All Novel Full Chapter 298 - No Touch!
Netherworld Realm
Sitting idly on the rock by the Lake of Sorrow, the lady in black continued to stare into the lake of dead souls with an ever-so emotionless yet lonesome expression.
However, the lake's surface did not reveal the millions of dead souls swimming underneath but a magical projection of Albion and Fenriri sitting at the table of a restaurant, filled with empty plates.
It was precisely the same Willow's Secret that Albion and Fenriri visited before sitting down to dine with the first princess.
If one observed the image on the lake's surface carefully, one would notice it was the view through the eyes of Princess Floria, whom Lady Death used as a medium to watch the real-time events happening around the Dark Emperor.
"Quite similar, but also not quite the same… How strange…" Lady Death muttered absentmindedly.
The Divine Book of Life and Death doesn't contain false information—no matter incomplete that information is on Abberant Souls.
That and the matters brought by White Impermanence and Black Impermanence had her interest ignited, compelling her to take matters into her own hands and observe the person of her interest.
After watching the Dark Emperor for some time through the eyes of the elf princess, she felt the Dark Emperor was making rational decisions based on his interest like usual.
However, there was something different about the vibe he gave off.
There was no suffocating and solemn aura surrounding the person. Instead, the Dark Emperor seemed more approachable than he was in the past.
It was to the point that it gave her the impression of a different person.
Although Aberant Souls cannot be seen with divine skills of seers like the Eyes of Heaven, it was possible to observe them through divine possession of a medium.
Nevertheless, it wasn't without a price.
Ka-cha!
The magical projection abruptly shattered before several thousand dead souls disintegrated into nothingness, gone from the world forever without another chance at reincarnation.
"Ah, the divine connection broke again," Lady Death exclaimed expressionlessly as if it was a trivial matter.
She glanced at the remaining millions of dead souls in the Lake of Sorrow before the dead souls sensed her gaze and trembled. They immediately wanted to flee to the bottom of the lake to avoid her selection.
Suddenly, the nearby Black Impermanence quickly intervened and saved them from becoming cannon fodders for the Death Goddess's divine skill—right before she could grab her next batch of dead souls.
"Lady Death, please have mercy on the dead souls! Although they were all heinous criminals when they were alive, they shouldn't be destroyed like this!" Black Impermanence cried.
"And what not?" Lady Death casually glanced at Black Impermanence and said, "They all deserve to be destroyed anyway. These crooked dead souls can't be reformed and will only bring harm to the world of living again after serving their sentences."
'Says who?! Since arrived and tortured them like mere playthings on a daily basis, they have already been reformed!' Black Impermanence retorted in his mind.
Nevertheless, he did not dare to speak his mind.
The Death Goddess was an unfathomable being from a higher plane of existence. Even to this day, not a single soul understood the secret nor reason behind her descent.
Perhaps it had something to do with the strange changes affecting all realms and planes of existence recently.
"Although these crooked dead souls deserve to be destroyed, their names are already recorded in the Divine Book of Life and Death with details of their remaining sentences and time to reincarnate. Their destruction will mess up the schedule," Black Impermanence explained wryly.
He missed the old days of the Netherworld Realm.
Back then, it was less stressful, and he had less work to do. Also, the seat of King Yama was never empty, and the whole Netherworld Realm wasn't reduced to the Death Goddess's playground like it was today.
Nowadays, when he had to ferry souls from the world of living to the Netherworld Realm, and they ask him why he had such heavy bags under his eyes, he'd definitely complain it was due to overwork!
"I see… If it causes issues with the Divine Book of Life and Death, then I guess it can't be helped," Lady Death relented before glancing at the lake and muttered, "Lucky for all of you."
The dead souls in the lake were relieved for a moment before they trembled with fear under the Death Goddess's gaze again.
They all silently swore that if they didn't drink Grandma Meng's soup of forgetfulness when it's time to reincarnate, they would shave their heads and become monks to accumulate good karma in their new life.
And so, the Buddha Sect was bound to rise to prominence in the distant future…
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Inside the Lake of Sorrow, the mood gradually returned to normal as the dead souls served their penance under the burning effects of the lake's water—which by comparison, was inferior to being caught and tortured by the Death Goddess.
From time to time, new dead souls would appear in the lake after being transferred.
Whenever the Death Goddess throws in her hook to fish for dead souls, all the veteran dead souls in the lake would avoid it like the plague.
Despite this happening, she would never miss the hook.
It was due to these new dead souls who don't know any better and bite the bait without much thought even if they are always warned prior to the bite by their seniors.
Suddenly, the hook was dropped into the lake once again, stirring unrest in the lake as Lady Death resumed her daily routine.
The dead souls immediately scattered from the hook's location, but new souls just happened to appear in the lake at that instance.
"Huh? What's this?"
A new soul laid eyes on the hook and felt strangely drawn towards it before a senior dead soul frantically tried to stop it.
"No-touch! No-touch!" the senior dead soul cried.
However, the senior dead soul spoke a language that seemed foreign to the newcomer as it did not understand the senior dead soul.
"No-ta-chi? What's that?" the new soul was taken aback before picking another dead soul from the pool of dead souls for help, "Hey, do you know what he is saying?"
Unfortunately, that dead soul had no intention of helping out the newcomer.
It felt that all newcomers should experience the baptism of the Death Goddess like they once had.
"I don't know." The dead soul said with a shrug, "Maybe he's reciting something from the Buddhist Scripture in preparation for his new life?"