The Evil God Summoned by the Saintess-Chapter 71 - 69: Nether River Boatman? (Fourth Update)
"Don’t take action yet. Let’s find the Dusk Sect’s base first."
Just as Hilia was about to lose control over her impulses, Rose’s voice appeared in her mind.
"You can run, but you can’t hide. That priest will come back eventually—we’ll deal with him then. For now, let’s go check the base to see if there are any Ghost Fruits or Dragon Scale Stones."
Impulse is definitely not a good thing.
"Right now, you’re only speculating that these people are Dusk Sect heretics, and Wagner the priest seems to be pretending to purge heretics while actually being closely tied to the Sect. You have no evidence yet, so there’s no rush."
Once there’s evidence, you’ll probably be even more determined to kill these people, Rose thought to himself.
He could see a lot more detail than Hilia could.
Hilia took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I understand."
Wagner didn’t linger here. After using his Holy Court credentials to vouch for Beck, he said his goodbyes and left.
Hilia realized Beck’s actions were meant to get her to drop her guard.
After all, how could a team leader able to converse cordially with a priest from the Holy Court possibly be a scammer or a heretic?
This was what disgusted Hilia the most.
If he’d just spoken to these people and done nothing, you could explain it away as him not knowing they’re heretics.
But he actually knew their leader, vouched for them, used the Holy Court to give the Sect publicity, and fooled her, this "newbie Mage."
Disgusting!
Watching Wagner walk off into the distance, Hilia pressed her lips tightly together.
Beck’s voice rang out: "Alright, the Holy Court is gone. Let’s head out."
Hilia calmed herself and matched the others’ pace.
Entering the Twilight Tomb area, Hilia immediately sensed something different.
The pollution suddenly thickened.
It was now so bad that ordinary people would be corroded just by staying here too long.
For a Mage, it was already necessary to use Magic Power to resist it.
But luckily, Hilia didn’t need that, because Rose had already given her a pollution immunity buff.
Even heavier than the pollution was the dense deathly miasma.
Hilia realized the pale gray mist she’d seen from outside was probably this miasma, so thick it had become visible.
As they ventured deeper, the mist grew from sparse to heavy, starting to obscure their vision.
Hilia drew her Magic Staff, cautiously surveying her surroundings.
At that moment, the people ahead suddenly stopped. Beck turned around and flashed an eerie smile: "We’ve arrived."
Fei Qi and the others also gave her strange, unsettling grins: "Welcome to the Nether River."
"Nether River?"
Hilia was a little stunned, then noticed that the mist around her seemed to part, revealing a wide river ahead, its banks lined with vividly red flowers.
The opposite bank was shrouded in haze; you could barely make out numerous small boats drifting on the river.
"Yes, this river is called the Nether River. Our destination, the real Twilight Tomb, is across the river."
Beck reached out, pointing at the blurry opposite shore.
"We need to ride the ferry run by the Nether River Boatman to cross over. That’s where we’ll carry out our investigation mission."
Hazy shore, broad river, vibrant riverside flowers—all shrouded in mist, with mysterious boatmen on the water, making it feel like the real Nether River, the boatmen genuine ferrymen of the dead.
Even Hilia was captivated, her gaze full of longing as she looked across.
Until Rose’s mocking voice sounded: "So entranced, what’s over there—treasure?"
Hilia snapped awake, sweat breaking out all over her body.
"I just..."
"The mist here has a hallucinatory effect. You got caught."
"So that’s it—good thing you’re here, Lord Rose. Otherwise I’d have..."
Rose looked at this imitation Nether River and Boatman scene nostalgically, "Almost looks like the real thing, except it’s a bit tiny."
Hilia hesitated: "Does the Nether River and hell really exist?"
"Mm. Whether it’s the Divine Realm, the Netherworld, or the Abyss—all are real. The Netherworld is special; it doesn’t belong to any God. From ancient times till now, the Netherworld’s Nether God was always that one... though who knows if it’s still her."
"The Netherworld’s God... I think the Holy Court only has one God of Life and Death—Is it him?"
"That’s the God of Life and Death, not the Nether God. The Nether God is the Nether God. There’s no record of her joining the Divine War, didn’t appear in the Era of Calamity either."
A completely undocumented God?
Hilia couldn’t help thinking about the unknown deity the Hiro Association worships.
Could it be...
They’re worshipping the Nether God? 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
She was just contemplating this when a small boat lazily docked in front of the group.
"Look, all you souls longing for the far shore—only when your flesh returns to stardust and your memories fade into the long night can you reach the Nether River’s far bank and see the tomb of immortality."
The boatman chanted. Rose shook his head.
"Crappy imitation. Real Nether River Boatmen wouldn’t waste their breath with this nonsense. They ferry millions of souls a day—no time for it."
"Ah, really?"
I thought the Nether River would be poetic like this.
Cooled by Rose’s snark, Hilia sobered up.
She didn’t say much in reality, just followed Beck and the others onto the boat.
The boatman who had chanted just opened his mouth: "The fare—1 gold coin per person."
Hilia watched the group pay up.
Forget what she said earlier. This guy has just one line—once they’re on board, he drops the act.
"Do we have to pay?"
"Pay. We’ll make him spit it back up soon."
"Fine."
Reluctantly, Hilia took out a gold coin to hand to the boatman.
But the boatman stared at her Magic Puppet for a moment, didn’t take the coin, and said, "Two gold coins."
"Why?"
"The Magic Puppet counts."
"It’s not even human! Why charge extra?"
"It takes up a person’s spot."
"You..."
Hilia looked at Rose, who was currently in the Magic Puppet.
"Not paying," Rose said coolly.
One gold coin for show—take it and move on. Try charging extra, then you won’t get a single coin.
"No," Hilia said calmly.
"No? Get off, then." The boatman raised his bamboo pole and jabbed at the Magic Puppet.
But the Magic Puppet grabbed the pole, holding it fast.
"You dare to resist the ferryman?" the boatman snarled.
The others who had paid stared over, the former friendly smiles replaced by hyena-like gazes.
"Hurry up and pay! You still want that hundred-gold reward?" Fei Qi pressed.
Someone else chimed in: "Yeah, we’re already here. Why quit now? Just one coin, and you’ll earn a hundred times back."
"It’s a matter of principle. One gold coin, you do your job, or... none of us ride."
The boatman sneered: "A Tier One Mage thinks she can cause trouble on the Nether River? You’re getting tired of living..."
Before he finished, a surge of force yanked the pole from the other end, pulling the boatman forward and forcing him to let go.
Then, the bamboo pole grew larger in his pupils.
Thud!
