The last thing you saw before you closed your eyes was the blinding light from the hospital lamp above you. Your all senses started to fade. Your mom stroked your hair gently and kissed your forehead but your skin started to lose feeling from any touch.
Your mom whispered to your ear.
"Go, rest in peace, my dearest son. We'll meet again one day."
As soon as you heard her whisper, you started to lose your hearing. You couldn't hear anything clearly for a moment like you used invisible earplugs. Your tongue and taste buds suddenly felt bitter the tasteless. You closed your eyes peacefully. You remembered the last time you took a breath and how the air filled your lungs and your body for the last time. As soon as you closed your eyes, your memories suddenly overflowed your mind. You reminisced all the good and bad memories from your childhood until the last time you could remember. It felt so fast like a camera flashed per millisecond. But you could remember it all.
This time you finally opened your eyes again. But you knew that you were already on another dimension. You woke up from your body. That time, you didn't walk because your feet didn't step on the ground anymore. You were flying.
You saw your body laying down on the hospital bed. You looked down and looked at your astral body carefully. That time, you were still on earth. But not your soul and your astral body. You felt like you were just a fog with a soul. Nobody could touch or even felt your presence like a cold air. Even you couldn't feel yourself.
Your family gathered around you. You saw your mother crying and screaming while called your name. It was so painful to see her like that. During your life, you never found anyone else who loved you like your mother. Not even close. You moved closer to her and tried to touch her.
You knew that she couldn't hear you but you insisted to whisper to her.
"Goodbye Mom. I love you"
You also saw your father. You'd hated that man for the whole of your heart for his coldness. But this time, what you saw from his face definitely broke your heart. The tears came down to his cheek. The tears felt so pure and sincere. That time, you finally understood, he actually loved you so much. He just couldn't express it very well. You fell down on your knees and cried. You realized that you never told your mom that you loved her. You never reconciled with your father. Everything was too late.
But you didn't want to be sad over something like that for long. You wiped your tears and got up.
"Jack Anderson"
Suddenly a voice called your name.
It was the grim!
He wore all black. He already waited for you.
He called your name three time. You heard his voice clearly. His voice was unexpectedly gentle but deep. His voice was addicting in a very weird way. His call seemed manipulating your soul to follow him willingly.
As soon as he stopped calling you, you started to feel that your soul finally left the world. You finally ended your battle on earth. You had been suffering for your whole life. But you already did your best. Every hurdles and hardships were already overcame perfectly by you. You did so many good deeds and the bad one, as long as you could remember. But surprisingly, it was not a big deal for a moment. You felt like you just slept and got into dream. But you know, this time, the dream would be for eternity until you got chances to reincarnation.
You felt so light like a feather.
The Grim looked at you and said it with his eyes for you to follow him.
You had no other better choice than to follow him.
You took the first step into the famous phase called the Afterlife.
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The Grim walked in front of you and said nothing.
He guided you through dimensions. At the first you knew that you passed the hospital hallway and saw the crowded emergency room. Doctors, nurses, all other people passed by. Some of them showed a horror on their faces and the rest showed various expressions. It was indeed new thing for you. You kept walking and followed the grim but you started to lose your direction. You walked on different dimensions. You finally understood, it was the place which was called by some people as Middle Realm. The realm between Earthly Realm and Diyu (Underworld). You started to feel fatigue. You didn't want to make any voice so you didn't disturb the grim in front of you.
You just kept walking.
At the first you thought that it was going to be a very long journey. But you were wrong.
You finally arrived at the front Gate of Diyu. The gate looked more like an old wooden door with a golden sign above it said "THE UNDERWORLD".
According to any myths, Diyu was a gloomy courts and maze for all deceased spirits.
There were Ten Courts of Diyu
Court 1: Mirror of Retribution.
Ruled by Qinguang Wang.
Court 2: The Pool of Filth and the Hell of Ice.
Ruled by Chujiang Wang.
Court 3: Black Rope Hell and the Upside-Down Prison.
Ruled by Songdi Wang.
Court 4: The Lake of Blood and the terrible Bee Torture.
Ruled by Wuguan Wang.
Court 5: Sixteen Departments of Heart Gouging.
Ruled by Yanluo Wang.
Court 6: Screaming Torture and Administrative Errors.
Ruled by Biancheng Wang.
Court 7: Torture by Mincing Machine.
Ruled by Taishan Wang.
Court 8: Hot Suffocation Hell.
Ruled by Dushi Wang.
Court 9: Iron Web, Office of Fair Trading and Better Business Bureau.
Ruled by Pingdeng Wang.
Court 10: The Wheel of Rebirth.
Ruled by Zhuanlun Wang.
After your agony was complete and your sins were already purified after each judgement, you would be called to The 10th Court and Zhuanlun Wang would decide whether you would have reincarnation or not. Then The Great Lady, Meng Po would give you the tea of forgetfulness so you could reborn and restart everything without remembering your past memories.
You stopped right in front of the gate. You held your breath for a moment. Then you took a deep breath. That time would really be the last time you left the world. You trembled for a bit. You felt weak on your knees all of sudden
The grim turned around and finally talked to you
"This is the far that I could go. After you enter the gate, you will be into the Maze of Diyu"
Your heart suddenly beat faster.
"Your sins would be judged and purified on every level of Diyu. You will meet ten Yama Kings, the Underworld Kings with Yanluo Wang King as the Supreme King. All the good deeds would be rewarded and for the bad deeds would be punished. Go ahead. This is your pocket money from your family for this journey. Good luck."
He handed you many joss paper.
But suddenly the Grim moved closer to you and whispered'
"You could also be The Underworld Ruler. You have so much potential"
He grinned. The he left you puzzled. You still didn't know what he meant to you.
You looked at the joss papers on your hand
There were :
Dabai Shoujin (大百壽金, lit. "longevity gold"): large paper squares with a golden metallic rectangle imprinted with Fu, Lu & Shou (Three Stars), can be offered to heavenly Deities. This joss paper would be used to be an offering for High Level Deities only.
Kanjin (刈金, lit. "cut gold"): large paper squares with a golden metallic rectangle, can be offered to any level of Deities.
Xiaoyin (小銀, lit. "lesser silver"): small paper squares with a silver metallic rectangle, burned for close relatives, ancestors and spirits. This joss paper would be useful for every occasion.
Jingyi (經衣, lit. "threads and clothes"): A type of joss paper with images of items needed by the dead as "daily necessity", such as clothes, shoes, cups, and scissors, printed on the surface. This joss paper would be very useful for you to live your days in daily basis and necessity in the afterlife.
You took a deep breath once again. You didn't know what you would face after you entered the gate. But you had no choice. You left all your earthly business behind you. You wanted to forget all the bad memories and grudge.
You walked firmly and step into the the Underworld.