Yefutidaolu

Chapter 398 Strange Things
The sheer volume and complexity of information, beyond description, contained memories that left Gao Jian completely stunned.

His soul couldn't process so much information, so although he seemed to see many things, he actually saw nothing at all.

An elusive, hazy world flashes before my eyes, rising and falling in waves.

But if one were to approach these aristocratic families with a keen eye, one would find that countless extraordinary achievements and the great prospects of civilization have turned to dust.

A mirage in the vastness of the universe...

It seems like I can see everything, yet it also seems like I can't see anything at all.

What I see... seems to be a feeling.

It seems there's no information.

Gao Jian had a premonition.

I cannot truly read that information, nor can I truly know about the demise of those worlds.

Otherwise he would die.

The "clarity" power bestowed upon him by the rusty blade, which protected the outer layer of his soul, cracked under the strain. In order to withstand this first and most intense wave of information overload, all the sharpness and spiritual energy accumulated by the rusty blade were completely exhausted in this moment!
The last remaining seven inches of cold light on the blade completely dimmed and disappeared, the entire blade turning gray and covered with rough rust. It no longer possessed any divine power, having become nothing more than an inconspicuous rusty club. To unleash its power again, it would require further honing.

Even so, this was already incredibly fortunate. If it weren't for the rusty knife's incredible ability to protect the soul, Gao Jian's soul would probably have been annihilated like a bubble in the sunlight the moment that torrent of information hit him.

Gao Jian remained in this "blinded" state, frozen in place, having lost all perception of time. Perhaps it was a moment, perhaps it was ten thousand years.

After an unknown amount of time, his empty eyes finally twitched slightly.

Immediately afterwards, he shook his head violently, his movements somewhat stiff, yet carrying a resolute determination!

The divine will slashed fiercely into the depths of his own memories!
All the incomprehensible and indescribable "feelings" and "information" he was forced to receive, all the vague impressions about the birth and death of the world, were forcibly stripped away, packaged, and compressed! Then, like dealing with the most dangerous garbage, he sealed them deep in the deepest, most remote corner of his sea of ​​consciousness!
He even deliberately blurred his memory of this "confused" state.

You can't watch this, you'll die if you do.

Never touch these things again.

Gao Jian made the strictest prohibition against himself. He had a feeling that in the long life ahead, he would not and could not actively open this self-sealed "compressed file".

"call……"

After doing all this, Gao Jiancai let out a long, deep breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. His eyes regained their clarity and sharpness, but a lingering, indelible palpitation remained deep within them.

He looked up and began to really take in his surroundings.

It is certain that this is not the "Yellow Springs" in the ordinary sense. The rules, the atmosphere, and the terrifying accumulation of information here all indicate that this place is located in a deeper and more fundamental place than the Yellow Springs.

What lies below the Yellow Springs?
Based on all the records and ancient legends that Gao Jian knows, the answer is almost obvious—

hell.

Hell is a place where people are imprisoned and punished for their crimes. It is the ultimate prison located beneath the earth, where souls burdened with sins are imprisoned and punished.

"Is it hell?" Gao Jian murmured to himself, unable to be sure. But the group led by the Shui family patriarch, carrying a precious treasure brought from the Divine Dynasty, were clearly heading deep into this place; they must know something.

He looked around.

Before me lay an incomparably vast, empty, and deathly silent world.

The earth was a dark red, as if it had been soaked in blood for millions of years and then dried and hardened, forming an endless red desert. The sand was coarse, devoid of any vegetation or trace of life. The sky was a gloomy dark red, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, only an eternally unchanging, deathly light, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

A slight, dry wind whipped up red sand, forming a thin curtain of sand in the air, emitting a low, mournful sound that added to the desolation and eeriness. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but red sand, stretching all the way to the blurry horizon, a vast emptiness that sent a chill down one's spine.

Gao Jian stood in this crimson desert, his gaze sweeping across the land, where only a scorching crimson remained. The fine sand, like blood, stretched to the horizon, merging with the dim sky to form a blurred and oppressive boundary.

Occasionally, a breeze would sweep by, stirring up layers of sand ripples, like silent waves of blood slowly creeping.

A sweltering, metallic scent, a mixture of rust and ash, filled the air, causing a slight stinging sensation when inhaled. Here, there were no sun, moon, or stars, only an eternally unchanging crimson hue, shrouding an endless stillness and desolation.

The distant horizon was slightly distorted by the heatwave, making it appear somewhat remote.

but……

When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it. Now that we're here, we should at least find out what's going on.

Gao Jian composed himself, randomly chose a direction, and started walking forward.

Footsteps crunched softly on the red sand, their sound exceptionally clear in the absolute silence.

They hadn't gone very far—

The red sand in front of him suddenly exploded without warning!

Several figures engulfed in jet-black flames suddenly emerged from the sand!

These figures still vaguely retained their human form, but their limbs were twisted and their faces blurred, as if they were made of charred charcoal and ashes. The pitch-black flames were no ordinary fire; they exuded an aura of extreme pain and resentment, scorching their bodies with a "sizzling" sound, yet unable to completely incinerate them. Instead, they left them forever in an extreme state of being burned!
Suffering from pain, burning all over the body, enduring all kinds of suffering!

These "things" can hardly be called living beings. Their skin and flesh are charred and cracked, as if they were burned by raging fire and then soaked in a ditch for thousands of years. No flesh or blood is visible deep in the cracks, only dark red flames that dance and flow wildly! The flames do not envelop them, but rather gush out directly from their hollow eye sockets, open mouths, and torn chest cavities, making a crackling sound.

Almost the instant Gao Jian noticed them, those dozens of fire zombies, carrying waves of venomous heat that could incinerate everything, rushed towards Gao Jian from all directions! Their movements were astonishingly fast, at least at the sixth level of cultivation.

In the Divine Dynasty, this would be considered a 'master', but here he seems to be just an ordinary person!

Gao Jian frowned, instinctively reaching for his sword. But the thought had barely formed when he remembered the rusty blade had transformed into an iron rod. So he changed his technique, immediately circulating his qi and blood, and punched the leading fire zombie!
"Oh!"

The punch was so powerful that the zombie's upper body was blasted to pieces! However, the black flames, like a leech, actually clung to Gao Jian's fist along with the force of the punch!
"laugh--!"

An indescribable, searing pain instantly surged through him! The flames could not be extinguished with his blood and qi; instead, they burned ever brighter, spreading wildly toward his arm!

This kind of pain is as if what flows from the veins is not blood, but molten iron and copper, and the flesh is being boiled and cooked by the molten iron. From the inside out, the skin, flesh, bones and blood are all mixed with the molten lava and blazing fire!
The protective martial arts internal energy had little effect in the face of this strange flame!

Gao Jian grunted and made a decisive move! He pointed his left hand with fingers like a knife and slashed at his own right shoulder without hesitation!
"Tsk-!"

A right arm, burning with dark red flames, was severed at the shoulder and fell to the ground! Almost in the blink of an eye, the severed arm was completely devoured by the eerie flames, turning into a small clump of pale ash that drifted away in the wind.

Gao Jian's face turned slightly pale, and blood and qi surged at the broken shoulder, quickly growing a new hand.

The seminal vesicle has been opened, and rebirth through bloodletting is not a difficult task for Gao Jian, but the piercing burning pain still lingers.

"Trouble..." His eyes turned serious, and he was no longer careless. He quickly darted backward, and at the same time, he grabbed the rusty knife back into his hand with his left hand.

Iron bar it is, as long as I don't touch those flames myself.

At this moment, more fire zombies rushed forward, their scorching heat distorting the air and forming an encirclement.

Gao Jian stopped engaging in direct confrontation and moved like a ghost across the red sand, dodging the attacks.

He wielded the iron bar in his hand; though it had no sharp edge, the immense force infused into it was still terrifying! He no longer tried to break them, but instead used exquisite control to precisely strike the zombies' joints, skulls, and other vital parts with points, flicks, smashes, and vibrations!

"Bang!" "Crack!" "Thud!"

The muffled thuds continued. With each fall of the iron bar, a flaming zombie would fall apart, its head shattered or its torso broken.

Strangely, the instant these zombies were "killed," the flames burning painfully around their bodies suddenly extinguished, and the contorted expressions of agony on their faces instantly relaxed, transforming into an indescribable peace and satisfaction, as if they had finally been released. Then, their remains turned into wisps of black smoke, merging into the red sand and disappearing without a trace.

Gao wielded his iron rod with concise and swift movements, dodging and weaving through the crimson sands. Every swing of the iron rod was effective, and soon, sand and sparks flew around him, reflecting the dwindling number of enemies.

About an incense stick's time later, the last fire zombie was struck between the eyebrows by an iron rod, and silently shattered and dissipated.

The desert returned to its deathly silence, with only Gao Jian's faint breathing and the subtle sound of the red sand flowing beneath his feet.

Fortunately, the rusty knife was still so hard that the flames couldn't burn off the rust at all, so it wasn't a problem.

Then, he stood with his staff in hand, frowning as he surveyed his surroundings. This place... was indeed extremely eerie. These zombies didn't seem like guardians; they were more like a group of pitiful prisoners tormented by eternal suffering, yearning for release but unable to find it, ultimately drawn by the aura of the living.

Defeating them is like showing them mercy.

After catching his breath and suppressing the lingering pain in his right shoulder, Gao Jian continued forward. He had to find traces of the Shui family and figure out what had happened in the underworld.

After traveling for an unknown amount of time, which Gao Jian estimated to be about a day, the surrounding scenery remained a desolate, crimson expanse. Just when Gao Jian thought this desert would never end, he suddenly stopped.

On the distant horizon, a shadow appeared, larger than anyone could have imagined.

That was a... city?

They saw the towering iron city, shrouded in black mist, with numerous guards, all with bull-headed faces, blue bodies and dark hair, each wielding a spear or halberd, some sitting and some standing on either side of the gate.

At the city gate, two ghostly officials, their figures ethereal and dressed in black robes, were holding some kind of eerie document and showing it to the bull-headed guards at the gate.

After the guards verified that everything was correct, they moved aside the massive weapons and allowed the few blurry souls they were escorting to enter the city.

Gao Jian concealed his aura, carefully approached the massive city gate, and peered inside.

The scene inside the city was even more tragic.

Some were skinned alive, their blood dripping as they hung on iron hooks; some were pierced by sharp iron spikes, their bodies riddled with wounds; some were disemboweled, their hearts and eyes gouged out, their internal organs and eyeballs carelessly discarded on the ground, yet they did not die, forced to endure endless suffering.

Screams, wails, venomous curses, and desperate cries mingled together, their anguish and lamentations echoing through the air, a sound so poignant it shook the very earth! Every inch of the land seemed to be soaked in pain and despair.

Gao Jian walked to the outside of the city and saw two bronze pillars, burning red-hot. A male and a female spirit were tightly bound to them, their flesh instantly charred, emitting a sizzling sound and an extremely shrill scream.

Beside him stood a yaksha, wielding a sharp blade, who ripped open his chest, causing his intestines and stomach to spill out immediately. Another yaksha then lifted a bucket of boiling soup and poured it directly onto his spilling intestines, stomach, and wounds.

Gao Jian frowned. At this moment, he noticed that the ghosts and yakshas around him seemed to be indifferently carrying out their punishments, without showing any hostility or intention to attack him, the "uninvited guest".

So he composed himself, mustered his courage, stepped forward, pointed to the two men being tortured on the bronze pillar, and said, "Could you tell me why they are being tortured?"

A little imp who was fanning the fire looked up. It had an ugly face, but its eyes were unusually calm, as if it were just stating a common matter. It replied, "These people, when they were alive, were fond of committing adultery, so they are suffering this retribution."

The kid's attitude was indifferent, even somewhat numb. He showed no surprise at Gao Jian's question, nor did he intend to drive him away.

Gao Jian was surprised. He had come to inquire with extreme caution, but he never expected the other party to be so "cooperative".

With that in mind, he felt a little relieved and continued his exploration.

Arriving at another place, they saw an open space where many souls had been stripped naked, and the ghosts forcibly covered them with the blood-stained, steaming hides of cattle and horses.

Their skin and flesh were joined together as if they had grown together. The souls struggled in agony, their bodies twisting and changing until they were all transformed into animals, such as cows, horses, mules, and donkeys, neighing.

Those who hesitated or refused to comply were immediately struck by the ghost soldiers beside them with iron whips until their skin was torn and they bled profusely. In the end, they had no choice but to submit and be turned into livestock.

The expert then asked the reason.

The supervising ghost official said, "In his life, this person ate without farming, wore clothes without weaving, indulged in lust and meat, and enjoyed all the blessings but did not fulfill his responsibilities. Therefore, he was transformed into a different kind of being, to perform countless labors in his next life to repay what he has done today."

The expert nodded and continued on his way.

He noticed that the ghosts... seemed to ignore him?
(End of this chapter)