After a while, the four-cornered ghost fire couldn't hold on any longer and dispersed, leaving the entire room in complete darkness.
I couldn't see the ceiling anymore and could only keep my eyes open in the darkness, waiting for my body to recover.
Luckily, it didn't take long for my body to finally recover. I moved my new body and sat up from the icy bed. It was fortunate that as a spirit, there was no discomfort after recovery.
I got off the icy bed, pushed open the giant door, and left the side hall.
As I strolled along the Naihe Bridge, I watched the orderly queue of people moving forward. They followed the routine, chose to forget their current life, and drank the bowl of Meng Po soup before throwing themselves into the next life without any worries.
"Miss, it's been a while since I last saw you," Meng Po greeted me with a bowl of soup in her hand.
I smiled and went up to her. I took the ladle from her hand and said, "Let me help you, Granny."
"Alright, thank you, Miss." Meng Po handed me the ladle. Her old hands were covered with age spots, and her wrinkled face was full of kindness. She patted her hunched back and complained, "I'm useless now that I'm old."
I smiled but didn't say anything. Meng Po had been here longer than the Yama, and she complained every day that she was useless. However, she had been standing strong for thousands of years.
As we chatted, the queue naturally stopped.
The soul in front of us interrupted my conversation with Granny Meng, anxiously saying, "Give me the soup quickly."
After scooping a bowl of soup and handing it to Granny Meng, I looked up at the soul, who had a rough and honest appearance.
The soul looked at the bowl of soup in Granny Meng's hand with eager eyes, reaching out to take it.
Granny Meng slapped his hand away, like a grumbling old lady, "What's the rush? It's not your turn yet."
The soul pleaded, "Please give it to me first," bowing to Granny Meng with clasped hands.
"Are you in such a hurry to reincarnate?" Granny Meng naturally handed the bowl of soup to the person in front and took the one I handed over, while asking the question on my mind.
The soul quickly replied, "My wife and I were riding in a carriage to her mother's house, but we accidentally fell off a mountain and both died. She just reincarnated in front of me, and I thought if I hurry, I might be able to reincarnate closer to her." It was clear from the soul's words that he was an honest man.
After listening to the soul's story, I handed him the bowl of soup.
The man looked at the suddenly offered bowl of soup in confusion, but then gratefully accepted it and thanked me, "Thank you, miss."
"I wish you can find your wife," I said as the man finished the soup and looked at the bowl in a daze.
I took the bowl from him as he went to reincarnate with the crowd, forgetting his past life.
Meng Po looked at me and said, "Girl, you are just too kind. Once he drinks the Meng Po soup, he won't remember anything."
"It could be considered fulfilling his last wish before reincarnation," I replied calmly, continuing to ladle soup and handing it to Meng Po.
As I looked at the clear soup, I thought to myself, "Perhaps one day I will drink a bowl too."
After helping Meng Po ladle soup for a while, I bid farewell and headed towards the gate of the underworld, drifting towards it with the thought of "one thought of life and death."
When I arrived at the gate, I saw the headless ghost guarding it. After he saw me, he greeted me warmly, "Girl, going out again?"
I nodded as I looked at the eyes on his stomach and asked, "Do you need anything? I can bring something back for you."
The headless ghost chuckled and said, "Girl, can you bring me a cooked chicken? Let this headless me satisfy my cravings."
"Sure," I replied. This headless ghost was a bit greedy and always longed for the delicious food of the mortal world. Almost every time I encountered him at the gate, I would bring him something to eat. Over time, we became quite familiar with each other and got along well.
After spending some time with the ghosts in the underworld, I realized that they were much easier to get along with than people in the mortal world. Perhaps it was because they were already ghosts, so there was no need to be calculating.
When I agreed, the headless ghost enthusiastically opened the "door within the gate" and let me out.
"One thought of life and death" was the way in and out of the gate of the underworld, and the door within the gate was the way out of the gate, also known as the "door of life."
I emerged from the Gate of Life and stepped onto the road to Huan Yang, shrouded in a thousand miles of mist. Ghost fires lit the way, illuminating the wandering souls who were barred from entering the mansion gate.
At the end of the road to Huan Yang sat a girl dressed in gray, with a table in front of her on which lay a sheet of paper and a pen, upon which were written several names.
"Xiao Yin Yang," I called the girl's name. She turned to look at me, her eyes dead gray, for she was half living and half dead, unable to enter the Yang world or the Yin court, and could only serve as a record keeper at this border between Yin and Yang.
Yin Yang was not her name, but the name of each generation's record keeper. When the previous record keeper sensed that their time was running out, they would use the Yin and Yang energy within their body to conceive a new Yin Yang.
As the small Yin Yang gradually grew, the old Yin Yang became weaker and weaker as their Yin and Yang energy was consumed. When the small Yin Yang was born, it was the day when the old Yin Yang's soul dispersed.
Therefore, Yin Yang stayed at this border from birth to death, with no relatives or friends, no love or affection.
Yin Yang recognized me and smiled, grabbing my hand and saying, "Sister Su, tell me a story and then I'll let you go."
I looked at her and lovingly stroked her hair. Actually, I didn't need to be recorded by her every time I entered and left the underworld, but I still stopped and told her a story each time.
"What story do you want to hear?" I asked her.
Yin Yang propped her chin and thought for a moment, then turned her eyes to me. "I'll listen to whatever story Sister Su wants to tell me," she said, moving over to make room for me on the chair next to hers.
"Then I'll tell you a story about a girl I met before," I said, sitting down on the chair and starting to tell her the story of Lin Die. Yin Yang listened with fascination, and in the end, she asked dreamily, "Sister Su, what's the relationship between the wind and rain in that story?"
I thought for a moment and replied, "They probably wished to live together and die together."
The story was over, and Yin Yang looked at me with reluctance. Pouting, she said, "Sister Su, when Feng Sheng comes to find you a hundred years from now, you must tell me the story again."
I patted her head and smiled. "Okay, but you have to help Sister Su remember. I've encountered too many stories, and I'm afraid I'll forget."
Yin Yang obediently nodded and then held out her slender little finger, saying, "Let's pinky swear and seal the deal."
I also extended my little finger and hooked it together with hers, and we both said, "We swear by the pinky, and we will never regret our deal."