"I can tell you're a man of your word, and what I need your help with is this..."
Chen Xiao nodded with satisfaction, about to state his intentions.
However, Wu Guide suddenly raised his hand to stop him. "Mr. Chen, please give me a little more time. There are a few things I want to say to my wife first."
Chen Xiao looked confused but eventually agreed. "Alright."
"Thank you, Mr. Chen!"
Wu Guide cupped his hands in thanks, then turned and said to Sister Feng, "Afeng, you can go."
Sister Feng, who was still immersed in the joy of Wu Qiwei waking up, was stunned when Wu Guide turned and said that to her.
"Go? Where do you want me to go?"
"I mean, let's separate."
Wu Guide said decisively, but his eyes clearly showed reluctance.
"Separate?"
It took Sister Feng only a few seconds to go from hesitant and bewildered to cursing and becoming hysterical.
"Wu Guide, you bastard, you dog! I've suffered so much with you, endured so much hardship, and now you want me to leave?"
"Have you latched onto someone powerful? Are you going to prosper? You ungrateful dog, I was truly blind!"
In her eyes, Wu Guide was clearly ungrateful, planning to kick her aside once he became successful.
However, Chen Xiao felt that things were not that simple, and Wu Guide didn't seem like the ungrateful type.
There seemed to be a hidden reason for his actions.
"Afeng, don't make a scene. It's not what you think. Mr. Chen promised to give us ten million after this is done, and I don't want a single cent of it. It's all for you!"
Wu Guide tried to calm Sister Feng down.
"Ten million to get rid of me? I won't do it! Wu Guide, you're heartless, you're a dog, a wolf cub, but you're definitely not human!" Sister Feng said indignantly.
"Alright, stop making a fuss. I'm doing this for your own good!"
Wu Guide glared at her and said in a low voice, "If you want to live a good life, then get away from me. If you're not afraid of death, then stay!"
"What do you mean by that? You dog, you're just trying to fool me, do you think I'm a three-year-old?"
Sister Feng said this, but in her heart, she was wavering, already believing him by a third.
After the initial panic and anger, she calmed down a little.
They had been together for several years, and from her understanding of Wu Guide, he was indeed not the ungrateful type.
"Sigh!"
Wu Guide sighed heavily. "Do you think my previous wife died for no reason? And Weiwei, how could it be such a coincidence that she fell down the stairs a few times and became a vegetable... It's all my fault!"
"Lao Wu, don't scare me. What's going on?" Sister Feng's eyes widened.
At this moment, Yin San'er suddenly sighed and said faintly, "Those of us in this line of work have damaged our virtue and are destined to have flaws and be lonely in old age. Being able to have a peaceful end is already good. As for spouses and children, it's something we can't even dream of... But it's good to cut off the roots of sin early. Like this old man, I'm carefree and unburdened!"
"Otherwise, it's destined to harm others and oneself!"
"Shut up! If you keep babbling nonsense, believe it or not, I'll rip your mouth apart!" Sister Feng glared fiercely at Yin San'er.
Yin San'er licked his lips a couple of times, but ultimately hesitated to speak further, saying nothing.
Wu Guide, however, said, "Afeng, don't scold him. Brother Yin San'er is telling the truth. That's why I retired after Weiwei got injured. All the money I saved before couldn't be kept, it was all spent on her treatment. This is fate."
Working for the underworld had already damaged his virtue.
Furthermore, Wu Guide sometimes took on private jobs, which further reduced his merit.
That Wu Qiwei only became a vegetable and didn't die directly was already considered a blessing from the ancestors of the Wu family.
After Wu Qiwei was injured, Wu Guide deeply regretted his actions and vowed never to work for the underworld again, even if it meant starving to death.
Until today, when Chen Xiao came to him and cured his daughter's illness.
He also knew that Chen Xiao's goal must be his ability to walk the underworld.
"Hmph, Wu Guide, if what you're saying is true, what will happen to your daughter if you drive me away? Aren't you afraid she'll become a vegetable again?" Sister Feng crossed her arms and said coldly.
"This is also what I wanted to tell you. I hope you can take Weiwei with you when you leave. Ten million is enough for the two of you to live on for the rest of your lives. As for me... you can consider me dead!"
"You bastard, I won't agree... At worst, at worst, you can just quit!" Sister Feng gritted her teeth, each word squeezed out as if from between her molars.
"No, Mr. Chen helped cure my daughter's illness, and I don't know how to thank him. How can I go back on my word? I must do what I promised!" Wu Guide said solemnly.
Watching the two of them in their dramatic farewell, Chen Xiao was speechless. "Hey, I say, you two, that's enough. I haven't even told you what I need your help with, and you're acting like this is a final parting."
Hearing Chen Xiao's words, Wu Guide gave a helpless dry laugh.
"I can guess what Mr. Chen wants me for. It's nothing more than asking me to take on another private job to extend someone's life."
"Because besides that, I can't think of any other value I possess."
"And the two times I extended lives before, after the first time, my wife died on the operating table during childbirth. After the second time, my daughter fell down the stairs and became a vegetable."
"Therefore, before doing anything for Mr. Chen, I made this decision. From now on, I will never see them, mother and daughter, again!"
Saying this, Wu Guide wore a look of deep sorrow, as if he were a warrior embarking on a perilous journey from which there would be no return.
Chen Xiao, however, simply smiled slightly. "When did I ever say I needed your help to extend a life? Don't worry, I have other things to discuss with you."
"What other things could there be?" Wu Guide couldn't imagine what else he could offer Chen Xiao besides extending a life.
"I want to enter the underworld." Chen Xiao said calmly.
His understated words struck everyone present like a thunderclap in silence, leaving them all stunned.
"En, enter the underworld?" Yin San'er felt his head buzzing.
He studied the I Ching and could predict the future with uncanny accuracy, sometimes even revealing heavenly secrets.
This alone made him feel that what he did was extraordinary, like dancing on the tip of a knife.
However, compared to Chen Xiao, it was like Mr. Wang meeting Mr. Ma – the difference was not just a little bit!
If Yin San'er felt this way, then Sister Feng, who knew nothing about these matters, was even more so.
She felt as if she were in a mental asylum. What was this talk of extending life and the underworld? What normal person would say such things?
Wu Guide was also shocked by Chen Xiao's words and said with a wry smile, "Enter the underworld... Mr. Chen, you might have the wrong person. I'm just a walker of the underworld, a low-level subordinate who does the dirty work for the underworld's ghost messengers. I don't have that kind of ability!"
"I'm not asking you to take me in. You just need to guide me to the Gate of Origin of the Underworld." Chen Xiao said lightly.
"Gate of Origin? What is that..." Wu Guide looked bewildered, then hesitantly asked, "Mr. Chen, are you referring to the Ghost Gate?"
The Ghost Gate, also known as the Gate of Ghosts, is the legendary gateway between the Yin and Yang realms.
If the underworld were a medium-level world, then its Gate of Origin would certainly be this Ghost Gate.
"Yes, that's right, it's that one." Chen Xiao nodded.
Wu Guide pondered for a moment. "If it's just to take you to the Ghost Gate, that's not difficult... However, I can't help you pass through the Ghost Gate and enter the underworld. The entrance to the Ghost Gate is guarded by Ox-Head and Horse-Face. A single whip from them could scatter my soul."
"You just need to bring me to the Ghost Gate. Don't worry about anything else. After it's done, I will surely reward you handsomely."
"Mr. Chen, what are you saying? You've already done me such a great favor. How could I dare to ask for a reward? I'll help you with this!" Wu Guide finally agreed to Chen Xiao.
Then, he explained the process of his work as a walker of the underworld.
Every walker of the underworld possessed a butcher knife imbued with heavy Yin energy.
When they decided to walk the underworld, they would place the butcher knife under their pillow while sleeping at night.
This way, before the hour of the rat (midnight), the walker's soul would leave their body and head towards the Ghost Gate.
When the hour of the rat arrived, the Ghost Gate would open, and ghost messengers would emerge to post bounty orders.
Upon receiving the bounty orders, the walkers of the underworld would then capture the souls of the dying according to the information provided.
Once the task was completed, the walker's soul would return to their body, and they would wake up from their sleep.
Chen Xiao's task was to follow Wu Guide's soul after it left his body and travel to the Ghost Gate together.
"Humans have three souls and seven spirits, but a walker of the underworld only has one soul and one spirit leave their body. Therefore, after walking the underworld, many things become blurry, like a dream."
"So, if I don't respond when you speak to me then, Mr. Chen, please don't take offense." Wu Guide cautiously reminded him before officially beginning his journey.
"Don't worry, I understand. Just do what you need to do, and don't worry about the rest." Chen Xiao waved his hand.
Everything was ready now, only waiting for the east wind.
And the east wind, in this case, was the descent of night!
Chen Xiao felt that the day had never passed so slowly. Finally, Chen Xiao eagerly awaited the stars and the moon, and they finally appeared.
At ten o'clock, Wu Guide placed the butcher knife under his pillow and fell asleep precisely on time.
Soon, loud snores filled the air.
Under the cover of night, Chen Xiao lay hidden on the roof of the Wu family's house, waiting for Wu Guide's soul to depart!