Chapter 1434: Chapter 888: Upright_2

Jiang Hui concentrated and watched for a moment, the next moment, the scene which was originally no larger than a washbasin suddenly expanded at a visible speed to the naked eye, enveloping the entire black-tiled and mud-walled house in a short amount of time.

…

Shen Zhinan felt as if he were sinking into degeneration, as if he were experiencing sleep paralysis; he was completely unable to move, and gradually, an asphyxiating sensation of suffocation came over him, as if he were drowning.

This feeling, he had already experienced it eight times. Today was the ninth, and compared to the previous times, the suffocating sensation was even more intense.

He could feel something thick and sticky, like mud or a river, slowly moving beneath his feet.

However, gradually, this feeling started to change.

It was as if tentacles were winding around his feet, desperately pulling at him, trying to drag him down completely.

“Gurgle gurgle…”

The already unbearable feeling of suffocation intensified.

Shen Zhinan’s consciousness became ever more hazy, and at the same time, the sound of rushing water appeared by his ears, rapid and torrential,

as well as the startled cries of a woman.

His already blurry consciousness was suddenly jolted awake.

That voice… was his wife’s.

Was he experiencing auditory hallucinations?

That’s right, after all, it was just a dream. Anything seen or heard in it was normal.

But is this all really just a dream?

Immediately following,

Shen Zhinan hadn’t even made a move.

The undercurrent below his feet became even more turbulent, as if countless tentacles were frantically crawling and climbing.

A familiar figure appeared in front of him, Shen Zhinan’s pupils contracted, that figure was actually his own wife.

“Zhinan, save me… save me… what place is this, wuwuwu…” The woman’s voice came intermittently, as if she were choking on water, which made her voice even weaker.

“This dream… it’s so vivid?” Shen Zhinan’s eyes widened, this series of changes somehow dissipated some of the suffocating sensation.

However, he was astonished by the changes in the dream because the voice sounded too real, as though someone was pleading for help right by his ear.

“Shen Zhinan?”

Just then, the man heard someone calling his name clearly.

It wasn’t his wife’s voice.

“Who is calling me?” Shen Zhinan looked around.

“Are you Shen Zhinan?”

The voice rang out once more.

It seemed more urgent than the first time.

Following that, he saw a black ship emerge from the dark horizon.

The Black Ship drifts slowly, its size indiscernible, coming from the pitch-black night, with a howling cold wind.

Upon the ship’s body, there were no lights, no masts, just a deadly, silent pitch-black, as if a ghost ship had sailed from the Underworld.

Shen Zhinan’s heartbeat gradually sped up, he could clearly feel his blood rushing through his veins, as if it would burst the confines of his body.

His gaze swept across the ship, and when he saw those figures standing on the ship, his entire being’s pupils shrank sharply, his face turned ashen.

Viewed from afar, those figures were not normal people at all; each one of them was like a walking corpse crawled out of a grave, expressionless, with hollow eyes, a ghastly pale complexion, standing on the deck, staring straight ahead.

Large patches of death spots the size of fists covered their exposed skin.

Even from a great distance, one could smell the nauseating stench emanating from them.

The man’s lips quivered, his teeth chattered, sweat slid down his forehead, dripping onto the cold ground, making a faint sound.

This scene was just too clear.

Every detail was visible.

He could even see the wriggling decayed flesh and maggots on those figures.

How could a dream have such clarity in its details?

The only consolation he could give himself was that in reality, he shouldn’t be able to see this far; but as the Black Ship drew nearer, the consolation of deceiving himself became somewhat ineffective.

Shen Zhinan tried to scream, only to find that something seemed to be blocking his throat, and he could only make a faint “heh heh” sound.

He suddenly thought of his elderly wife. Could that cry for help just now have been real?

The moment this idea emerged, he hastily looked around.

But by this time, all sounds had ceased, and the darkness was so thick one could not see anything, silent to the extreme.

Suddenly, the pitch-black ship halted its progress, slowly hovering in front of Shen Zhinan.

In the darkness, it seemed a wooden plank fell to the ground next to Shen Zhinan.

Immediately after, Shen Zhinan felt an indescribable chill rising from his spine, as if an invisible hand had seized his backbone.

The coldness was so bone-deep, it seemed to freeze his soul within this boundless darkness. Shen Zhinan’s body instantaneously stiffened; he could neither move nor make a sound, simply allowing that force to drag him toward the terrifying ship.

Just then, that previously weak and urgent voice sounded again, “Shen Zhinan?”

Shen Zhinan struggled to turn his head, attempting to locate the source of the sound. Nevertheless, darkness remained all around, and he could see nothing. He could only feel that pair of invisible hands gripping him tighter and tighter, as if intending to tear him into pieces.

“Shen Zhinan, are you Shen Zhinan?” The eerie voice rose once more, with an impatient undertone.

“No answer? Silence implies consent!”

“…”

“Come with us. You’re the key; we can’t do it without you.” That creepy voice carried an unquestionable authority and coldness.

The next moment, Shen Zhinan’s body seemed to be pulled by some invisible force, his legs involuntarily rushing towards the Black Ship in a daze.

As he stepped onto the Black Ship, the zombie-like figures suddenly stopped aimlessly staring ahead and unanimously turned to look at him.

An unprecedented sense of crisis washed over him.

Shen Zhinan shook his head forcefully, struggling violently.

But soon, the vigor of his struggle diminished, and like the dense, zombie-like figures, the human light in his eyes rapidly faded.

“All here now.”

“Set sail!”

Cries like that of a whistle sounded, as the huge Black Ship emitted the creaking noise of wooden planks compressing together. Following that, the ship started to move forward.

Only, at that very moment–

No matter how many times the whistle sounded.

The Black Ship that should have been sailing towards the unknown stood still, as if it had rooted itself in place.

“Interesting.”

A swath of white dispelled the darkness around.

The world, in which one could not see their hand before their face, suddenly became clear.

But the spread of that white was not reckless; it stabilized at a certain degree.

Only, it turned the Black Ship as bright as daylight.

Shen Zhinan’s muddled expression instantly became lucid.

With lingering fear, he turned to look at Jiang Hui beside him.

He felt as if he might be going mad.

Otherwise, how could this dream be getting so out of control?

This white-cloaked figure he had never seen before, an utterly unfamiliar face, and yet it appeared in his dream.

“Not only has a small Hell been born within the Sea of Consciousness of a mortal, but this small Hell has also developed self-awareness and seeks to devour its host, evolving into a Great Hell. No wonder I couldn’t see through it before.”

Shen Zhinan gazed at Jiang Hui with a bewildered face.

This dream was getting more and more mystical, completely beyond his control.

What small Hell, Great Hell; he hadn’t even heard of them, and yet characters in his dream were discussing them.

Jiang Hui glanced at Shen Zhinan and couldn’t help but exclaim.

No wonder the other was able to gain recognition as the Eastern Ghost Emperor.

Not to mention mortals, even for an Immortal King, it would be extremely perilous to birth a small Hell in the Sea of Consciousness, let alone a mortal. Shen Zhinan’s fate was truly tough, managing to hold on until the small Hell developed self-awareness.

Luckily, I came down to investigate, otherwise if one night had passed, wouldn’t I have lost a candidate for the Eastern Ghost Emperor?

Not to say that Shen Zhinan was the only candidate, but after so long only one appeared. If this one can’t be grasped, who knows how long before another will appear? Plus, for a small Hell to be born within the Sea of Consciousness of a mortal, this is in itself equivalent to a Cultivator flourishing throughout their journey, stepping into the Emperor Realm–a rarity amongst rarities.

Small Hell, sixteen.

More terrifying than the eighteen layers of the Great Hell.