PD -Chapter 142 Return to the World of the Living

That voice was impossible to resist. I didn’t know why, but in my dazed state, I felt an overwhelming urge to tell the truth.

I clenched my teeth and fought against the voice, yet I knew I couldn’t hold out for long.

Seeing that I remained silent, the enormous face snorted coldly. Then, amid a swirl of mist, it transformed into a burly middle-aged man dressed in luxurious robes and slowly stepped forward.

Standing beside me, he picked up the Frost-Sealed Beast King—now no larger than a puppy—with one hand and casually tossed it away. A black spatial rift instantly swallowed the beast.

“Get back and repair the Ice Hell. If I discover you’re trying to escape again, don’t blame this king for showing no mercy!”

The middle-aged man waved his hand, and the spatial rift immediately closed.

Then he walked up to me, stared at me for a long moment, and sneered.

“A cultivator from the world of the living? You’ve got quite a backbone.”

That incomparably imposing face gazed down at me. In the next instant, one of his feet stepped heavily onto my body.

“I wonder if you can endure the suffering of my Sixteen Lesser Hells!”

My heart skipped a beat.

The moment his foot came down, I spat out a mouthful of blood. Yet strangely, my consciousness became much clearer.

Recalling what I knew about King Chujiang, terror immediately surged within me.

The Sixteen Lesser Hells he had just mentioned were under his jurisdiction. Aside from the Cold Hell, he also controlled these smaller hells—something akin to the private prisons established by powerful nobles in ancient times.

Although they couldn’t compare to the Great Hells, the punishments within the Sixteen Lesser Hells were equally inhumane.

His meaning was obvious.

If I refused to tell the truth, he would throw me into one of those hells and make me suffer.

“Cough… cough…”

I couldn’t help coughing up more blood.

The truth was, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to speak anymore. It was because of King Chujiang’s foot.

It felt as though a thousand-pound boulder were crushing my chest. Even if I wanted to tell the truth, I physically couldn’t speak.

But King Chujiang clearly didn’t care.

Seeing that I still refused to give in, he immediately waved his sleeve. A black spatial rift formed before me.

In an instant, an enormous force swallowed my body. By the time I felt the pressure on my chest disappear and realized King Chujiang’s foot was no longer pinning me down, I had already been sucked into the rift.

The next moment, scenes flashed before my eyes like a carousel.

The souls suffering throughout the Sixteen Lesser Hells appeared one after another.

In the Hell of Hunger, skeletal figures starved to the point of gnawing on their own hands and feet.

In the Hell of Thirst, souls whose lips and skin were cracked like drought-stricken earth, splitting open to reveal muscle and bone beneath.

In the Hell of Chickens, souls whose flesh was continuously pecked apart by countless chickens…

Little by little, I sank deeper into the darkness, having no idea which hell I would ultimately be thrown into.

Then—

Bang!

My body struck the ground.

The surroundings were pitch black.

At that moment, I finally regained control of my body.

I didn’t dare observe my surroundings.

I truly didn’t dare.

Instead, I immediately sat up and pulled out the sound-transmission talisman I had used earlier to communicate with Liu Xiaopeng.

Holding the talisman between two fingers, I ignited it with spiritual energy.

“Quick… pull me back!” I whispered.

As the talisman burned, a beam of white light suddenly appeared in the darkness.

The light rapidly expanded until it completely enveloped me.

I felt my body tremble.

Then my primordial spirit transformed into a streak of light and was pulled upward.

“How are you?”

A familiar voice sounded.

I opened my eyes and saw Zhu Zhu sitting beside me.

I had returned to the world of the living.

My primordial spirit had re-entered my physical body.

Struggling to my feet, I spat out another mouthful of blood and instinctively clutched my chest.

“Are you okay?”

Zhu Zhu gently patted my back, her face full of concern.

Taking a deep breath, I waved my hand and looked toward Liu Xiaopeng, who was lying nearby.

He was still stretched out on the sofa. Aside from being drenched in sweat, he appeared completely normal.

“Should I wake him up too?”

Standing beside Liu Xiaopeng, Zhu Zhu asked anxiously.

A talisman was clenched in her hand.

It was one of the talismans I had given her before leaving.

The talismans were linked to our primordial spirits. As soon as one was burned, our souls would immediately be pulled back into our bodies.

However, if we returned to the world of the living this way, we would be unable to bring back the Ghost Gate Black Jade we had come to retrieve.

That was why I had specifically instructed Zhu Zhu before we left: only burn the talismans and recall us if absolutely necessary.

Just now, after being thrown into one of King Chujiang’s Sixteen Lesser Hells, I had no other choice but to save my own life first.

I burned the communication talisman.

Fortunately, I had prepared ahead of time and left a linked communication talisman with Zhu Zhu as well.

It had truly been a matter of life and death.

Had I hesitated even slightly longer, I might have been trapped forever within one of King Chujiang’s Lesser Hells.

But although I had returned, there was still no news of Liu Xiaopeng or Shentu.

And now the communication talisman was gone.

Our only means of contact had been severed.

All I could do was pray that Liu Xiaopeng would stay safe, reunite with Shentu below, retrieve the item we needed, and return here.

“Brother Han, say something!”

Seeing me lost in thought, Zhu Zhu stomped her foot anxiously.

I finally snapped back to reality.

After a moment’s consideration, I said, “Wait another thirty minutes. If they still haven’t returned by then, burn the talisman and pull Xiaopeng back first.”

Zhu Zhu frowned.

She was deeply worried about Liu Xiaopeng and clearly wanted to argue, yet swallowed her words.

After all, every extra minute he remained below meant greater danger.

But at the same time, she understood just how important the item we were retrieving was for saving Tang Shanshan.

Caught between those two concerns, she found herself unable to decide.

Seeing her conflicted expression, I sighed and was about to tell her to sit down and rest when—

A strange gust of yin wind swept through the room.

I froze.

We were inside an underground vault.

The airflow from the ventilation system was always minimal.

Where had such a gust come from?

My heart immediately sank.

Glancing at Liu Xiaopeng lying on the sofa, I pulled Zhu Zhu aside and said urgently, “Get them to open the vault! Now!”

Seeing the seriousness on my face, Zhu Zhu immediately contacted the security personnel outside through her radio.

A series of heavy metallic clanks echoed from the blast-proof door.

Moments later, it swung open.

“Move!”

Grabbing Zhu Zhu’s arm, I instantly darted out of the vault.

And almost at the same moment—

A black spatial rift appeared in the center of the vault.

As space itself tore apart, a sharp hissing sound filled the air.

It was enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.