ATEG Chapter 73.1

“How so fast…” Chang Andu murmured incredulously. He held his forehead, as if the dizziness from before his drunken dream had not yet dissipated.

It was only one daytime, and the sun hadn’t even set yet, when they had traveled from the Daqing Mountain range to Liang Kingdom. This was not something human power could accomplish.

Was this a dream? Had he not yet sobered up from the wine? What kind of people were those two boatmen? Immortals? Demons and ghosts? What kind of boat had he taken on this journey?

“We’ve arrived, get off the boat!” came the coarse voice of the conical-hatted person again.

Chang Andu nodded reflexively. “Oh, alright, alright…”

He reflexively stepped forward to disembark, but suddenly stopped when passing by Mister Li. The boat had already docked, and Mister Li was closer to the bow than he was, so why hadn’t he gotten off the boat?

“Mister Li, we’ve arrived. Aren’t you getting off the boat?” Chang Andu asked.

“He hasn’t arrived yet,” the conical-hatted person urged.

Mister Li nodded with a smile, but Chang Andu suddenly felt a chill. He turned and grabbed Mister Li’s sleeve. “You… you should get off the boat with me. We’ve already reached Liang Kingdom!”

“What’s it to you? You’ve reached your destination, so hurry up and get lost! Don’t come back!” The conical-hatted person impatiently and roughly pushed him.

Chang Andu looked over—the conical-hatted person’s face was still hidden in shadow, with a strange familiarity and icy coldness. The pale-faced boatman said nothing, but his deep eyes seemed to carry malice, and that face so pale it didn’t look like someone who spent all day exposed to the sun on the river… didn’t it have a slight greenish tinge?

What did it matter what kind of boat he had taken on this journey? What did it matter where Mister Li was going? Hadn’t he already safely reached Liang Kingdom? Shouldn’t he leave this strange boat right now?

But perhaps it was the warmth from the wine gourd in his bosom—Chang Andu didn’t know what came over him, but he grabbed Mister Li and said loudly, “But… but the end of this waterway is Liang Kingdom! Further down this section of waterway is a waterfall!”

Cold… like being soaked in icy water down to the marrow, piercing every nerve with pain. In his dizzy mind, he seemed to faintly hear wailing.

The words he shouted seemed to have changed something, pushing things toward an even more terrifying direction…

Before Chang Andu had time to feel afraid, he suddenly felt himself being pushed. A force came from the sleeve he was grasping, causing him to involuntarily release his hand and be carried by that force in a daze as he got off the boat.

“Get off the boat. You’ll be safe all the way.”

Mister Li’s voice, tinged with a smile, sounded in his ears. The bone-chilling cold suddenly disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared, as if it had all been his hallucination.

He was already standing on the shore, with soft but solid earth beneath his feet. Chang Andu looked back behind him—the great river flowed on, the sound of water continuous, but the river surface was empty. In just the turn of a moment, that boat had vanished without a trace.

Chang Andu clutched his bundle and shivered thoroughly.

He turned around and hurriedly distanced himself from this long river.

The further he walked, the more fear churned up in his heart. More and more strange details tumbled back through his mind. The pale-faced boatman who didn’t want payment, the conical-hatted person whose face he still hadn’t clearly seen, Mister Li who brought no luggage at all… yet when he was on the boat, he had only felt slightly uneasy.

Had he not sensed the danger? No… he had sensed it, but it was as if—as if instinctively, something was telling him he was safe, so he had relaxed. But now that he had left that boat, these influences had also receded, and he began to feel afraid again.

He had felt safe… who had made him have this feeling?

Mister Li had given him a gourd of wine, pushed him onto shore, and the conical-hatted boatman hadn’t wanted to let him on the boat…

“Who goes there?!”

The sudden challenge awakened Chang Andu from his confused thoughts. Without realizing it, he had already walked to the village nearest to the ferry crossing.

Chang Andu looked toward the person who had challenged him—it was a middle-aged man holding a rake, his eyes alert. Chang Andu recognized him. When he used to come to Liang Kingdom with his father, they would always stay in this village.

“Da Zhou, it’s me, Chang Andu!” Chang Andu waved.

Da Zhou looked at him carefully. After confirming his identity, instead of relaxing his vigilance, he became even more serious and asked: “It’s you… how did you get here? Where did you come from?”

“I came by boat. I’m here to find my father,” Chang Andu said.

“Impossible!” Da Zhou held the rake pointed at him. “No one can travel that river anymore!”

“You… what do you mean?” Chang Andu’s heart went cold.

“I don’t care if you’re a demon or a ghost—this isn’t a place for you to cause trouble. Leave quickly!” Da Zhou shouted.

“I won’t come closer. I really am Chang Andu. My father sent word he was coming home, but he never returned. I came along the route to find him.” Chang Andu’s heart grew more anxious. He held up his bundle with his hands open to show. “Don’t be nervous. I won’t come closer. Have you seen my father?”

Da Zhou looked at him suspiciously and warily. “Your father stayed here one night over a month ago. The next day he took a boat back to Lu Kingdom.”

Chang Andu felt a chill through his whole body. “But you said earlier that no one can travel that river anymore. What did you mean?”

“At first there were still people ferrying across privately on that river, but soon there weren’t. There are no normal boats traveling there anymore. When your father left, I didn’t know if he took a normal boat or… something else.” Da Zhou muttered the last few words quickly in unease. “In any case… your father isn’t here. I don’t know if you really are Chang Andu or how you got here, but don’t come closer. Leave this place and don’t come back.”

Chang Andu only felt his heart tightening in bursts—he felt dizzy.

He thought again of that boat.

But he had arrived here safely, but…

…..

Li Chi stood at the bow, two strands of prayer wishes entwined around his fingertips.

No one punted the boat, yet the small boat shot forward along the waterway like an arrow from a bowstring, faster than the river’s current.

The pale-faced boatman looked at Li Chi’s fingertips and let out a cold laugh. “So you’re a deity from the Divine Court.”

The roar of the river water grew louder and louder. The enormous waterfall cliff was close at hand.

“What offering did that mortal give you? Is that bit of prayer power enough to offset the cost of making an enemy of me?” The small boat thundered down the waterfall. In the suddenly amplified sound of water, the pale-faced boatman sneered coldly, “Soft and foolish compassion!”

The small boat fell with the waterfall but didn’t land on the river section below. It kept falling down—falling into the river water, falling to the riverbed, falling beneath the mud and sand…

The sound of water suddenly went silent.

The small boat finally landed on a new “river surface.”

This was a different space. Darkness was everywhere, vast and seeing nothing else. Only the muddy yellow river water beneath the boat flowed into the darkness—no source visible ahead, no destination visible behind. The water rippled but made not a sound.

The pale-faced evil god, disguised as a boatman, casually removed his disguise. His face was greenish-white, wearing dark green robes with river water patterns growing on them. Within the water patterns, struggling and wailing shadows faintly emerged. The lower down the robe went, the deeper the color became, and at the hem, a muddy yellow faintly showed through.

Mist gradually rose from the river surface, far thicker and far colder than the mist on Jiuqu River, mixed with traces of muddy yellow. The shadows that had been indistinct in the mist now clearly revealed their forms.

They were water ghosts with greenish-white faces.

The auras of these water ghosts merged into one, transforming into cold mist. The small boat was lifted by the water ghosts and mist, not actually touching the muddy yellow river water below.

The water ghosts’ eyes were cold and murky, as if they had no consciousness of their own, yet also as if they shared a single consciousness.

After arriving here, the pale-faced evil god’s aura kept growing stronger. He seemed to have become part of that group of water ghosts—he manipulated them, controlled them, just like a locust king controlling a swarm of flying locusts.

Li Chi looked around. The distance was dark and vast, with the muddy yellow river water beneath his feet the only visible thing.

“I see,” he said.

“Are you starting to regret it? But it’s already too late.” The pale-faced evil god revealed a fierce smile. “I don’t particularly care about that mortal. One mortal’s soul—if I abandon it, so be it. You’re much more useful than him!”

Li Chi didn’t make a move, so the pale-faced boatman didn’t either. His power was still growing stronger—he wasn’t in a hurry. He had discovered this secret realm by chance, and there were many peculiarities within it. He had spent considerable effort to figure it out.

No matter how powerful a cultivator was, in this secret realm they would be restricted. He had used this secret realm to eliminate countless enemies. Even cultivators far more formidable than him could only be slaughtered at will here before they understood the rules of this realm.

Apart from the quietly flowing muddy yellow river water beneath their feet, there was only the surrounding darkness.

No riverbanks, no reefs, no sky… only the muddy yellow river water flowing, and the river water was also the only thing that could be touched.

The surrounding darkness was of unknown power. The pale-faced evil god had tested it many times, but no object or living being could walk into that darkness. He had tried driving water ghosts to float into the darkness beside the river water, but the water ghosts could not leave the vicinity of the river water no matter what. He had also personally tried walking into that darkness. No matter how far he walked in the darkness, as long as he turned back, he would find that muddy yellow river water right behind him.

This darkness was like a maze, but far more formidable than any maze. It was as if the concept of “distance” had been erased.

The space above this muddy yellow river water was the only area where movement was possible.

But the silent river water was not as calm and harmless as it appeared on the surface. Anything that fell into the river water could not splash up even half a drop of water—it would only sink down and disappear. Tangible matter, intangible magical power, and even divine consciousness—upon contact with the river water, all would be devoured by it. Only souls carrying deep resentment and grievance could remain above the river water. In other words, only vengeful ghosts who died unjustly.

If they didn’t have enough obsession or resentment, then these souls would likewise sink beneath the river surface, perhaps devoured by the river water, or perhaps carried by the river water to some unknown place. Who cares?

“You can’t escape…” The pale-faced evil god’s cold and eerie voice lingered in the mist.

He had been cultivating here for a long time, refining the power of the muddy yellow river water into his sinister cold mist. Although he could only wield the river water’s power here for now, this was enough to give him an overwhelming advantage here.

This was his home ground.

But the deity before him was too calm—this made the pale-faced evil god feel some unease, which quickly transformed into fury and ferocity.

As his connection with the surroundings deepened and his power grew stronger, the aura of resentment pressing on him became heavier. His eyes were even more vicious and sinister than when he was on Jiuqu River. Though his mind was still clear, the ruthlessness in his heart grew increasingly violent.

The conical-hatted person stood quietly to one side. Wisps of resentful evil qi were drawn from him and merged into the thick mist. He hung his head, trembling faintly as if resisting yet despairing.

Li Chi quietly watched them. Every water ghost immersed in the mist was connected to the pale-faced boatman by a karmic thread.

…..

“Boatman, I want to cross the river! How much for a trip?”

The ferry crossing was bustling, with boats coming and going like weaving shuttles, sails casting shadows. The peddler looked enviously at those sturdy large boats, forcibly turning his eyes away to wave at a small boat nearby.

Those were cargo boats that only wealthy merchants could afford to take. For small vendors like him, especially with goods, taking such a large boat would mean losing money. But if he could establish a trade route between these two kingdoms, perhaps in the future he too could ride such a large boat!

The small boat traveled like wind, steadily entering the Daqing Mountain range and arriving at Liang Kingdom’s ferry crossing. Joy shone in the peddler’s eyes, but the boat didn’t stop.

“We’ve already passed it! Boatman? Boatman! You’ve gone past it!”

“Are you—are you a river pirate?! Spare me! Please spare me. I’ll give you everything!”

“That’s a waterfall! Stop quickly! Are you mad?!”

“No——!”

Splash.

…..

“Boatman… can you take us to Lu Kingdom? This is all we have. We’ll give it all to you.”

The ferry crossing was desolate. On the empty river surface, only the wind drifted, blowing through the long-dead yellowed reeds, the whistling sound like wails of sorrow.

A family of four in tattered clothes hid among the reeds, uneasily pleading with the boatman.

The small boat traveled against the current, but its speed was not slow. The family of four sat together. A young child asked, “When will we arrive?”

“Soon, very soon. After we finish this boat ride, we’ll reach Lu Kingdom!”

“I heard that the deities there will protect the common people.”

“Then we won’t die like Grandma, will we?”

“No more, no more. We can all survive…”

“Is that Lu Kingdom’s ferry crossing?”

“How so fast?”

“Wonderful! We’ve arrived!”

“Wait… boatman, what are you doing? Wait! No!”

“Take everything. Just don’t… please…”

“I beg you… spare… glug... the child…”

Splash.

…..

“Boatman! I want to cross the river——“

…..