Chapter Seven: The Peril of the Nether River (Part One)

Stone Jun didn’t know how much time had passed before he slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he saw was Hu Hai, still unconscious, with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. Alarmed, he shouted, “Hai! Hai! Wake up!”

At Stone Jun’s repeated calls, Hu Hai gradually came to. Only then did the two realize they were in a completely unfamiliar space.

“Damn, this is way too bizarre,” Hu Hai muttered uneasily, spitting on the ground. “Brother, how on earth did you pull this off?”

“I have no idea,” Stone Jun replied, shaking his head in confusion. Then he asked, “So, Hai, how did you end up here too?”

“Did you think you could ditch me?” Hu Hai replied, sounding almost proud. “No chance!”

“You really aren’t afraid of death.” Stone Jun could only shake his head in resignation. At this point, giving the kid a crash course in safety was pointless; the pressing matter was how to handle the trouble that might come next.

“Where are we?” Hu Hai tried to change the subject, looking around. “Why is it so pitch-dark everywhere?”

Stone Jun was now more cautious than ever. He gripped Hu Hai tightly with his left hand, and with his right, held onto the token that had somehow returned to his grasp. Carefully, he began to survey their surroundings.

As Stone Jun’s awareness returned, the token suddenly emitted a faint silver-gray glow, forming a barrier that enveloped them both, separating them from the world outside.

Beyond this barrier was a world of chaos, filled with a strange substance—neither mist nor water—that permeated everything. The silver-gray sphere created by the token was like a tiny capsule, drifting steadily through this strange medium. The pace was slow but smooth, allowing Stone Jun to clearly observe the sights outside.

Through the shimmering veil, he saw that the gray mist churned and swirled like an enormous pot of syrup, thick and sticky, constantly stirring. From it, countless whirlpools spun and writhed, and Stone Jun could almost make out things shifting at the bottom of those vortices, reminding him, unpleasantly, of a meat grinder.

Even the mist had varying shades of gray. The paler mist seemed thinner and spread around the edges, while closer to the center, the color deepened and thickened. Numerous vortices rolled in the dense gray, dragging the lighter mist around them and shredding it apart.

“Is this… the Underworld?” Hu Hai stared in awe. “Where’s the portal that brought us here?”

“Only ghosts would know,” Stone Jun replied, just as bewildered. He had imagined the token would work like a spell in a computer game—a few magic words, and whoosh, you’d enter another world, only to find a massive city wall, a black gate, and fierce little devils with pitchforks guarding the entrance… But none of that had happened.

“Hold on to me—don’t let go for anything. I think this token is our only protection,” Stone Jun warned solemnly.

“I figured as much! Do you think I’m stupid?” Hu Hai, now regaining his composure, even found time to critique their surroundings. “This Underworld is seriously lacking in taste. The scenery’s drab as hell—so gray, it would scare off any tourists. No way they’re making money from travel here…”

Just then, both men noticed something approaching and instinctively huddled together, alert.

As the thing drew near, they both let out involuntary exclamations of surprise.

It was a creature resembling a fish—at least in the way it moved. In reality, it was the size of a washbasin, irregular in shape, entirely blue, its body studded with sparkling points. Flattened like a flounder, it glided through the grayish whirlpools as gracefully as a blue silk scarf, soon drawing close to the two men.

Seeing such a spectacle, Hu Hai was delighted. He fumbled to free a hand, struggling to unbuckle his backpack, chuckling, “What a catch! I need to get a photo. Too bad I don’t know how to bring one back—if you can’t keep it alive, I bet it would taste amazing braised…”

“What? You actually brought your backpack?” Stone Jun finally noticed the enormous bag Hu Hai had been clutching and couldn’t help exclaiming, “I can’t believe you!”

“Surprised?” Hu Hai grinned proudly, pulling a camera from his bag. “This is called military discipline—never go anywhere without supplies!”

As he spoke, the blue fish-creatures circled around them, then suddenly darted straight toward the glowing sphere.

“Careful!” Stone Jun shouted as the swarm seemed about to collide with their barrier. But at the last moment, the fish scattered, surrounding them in a tight ring, peering curiously inside.

“Fascinating—can they see us?” Hu Hai exclaimed, raising his camera. “I’ve got to get a shot of them. There are too many for a good composition, but I’ll make do. If only they’d pose for me…”

Before Stone Jun could reply, Hu Hai pressed the shutter.

With a click, the flash burst through the sphere.

Suddenly, everything changed.

In an instant, the fish-creatures scattered in panic, darting wildly around the sphere. As they swam, their bodies stretched and thinned, moving faster and faster, until Stone Jun and Hu Hai’s eyes could barely follow their movements.

“This is ridiculous—just a photo and they’re that excited?” Hu Hai shrank back, confused.

Stone Jun’s brow furrowed in silence, a sense of dread creeping over him. Instinct told him Hu Hai had just caused trouble.

Between the blue fish’s frenzied movements, the gray mist outside thickened and slowed, almost ceasing to swirl. Crackling sounds grew louder and more violent as the glowing barrier from the token began to shrink. At the same time, an immense pressure bore down on them through the sphere.

With a bang, Hu Hai’s camera—dropped in the chaos—exploded.

“You can’t be serious…” Hu Hai managed to say, but the pressure mounted, pinning him immobile. Blood welled up and spilled from his lips.

Both men felt the world spinning; their bodies were nearly numb, their hearts pounding in their throats, as if their veins would burst any second.

All they could do was cling to each other and the token, gritting their teeth, enduring with all their strength.

Yet, as if things weren’t bad enough, worse was coming. The countless gray whirlpools, light and dark, suddenly surged toward their sphere, expanding and contracting at the edges like black holes, swiftly pulling the sphere in. Stone Jun and Hu Hai felt themselves not only compressed by the crushing pressure, but also spun round and round by the vortex, to the point of nausea.

Dragged into one vortex, they were suddenly propelled in a parabolic arc into another, larger o