My Girlfriend is the Nether King

Chapter 38: 038 Traveling to the Netherworld



After reciting "Yin and yang inherently know no bounds, why then should I not venture forth" for several times, suddenly, the floor underneath Chen Hao's feet disappeared, and Ye Yuqiao, who was standing beside him, also vanished. He found himself in a black space where no sound of air movement could be heard.

Then, he began to fall in this silent space until a dark purple vortex appeared below him. The vortex was like a gate, a portal to another world.

The moment he fell into the dark purple vortex, a bright purple light flashed before his eyes, causing a stinging pain in them.

He closed his eyes.

Instantly, when he opened his eyes again, a towering stone gate that reached the clouds suddenly appeared before him. He looked up at the gate, which was a good fifty meters tall and eighty meters wide—such a magnificent gate was something he had never seen before. In the center of the stone gate, the words "Netherworld" were inscribed.

Flanking the stone gate were towering walls that stretched towards both sides, fading into the misty horizon, looking majestic and grand. Chen Hao continued to look up as far as he could, and on the walls, he saw countless bull-headed and horse-faced figures armed with long blades or spears standing in formation. The sky above the stone walls bore a purplish-blue color, so pure there was not a single star or cloud to be seen.

"This is the gate to the Netherworld!" Chen Hao marveled. After looking for a while, a dizzying sense of vertigo suddenly washed over him like a tidal wave, as if he had been overwhelmed by the imposing presence of the gate. He lowered his head, shook it to keep himself alert and then walked closer to the gate.

All around Chen Hao were numerous yin souls who had recently died and come to report to the Netherworld. They were either astonished, sorrowful, or expressionless as they walked towards the Netherworld's gate.

Approaching the gate, Chen Hao was stopped by Niu Tou and Ma Mian, who led him aside and questioned him sharply, "Chen Hao, how did you get to the Netherworld? Have you died already?"

"No." Chen Hao waved his hands repeatedly, "I'm here to see my grandfather."

"You cannot see your grandfather until you fulfill our conditions!" Niu Tou coldly rejected.

Chen Hao's face fell, and he pleaded, "My lords, I have already uncovered the true nature of those spirits pretending to be deities. Today, I've come to seek my grandfather's guidance on methods to deal with them."

"Oh?" Niu Tou was curious, "Tell us, what exactly is the story behind those deceivers?"

Chen Hao swallowed, then told Niu Tou and Ma Mian about the Ghost King ruling the Netherworld and the dispatch of the Eight Great Law Kings to oversee the yin souls in the mortal world.

Niu Tou and Ma Mian were quite surprised upon hearing this. Although they resided in the Netherworld, because of ancient rules barring anyone besides the Nether King from interacting or interfering with events within the Netherworld, they were unaware of what was occurring inside it. Niu Tou asked, "Where has the Nether King gone?"

"How would I know!" Chen Hao feigned ignorance. To ensure Ye Yuqiao's safety, he couldn't reveal her circumstances to Niu Tou and Ma Mian. "My lords, please let me see my grandfather, I truly am in urgent need to meet him!"

"All right then!" Niu Tou agreed. After saying this, the two-meter-tall being picked up Chen Hao with his left hand and threw him upwards. Instantly, Chen Hao shot out like a rocket, flying towards the wall where another Niu Tou caught him.

Niu Tou set down Chen Hao, saying, "Follow me!"

Chen Hao examined this Niu Tou closely and found him to be almost identical to the one he encountered below, and he felt an eerie familiarity—as if this Niu Tou was a different incarnation of the same entity. Not only that, but all the Niu Tou and Ma Mian standing guard on the wall looked the same.

As he followed Niu Tou along the wall, Chen Hao looked towards the interior of the Netherworld, but unfortunately, his view was obstructed by thick purple fog. It was then that he finally understood why, when the spirits from the Eighteen Levels of Hell flooded into the Netherworld causing great chaos, Niu Tou and Ma Mian were completely oblivious.

Walking on, an idea suddenly struck him. He wondered if activating Nether Vision would allow him to see through the dense fog. Quietly, he activated the skill Nether Vision and two seconds later, his vision penetrated the heavy mist, revealing the world beneath the walls.

"Wow!" Chen Hao couldn't help but exclaim internally. He had assumed the Netherworld was a desolate place shrouded in perpetual darkness, but he saw instead an ancient city bathed in gentle sunlight and breeze. The houses in the ancient city were mostly wooden, exuding an antique charm.

In the center of the ancient city stood a resplendent golden palace. Seeing this, Chen Hao couldn't help but think of Ye Yuqiao's past—whether she had lived in this palace. A sudden warmth filled his heart, and he began to imagine the scenes of Ye Yuqiao's past life within these palace walls.

On a wide road outside the palace, Chen Hao saw a group of patrolling soldiers led by a young and handsome man who was not dressed in military attire but wore ancient robes and held a folding fan. Suddenly, as Chen Hao's gaze swept over this man, he raised his head to look directly at Chen Hao, his eyebrows knitting with thought, as if he had noticed Chen Hao's presence.

Chen Hao was startled and immediately turned his head to look down at the stone-paved road beneath his feet.

Before long, Niu Tou led Chen Hao into a watchtower. The tower was quite gloomy and chilly. Niu Tou lit an oil lamp and stepped onto a narrow spiral staircase hugging the wall, descending downwards, with Chen Hao carefully following, touching the damp walls as a chill took hold and made him tremble.

After about a minute's descent, Chen Hao saw a warm yellow light below. In the glow casting on the chilly walls, Chen Hao heard a familiar, emaciated voice. Suddenly, his eyes moistened, and he hurried down the stairs.

"Grandfather!" Chen Hao called out, his voice sounding as if he was on the verge of tears. Before him stood his grandfather, Chen Che, the man he had grown up depending on.

Upon seeing Chen Hao, the weariness in Chen Che's eyes gave way to a flash of brilliance, and he stood there stunned. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It wasn't until Chen Hao threw himself into his arms and he could feel Chen Hao's trembling that he dared to confirm it wasn't an illusion.

"Haozi, my boy!"

Chen Che's face suddenly creased with wrinkles as he was inundated with tears. "How did you get here?"

Chen Hao did not speak again but instead, like a child, he threw himself into Chen Che's arms and burst into loud sobs.

After crying for a while, Chen Che helped Chen Hao to sit on the bed.

After drying his tears, Chen Hao looked around the dark and damp room, frowning as he said, "Grandpa, living in such a cold and damp place must be hard!"

Chen Che smiled kindly, shaking his head before saying, "Haozi, your grandpa is now a Yin Soul. This chilly place is actually quite comfortable for me."

Hearing this from Chen Che, Chen Hao cried again. He was now a Yin Soul himself, so how could he not know whether it was comfortable or not? Moreover, if it were truly comfortable, then what was the bright and sunny Netherworld he had seen just before?

"Haozi, don't be sad. It's quite peaceful here!" Chen Che said as he patted Chen Hao's back to comfort him. He chuckled and then asked, "By the way, Haozi! You haven't told Grandpa yet, how did you come here?"

With a hoarse voice, Chen Hao told Chen Che about the unexpected discovery of the Book of Yin and Yang Exorcism under the ancestral tablet, and he recounted the few pages he could see from the book.

After listening, Chen Che sighed repeatedly.

In Chen Che's hesitant eyes, Chen Hao could be sure that his grandfather was definitely keeping something from him.

"Grandpa, are you hiding something from me?" Chen Hao inquired.

Chen Che sighed again, nodded, and then looking at Chen Hao with a worried expression, he said, "Haozi, your grandpa indeed has something he's been hiding from you..."

Then, Chen Che told Chen Hao that the Chen Family had a rule; every three hundred years, over twelve generations, a once-in-three-hundred-year Yin Yang master talent would emerge from the descendants of the Chen Family, identifiable by their ability to obtain the Book of Yin and Yang Exorcism. Long before Chen Che had a child, he had calculated that his future grandson would be the next twelve-generation reincarnation talent of the Chen Family.

But what he hadn't expected was that after Chen Hao was born, a Feng Shui master, who was the reincarnation of Taishan Laojun, told him that Chen Hao had too much Yin Qi to practice the Yin Yang Arts, as it would harm his body due to clash between Yin and Yang. Therefore, Chen Che drew a seal of Yang on Chen Hao, sealing his Dantian, preventing the Yang Energy naturally and continuously produced in Chen Hao's Dantian from spreading throughout his body.

Chen Che had thought this cycle had been broken in the Chen Family, but to his surprise, Chen Hao still obtained the Book of Yin and Yang Exorcism.

After Chen Che finished explaining, Chen Hao was shocked, and then he explained to Chen Che, "Grandpa, now my Yang years have ceased, and my Yang Spirit is gone. As long as the Yang Spirit is not present, no matter how much Yang Energy there is, it will not clash with the Yin Qi in my body. You can tell me how to undo this seal."

Chen Che looked at Chen Hao with surprise, as he hadn't expected that after just half a month, Chen Hao would understand so much. After thinking, he said with a sigh, "On the diary Grandpa left for you, there is a method to lift that seal. However, even though you are the prophesied talent of the Yin Yang master, once the seal is lifted, you will naturally understand some Yin Yang Arts; but now that your Yang Spirit is gone, your Dantian can't produce Yang Energy anymore. Without Yang Energy, no matter how talented you are, you are nothing but a skilled chef with no rice to cook."

Chen Hao nodded in disappointment and bowed his head in contemplation. Remembering that previously Ye Yuqiao had several times drawn out or returned Yang Energy to him, he asked, "Grandpa, is there any way or thing that can help me absorb Yang Energy?"

Chen Che furrowed his brows and fell into deep thought. After a long while, his wrinkled face suddenly brightened with an amazed look, "I remember, more than ten years ago, Grandpa met an Onmyoji who was carrying a stone on his back, called the Turtle Spirit Stone. He once told me that this Turtle Spirit Stone was the stone essence of a turtle that had turned into an immortal after living over a thousand years; because of the turtle's longevity, it contained a great amount of Yang Energy and carrying it could absorb the Yang Energy within."

"Turtle Spirit Stone?"

..

Meanwhile, in the mortal world,

Not long ago, after being driven away by Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao with dog blood, the Seven Fairies went to the Yin Yang Master Association for help. Half an hour later, the leader of the Spiritual Division of the Yin Yang Master Association, Liu Yongping, arrived at Chen Hao's doorstep with four other Onmyoji, followed closely by the Seven Fairies. Concerned about the possibility of dog blood spells painted inside, the Seven Fairies and the others dared not enter the house and waited outside.

Without another word, the five burst through Chen Hao's front door and charged in. Because they were worried about the dog blood spells painted inside, the Seven Fairies did not dare enter and waited outside.

At that moment, Ye Yuqiao was sitting on a chair, guarding Chen Hao's body lying on the ground. Seeing the five Onmyoji break in, Ye Yuqiao stood up and angrily snapped, "You've got some nerve, trespassing into a person's house like this!"

Seeing Chen Hao lying motionless on the ground, Liu Yongping shouted at Ye Yuqiao, "Witch, what have you done to Chen Hao? We must execute you today!"

"Quickly bring those two out to us!" commanded the Bixiao Fairy from outside at that time.

"Yes!"

..


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