15. If You Can’t Forgive, Then Don’t. If You Can’t Leave, Then Find A Way To.

“Qiu Sui, you’ve always been so clever. Nothing can be hidden from you.”

A man stood with his back to Qiu Sui, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. The back of the shirt was soaked in blood—stained, blotchy, and shocking to look at.

Qiu Sui stepped into the dim chamber. The only light came from a faint halo above the man’s head. The walls were etched with murals. One showed a man with his hands and feet bound, eyes covered, lying silently in a coffin. Around the coffin, insects and snakes crawled.

“Why did you do this?” Qiu Sui sat down beside the man, turning her head to look at him.

Song Yu’s eyes were shut tight. His eyelids were sunken, nose high and straight, lips rather thin, his features sharp and finely sculpted—his bone structure leaning toward that of a Westerner.

“Qiu Sui, I thought that after all these long years, I’d be able to let go of all the hatred and grudges. But in the end, I’m just a common man. Even though I’ve told myself countless times not to hate anymore, I still can’t do it.” Song Yu pointed at his chest and gave a bitter smile. “I’m still unwilling. I still… can’t forgive.”

“Why should you forgive?”

Song Yu raised his head. The light fell upon him as he said, “There’s always been a fierce ghost locked inside my heart. I thought it was gone—but it wasn’t. It only needed a trigger, a key. It was always there, hiding deep inside me.”

“Song Yu, everyone has a fierce ghost living inside them,” Qiu Sui said, lifting her head as well and looking at the mural before her—this one showed a bird trapped in a cage. “And I’m no exception. But I know one thing—someone is still waiting for me in the world beyond hell. I can’t fall. If I fall, I’ll never see her again.”

Song Yu fell silent. The two of them quietly stared at the mural. After a long while, he finally asked, “Did I scare her?”

“She was alright, but she’s very worried about you.” Qiu Sui remembered what Yu Dongxi had said to her and chuckled. “She said, once we find you, she’s definitely going to give you a beating.”

Hearing that, Song Yu also smiled.

“So stop making her worry. Let’s go. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it after we get out of here. This place isn’t meant for long stays.” Qiu Sui stood up and reached out a hand toward Song Yu.

Even though his eyes were still closed, Song Yu turned his head precisely in the direction of Qiu Sui’s outstretched hand. His face showed no emotion, but Qiu Sui could sense a lifeless stillness hidden in that calm.

“Qiu Sui… I probably can’t leave this place.”

“What…”

The next second, Song Yu raised his wrist. A golden chain slowly began to reveal itself. His arms and legs were all bound by these iron chains. The source of the chains… was the only patch of light above his head.

“Why is it like this?” Qiu Sui crouched down and pulled hard on the iron chains, but they didn’t budge at all.

“Qiu Sui, I come from the Bridge of the Other Shore. Although, like you, I also serve as an official in the underworld, we’re ultimately different. My every move is being watched by countless eyes. The moment I show even the slightest rebellious thought—this is the consequence.” Song Yu raised his wrist slightly, and the chains clinked with a metallic sound.

Qiu Sui had already lost all memories of Song Yu. But for some reason, deep in her heart, she instinctively knew—Song Yu was different from the others from the Bridge of the Other Shore.

With a clattering sound, the iron chains hit the ground. They were still stained with blood. Qiu Sui stared at Song Yu with a calm face and said, “Let’s go!”

Song Yu was stunned by the sound of the chains falling and the faint drip of water nearby.

“Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Stop wasting time! Get up—this place isn’t safe. Dongxi is still waiting for us outside!” Qiu Sui didn’t have time to explain. She grabbed Song Yu and was about to run out. But before the two of them could reach the door, the stone door slammed shut.

Bad news!

That thought crossed both Song Yu and Qiu Sui’s minds at the same time.

“Qiu Sui, this time it’s really like they say—if we can’t be born on the same day of the same year, let’s at least die on the same day of the same year.” Song Yu said with a grin. The fact that he still had the energy to joke in this situation—no one could tell if he was carefree or just had a remarkably calm mindset.

“Cut the crap—we already died a long time ago.” Qiu Sui curled one side of her lips into a smirk.

“True enough.” Song Yu flexed his wrist. “Step back a bit—don’t get hit by mistake.”

A sword suddenly materialized in Song Yu’s hand, and a blinding white light illuminated the entire room. The sword flew forward, phasing straight through the center of the door. A bead embedded in the door shattered, and the sound of it breaking was instantly drowned out by the deafening crash of the stone door collapsing.

At the exact moment the door was pierced, countless arrows shot out from all around the chamber. They came from every direction, chaotic and disorderly, with no discernible pattern. The two of them quickly stood back-to-back. Song Yu split the sword in his hand into two and tossed one half to Qiu Sui.

They deflected the arrows with their swords, barely managing to hold their ground.

“Where’s your red umbrella?” Song Yu asked.

“Left it on the shore.”

Song Yu breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. This place is too dangerous. With Xizi waiting alone on the shore, I wouldn’t feel at ease. Let’s end this quickly.”

“Naturally.”

With that, both of them began swinging their swords faster.

Suddenly, Song Yu seemed to sense something and looked up. The sound of arrows firing was intense, but if one listened closely, they’d notice—the arrows were only being launched from two spots. After being fired, the arrows changed direction mid-air and flew around erratically, creating the illusion of chaos.

“Hey, don’t rest now,” Qiu Sui said in a low voice.

“No rush,” Song Yu replied, carefully distinguishing the sounds. “Qiu Sui, aim your sword thirty-two degrees northeast and shoot it through.”

They only had these two swords left as weapons.

“How confident are you?”

“Ten out of ten.”

Upon hearing that, Qiu Sui threw her sword in the direction Song Yu had indicated. Song Yu also tossed his own in another direction.

At the same time, Qiu Sui heard Song Yu’s teasing voice, smiling yet begging for a beating: “What I meant was… ten percent confident.”

Qiu Sui: “…”

She closed her eyes, ready to meet her end.

But the rain of arrows she imagined never came. The room returned to silence. Qiu Sui opened her eyes—there were no arrows flying anymore.

She let out a sigh of relief.

“Impudent! This is a heavily guarded area of the underworld. How dare you act so recklessly?” a harsh voice shouted from outside the chamber. A man wearing one of the oldest styles of underworld official robes stood at the entrance. His skin was bluish, his face fierce and fanged—he looked terrifying.

He held an official token of the underworld in his hand. With the passage of time, the underworld’s operations had become increasingly modernized. It was rare now to see an official still carrying a physical token.

Obviously, he was an old-timer—and even more so, someone who had been isolated from the regular system of the underworld, so much so that he couldn’t keep up with how things had changed.

“And you are?” Qiu Sui asked.

“I am Hua Qi, the steward of the Bridge of the Other Shore,” Hua Qi said sternly, with an innate sense of authority.

“Alright, Old ^[1]“Qi” (七) means “seven.”Seven, don’t make a fuss. I need to head to the surface for a bit,” Song Yu said, and made to leave with Qiu Sui.

But the token was raised in front of them, blocking their way. “No. In your current state, you are guilty. You must not step even half a foot outside the confinement chamber!”

“Hey, Old Seven, don’t be so rigid. Let me get some fresh air. If I’m in a good mood, I won’t bother you. But if I’m in a bad mood… well, I make no promises.” Song Yu narrowed his eyes, the threat in his tone unmistakable.

“Forgive me, but I cannot comply,” Hua Qi bowed with cupped hands—but his stance showed no sign of wavering.

Song Yu extended his hand, and the sword flew back into his grip. He curled his lips into a smile. “Then I’m sorry, Old Seven—but today, I must leave this bridge!”

He struck quickly, but Hua Qi made no move to dodge. The blade pressed against Hua Qi’s neck, just inches from his skin.

“Ah Yu, forget about yourself—even he won’t be leaving today.” Hua Qi tilted his head toward Qiu Sui. “The Bridge of the Other Shore has already been sealed shut. You can enter, but you can’t leave—unless someone on the other side calls your soul back.”

Song Yu took a deep breath and said, “Fine, I won’t leave. Let him go.”

“Song Yu!”

“I’ll let him go—but to make sure he doesn’t call your soul back, he has to take the Soul-Calming Powder first.”

“Fine.”

“Song Yu, are you insane? Then what about you?”

Song Yu lowered his sword and looked at Qiu Sui. “Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out. I’ll get you out first.”

He struck the back of Qiu Sui’s neck with a knife-hand, and Qiu Sui instantly lost consciousness. Just before he blacked out, he saw Song Yu standing in front of him, reaching out to catch his collapsing body.

To be honest, in that moment, Qiu Sui really wanted to throw away all manners and curse Song Yu out.

You damn bastard, Song Yu.

Hua Qi fed Qiu Sui the Soul-Calming Powder and said, “No need to worry. He’ll just sleep for twelve hours. After that, he’ll wake up on his own. It won’t harm his body.”

“Mm. Let him go,” Song Yu said coldly.

Hua Qi held the token over Qiu Sui’s chest. In the next second, Qiu Sui began floating up into the air and slowly drifted toward the surface of the river.

Yu Dongxi was anxiously pacing back and forth on the riverbank. Qiu Sui had been gone a long time with no word. At this point, she didn’t even know whether the two of them were alive or dead.

“Stop pacing, stop pacing—I’m gonna puke,” Xiao Hei scratched his head, dizzy from Yu Dongxi’s constant back-and-forth.

“Why is there still no news?”

“Floating… floating…”

“What do you mean floating—holy crap, Qiu Sui?! Why are you floating up here?!” Yu Dongxi tossed Xiao Hei aside and stretched out her arms, trying to catch Qiu Sui, who was descending very slowly from the air.

Just as Qiu Sui was about to touch the ground, his descent suddenly sped up.

Yu Dongxi frantically adjusted her position and loudly reassured herself, “Don’t be scared, Qiu Sui! I can catch you! I will catch you…”

Then, Qiu Sui landed steadily—right on top of Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei: “……”

Xiao Hei struggled to crawl out from under Qiu Sui. On Qiu Sui’s chest, the command token had the character “Seven” carved into it. A few seconds after he hit the ground, the token turned into a wisp of smoke and drifted down toward the bottom of the river.

Xiao Hei pressed his head to Qiu Sui’s chest to check his heartbeat, then let out a breath of relief. “He’s fine. He just took a bit of Soul-Calming Powder. The dose was small. He’ll wake up naturally after about a day.”

Yu Dongxi breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Xiao Hei changed the subject. “Looks like the River of the Other Shore has been sealed.”

“What does that mean?”

“You can only go in—you can’t come out. There are only two ways to get out. One is to be sent back by someone in charge at the bottom using a command token, which is how Qiu Sui got back.”

“And the other way?”

“Calling the soul.”

“Calling the soul?”

“Someone on the riverbank has to call the name of the person at the bottom—call it a hundred times. But the problem is, no one remembers his name. If you try reading from the family genealogy, you’d be shouting for three days and three nights and still not be done.”

“I have another question—what effect does sealing the river have on the people at the bottom?”

“If they stay at the bottom for more than three days while the river’s sealed, they’ll… probably lose their mind.”

It had already been about two days since that person went missing.

So—there was no choice but to bet everything.

Yu Dongxi took a deep breath, then suddenly shouted loudly at the river’s surface:

“Song Yu!! Song Yu!!”