PD -Chapter 136 The Eight Cold Hells

As the elevator descended, I immediately felt the temperature around us changing.

The drop in temperature was incredibly rapid, making me shiver involuntarily.

Shentu glanced at me and said, “You’d better circulate your spiritual energy. Your Golden Light Incantation should be able to offset the cold here.”

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked, rubbing the tip of my nose, which had already gone numb from the chill.

Before Shentu could answer, the elevator came to a stop.

A long passageway appeared before us. The corridor was completely covered in frost, making it easy to imagine just how terrifyingly low the temperature was.

I silently recited the Golden Light Incantation. A faint golden glow enveloped my body, shielding me from the invading cold. Only after feeling somewhat more comfortable did I follow Shentu forward.

After passing through the stone corridor, we arrived at a brightly illuminated area.

What surprised me was that all the flames here emitted a cold hue. The torches lining the walkway gave off a faint blue light, resembling gemstones—or perhaps glowing ancient ice.

We walked a little farther when I suddenly spotted a gigantic gate ahead.

Calling it a stone gate wasn’t entirely accurate.

It was more like an ice gate.

The enormous black stone door was encased in a thick layer of blue ice. Through the frozen shell, the stone beneath could only be vaguely seen.

Standing on either side of the gate were four underworld wardens.

Each carried a spear. Their faces were wrinkled, with short noses and square mouths, making them look both ugly and imposing.

The guards were patrolling back and forth.

Startled, I followed Shentu as she leaped upward. We pressed ourselves tightly against the wall, clinging to the towering stone surface.

Because the gate radiated intense cold, white mist constantly swirled around it.

Only then, through the fog, did I clearly make out the ancient seal-script characters engraved on the gate:

Cold Ice Hell.

The moment I recognized those four words, my body stiffened.

Before entering Youdu with Shentu, I had imagined countless scenarios.

I had even done some research on the Eighteen Hells.

Yet now that I was truly standing before one of their gates, I still couldn’t help drawing in a sharp breath.

According to legend, the beings suffering within Cold Ice Hell were those who, in life, had been cold-hearted, ruthless, and devoid of compassion.

Especially the wealthy and powerful who oppressed the poor.

Such people would first fall into Cold Ice Hell, then be reborn as hungry ghosts, then as beasts, before finally having another chance at human reincarnation.

Even then, their next human life would be one of poverty, humiliation, and a short lifespan.

Cold Ice Hell was also known as the Eight Cold Hells.

As the name suggested, it contained eight different forms of punishment, all related to extreme cold.

The first level was Blister Hell.

The souls there wore no clothing and were forced to remain naked upon glaciers and snowfields. Before long, their bodies became covered in frostbite blisters, giving the level its name.

The second level was Bursting Blister Hell.

After enduring the punishment of the first level, the blisters on the souls’ bodies would be frozen by even lower temperatures until they split open, oozing blood and pus in a gruesome sight.

The third level was Chattering Teeth Hell.

The souls there became frozen solid. Even their mouths could not move, and they could do nothing but clamp their teeth tightly together.

The souls in the first three levels could still cry out.

But by the fourth level, Achoochoo Hell, the dead could only produce sounds resembling “ah-choo, ah-choo.”

The entire hell echoed with nothing but those miserable noises.

Then came Abobo Hell and Huhupo Hell, named after the sounds that frozen souls could force through their throats as their bodies stiffened completely.

These levels were all named after such onomatopoeic cries.

The sixth level was Blue Lotus-Crack Hell.

There, the skin froze blue and the body split into four sections like the petals of a blue lotus.

The seventh level, Red Lotus-Crack Hell, followed the same principle.

The flesh beneath the skin froze crimson, and the body split into eight sections.

When the flesh turned blackish-red and the body cracked into sixteen, thirty-two, or countless fragments, one reached the final level of the Eight Cold Hells:

Great Lotus-Crack Hell.

The beings there suffered not only from unbearable cold.

Countless iron-mouthed insects crawled into the frozen cracks of their bodies, endlessly devouring their flesh.

As these descriptions of the Eight Cold Hells ran through my mind, I couldn’t help shuddering.

Even though the Golden Light Incantation had already blocked the cold from my body, a chill still ran down my spine.

At that moment, one of the prison guards patrolling before the gate seemed to sense our presence.

It walked directly beneath us and slowly raised its ugly head.

“We’ve been spotted!” Shentu whispered.

Without hesitation, she jumped from the wall.

Her feet landed directly on the guard’s head.

Crack!

A crisp sound rang out.

The guard collapsed instantly as Shentu crushed its skull beneath her foot, splitting it apart like a smashed watermelon.

Her movements were lightning-fast.

At the same moment she crushed the first guard’s head, her hand shot toward another.

Snap!

The second guard’s neck was twisted in an instant.

It dropped to the ground with a thud, its spear slipping from its grasp and falling toward the floor.

I immediately leaped down as well, catching the spear before it could hit the ground and make any noise.

Unfortunately, our actions had already been exposed.

The remaining two guards stationed by the gate had clearly heard the disturbance.

They rushed toward us.

Gritting my teeth, I poured spiritual power into my arm and hurled the spear with all my strength.

The weapon tore through the air and pinned one guard directly to the wall.

At the same time, the other was blasted away by Shentu’s crimson spiritual energy.

Its body slammed into the blue ice gate before sliding down limply to the ground.

I honestly hadn’t expected the four guards to be dealt with so easily.

Soon, silence once again filled the area.

Only the faint crackling of the ghostly blue torches could be heard.

“We’re… going inside?” I pointed at the icy blue gate and asked Shentu.

Shentu didn’t answer directly.

Instead, she looked at me and said,

“The disturbance at Naihe Bridge was too small. If we want to divert the attention of the entire Underworld and buy that Liu kid enough time to complete his refinement, we’ll need to create something much bigger.”

“So we’ll have to split up. You’re the one going inside, not me.”

She pointed at the enormous ice gate.

“I’m going in alone?” I widened my eyes, inwardly cursing this woman for clearly having ulterior motives. “What exactly am I supposed to do in there?”

“Cause trouble, of course. Ideally, release all the souls imprisoned in Cold Ice Hell.”

As she spoke, Shentu walked over to the gate.

“That sounds easy enough. Just open the door and let them out. Then I won’t have to go in.”

I immediately tried to wriggle out of it.

After recalling all those horrifying descriptions of Cold Ice Hell, there was no way I wanted to step inside myself.

But Shentu shook her head.

“If only things were as simple as you’re imagining.”