Chapter 155: The Demotion of Ox-Head and Horse-Face

Chapter 155: Ox-Head and Horse-Face Demoted

With a resounding splash, the ghostly carriage surged out of the water, kicking up endless gales of yellowish spring water as it reached the shore.

At this moment, Wu Hong not only completely recovered his memories, but he had also fully restored his mobility. It was simply miraculous.

The ghostly carriage was not merely a vehicle meant for transporting mortal souls across the nether realms; it was also a supreme treasure of heaven and earth, endowed with the profound ability to protect souls.

The so-called protection of the soul meant shielding it from being obliterated within the boundless, murky waters of the Nether Springs.

Once a soul fell into the Nether Springs without the protection of the ghostly carriage, it would endure endless, measureless suffering, forever denied the wheel of reincarnation. It would find no release until heaven and earth shattered and the universe itself dissolved into nothingness.

Just moments ago, Wu Hong had witnessed with his own eyes the depths of the boundless Nether Springs, where thousands of souls drifted in the infinite sea of blood outside the carriage. They had desperately tried to break into the ghostly carriage, only to be denied, left to be continuously tormented by the crimson waves. Their faces were contorted into expressions of complex terror—if such sights were to appear in the mortal world, they would frighten countless people to death.

Those wandering souls drifting within the boundless blood-waters of the Nether Springs were likely entities that, for reasons unknown, had fallen out of the ghostly carriage.

In an instant, the landscape transformed completely. The scene outside the ghostly carriage underwent a drastic change; everywhere was reeking of ghostly dread, and even the earth was ash-gray.

In the distance, a grand hall built entirely of white bones glowed with eerie ghost fires as chilling winds howled. It bore no resemblance whatsoever to the mortal realm.

Scattered across the gray expanse were two-horned, crimson-skinned demons standing several meters tall, striding across the desolate earth. In their hands, they dragged naked souls that trembled violently, evidently gripped by extreme terror.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face resumed their forms of human bodies with animal heads, their hands moving in unison to execute secret arts. The doors of the ghostly carriage swung open.

Wu Hong felt a sudden urge to rush right out, yet he steadied his mind and forced himself to remain calm.

"I entered this place aboard this ghostly carriage. If I step out now, and this carriage vanishes or refuses me entry again, then I truly will be dead..."

Before his eyes, Horse-Face and Ox-Head waved the ghost banners in their hands, calling out. The souls of the benevolent beings inside the carriage seemed guided by some invisible force, filing out one after another.

An hour passed. The expressions of Ox-Head and Horse-Face shifted drastically. The two exchanged a glance and cried out simultaneously, "How can this be?!"

The two ghosts refused to believe it. According to the roster in their hands, the number of souls harvested this time reached a full million, yet fewer than ten thousand souls emitting a faint, righteous aura emerged.

These souls had been good people in life, and their soul ripples were not particularly strong, indicating that their mortal lives had been quite ordinary.

The purpose of the Nether Springs was merely to cleanse a person's soul, but the dark attributes could not be completely purged. Even after undergoing the cleansing of the Nether Springs, the souls of evil people exiting the carriage could not become entirely pure.

Instead, they would only wander around in utter bewilderment, their minds completely wiped clean. By contrast, those of benevolent character were able to retain a shred of spiritual consciousness.

Before them, the aura of these nearly ten thousand righteous souls was distinctly bright, proving they were indeed good people in life, rather than evildoers.

Only about ten thousand benevolent souls emerged from the ghostly carriage, and not a single evildoer among them. How could this not shock the two ghost guards?

The ghostly carriage was a supreme treasure of the Underworld used to shuttle between the realms of the living and the dead. It brought mortal souls through the Nether Springs for cleansing while simultaneously protecting them.

Not even if beaten to death would Ox-Head and Horse-Face believe that every single soul on the carriage had fallen into the Nether Springs.

Normally, souls inside the ghostly carriage who struggled violently had a slight chance of slipping from the entrance of the Nether Springs and falling completely into the depths.

However, that probability was infinitesimal; only the most heinous souls would fail to endure the torment, break through the defenses, and plunge into the boundless sea of blood in the Nether Springs.

"How is this to be explained? Can someone tell me?" Ox-Head and Horse-Face stared blankly at the meager gathering of benevolent souls, completely dumbfounded.

Once these souls stepped off the ghostly carriage, they were assigned their proper destinations—some based on their strength, others on their good and evil deeds, descending into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The virtuous would be reborn as humans, while the wicked would enter the eighteen layers of hell to continue suffering.

For the souls cleansed in the Nether Springs, Ox-Head and Horse-Face possessed a ledger recording every individual's virtues and sins from their mortal lives.

Naturally, there were also special exceptions—such as Demon King Ma, whose soul bore an immense tally of bloodshed and was therefore destined for heavy employment in hell.

A common saying in the mortal world went: to kill one man is a crime, to slaughter ten thousand makes one a hero, and to butcher nine million makes one the hero of heroes. Such a person, even upon arriving in hell, could not simply be cast into the eighteen layers of hell to suffer.

Typically, individuals responsible for tens of thousands of deaths possessed immensely powerful souls. Upon entering hell, they were usually assigned to prominent roles, perhaps serving as special executioners or judges.

Throughout his life, Demon King Ma had killed countless people, long surpassing the mark of one hundred thousand. Before he began cultivating, he had been a common executioner, decapitating over a hundred people daily. Later, he joined the army, slaughtering with even greater reckless abandon. After his cultivation soared, he killed indiscriminately, striking down anyone simply because he was in a bad mood.

Yet among these ten thousand souls, there was no sign of Demon King Ma and his son. Ox-Head and Horse-Face were so frightened that their faces drained of all color.

If the two failed their mission, they would be reassigned by the King of Hell to be cast back into the mortal world to start life anew, enduring the suffering of ten lifetimes of reincarnation before they could ever hope to regain the rank of ghost guards.

Hiding inside the ghostly carriage all the while, Wu Hong peeked out at the two ghost guards. A trace of guilt stirred in his heart; after all, he was the one who had plunged these two into this predicament.

Though he did not know the exact nature of this predicament, judging by their trembling bodies, it was clearly an unbearable outcome.

Helpless as they were, Ox-Head and Horse-Face had no other choice. They could only gather the tens of thousands of souls and stow away the ghostly carriage.

Wu Hong felt the surrounding space shift, plunging everything into boundless darkness. He had no idea what was happening outside.

Time seemed to lose its meaning. After an unknown duration, Wu Hong felt a sudden burst of light before his eyes as his vision was restored.

"Ah, you and I share the same miserable fate. Let's go up. If it weren't for this ghostly carriage, the two of us brothers would not only have completely vanished from heaven and earth, but we wouldn't even have had the chance to be reborn as beasts."

"Lord King of Hell still showed us some mercy, sentencing us to be beasts for only ten lifetimes before restoring our positions as ghost guards."

"If we had been forced to be humans for ten lifetimes, who knows how much suffering we would have had to endure?"

The voices of Ox-Head and Horse-Face drifted from outside the ghostly carriage.

Wu Hong grasped the general gist of the conversation, realizing that because of him, these two ghost guards—who possessed a certain endearing quality compared to humans—were forced to endure ten lifetimes of reincarnation as beasts.

At the same time, a surge of excitement stirred within Wu Hong. Since their conversation touched upon reincarnation, it meant he could ride this carriage back to the mortal realm once more.

Far too much had happened over the past two years or so. With his memories restored, Wu Hong found it hard to believe. Retaining his memories of Huang Ling, and combining everything that had happened previously along with the conversation between Huang Ling and Huang Hu, Wu Hong understood that heaven and earth had undergone a drastic transformation. The barriers between realms had dissolved, messengers from the Primordial Realm descended frequently, and post-heaven martial experts were as numerous as trees in a forest.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth had surged exponentially. Yet none of this concerned Wu Hong. What mattered to him was that, over these past two years, the fake Wu Hong had somehow managed to completely usurp the royal title he had risked his life to earn, even ascending to the position of Prince Wuwei.

That meant Third Madam, Wu Songran, and all those within the Prince Wuwei's Estate who had once favored him—every single friend and confidante of his—would be plunged into boundless danger.

The very first thing Wu Hong would do upon stepping out was to completely annihilate that fake Wu Hong, regardless of whatever deep-seated grudge the imposter held against him.

Anyone who dared harm Wu Hong's loved ones was a person Wu Hong would never allow to draw breath in this world.

*Thump, thump.* The sound of footsteps reached Wu Hong's ears. Clearly, the two reluctant ghost guards had boarded the carriage.

The moment Ox-Head and Horse-Face stepped into the ghostly carriage, they caught sight of Wu Hong sitting right where he had been. Their eyes widened instantly as they blurted out, "It's you?! How is this possible?!"

Utterly shell-shocked, the two ghost guards stared in disbelief as Wu Hong sat cross-legged in the ghostly carriage, safe and sound. His physical body was intact, and his soul radiated a dense, vigorous demonic aura.

The sight left the two ghost guards completely speechless with astonishment.