HIDDEN EVIL [XIAO SHUXIANG THE SERIES]

HIDDEN EVIL [XIAO SHUXIANG THE SERIES]
284 - The Underworld

Lan Guan Zhi's boat pulled over by itself. He came down and what greeted him were huge pillars with a giant wolf statue on top.


The wolf statue's jaw was wide open, deep red in color and had a foul odor. It felt as if the statue had swallowed many souls full of the defilement of the world.


The closer you go, the more sinister these pillars become. Even as calm as a Lan Guan Zhi was, he could still feel uneasy.


He held his breath as he looked at a tower whose wall was inscribed *True with a large and thick inscription.


^^^*Twin [ ⁇ ] \= Underworld^^^^


In the midst of the darkness, the writing was very clear and red in color. Whether it was ink or fresh blood from a living human.


Lan Guan Zhi saw there were more and more people walking around him. They were souls that had died, drifting towards the deepest part of this world.


Those souls no matter they were women or men, old or young, rich or commoners-all traveled their own way to the entrance of the Underworld.


Lan Guan Zhi followed the souls, stepping cautiously towards the gate guarded by a bodyguard with a pale face and pitch-black lips.


This gatekeeper sat quietly while interrogating every soul that had just died. The guard's expression looked lazy, as if he was a bored man continuing to do the same work.


"Say a name and how did you die?"


"I, I'm Bao Shuan. Dead from war,"


Lan Guan Zhi heard it. He breathed slowly and watched as the gatekeeper began to stamp on a plaque that became an identifying mark for entering the Underworld.


"If I'm reincarnated, can I be born in a noble family and have a beautiful wife? At least his personality is meek, loving and loyal."


"Huh, your standards are too high. Do you think after entering you will be reincarnated immediately? Everyone is waiting too. Your reincarnation time can be fast or long depending on what you've done in your lifetime,"


"But-"


"Go, go. Don't hold the other one. You're interrupting the queue,"


Lan Guan Zhi watched every soul being interrogated. They have their own way of death, even have different behaviors.


There are impatient souls, some look nervous, arrogant and some even carry out rebellion. The only one who did not change attitude was that gatekeeper, he was still sitting lazily.


There was a 16-year-old young man and wore simple armor. Her hair was ponytailed, adorned with a silver pigtail ring and a lion-headed belt wrapped around her waist. In one look, it is clear that this figure has a striking appearance.


Not only that, even this person's personality was more than imagined. A young person, but very proud. This person even dared to threaten the gatekeeper and seemed unaware of his position.


A commotion occurred in the next second. But the gatekeeper only responded lazily, there was no intention of retaliating on the insolent soul to him.


The soul protested and wanted reincarnation now, but in just one flick of the hand of the soul-keeper it instantly disappeared and I don't know what happened to it.


Lan Guan Zhi walked a step, this time it was his turn. He looked at the gatekeeper before him very calmly and full of an aura of piety.


"Your name?" the gatekeeper asked lazily. He only raised his eyes for a moment to look at the figure before him.


"Lan Guan Zhi,"


The gatekeeper looked back at the man before him. His eyes narrowed as he opened his voice, "You don't have any blemishes on your face and the clothes are also very clean. So how did you die?"


"........ Qi Deviation," Lan Guan Zhi held his breath and replied very calmly. There was no way she could see how nervous she was now.


"G ... You're a cultivator? Worth it,"


"Mn," Lan Guan Zhi remained calm before suddenly frowning. Somehow he was able to see the facial expression that this gatekeeper was hiding. It is clear that he is being ridiculed.


"..............." Lan Guan Zhi felt pain in his forehead, but it only lasted a short time. He took out the plaque given by this gatekeeper.


Lan Guan Zhi walked over and felt a little confused. He clearly saw the gatekeeper earlier was just a lazy expression, but it was as if he was witnessing the look on the guard's face even the voice that completely mocked a cultivator.


In this world were indeed many ordinary people and they did not have the talent as well as luck to cultivate. So knowing there were cultivators who died from Qi irregularities, it was naturally good to be used as a mockery.


Lan Guan Zhi knew this. But even so, he was not insinuated at all. The thing he thought most about now was about how he could see what others were trying to hide.


This white-clothed man did not know that when he saw the gatekeeper earlier, his two eyes suddenly turned as black as night with thousands of stars inside before returning to normal.


Lan Guan Zhi walked over, tracing the dark and smelly ground. The red sky was like being doused in red ink on it and there were quite a number of people around it.


There are buildings in this place, it looks neatly arranged with a good layout and almost has the same resemblance to the original world. Even if it is just an illusion, it remains so perfect.


Lan Guan Zhi circulated a glance. Look at every soul sitting on the side of the road. Some of the children ran beside him, playing and joking as they did during their lives.


He also heard there were souls crying to the point of cursing the destiny they had. Not even a few who issued an oath and as if the world already owed him a lot.


Lan Guan Zhi was breathing slowly. He still clearly remembered why he had gotten here, yet he had absolutely no idea how to find Xiao Shuxiang's soul in this vast place.


"..............." Lan Guan Zhi stepped onto one of the souls that looked like an old man. He opened his voice, "Can I ask you something?"


The old soul looked up, looking at who had just invited him to speak. He frowned and then said, "What do you want?"


The pale-faced old man seemed to frown before finally shaking slowly. "I don't know who you mean,"


Lan Guan Zhi blinked. It was indeed difficult to find Xiao Shuxiang when just mentioning names. He needs another way.


Lan Guan Zhi walked to another place and this time encountered a younger soul. The figure was like a scholar who was so focused on writing poetry that even ignored his call.


"Excuse me? Can I borrow your brush?" Lan Guan Zhi remained calm despite being ignored. He waited until the young scholar turned his head towards him.


"You're talking to me?" the young scholar opened his voice. His face was pale with a red mark coiled around his neck.


Lan Guan Zhi nodded slowly and put his hands together. He said, "I'm looking for someone. Can you borrow your painting equipment?"


This young scholar watched the figure before him carefully and chuckled in admiration. He had only first seen the man who was filled with an aura full of authority and was hard to resist.


"Ahem," the young scholar coughed and then said. "Actually I rented out my painting equipment with some banknotes. So ..."


Lan Guan Zhi blinked, this gesture was somehow he could understand it well. The thing was, he did not expect that even money could be needed in this kind of place.


Lan Guan Zhi said calmly, "I just arrived here, today. No money at all,"


"No money, no help. Go..!" the scholar immediately snapped and showed a sour face.


Lan Guan Zhi naturally did not expect to get this kind of clash. He was just about to leave when suddenly his eyes saw something and this was the past of the scholar before him.


"An unnatural death. You were kidnapped by an unknown person and then killed. If you want justice, it's not too late to ask."


Lan Guan Zhi's speech made the young scholar in front of him flinch. He said again with a breath that sounded a little heavy.


Lan Guan Zhi said, "However, what makes you lose your life is also related to your attitude. You never did any favors and often blamed the heavens for your bad destiny,"


The scholar gulped. He had indeed been warned of this kind of thing before, but it was indeed very stubborn in nature. That's why he has so many enemies.


"Friends-"


"Sir, you made the same mistake. Beautiful poetry can be made by understanding your surroundings, but you ignore it. You just unconsciously offend others,"


The young scholar was stunned, but both of his eyes revealed great shock. It was as if he had been looking for this answer for a long time and only found out about it now.


"So ..." the young scholar blinked, "So this is why I'm ... Could die?"


He said, "I thought all along that my destiny was very unlucky. I just study every day, never do anything that harms others, but unexpectedly I've made enemies without realizing."


"Not sure. I think you're aware of it" Lan Guan Zhi said calmly.


The young scholar noticed the figure before him and then took a deep breath. He looked down and remembered something.


The scholar said, "I've been here for four hundred days. Failure in life seems to make me no friends. No one even burned my banknotes. Haaa ... In the world of alienated life, even in the afterlife is also wasted."


"..............." Lan Guan Zhi noticed this young scholar and he blinked as he thrust out a brush and paper.


The young scholar saw the white-clothed man in front of him start painting a subject. He said, "Are you looking for your girlfriend here?"


"He's my friend," Lan Guan Zhi was still focused on painting his best friend's face that would be easily recognizable.


"Mc ... It is impossible for a man and a woman to be friends. One of them must have a feeling,"


The scratches from Lan Guan Zhi's brush protruded slightly from hearing this scholar's speech just now. He looked at the young man before him and then opened his voice.


Lan Guan Zhi said, "He's a man."


"Ah, sorry. I thought your friend was a girl because you seemed to care about her,"


"..............." Lan Guan Zhi took a breath and put back the brush he borrowed.


He noticed the fastest painting he could do. It's actually not very good, but at least some things are still quite similar to his good friend.


"What's your name?" Lan Guan Zhi asked in a calm voice.


The scholar replied, "Chu Gao Ye. Are you going to leave now?"


"Mn, I need to find my friend. Thank you for your help, Mr. Chu."


"G ... Well, no problem. But I don't know what your name is-"


"I have to go,"


"Hey..!" the scholar gasped as the man with the red hair band started to leave. He exhaled and suddenly found inspiration.


******