The old man holding the boat straightened up and put an oar on the bow: "Come on, I'll take you there."
Until now, the woman who confronted me had no intention of taking action.
But I don’t dare to take risks. Who knows if she will plot against me while I’m on the boat? It wouldn’t be good if she knocks me into the Naihe River.
So I turned around and said, "Are you still going to keep me? If you don't take action, I will really get on the ship."
"Just go ahead."
The woman walked slowly toward me: "Come up, I'll come with you."
"ah?"
I was stunned by these words, and I asked her: "What are you doing? You don't really want to go home with me, do you? I tell you that I am not interested in a woman of your age. You
Don't make any mistakes on my part."
"Narcissistic, these two words are the most appropriate to describe you."
The woman glanced at me and then stepped onto the boat first.
This operation made my head full of confusion. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't figure out what the woman was going to do.
But no matter what, leaving Hades is the most important thing at the moment. I thought about it and took one step forward.
"Hey, young man, and this Lord Underworld Envoy, please stand firm, but don't fall in."
The old boatman lifted the oar and said "Hey!" and used it to prop it up on the shore. The boat slowly left the shore and shuttled through the thick river water.
The atmosphere became a little weird for a while.
The woman was standing at the bow of the boat, and I was standing at the stern, far away from her.
But the old boatman's mouth has never been idle: "What are you doing in Hades this time? Are you looking for someone or doing something?"
I answered him absentmindedly: "Looking for someone, and doing some things on the way."
"Oh, okay, as a stranger, you have the right to freely enter and exit the underworld at a young age. Young man, your future is not bright."
The old boatman laughed: "But you have to be careful when working in the underworld, especially under the Lord of Hell. As the saying goes, accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. It was because I said the wrong thing that I was demoted to punting here. In the blink of an eye,
, these ten thousand years have passed like this.”
After finishing speaking, the boatman sighed: "The young man back then slowly grew up to be a rickety old man. Life is really impermanent, and time is impermanent. Young man, please don't follow in my footsteps, hey..."
When he lamented this matter, the vicissitudes of life in his voice really made people sympathize with him.
But my mind was not on that at all, my attention was all on the woman on the bow of the boat.
While looking at her warily, I asked the old boatman: "By the way, old man, I just remembered something. Isn't there no one in Shanyin City across the way? Why are you still punting here when there is no one?"
Also, the Gate of Ghosts was abandoned more than 600 years ago. Now the ghost messengers use the passages opened by themselves. So if you are ferrying here, who are you ferrying across?"
"That's what I'm asking. It doesn't matter who you ferried before. At least I will fertilize you today, right?"
The old boatman chuckled: "And I have ferried you twice in the past two years. If I didn't punt the boat, how would you have crossed the Nai River in the two times you came to Hades? Therefore, the existence of my position is still necessary.
Without me, the road from the gate of hell to the underworld would be completely cut off. If there are any lonely ghosts who get lost and want to go home in the future, wouldn't they just have to float outside?"
As he spoke, he used his paddle to cut through the river.
The viscous river water gave the boatman a lot of resistance. His movements were extremely slow, and it seemed that he used all his strength with every stroke, but he tirelessly kept the boat moving forward.
But I guess it just looks like a lot of effort. After all, people have been punting boats on the Nai River for thousands of years. If they don't have some real skills, they can't resist the invasion of the evil spirits in the river.
The moment this idea came to my mind, a cold sweat broke out on my back.
Being demoted to the Naihe River to punt for ten thousand years, does that mean that the old man was punting here when Hades was first established? And from what he meant, he used to be an official or something, and he did so because he made a mistake Has it become like this?
So how many years has the old man here lived?
I glanced at the old man with my mental power, but I didn’t even see any energy fluctuations on him. He seemed to be an ordinary old man who was aging. I don’t know when his vitality would fail and he would fall into the Nai River and drown. .
But for ordinary people, there are two contradictory points when it comes to punting on Naihe.
So there is only one truth. The old man's origin is definitely not simple, and his Taoism must be better than mine, otherwise I would not be able to see the clues.
Thinking of this, I didn't dare to neglect, and hurried up to show my courtesy: "Are you tired? If you are tired, take a rest, I can help you row."
"Hey, I'm not tired. Just stand still."
As soon as I took a step forward, the old man stretched out a hand and pushed me away: "It's my job to punt the boat on Naihe. If I give you the oar and you take away my job, then it won't be right." Are you ruining your own job?"
He still had the same smiling tone, and muttered to himself while rowing: "If you are really serious, this little brother might as well come to Hades to see me more in the future. I remember that I was just like you, young, energetic, and full of energy in my body." Full of energy and vitality, everyone looks like a high-spirited and promising young man.
If it weren't for not keeping my mouth shut and saying the wrong thing, I wouldn't be in this situation now. It's really... Hey, let's not talk about the past. Little brother, did you see the person you wanted to see when you came to Hades this time? Have you accomplished what you wanted to do?”
He sounded casual when he asked this question.
But I always felt that there was something in his words, and he seemed to be implying something to me.
So I answered tentatively: "Fortunately, half of what I wanted to do was accomplished, but I didn't see the person I wanted to see. This is a bit regretful. If I have a chance, I may come again in a few days."
"Well, don't forget to bring me some earthly food for the old man next time you come here, so that the old man will have strength when he punches the boat for you."
He straightened up, and after stretching, he resumed paddling: "Hey, if I guessed correctly, you came to Hades this time to meet a high-ranking person, right? But you were rejected, and he didn't show up. I see you in person, right?
Hi, but you don’t need to be discouraged. Those big shots have too many things to worry about, so how can they find time to see us? If my perception is correct, it seems that a certain Lord of Hell left the underworld and went to the earth a few days ago.
You see, they not only have to worry about the affairs of the underworld, they also have to take care of the chores in the earth. They are very busy every day, so if you don’t have anything important to do, don’t bother them, eh?”