Being a demon is really terrific! My boat can actually travel through water, land, as well as air!
I didn't forget to make fun of myself even at this critical juncture. I'm truly unafraid of death.
With the help of my real body and using the card as a medium, entering this partly real, partly illusionary tarot world was effortless. My seemingly humble boat swiftly navigated the turbulent sea, but not a drop of seawater touched it. There seems to be a faint red light all around the boat, continuously creating a barrier that keeps anything deemed undesirable away, isolating it within a safe zone.
Fortunately, the tower hadn't collapsed completely, but it was entirely surrounded by a raging inferno—both above and below.
My boat leaped smoothly, ascending from the bottom to the top of the tower. Only then did I see clearly that the violent lightning, like a scalpel, had sliced off the domed top of the tower, exposing jagged fractures in the air that were scorched black. The top floor was engulfed in fierce flames, thick smoke billowing up and obscuring my view. My boat was floating above this roofless room, but I couldn't see the situation inside.
"Hey! You little rascals! You're not dead, are you?" I shouted as I forced the boat down.
"No! We're fine! You're back? Hurry, save us!"
Three faint lights forming a triangle gradually emerged from the thick smoke, accompanied by the racket kicked up by the kids. I breathed a sigh of relief; I wasn't too late.
Flames, enough to burn people into coke, were continuously peering greedily outside the Three Kings' Defensive Barrier seal. Everything in this place had been consumed by them, except for the kids in the triangular seal. Once again, I thanked the monkey.
I reached out and dragged the four unlucky guys onto the boat one by one. Just then, there was a loud rumble, and the robust and grand building collapsed layer by layer before our eyes. In the end, it was like a puddle of mud, half of which fell on the fire-lit ground and half fell into the tumultuous sea.
The kids were so scared by the scene unfolding before them that they couldn't speak. They clung to the sides of the boat with such force that it seemed they would crush it.
"All right, no need to be afraid," I said, sitting at the bow of the boat and observing the battered and exhausted little rascals. "We'll be home soon."
Little Fatso pursed his lips and nodded sharply. The half-grown boy was like a little girl, with tears of grievance welling up in his eyes, fearing he'll be mocked if he shed them in front of others.
The young girl named Ren Xiaochen covered her heart for a long time. After seemingly calming down a little, she raised her head and looked at me somewhat timidly: "Are you... Are you the god who came to rescue us? You... You won't take us to another terrifying place, will you?"
"I'm not a god, but I can still rescue you," I poked the paranoid young girl on the forehead. "Do you think there could be a place scarier than that tower we just left?"
The four kids shook their heads in unison.
"There you go. Anyway, I'll safely take you away from here."
I know that my earnest appearance when making promises to others makes it easy for them to believe and feel reassured. The children gradually tossed away their deep fear and despair, beginning to anticipate the joy of surviving the ordeal.
The boat descended slowly from the sky, traveling through an endless wilderness. There was no moon in the sky, only two or three tattered stars, and an eerie dark blue light flowed on the ground. Thanks to the gift from my close friend, my boat had the ability to seek out the entrance to the Underworld on its own. We just needed to follow it.
"Okay, now tell me how you guys ended up here. Did you all go to Musheng and find the proprietress?" I brought up a topic, fearing that prolonged silence would trigger a new round of psychological pressure, especially in this extraordinary environment.
As soon as I said the word "Musheng," the kids trembled in unison as if bitten by some evil creature.
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't insisted on dragging me along, I wouldn't have ended up in this hellhole," Little Fatso grumbled, shooting a resentful glance at the three girls.
"Damn fatty, you're the one who kept pestering us to take you along! It's you who said you wanted so badly to rank in the top three and feel what it's like to be a top student, so your mom wouldn't scold you for being a loser. That's why we took you there!" The sharp-eyed girl beside him whacked him on the head.
"You guys are no different! Always thinking about being top students!" Little Fatso rubbed his head aggrievedly, "Anyway, it's all your fault. If you didn't keep going to that horrible place, getting to know that old witch, I wouldn't have been dragged down by you like this!"
I didn't intervene; it was amusing to listen to these little guys bickering. On the whole, I roughly understood the ins and outs of this matter from their arguments.
The three girls, just like the other children, initially frequented Musheng simply because the cotton candy sold there was exceptionally delicious. Unexpectedly, one day, Musheng's proprietress suddenly told Ren Xiaochen that she sensed she had something on her mind, so there was no harm in sharing it and perhaps she might have a way to help her. It turns out that Ren Xiaochen's father had accidentally lost an important contract, and if he couldn't recover it, they would face trouble from the other party's lawsuit. So, Mu used her tarot cards to do a divination for her and told her that the contract was in the drawer of her father's colleague. As a result, the contract was indeed found. From then on, the "myth" that Musheng's proprietress could divine spread in private, attracting many students, and Mu welcomed them all. However, she showed extra care for Ren Xiaochen. Every time the girl visited, she was the first to offer her new flavors of cotton candy, free of charge. Ren Xiaochen naturally liked and trusted this beautiful and kind shop owner. On Ren Xiaochen's birthday, Mu said she wanted to give her a special gift, a wish. Mu claimed she could help her realize any wish she had. Surprisingly, Ren Xiaochen believed her. She told Mu that it wasn't just her; the biggest wish she and her two good friends had was to change their current situation — they wanted to experience the feeling of being top students, and no longer face the disappointed gaze of their parents and the teachers' helpless sighs. They wanted to become those enviable individuals who live in praise and applause; the so-called top students. Mu agreed and even allowed her to bring the two good friends along, with the condition that this matter must be kept secret. As for Little Fatso who was in a different class but the same school as the girls, he overheard their conversation by accident and insisted on joining, threatening that if they didn't let him participate, he would make the matter known to the whole school…
The result can be guessed. When they followed Mu's instructions and simultaneously placed their fingers on the "Tower" card, a scary change occurred — they were "sucked" into another world, a place without any aid. They didn't even know how they entered this world or how much time had passed until I found them. They said there was no day or night in this place, time seemed frozen, and they didn't feel hunger, only endless fear.
Poor foolish kids.
"Remember this, a wish is something that must be kept in your heart and realized through real effort. The evil spirits and heretics in this world excel at exploiting the human desire for shortcuts, using your wishes to do things that harm you," I earnestly told Ren Xiaochen and the others. "Also, you are you, the only one in the world. Don't let yourself become a copy of someone else due to envy or other emotions; it's meaningless. The preciousness of life lies in its uniqueness, as it cannot be duplicated."
The children exchanged glances but didn't speak, hanging their heads silently.
The boat glided smoothly over the rough ground without making any sound. It was as light as a feather drifting across the sky, carrying us towards a passage hidden in the darkness.
After a while, Little Fatso suddenly gave me a sheepish and stiff look, hesitating to speak.
"What's wrong?" I sensed his peculiar gaze.
"I... I need to pee... I've been holding it for a long time..."
"Just you and your troubles!" his companions rolled their eyes at him.
"People need to answer the call of nature!"
I had no choice but to stop and let Little Fatso get off. I instructed him not to go more than a meter away, and we female compatriots just turned our backs.
Little Fatso nodded vigorously and jumped off the boat with great urgency.
Although the splashing sound was rather indecent, it wasn't fair to deny him this basic need.
Soon, I heard Little Fatso sighing in relief, followed by the sound of a zipper being pulled up. Then came a sharp, strange scream from Little Fatso.
We spun around — right where Little Fatso stood, a huge palm with long brown fur around the joints emerged abruptly from the ground and tightly grabbed Little Fatso's right foot.
"Stay on the boat and don't move!" I shouted to the girls, leaping off the boat and simultaneously drawing a pure white sword two fingers wide from my waist. Putting all my strength into it, I stabbed the monstrous hand.
Although my sword hadn't seen the light of day for many years, it had accompanied me in slaying numerous evil creatures in any case. This strike obviously hurt the monstrous hand, and it released its grip. At the same time, a muffled roar emanated from the ground.
The desperately struggling Little Fatso plopped out. I grabbed his arm, lifted him up, then slapped him on the back, pushing him back onto the boat.
However, before I could turn around, I felt a sudden emptiness beneath my feet, and my body involuntarily plummeted downward.
The place where I stood instantly transformed into a rapidly sinking hole. The surrounding soil and stones flowed downward like a cascade. And the most troublesome part was that I found myself unable to use the art of riding the clouds, meaning I couldn't fly out. I figured it must be because I had left the protection of my real body; the repulsion between this world's power and myself suppressed my spiritual power.
Thinking fast, I hurriedly used all my strength to firmly embed the sword in my hand into the soil wall and gripped the hilt tightly. I hung in mid-air above the hole, with no way to survive below and no way out above. Moreover, the walls of the pit were constantly shifting, loosening, and my sword wouldn't hold for much longer.
Thud! Thud!
I heard strange and heavy footsteps, just like the T-Rex approaching in the movie "Jurassic Park."
Two bright green beams, like a car's headlights, fell on me.
I looked up and saw a head larger than my dining table. It was a bull's head with two cyan curved horns, resembling backlit scimitars. Looking further down, it was a human body and even had the standard six-pack abs.
A huge monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man was leaning out half of its body, looking down at me who was struggling on the brink of life and death. It let out a few strange laughs before retracting its body and walking towards the other end with thumping footsteps.
It was certainly not Ox-Head from the legendary Ox-Head & Horse-Face[1] or anything of the sort, I was sure of that. Looking at the monster's appearance, I suddenly realized that this was the world of the tarot cards. "The Tower" is the sixteenth card, and the fifteenth card is "The Devil," a monster with a bull's head and a human body. Each of these "cards" represented an independent scene, yet they were interconnected. We stayed in "The Tower" for too long, and its neighbor "The Devil" had sniffed out the noise, so it was only natural that he came over to join in the fun. Judging from this, the longer we stay, the more "neighbors" will come to get in on the action.
At that moment, I heard a violent ramming sound, along with the screams of the kids.
That Bull-head Devil must be dealing with my boat. However, I wasn't too worried about that. With the power of my real body, it wouldn't be able to open even a crack for ten to fifteen days. As long as those kids stayed on the boat, they would be safe. The problem now is how do I get out on my own!
I had little strength left, and my sword was showing signs of loosening.
I remembered Mu's "Death" card. Am I really going to fall to death in this annoying and filthy pit today?
Please, somebody give me a hand! Even if it's just a kick to send me back up!
Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead, and with a sudden crack, my sword finally slipped out of the loosening soil...
The feeling of not being able to fly is really bad.
My body plummeted into the endless black hole.
In that moment of imminent peril, a surge of scorching energy flowed abruptly on my left wrist. The piece of pure-gold dragon patterned amulet vibrated violently and a crisp jingling sound echoed in my ears. The dragon engraved on the small, round ornament seemed to come to life and circled on it, raising its head and claws, and blinked. It actually emerged from the amulet, transforming into a massive and powerful golden dragon soaring in the air.
Without waiting for any reaction from me, the huge dragon that had appeared out of nowhere, bit onto my arm and flung backward, throwing me onto its back. With a long roar, it dragged me rapidly upwards.
As I expected, the Bull-head Devil was continuously ramming my boat with the horns on its head. The kids inside were terrified, their faces drained of color.
The dragon swooped down from the air and threw me back into the boat. Then, with a swift flick of its tail, it struck the Bull-head Devil hard on the head, sending the monster flying several feet away.
I wasn't interested in wasting any more time with the Bull-head Devil. Its job done, the dragon took the opportunity to dive back into my amulet with a whoosh.
The kids stared in amazement, stuttering as they pointed at me, "Y-you... you must be a god! A dragon… It's a dragon, right?"
In truth, I was also puzzled. The pure-gold dragon patterned amulet was a small gift from Ao Chi, and I don't remember when he had given it to me. I only recall mocking him for being stingy at the time. I had teased him, saying if he wanted to give a gift, it should be something bigger since I like gold. He got so angry that he wanted to hit me and even bluntly called me ignorant.
Ao Chi, this guy...
I gripped my left wrist, feeling the familiar fiery temperature lingering on the amulet. Suddenly, my heart ached for no reason.
He's always considerate of me in all respects, isn't he?!
But, Ao Chi, where the hell are you?
I shook my head vigorously, forcefully suppressing the brief confusion in my thoughts. The top priority was to escape unharmed from this dreadful place.
Suddenly, the sound of a river reached us from the front, slowly and distantly impacting our eardrums.
My boat came to a halt in front of this gently flowing river. The stars in the sky multiplied, reflecting on the winding surface of the river stretching into the distance, looking like pairs of friendly eyes blinking.
The hull gradually moved forward, landing on the water surface without causing the slightest ripple.
However, instead of moving forward along the river, it sank below the water surface.
Is the passage to the Underworld beneath this star-studded river?
The kids thought there was a leak in the boat, so of course they started yelling and screaming again.
Gurgling bubbles rose around us, but not a drop of water touched us or the boat.
Our boat kept sinking as if it would never reach the bottom. I don't know how long it took before some radiating light sources emerged from the depths, growing brighter and brighter. Each beam of light seemed to penetrate every cell in our bodies.
Suddenly, a sense of fatigue overwhelmed me, as if I hadn't slept for three days and nights, and I was too tired to stay up any longer.
Looking at those little rascals again, they had already slumped over, all of them sleeping soundly.
My intention was to stay awake, but this time, I failed to prevail over my body. I was too tired and sleepy, and my eyelids closed uncontrollably...
[1] Ox-Head and Horse-Face are two guardians of the Underworld in Chinese mythology. They are the first beings a dead soul encounters upon entering the Underworld; in many stories they directly escort the newly dead to the Underworld.
