Ascension Day

Even from a distance, Xu Ying and Yuan Qi could smell the savory aroma of meat, making their gnawing hunger even harder to endure.

Many strange-looking people were drinking and eating in a tavern. Xu Ying glanced over out of the corner of his eye, and a chill went down his spine.

In his peripheral vision, he didn’t see people, but White Bone Skeletons sitting there eating and drinking. The food on their tables was human hearts, brains, and other such things.

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi walked onward under the strange stares of the tavern’s patrons. One of the White Bone Skeletons inside asked, "Where are they off to?"

An old ghost replied, "The Wangxiang Platform."

"You can’t go any further. Once you’ve crossed the Wangxiang Platform and seen your homeland, you can never return to the Mortal World."

That old ghost muttered, "They should stay here, just like us. Let us eat their flesh and blood, and they’ll become lonely, wandering spirits like us, instead of going in there to die..."

The mist ahead grew thicker. Through the cyan fog, the sight of green-tiled roofs and white walls met Xu Ying’s eyes. It was a long, wide street, lined on both sides with old shops.

Xu Ying looked at the street, feeling a sense of familiarity, yet he was certain he had never been here before.

Just then, the clear sound of children reading aloud reached him. Xu Ying followed the sound to its source, a private school. He stood by the window and peered inside, where he saw more than twenty children, all swaying their heads as they recited their lessons.

The teacher was a young man who looked to be in his late twenties.

Xu Ying looked at the man’s face. It seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he might have seen him.

A moment later, class was dismissed. The children came pouring out of the school, RUSHING about in a cheerful uproar.

The schoolmaster’s wife came out. She wore a white dress and was a serene, gentle woman. She dotingly patted the heads of a few of the children.

Xu Ying was puzzled. This woman also felt familiar, yet he couldn’t remember ever meeting her.

The woman noticed Xu Ying and asked with a smile, "Young man, are you looking for someone?"

Xu Ying shook his head. "Just passing through. Excuse me, do you know the way out of this place?"

The woman raised her hand and pointed the way. Xu Ying thanked her and headed in the direction she had indicated.

The woman watched him go, then called out to a mischievous child, "Ying, don’t run too far! It’s time for lunch!"

"I know, Mom!" the mischievous boy shouted as he ran past Xu Ying, bumping into his leg.

Xu Ying froze, standing there as if rooted to the spot.

He whipped his head around. The school and the street were dissolving like dust and smoke.

He looked toward the child, who had stopped and was now turning back. The boy’s face was identical to his own as a child.

A smile spread across the boy’s face as his form, too, dissipated like dust and smoke.

In an instant, tears were streaming down Xu Ying’s face.

"Ying, what’s wrong?" the Snake Demon Yuan Qi asked, confused when he saw Xu Ying had stopped.

"I saw my father and mother."

Xu Ying stood frozen to the spot. After a long moment, he said in a choked voice, "But I didn’t recognize them. I couldn’t recognize them..."

He dropped Da Zhong, crouched on the ground, and covered his face, sobbing softly. "I can’t remember what they looked like... I can’t remember their names... I just saw them, but I didn’t recognize them..."

Yuan Qi came to his side and patted the young man’s shoulder. "Ying," he said softly, "we have to keep moving."

Xu Ying silently got to his feet and started walking in the direction the woman had pointed out.

Ahead lay a long and arduous journey down a rugged path.

Beside it was a wide, smooth road, but Xu Ying didn’t take the main road. Instead, he set foot on the difficult path.

"Halt!" A group of Divine Spirits in pursuit quickly reached the area near the tavern. Suddenly, a man dressed in gray said in a deep voice, "Wangxiang is just ahead. We’ll go around it!"

Although the man in gray did not look old, he was extremely tall—thirteen or fourteen feet high. He had dragon horns on his forehead and long, sharp nails on his fingers, clearly inhuman.

One of the Divine Spirits asked, "Senior Shi Longzi, what happens if one enters Wangxiang?"

The man in gray was a Stone Dragon from the Ningyuan Confucius Temple, and also a revered deity.

The Ningyuan Confucius Temple was a grand structure that enjoyed abundant Incense and Candlelight, as it was dedicated to the Supreme Ancestor Master. In front of and behind the temple’s main hall stood four Copper Pillars, each entwined with a Stone Dragon carved from the hardest rock.

Because the Incense and Candlelight at the Confucius Temple was so abundant, these four Stone Dragons gradually developed Divine Powers!

The four dragons had absorbed Incense and Candlelight for four hundred years, each attaining remarkable achievements and forging a Golden Body. The man in gray, named Shi Longzi, was one of these four Stone Dragons.

Shi Longzi’s eyes glinted. "Wangxiang is outside the Yin Court’s jurisdiction and is extremely mysterious. Legend says that those who enter it will see their homeland. The place exists between the Underworld and the Mortal World. Make one wrong move, and you’ll never be able to return, becoming a lonely, wandering spirit!"

Just then, a voice interjected with a laugh, "I’ve heard that some who are on the verge of death hide in Wangxiang to place themselves within the Yin Yang Two Realms, where they are neither living nor dead, ageless and indestructible. It’s extremely dangerous to rashly trespass into the domains of such beings. To stay alive, those entities will do anything!"

Shi Longzi looked toward the voice and saw County Magistrate Zhou Yang approaching at a quick pace, leading a group of Officials.

The two met each other’s gaze, then simultaneously looked away.

Shi Longzi said, "Xu Ying has entered Wangxiang. He has no hope of coming out alive. County Magistrate Zhou, you can go back and report that your mission is complete."

Zhou Yang said coolly, "He broke the law. I must see him alive, or see his corpse if he is dead!"

Their eyes met again. Smoke began to curl from behind Shi Longzi’s head as the Incense Smoke Qi around him thickened. A golden light started to suffuse his body—a clear sign that he was activating his Golden Body!

Zhou Yang smiled faintly, his demeanor calm and unruffled. He said coolly, "The Golden Body of the Yin Court is still a bit lacking compared to the Vajra Indestructible Body of my Zhou Family. And as it so happens, I have perfected the Vajra Indestructible Body!"