Chapter 2: Rebirth

Flesh and bone shatter in a heart-wrenching agony as Yan Jin Chang’s consciousness fades.

What he sees is the night sky illuminated pale white by golden light, the blood color mixing with wispy clouds, blurring into a sea of crimson.

In the end, everything turns to darkness, sinking into silence.

…………

……

…

Tick-tock!

Cold liquid drips onto his face, the strong smell of blood rushes into his nose.

Slowly opening his eyes, Yan Jin Chang sees blue flames flying across the sky in rows, with drizzling rain falling, hitting the glowing green plants, making a soft sound.

It is blood-red rain, giving off a strong smell. Yan Jin Chang raises his hand to shield his eyes, the blood rain falls into his palm, quickly streaming down between his fingers.

“It’s raining, hurry up and move!” A voice from above urges impatiently.

“Hurry, hurry! Seriously, I just changed into new clothes today. Why is it raining again? The human world has been so unstable lately, always fighting and killing.”

“Yeah, it makes the Underworld rain blood so often. The Dragon King doesn’t even rain this frequently!” (Chinese mythology and folklore, where the Dragon King controls water and weather.)

The Underworld? Yan Jin Chang snaps back to reality, suddenly feeling amused. Right, he self-destructed, so he must be dead.

But he has no regrets because he also brought those two pretentious guys along with him.

Yan Jin Chang stands up from the ground, dusting off his clothes. Where he falls, he sees a patch of crushed red petals, along with a piece of black fragment.

The black fragment looks somewhat familiar. Yan Jin Chang picks it up and examines it, casually putting it into his sleeve pocket.

He then reaches down to touch the crushed red petals, digging out a piece that is almost buried in the dirt. He realizes it is a flower with many thin petals.

The flower is wilted, already pressed flat, the petals are scattered everywhere. Yan Jin Chang looks around, he finds a sea of spider lilies not far away, the flower field stretching all the way to the bank of a pitch-black river.

He walks to the flowers, digs a hole. Then place the wilted flower inside, and cover it with soil.

“Little brother, are you waiting for someone here?” A voice whispers near his ear.

Yan Jin Chang turns his head to see a pale face beneath a blue flame. It’s cracking into a bizarre smile, with a bloody tongue rolling down from the split mouth, hanging long. This is clearly a ghost.

Yan Jin Chang thinks: “Waiting for someone? Waiting for an enemy? To kill him and send his soul scattering?”

The ghost quickly retracts its tongue and leans in closer. “Are you waiting for someone or looking for someone? Look at me, am I the person you’re looking for?”

Yan Jin Chang retreats in disdain. “No.”

The ghost shows disappointment. “No? Then look at these people. Is there anyone among them that you are looking for?”

The ghost steps aside, and Yan Jin Chang sees a group of red, green, black, and white figures by the brown-yellow water. Either crying or laughing, singing or dancing.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a chaotic dance of demons.

Yan Jin Chang: “……”

The ghost says: “They are all waiting for someone. However, they have waited for too long and have forgotten what their loved ones look like. Because they have waited so long, they are unwilling to leave without seeing anyone. Now they can only wait for their loved ones to recognize them. Do you recognize them?”

Yan Jin Chang originally finds the sight of these ghosts dancing chaotically amusing, but after hearing the ghost’s words, he falls silent.

He seriously looks at the group of ghosts, shaking his head.

The ghost brushes aside its long hair and thrusts its face toward Yan Jin Chang. “Why don’t you take a closer look at me? I remember waiting for a great beauty, an unparalleled beauty! Is it really not you?”

The ghosts still dancing by the river hear this and immediately exclaim: “No way! The person I’m waiting for is the most beautiful!”

“Mine is! Stunning and captivating!”

“Look at me! Look at me!”

Yan Jin Chang looks expressionlessly at the colorful ghosts that suddenly surround him. “Didn’t you say you’ve forgotten what the person you’re waiting for looks like?”

“I have forgotten, but the person I’m waiting for must be incredibly beautiful, or kind-hearted, or exceptionally smart, or highly skilled in martial arts. In any case, they must possess at least one quality I like! Otherwise, why would I wait?”

“Maybe it’s a princess.”

“Pfft! Dream on!”

“Wuwuwu…” A female ghost in red comes forward, glances at Yan Jin Chang.

She starts crying again, saying: “My husband is a blue-faced, fanged ugly monster. You don’t look like him at all, wuwuwu…”

Yan Jin Chang: “……”

The first white-clothed ghost to speak, says: “Since there’s no one here you’re looking for, are you planning to join the line or wait here?” After saying this, the white-clothed ghost points to a long line not far away.

Yan Jin Chang replies: “There is no one I need to wait for.” He quickly finds the end of the line, walking with the ghosts onto the Naihe Bridge. (Significant concept in Chinese mythology, means afterlife)

Peering down from the side of the bridge, he sees an eerie greenish-blue landscape, with the brown-yellow river flowing below, floating corpses and bones emitting a foul stench.

In the distance stands a dim blue roof, with green lanterns hanging from it. The ghosts passing over the Naihe Bridge are guided by the ghost messengers toward that place.

Yan Jin Chang closely follows the line. After some time, he finally arrives in front of a person wearing a long hood that nearly covers their entire face, revealing only a bit of their chin.

The person holds a bowl of freshly scooped soup, but suddenly pulls it back just as they are about to hand it to Yan Jin Chang. “What brings a living soul here?”

Yan Jin Chang is briefly taken aback. At that moment, a great light shines down, illuminating him.