Chapter Sixty-six: The Grey World

Wei Qi reached out and touched the wall that flowed like water. To his astonishment, his hand slipped right through, as if plunging into a pool. He hastily withdrew his hand and examined it—nothing seemed amiss.

“Da Chuan, what should we do?” Wei Qi turned his wrist this way and that as he spoke.

“That fierce ghost just passed through. Why don’t we go in as well? At worst, we can come back out.” I carefully checked Wei Qi’s hand—there was nothing wrong. I thought of Wang Ying waiting for me at home and wanted to catch that ghost quickly and be done with it. If not for Master Xingyun’s dying wish, I would have given up the chase. Now, my greatest duty was to stay by Wang Ying’s side.

“Da Chuan, let’s go. We can’t let Master Xingyun down.” Wei Qi seemed to share my thoughts. As he spoke, he took my hand and leaned forward, half his body vanishing into the wall. I understood—he was testing the waters first. After a moment, he pulled back. “Come on, it’s another world inside.” With that, he tugged me through with him.

Before my eyes stretched a strange world—a world of gray.

It was no different from any other place: flowers, grass, trees, rivers, mountains, even insects fluttering through the air. Yet it was entirely different, for all was rendered in shades of gray.

“Uncle Qi, how can this be?” Staring at this gray world, I was bewildered. Was this not a dream?

“Da Chuan, we’ve been reckless—look behind you.” Wei Qi’s expression changed as he gestured for me to turn. Only then did I realize that behind us was a vast emptiness—the watery wall we had entered had vanished without a trace.

“Uncle Qi, this... this isn’t a dream, is it?” I pinched his shoulder.

Wei Qi grimaced, “It’s not a dream! Does this feel like a dream? This is real!” As he spoke, he punched my shoulder, and the pain that shot through me proved it—this was no dream but reality.

Faced with this colorless world, my heart began to race with panic. How had we entered such a space? Where were we? And how could we return? Wang Ying had only seven days—one had already passed; six remained. What if I couldn’t get out? The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became.

Thankfully, Wei Qi reassured me. If we could enter, we could surely leave. All we could do was keep moving forward.

This gray world, stripped of all color, evoked the feel of an old black-and-white photograph. On closer inspection, the flowers, grass, and trees were much the same as those at home.

As we walked on in confusion, a series of clicking, snapping sounds came from behind. Wei Qi grabbed my arm and quickly pulled me into the cover of some nearby bushes. A group of people marched past us. Their clothes were simple and unlike ours; men and women alike wore their hair long. The difference between the sexes was visible mostly in their bodies—the men’s arms were bare, while the women dressed more modestly, though their V-necked shirts still revealed shapely chests.

Their eyes were vacant, their faces stiff. There was nothing human about them. There were eight or nine in this group, heading off in another direction. Even their gait unsettled me: they didn’t walk, but bounced along, making my skin crawl with fear and discomfort.

“Uncle Qi, are these aliens?” I asked suddenly. I remembered a book from my childhood, “A Grand View of the Universe,” in which a scientist speculated that aliens might actually be Earth’s subterranean dwellers. Maybe we had stumbled into their world.

Wei Qi shook his head. “I don’t think so. If they were aliens, they’d be more advanced than us. Look at how they walk! I suspect this is the underworld!”

“What?” His words made my mind buzz. The underworld looked like this? Wasn’t it supposed to be all ox-headed demons and horse-faced wardens?

“I’m only guessing—it probably isn’t.” Wei Qi smacked his lips and dismissed his own theory. “Da Chuan, it’s just a thought. If it’s not, it’s not. Why are you touching my back?” He turned to face me.

I raised my hands. “Uncle Qi, I didn’t touch your back!”

We both turned around slowly. The sight behind us nearly scared us to death: a person stood there—a dead person. I say dead, for his flesh was rotting away, strips of decaying meat peeling off as he bared his teeth, plopping to the ground with chubby gray-white maggots. It was his hand that had touched Wei Qi’s back.

Wei Qi shrieked and leaped up. I also bolted. He grabbed my hand and we ran as fast as we could, not daring to look back.

Gasping for breath, we stopped at last. I looked at Wei Qi and suddenly remembered, “Uncle Qi, you have the Xingyun Staff! Why not try using it? And I have my Palm Thunder—I haven’t tried it yet!”

Wei Qi realized this too; in our panic, we’d forgotten our skills. Now that we were here, we might as well make use of all we had. There was no point in waiting for death; we might as well fight for a way out, find Shaoxiang, subdue him, and then search for an exit. We agreed it would be best to find someone and ask what this place was, how we’d come here, and how we might escape.

Having made up our minds, we retraced our steps but didn’t encounter the rotting corpse again. After some distance, we came upon a thatched hut—simple and crude, reminiscent of Li Danian’s mountain lodge.

“Da Chuan, these aren’t aliens. More like cavemen!” Wei Qi joked as he looked at the hut.

“Uncle Qi, don’t joke. I’m worried sick.” My mind was full of Wang Ying—I could see her standing at the door, peering out, waiting for me. The thought made my heart ache. “Let’s go see who’s here and what this place is.”

Wei Qi gripped the Xingyun Staff tight, clearly nervous—who knew what kind of people lived here? I clenched my fists, ready to unleash my power at the first sign of trouble.

“Is anyone there?” Wei Qi called at the door as I stood by, ready for anything.

After a couple of calls, the door opened. Standing before us was a woman in her fifties, and behind her, a timid boy of five or six, peeking out fearfully.

The old woman’s face was etched with terror. “Who… who are you? Why have you come?”

Thankfully, she understood us, and we could understand her.

“Auntie, don’t be afraid. We’re not bad people. We just lost our way. Can you tell us where we are?” Wei Qi, experienced as always, kept his composure and asked gently.

“Where are you from? Why aren’t you like us?” The old woman shrank back, clearly still afraid.

“We’re…” I was about to answer when a sudden, urgent clicking sound approached. At the noise, the old woman and the boy darted inside their hut. Wei Qi tugged me into the grass for cover.

As the clicking grew louder, a column of soldiers appeared. Judging by their dress, they were clearly military, but not of our time—they wore armor and heart-protecting plates, straight out of a historical drama. At their head was a burly man, his face rigid and lifeless, his gait stiff as a corpse’s.

He strode to the thatched hut and, with a crash, kicked the door in. Amidst piercing cries, he seized the little boy.

The old woman rushed after them. “Officer, Tiger is only five—he can’t be conscripted!”

The big man kicked her aside. “If you don’t want to die, stay out of the way. General Zhao moved us from the surface to the underworld so we could train the ghost army in formation. If he won’t go, you will!”

Ghost army… again with the ghost army. Suddenly, I began to understand. General Zhao—could it be Zhao Laosao?