Chapter 79: The Bridge Forged from the Dead Part 1

Wang Ya stood at the bridgehead and said in a deep voice, “In a moment, I’ll use the Lotus Guiding Seal to light the way. We only have the time it takes for one incense stick to burn. Before the light goes out, we must cross the bridge. Remember, no matter what you see or hear—even if the bridge breaks, even if you see one of us fall into the water—do not pay attention, and do not look back. Keep staring at the lotus light and run straight forward. If you make it across, you live. If not, you die!” After she finished, she said softly, “Dad, stay close to me.”

Wang Cheng’an nodded obediently and said, “I understand. Bridge of Life and Death, connecting Jiu You to the Yellow Springs, stepping on the boundary between life and death…” He wanted to continue reciting, but Wang Ya glared fiercely at him, as if telling him to stop, so he quickly swallowed the rest of the words.

Wang Ya silently chanted the incantation, formed seals with her hands, and struck a Lotus Guiding Seal toward the bridge in front of her. She called out, “Dad, follow the lotus!” Then she stepped onto the bridge.

The moment her foot touched the brick on the bridge, the bridge and the people around her vanished entirely. All around was endless void and darkness, with only a single Lotus Talisman scattering faint golden light drifting slowly forward. Red demonic light glowed from Wang Ya’s body as she closely followed that golden lotus ahead. Countless corpses appeared under her feet; she walked atop a mountain of bodies. Around her were all sorts of people in every shape and form: tragically slain aggrieved souls, her childhood classmates and teachers, her grandma calling to her that she had taken the wrong path, her dad shouting, “Yaya, save me—” She saw Huang Qi rush ahead, only to be grabbed by corpses and dragged into the pile. Huang Qi struggled in extreme terror, begging her to save her. Wang Ya ignored it completely. At this moment, even if it had been Huang Qi trapped here, or even if she saw Wang Cheng’an trapped, she wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.

Suddenly, a figure appeared at her side, walking shoulder to shoulder with her. A soft voice rang in her ear: “Wang Xiaohua.” It was Ye Zi’s voice.

Wang Ya cursed inwardly: Scram, I am not called Wang Xiaohua.

The Ye Zi who appeared at her side seemed to hear her thoughts and said, “In this life, your surname is Wang. In your previous life, you were the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower. Shouldn’t I call you Wang Xiaohua?”

Wang Ya was speechless! What a tacky name! She knew the Ye Zi beside her was fake. She really wanted to slap this phony Ye Zi away and beat her to death. But she knew she couldn’t. She had to keep staring at the Lotus Guiding Seal and walk.

“Ye Zi” floated ahead of her again, her watery eyes gazing quietly at her as she asked, “Do you miss me? I miss you so much. Without your company, I’m so lonely. You’re lonely too, aren’t you? I haven’t bloomed in a thousand years. And you? Leaving your roots and leaves to drift through the world, enduring endless hardship and trials. When you’re tired, in pain, or facing danger, haven’t you ever thought of me?”

Wang Ya fumed inwardly: When I fell into that bottomless cauldron, where were you to save me? When I was trapped underground, digging tunnels until I ran out of water and food, where were you? You don’t come when I’m in danger, but now you show up? She wanted to glare at “Ye Zi” and give her a piece of her mind, but then she remembered this was a fake, so she ignored her, plugged her ears with her fingers, and continued staring at the Lotus Guiding Seal ahead. She knew exactly how dangerous this place was. Forget Ye Zi—even if her grandma came, it wouldn’t work. She really wanted to perform Soul Delivery on all these ghost things on the bridge, but she didn’t dare. What if the bridge collapsed? The thought had just crossed her mind when she felt a violent tremor under her feet—the bridge was really collapsing!

She heard Wang Cheng’an’s shrill howl: “Yaya—wah, I was wrong. I couldn’t hold back and made a move.”

Wang Ya stared at the lotus in front of her. From the corner of her eye, she saw that the path ahead had vanished! Wang Ya told herself this was an illusion! She said to herself, “Even if the bridge collapses, I have to keep going forward!” She stepped forward, and for an instant, dizziness hit her brain, as if she had fallen off the bridge. Then she saw herself plunge into the water, with densely packed corpses crowding in, reaching out to grab her. She widened her eyes, not daring to blink, and fixed her gaze on the lotus still floating before her.

As long as the lotus was there, everything was fine!

Illusions! Wang Ya told herself these were all illusions! She gritted her teeth and continued forward.

The surrounding water and the dead in the water vanished. Wang Ya heard a voice shout, “She’s almost at the bridgehead—stop her!”

“Aiya, can’t stop her! She’s reached the bridgehead; she’s passed!”

Immediately after, Wang Ya saw the bridge’s end. A winding path appeared ahead. She hadn’t walked far before she stepped off the bridge. She continued following the lotus forward but discovered the path slanted, heading straight toward the cliff wall at the side. She saw the “lotus” drift into the cliff wall, and without blinking, she followed the “lotus” and crashed into the cliff!

The pain of colliding with the cliff wall never came. What appeared before her instead was a sea of corpses and blood, endless withered bones.

These, of course, were also illusions.

Wang Ya kept her eyes glued unwaveringly to that lotus and walked on, determined to stop only when the lotus stopped.

Wang Ya didn’t blink the entire way; her eyes grew dry and sore. Unable to endure it, she blinked once. In that single blink, the lotus before her turned into two. Wang Ya’s eyes instantly widened in fury; she really wanted to lash out and clear away all the ghost things around her.

But she couldn’t!

On this bridge, any slight negligence would mean losing the lotus and being lost forever. She stared deathly at the two identical lotuses before her, repeatedly warning herself not to act. However, the two lotuses soon separated, both drifting forward but one veering left, the other right. She knew only one floated straight down the bridge’s center on the correct path; the other deviated, either leading her into the river or who-knew-where.

Even if Wang Ya tried walking between the two lotuses, she would inevitably stray off course. She had to choose one true from the two fakes: choose right and pass; choose wrong and die here!

Wang Ya cursed inwardly: This damned ghost bridge!

From a visual standpoint or aura, the two lotuses before her were identical; it was hard to tell true from false.

Wang Ya simply stood still, watching which lotus drifted straight ahead and which veered to the side.

The two lotuses drifted apart, one left, one right, in different directions.