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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 1: [Nether Realm of the Dead]
Chapter 27: [Landing Ashore]
(27th of Volume 1)
(End of Volume 1)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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The sword's light sliced through the Nether Mist, leaving a fiery fissure in its wake.
The sword descended directly toward the Humanoid Ghost's head.
With a shrill scream, the Humanoid Ghost, along with its Camel and Ghost Banner, plunged into the sea below.
Li Weiyi grabbed the rope dangling in mid-air just in time. He realized he was already twenty or thirty meters from the ship's railing above, and a wave of fear washed over him.
"Plunk!"
The Humanoid Ghost hit the water, its Evil Camel Bell striking first, sending up a massive spray.
A moment later, it burst from the surface, riding the Camel. Its hooves pounded across the dense mass of Floating Coffins as it headed toward the direction Qi Shanshan had disappeared.
A raspy voice echoed back: "The ship is a trap. The Nether Realm has arrived, and the path to life lies before you. If you dare, follow and see for yourself!"
"This ghost is truly hard to kill," Li Weiyi muttered.
He knew the creature was trying to lure him off the ship, still coveting the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish.
But the Humanoid Ghost was right. Staying on the ship was not just a trap, but a death trap. Even with their strict rationing of food and water, they had only enough supplies left to last a few more days.
...
"The White Bone Demon and the Camel Bell Ghost wouldn't have abandoned the ship for no reason. There must be a reason. In their former lives, they were likely creatures of this land."
"Since the Bronze Warship has temporarily stopped, I'll scout ahead. If I find land and it's safe, we'll all disembark together. Within five days, no matter the outcome, I'll return. We'll die together, or we'll live together."
Li Weiyi, uneasy about leaving the others on the ship, left his senior brother to oversee the situation.
He and Gao Huan descended the rope to the sea surface, landing on a cluster of tightly packed Floating Coffin islands.
He brought Gao Huan for two reasons: first, Gao Huan had consumed Golden Crow blood, granting him exceptional physical strength.
Second, Li Weiyi's mission wasn't just to find land; he also had to rescue Cai Yutong.
Knowing the White Bone Demon had deliberately lured them, how could he refuse to go?
If they found land but were forced to pursue the White Bone Demon, someone would need to return to the Bronze Warship to report their findings.
Li Weiyi followed the lingering traces of the White Bone Demon and the Camel Bell Ghost, racing across the Floating Coffins.
Though the path ahead was uncertain, he finally felt the solid ground beneath his feet.
The Bronze Warship behind him blurred into the ominous fog.
Before long, it vanished completely.
.....
The stern of the Bronze Warship.
The three-meter-tall bronze door, carved with the reliefs "Ten Thousand Lights" and "Nether World Galaxy (Yellow Springs Galaxy)," suddenly swung open in a gust of wind.
From the Giant Sword within, countless streaks of light shot forth, coalescing into two figures.
One of them gazed into the distance, as if able to pierce through the dense, eerie fog.
"Have we arrived?" he murmured to himself,
"If the Bronze Warship sets sail again, we'll be abandoned in this bizarre sea of blood, left to keep company with the dead in their coffins."
.....
Stepping outside his comfort zone, Gao Huan felt his heart sink with unease. He quickly added, "Never mind. Staying on the ship won't buy us many more days anyway. May the Buddha, Guanyin, the Jade Emperor... all the gods bless us and lead us to safety."
Li Weiyi noticed something and knelt down, touching a fresh drop of blood on a coffin with his finger.
"Whose blood is this?" Gao Huan asked.
"Senior Cai's."
"Did she kill Dr. Cai?"
"No! She deliberately left this drop of blood to guide me," Li Weiyi replied.
"She must need something desperately from you," Gao Huan said, "Are we walking right into her trap by following her?"
"Then we must catch up to her quickly, before she has a chance to set one."
Li Weiyi was more concerned about the White Bone Demon and the Camel Bell Ghost joining forces.
After all, the two fiends needed different things, and they could easily take what they needed from each other.
Perhaps that was why the Camel Bell Ghost was pursuing the White Bone Demon.
....
They had been chasing for an entire day, but the Floating Coffin beneath their feet seemed endless.
The two stopped to rest briefly, their stomachs aching with hunger, but they had to endure it. The food they had brought was extremely limited.
Li Weiyi's gaze narrowed as he stared at Gao Huan's head: "Don't move."
Gao Huan tensed up, frozen in place. His voice trembled as he asked, "What's wrong?"
Li Weiyi reached out and plucked a fallen leaf from Gao Huan's hair. Then, he looked up into the fog.
"What's that in your hand? A leaf!" Gao Huan exclaimed.
Suddenly, a fierce cold wind swept through, causing the Floating Coffin beneath them to sway with the waves.
The dense fog dispersed somewhat.
The two, who had been sitting on the ground, slowly stood up, their eyes widening as they stared ahead. Their spirits soared to their peak.
A vast, black mountain range emerged, stretching endlessly upward, its summit hidden from view. They were now almost at its foot.
Ancient trees, resembling gnarled old locusts, stood along the nearby shore, their branches dense and impenetrable. Their trunks were as thick as millstones, their roots plunging deep into the water, testaments to their centuries-long struggle for survival.
Thick vines, as thick as thighs, snaked through the branches of several ancient trees, bearing watermelon-sized fruits.
Beneath the ancient tree, along the water's edge, lay dense thickets of shrubs and reeds.
"Clang! Clang!"
A bronze bell, green with rust, shot out from the water behind them.
In an instant, the bell's ringing filled the air.
Black Nether Mist gushed forth from the bell, enveloping a Camel and a Humanoid Ghost, along with a Ghost Banner, and lunging directly at Li Weiyi.
"Still trying to ambush me?"
Li Weiyi had been on guard the entire time.
The moment the bell broke the water's surface, he spun around.
Simultaneously, he struck the black iron seal with the pommel of his sword, sending two streams of opposing qi - one cold, one hot - into it.
"Boom!"
Thunder echoed across the bay.
A brilliant bolt of lightning shot forth, striking the Humanoid Ghost riding the Camel within the black Nether Mist. It pierced through the ghost's chest, leaving a transparent hole.
The Humanoid Ghost shrieked and tumbled from the Camel's back.
Repeated injuries had severely weakened its combat strength.
It had assumed that upon reaching land, Li Weiyi would relax his guard, presenting the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack. But to its surprise, the young man seemed to have anticipated its ambush, reacting with lightning speed.
Gao Huan scrambled toward the shore, determined not to become a burden to Li Weiyi.
Meanwhile, Li Weiyi pressed his advantage, giving the Humanoid Ghost no chance to retreat back into the Camel Bell.
After three more sword strikes...
"Thump!"
The Yellow Dragon Sword severed the Ghost Banner's pole, cleaving the Humanoid Ghost in two.
The soul mist surrounding the Humanoid Ghost rapidly dissipated, its terrified voice echoing: "No... no... I've already returned to the Nether Realm... How can I die here? I refuse to accept this... This king refuses to accept this..."
Another sword strike shattered its soul completely.
Li Weiyi cautiously scanned his surroundings, confirming the White Bone Demon was nowhere nearby before picking up the Camel Bell that had fallen onto the Floating Coffin. He tried shaking it gently.
Instantly, a violent wind erupted.
"Whoosh-"
The three- to four-meter-tall, half-real, half-illusory Camel mount was sucked back into the bell.
"It really went in?"
Li Weiyi shook the bell twice more.
With each chime, his mind filled with chaotic thoughts and a surge of negative emotions.
He quickly stopped.
This Evil Camel Bell was too sinister, clearly an ominous object.
But its ability to absorb physical objects was extraordinary. The Ghost Banner, severed by his sword, was a physical object.
Li Weiyi tore down the Ghost Banner and tightly wrapped it around the Evil Camel Bell to prevent it from ringing again.
"Gao Huan... Gao Yutang..."
He called out twice, but there was no response.
Li Weiyi quickly climbed ashore, pushed through the reeds, and entered the dark, foreboding forest.
Before long, he found Gao Huan slumped on the ground.
"What are you doing? I called you, why didn't you answer?" Li Weiyi gripped his sword hilt tightly and cautiously approached.
Gao Huan finally caught his breath, exhaling deeply: "Damn! Scared the shit out of me. Nothing but skeletons, and all headless!"
Li Weiyi walked over to him and, upon seeing the scene in the forest, felt a chill run down his spine.
The ground was covered in a dense carpet of human skeletons, all headless.
Gao Huan climbed to his feet, forcing himself to remain calm: "Why does it feel like the land is even more terrifying than the ship? Do you think we've actually arrived in the underworld? Could this world be entirely populated by Departed Spirits like White Bone Demons and Camel Bell Ghosts?"
"No, look over there."
Amidst the sea of skeletons, Li Weiyi spotted three human corpses that had died recently.
"Humans... Thank God, human corpses..."
Gao Huan had never been so thrilled to see a corpse.
Li Weiyi scanned the surroundings, confirming there were no signs of animal activity. This wasn't a beast's lair. He then knelt to examine the headless corpses. Their necks had been severed with irregular, jagged edges, suggesting they hadn't been cut by a sharp weapon.
He crouched down and searched the corpses' clothing.
From the first corpse's chest, he pulled out a palm-sized gray cloth pouch. It rattled as he shook it, and when he poured out its contents, he revealed a handful of jade-like, circular... coins.
My first impression was that it was money.
The cloth bag, the shape - it just couldn't be anything else.
"Damn! Master Li, you think fast on your feet."
Gao Huan quickly began searching the corpses as well.
With money, you could travel the world.
Without it, even on land, you'd starve.
His hands and feet moved swiftly. He quickly stripped the remaining two headless corpses of their clothes, then moved on to the clothed skeletons nearby, no longer feeling the earlier fear.
After searching through a dozen skeletons, he turned back to find Li Weiyi had already put on the clothes of one of the headless corpses and was tying the belt.
"Master Li, what are you doing?" Gao Huan asked, surprised.
Li Weiyi replied, "I'm going to explore this world! I haven't encountered any danger along the way. You should return to the Bronze Warship to report this."
"Doesn't this look like a monk's robe to you?" Gao Huan asked.
Li Weiyi said, "I thought the same! But it's just similar to the robes we know. What real monk carries only money instead of prayer beads?"
Gao Huan also changed into a similar brown robe, thinking it might help him blend in if they encountered any native humans.
And what if it really was a monk's robe?
Buddhists always find a way to get by, no matter where they are.
"Something feels wrong," Li Weiyi said suddenly, "Why are there so many headless skeletons here? Who brought them here? We need to leave immediately!"
A sense of danger washed over him.
The feeling grew stronger, as if the threat was right at their heels.
He glanced up, his face paling. He grabbed Gao Huan's arm and motioned for them to slip away quietly.
"What's wrong?" Gao Huan whispered.
"Don't speak..."
"Not good!"
Li Weiyi looked up again, his pupils shrinking. He hoisted Gao Huan onto his shoulder, the yongquan points on his soles gushing with energy, propelling him to maximum speed as he fled in a panic.
Gao Huan had already seen what it was.
The thigh-thick vine!
It covered a vast area, enveloping the dense forest.
They had initially thought the vine bore watermelon-sized fruits, but now those "fruits" opened their bright green eyes, revealing themselves to be human heads.
Hundreds, even thousands of these heads grew directly from the vine.
Their mouths gaped wide as bowls, displaying rows of sharp, jagged teeth.
They emitted a cacophony of eerie cries and maniacal laughter - male, female, young, and old - flying through the branches and leaves behind them, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing pair.
The scene was utterly terrifying.
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END OF CHAPTER
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