A smartphone?!
It's just a communication device!
Okay, in reality, modern people can't live without their phones anymore. You just have to look at the streets, restaurants, and public transport—everyone's glued to their phone. It offers a fast and convenient digital life: shopping, information on where to eat, drink, and have fun, taking photos, recording audio, replacing banking functions, even booking doctor's appointments… It can do almost anything.
But to say it now had a Spell imbued in it? Xin Huohuo couldn't believe it. Yet, judging by the expressions on these two gods, it didn't seem like they were tricking or lying to her.
"Open your phone," Mr. Hei ordered directly, seeing Xin Huohuo's confusion.
Dubiously, Xin Huohuo did as she was told, pressing the power button, drawing the unlock pattern…
The screen lit up, but the first thing that caught her eye was the terrifying web of cracks from being dropped, like two bolts of lightning.
"And then?" she asked.
The Black and White Impermanence didn't speak, but both pointed at it from a distance.
Suddenly, the screen began to glow, making the cracks stand out even more. Then, to Xin Huohuo's astonishment, she saw that the cracks had coincidentally formed the shape of a Taoist Yin Yang Fish—one black, one white, perfectly mirroring the attire of the two gods.
"And then?" Bai Qi spoke up.
"Are you two reliable at all?!" Hearing his question, Xin Huohuo couldn't have been more despairing. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that? Don't tell me you aren't sure either?"
Bai Qi coughed awkwardly.
Mr. Hei's face was dark, making his expression unreadable, but his eyes flickered, betraying his own uncertainty. Outwardly, however, he remained calm. "Xin Huohuo, think carefully. Have you noticed anything wrong or any unusual situations when using your phone recently?"
"So you guys really don't know what's going on either!" Xin Huohuo finally understood.
"This is the first time we've encountered such an unexpected situation. We're still in the exploratory phase, but we at least know more than you do." Bai Qi gave Xin Huohuo a reproachful look. "Whether you understand the ins and outs of this or not, and even if it was unintentional, you still have to bear some responsibility. So, your cooperation is mandatory!"
"Less talk, more thinking! Or I'll let go," Mr. Hei snapped, his temper much worse.
Terrified that the mummified corpse would be let go, Xin Huohuo quickly closed her eyes to think, unconsciously muttering, "I just bought this phone not long ago. It's been working fine, aside from the crappy battery. A little while ago, I went to make a delivery before dawn, but then I took a huge fall out of nowhere…"
"What do you mean, 'out of nowhere'? You sent me and Old Hei flying, okay?" Bai Qi said indignantly.
"I didn't see…" Xin Huohuo opened her eyes.
"Of course you didn't see us, we're gods! And we were on official business at the time. Speaking of which, what you did counts as obstructing official duties."
"It was an accident."
"Does doing something wrong by accident mean you're not responsible? Then why is involuntary manslaughter still a crime?"
"I couldn't see you, but you should have been able to see me, right? You didn't get out of the way, so how is that my fault?"
"Both of you, shut up!" Mr. Hei roared, silencing Bai Qi, who had been about to retort.
"The phone screen cracked, but it didn't affect its use," Xin Huohuo obediently continued to sort through her thoughts. "Later, I went back to that building to make another delivery to the same place and encountered something strange." As she spoke about the handprints on the elevator doors and the flickering lights in the hallway, she couldn't help but shiver.
"The morning you sent us flying, we had detected a deep resentment in that building and were just about to check it out. But then you accidentally injured us, and only after that did you encounter those terrifying things. Buddhism calls this karma; we in Taoism call it inherited consequences. Your previous actions led to all the subsequent consequences," Bai Qi analyzed.
Xin Huohuo wanted to argue, but a slight turn of her head reminded her of Mr. Hei's hand clutching the mummified corpse's soul. She quickly composed herself and continued, "The second time I went for a delivery, I took a picture there, but I couldn't find it in my photo album later. At first, I thought it was a system error or a virus or something and planned to get it fixed when I had the chance. But then, a few days ago in the restaurant's back kitchen, I was just randomly tapping the screen and happened to open the album. I saw… I saw…"
"You saw him?" Mr. Hei asked, simultaneously tossing the mummified corpse's soul into the air like a ball and catching it.
"That's him." Xin Huohuo turned her head away, not daring to look.
The Black and White Impermanence were righteous gods, but they were also soul reapers. Still, she couldn't deny how handsome they were. In a world that judged by appearances, she could face them and, after a little adjustment, not be too scared. But this mummified corpse was different. She couldn't imagine how horrible its state of death was, and its appearance as a soul was something she simply couldn't look at directly.
"The day I made that delivery, he appeared out of nowhere and ended up in my selfie. Then that night in the restaurant, he somehow got out again and followed me all the way home today!"
"I understand," Mr. Hei said after a moment of thought. "But first, let's capture him."
"How do we capture him? Do I have to take another picture with him?" Xin Huohuo instinctively backed away, not daring to do it.
"Just tap the eye of the Yin Yang Fish," Mr. Hei instructed.
Xin Huohuo didn't overthink it and simply reached out her finger to do as he said.
In truth, her brain couldn't process anything right now. Too much had happened over the past few days, and the amount of information she'd received tonight was especially overwhelming. She needed time to digest it all.
And as her fingertip touched the screen, the Yin Yang Fish pattern rippled like a lake's surface stirred by the wind. The screen then changed, transitioning to a gray interface that had definitely not been there before: at the top was a gatehouse, flanked by two strings of bright red lanterns. Below was a pitch-black river with an unmanned ferry. In the center of the interface were two icons side by side, shaped like tokens—one black with a white border, the other white with a black border.
"My Soul Hooking Plate, and yours!" Bai Qi exclaimed softly, his voice a mixture of surprise and regret.
"This is… this is…" Xin Huohuo stammered.
Honestly, the interface was quite beautiful. It was just also extremely, extremely grim.
"Welcome to the official website of the Netherworld Road," Bai Qi said with a smile, his eyes twinkling. He clearly had a deep and abiding love for all things related to the Netherworld Road. This was the same way people acted when they'd been away from home for a long time and suddenly heard their native dialect.
"Tap the white one," Mr. Hei instructed further.
'Whatever, I give up!' Xin Huohuo had completely abandoned any resistance. However, when she followed his instructions, nothing happened; the album didn't open. As she puzzled over it, Bai Qi reached out and placed his hand over hers.
He had been all giggles and jokes, seeming unreliable and a bit of a goofball—a god whose element was silliness, in short, not very serious. But now, he was stern and focused, his features sharply defined. He really was breathtakingly handsome.
Waves of cold emanated from his palm, but it wasn't a bone-chilling discomfort. On the contrary, the coolness was quite pleasant. And as his chill and her warmth merged at her fingertip, the album opened smoothly.
"Move aside." Mr. Hei's voice arrived just as his hand did.
The long fingers of his right hand moved in a quick blur, seemingly drawing some kind of talisman. Then, he swung that same right hand—the one holding the mummified corpse's soul—and slapped it directly onto the phone. The motion was light and fast—so fast that Xin Huohuo didn't have time to react, and so light that she kept a firm grip on the phone without dropping it.
Xin Huohuo's vision blurred for a moment. When she looked down again, she saw a new photo pasted inside the white, token-shaped album. Where was the mummified corpse? It was just the headshot of an elderly man.