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墨書 Inktalez
Here, I seemed to glimpse a person's past, seeing someone sitting here as if time had stopped flowing, sitting in a way that felt eternal and unchanging.
I shook my head.
"Saning Brother, if we don't hurry, we'll never catch up."
I snapped back to reality. These souls were still conveying messages to me, and I couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, you all talk too much. If we don't hurry, that monk is going to be taken away."
After saying this, I felt a bit strange myself—what did it mean to be taken away?
Sure enough, after my outburst, I saw the effect; these souls scattered, and only then did Clay Bodhisattva and I pass through Underworld Road and arrive directly at the Bridge of Helplessness.
Perhaps due to the wedding, we didn't see the so-called Meng Po on the Bridge of Helplessness.
"Damn it, even the Underworld holds weddings. This is beyond my imagination."
Clay Bodhisattva clearly had no interest in Yiyan, the "Heartless Person," so he moved ahead much faster than I did.
I chased after Clay Bodhisattva as he urged me to hurry.
In the dim environment, Clay Bodhisattva was running with great effort while I pondered whether Yiyan was truly a Heartless Person. I asked myself three times.
But I had no answer; perhaps only Yiyan could tell me.
Yet sometimes people find themselves unable to act freely or speak sincerely. What if Yiyan—the monk—was lying? But even if he were lying, what difference would it make?
Yiyan was a monk, while One by One was a "mortal." How could a mortal and a monk possibly be entangled?
However, when One by One departed from **Crossed the River of Yellow Springs**, Yiyan resolutely crossed the river and brought One by One back.
But what good did it do to bring One by One back? Why did Yiyan remain? Was it simply because he couldn't bear to see Sentient Beings suffer here?
Could this monk truly possess such compassion?
The waters of the River of Forgetfulness flowed swiftly. After crossing the river, I saw a boundary marker with the four characters “Dark Land” inscribed on it. I was somewhat taken aback; how could Dark Land be beyond the Bridge of Helplessness?
In my memory, there was no such place in the Underworld. Of course, the memories I referred to were those from "Journey to the West," but then again, that was also a fabrication.
So it was baseless as well.
Upon entering Dark Land, it wasn't dark at all; it merely felt desolate.
The broken scenery evoked a sense of melancholy.
“Saning Brother, there aren't any ghosts here, right?”
I said that if there were ghosts, it wouldn't be surprising. After taking a few steps, I sensed something was off; a wedding could not possibly be held in such a place.
I wasn't dismissing this location entirely, but it truly was in disarray.
The earlier grandeur clearly indicated that this wasn't a wedding for small fry; significant figures wouldn't marry in such a place.
I told Clay Bodhisattva that we should leave this place.
But when I turned my head, I realized that Clay Bodhisattva had already disappeared. My heart skipped a beat; where could Clay Bodhisattva have gone? I called out a few times and then looked around.
Finally, I discovered that Clay Bodhisattva was actually hanging onto me.
“Saning Brother, this place is so scary,” he said.
I almost laughed in frustration. When I had been beating up Wang Wei earlier, he hadn’t shown any fear at all, and now he was saying he was scared.
I told Clay Bodhisattva, “Get down.”
“Alright then,” Clay Bodhisattva replied with a hint of grievance, and then he dropped down from me, transforming back into a human.
Together, we stepped away from that place. Upon seeing the stone marker with the words Dark Land inscribed on it, I suddenly let out a sigh of relief; we had finally made it out.
Once outside, I felt a wave of desolation wash over me.
However, after stepping out, I found myself at a loss because there was only one road here; nothing else was visible.
I stood outside and gazed around.
Clay Bodhisattva said, “Saning Brother, the road should be correct. I just saw that monk go in there.”
I had seen it too; the road seemed right. But upon entering that place, it felt as if my heart had dropped into an abyss.
What exactly did Dark Land signify?
I thought to myself that perhaps I needed to traverse this Dark Land to find out.
I re-entered and said to Clay Bodhisattva, "Once we go in, we run like crazy."
Clay Bodhisattva understood my meaning, so after we entered, we plunged forward, running without looking left or right, continuing down the dark path.
As we ran, a light suddenly appeared before us, accompanied by a fragrant aroma. We found ourselves in a sea of flowers.
It was indeed a sea of flowers, blooming vibrantly in exceptionally enchanting colors. At that moment, I heard some commotion and thought that the wedding venue must be here.
I signaled Clay Bodhisattva to crouch down and hide.
Suddenly, Clay Bodhisattva pointed ahead. I could tell she had seen something. I urged her to crouch lower, and after she did, she said, "I see a monk."
I looked ahead as well and spotted a red Red Palanquin, along with the monk.
Many Ghost Soldiers had gathered together to attend this wedding. I couldn't help but wonder who the monk was marrying.
Could it be Yama? The thought crossed my mind but quickly dissipated.
Yama should definitely be male; it shouldn't be possible.
So who could it be?
Not Meng Po, right? Surely the monk's taste wouldn't be that heavy. As I pondered further, I realized there was no one else to consider. So I had no choice but to watch.
At that moment, Clay Bodhisattva asked me, "Saning Brother, when are we going to go up and take him down?"
I shot a glance at Clay Bodhisattva. With so many people around, if we approached, we would definitely be beaten up instead of being able to beat anyone else.
I said, "Wait."
Clay Bodhisattva responded with a hum, and we crouched down, hiding in the bushes. Unable to help himself, Clay Bodhisattva remarked, "Saning Brother, these flowers smell really nice."
I absentmindedly replied as we were now very close together, yet the souls around us remained unaware of our presence.
The red palanquin was placed in the middle of the crowd.
The monk's back was facing us.
A ghostly host shouted, "The groom welcomes the bride!" As soon as he finished speaking, Ten Thousand Ghosts cheered, and I saw petals detach from their branches, drifting forward.
At first, there was one or two, but soon more and more fell like a rain of flower language. At that moment, the two bells in my pocket suddenly rang again.
I hurriedly pressed down on the bells, but they seemed to struggle against my grip. I suddenly felt something strange about these bells. I took them out; one was stained with blood—I knew it belonged to the monk—and the other was given to me by One by One. This puzzled me.
I stared at the bells for a few seconds, feeling as if something was hidden inside them.
Initially, I hadn’t thought much of it, but now I realized that what was concealed within was a mass of souls.
This startled me. I lowered my voice and called out, "Come out."
The bell seemed ready to shake again but instantly fell silent upon hearing my words.
After a while, I heard the bell say, "Can you see me?"
I replied, of course I can see you; otherwise, I wouldn't have called you out.
But the bell said, "I can't come out."
I asked why it couldn't come out.
The bell replied, "He's going to marry someone else. I'm afraid that if I come out and see it, I'll be heartbroken."
Upon hearing this, I fell silent, but Clay Bodhisattva said, "Are you that female ghost?"
The bell responded, "I am One by One."
"One by One, when did you hide inside the bell?" I asked. And how did One by One hide in the bell without me noticing? I had been holding the bell for so long and hadn't realized One by One was there.
Perhaps it was because of the bell itself; it must have concealed One by One.
The bell had an ancient color, and its bronze exterior had faded considerably.
One by One didn't answer how she got in, but I didn't press further.
Clay Bodhisattva said, "One by One, you are truly pitiful. Look at that monk; he's infuriating and despicable."
But One by One replied, "It's not Yiyan's fault."
"Clay Bodhisattva" couldn't help but wonder who else to blame but that monk. He was clearly a "Flower Monk," someone who could have returned with me and "Saning Brother," yet he chose not to.
I didn't say much more. Since "One by one" was hiding in the bell, I believed that everything that had just happened was witnessed and heard by "One by one." The right and wrong of it all, I thought "One by one" must have understood.
Otherwise, when "Yiyan" spoke those words, "One by one" had not shown themselves, and I suspected that "Yiyan" had known all along that "One by one" was hiding in the bell.
And then he threw the bloodied bell back. Was that a hint of something? At that moment, the red thread was severed from his "Robe." Was he indicating a complete break with "One by one"?
Thinking of this made me feel a surge of anger. This monk was truly resolute; he clearly knew "One by one" had come, yet still chose to act this way.
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