Chapter 125: Return to the Realm of the Dead (1)

Nanshan Construction Site

The Nanshan construction site is located on the outskirts of Yanjing City. Originally intended to be expanded into a new district, construction was eventually halted due to various factors, including a major safety accident that occurred there.

According to news reports, the collapse of a building was caused by substandard materials such as cement and steel. This triggered a chain reaction that resulted in several nearby buildings suffering the same fate. It is said that the death toll was over one hundred, with countless others injured. In the current era of ghostly outbreaks, no one can be certain what kind of spirits these deceased individuals might have become.

"Master, I've found something! Ten meters beneath the site of the collapsed building, there is a dense concentration of resentful energy," Xiao Ke'ai said excitedly to Wu Zui after receiving the synced footage from Commander Cat.

"Let's go take a look."

Wu Zui and Xiao Ke'ai hurried to where Commander Cat was waiting. Amidst the ruins, Commander Cat darted back into Xiao Ke'ai's arms.

"What's the situation down there?" As soon as Wu Zui arrived, he felt a chilling aura surge from beneath his feet straight to his scalp. He turned to Xiao Ke'ai and asked.

"There's a pitch-black hole in the soil, emitting fluctuations similar to those from a spatial singularity. Commander Cat is a bit scared and didn't dare to go down," Xiao Ke'ai replied while stroking the trembling, fluffy blue creature.

"In the soil?" Wu Zui looked at the ruins, which were over ten meters high, and realized that digging through the soil to reach the hole would be no small feat.

"Let's head back to Tianliang Street first. If we don't see the 444 bus tonight, we'll hire some excavators to dig this place up tomorrow," Wu Zui said, leading Xiao Ke'ai away.

"Got it!" Xiao Ke'ai nodded and cheerfully began searching for construction crews online. This was the downside of no longer being a Spirit Detective; otherwise, ordinary investigators would have handled these matters, and they wouldn't need to worry about it.

Night fell on Tianliang Street at midnight. Xiao Ke'ai was wrapped in a thick down jacket, looking like a chubby white rabbit with her white bunny-eared headphones. Ten minutes later, she shuffled over to Wu Zui’s side. Rubbing her hands together, she asked, "Master, do you think the bus stop changed? It’s already 12:10."

"Let's wait a bit longer. The Nanshan construction site didn't move, so this stop shouldn't have either," Wu Zui replied after checking his phone.

"It's so cold..." Xiao Ke'ai rubbed her hands vigorously. She hadn't expected the night wind to be so biting. Having forgotten her gloves, she felt the full malice of winter.

Wu Zui grabbed Xiao Ke'ai’s hands and tucked them into his own pockets. "There, that should be warmer," he said, his expression calm as he touched her chilled fingers.

Xiao Ke'ai’s face turned bright red instantly. She lowered her head and said nothing, though she leaned closer into Wu Zui's embrace.

Under this intimate and warm scene, an old-fashioned blue and white bus suddenly appeared before them. The iconic, glowing red "444" route sign on the windshield confirmed its identity.

*Clang.*

The front and back doors of the 444 bus opened simultaneously, and a wave of chilling coldness instantly struck the hearts of Wu Zui and his apprentice. To their eyes, the bus was completely enveloped in resentful energy. Both of them, having reached the five-star level, could clearly perceive a four-star spirit entity inside, and the very body of the bus was a manifestation of a four-star monstrosity.

"Master, they look so fierce! Why don't we... beat them up first?" As she spoke, Xiao Ke'ai reached for her golden hammer.

"If we break the bus, how are we supposed to get to the Underworld?" Wu Zui pressed down on her hand, feeling genuinely helpless about her impulse to fight every ghost she encountered.

"Fine," Xiao Ke'ai pouted, her mood dampened, but she followed Wu Zui onto the bus through the front door.

*Clang.*

The doors closed. The blue and white 444 bus drove forward, its form becoming increasingly blurred until it completely vanished from the street.

Once on board, Wu Zui noticed that the interior was identical to the one he had previously destroyed with his hellfire. The only difference was that there wasn't a single ghostly shadow on the bus; every seat was empty.

Wu Zui pulled Xiao Ke'ai toward an empty double seat and sat down. Nothing eerie happened. "Sit down. The Underworld is at the end of this line. Let's rest for a while," he said, patting the seat beside him.

"Okay," Xiao Ke'ai replied, sitting down.

Wu Zui looked around. The route map was the same one he remembered, and the driver’s attire was exactly as it had been last time.

"Hm?" Wu Zui suddenly let out a sound of confusion.

"What is it, Master?" Xiao Ke'ai, who had been scanning the area with her golden hammer in hand, asked immediately.

"Look!" Wu Zui pointed ahead, looking shocked. Through the front windshield, several pitch-black pillars of light could be seen standing tall upon the earth. The other ends of these pillars shot high into the sky, their summits invisible.

The bus was heading straight toward the nearest black pillar. *It wasn't like this last time! Could something have changed that I'm not aware of in the past year?* Wu Zui wondered to himself.

He whispered into Xiao Ke'ai's ear, "Be ready to open a spatial singularity to escape. This is different from the last time I came here. Be careful!"

"Understood," Xiao Ke'ai nodded slightly. Commander Cat darted out from her body, cautiously scouting the bus.

Soon, the bus approached the black pillar. Wu Zui looked outside and realized it was the Nanshan construction site they had visited earlier that day. As the doors opened, this time, unlike his previous experience, he could see the passengers boarding.

He clearly saw a puddle of mud-like monstrosity crawling up the steps and into the bus. There were two round spheres on top of its body that looked like eyes. Once it found a seat, it simply slumped onto it. Red and black viscous liquid dripped from the seat onto the floor, and a rotting stench, accompanied by the thick smell of blood, spread throughout the carriage.

Xiao Ke'ai wrinkled her nose; the smell was suffocating. "Master, this guy smells terrible!" she complained.

As soon as she spoke, the puddle of liquid surged, and the eyes on its top fixed their gaze directly on her. Seeing that the sludge was about to attack, Wu Zui drew his golden sword—already coated in his own blood—and thrust it into the mass.

A flash of red fire instantly illuminated the interior, and the sludge-like entity was burned to ashes by the hellfire. Wu Zui silently braced himself for the driver, remembering that the ghostly driver previously prohibited fighting on the bus. However, this driver seemed different; it ignored the fact that Wu Zui had killed a passenger, continuing to drive as if the death of the sludge had nothing to do with it.

The bus continued forward. As it passed each station by the black pillars, the vehicle became crowded with various ghosts. None of them made a move against the two living humans; it seemed that reaching the Underworld was far more important to them.

Finally, they arrived at the last stop before entering the Underworld: the Mountain Graveyard. This was where Wu Zui had once subdued the Lantern Ghost and could be considered its home.

*After dealing with the Underworld, I'll see if the Lantern Ghost has any friends who want to leave. She and Wang Hu are inside the inner space of the Soul-Questioning Sword, along with the black skull. I wonder how they are doing?* Wu Zui thought, making a mental note of it.

The 444 bus passed through the massive gateway connecting the Underworld to the mortal world, carrying its cargo of ghosts and two humans back to the realm of the dead.

As the doors opened, a multitude of ghosts poured out, their forms vanishing into the void. Before Wu Zui could react, the seat beneath him, the bus, and the driver all disappeared simultaneously.

Wu Zui fell to the ground, and Xiao Ke'ai tumbled into his lap. There was no soft landing; the golden hammer in her hand nearly broke his thigh.

"Master! Are you okay?" Xiao Ke'ai scrambled up and quickly helped him to his feet.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Let's get away from here, and don't look at the flowers on the roadside," Wu Zui said, rubbing his bruised leg and scanning the surroundings.

The familiar Bone Path and the weeping Crying Flowers filled this dim, yellowish world, which was saturated with vast amounts of ownerless resentful energy. If the mental corruption in Wu Zui had not been cleansed, he likely would have been reduced to a killing machine upon arrival.

The Bone Path, the Crying Flowers. Desolate graves stretch out, and ghostly shadows abound.

Listening to the wailing of the Crying Flowers, Wu Zui grabbed Xiao Ke'ai’s hand and hurried down the Bone Path. He remembered that last time, a massive ghost flying in the sky had appeared within five minutes.

He had to get away before it arrived.

However, the noise from their rapid flight startled the weeping, human-faced flowers.