American comic book red Superman

"Don't worry, they are guardian beasts."

"Bullhead explained."

"Ah."

Luo Wei tried to use his super vision to explore the main hall, but found that the walls of the building were covered with special runes that could not be penetrated by the naked eye. All he could see was a white light.

He didn't continue, following the bull-headed figure into the main hall, but upon entering, he was drawn to a mural on the right and stopped in his tracks.

"Bullhead, who is that in the mural?"

Luo Wei squinted as he examined the content of the mural.

In the mural, there is a figure with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks, standing on auspicious clouds of seven colors, holding a golden staff, striking down at an oriental dragon. The mural is so lifelike that a glance at it seems to bring the scene to life, flashing through one's mind like a movie.

"That one? It's the Monkey King."

"It's just a monkey."

[This chapter contains 4229 words]

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Chapter 54, Part 53: The Underworld (Part 2)

"That one? It's the Monkey King."

"It's just a monkey."

The first sentence came from Niu Tou, followed by a low, slightly hoarse voice, as if there was a phlegm stuck in his throat, with a tone of disdain and resentment.

"you are?"

Upon hearing the sound, Luo Wei looked over and discovered a tall man standing behind him. The man was pale, with a rugged appearance, a large forehead, thick eyebrows, a big beard, and a crown on his head. His muscular body filled out his wide-sleeved robe, making him look extremely dignified and awe-inspiring.

"In your Chinese culture, I am generally called Yama, the King of Hell."

Yama, the King of Hell, stroked his long beard and said...

"You are the lord of the underworld."

Luo Wei raised an eyebrow. He knew about Ox-Head and Horse-Face, since they had appeared in the original work, but there was not much description of the master of the underworld.

"Boy, you can't just say things like that. I'm in charge of the Fifth Court, the underworld isn't my domain."

King Yama shook himself and quickly interrupted the boy.

"I thought myths and reality would be different."

Luo Wei was somewhat embarrassed. Yama was only one of the Ten Kings. If it was similar to the myths, there were beings above him with even higher positions. He just didn't know what the system of the underworld was like. After all, the underworld in DC was a dimensional world with a complete system.

"It's alright. I won't hold this against you since you returned the door knocker."

King Yama shook his head, the glazed tassels on his crown jingling. He stroked his beard and continued, "If you don't mind, come with me for a tour of the Underworld Palace."

"Alright, I've been wanting to see the Underworld Palace for a long time."

Luo Wei didn't rush to leave. His super intuition told him that Yama had something to ask of him, otherwise he wouldn't have let Niu Tou bring him in for no reason. You should know that in the original story, Niu Tou was very hostile to outsiders entering the underworld. Even if he returned the door knocker, he would at most be polite and would never take the initiative to invite them to the main hall.

However, Yama never mentioned it, so Luo Wei took the opportunity to visit the Underworld Palace.

In fact, the Underworld Palace is similar to the ancient imperial palace, but the Underworld Palace is particularly gloomy, with a ceiling that is tens of meters high, like a giant's palace. It is filled with cold yin energy. If an ordinary person stayed here for a period of time, he would probably die.

The spirits of countless dead souls from the underworld have settled here, and even if it was originally a place of auspicious feng shui, it cannot conceal the pervasive yin energy.

"This is my study, where I review and approve memorials. It also contains the documents of countless deceased souls, including their memories and information from their lives."

Yama, the King of Hell, led the way through a deep, dark corridor to a door at the end.

"Study?"

As Luo Wei was speaking, the door clicked open. He instinctively looked inside, and his pupils suddenly contracted. In the study, there was a table and a chair. Looking ahead, there were bookshelves arranged in a circle, like towering pillars stacked up to the sky. The height of the bookshelves was so great that the end disappeared into the darkness.

"Surprised? The underworld doesn't just collect the dead from your universe."

Yama, the King of Hell, lifted his sleeves and sat down on the long chair.

"You mean, the underworld is connected to the multiverse?"

Lowe astutely grasped the key point. As a time traveler, he naturally knew the concept of the multiverse; the DC universe wasn't just one universe, but also contained other universes.

There are multiple universes, which are parallel worlds.

There are other Supermen or Justice Leagues in other worlds, but he never expected that the underworld is connected to the multiverse!

Luo Wei admitted that he regretted it and shouldn't have returned the door knocker so easily. Perhaps if he had kept it, there would have been more room for maneuver.

"Don't be so surprised. The underworld connects to other universes and takes in the souls of the dead, but we can't enter those universes, and you shouldn't even think about going to other places through the underworld."

Yama, the King of Hell, saw through the boy's thoughts.

"Pity."

Luo Wei was disappointed. He had thought that the underworld was powerful and could connect to various universes, so this place would be like a transit station. In the end, the underworld was just a recycling center.

"No, you should be glad. If the underworld is a transit station for the multiverse—or rather, a transit station, in your vocabulary—then it would only make your universe more chaotic."

King Yama's expression hardened, and he continued, "Especially since not all Supermen are paragons of justice. I've seen an unjust Superman in some universe. Although you are somewhat cruel, you have a righteous heart, and you stand..."

"King Yama, you summoned me here not just to chat about everyday matters, right?"

Luo Wei had no intention of listening to his nonsense anymore. This old guy had been playing the riddle-maker the whole time since he appeared, beating around the bush.

"You are indeed very clever. Since that's the case, I won't beat around the bush anymore. I do have something I'd like to ask for your help with."

Yama, the King of Hell, said with a solemn expression, "Actually, the reason I gave the door knocker to your emperor was to find a token that had fallen into the mortal world and a dead soul."

"Why? Give me a reason."

As Luo Wei asked, he was also recalling. He had no memory of anything about tokens or the dead. Perhaps it was related to the timeline. The underworld that arose from this timeline was different from the underworld in his memory.

"As I mentioned earlier, the underworld takes in many spirits from different universes. In fact, most of these spirits are not brought here by us, but rather they drift into the underworld through certain rifts. Initially, there were very few of them, but as time went by, the number of spirits gradually increased. In desperation, we had to establish the Ten Courts to govern the spirits that drifted into the underworld."

King Yama opened a picture book, which contained many hideous images of the dead. As he spoke, his expression turned colder: "However, not all the dead will obey your command. After all, even when the body dies, the soul does not disperse, and the dead still have their own thoughts. Over time, some powerful dead have broken free from the shackles of the Ten Courts and entered the Earth where you are, that is, the human world. In order to maintain their souls, the dead live by absorbing human energy, killing many innocent people."

"The spirit used the token to escape, but it was damaged after it escaped and could not return to the underworld. However, the token can be repaired. Once it is fully repaired, it can use the token to bring the spirits of the underworld to the human world, which will surely be a disaster."

He took a breath, stroked his beard, and continued speaking.

A few minutes later, Luo Wei finished listening to Yama's words and understood the cause and effect.

Over a hundred years ago, a spirit from the underworld escaped to the human world, which is the Earth where Luo Wei lives. It was at that time that the door knocker and...

The token was handed over to the emperor of China at the time, who then instructed mortals to help bring the spirits of the dead back to the underworld.

Unfortunately, the escaped spirits were not found. Later, an imbalance occurred between the underworld and the mortal realm, leading to a complete loss of contact.

Later, when the two dimensions reconnected, for some reason, none of the Ten Kings of Hell could travel to Earth, but Yama, the King of Hell, refused to say why.

Eventually, the spirit they were tracking disappeared, and the underworld completely lost track of it.

King Yama turned to the last page of the picture book and said in a deep voice, "If I weren't unable to leave the underworld, I wouldn't have bothered you."

"Since we've lost contact, that spirit has most likely dissipated. What's the point of you looking for me?"

Luo Wei didn't completely believe Yama's words. The other party was just a native of a dimensional world, not a real immortal, and there was no guarantee that there was no trickery involved.

"It didn't disappear; it reappeared in recent years. The last place where its presence was sensed was in Sichuan and Chongqing."

King Yama pulled out a map, a map of China from a hundred years ago, and pointed his pale finger at the Sichuan-Chongqing region.

"How long ago did he appear in Sichuan and Chongqing?"

Upon seeing this, Luo Wei's expression hardened.

"Half a month ago."

As Yama was speaking, he noticed the boy's expression change and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I visited Sichuan and Chongqing about two weeks ago."

Luo Wei suddenly thought of someone: Pei Xushan and the jade pendant around his neck. How could a charlatan have such a magical jade pendant? And how did he know about the door knocker and the legends of the underworld, and even know such details?

Now that I think about it, it seems like someone was behind Pei Xushan's actions.

Chapter 55, Section 54: The Dead and the Japanese (Part 1)

"In that case, you are the perfect candidate. The escaped spirit is called Chi Hun. It usually absorbs the souls of the living, and generally chooses strong people to strengthen itself."

Upon hearing this, Yama pointed to the last page of the album, which contained a portrait of a dead person. The dead person's face was deathly pale, and their forehead was dark. However, unlike the ghostly soldiers that Luo Wei had seen, this dead person looked similar to a living person, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, but their expression was fierce and extremely malevolent.

The old man pointed to the picture book and continued, "Men, in particular, are often its targets, and you may have already become one of its targets."

"No wonder Pei Xushan said I was exceptionally talented."

Luo Wei recalled when he met Pei Xushan, the other party inexplicably said that he was exceptionally talented, perhaps it was at that time that the undead had already set their sights on him.

“Superman, I have said all I need to say. If you do not wish to deal with this matter, I will not force you.”

King Yama closed the picture book, and with a casual wave of his hand, the picture book disappeared.

“The spirits of the dead are wandering in China. I can’t just abandon the people of China.”

Luo Wei sneered inwardly. The old man knew perfectly well that he would not abandon the undead, after all, the undead were in China and had their eyes on him. Even if he did nothing, they would come knocking on his door one day.

"I knew that Superman would always be the embodiment of justice, but I won't take it for nothing. As long as you find the token and the spirit of the dead, I can grant you one request. As long as it's within my means, I will do my best."

As Yama was speaking, he felt that his sincerity was not enough, so he swore to the heavens that he would never break his promise, saying, "If I break my promise, may I be struck by lightning."

"okay."

Luo Wei knew that in mythology, immortals rarely swore oaths to the Heavenly Dao, because if they broke their promises, they would easily be punished by the heavens. However, in the DC universe, there was no Heavenly Dao, so he didn't know if it would work.

Thinking it over, he continued, "How am I supposed to find the dead? It's not a living person and has no physical form. My super hearing and eyesight can't detect its traces."

"Don't worry, I was prepared."

As Yama spoke, he conjured a token wreathed in dark energy from under the table. Made of solid wood, it made a loud "bang" when he slammed it on the table. He said with a smile, "Once the aura of that undead Chi Hun is exposed within a certain range, the token will flicker and guide you to find it."

"Okay, now that I've found the spirit, how can I contact you?"

Luo Wei suddenly realized a problem: the undead are not physical entities, and he is somewhat of a brute. In the early stages, he cannot perform operations such as altering reality, so it is very difficult to kill enemies that are not physical entities.

"Once it is found, the underworld will naturally receive the message, and the gates of the underworld will open automatically, and the underworld soldiers of Ox-Head and Horse-Face will go to capture it."