Yefutidaolu

Chapter 404 The Day and Night Wanderer (Sorry, I fell asleep last night)
The true "riverbed" or "branch" of that vast Yellow Springs, which carries the reincarnation of all beings and washes away all memories, flows high above this hellish place!
Its aura cascades down like a waterfall, permeating the land.

After walking a while longer, the dark red sand beneath his feet gradually became harder and damp, and the moisture in the air grew heavier. Finally, he arrived at a relatively open area.

The riverbank was no longer filled with the dense execution grounds and wailing souls of the condemned; it was now empty and silent. Only the omnipresent pressure of the underworld enveloped everything as if it were a tangible force.

Looking out into the distance, one can see some blurry outlines in a certain direction on the riverbank, distinct from the natural environment.

He perked up and quickened his pace.

As the distance closed, the outlines gradually became clearer.

That seemed to be... a small, simple stone pavilion? And beside the pavilion, two... figures stood?
Gao Jian's heart involuntarily quickened.

The day and night wandering spirit... this must be it!

He straightened his slightly disheveled clothes, took a deep breath to calm the slight agitation in his blood and qi caused by the long journey and drug use, and walked calmly toward the stone pavilion and the figure.

After a seventeen-day trek, our destination is within reach.

The gods roam day and night.

Based on the scattered mentions of the Yaksha demon and some common knowledge about hell, the day and night wandering gods are deities responsible for patrolling the boundaries of hell, guiding or blocking specific souls, and maintaining a part of the order between yin and yang.

They may not be as powerful as the Ghost King, but they are well-informed and reside on the border of the Underworld, making them the most likely to provide clues at present.

He headed towards the edge of the Iron City, towards where the aura of the underworld was even stronger. The closer he got to the city walls, the more intense the sense of detachment brought about by the deathly silence and emptiness in the air became.

Before he had even truly reached the shores of the underworld, Takami's steps faltered.

In the dim, blurry area ahead, seemingly bordering the edge of the world, two strange figures stood, as if they had been waiting for a long time.

One figure seemed to be formed from the hazy morning light, its face indistinct yet carrying a burning, watchful gaze. The other was completely blended into the shadows, as if flowing from the night itself, exuding a cold, probing aura. The two stood side by side, their temperaments vastly different yet strangely harmonious.

Is it composed of Yin and Yang energies?

Gao Jian recognized them at a glance—the Day and Night Wanderers.

The reason is simple: their features are too obvious. Both are dressed as jailers, wearing black robes, but their appearances are peculiar: small cheeks, bare shoulders, and disheveled hair. Each of them holds a wooden plaque with the words "Day Patrol" and "Night Patrol" written on it respectively.

The brand name is clearly displayed, how could it be fake?
Just as Gao Jian was about to step forward and strike up a conversation, he saw the Night Wanderer, who had blended into the shadows, make the first move.

It glided forward silently, its figure blurring instantly. In the next instant, it suddenly appeared less than ten feet in front of Gao Jian, giving him a cold glance.

A hoarse, low voice, like the night wind blowing through withered bones, rang out:

"Insightful, isn't it?"

Gao Jian's heart skipped a beat, and his pupils contracted slightly. The other party had actually called him by name?

He forcibly suppressed his surprise, keeping his expression unchanged, raised an eyebrow, and asked in return, "You two venerable deities... know me?"

At this moment, the day-roaming god, formed from the morning light, also stepped forward. Its voice carried a dry and scorching quality, like the friction of sand and gravel scorched at midday: "In recent years, the number of living people who have crossed the Yellow Springs to come to this place can be counted on one hand. Every single one of them is recorded."

The Day Wanderer paused, his tone becoming businesslike and carrying a natural indifference: "According to the rules of Hell, any living being in the mortal realm that breaks the boundary between life and death without cause and trespasses into a death zone is committing a grave crime of disrupting the order of Yin and Yang, and should be executed on the spot, its soul scattered!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Jian's mind raced, and he immediately grasped the key point in the other party's words, responding neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Your Excellency's words are probably not entirely true. I have heard that powerful beings of the fifth rank or even higher often send their juniors to hell for training and tempering, in order to improve their Dao heart. Could it be that they are also considered to have 'trespassed without cause' and deserve to be killed?"

The Night Wanderer's shadowy face seemed to flicker, letting out a dry cough: "Cough cough... Yin and Yang are in order, beyond the laws and principles, yet also beyond human feelings."

Gao Jian immediately understood: "Oh—money can make the devil turn the millstone, right? As long as the benefits are enough, even the boundary between life and death can be circumvented."

"Insolence!" The Day Wanderer seemed enraged by Gao Jian's blunt and slightly insulting words. The hazy morning light around him seemed to brighten a bit as he glared at Gao Jian. "Stop talking nonsense! This is an expedient measure after considering many factors! You must not say anything more, just listen to what we two gods have to say!"

Gao Jian knew when to stop, immediately shut up, and pretended to be "all ears".

He knew the crucial moment was approaching.

The day-roaming deity and the night-roaming deity before them, one speaking and the other repeating themselves, gradually explained the ins and outs of the matter like a duet.

It turns out that the "treasure" that the patriarch of the Shui family in Cangzhou obtained from the Divine Dynasty was not some powerful weapon or amulet, but a special token that was enough to bribe the day and night patrol gods!

With this item, they received the "permission" and "guidance" of the day and night wandering gods, allowing them to pass through the perilous Yellow Springs relatively safely and arrive smoothly at this near-hell.

However, just as the day and night wandering spirits were routinely leading the Water Clan Ancestor and his group through the Yellow Springs, they keenly sensed another anomaly—the presence of Gao Jian!

A living being, without any guidance or "token" from them, actually entered the Underworld on its own, and... it even seemed to have withstood the erosion of the Underworld!

"Crossing the boundary between life and death, and passing through the Yellow Springs, is by no means an easy task." The Day Wanderer said solemnly, "It requires going through a life-or-death ordeal, which cannot be accomplished by anyone but those with great perseverance, wisdom, and supernatural powers. Generally speaking, one must at least decipher the secrets of reincarnation, comprehend the method of the true spirit's immortality, and thoroughly unify and integrate one's past and present lives, as well as all causes and effects, before it is possible to rely on one's own strength to force one through and survive."

The Night Wanderer's shadowy face turned to Gao Jian, his voice tinged with inquiry and disbelief: "But you... with a mere eighth-grade cultivation, you are clearly far from reaching the aforementioned realm. Yet, I don't know what method you used to forcefully withstand that life-or-death calamity and plunge all the way into this hell!"

The day and night wandering spirits spoke in unison, their voices overlapping, carrying an undeniable air: "That's why the two of us are waiting for you here."

Gao Jian fell silent.

So... the scene of countless pillars of corpses reaching the sky and the birth and death of countless worlds that I saw in that strange space before was the so-called "calamity of life and death"?
Indeed, if it weren't for the rusty knife protecting him at the last moment, he would probably have been completely lost and disintegrated in that terrifying torrent.

“So,” Gao Jian raised his head, his gaze calmly meeting the two deities’ expressions, “you two venerable gods have come here specifically to wait for me, for what reason?”

The roaming god leaned forward slightly, his burning gaze seemingly piercing through Takami's body: "We want your secret."

The Night Wanderer's voice rang out again, cold and direct: "To be able to break through the life-or-death tribulation on your own without our guidance is something that no eighth-rank cultivator could do. You must be hiding some kind of secret, or rather... method, that we don't know about."

The day and night wandering gods spoke in unison, offering their conditions: "Give us this secret, and we will allow you to remain in this near-hell, temporarily waiving your crime of trespassing." The night wandering god added, his tone seemingly fair: "Secrets and knowledge are the most valuable things in all realms. We won't take yours for nothing; this secret is enough to grant you legal stay in hell. If you wish to leave, when the time is right, we can even send you back to the mortal world."

The Day Wanderer's tone carried a hint of threat: "If you refuse... then you will remain here forever, becoming one of countless sinful souls."

After hearing this, Gao Jian sighed inwardly.

Sure enough.

It's true... money makes the world go round.

Since the wandering deity was willing to make things easy for the Shui family patriarch and his party for the "treasures" provided by the Divine Dynasty, he would naturally come to me for the "secrets" that might contain even greater value.

The low-level officials in this hell seem to be no different in essence from the officials in the mortal world.

However, the secret of the rusty knife is absolutely not something that can be revealed.

In a flash, Gao Jian cupped his hands and feigned confusion, asking, "You two deities, the cycle of reincarnation is vast, hell is expansive, you govern the order of life and death in all realms, and you have witnessed the mysteries of countless worlds. Could it be... that you are still lacking my humble secret?"

Upon hearing this, the Night Wanderer let out a low, hooting sound, like that of a night owl: "There are too many troubles in the worlds—in countless world systems, there are endless conspiracies, struggles, wars, and killings every day, all sorts of bizarre secrets, powerful techniques, and forbidden knowledge, which are born and annihilated at any time and place. They are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges."

It paused, then asked in return, "But we often say, 'Everything goes as usual, the sun doesn't rise from the west.' Do you understand what that means?"

Gao Jian nodded, as if he wanted to say something.

However, the Night Wanderer interrupted him directly, not intending to let Gao Jian express his understanding: "To you, we are the rising sun."

Gao Jian suddenly stopped, all the words stuck in his throat.

He stared in astonishment at the two deities before him, who represented the basic order of hell.

Are we...the sun?
Gao Jian was stunned for a long while before looking at the Day and Night Wanderer and slowly said, "Since that's the case... Hell itself is as constant as the sun and moon, unchanging since time immemorial, so why would it need... my insignificant secret?"

The figures of the day and night wandering spirits swayed slightly in the dim light and deep shadows, and they spoke in unison, uttering a sentence that sent chills down Gao Jian's spine:

"That's why we become the sun."

Gao Jian was utterly speechless, and could only let out a long sigh filled with complex emotions.

"Ugh……"

hell……

This supreme place of ultimate judgment, this wheel of cause and effect that maintains the balance of all realms...

Its basic operational logic is not fundamentally different from the corrupt officialdom of the Divine Dynasty and the secular world where the masses struggle and fight for their own interests.

There is nothing new under the sun.

Gao Jian originally thought that hell was transcendent.

Look, so many sinful souls are suffering here, enduring the retribution for their sins.

You see, the power of hell is so terrifying that it can torment all beings in the world.

Therefore, in my opinion, hell is a just place.

It maintains the most basic law of cause and effect, like "action and reaction," but it doesn't really care about the specific affairs of the world, or who obtained what secret, or who destroyed which civilization.

It simply exists eternally, running like a huge and sophisticated machine, indifferently executing the program of "retribution".

The conflicts between the worlds, the birth and annihilation of secrets, may seem to it as if the sun were watching the dust on the ground dance.

No matter how chaotic the world is, how much sentient beings struggle, or what form evil takes, hell will eternally and mechanically perform its function of "retribution," just like the rising and setting of the sun.

It doesn't care about the nature of good and evil, but only whether "action" and "reaction" are balanced. It is the ultimate settler of all cause and effect.

But now it seems that this is not the case.

"Is hell really this mercenary?" Takami sighed.

The Night Wanderer glanced at Gao Jian and sighed.

The next moment, Gao Jianmeng brandished his sword!

A deafening roar! A terrifying force struck the rusty knife!

The rusty knife was fine, but Gao Jian was sent flying backward, his body shattering instantly!
As his vital energy circulated, his physical body rapidly recovered, and his entire body scraped a furrow in the ground!
Gao Jian knelt on one knee, each breath accompanied by a tearing pain in his chest. The backlash from the ghostly energy felt like countless red-hot needles piercing through his withered meridians. The rusty knife, now dull and lifeless, lay across his knees. The rust on the blade seemed to have completely solidified, and it was icy to the touch, devoid of any spiritual energy, no different from ordinary iron.

The cold voice of the day and night wanderers still echoes in the air.

"...To survive one's own tribulation is an anomaly. An anomaly is a 'secret' that should not exist here. Hand it over, and perhaps you may receive a sliver of leniency." The light and shadow of the Day Wanderer flickered slightly, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

The shadow of the Night Wanderer spread even more directly to Gao Jian's side, his whispers seeping into his bones like ice: "Others have appeared before, and they can buy their way forward, so we can turn a blind eye. The secret you possess is far more valuable than ordinary. Don't make a mistake; in this near-hell, being scattered to the winds is the most common 'retribution'."

Gao Jian coughed up a mouthful of blood, which fell to the ground with a slight corrosive sound. He slowly raised his head, his face contorted with pain, but his eyes held a stagnant calm, reflecting the dark sky of hell.

Oh shit.

Two earth immortals.

(End of this chapter)