Rabbit Must Die
Chapter 498 - 111: Find Him_1

Chapter 498: Chapter 111: Find Him_1

Black Impermanence smacked his lips and said, "That sounds somewhat reasonable... Who is your master?"

Qin Shou turned around, grinning mischievously and said, "My master is Wenqu. Next time we meet, I’ll relay your words to him just as you said them."

Upon hearing the name Wenqu, Black Impermanence’s legs nearly gave way, and he quickly waved his hand saying, "No... No... I, you see, I didn’t finish what I was saying earlier. What I meant to say was, that remark was truly profound!"

White Impermanence, seeing the situation, hastily helped Black Impermanence out by pointing to the distance and saying, "Rabbit, there’s a city over there!"

Qin Shou turned to look and asked, "What city is that?"

White Impermanence answered, "Fenghuo City, a renowned city in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, originally a vital passageway to the Western Regions frequented by traders and quite prosperous. It was known as the pearl of the Western Frontier, wealthy beyond compare. Twenty years ago, the Tibetan Capital secretly mustered troops northward, severing Fenghuo City’s connection with the Tang Dynasty in an attempt to capture it."

"And then?" Qin Shou asked.

Black Impermanence replied, "Then, then us brothers had to come over here every so often to take away some ghosts who refused to leave. So, you see, we are quite familiar with this place."

White Impermanence added, "However, these are mortal conflicts; wars among the living are all about survival, and it’s not for us to say who is right or wrong. The Netherworld shouldn’t meddle too much... I, Heavenly Court has rules, Heavenly Gods and Immortals should not interfere in mortal affairs at will. You..."

Qin Shou waved his hand and said, "I’m just looking."

Hearing Qin Shou say this, Black and White Impermanence also breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that this Rabbit might stir up some trouble.

"Let’s go, take a look inside the city." After saying this, Qin Shou led the three of them towards Fenghuo City.

The closer they got, the deeper Qin Shou’s frown became, for the closer they were to Fenghuo City, the colder it became. Not only was there ice on the ground, but there was snow!

Qin Shou looked into the distance where there was snow on the mountain tops, but below halfway down the mountain, there was no snow, and nearby there were trees that had been frozen to death, still retaining their vibrant greenery.

When they arrived at the gates of Fenghuo City, Qin Shou found that the city’s gates were still firmly closed.

Leaping atop the city wall in a single bound, Qin Shou drew in a cold breath and exclaimed angrily, "Damn! Is this what you call ’Immortals not interfering with mortal matters’? What the hell is going on here?"

He saw that on the city walls, inside the city, stood thousands of soldiers. These soldiers were all thin as rails, with white hair, none of them young. These people were both men and women, but their expressions were strikingly similar; faces stern, eyes sharp. Even as they stood frozen like statues, the fearless determination in the depths of their eyes still sent chills down one’s spine.

Below the city wall, more than a dozen aged soldiers were seen striving to push the city gates, their motions frozen in place, like wax figures or sculptures.

Looking into the city, the snow had accumulated to a depth of half a meter. Within the snowdrifts, countless figures were frozen in the moments of their deaths. There were old women pushing carts, old men shouting, children crying, women carrying sandstone on their backs...

Clearly, before the heavy snowfall, these people were still engaged in total war—the old and young, women and children, all joining the battle. Even if they could not fight with weapons, they helped transport military supplies or care for the injured. It was a picture of a resolve to never surrender...

However, a sudden and unexpected freezing event instantly turned them all into ice statues, killing everyone!

And that was something, Qin Shou did not believe to be a natural disaster.

Upon hearing this, Black and White Impermanence did not respond but instead leaped down from Fenghuo City and checked over each corpse. With every step they took, they created a duplicate of themselves, and in no time, their duplicates spread throughout the entire city.

Five minutes later, the two withdrew their avatars, exchanged glances, and came to Qin Shou with worried expressions, saying, "I, there’s definitely something wrong here!"

Qin Shou rolled his eyes and said, "No kidding; even a fool can see there’s a problem now, do I need you to tell me that?"

White Impermanence, for the first time, was utterly serious and said gravely, "I, what we mean is that it’s more troublesome than you think."

Qin Shou said, "What do you mean by that?"

Black Impermanence said, "The situation here was clearly caused by someone using a spell. That’s obvious and everyone can see it, but just now Bai and I checked on all the people here, and their souls haven’t departed their bodies for reincarnation as normal."

Qin Shou showed a puzzled look.

Black Impermanence continued, "You know, our duty in the Netherworld as brothers is to summon and collect souls. We’ve been coming to Fenghuo City for the past dozen or so years, and we’re quite familiar with the people here.

Originally, the Tibetan Capital severed connections between the Tang Dynasty and its western territories, causing a blockade for several decades. Inside Fenghuo City was a contingent of the Tang army that refused to surrender. They locked the city gates, eating snow and grass, and held out for decades. From young soldiers to white-haired veterans, they managed to resist so stubbornly that the people of the Tibetan Capital could do nothing with them.

The reason Bai and I are familiar with this city is that there are too many ghosts here clinging to their obsessions. Nearly every soldier’s soul who died in battle didn’t want to be reincarnated, preferring to let their souls disperse under the harsh sun rather than leave this place.

Honestly, for such ghosts, even when we forcibly dragged them away, there were hundreds. There were still many we didn’t manage to remove in time who just disappeared under the blazing sun... Ah..."

Qin Shou could imagine the determination of the soldier ghosts lurking on the battlefield but didn’t see how this was related to the troubles Black and White Impermanence spoke of.

White Impermanence said, "That’s why, because of their obsessions, even after death their ghosts should remain. But now, there is not a single ghost. Also, the souls of the common people are missing. From our experience with the dead, we know their souls did not depart naturally, and certainly, they didn’t go for reincarnation!"

Having heard this, Qin Shou finally understood what they were implying. He asked, "Are you saying that someone froze them to death and took their souls away?"

Black and White Impermanence spread their hands, indicating that was indeed the case, and then added, "If it were just that, it might still be okay, but I’m afraid... Ah..."

At this point, they both fell silent.

Qin Shou was no longer the inexperienced Bai of before. Hearing this, he also guessed something. With a grim face, he said, "Can you find out who did it?"

Black and White Impermanence shook their heads and said, "How can we investigate without any witnesses?"

At this revelation, Qin Shou’s eyes brightened as he said, "Who said there are no witnesses? Let’s go find him!"

"Go where?" asked Black and White Impermanence.

Qin Shou said, "To the Netherworld!"

As Black and White Impermanence helped open the Ghost Gate, they asked, "I, have you seen any living people here?"

Qin Shou replied, "I’ve seen one, but I’m not sure how much he knows. However, he said he was the last to die, so he should know something. By the way, the people who went to Nostalgia Altar today, where will they go next?"

Black and White Impermanence answered in unison, "Of course to the Rewarding Division and the Punishing Division. Once sentenced, they’ll know how they are to be dealt with."