Under the leadership of the little old man, the Kamiya River wandered around the Santuchuan River for a long time.
Finally, the location of the River Styx was successfully found.
Although the Santu River is named "Santu", there is actually only one river. The so-called Santu refers to the three ways to cross the river.
When the souls of the dead come to the Styx, they must first weigh their sins and karma with the Robbery Man and the Hanging Man. Depending on the severity of the sin, the Styx will automatically switch between the difficulty and difficulty modes of crossing the river.
A sinless person can easily cross the bridge built with the seven treasures of gold and silver.
Light sinners cannot cross the bridge and must rely on their own strength to cross the mountains and rivers of the Styx. In the case of the mountains and rivers of the Styx, the Styx is just a shoal.
Severe sinners will face the hell mode of Styx, that is, strong Fukase.
Legend has it that the currents of Fukase are as fast as arrows and the waves are as high as mountains. The big rocks rolling out from the upper flow will crush the sinners, and the sinners will be resurrected even if they are crushed to death, and then they will be smashed by the big rocks again.
When criminals surface, they will be shot with arrows. Once criminals sink to the bottom of the water, the powerful Fukase Orochi will be waiting there.
So as long as you step into the strong Fukase, there is basically no possibility of getting out.
On the banks of the River Styx.
"Styx should be in strong Fukase's state now... Am I a bad guy?"
"No, there's no clothes-grabbing woman or clothes-hanging man anymore, and there's no one to accuse me. The River Styx is probably like this at this stage."
In front of the Kamiya River is a terrifying river with fast currents, like a violent dragon, cutting through mountains and walls, and rushing down menacingly.
There were rough waves on the dark and terrifying water, and the evil waves were emptied, making loud noises.
In the river, boulders rolled, undercurrents arose, and black whirlpools kept spinning, with the momentum of swallowing up everything. On both sides of the river bank, the towering peaks seemed like giants watching this ferocious force, while the river washed them mercilessly.
Their foundations have become shaky.
Although I was standing by the river, the rich water vapor splashed by the rapids made the Kamiya River feel no different from standing in the water. If you lose your footing here, you will be swept away by the rushing water, and you will never be able to break free and fall into the abyss.
Eternal disaster.
Standing on the bank of Kamiya River, he narrowed his pupils and looked towards the other side of the river.
The rapids and mist on the big river merged, and the visibility was very low. Moreover, the water surface of the strong Fukase was extremely vast, and the whole area was black and twisted together. Even if [Qiu Hao Zhan] provided a visual bonus, it was still impossible to see the end at a glance.
"There is absolutely no possibility of crossing this river on your own, right?"
Kamiya clicked his tongue, and then called out the whale.
The little whale followed the call and appeared, dragging its big tail.
Kamiyagawa: "Can your whale spirit move in this water?"
Facing the dark and turbulent abyss, the little whale seemed a little frightened, its big tail swinging uneasily. It was obviously a monster of the ocean, but it was afraid of getting into the water.
But he still summoned his whale spirit without hesitation.
As soon as the huge whale made of white bones entered the River Styx, there was a rumbling sound and a sad whale cry.
Kamiya didn't even see clearly what was going on, but a blue fluorophore rose from the water and returned to the Conch in the hands of the transformed whale.
The whale that just tried to enter the water should be dead.
The little whale spent some time and explained to Kamiya what had just happened - there were a lot of big rocks under the water, and the whale spirit couldn't avoid them.
It seems that crossing the water by force is not feasible.
Kamiya pondered for a few seconds and then summoned another shikigami: "Katsutengu."
"Wow!"
The tengu appeared as a crow and stood on the whale's head.
"Do you think the River Styx can be flown across?" Kamiya asked the Tengu.
Another simple attempt.
Wu Tengu did not fly directly across the Styx River, but tried to hover on the river bank for a while.
In the end, he came to the conclusion that the wind and waves on Qianfukase were too strong, and there were strange forces entrenched there. If he tried to fly across, it might be feasible to barely fly for a while, but he probably wouldn't be able to hold on for long before he would be swept into the river by the strong wind.
Go inside.
If it falls into the river, it will suffer the same fate as the whale spirit just now.
"It is not possible to force the crossing in water or in the air. It may also be because the whales and Karasu Tengu are unable to force the crossing due to their current strength. At present, the only way to cross the Sanjuku River is through the prescribed method."
Kamiyagawa roughly got some useful information about the River Styx.
As for the two shikigami boys at home, they were quite frustrated because they couldn't help the head of the family.
But Kamiya doesn't care much about this, it's not their fault.
If the River Styx could be passed so easily, it would be abnormal.
After briefly comforting Huajing and Karasutengu, Kamiyagawa called them all back, and only took the little old man to explore along the river bank.
We walked for about ten minutes.
The little old man standing on Kamiyagawa's shoulder suddenly shouted into his master's ear, and raised his hand to point forward. However, the sound of the water on Fukase was so loud that his voice was still unclear.
I must have discovered something.
Looking in the direction of the scout's finger, one could see a tiny light the size of a grain of rice swaying from side to side somewhere in the pitch-black abyss ahead.
The light was a faint blue, and compared to the vast and surging Styx, it was really inconspicuous.
It's like a thin needle poked a light-transmitting hole in a dark curtain.
"You go back to the Niao Niao Bronze Match first."
Kamiya looked at the light on the River Styx, thought for a moment, then called the little old man back, then continued walking along the river bank with the unsheathed Ichimonji in his hand.
Where the dark and turbulent Styx intersects with the vast white mist, a small faint blue light continues to sway. But no matter how you walk forward, the distance between the Divine Valley and the light does not seem to be shortened.
The two sides always maintained a fixed distance.
"Where is that thing located?"
And when Kamiyakawa stopped and thought for a moment, he suddenly had a feeling——
Something in the River Styx seemed to notice him.
Once this feeling occurs, the light that was originally as big as a grain of rice in the field of vision suddenly enlarges to the size of a wheel in an instant.
Dimly flashing in front of Kamiya.
At this time, I could see clearly what the light was. It was a lantern, shaped like a horseshoe lantern, but it emitted a weird blue light, like an erratic will-o'-the-wisp.
The lantern was hung on the side of a small canoe. Half of the lampshade was completely soaked in the water of the River Styx, but the light did not go out.
As for the wooden boat with the lights on it, it was a completely wooden structure, old and narrow, and it looked like it could accommodate about a dozen people.
"A ferry on the River Styx?"
This kind of wooden boat with an extremely simple and unsophisticated shape has only been seen in Kamiya River in film and television works.
This small wooden boat floats on the vast River Styx, like a tiny dead leaf floating on the boundless sea. As the waves move around, the old hull creaks and creaks, making people feel insecure.
.
Any whale that enters the Styx will be smashed to pieces. Although the situation of this simple wooden boat seems dangerous, it can float on the Styx.
There is really no place to reason.
There were two tall and thin figures standing on the wooden boat. They were unusually tall, at least two and a half meters tall. They were both wearing black cloaks and robes and holding wooden paddles.
The bodies of the two men were covered so tightly that no other body parts could be seen exposed except for a pair of palms that were withered and thin, like dry branches.
Even under the cloak, it was pitch black, like a dead black hole, so gloomy and oppressive that it was impossible to see what was inside.
"If this wooden boat with the horseshoe lantern hanging on it is the Styx River ferry boat, then these two figures should be the boatmen on the Styx River?"
Kamiyagawa held the Ichimonji in his left hand, his thumb resting on the blade, ready to push the blade out of the scabbard at any time.
His slightly shrunken deep pupils looked back and forth at the two people on the boat.
The Clothes Seizing Woman, the Hanging Clothes Man, and the Buried-Headed River Imp are all evil and have a strong desire to attack. Who can guarantee that the ferryman on the Styx River is a good thing?
After hesitating for a while, Kamiya made a decision secretly in his mind, reached out and took out the [Six Paths Money] that he had prepared long ago.
According to legend, Liudaoqian is the gold needed to cross the River Styx.
Let’s give it a try first. If you have this kind of tool, you have to give it a try and see if the two ferrymen are willing to take the money and ferry themselves directly to the other side.
Six simple copper coins were slightly overlapped in Kamiya's palm, spread out a little bit, and displayed to the two boatmen.
However, they didn't react at all to the Six Dao Qian, and they still stood motionless at the bow of the ship, like two silent statues seeking curiosity, and the darkness penetrated people.
Waves kept splashing under the canoe, and the dark and cold river water hit the two boatmen, fluttering and fluttering their large black robes that were already completely soaked.
"don't want?"
Kamiya was a little surprised, this was different from the legend.
Slightly embarrassed, they held the six coins and showed them for a while, but the two boatmen still had no decent reaction.
There was no other way, Kamiya could only put away the props for the time being.
But as soon as the copper coins were put away, one of the boatmen started to move. He stretched out his slender and shriveled palm, and slowly bent and unclenched his fingers.
A weird and stiff waving motion.
The sleeves of the wide black robe shook off as he moved, but the sleeves were also completely black. Except for the exposed palms, no other body parts covered by the clothes could be seen at all.
"He asked me to go up?" Kamiyakawa roughly understood what the boatman meant.
Is this beckoning you to get on board?
And it seems like they don’t charge any fees.
Thinking about it this way, these two boat ladies are pretty good.
In other words, Santuchuan is no longer interested in collecting money privately?
"It's time to work."
After a brief hesitation, Kamiyagawa silently tightened his grip on the Ichimonji scabbard in his hand, his eyes still contracted to the extreme, and stepped onto the ferry.
Squeak——
The ferryman's oar pushed against the shore, and the small wooden boat sailed towards the steamy waters of Fukase.
As soon as the ship left the shore, Kamiya heard some strange noises.
When I was on the shore before, I could only hear the sound of the surging water, but no other sounds could be noticed.
But when we got to the water, the movements that were originally inaudible were revealed.
The water was filled with the sounds of boulders colliding, as well as painful and miserable cries and howls. The sounds of horror and roars were mixed in with the roaring water, one sound drowning out the other.
The sounds in hell are probably like this.
The dark and frightening strong deep sea, the evil waves are emptying, and the terrifying noises are endless. Huge rocks are rolling at the bottom of the river, evil pythons are lurking, and souls are turning upside down in the undercurrent.
The small ferry boat floated in such an environment, completely involuntarily. The horseshoe lantern hung on the side of the boat was swaying, and from time to time it collided with the water waves and the hull of the boat, making a weird sound like a groan of pain.
.
Then the wooden boat was pushed farther and farther by the waves, and gradually disappeared into the water mist. The light of the lantern also turned into a light spot the size of a grain of rice on the vast water, and gradually disappeared...
…
Kamiyagawa didn't know how long the ferry boat had been floating on Qianfukase, nor did he know where he had arrived.
Anyway, now I am on the boat and looking out, the dark waves stir up the white mist, and the front, back, left and right are all the same.
As for the two boatmen on the River Styx, they didn't do much work during the whole journey. They didn't even make any paddling movements. They just drifted with the current, letting the canoe roll up and down in the rough waves.
Just when Kamiya felt a little impatient, the canoe suddenly shook violently.
It seemed like something hit the hull underwater.
Immediately afterwards, uniform shouts came from the mist, and the voices rang out from all directions: "Yeah! Yeah!"
"Ya Sa" is the cry when rowing a boat.
"Finally here."
Kamiyakawa held down the hilt of the knife and looked around. At the same time, he also used his peripheral vision to pay attention to the two Styx boatmen on the bow.
Originally, he didn't think the two ferrymen had any good intentions.
They didn't even charge six cents!
Bang bang bang.
Kamiya heard the slapping sound.
Even in the loud noise inside the strong Fukase, this flapping sound was extremely clear.
It seemed like someone was slapping the hull of the boat hard in the water.
Bang bang bang, bang bang bang!
Soon, the wet slapping sounds coming from the water became more and more intense, and the entire canoe seemed to be completely surrounded by something underwater.
Then, a shriveled hand was seen protruding from the dark river water, clinging hard to the side of the boat next to Kamiya.
The fingers that were like dry branches shook violently twice, and a voice could be clearly heard coming from under the water where the arm was: "Gulu gulu... lend me the spoon... gulu gulu."
Faced with such a weird and horrifying scene, Kamiya did not panic at all. Instead, he grinned: "Are all boat ghosts like this? Even the ones on the Styx are the same."
He already knew what the things under the water were, as "Kaitan Monogatari" gave him a hint.
Even the two "ferrymen" were the same.
The name defined by the system is - [The Ghost of Strong Fukase Fune]
In Japanese folklore, if someone dies while sailing on a boat, they will turn into a ghost.
This kind of undead ghost stories usually appear in groups. When they appear, they will hang their chins on the side of the boat and greet them: "Will you join us?"
It is also said that the boat ghosts would borrow ladles from people in the boats. Once they obtained the tool, they would turn the ladles upside down and water would magically begin to flow into the boats until they could no longer hold them.
For smaller fishing boats, the boat ghosts will even personally scoop water into the boat until the boat sinks.
In short, according to folk wisdom, if you encounter a boat ghost borrowing a spoon, you must drill a hole in the bottom of the spoon, or simply bring a bottomless spoon before going to sea.
As for the ghosts of these boats on Fukase, I don’t know where they came from. Maybe they are the souls of the evildoers who have been tortured here?
Probably because they were born in a special background and carry high-end prefixes such as "Strong Fukase", the boat ghosts here are quite strong. The individual strength is above D level and they serve as "ferrymen".
Those two even have a C rating.
Kamiya was a little unsure about the two people controlling the ferry.
He was not sure whether the boat ghost was impersonating the ferryman, or whether the boatman on the River Styx was actually the boat ghost.
But it doesn’t matter whether it is or not.
Anyway, we have already broken up with each other, so what if these two boat ghosts are really the culprits of Santu River?
Kamiyagawa has killed as many bad guys as this or two.
"I don't have a spoon here, let's try this!"
Kamiya quickly turned his body, and [The Banshee] suddenly appeared in his palm, and the bronze bayonet suddenly popped out.
Boom!
There was a muffled sound.
Kamiya attacked before the boat ghost. The bayonet of his musket penetrated the palm of the hand that climbed up from the bottom of the water first, nailing it to the side of the boat.
This isn't the end yet.
On the small canoe that was shaking violently, Kamiyagawa leaned forward and rushed forward quickly. His movements were not affected by the venue at all, and he slashed out with an extremely sharp Iai towards the black-clad boat ghost on one of the bows!
"I've wanted to kill you for a long time!"
The indigo-colored smart sword flickered, and a large gash appeared in the damp black robe on Zhou Ghost's body.
Under the gap in the robe, countless strange shapes instantly stirred.
The sound of flesh colliding with each other kept coming.
Several severed limbs chopped off by Ichimonji rolled out of the robe, and then with a "snap" sound, an indistinguishable number of skinny palms squeezed out from under the torn black robe!
Under the robe of the boat ghost, there was no other thing or body tissue, it was all these skinny arms.