I turned my head toward the river. The state of the Hellstream was now disastrous, leaving us utterly perplexed. It had become like cement on the verge of solidifying, and it was no longer stripping away our ghost aura.
"Fly!"
John Chou's body flickered with a crimson glow as he soared into the air. The three of us, bodies shimmering with green light, followed him in a straight line, flying swiftly into the distance.
The situation was already critical. Just then, we realized there was no airflow behind us anymore. We stopped and saw that a black wall had appeared behind us, and it was growing at an unstoppable speed.
"Something's wrong, John Chou. That wall—it's formed by the Hellstream, isn't it?"
The Tabby Cat King spoke, raising a paw and, with a whoosh, flew to the wall, striking it forcefully. My eyes widened—incredible ghost aura slammed into the wall, but it didn't budge an inch.
"My ghost aura was absorbed in an instant."
"Move faster—fly!"
John Chou said nothing and continued flying, moving swiftly. We quickly followed, and only then did he speak.
"It looks like something major has happened here. The nature of the Hellstream has changed—it's not stripping away ghost aura anymore. Now, when ghost aura strikes it, it devours it instantly."
"Where are we actually headed?"
I grew worried—if we returned to the previous situation, it would be disastrous. John Chou shook his head, but we could only keep flying. The wall behind us vanished from sight. We noticed that a long stretch of the river had disappeared. No wonder the Hellstream wasn’t stripping our ghost aura—it was too busy, trying to devour the huge amount of ghost aura caused by the upstream cutoff.
We’d been flying for a long time, each of us burning through a lot of ghost aura, but still saw nothing—an enormous section of the river was gone.
"I’ve tried before, John Chou—just keep heading downstream."
Rusty said, and John Chou laughed.
"The reason you couldn’t walk out was that the Hellstream was dispersed then—the density wasn’t nearly this high. Now that it’s so tightly packed, the length naturally shortens. Before, the distance was way beyond your reach. On foot, it’s impossible to get through."
John Chou laughed, then continued explaining.
"It’s like a block of ice—if it’s solid, it won’t flow, but if it turns to liquid, it moves. The Hellstream is the same. When it solidifies, the length shrinks dramatically. Look."
John Chou spoke up. Our eyes widened, and sure enough, ahead we saw two statues of evil ghosts and an entrance. What shocked us was that inside the entrance, we could see black river water, but outside there was none.
We stopped and walked over, immediately sensing something strange. The river behind the evil ghost statues didn’t strip away ghost aura—it was eerily calm. All four of us felt it. The moment we passed through the gate, we were struck by a power I instantly recognized: the power of the Underworld Court.
"Damn it, another cave like this. How long do we have to keep walking?" Tabby Cat King cursed.
Tabby Cat King couldn’t help but curse, while Rusty laughed excitedly. We went inside. Even though the river water no longer stripped our ghost aura, it was still the Hellstream, and we had entered the domain of the Underworld Court.
This made me think of what those old dogs said—they found the underground black river water in Dog-Eater’s Purgatory.
"So the River of the Three Paths is connected to Hell."
I muttered, and John Chou laughed. At that moment, the animal features on both of us began to peel away, no longer influenced by the Animal Realm’s power. Our bodies slowly returned to human form. I stared in disbelief as the fur retreated from my hands, exposing human skin and fingers.
"Who is it?"
Suddenly, I heard a loud shout. With a thud, two Red Ghosts dropped from above. We looked up and saw an opening, cold wind instantly rushing in.
The two Red Ghosts charged at us with their clubs. A cat’s screech rang out—Tabby Cat King darted forward in a flash, pressing his claws onto both Red Ghosts’ faces, freezing them in place.
John Chou and I walked over cautiously. The Red Ghosts stared at us wide-eyed.
"Isn’t this Zhang Qingyuan and the Bloodshade Sovereign, my lords?"
I stared in surprise at the two Red Ghosts. Their attitude changed immediately. We climbed out of the cave—arriving at the Minor Frost Hell. Only a handful of suffering souls remained inside. My eyes widened in disbelief.
Looking up, I saw a sky like burning fire, mixed with black, green, and other colors—an apocalyptic scene. It was unmistakably the domain of the Underworld Court. We had truly entered Hell.
Snow covered everything, icy winds swept through, and in an instant, the few moving souls froze, whimpering in pain. John Chou walked forward slowly, his eyes blazing with anger as he stared into the distance.
"Let’s head to the Fifth Tribunal, brother."
I nodded. We floated upward, with Tabby Cat King and Rusty following behind. Soon, we left the Minor Frost Hell, passing by countless other hells and ghost officials. Many of the officials, upon seeing us, respectfully kept their distance.
Gradually, we saw a great hall above the clouds and a wide, straight stone road. We descended toward it.
"I’ve been waiting for you a long time."
A heavy voice echoed out—it was the Fifth Tribunal Yama. Tabby Cat King yawned and climbed a large tree by the roadside, leaning against the trunk.
"You should know why I've come to see you, Baozi Tian."
"You guys go ahead, I’ll take a nap here. I’m a bit tired," Tabby Cat King said.
Rusty looked lost, then went over to a tree and lay down.
"I’m not going either. What exactly is Yan Luo?" Rusty asked.
I blinked, surprised by Rusty’s question.
"Look at you, Iron Rat, you idiot—how do you not know Yan Luo? He’s the current ruler of Hell."
Rusty gasped in surprise and shook his head.
"I remember the rulers used to be Emperor God, Xiao Yan, and some other guy. Can Hell really change rulers?"
John Chou was already far ahead. I gave an awkward smile and hurried after him. I couldn’t understand, and wanted answers—maybe only the Fifth Tribunal Yama would tell us. If we sought out other Tribunal Lords, it might lead to conflict. I could tell John Chou was angry.
Finally, we saw the massive signboard of the Fifth Tribunal, and inside, behind the main desk, sat the Fifth Tribunal Yama, dressed in a black robe embroidered with nine golden dragons.
"You should know why I’ve come to see you, Baozi Tian."
John Chou entered with a whoosh, floating to the front of the Fifth Tribunal Yama. With a wave, a chair slid over. I noticed the Black and White Impermanence brothers were present too—Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu.
As I walked over, I saw the two of them watching me. I raised my hands and bowed. Both had helped me before. They nodded silently, their faces stiff in the tense atmosphere.
"Among the Ten Tribunal Lords, only you can freely control the Hellstream, Baozi Tian. What exactly are you planning?"
John Chou asked coldly. I walked to his side, wanting to intervene, but seeing his expression, I held back. The Fifth Tribunal Yama stared blankly at John Chou, then glanced at me.
"This is the decision of all Ten Tribunal Lords, John Chou. We’ll only detain you for a while. Until we find a solution, you can’t reclaim the power of Bloodshade. I’ve weighed the consequences. I hope you understand."
I didn’t know what to say. In my experience, the Fifth Tribunal Yama was the most reasonable and had told us many things before.
"Fine, I won’t reclaim the power of Bloodshade for now. But you have to let these two accompany me." John Chou said, looking at Black and White Impermanence.
John Chou glanced over at Black and White Impermanence.
I blinked, looking at John Chou. The Fifth Tribunal Yama turned to me and spoke.
"Zhang Qingyuan, something’s wrong in the world of the living. You’d better return to the Yellow Springs quickly—the Lan family may be in danger."
My eyes widened. Just as I was about to turn, John Chou grabbed me.
"Brother, don’t worry."
Then I saw the look in John Chou’s eyes and calmed down. He seemed to sense something.
"You want to send Zhang Qingyuan away—what are you really planning?"
The Fifth Tribunal Yama was silent for a long time before finally nodding.
"Wujiu, Bi’an, you two go with John Chou."
Black and White Impermanence stepped forward, bowed, then returned to their places.
"Fifth Tribunal Yama, can you tell me what happened to the Lan family?"
I asked urgently, but the Fifth Tribunal Yama said nothing.
"You’ll know when you return."
I looked at John Chou, frustrated.
"It can’t be anything major, right? Is it about people in the Yellow Springs having to bring fierce ghosts from Hell—and there’s a huge disagreement about it, isn’t there?"
The Fifth Tribunal Yama nodded silently.
"The world was already chaotic enough—your actions will only make it worse. Ghosts, by nature, are meant to devour humans."
"There’s nothing we can do. John Chou, our top priority now is to resist attacks from the shadow world. Ships have already started appearing on the Wangchuan Sea."
My eyes widened in shock.
"Is war starting this soon?"
John Chou stood up and grabbed me.
"Brother, these matters have nothing to do with us. When will you fulfill your promise? When will the Ghost Sovereigns start helping? Otherwise, you can clean up Hell yourselves."