Royal Road
Chapter 171
Chapter 171: Am I Hu Qian’er?
In the underworld, a spectral figure was slowly walking across the Bridge of Helplessness. Her gaze was aimless as she looked around, her eyes filled with curiosity.
“Am I… dead? Is this the realm of the deceased… It looks no different from the living world. Stop, the realm ahead is the domain of the underworld, no living shall pass.”
Just as the spectral figure was about to continue across the bridge, suddenly, a man holding a lantern appeared in front of her.
“A living person?” The woman looked down at herself, noticing her figure was ethereal, and her feet were not touching the ground.
“Do I look like a living person?” She was none other than Wan Yuxin, who had just been killed by Ye Xuan.
“Huh…” Hearing Wan Yuxin’s words, the lantern-bearing man also showed a look of curiosity; he shone his lantern toward Wan Yuxin.
“Judging by your aura, you are indeed a living person, but your body has already been destroyed, which is strange…”
“Moreover, your body emits not one person’s aura, but two—a combination similar to a soul mixed with evil energy. It’s incredible that such a being exists in this world. Come with me, you must meet Lord Yan.”
“Lord Yan?” Hearing this, Wan Yuxin became even more confused, “The evils I committed in life were so great that Lord Yan himself has to judge me?”
“Hehe, no need for more words, just come with me.” The man with the lantern shone it upon Wan Yuxin, and she felt her body being drawn by the power of the lantern, unconsciously following the man in a certain direction.
Soon, she arrived at a gloomy and solemn grand hall. At the very front of the grand hall, there was a large desk with a very burly man sitting behind the desk.
No one could see his face clearly, but his silhouette alone gave off a chilling and imposing aura. Presumably, this was Lord Yan, the supreme deity of the underworld.
“Lian You, what brings this woman to my hall?” Lord Yan’s gaze shifted toward Wan Yuxin, and in a flash, it seemed as if he had seen through all her past. Then, he turned to the lantern-bearing man and asked.
In front of this divine being, ordinary people seemed no bigger than ants. Being stared at by him, even for just a moment, Wan Yuxin felt a fear from the depths of her heart.
“Lord Yan, I discovered that this woman is not a ghost but a living soul. Upon closer inspection, I found she carries three different auras—one evil, one male living soul, and one female living soul.”
“This puzzled me, so I sought Lord Yan’s judgment on how to deal with her.”
“Hmm… Her case is indeed peculiar. She is actually a Heart Devouring Gu that has consumed the souls of a man and a woman and was born through the reincarnation well as a complete soul.” Lord Yan’s voice, as though coming from the darkness, boomed like a great bell.
“By nature, she is evil and has committed numerous misdeeds. She should be cast into the eighteen levels of hell, never to be reborn, yet…”
“After her death, the power of her soul dissipated, and she is no longer a complete soul. The male and female souls within her have begun to separate…”
“If we send her to hell, the ones suffering would be those two innocent souls. Her essence is merely an evil energy formed by the Heart Devouring Gu, which feels no pain.”
“The male soul is just a trace and its dissipation won’t matter much. But the female soul carries a very important memory… If she suffers in the underworld, the owner of that soul might never be liberated.”
“Ah, what should we do then?”
Hearing this, Lian You hesitated. People who commit many evils should be sent to hell; otherwise, it would be unfair to those they have harmed.
However, this woman’s soul is composed of a benevolent memory and a mass of evil energy. If the evil soul dissipates then the innocent good soul will be the one getting punish…
It’s not what he would want either. Ordinarily, people controlled to do evil deserve forgiveness. But the problem is, Wan Yuxin was not controlled; she is inherently evil.
It’s just that after her death, her soul will split into good and evil parts, with only the good part retaining memories and emotions, while the evil part feels no pain.
Even as a ferryman of the underworld, Lian You had never encountered such a difficult case.
“…”
After a moment of silence, Lord Yan spoke, “Since the good part of her soul is innocent, it should not be punished with her. As for her evil soul, since it feels no pain or emotion, punishing it is pointless; it might as well be destroyed.”
“Yes, by the command of Lord Yan.” As he spoke, Lian You turned his gaze toward Wan Yuxin, raising his lantern and the lantern emitted a bright blue light.
“Ah–!!!” The next moment, Wan Yuxin felt as if her soul was being torn apart by force, screaming in agony.
However, the pain did not last long before she saw her body actually split apart. She fully materialized as Hu Qian’er, and from her, a green figure was forcibly torn out.
The figure looked similar to the original Wan Yuxin, but its appearance was even more sinister.
“Thinking of killing me isn’t that easy–!!!” After the souls separated, the evil Wan Yuxin coldly uttered, then turned to flee.
“Thinking you can escape from this hall of Lord Yan, you’re underestimating us, the ferrymen of the underworld.”
The next moment, numerous lanterns flew over, trapping the sinister-looking Wan Yuxin in the middle.
“Hmph–!” The evil Wan Yuxin snorted coldly, realizing she couldn’t escape, but she didn’t feel pain or emotions; she was just pure evil.
Even as she was being destroyed, she felt no fear. As the blue flames from the lanterns flew out, beginning to burn her body, she felt nothing, just standing there disdainfully looking at Lian You until she was burned to nothing, not screaming even once.
The remaining good part of Wan Yuxin, now as Hu Qian’er, watched her own body being burned by the lantern fire. It took a long time before she finally realized:
“I… remember now… I am… Hu Qian’er… I am the memory of Hu Qian’er, who was forcibly consumed by the Heart Devouring Gu in the Yin Spring…”
“I actually merged with the Heart Devouring Gu into one soul… doing so many heinous acts…” Thinking this, she covered her head, her face tormented with pain.