Liu Dashao repeated the meaning of the couplet silently in his mind a few times and had mostly figured it out. His grandfather had once warned him, “While alive, one must accumulate virtue and do good deeds; only then can one cross the Bridge of Helplessness smoothly after death. If an evildoer attempts to cross, he will be devoured by copper snakes and iron dogs, suffering endlessly in the bloody river without escape.” What Liu’s grandfather said was no exaggeration. Folk tales had long claimed that after death, souls must cross the Bridge of Helplessness. Kind souls would be protected by gods and Buddhas and pass safely, while evildoers would be thrown into the blood-filled river below to suffer. The Bridge of Helplessness consisted of three levels (or three separate bridges). Souls of the virtuous could safely cross the upper bridge, those with mixed good and evil deeds would cross the middle bridge, while the souls of evildoers would be thrown into the turbulent, murky waters below the lower bridge, where they would be savagely bitten by copper snakes and iron dogs. During annual incense festivals, pilgrims would compete to throw paper money or copper coins into the river, scattering fried rice into the water as offerings to the hungry ghosts. Many elderly pilgrims preferred to walk across the upper bridge, believing that doing so would spare them from crossing the Bridge of Helplessness after death.
From this, we can see that before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, many devout believers would burn incense and offer paper money at the bridge, hoping for divine protection to cross the Bridge of Helplessness after death.
Everyone silently stared at the Bridge of Helplessness. A chill and silence surrounded them. After hesitating for a moment, they finally gathered their courage and stepped toward the Bridge of Helplessness.
A cold chill shot straight up their spines. Indeed, beneath the bridge flowed a river of blood, its stench rising in waves. One could imagine that even if someone innocent fell in, the stench alone would be worse than a latrine that hadn’t been cleaned in years. In the vast space, the flashlight could only illuminate about ten meters ahead. Liu Dashao reached the middle of the bridge, stopped cautiously, and peered down. Faintly visible below was the river of flowing blood.
Before long, everyone successfully crossed the Bridge of Helplessness and continued forward. Sure enough, ahead appeared a stone platform—could this be the “Home-Viewing Platform”? Fan Debiao said he hoped this platform could actually show a view of Beijing’s Forty-Ninth District. Approaching the platform, they saw it resembled a traditional Chinese opera stage. On the sides were bas-reliefs of several small demons, simple yet solemn. Fan Debiao climbed onto the platform, getting himself covered in dust, and shouted angrily, “Damn, this place is so dirty!”
Everyone burst into laughter and continued deeper inside. Faint outlines of buildings emerged in the distance, but the distance made it hard to see clearly. Soon, a massive stone archway appeared ahead, inscribed with four large characters. Everyone tried hard to decipher them but couldn’t figure out their meaning. The characters looked increasingly familiar, probably something like “XX Welcomes You” or “XX Station.”
Walking further ahead, intricately carved buildings appeared one after another, with streets arranged in an orderly fashion. However, everything was eerily silent. Combined with the atmosphere created by the Bridge of Helplessness and the Home-Viewing Platform, everything here felt terrifying. Not even a single rat could be seen, and everyone’s hearts were in their throats, fearing that a ghost might suddenly leap out from the darkness to take their lives.
Continuing forward, the blue palace vanished, replaced by a massive cliff.
Standing at the cliff’s edge, a bone-chilling coldness surged upward with the howling wind blowing from the bottom of the cliff. It felt as if the cliff’s depths were a giant freezer.
Jia Zhuangyuan said, “With such strong cold winds, we must be careful when stepping onto the stairs. These hundreds of steps are suspended in midair; we don’t even know how they were built. Not to mention whether they can still bear weight after a thousand years, the wind alone from the bottom of the cliff will be enough to challenge us. Everyone must be extremely cautious!”
At this moment, Liu Dashao said, “Senior Jia, it would be best if one person goes up first to check the situation. If we all go up together and the steps collapse or something unexpected happens, it will be a big problem.”
Jia Zhuangyuan nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll go first and take one for the team. If there’s no problem, everyone can follow.”
Saying so, he cautiously approached the first step, testing it by placing his left foot on it. After feeling it was safe, he placed his right foot on the second step. After slowly climbing five or six steps, Jia Zhuangyuan felt it was manageable and muttered, “Damn, it’s so cold—the wind is really blowing hard,” then continued forward more confidently.
Within less than two minutes, Jia Zhuangyuan had reached nearly halfway up the steps. At this point, he was completely suspended in midair. Already somewhat frail, he was now being shaken by the strong cold wind blowing from the bottom of the cliff. Everyone watching from the cliff edge felt their hearts pounding with fear.
Fortunately, Jia Zhuangyuan crouched down, using his hands and knees to crawl forward like a reptile. Although his movements looked somewhat comical, it was probably the safest choice under those conditions.
Everyone watched with wide eyes, their hearts pounding with tension as Jia Zhuangyuan slowly and painstakingly crawled forward step by step. Finally, he neared the entrance to the temple. When he climbed onto the last step, stood up, and waved at everyone, everyone’s hearts finally calmed.
Seeing that Jia Zhuangyuan had crossed safely without any unusual incidents, everyone followed one by one, climbing the steps toward the temple. Following Jia Zhuangyuan’s example, everyone crawled forward on hands and knees. Although the strong cold wind from the bottom of the cliff did pose some danger when they reached the middle section of the steps, everyone eventually reached the temple safely without serious incident.
When everyone finally reached the gate of Yama’s Hall, Jia Zhuangyuan, who had arrived first, was squatting in front of the gate, deep in thought. Seeing everyone gathered behind him, he turned around and pointed at two beast-head sculptures at the entrance, saying, “It’s strange. The guardian beasts of this temple are wolves. Considering the architectural style of this ancient castle, combined with the wolf-head sculptures in front of the temple, I feel this temple resembles the temple of Mars or Ares, the Roman god of war. However, I’m puzzled—what connection could the City of the Dead (Fengdu) have with ancient Rome or Ares?”
Everyone looked at Jia Zhuangyuan with puzzled expressions, his face full of confusion. Suddenly, Liu Dashao said with some difficulty, “Perhaps this ‘Ninety-Nine Heavens’ was never meant to be constructed by humans. Don’t imagine the builder was an ordinary Earthling like us. If you think of the builder as someone from another world, it might make sense.”
Jia Zhuangyuan was momentarily stunned, then laughed and said to Liu Dashao, “Kid, I find you quite interesting. Many things may indeed make sense if you simply imagine them that way, as you do. You’re absolutely right—the ‘Ninety-Nine Heavens’ was never meant to be a human creation.”
At this moment, Cai Qingchong said, “Everyone, let’s stop discussing. These questions have little to do with our mission. We’re not here to study the ‘Ninety-Nine Heavens.’ Our goal is to enter the temple and find the passage leading to the final location—the ‘Infinite Dao Treasury.’ That’s the key to completing our mission.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Jia Zhuangyuan stepped forward to the temple gate and gently pressed the stone door of Yama’s Hall. To everyone’s surprise, the stone door slid open effortlessly at his touch.
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