Chapter 85: Fog Sea Lone Boat

They continued upstream along the river, now only about a hundred miles from the source of the Yongjiang, and strange occurrences were becoming more frequent.

Qin Mu saw bright lights ahead, illuminating the darkness. It was a village, and its lights stood out strikingly in the gloom.

In the village, an old man was making paper boats. As each boat was completed, it would fly out of the village and dock by the riverbank. One by one, drenched men and women would board the boats from the river. The paper boats would then drift towards the center of the river, where thick fog permeated the air, and the boats would disappear into it.

"Those are Soul Guides," the village chief whispered. "They appear at night to guide those who have died in the river. Don't disturb them."

"Soul Guides?" Qin Mu murmured, curious, and looked at the old man more closely. The old man's face was indistinct, as if veiled, preventing him from seeing his features clearly.

The old man in the village seemed to sense something and looked up towards him. Qin Mu was terrified, feeling his soul tremble as if about to leave his body. But at that moment, a resounding Buddhist chant emanated from his glabella. The Buddha's mark, implanted by Grandpa Ma, shone brightly, blocking the old man's gaze.

"Mortals, halt," the old man said, lowering his head and continuing to make paper boats. A faint, almost imperceptible voice reached them.

The village chief cautiously said, "Mu'er, do not interfere with the world after death."

"The world after death?" Qin Mu was startled. He said, "We are clearly in the Great Ruins. This isn't the world after death, so why would you say that...?"

"There are many strange places in the Great Ruins that connect to multiple worlds," the village chief explained. "That small village is where the world of the dead borders the real world. Not only does the Great Ruins have such places, but similar ones also exist outside it. If you ever leave the Great Ruins and encounter such a village or such an old man, do not approach or question them. As long as you don't provoke them, they won't interfere with the real world. However, they know a lot and can be asked for directions. Brother, may I ask the way to Wuyou Village?"

The old man in the village raised a finger and pointed into the darkness. "You cannot reach the true Wuyou Village..." he said.

The village chief thanked him, and they continued their journey. After traveling an unknown distance, the jade pendant on Qin Mu's chest suddenly floated up and pointed forward.

Qin Mu's heart stirred. "Village Chief!" he exclaimed. The village chief turned and, seeing this, nodded slightly. Qin Mu took off the jade pendant, hesitated for a moment, then released it.

The jade pendant floated up and flew forward. The village chief immediately led Qin Mu to follow it. The pendant's speed increased, cutting through the darkness like a shooting star.

Qin Mu and the village chief quickly caught up. Suddenly, they heard a whoosh, like a small ball dropping into water. The jade pendant hit an invisible membrane, creating ripples in the air.

Before Qin Mu and the village chief, a peculiar world seemed to slowly unfold with the ripples. Ahead of them was a vast expanse shrouded in gray fog. Towering mountains, vast and boundless, were hidden deep within the darkness, overlapping with it, yet they were not the darkness itself.

"Indeed, there's another realm within the darkness!"

The village chief led him forward. Qin Mu reached out and grabbed the jade pendant, unable to suppress his excitement. "Is this Wuyou Village? Will my parents be here?" he wondered.

In his hand, the jade pendant was still pulsating, eager to fly towards its owner's location.

Qin Mu hung the jade pendant on his chest, letting it guide him as he walked forward. The village chief quickly stepped in front of him, his expression calm. "Mu'er, we've arrived here. There's no need to rush; let's take it one step at a time," he said. "This place is very strange..."

Qin Mu calmed himself and walked forward. The mountains here were picturesque, but veiled in gray mist, they appeared somewhat indistinct. Was this truly Wuyou Village?

Hadn't that Soul Guide said they couldn't reach Wuyou Village?

Ahead, the gray fog was vast, and mountains shimmered indistinctly. Suddenly, Qin Mu heard a sharp crack under his foot. A voice said, "You stepped on me..."

Qin Mu was startled and quickly looked down. He saw a skeletal hand withdraw from beneath his foot, then a skeleton emerged from the mist, its empty eye sockets "looking" at him.

"A human!" the skeleton shrieked, its piercing cry echoing jarringly through this misty, gray world.

Qin Mu quickly took a step back. Another crack sounded under his foot, and only then did he see that the ground was covered with countless dry bones, piled up to an unknown depth.

As the Nine Heavens rotated in his pupils, he looked at the mountains in the gray mist and couldn't help but shiver repeatedly.

The mountains in the mist were actually constructed from countless bones, piled into one peak after another, hidden within the mist!

Qin Mu was horrified. The bones on the ground began to stand up one by one, and skeletons swayed as they stood in the murky gray mist. Distorted voices echoed through the mist: "A human? Where is the human?"

"No human has appeared here for a long time! Who could have trespassed here?" they shrieked. "They have flesh, we don't. Take their flesh—"

The village chief frowned, looking into the distance. The distant mountains were also trembling. Then the mountains rose, like monstrous beasts composed of countless white bones, taking steps towards them. As these bone mountains walked, countless skeletons ran over, dancing and leaping with joy, climbing onto the mountains and making these gigantic bone beasts grow ever larger.

Some bones still bore divine and demonic power; clearly, they were the skeletons of gods and devils!

The skeletons' noisy clamor was chaotic, with countless voices screaming to devour those who had trespassed.

"Where did all these dry bones come from?" Even the village chief felt a chill in his heart. Several small skeletons, only three feet tall, swiftly ran out of the gray mist and latched onto Qin Mu's legs, biting him. Qin Mu smashed these skeletons one by one with a palm strike, but more skeletons came wildly rushing with rattling sounds, like ocean waves, utterly terrifying!

The village chief's vital qi surged out, transforming into streaks of sword light. But there were simply too many skeletons here, and even he felt a headache, especially with the divine and demonic bones, which would likely be even harder to deal with.

But at this moment, light burst forth from Qin Mu's glabella. A phantom of a Great Buddha appeared, guarding them from behind, and instantly, countless skeletons shrieked and scattered.

Many skeletons gathered together as they ran, forming running giants. Some giants stumbled, falling apart into countless skeletons that scurried away, only to gather again as they ran, reforming into skeleton giants.

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. The phantom of the Great Buddha left by Grandpa Ma in his glabella was indeed remarkably effective against these strange skeletons, keeping them from daring to approach.

The distant skeleton mountains also halted. They watched from afar, not daring to approach upon seeing the Great Buddha behind Qin Mu.

The gray mist gently undulated like waves, making the mist between the skeleton mountains appear like a sea of fog. Suddenly, a light appeared. Qin Mu looked intently and was slightly startled; he saw a small flatboat drifting from between two skeleton mountains.

This flatboat floated on the mist. A solitary mast at its bow held a lantern, which emitted a faint glow without a sail.

At the stern of the boat, a ferryman in a tattered straw cape stood, sculling with an oar and wearing a bamboo hat. Under the lantern, another person sat, also wearing a bamboo hat, their face obscured.

The flatboat soon drifted in front of them. The person under the lantern stood up, turned, bowed to the ferryman, and produced a gold coin.

The ferryman reached out and took the gold coin. Qin Mu immediately saw that the ferryman's hand had no flesh whatsoever!

Beneath the bamboo hat, inside the straw cape, was actually a skeleton! A skeleton was sculling the boat!

The person under the lantern stepped off the flatboat. Seeing Qin Mu and the village chief, he paused slightly, then bowed respectfully, his voice aged: "Fellow Daoist."

Qin Mu and the village chief returned the bow, saying, "Fellow Daoist."

The man adjusted his bamboo hat and walked away.

The village chief suddenly said, "Fellow Daoist, please wait."

The man stopped.

The village chief asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you have any money left?"

The man chuckled with a raspy voice, "You didn't bring money, yet you want free passage?"

The village chief smiled faintly, "So we'd like to borrow a little from you."

Laughter came from beneath the bamboo hat. "Old Sword God, I haven't seen you in a long time. Few people from our era remain, so meeting here is a destined encounter. Very well, I'll give you a few Fengdu coins."

He extended his palm, and a few gold coins floated in it.

The village chief's expression was grave. His vital qi materialized, forming extended arms and legs, and he slowly reached out his hand towards the gold coins in the other's palm.

Their hands touched, and both figures swayed slightly.

The man under the bamboo hat withdrew his arm, turned, and walked away. He sighed, "You've grown old, but you're still a bit stronger than me. However, fortunately, I'm a few years younger than you, so I can live longer than you."

The village chief watched him leave and said, "You're stronger than before, but you might not live as long as I do."

"Hard to say."

The man under the bamboo hat leaped and disappeared. The village chief opened his hand, and four gold coins fell into Qin Mu's hand. Immediately, the arms and legs materialized by vital qi gradually faded, and he said, "Mu'er, let's board the boat."

Qin Mu felt uneasy as he boarded the small flatboat. The village chief also floated onto the boat and leaned against the mast. The ferryman at the stern turned the boat around, and the small boat gently and steadily glided into the deep mist of the skeleton mountains.