Chapter 100: The Realm of the Dead (2)

Wu Zui’s eyes, flickering with the flames of karma, swept across all the spirits inside the vehicle like a judge passing sentence. Judging from the aura leaked during the recent attack, these beings on the bus were all third-tier spirits!

“No wonder the spirit investigator who came here got into an accident—there are no fewer than ten third-tier spirits on this bus.”

As Wu Zui pondered this, a sudden, intense sensation of weightlessness hit him. Instinctively, he reached for the nearby handrail, but it was rusted and unreliable; it snapped in half with just a slight tug. Consequently, Wu Zui was thrown forward, crashing into the bus’s windshield. At that moment, a pale, icy hand stopped him from falling onto the front of the bus. The bone-chilling cold was like plunging into icy lake water, making him shiver uncontrollably.

“If you… want to… enter the Realm of the Dead… then behave…”

A voice rasped behind him like the creaking of an old bellows, broken and haunting. Coupled with that icy hand, Wu Zui immediately sprang back and turned to face the speaker.

The figure that had been sitting at the driver’s seat with its head bowed had somehow moved behind him. It raised its head slightly, revealing eyes that were nothing but whites staring straight at Wu Zui. Just looking into those eyes felt like drowning in an icy lake. Yet, Wu Zui sensed that this entity was only a third-tier spirit.

“Has the mutation this time become so severe?”

Wu Zui’s primary reason for accepting this mission was the recent spate of deaths among awakened individuals in foreign countries. Every nation valued their awakened beings deeply, so the mass casualties were highly abnormal.

Immediately, Wu Zui deduced that after the appearance of those audible voices, the spirits must have gained unimaginable power. Now, it seemed they had mutated at an unprecedented speed without humans noticing.

Even these third-tier spirits could now challenge someone like him, who was on the verge of reaching the fifth tier as a spirit investigator. If he continued to handle missions based on previous strength comparisons, failure was inevitable.

Looking at the speaking spirit, Wu Zui decided to see if he could extract some valuable information. He asked, “Is the Realm of the Dead the final stop for this bus? Why are you heading there?”

However, the figure ignored him this time. After issuing its warning, it returned to the driver’s seat and resumed driving.

Disappointed, Wu Zui prepared to disembark at the penultimate stop. He was certain these spirits had ulterior motives and would not let him leave easily. Otherwise, the spirit investigators who came to check would not have vanished so simply.

“Once I memorize all the stops, I’ll tear this lousy bus apart!”

Wu Zui glanced at the spirit, blackened by the flames of karma, which had left a large burn hole in the bus wall when he had crashed into it. This gave him confidence that this broken vehicle could not trap him.

As for the Realm of the Dead, though curious, he had no intention of traveling on this decrepit bus.

“If this ghostly driver can communicate, wouldn’t it be better to capture it and interrogate? Then, not only could I learn about the Realm of the Dead, but also how it died and how many spirits its family harbors.”

Standing in the middle aisle, Wu Zui leisurely awaited the passage of time.

Tianliang Street—Nanshan Construction Site (an abandoned unfinished building)—an unknown crossroads—Guangyuan Tower (deserted building entrance)—Clever Minds Kindergarten—a dilapidated psychiatric hospital entrance—mountainous graveyards.

This was the route Wu Zui had been recording. The last two stops had no names on the bus’s route map. Even the psychiatric hospital’s sign was smeared with grime, leaving only the last four characters legible.

The spirits boarding at these stops behaved obediently. When they saw Wu Zui blocking the aisle, they simply avoided him and quietly took their seats. Gradually, the bus filled with dark shadows, all bowing their heads in silence.

Though Wu Zui could still sense their spying, none dared to attack him during this time. Soon, the route recording was complete, and Wu Zui prepared to leave.

As the bus began to slow, the mountainous graveyards outside the shattered windows came into view. One after another, tombs stretched as far as the eye could see—this was the place Wu Zui had named the Mountain Graves, the penultimate stop.

An ordinary person seeing this would have lost their soul in terror, let alone dared to jump off the bus. But Wu Zui was different. As the bus door opened, he sprang toward the rear exit.

The quiet black shadows in their seats suddenly attacked in unison. Under the gaze of countless red eyes, mental pollution slowed Wu Zui’s escape, and the spirits lunged at him.

The bus doors slammed shut instantly.

For any ghostly creature, the soul and flesh of a fourth-tier awakened being were a sumptuous feast. Their blood-red eyes burned with murderous desire, eager to tear Wu Zui apart and feast on him piece by piece.

Surrounded, the spirits would never let Wu Zui escape. Seeing this, he quickly converted his magnetic energy into karmic flames that enveloped his body and wielded a golden longsword ablaze with karmic fire, cutting through the spirit horde.

Flames scattered as the battle raged.

The karmic flames blasted the spirits away, their intangible forms colliding against the bus walls with audible impacts. The flames clinging to their bodies quickly ignited the entire cabin.

And these mere third-tier spirits were no match for the consuming karmic flames. Moments later, everything inside the bus, including the vehicle itself, began to dissipate into wisps of black smoke—except for Wu Zui.

As the flames engulfed the bus, this aged vehicle was burned to nothingness.

At that moment, Wu Zui suddenly felt as if he had crossed an invisible barrier.

The once-raging flames quickly died out, as if there was nothing left to burn. The ghostly driver at the wheel still did not attack; it calmly continued to drive.

“Driving? What vehicle?”

Only now did Wu Zui notice that although the entire bus numbered 444 was burnt to ash by karmic flames, the driver spirit remained seated as if still driving, even though there was no vehicle around it.

Looking to both sides, Wu Zui saw the outside scenery rushing past rapidly, proving that this nominal bus had not stopped moving despite the body’s disappearance.

With a faint magnetic energy scan, Wu Zui discovered a semi-transparent wall made of vengeful energy surrounding the space, darkened in color, enclosing a space the size of the bus. It was like a box imprisoning him.

“So this is the true form of the bus!”

Noticing the wall, Wu Zui covered himself in karmic flames and leapt toward one side, intending to jump out. He believed the power of magnetic energy-infused karmic flames could burn through this black wall.

But Wu Zui miscalculated.

With a loud clang—

Wu Zui felt the world spin and dizziness overwhelm him. The magnetic karmic flames were far less effective against the dark, translucent wall than he had anticipated. The illusory wall knocked him back.

Regaining his senses, Wu Zui channeled a large amount of magnetic energy into karmic flames. Flames over a foot long flared along the blade of his golden longsword, which he swung at the invisible wall.

Boom—

This strike had an effect; black ripples were visible where the flames struck. But the flames soon died out, and a tremendous force hit Wu Zui, hurling him against the opposite wall.

“This is serious! Good thing I didn’t bring my apprentice, or I’d have no face left as a master.”

Enduring the pain, Wu Zui struggled to his feet.

Despite the chaos, the driver spirit remained indifferent, unmoved by Wu Zui’s plight. The black wall reminded Wu Zui of a certain sinister organization.

“Could this be the doing of the Purification Society?”

He filed the thought away for now. He had no desire to visit the so-called Realm of the Dead; it sounded like a terrible place. Besides, if he ever had to go, it would be when he reached the fifth tier and mastered spatial singularities, ensuring he could escape.

As for how to leave this place, Wu Zui had no intention of using the karmic flames formed from his own blood to burn through the barrier. Instead—

“Heart’s Inquiry Sword? I need your help—lend me some fire!”

With no other choice besides bloodletting, Wu Zui silently requested aid from his Heart’s Inquiry Sword. He wasn’t reluctant to bleed but wanted to test the sword’s loyalty. After all, he was more guarded with it than even with hostile spirits. Even He Ping had told him he was not the true master of the Heart’s Inquiry Sword.

A red glow shimmered along the golden longsword as delicate karmic flames clung to it, burning gently. The heat radiating from the blade caused Wu Zui a faint sting.

This was clearly far superior to the magnetic energy-based karmic flames he could produce.

With the sword ablaze, Wu Zui slashed at the semi-transparent black wall. The entire barrier shattered explosively, and the flames consumed it quickly.

Wu Zui fell to the ground, tumbling several times before standing again.

The ghostly driver was blasted away by the flames, its form spilling vast amounts of vengeful energy to resist the attack. Though the flames continued to burn, the driver spirit was not reduced to ash.

The vengeful energy radiating from it far exceeded that of any ordinary third-tier spirit.