Quinn Shepherd and Bruno the Dragon-Qilin stared in shock, looking up at the enormous creature beside them, speechless.
The Taotie (Devourer Beast) stood next to them, as big as a mountain-sized goat. Its forelimbs were incredibly strong, its hind legs thick and stubby, and its fur was covered in bronze patterns, swirling ring after ring.
This colossal creature had a human-like face, but its features were extremely strange: its eyes grew under its armpits, where the forelegs joined the chest, its mouth was square and wide, filled with tiger fangs, and its horns jutted out like spikes—making it look utterly ferocious!
This box of Aiden Starr’s was refined from the hide and bones of a Taotie. Its skin became the box’s covering, and its bones formed the frame.
You have to understand, Quinn owns two Glutton Dragon Pouches, and the taotie hide used for each is only about a foot square. But this massive box is covered entirely in taotie hide!
Plus, with the taotie bones supporting the internal space, this box is truly extravagant beyond compare!
Quinn’s Glutton Dragon Pouches haven’t changed, since their inner spaces aren’t connected to the outside world. But the box, having opened to the outside, has transformed into a living Taotie!
The box’s transformation was relatively slow, probably because its internal space forms a world of its own. This time, after spitting out those people inside, the box was opened, linking its interior to Nether City—so it was affected by the Dead-Alive Realm, too.
Quinn looked away, quickly grabbing the Glutton Dragon Pouches at his waist, thinking, "I’d better keep these shut tight. If I ever open them here, it won’t be me wearing two Glutton Dragon Pouches—it’ll be two Devourer Beasts wearing me around their waists…"
Getting hung from the waists of two mountain-sized Taotie, squeezed in the middle, would definitely not be pleasant. Whether I got squashed or yanked, I’d die a miserable death!
The Taotie, which had once been the big box, lifted its paw, still confused, unable to figure out why it had changed like this.
But it didn’t dwell on it for long, and immediately dashed off, chasing after the people running toward Nether City, gleefully opening its massive mouth to try and swallow them.
Though it now had flesh and blood thanks to the Dead-Alive Realm, its mind was still simple. After all, it was just a box awakened by Quinn.
The dead it chased were scared out of their wits and ran for their lives.
Taotie is the most infamous beast in the Great Ruins—it eats anything and never picks its food. No wonder everyone was terrified and fled in all directions.
Quinn hesitated, then called out. The Taotie ran back, glancing longingly at the fleeing dead before turning to look at Bruno the Dragon-Qilin. Instantly, it grew excited again, opening its enormous mouth.
Bruno shuddered and cried, "Don’t eat me! I treat you like a brother, and you want to eat me—is there no justice in the world?"
Quinn reassured him, "Relax, it doesn’t want to eat you—it just likes collecting bones and severed limbs… Spit them out! Hurry up and spit them out! Stupid box, rotten box, you even swallowed me too! Spit me out, now…"
...
At last, they arrived at the first divine city of Nether City. Here, Quinn saw all sorts of strange passersby: some without heads, some with a gaping hole in their forehead, some missing arms or legs.
Some, however, were strong people who had died normally, with all their limbs intact.
There were many people in this first divine city, and strange beings drifted through the air. They weren’t like the dead, but more like spirits.
“Those are the souls of powerful beings who were utterly destroyed—their remnant spirits wander here, and even in Nether City they have no physical bodies.”
The bird-headed god Red Plume said, “Don’t look at them. Be careful, or they might possess you.”
Quinn quickly looked away, but his curiosity got the better of him. He avoided the drifting spirits in the sky and instead studied the other people.
Soon, he noticed something odd—besides the remnant spirits in the air, there were actually people here without any flesh at all!
He saw many who didn’t have a shred of flesh, only their Primordial Spirit remained!
Even so, those with only a Primordial Spirit were extremely powerful. But because the Primordial Spirit’s shape differed from the human body, they often appeared as gods and monsters.
The most common were the Primordial Spirit forms of the Four Great Spirit Bodies: Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger gods.
But there were even more Primordial Spirits with bizarre forms: ghost-faced gods with blue skin and tusks, ox-headed deities wreathed in fire and crowned with horns, snake-bodied humans, three-headed six-armed gods—every shape imaginable.
Of course, there are still many things here that can't be explained. During the Night Dragon King beheading incident, the Heavenly King of the Temple of the Sea-Guarding King acted on the imperial edict of the Supreme Emperor—where did that edict come from?
In the White Bat statue revival incident, why were there suspected Overlord-body god fossils deep in Nethergloom Ravine? And why was there a passage connecting to Youdu there?
In the God-Demon War, who were the opponents fighting the Great Ruins' gods and demons?
Moreover, even Nether City's god-level Primordial Spirits can't explain the phenomenon of five worlds overlapping at the source of the Yong River, much less how Quinn returned to the ancient era.
"The strange happenings in the Great Ruins are just like the mist-sea outside Nether City: peel back one layer and another appears, impossible to see its true face." Quinn mused.
They came to a wide river in the city, spanned by flying bridges. Standing on the bridge and looking down, Quinn saw mist churning in the river—not water—and occasionally slick, writhing bodies swimming through the fog.
"Is this connected to the mist-sea?" he asked.
The bird-headed deity Red Plume replied, "No. The other end of the mist leads to Youdu. Those things are creatures from Youdu."
"Creatures from Youdu?"
Quinn's mind was spinning. He muttered, "Nether City is connected to Youdu? Wouldn't Youdu attack this place then?"
Red Plume didn’t explain, just led them over the Naihe Bridge to a grand temple in the city. The plaque read 'Hall of King Qin,' and Quinn paused when he saw the name.
"Why is this temple called the Hall of King Qin? Is the master of the hall also surnamed Qin?"
Puzzled, Quinn followed as the bird-headed Red Plume escorted them inside. The hall was brightly lit, but the light felt insubstantial—more illusion than flame, its glow hazy and unreal.
On either side of the hall stood solemn, imposing statues of ghostly gods—tall, with strange faces and limbs unlike any mortal. Each was ringed with fluttering sashes, gripping every kind of weapon: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, shields, tokens, and some even clutching giant serpents.
Quinn stopped before one of the statues, scrutinizing the rune markings on its body—when suddenly its eyeballs rolled, curiously staring back at him.
Startled, Quinn jumped back. The statue’s eyes swiveled forward again, making him wonder if he’d imagined the whole thing.
"These aren’t statues at all—they’re real ghost-gods!"
He immediately fell in line, following Red Plume’s lead.
At the center of the hall, a black-robed underworld god sat upright, reviewing memorials—busy with official matters.
Red Plume bowed. "Reporting to Lord Hades: the offenders Quinn Shepherd, Aiden Starr, and the Ghost-Ear Witch God have been captured and await judgment!"
The black-robed god set aside his cinnabar brush and looked up. His face was hidden beneath the robe, only two dim points of light visible.
"Aiden Starr’s lifespan isn’t yet exhausted—he’s not under Nether City’s jurisdiction. Release him."
Red Plume hesitated, but obeyed and let Aiden go.
"Aiden Starr, you may have committed countless crimes, but Nether City doesn’t concern itself with the living."
Lord Hades said, "You may leave."
Aiden was stunned, then sneered, "So Nether City is actually reasonable. Fine, I’m off!"
He tried to step away, but the other twenty or thirty bodies grafted onto him refused, making him unable to move!
Aiden grew furious as the bodies struggled, screamed, and cursed, demanding vengeance!
"No rowdiness in the Hall of King Qin!"
Lord Hades frowned. "Fork him out."
Suddenly, two of the ghost-god 'statues' moved—two ghost kings hefted steel forks, lifted Aiden together, and pitched him out of the hall.
Aiden roared, "Didn’t you say I could leave? Why am I still stuck in Nether City?"
Red Plume sneered, "If you won’t walk out yourself, who else can you blame? Fool."
Lord Hades turned to the Ghost-Ear Witch God, who showed no fear and laughed coldly, "My lifespan isn’t up yet either, Old Qin—shouldn’t you let me go too?"
"Old Qin?"
Quinn’s heart lurched: "So Lord Hades’s surname is Qin? Who is he really?"
Lord Hades replied calmly, "Taking lives in Nether City isn’t difficult. You’ve committed too many atrocities—many here died by your hand, their souls erased by your rites. You deserve to die."
Ghost-Ear Witch God was unfazed, cackling, "And what can you do? Your Nether City is just stolen territory from Youdu, a den of remnants built as a cheap imitation—trying to overturn the heavens! The Youdu sorcery you wield is crude and beneath me. Compared to the Heavenly Court’s Youdu arts, you’re leagues behind. I’m ordained by Heaven, not governed by Youdu. I can die to anyone, but not to Youdu sorcery! You can’t kill me!"
Lord Hades was unmoved, voice steady: "I didn’t capture you to kill you, but to understand my enemy. Bring the Three-Lives Mirror—let’s unravel his sorcery and life story, know our foe inside out!"
One of the ghost kings stepped off the altar and approached the Ghost-Ear Witch God. This king was blue-skinned, with two tiny wings on his back, horns on his head, a monstrous face, and a mouth that seemed impossibly huge.
He suddenly opened his mouth wide—wider than his whole body, so huge it made Quinn’s skin crawl!
His gaping maw became a doorway, light gathering within to form a giant mirror reflecting the Ghost-Ear Witch God.
Ghost-Ear Witch God shrieked, his body turning to blue smoke and vanishing into the mirror.
He was sucked into the mirror, where scenes began to swirl and rewind his life—starting from his capture by Red Plume, time flowing backwards, tracing his history.
The mirror flashed through every chapter: his defeat by Aiden Starr, ambush by the great exalted one, slaughter with the Book of Life and Death, the Pioneer Heavenly Court wars, and even further back. The mirror exposed more and more of his past, nothing left hidden!
Quinn’s scalp tingled—before the Three-Lives Mirror, who could possibly keep any secrets?
———The New Year’s almost here. For all you readers still at school, have you made it back home yet?