing around it—not even a guard.
We entered another courtyard, just like before—another large lotus pool, again crowded with ghosts.
After wandering through three courtyards in a row, we discovered the layout here formed a triangle, with doors leading elsewhere.
But the exact location was still unclear. We reached a door that seemed to lead out, and Allen Zhang and I tiptoed over. Here, we were still suppressed by that unknown force.
The door could be opened—there was no restriction. Allen Zhang peered through the crack, grinning, and I looked too, opening it a bit more. Outside was a corridor, where ghost monks bustled back and forth, carrying offerings in their hands.
Strangely, these figures showed no sign of awareness. Their eyes were vacant, and they endlessly chanted "Amitabha" under their breath.
Suddenly, Allen Zhang pushed the door open and strode out, laughing. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
"Come on out, it's fine now, Ethan Zhang."
I tiptoed out, glancing around. Then, we followed the monks with empty hands, walking along and muttering under our breath, pretending to be vacant-eyed to blend in.
It was a storage area. I watched the monks pack fruits and vegetables into trays and carry them away. Allen Zhang and I had no choice but to follow, joining the line of ghost monks.
After winding through many twists and turns, we arrived at a towering main hall. Above it were four characters—'Great Hero Hall.' Inside, I saw statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, each with a touch of eeriness, deeply sinister.
Plates of offerings were stacked high. The statues were dozens of meters tall, so the offerings looked like ants before them—countless tributes laid out. In front of Great Hero Hall was a spacious courtyard with a giant incense burner billowing smoke.
I saw ghost monks constantly moving up and down the stairs, picking up piles of yellow paper and tossing them into the incense burner.
Allen Zhang gave me a look, and after checking around, we saw nothing amiss. We went over and joined the ghost monks, starting to burn paper too.
"Disciple, look closely. Everything I prepare now is for returning to the mortal world and saving all beings. Amitabha."
An aged voice rang out. Allen Zhang and I immediately tensed, pretending to move mechanically, carrying paper and burning it. Each yellow sheet bore a bright red swastika.
With a gurgle, I looked toward the distant stairs—up came Master Swallows-the-Wine and a gaudy-robed ghost monk.
"Master, saving all beings—ha!"
Master Swallows-the-Wine burst out laughing, then went back to drinking.