Chapter 5: CHAPTER 5: UNDERWORLD, THE PATH OF LIFE

The journey on the lengthy Path of Life appeared to have no end. Whether it's day or night, the sky still retained its vivid crimson background, which remained an ominous omen, making people's minds and hearts uneasy.

Binh An looked out into the distance, it seemed another person had joined the Path Of Life. This individual came across as a gentle young man who was quite intellectual looking. "His ability to bind poultry was not tight", indicating that he was not up to any hard labor. His hand was still tightly gripping his belonging, out of fear that it may slip from his grasp any moment. Despite his slim build and fair skin, he gave off the impression that he had led a rough life as seen by his spartan clothing and his quite inferior gestures.

He casually cut line in front of Binh An without even batting an eye, and then kept on ignoring everyone else's presence.

Binh An did not find this impulsive act offensive, as for a ridiculous amount of time, he was compelled to look at the woman's vibrant flowery outfit right in front of him.

Unlike the young boy, the woman's figure exuded a gentle yet elegant appearance, confident with a straight back and a protruding chest. The hair was exceptionally neat, well-groomed, and heavily ornamented. Even the aesthetic involved in selecting clothing and accessories is subtle and up to date. You could see that the girl was well-educated in personal grooming, however, instead of a classy, noble, graceful look, this woman was more similar to the image of the "flowers and powders" class.

And although she was pleasing to look at, Binh An had looked all the way till now, he has soon grown tired of it, now the scene has changed, at least there was something new to refresh his mind.

This young boy appeared to be almost the same height as that person, but he still lags behind in terms of attractiveness. They both treated him the same way, though, they only showed him their backs and napes, had very frigid attitudes toward him, and saw him as visible. However, Binh An was still a human, and he was still capable of feeling hurt.

Now thinking back, there was a good reason for this mistreatment back in the day, he used to taunt that individual constantly since he found it amusing and rewarding, but it did make the person's blood boil. Guess he really reaped what he sowed.

After being reminded, he felt the impulse to do mischief all over again, his entire body could not stop moving, he began to have the thought of teasing this young man, the passion flared to the point of making his entire body itch as if there were ants crawling all over him.

Unable to bear it any longer, he immediately raised his finger and poked people in the back.

The boy surprisingly did not react.

Binh An poked him again.

Still no response.

Binh An sensed something odd, immediately rushed over to confront the boy, Binh An lowered his head to stare straight into this young man's face, but oddly enough, his face remained unchanged, his eyes also halted in the distance, not on Binh An at all, which was completely abnormal.

Binh An immediately targeted another victim, circled around the vibrant flowery outfit woman. Still receive the very same result.

The only answer he could think of was that he might had been a shaman in a past life, which would have allowed him to see spirits. 

Yet he was still looking for confirmation, thus, he even swayed back and forth on the Path in search of souls with a little bit brighter auras than average, and then he stood in front of them dancing wildly, but even so, they did not seem to notice him. 

He tried on some more tricks in front of a few other mages, and they all still considered him invisible and went about their own business.

Turned out these people, all these souls, once down here, were unaware that they were traveling the same journey as everyone else. They weren't even aware of other people's presence, instead, these souls believed that they had to independently move on their own to get to the destination. It seemed fair, because this place was not meant for a get-together.

Binh An noticed this and was astonished, couldn't help but be surprised, so why could only he see the others? And even the Yin Binh lined up on both sides of the Path, could the other people see them or it was just him? Did he practice any sort of special magic before he died? 

It was difficult to comprehend all this.

The time he spent entertaining himself, appeared to have been quite beneficial, Binh An was dying from boredom on this road, this discovery did keep him occupied for a little while, until the time came for him to stop wondering about it (since there were little to no answers), there, stood before him, a grand, magnificent palace along with all the tall massive buildings around, located on the top of a high mountain, all plated with bright gold that could light up the entire sky.

It seemed that the destination was near. 

That was undoubtedly the palace where the Yin Ti Emperor and his Officials were staying. 

The architecture was pretty antique, but gorgeous and breath-taking, causing people to choke just by looking at it. On the roof, there were many statues of divine beasts that weren’t standing still but constantly moving around, wriggling their body and tails, sometimes fighting with each other just for absolutely no reason. Red lanterns were scattered all over the area, adding classic elements to this place. It certainly didn’t look as scary as anticipated.

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As Binh An got closer, he was even more startled.

Behind that great hall lay a highly active, well-lit red-light district, the color of which lit up the entire sky, marking its existence right on the clouds drifting above.

How could this be?

It's certainly nothing like what he had studied in the classics, these must have all been built recently, for whom? Was it exclusively for the Yin Ti Emperor and the Official? But...did the mighty Yin Ti Emperor... also need to have pleasure and spend money as well? Was it because he didn't have anything better to do?

Binh An, whose sole purpose was to be on a journey to rebuild his life, and now ended up witnessing and learning a lot of new things, leaving him in complete confusion. 

Yet, there was no time to look for an answer, because right in front of his eyes, presented gigantic, hefty, majestic two gates as tall as a tower, with terrifying living figures engraved in them, staring right at the lowly souls with the thirst for blood and flesh, causing many people to hold their breath in horror and overwhelm. 

This was the legendary Gate of Judgment, also known as the final destination. 

These two big gates had never closed for a day, yet, Binh An noticed, one by one just stood still in front of them, staring at it without entering, only after a while that they eventually lifted up their feet and walked in. 

It turned out that in their eyes, the door was shut tight, and they had to wait for it to open in order to enter.

Binh An was the lone exception who could see exactly what was going on beyond those gates.

The inside features a sizable hall frame covered in a dark tint, a ceiling that was inconceivably high to be seen with the naked eye or could be reached by hand, tall stone statues of somewhat a devil in disguise that gave out an uneasy sensation, and the paintings mosaics on the wall that depicted the mayhem of hell. 

The Path Of Life, which had been once quite broad and vast, was now merely a thin, golden thread that ran down the hallway, giving the impression that one was in an anthill.

This place had a rather oppressive atmosphere. The front appeared splendid, but the interior was enveloped in a gloomy, mournful atmosphere, and the scene was "dignified" to dismal and full of the suffocating stench of death.

This was truly the final stop of every being.

Right in front of Binh An, perched on a chair cast from heavy boulders was a gigantic figure, covered in pitch black from top to bottom, completely unrecognizable, like a talking cast shadow, mysterious and dangerous yet dominant and powerful. Even the spirits below tried to look up, it was still impossible to see all of his head. 

That was indeed the mighty Yin Ti Emperor.

On either side of the hall wall, high above, sat the Officials, whose black silhouettes as large as they were, they wore different shapes of headdresses, which was the only way to distinguish them from each other. The rest were the same, all covered in a black cloak that stretched from neck to toe, not even showing off their eyes and nose, Binh An couldn't help but wonder how exactly they could breathe or see.

A voice echoed throughout the hall, so loud that one's head spun and goosebumps emerged on their arms, prompting others to bend their heads in submission.

Binh An, like the rest of the souls, was compelled to wait in line for judgment. The atmosphere became increasingly clear with anxiety and stress, and from time to time, a scream would break through the sky, indicating that someone had been executed without mercy, meaning they did not get to go on to their next life, rather got banished to the dungeon located at the bottom of hell.

That sound did not come from spirits being evicted, but from the devils deep beneath the depths of hell, which forcefully snatched these souls away like they have been starving for years. No one informed the souls outside, yet they all seemed to be aware of the situation themselves, which lowered their morale even further.

Only when standing before the execution did they began to reflect on everything that had happened in their lives one by one. Everyone's mouth and tongue were stitched up, they couldn't even breathe, some individuals have begun to cry and whimper, quivering with anxiety for the judgment to be handed down, and some people couldn't bear the immense stress and went insane, gripping their heads and shouting.

Perhaps the Golden Path was their last leisurely stroll.

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