Chapter 10.2

“Alright.”

As soon as the three of them landed, they weren’t able to catch their breath when they heard that cold voice: “Well. You’re already that exhausted after only running away for such a short distance?” King Yama  stood 100 meters behind them and laughed coldly… … The big head of the ghosts was no joke!

Their Godfather put away his magic tricks so that he and Cang Qiong would reappear in the real world! Although there weren’t many people on the street, the King of the Underworld wasn’t so presumptuous to expose himself before the crowd!

“Let’s go!” The godfather dragged Kong Kong and Cang Qiong and ran away. Kong Kong had no strength left. Just now, he had tried his best to fly while carrying Qiong Qiong. He fell to the ground after being dragged by the godfather after walking a few steps.

“Kong Kong!” Cang Qiong didn’t care if anyone was looking at him, he carried Kong Kong on his back and continued running away. He didn’t use any strength before, and Kong Kong was very light!

“Get on the bus!” Their Godfather saw a bus was parked at the station, so he pulled Cang Qiong to get on the bus. Since there were many people on the bus, the King of the Underworld wouldn’t mess around on the bus, right? They finally could take a rest…

As soon as the three got into the bus, the door closed.

The godfather was so lucky to catch the bus. He leaned on the pole and started catching his breath, “Qiong Qiong, do you have any change?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

“Xb, zlv xl zssj qsa …” Uydt Cksdt oyp qzkrrkdt bkp rsnjlvp obld Isdt Isdt pweeldzu vwttle yv bkp nzsvblp.

“Cksdt Cksdt…” Isdt Isdt’p hsknl oyp vlaakqkle…

“Eykv y xkdwvl!” Uydt Cksdt nswzed’v qkde bkp oyzzlv.

“Cksdt Cksdt…Nssj… oss…” Isdt Isdt rskdvle yv vbl nsdewnvsa yde nswzed’v blzr cwv nau…

“Ebyv’p tskdt sd?” Mbl Qseqyvbla yde Uydt Cksdt zssjle yv vbl nsdewnvsa yv vbl pyxl vkxl…

“Eso—! Fbl byp ds qynl—!”

Mbyv’p aktbv, vbkp nsdewnvsa, ds, dsv fwpv vbl nsdewnvsa, yzz vbl rlsrzl sd vbkp cwp olal qynlzlpp! Mblu sdzu byhl ryzl yde dyjle “qynlp”, okvb ds “bszlp” sa qynkyz qlyvwalp. Isdt Isdt oyp valxczkdt okvb qaktbv. Uydt Cksdt oyp yzps pnyale. Tl byp dlhla clld ps qaktbvldle pkdnl bl oyp y nbkze. Gv vbl hlau zlypv, bl oypd’v xldvyzzu ralryale yv yzz!

Gv vbkp vkxl, vbl prlyjla sq vbl cwp cltyd vs yddswdnl: “Mbl cwp kp ycswv vs elryav. Vzlypl bsze vbl bydeaykz vktbvzu. Mbl dlmv pvsr okzz cl vbl Fvum Ebyaq.”

The Godfather tried to hit the door, but it was useless no matter how hard he hit it with his body. All the magic he used to strike against the bus was sucked in by the body of the bus… It was over for them, truly…

The bus drove into a black hole and disappeared…

“Woo…woo…” Kong Kong hid in Cang Qiong’s arms and cried, “Qiong Qiong, do we still need to buy bus tickets?”

The godfather helplessly squatted down on the ground with his head down, “Qiong Qiong, I really have to say goodbye to you now… However, I will do my best to protect Kong Kong.”

The bus was still running, but there was no sound of the engine; it was very quiet. The black hills and ghost fire materialized outside as seen through the bus window… The faceless ghosts in the bus were motionless like lifeless dolls.

Cang Qiong and Kong Kong suddenly looked at their godfather in amazement: “Huh? Godfather, your hair…”

“Oh!” Their Godfather’s hair suddenly grew very long, even longer than The White Impermanence. 

“As soon as I return to the Underworld, I will transform back to my original appearance…” He stood up, looking out of the bus window. His long black hair has reached down to his knees. With a melancholic profile, he breathed out a slight sigh…

“Godfather is really beautiful…Qiong Qiong, if I have the chance, I want to have long hair too…” Kong Kong sighed from the depth of his heart. How could Cang Qiong fall in love with him instead of his godfather?

“You? Come on! How come you are still thinking about having long hair.”

“Why? Are you looking down on me?”

“You are like a gluttonous pig all day long. I’m worried if I have to take care of your long hair!”

“Humph! Look at…” Suddenly, Kong Kong stopped talking… Don’t mention that he wouldn’t be able to return to the human world this time, even if he could go back, his hair wouldn’t grow any longer…

Noticing Kong Kong’s silence, Cang Qiong realized his little baby’s thoughts. He immediately pressed Kong Kong to his chest, “Kong Kong’s short hair is also very good-looking, lively, and cute. Every time I see you, I just want to bite you hard!”

Kong Kong silently felt Qiong Qiong’s body temperature. Maybe this time, he really had to say goodbye to Qiong Qiong… ‘Qiong Qiong, I will always remember your thoughtfulness and affection… Even if I drink the Meng Po soup*, I will never forget you.

*Meng Po Soup: In Chinese mythology, this soup wipes the memory of the person so they can reincarnate into the next life without the burdens of the previous life. 

Seeing that the bus was still moving, the godfather started to get bored… He kicked away a few faceless ghosts who were sitting on their seats, sat upon his butt, and even called Kong Kong and Qiong to sit over. “We can’t escape anyway. Might as well introduce you to the attractions of the Underworld!” This person still had the mood to act as a tour guide!

Yes, why be a pessimist? Rearrange your perspective and relax! Kong Kong and Cang Qiong shared a wry smile, sat down beside their godfather, looked at the “scenery” outside of the bus window, and listened to the explanation from this tour guide Mr. Shi…

“The mountains in the distance are the Back Yin Mountains, which are very dangerous places! The rocks are rugged and thorny, and there are many evil spirits hidden in them! In fact, we haven’t reached the real Underworld yet. You have to cross the Styx River and enter the gate of the Underworld. That is when we have truly arrived in the Underworld…”

Several groups of ghost fires suddenly appeared outside the bus windows and seemed to be looking at the three of them…

“What are you looking at? Haven’t seen this official?” Godfather was exceptionally fierce! The few groups of ghost fire floated away in vain. Then, he pointed to the wild ghost outside the bus window and began to introduce all kinds of ghosts…

“Passengers, you have arrived at the terminal station. Please get off the bus one by one and take your belongings…”

The three of them saw a group of skeleton soldiers holding their weapons from a distance, led by the King of the Underworld and Black and White Impermanence, who were waiting by the Styx River. As soon as the bus door opened, the godfather took out a tissue as a flag of surrender, waved it as he walked down, and a group of skeleton soldiers immediately surrounded him.

The godfather knelt down to the King of Underworld and bowed his head to admit his mistake: “Lord Yama, I am willing to be captured without fighting back, but please be merciful on Kong Kong…”

“What leverage do you think you have to negotiate with me? You are a prisoner now.”

“Yes, many treasures in the underworld have been hidden by me. As long as your Lord releases Kong Kong, I will immediately tell you their whereabouts.”

“Do you think the Underworld can’t operate without those garbage?”

Ruthless! It seemed that this trick was useless! The godfather changed his strategy and started to flatter. “King Yama  of the Underworld, there are so many wild ghosts in the world anyway, one more is not too many, one less is not too less. Lord, please be merciful, just open one eye and close one eye. Let go of Kong Kong. Your benevolence and great virtue, I will keep them in my heart. Even if you will send me to the Eighteenth Hell, I will be satisfied .”

“Humph! When did you become so glib after having fooled around in the human world for so long? No matter what you say today, I will not bend the law for your personal gain! Come, throw this person back into the human world, and take Shi Qing and this little ghost to the jail!”

“Yes!” Several skeletons stepped forward to grab Kong Kong but were shaken several meters by Cang Qiong’s power. As a result, all of the skeletons’ bones fell apart. When everyone looked at Cang Qiong in amazement, a hunchbacked old ghost, whose face was sore, walked out of the skeleton soldiers. When he slowly approached Cang Qiong, he repeatedly sniffed from his nose. When his runny nose was about to touch Cang Qiong; Kong Kong fiercely slapped his face, knocking out the only remaining tooth in the old ghost’s mouth!

“Dead toad! What are you sniffing? If you get close to my Qiong Qiong, I’ll stomp you to death!” Jealous women were provoked, and Kong Kong defending his Qiong Qiong was even more terrifying.

The old ghost rolled back to King Yama’s feet, pointing at Cang Qiong and saying, “Sir, that person doesn’t have the breath of a living person…”

All the ghosts were shocked!

The old ghost continued: “Also, I smell Lord Shi’s breath on him…”

Was this old ghost the police dog of the Underworld? Did he have the ability to smell that? However, the focus now was on Cang Qiong. How was it possible that a good-looking, full-fledged living person didn’t have the breadth of a living person?

“Shi Qing! What’s going on?” The King Yama of the Underworld looked a little frustrated.

The godfather glanced at Little White secretly, and then made up a lie, “When he was born, he was supposed to be stillborn, without a soul. So I randomly found a wild ghost and threw it into his mother’s belly, but his soul has not gone through the six reincarnations so carries a lot of evil energy. In order to ensure that he can grow up healthy, I have sent him a lot of immortal energy every year until he became 18 years old. Maybe that is the reason why my scent is on him…”

“It turned out that was the case. I thought the boss had received a green hat from Pan Pan (Judge in Chinese ancient dialog is Pan Guan, so he means the godfather).” Little Black spoke out straightforwardly.

“Be quiet!” Little White stomped on Little Black’s foot…

“No matter who he is since he doesn’t belong to the Underworld’s jurisdiction now, he must be thrown out!” After King Yama gave the  order, the soldiers began to move again.

“My lord! I beg you! I know that although you look ruthless and cold, you actually have a generous and kind heart. I take Cang Qiong as my own child, please allow him to be happy! They truly love each other. How could you have the heart to break them apart?” 

It was the first time Cang Qiong saw his godfather really cry… The usual godfather was either fake crying, playing, or crying only when he was frightened by the thunder. He had never been like this, too sad to cry.

“Shi Qiong! Why do you keep doing this kind of thing?! You…”

“Sir.” White Impermanence suddenly poked at the King of the Underworld to stop him from speaking further…

Little Black patted his forehead and remonstrated King Yama : “Master, don’t we have another way? Let Cang Qiong try it out. If he succeeds, not only can he take Kong Kong away, but we, the Underworld, can also give him an immortal body!”

“No way!” Huh? Why did Little White and his godfather call out together?

When Cang Qiong heard that there was such a way, he hurriedly asked: “What way? Tell me quickly! I will try it no matter how difficult it is!”

“No!” His Godfather was vehemently against it!

“Humph! Didn’t you say they were deeply in love with each other?” The King of the Underworld showed disdain and told Cang Qong: “As long as you are willing to go up the mountain of knives for Kong Kong, get in the frying pan, and get out of the frying pan alive! I will give Kong Kong an immortal body, and let the two of you go back to your original world!”

“It’s a promise!” As long as there was a will, there would be a way!

Kong Kong felt terrible when he heard it, “No, no, no, no, go up to the mountain of knives and go down to the oil pan, it sounds like it will hurt you. I don’t allow you to do that!”

Little White came forward, trying to persuade Cang Qiong: “No! This is not a joke! You are flesh and mortal after all. I’m afraid that you will run out of blood when you climb halfway, I won’t allow you to do this!”

Cang Qiong asked back, “Why do you say these to me? Who are you?”

Little White’s hot face pressed against his cold butt, and Little Black secretly laughed at him.

* “hot face press against cold butt” is a Chinese idiom that means give someone a cold shoulder

“I’m your godfather! I don’t allow you to do this either!” His godfather stood up, very anxious. “You fool! Do you know that you could die! Your chances of winning are zero!”

“There is no absolute thing in the world! I want to try!”

“But no one has ever succeeded since ancient times!” Although that was because no one has ever tried.

“I can be the first to succeed!”

“Clap-!” A loud slap hit his face! This was the godfather’s first time hitting Cang Qiong. “If you die here, what will happen to your parents in the human world? How can you be so unfilial? Do you have the heart to make them feel sad for you? How much they cherish and love you, do you know? They gave birth to you regardless of whether your mother’s own life was in danger… I also gave you life because I was moved by their love for you. If I knew you would be so reckless with your life, I shouldn’t have let you be born in the first place! “

Kong Kong also opened his mouth and begged: “Qiong Qiong, please, don’t do this! I know that you love me very much, I am satisfied with that… don’t die for me… After I am reincarnated, you will definitely find me! We can start all over!”

“I don’t want it!” At this time, Cang Qiong didn’t want to listen to anyone’s advice. He stared fiercely at King Yama: “King Yama! Listen! Hurry up and take me there! I will take Kong Kong with me in front of your eyes!”

“Good! Have the guts! Prepare to cross the river!”

The godfather was exhausted from persuading him, Little White was also anxious, and Kong Kong never stopped crying. But Cang Qiong’s determination didn’t change in the slightest. The water of the Styx River was as red as blood, surrounding the entire secluded Underworld…

After crossing the Styx River and walking forward, one would see a large archway with six golden characters written on it, “Ghost Gate of the Secluded Underworld”. Cang Qiong held Kong Kong’s hand tightly… If he really dies here, he would choose to go to reincarnation with Kong Kong!

Kong Kong didn’t want Cang Qiong to be hurt in any way, he never stopped thinking. After thinking too hard, he finally came up with a stupid idea, “Qiong Qiong, I have to confess to you now. In fact, I don’t love you at all. I just lied to you to cheat for free food and drink. I am such a big scoundrel. If you die for me, my conscience will be extremely disturbed! Please, go back!”

‘What a fool!’ Cang Qiong watched him lie with tears in his eyes, and inwardly laugh… ‘What a stupid excuse? !’ “Well, you don’t love me, right? But I love you very very much. I’d rather die for you. You won’t be bothered by your conscience. As soon as I die, you will be reincarnated, and you won’t remember anything after drinking the Meng Po soup, right?”

“No, no, are you an idiot? Why would you die for someone who doesn’t love you?”

Cang Qiong showed a faint smile, “Something you just could never get it. When you fall in love with someone, you are willing to sacrifice for him regardless of whether the other person would return your affection or not… Kong Kong, say ‘I love you so much!’ to me as an encouragement!”

“Qiong…Qiong…”

After hearing Kong Kong call his name, Cang Qiong sighed. Alas…Cang Qiong looked at the people around him, except for King Yama  and Black Impermanence who have straight faces; White Impermanence, and his godfather seemed to be in deep thought, Kong Kong whimpered beside…Did White Impermanence have a good relationship with godfather? Why did he keep protecting him? King Yama  said that godfather “always does this kind of thing”, what did he mean?

Soon they arrived at the gate of the Underworld. Ox Head and Horse Face greeted King Yama  in front of the gate. For the first time, Cang Qiong saw an ox and a horse standing on two legs, wearing clothes and holding a mace…  Why was Ox Head not a cow? In this case, he could shoot a milk advertisement – “100% good cow produce! 100% good milk!”

King Yama led everyone into the Hall of King Yama. In the court where they usually conducted the trials, King Yama requested the ghsots to bring in the oil pan and the mountain of knives. The so-called Knife Mountain was a slope that was almost ten meters high. It was densely covered with sharp knives of different sizes and types, emitting a cold light in the ghostly Underworld; the oil pan was brimming with oil, and a few little ghosts were adding firewood and charcoal underneath to make the fire vigorously spark…  

“No, no! Just seeing these things would make people tremble. Qiong Qiong, I beg you, go back!” Kong Kong begged Cang Qiong again.

“I won’t go back alone, I’ll take you back with me!”

Little White suddenly knelt down to King Yama, “Lord, can I replace Cang Qiong to go over this mountain of knives?”

“Little White, you’re crazy!” Little Black yelled!

King Yama curiously raised an eyebrow, “You? What is the relationship between you two? You actually want to suffer for him?!”

“Everyone has called me ‘Little White’ for a long time, but my Lord should not forget my original name. My name is Cang Ling, and I am the founder of the Cang family. That is to say, I am the ancestor of Cang Qiong.”

No, no, no?! Cang Qiong became totally blank… He remembered that the founders, the first generation on the ancestral family tree, were two brothers. One was Cang Sheng and the other was Cang Ling! Although Cang Ling died without any offspring, he became a celestial being and protected the descendants of the Cang family forever. Could it be that this guy who looked like an albino patient was Cang Ling? He tried hard to recall what his father said when he was a child: Their ancestor, Cang Sheng, was known as the “Silver-haired Heavenly Master”, and his younger brother, Cang Ling, also had strange white hair… Well, it seemed that his ancestor Cang Ling was White Impermanence now……

Little Black was vaguely surprised. He finally understood why Little White kept protecting them. It turned out that the person Little White wanted to protect wasn’t that bastard Judge but this kid named Cang!

After having been shocked, King Yama said to Little White coldly: “Even if you are Cang’s ancestor, you cannot replace him to take the punishment! “

“But doesn’t the rule say that if you can pass the punishment of the Knife Mountain and Oil Pot, you can take away a ghost from the underworld? Then let me do it. If I succeed, I will take away Kong Kong!”

“No!”

“You— you are so unreasonable!”

“Little White, since you are the ancestor of the Cang family, you must have known that Shi Qing had settled in the Cang family from the very beginning, and you didn’t report it! You intentionally tried to hide him! Ox head and Horse Face! Take him down!”

“No! I only found out recently!” White Impermanence tried to lie.

When Little Black heard that King Yama  ordered to take down Little White, he stood in front of Little White and asked Yama King, “What evidence do you have to say that Little White has the intention to protect him? I have been following Little White for 24 hours every day and have never found any trace of the judge! It’s that judge of your family that is too cunning! You are the one who taught him too well!”

The scene was a total mess, Cang Qiong looked at all this with frustration.  He couldn’t say whether the Underworld was too ruthless or promiscuous! “Have you finished arguing? I can handle my own business! I don’t want to owe anyone any favors! And I don’t want the King of the Underworld to be merciful on me. I can accomplish this task on my own and take Kong Kong with me eventually!” He looked at White Impermanence and said, “The Cang family shall end at my father’s generation, and my godfather also said that my soul came from a wild ghost on the roadside, so I’m not a descendant of the Cang family, you don’t need to protect me!”

Cang Qiong’s ignorance caused White Impermanence to be speechless…

“Okay, you have the guts! Please take off your shoes!” King Yama  felt that this kid’s personality wasn’t like Shi Qing at all.

When the godfather heard that Cang Qiong was going to take off his shoes, he had a bad feeling about the spell that he had just put on Cang Qiong’s shoes. “Lord King of the Underworld! Every knife on this mountain of knives is extremely sharp, why does he have to take off his shoes?”

“I should ask you!” – Such a treacherous King of the Underworld!

Cang Qiong was very brisk as to quickly throw the shoes aside and asked, “Do you want me to take off the socks?”

“There’s no need for that…” King Yama  began to appreciate this kid a little.

Cang Qiong stretched his muscles and bones, ready to go into the battle. Before leaving, he knelt down on one knee in front of Kong Kong, took his hand, and kissed the back of his hand lightly. “Princess, believe me. I will save you from the old witch!”

‘The Yama King of the Underworld was the witch?! What are you doing? Are you acting in a fairy tale drama? !’ ──Kong Kong was dumbfounded because of what Cang Qiong had said.

Cang Qiong cheered up and came before the Mountain of Knives…

The godfather looked at his child who had such courage and didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. His eyesight stuck on Cang Qiong, but his mouth clearly said, word by word: “Lord Yama. If my dear Qiong Qiong gets hurt, I will never forgive you!”

His words were like a three-inch-long nail, which was driven into the heart of King Yama  at once…

The scene was silent, all quietly watching Cang Qiong take the first step.

The slope of the Mountain of Knives was very steep, about 50 degrees. Cang Qiong first took a few steps back, then did a short run, and quickly made a jump! His first step on the Mountain of Knives was more than one meter… If you have to be stabbed, it was better to jump higher first!

His right foot was at a height of about 1.5 meters, and his left foot followed closely, and then his right hand and the left hand! The sharp blades stabbed Cang Qiong’s hands and feet and made numerous holes in them. The dark red blood quickly flowed out. His white socks were quickly dyed red… After seeing this, Kong Kong felt extreme pain in his heart. He couldn’t bear this cruel scene and tried to turn his head away, but he just couldn’t take his worried eyes away from Cang Qiong who was working hard for him…

Cang Qiong endured the excruciating pain and tried to climb faster. He lifted his right foot immediately and stepped down again to a higher point… Every time he made a step, blood splattered everywhere, and Cang Qiong’s blood was like a stream flowing from him and hanging on the silver-white mountain of knives.

The blood kept pouring. Cang Qiong started hearing a ringing in his ears and became dizzy… He was only two meters away from the “top of the mountain”, but the strength from his hands and feet seemed to be depleting. He could only see that his hands were drenched with blood from the sharp knives, and the bones were faintly visible… Probably his feet looked the same…

“Qiong Qiong… Qiong Qiong…”

Cang Qiong felt that the only sound he could hear was Kong Kong’s cry… ‘Kong Kong, don’t be afraid. I will reach the top soon!’

“Qiong Qiong! Don’t climb any further… don’t move anymore!” Kong Kong’s crying made everyone in the scene feel emotionally touched, but not the King of the Underworld, who didn’t even frown.

“Qiong Qiong! Think about it, you don’t actually love me! You just pity me! Think about it carefully! Qiong Qiong…”

Cang Qiong felt that his hands and feet could no longer exert any strength. He then began to climb on his elbows and knees! With every step, he shouted out “Kong kong”, “Kong kong”…

The expelled blood created an ugly mess. The ghosts below all shook their heads, “Alas… such an infatuated person is really hard to come by in a thousand years…”

Kong Kong cried until his tears were dry. As he listened to Cang Qiong shouting his name… His thoughts went blank.

Finally, everyone saw that Cang Qiong miraculously reached the top of the mountain! His face was pale and covered in a cold sweat. Maybe because of the pain, his lips were trembling slightly, but soon, everyone heard him talking, and the audience suddenly became quiet…

“Kong… Kong Kong, there are many kinds of love… Maybe I fell in love with you because I pity you, or… or you fell in love with me because you were grateful to me, but in the end… the same… they are all the same love.”

After speaking, Cang Qiong closed his eyes and jumped off into the tumbling pan of hot oil—not actually jumping, more likefalling unconscious into the pan…

“Qiong Qiong–!” Kong Kong felt the sky and the earth spin for a while, and then he couldn’t sense anything around him…

“Okay! He has already jumped! Take him out!” The godfather snatched the mace from the Horse Face’s hand, rushed over, and smashed it on the frying pan…

“No!” King Yama  yelled!

“Kangdang—!” It wasn’t that the oil pan was broken, but the godfather was violently propelled back and hit the red lacquer pillar!

“Fool! This oil cauldron was made by Bodhisattva! How could it be broken so easily?!” King Yama  and Black and White Impermanence immediately ran to the godfather. King Yama  held the godfather in his arms, “Qingqing! Qingqing! Are you okay? Wake up!”

The godfather opened his eyes and slowly grabbed the collar of King Yama , “He has already jumped, he has already jumped, please, save him… save him…”

“He’ll be fine, he’ll be fine! I assure you…” Feeling a series of heartaches, King Yama  found that Shi Qing had lost consciousness…