Chapter 159: The King of Zhuoyan

Chapter 159: The King of Zhu Yan

Wu Hong watched from the side with a heart full of trepidation. The Ox-Head and Horse-Face were even more pathetic, their complexions drastically altered in fright as their entire bodies trembled.

Wu Hong felt a mere tremor in his heart, and then the "Shatter" manual hovering above his head flashed with a dark light. With a sudden jolt, Wu Hong snapped back to his normal state.

Yet for a moment, he could not fathom why Kun Kun was able to see the ancient True Explanation of the Great Sun Tathagata, yet remained entirely oblivious to the manual currently suspended above his own head.

Wu Hong chose not to dwell on this conundrum, though a trace of wariness took root in his heart. It appeared that his manual was not entirely invisible to everyone.

Kun Kun possessed a mysterious identity as the most ancient of the Kunpeng species, capable of witnessing the past True Explanation of the Great Sun Tathagata, which clearly demonstrated that the aforementioned manual was far from an ordinary artifact.

Should he encounter another entity of such primordial vintage, his secrets might well be exposed.

However, by that time, his own strength might have reached an unfathomable realm—such concerns were far too distant, and Wu Hong refused to let them vex him any further.

The entire ghost carriage shuddered. After a long while, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face finally grew completely still.

Horse-Face frowned and muttered, "Brother, have you ever heard of the Samsara Tunnel, or this realm?"

Ox-Head’s massive cranium shook violently like a rattling drum, making it obvious that neither underworld entity had ever heard of such a chaotic realm existing within the Samsara Tunnel.

Even the ghost carriage itself had its entire body wracked with violent vibrations, buffeted by the external forces of reincarnation.

This state of affairs did not endure for long before the spatial dimensions abruptly shifted. The carriage burst out of the Samsara Tunnel and, with a sudden, jolting shock, ground to a halt within a forest, falling utterly silent and coming to a complete stop.

Wu Hong’s spirits lifted. "Have we emerged? Have we reached the mortal realm?" The ambient energy outside was full of masculine vigor, no longer resembling the boundless, dark chaos they had just traversed.

Yet Ox-Head and Horse-Face exchanged a glance, devoid of any joy whatsoever.

"What is wrong with you two?" Wu Hong asked with a hint of perplexity.

Instead of answering Wu Hong’s query, Ox-Head and Horse-Face muttered to themselves, "Bizarre. Where is this place? It is suffused with vital energy... but the demonic aura ought not to be this dense!"

Hearing their words, Wu Hong froze in place, dumbfounded.

With a creaking groan, the door of the ghost carriage swung open on its own, snapping the two underworld spirits out of their stupor.

"Ah! We are doomed! This phenomenon matches the legend of insufficient fuel!" Horse-Face cried out suddenly, his face etched with terror.

Listening to their words and gazing upon their panicked expressions, Wu Hong’s elated heart sank further and further into an abyss.

"I say, two esteemed brothers? Would one of you care to explain what is happening here?"

Wu Hong asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Ox-Head spoke with a surge of agitation, "Normally, once the ghost carriage takes on souls, it shoots straight out of the Samsara Tunnel and arrives in the mortal realm!

"Yet, although the ghost carriage is a supreme treasure, it nonetheless requires sustenance. The source of this energy is souls..."

"Souls..." Wu Hong asked, failing to fully comprehend.

Ignoring Wu Hong's confusion, Ox-Head continued, "So-called soul energy refers to the process wherein a soul's five-element energy is extracted as it passes through the Samsara Tunnel, serving as the motive fuel for the ghost carriage!

"However, if the ghost carriage is entirely unable to extract the five-element energy from within the souls, dire consequences ensue.

"There is a possibility of becoming lost midway within the Samsara Tunnel, or failing to reach the mortal realm directly, becoming stranded in an unknown world instead!"

Listening to Ox-Head's explanation, Wu Hong's complexion grew increasingly grim. It was evident that while passing through the Samsara Tunnel, the ghost carriage had failed to absorb any soul energy whatsoever from the three humans and one beast.

Consequently, its energy had been exhausted, stranding them within this unknown forest.

At this moment, Wu Hong carefully probed the space outside the carriage, discovering that within this gloomy forest, although the vital breath of life was abundant, the air was heavy with malevolent intent—clearly no normal human realm.

With a grim expression, Wu Hong demanded, "Is there truly no alternative?"

Unless they could absorb a quantity of spirits to power the ghost carriage onward, it would be utterly impossible to move the vehicle so much as an inch.

A jolt ran through Wu Hong's mind as realization dawned. "Do you not know how to summon souls? Can you not simply summon a batch of spirits?"

Wu Hong's words struck like a thunderbolt, exploding within the minds of Ox-Head and Horse-Face. The two underworld bailiffs exchanged a look, gradually growing excited as they exclaimed:

"Indeed! We traversed the Samsara Tunnel without suffering any damage, which means everything we possessed in the underworld remains intact. What is there to fear?"

Wu Hong was left utterly speechless. The two ghost bailiffs had actually forgotten that their bodies and souls had not undergone the ritual cleansing of the Samsara Tunnel; they still retained their complete consciousness and abilities, and had even grown stronger.

The two spirits and Wu Hong stepped out of the ghost carriage together.

"This ghost carriage will not simply depart on its own, will it?" Wu Hong asked with a twinge of anxiety.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face cast a contemptuous glance at Wu Hong. Without fuel, would it sprout wings and fly away?

Without another word, Wu Hong followed closely behind them. Outside the ghost carriage lay an endless forest, its towering trees as massive as those Wu Hong had witnessed in the Heavenly Book's lesser world, yet far more malevolent.

Even the colossal leaves of these towering trees possessed a terrifying pitch-black hue, as though they had been dyed with ink.

All the other flora in the forest were likewise abnormally gargantuan, their massive canopies blotting out every trace of light from the sky.

It was pitch black, but Wu Hong's cultivation had by now reached an extraordinary depth. By his own conservative estimate, even if he were to encounter a genuine Xiantian master, he could fight to the death.

As for the two ghost bailiffs, they were underworld creatures intimately familiar with darkness, meaning their vision was entirely unimpeded.

Kun Kun, perched upon Wu Hong's shoulder, did not slink back into Wu Hong's sleeve to sleep as it had previously done upon leaving the nether realm.

Instead, its small eyes blinked rapidly and erratically, sensing unusual phenomena that evidently precluded any possibility of slumber.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face waved their soul-summoning banners through the air for a long while, yet not a single soul answered the call. This left both bailiffs utterly astounded.

For this forest to be devoid of specters was simply inconceivable. One had to know that the ghost banners in their hands were capable of summoning spirits from a radius of a hundred miles or even further.

How could such a bizarre forest harbor no souls whatsoever?

Even discounting human settlements, which naturally bred numerous spirits, the sheer scale of this vast forest should have teemed with countless phantoms.

To take a step back, even if the snakes, insects, rats, and ants within the forest were simply devouring one another, countless souls would be generated ceaselessly at every moment.

Yet despite waving their soul banners in the open air for several tens of minutes, not a single soul materialized.

The two ghost bailiffs nearly popped their eyes out of their sockets in sheer disbelief, staring with massive, horrified pupils at the banners in their own hands.

Wu Hong, meanwhile, probed carefully with his senses, his brow knitting slightly. He perceived unusual energy fluctuations originating from the depths of the forest.

"I believe I know why no souls exist here. Follow me," Wu Hong said abruptly.

Though the two ghost bailiffs had been implicated and dragged down by Wu Hong, they had also reaped substantial benefits because of him.

Consequently, they attached great importance to Wu Hong's discovery, falling in step behind him as they slowly advanced into the heart of the forest.

At first, the two spirits were filled with confusion, but as their footsteps carried them deeper into the woodland, their complexions too began to shift.

They sensed an intensely powerful soul fluctuation—one the likes of which they had never encountered before.

This overwhelming pulse of spiritual energy caused both bailiffs to turn pale in unison, making it clear that unfathomable danger lay ahead.

Yet they had no choice but to follow Wu Hong, placing their absolute trust in his formidable strength.

Their entire safety was pinned upon Wu Hong and the creature resting upon his shoulder.

As Wu Hong carefully hacked a path through the thorny undergrowth, the trio and the beast gradually caught the sound of a resonant snore: "Hoo-roo—"

This snoring reverberated through the surrounding air, stirring up gale-force currents.

Wu Hong, Ox-Head, and Horse-Face felt a sudden chill grip their bodies, for the sound propagated ceaselessly through the atmosphere, drawing countless flickering, indistinct souls that drifted toward it like moths to a flame.

Wu Hong gently parted the tangled weeds before him, his pupils contracting sharply. He beheld a bizarre creature resting upon a patch of level ground within the forest, sleeping soundly—an immensely gargantuan ape.

Its entire body was covered in snowy-white fur resembling thousands of steel needles, and its four limbs were a vivid crimson. Although crouched upon the ground in slumber, its stature was estimated to be no less than a hundred meters in height.

Even in sleep, mysterious waves of power rippled across its form, drawing every single spirit from the myriad souls in the forest straight into its body!

Wu Hong thought to himself, *Good grief! No wonder Ox-Head and Horse-Face failed to absorb any souls; they were all being ingested by this fellow.*

Had he not condensed nine hundred and ninety-nine demonic arms, he would likely have turned tail and fled upon sensing an aura this formidable.

Yet the Wu Hong of the present was truly extraordinary—to what degree of might he had attained, even he lacked an exact yardstick to measure.

"Ah! It is Zhu Yan!"