21: Chapter 21 Blackwater River Beneath: The Secret Realm of Wujiang

Dark, so dark,

and the water was also accompanied by a strong smell of blood.

Sun Po had already been diving for more than ten minutes, with Yang Xinyue and Liu Jianren behind him.

After obtaining the turtle-knobbed silver seal, Changyou's control over the river water had indeed become much stronger.

It conjured three streams of water to create a transparent water shield for the three of them, and explained to Sun Po in its mind:

"This water-avoiding bubble could only be made after I obtained this seal. It should be enough for Master's breathing for 10 minutes,

if the air inside this bubble is exhausted in this water,

I'm afraid Changyou won't be able to make another one for Master in a short time. Please be extremely careful, Master."

...

Sun Po had been diving for more than four minutes now, but the river bottom showed no signs of appearing at all.

If they didn't reserve half of the time to ascend, the three of them might be left at the bottom of the river forever.

But Sun Po didn't want to turn back; he could already feel his connection with the Double-Pupil Warrior gradually growing stronger,

which showed that his idea was right.

But if they ascended just like that, would the next underwater bubble made by Changyou exceed 10 minutes?

I'm afraid not. Then they could only dejectedly abandon the Double-Pupil Warrior, leave the secret realm, and plan things out later.

If they were so cowardly, how could they survive in this turbulent world? He couldn't accept it.

But while Sun Po could gamble himself, he didn't want to drag Yang Xinyue and Liu Jianren into gambling their lives with him.

He turned his head back and gestured to the two of them,

signaling them to return because the bubble's time was running out.

But Yang Xinyue and Liu Jianren anxiously gestured back.

Their meaning turned out to be urging Sun Po to continue diving quickly.

A wave of immense emotion surged in Sun Po's heart,

these two clearly trusted him, Sun Po, which was why they were willing to stake everything to gamble their lives with him.

Such companions gave Sun Po his first sense of being trusted with another's life in this world.

He no longer wasted time and concentrated on continuing his descent.

At the same time, Sun Po also felt that his resonance with the Double-Pupil Warrior was getting closer.

"Almost there, I can already clearly feel the anger of the Double-Pupil Warrior!!"

9 and a half minutes...

The pitch-black river water resembled a bottomless abyss, making Sun Po, whose oxygen was about to run out, feel as if he could see the countdown to his own death.

3...

Sun Po already felt his vision blurring, and simply because of the pitch-black surroundings, his consciousness became even hazier.

2...

Sun Po felt a sweet taste in his throat, and his limbs gradually grew weak.

1

Sun Po's eyelids could no longer hold up,

and he saw the cracks shattering on the underwater bubble.

But behind those cracks, it didn't seem quite as pitch-black;

a faint red light seemed to be welling up.

His consciousness finally gave out completely, but before closing his eyes, he seemed to vaguely hear a voice:

"My Lord!!"

...

When Sun Po opened his eyes, Yang Xinyue and Liu Jianren were collapsed beside him, unconscious.

He looked around, and the scene before him was vastly different from before.

Above this world was a crimson canopy of heaven,

upon which hung a surging, pitch-black great river.

The great river was like the Milky Way suspended in the sky, but what dotted it were not shining stars,

but densely packed, countless skeletons and wandering ghosts.

Those souls seemed to be engulfed and torn apart by the pitch-black river, surging forward together with the dark river.

At every moment, they were letting out silent, miserable wails,

making one feel upset and unsettled at just a glance.

On the earth was a boundless wilderness.

Broken spears and shattered swords littered the ground, and fallen Red-Armored Nether Soldiers piled up into small mountains.

Not far away, endless rows of Red-Armored Nether Soldiers were faintly visible.

Before Sun Po was only a tall, towering back.

The Double-Pupil Warrior, shirtless with his entire back covered in bruises and pustular scars,

was holding a fractured banner bearing the character "Xiang", sitting somewhat forlornly on the pile of corpses of the Red-Armored Nether Soldiers.

It was precisely the Double-Pupil Warrior.

Behind Sun Po was a blood-red great river.

It echoed from afar with the Black Water River in the sky,

but this blood-red river water was incomparably pure, resembling red crystal without any impurities.

Suddenly, military drums beat, and waves of mournful singing sounded in Sun Po's ears:

"Father poles the punt out to the river, flesh and bone all turned to mud under hooves, why oh why?"

"Elder brother shoulders a spear to join the army, pupils flying into the beaks of chaotic crows, why oh why?"

"Younger brother holds a sword to support the realm, white robes stained scarlet with the blood of common folk, why oh why?"

"Mother holds a bowl begging along the streets, hoping for your return home only to starve to death in vain, why oh why?"

"Overlord Xiang!! Why oh why?!"

"Overlord Xiang!! Why oh why?!"

"..."

On the banks of the Wu River, songs of Chu echoed from all sides!!

Looking at the tall, majestic back before him, a trace of sorrow could not help but well up in Sun Po's heart.

A Card Maker's mind was attuned to their own cards; his state of mind at this moment was also the state of mind of the Double-Pupil Warrior.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

At this moment, the Red-Armored Nether Soldiers on the riverbank gripped their long halberds and abruptly advanced three steps forward.

The flesh-mountain-like Marquis of Duyan Wang Yi stepped out from the crowd, crushing dozens of Red-Armored Nether Soldiers to death along the way.

It ran while roaring:

"Eyes! Eyes!!"

"Whoa! This big thing has a mouth growing on its belly?! Quite unique."

I don't know when, but Yang Xinyue had already woken up, looking with keen interest at the strange world before her.

"Brother Po, have we arrived in hell?"

Liu Jianren had just opened his eyes with a terrified expression, and immediately began to wail:

"It's over! I still kicked the bucket!! I haven't even broken..."

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Yang Xinyue watching the fun, and instinctively shut his mouth in a hurry.

Yang Xinyue stepped forward, patted Liu Jianren's shoulder, and asked with a smile:

"Haven't broken what yet? Let Teacher hear~"

Liu Jianren hurriedly covered his mouth:

"Nothing! Teacher Yang!! I... I didn't lose any money!!"

Seeing Liu Jianren's embarrassed look, Sun Po couldn't help finding it amusing.

The sorrowful emotions just now influenced by the songs of Chu also faded away quite a bit.

At the front of the battle line, the Double-Pupil Warrior had already engaged in combat with the Marquis of Duyan Wang Yi.

In front of the seven or eight-meter-tall Marquis of Duyan Wang Yi, the Double-Pupil Warrior looked like a child compared to a stalwart man.

But the aura exuded by the Double-Pupil Warrior did not lose to the Marquis of Duyan Wang Yi at all.

One was powerful, stern, and noble;

the other was colossal, frantic, and ferocious;

both had inherited a part of the Overlord,

and even their combat styles were cut from the same cloth—head-on collision!

They were like two ferocious beasts crashing fiercely into each other.

Only it seemed that the Double-Pupil Warrior was still at a slight disadvantage due to its smaller size,

and under this impact, it was knocked back three steps.

The Double-Pupil Warrior attempted to hug and fling this flesh-mountain away again, but this time the Marquis of Duyan Wang Yi had a countermeasure.

Seeing its dark cyan skin surface become incomparably smooth, at the same time the human face on its abdomen suddenly opened its big mouth,

thick acid overflowed from the mouth. This acid caused no reaction when it fell on Wang Yi's body,

but when it landed on the Double-Pupil Warrior's hands, it directly made a sizzling sound.

At the same time, a pungent odor and billowing white smoke emerged.

When the white smoke dispersed, the Double-Pupil Warrior's arms were already mangled and bloody.

Seeing the surging Red-Armored Nether Soldiers, the three of them also decisively made their move.

"Red Snake!! Appear!!"

"Changyou!! Appear!!"

"Wulang!! Come out and fight!!"

...