Granny Sha's expression fluctuated uncertainly. Even if Chen Shi hadn't been killed by Big Gun, he would still be lost in the River of Oblivion, unable to return, and she wouldn't be able to explain to Chen Yindou either!
"Without the hemp rope, he won't be able to return from the River of Oblivion... It's all my fault for being greedy, actually wanting to use this boy to search for that treasure in the River of Oblivion, and as a result, I've harmed him! If only I had told him directly where that ancient temple was."
She was filled with remorse, but berating herself was pointless after the fact. What needed to be done now was to find out if Chen Shi was indeed dead.
If he wasn't dead, she'd have to find a way to rectify the situation.
"Then I can only repay old Chen with my death!"
Granny Sha bit open her right index finger and drew a talisman in the air with her own blood, the exact talisman being a Soul Summoning Talisman.
Strangely enough, her blood floated in the air, showing no sign of falling, as if bound by a peculiar force.
As Granny Sha moved her finger, she wrote a talisman three feet long and only two inches wide.
At the top were the Three Pure Ones' Decree and below that, the Three Souls and Seven Spirits Gang Text, simple in form.
Drawing talismans out of thin air; such a feat was shocking and sought after by Talisman Masters, yet Granny Sha looked like an utterly ordinary old lady, not showing any extraordinary qualities.
The Soul Summoning Power unleashed by this talisman was exceptionally strong, instantly bridging the realms of yin and yang, straight into the underworld!
Knowing she had made a grave mistake, Granny Sha did not draw the Soul Summoning Talisman as she usually would; this time, she used her own vital blood.
Vital blood was extremely yang and sturdy and was in very limited supply, just enough for one talisman, but its power was extraordinary.
If Chen Shi were indeed dead, even if he had been taken to Yama Hall, with only this talisman, she could snatch Chen Shi's soul back from King Yan's grasp!
However, as the talisman burned to ashes, Granny Sha failed to summon Chen Shi's soul.
"He's not dead, that's good, he's not dead!"
Granny Sha breathed a sigh of relief. Then, stomping her foot, she watched as the little old lady's shadow suddenly grew in all directions from the ground, spawning five fierce-looking Ghost Kings standing in the air, their arms crossed, ready to obey commands.
With a mere thought from Granny Sha, the five ghosts whistled away.
Moments later, countless bricks and stones flew in, quickly building a ritual altar by the Dejiang riverside measuring thirty-six feet in length and width and twelve feet in height.
Five Ghost Kings, each holding a large flag, stood at the five corners of the altar, positioned according to the Five Elements.
Granny Sha retrieved the Wenwang Drum.
This drum was a peculiar musical instrument, like a drum but not a drum, like a gong but not a gong, with only one surface covered with skin and the other open, strings crossing inside, grasped by hand.
The rustling drumbeat that Chen Shi heard in the underworld last time was made by this instrument.
Granny Sha rang the Wenwang Drum, and a burst of chilly wind whirled around. In an instant, the Dejiang river surface entered darkness, and even the sun's rays couldn't penetrate this blackness.
"In my lifetime, I've summoned I don't know how many souls from the underworld and offended too many ghost messengers and Ghost Kings. This time, taking action, I fear it will attract the attention of many old foes who will take the chance to seek revenge! But I can't worry about that now!"
With a commanding shout from Granny Sha, the drum thundered, and a cobblestone path unfolded from the altar, rolling out toward the river in the darkness.
This little old lady, with her own mana, had opened a pathway connecting the realms of yin and yang, attempting to retrieve Chen Shi from the River of Oblivion in the underworld!
Her voice penetrated the underworld, "Follow the sound of my drum; I will guide you back to the world of the living!"
In Big Gun's mouth, Chen Shi clung desperately to the fishhook, which was embedded deeply in the soft flesh near the fish's pharyngeal bone.
The pharyngeal bone is Big Gun's crushing tooth; with each clamping down, it was like two massive iron blocks smashing together, sending sparks flying, numbing Chen Shi's arms with each compression!
But he dared not let go because, within the fish's mouth, the other rows of teeth chattered, trying to clamp down on him and fling him out.
If he loosened his grip, he would instantly be shredded into countless pieces!
In the moment Big Gun had pounced, Chen Shi had made a sudden leap in the water, jumping into the fish's mouth to avoid being bitten in half.
Now, however, his situation was still dire. If the fishhook fell loose, he feared he would still end up crushed to bits!
Suddenly, Chen Shi saw a flash of blue light pass by, and all the flesh on the massive fish disappeared, leaving only giant bones swimming in the water.
Chen Shi lifted his hand and saw that the flesh on his arms had vanished too, turning into white bone.
He looked over his body and saw that he, too, had become a white bone skeleton!
"Have I entered the River of Oblivion?"
Chen Shi was astounded.
The big fishhook had originally caught in Big Gun's flesh, but now that Big Gun had turned to bone, the fishhook had fallen out. Chen Shi grasped the fishhook, sinking with despair.
The hemp rope was broken.
"How am I to return... Granny Sha is formidable; she must have a way. Now, I need to find that copper lamp Granny Sha lost!"
Chen Shi took off the chain from his body, tied the hefty fishhook to the chain, hooked it onto Big Gun's pharyngeal bone, lifted his spirit, and swam out through the gaps in Big Gun's gill bones.
Without flesh, the fish couldn't trap him.
And what was even more bizarre, Big Gun, who was also reduced to bone like Chen Shi, showed no interest in him, swimming past without swallowing him whole.
"If Big Gun can swim from the world of the living to the underworld, then it must also be able to swim back from the underworld to the world of the living."