03. These are not his hands, these are not his pants, and this is not his phone…
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Hu Weiqi looks around, and not seeing any signs indicating civilization, he wonders if he really is on some mountain.

Thinking about the stone path he just saw, he quickly changes his mind; that stone path looks smooth and well maintained, not at all like what would be expected on a mountain. So, the fact that there is a path here means that someone must travel along that path.

Weiqi sets a goal for himself. He wants to find a city, a small village, or even one person. An average person, one that depends on their legs to go back and forth, and not someone that disappears into thin air. After coming to this strange place, he saw 4 people, and all 4 had disappeared. If you think about statistics and percentages, 100% of the people he met vanished into thin air; that fact does not bring him any comfort, so he will ignore it for now and try setting small goals.

He goes to check his pockets because when he sat down because his feet were "tired," he felt something digging into his skin. Yes, his feet were tired; HE WAS NOT SCARED. 

He reaches in his front pocket and soon realizes that these were not the pants he wore when he got hit; these pants are a little too tight, nothing like he wears. He struggles with the front pocket and finally pulls out a cell phone; he wonders who on earth put these pants on him. Are they trying to cut off his circulation or ensure he has no descendants? Or did he gain weight?

He looks at the phone model and doesn't recognize it; it is definitely not his phone. It looks like a smartphone, but it is neither Huawei, Apple, nor Samsung. It does look a little like a mix of those, though.

He notices a button on the side and presses it, the phone lights up dispelling the darkness around him. The home screen shows that it is reading the fingerprint and then unlocks. He is ecstatic for a second and then freezes. "Wait a minute," he exclaims out loud; this is not his phone, so how can his fingerprint unlock it?

With help from the phone light, Weiqi looks at his hands; they are small and white, with neatly trimmed nails.

They look a little delicate, could they be his hands? he never examined his own hands, but since he barely did any hard work, having smooth hands was a possibility. However, looking at his pinkie, he feels like he plunged into an icy lake, and his breath stagnated.

Where is the scar? The scar that was supposed to be on his little finger is not there anymore. He was accidentally bitten by Huahua once when he was playing; a small scar with two adorable teeth marks was left after that, but now it is gone, and the skin looks flawless.

These are not his hands, these are not his pants, and this is not his phone, so the question is, who's body is he in?

 He feels the need to sit back down but thinking of the coldness of the ground, he changes his mind. Forget it.

Weiqi takes a couple of deep breaths and tries to calm himself; first thing first, remember his goal, no distractions, he needs to get out here. So he starts inspecting the phone.

A couple of apps on it look a bit different than what he is used to, but their name is the same. There is the usual Calendar, Photos, and Camera, then there is Connections, and after clicking on that app, he realizes it is equivalent to an address book and contacts.

He then looks at the Communications app, which seems to be the equivalent of Messages, okay, next he clicks on the World Projections app. Wait, that one looks like Maps. That is what he needs; he needs a map to get out of here.

He launches the World Projections app, and look at that; it sure looks just like good old Maps from his phone. Now, he just needs to figure out where he is and where to go; Weiqi finally smiles.

The cardinal locations look a little weird, but the interface is self-explanatory. There is Water/North, Fire/South, Marsh/West, and Thunder/East. There is a yellow dot blinking, Weiqi hopes that it represents his current location, and he zooms out a little.

He notices that the place he is in is marked Xianjing Park. Weiqi sighs softly and is thankful that he is not on a mountain; he does not think he can hike in these ridiculous pants.

He zooms out a little more and finally sees what seems to be the exit of this park; he clicks on the walking stick figure above the map, which hopefully means walking directions, and sets the destination as the park's exit. With that step done, the map indicates that it's a 20-minute distance. Weiqi finally feels relieved and sets in the direction according to the phone.

Hu Weiqi takes the stone path and starts walking in the Fire/South direction; he likes that name, he is currently cold, and maybe all he needs is a little Fire to warm up.

With that in mind, Weiqi walks with long strides, or at least as long as these pants let him take, in the hopes of getting out of here faster; he feels closer to his goal and is energized.

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While Weiqi is bravely marching ahead, Bo Youfei and Heng Taio are crossing over the Bridge of Helplessness in the Underworld.

"Ah, if it isn't little FeiFei? You finally came back?" Comes a floating voice from across the bridge. "You come to me if that little Yan bullies you; let's see if he still dares to. "The voice continues.

Bo Yufei could not see the speaker's figure, but he knew exactly who that was. He bows deeply in that direction and answers with a smile, "Thank you Granny Meng. I must report to King Yama now, but I will come by as soon as possible to offer you my greetings."

A giggle is heard, and the person replies: "Bah, what Granny Meng, I told you to stop calling me that, and yet you never listen. Never mind, you young ones always have a mind of your own. But you make sure to let me know if that little Yan gives you trouble, you hear?"

Bo Youfei laughs lightly, thinking how he is still considered a young one at his age; he is thousands of years old, okay? But he still replies with warmth to her good intentions. "I promise Granny, thank you and I will see you soon."

Heng Taio does not speak but bows respectfully in the direction of the voice.

The voice seems to sigh as it dissapears: "This one sure is as rigid as always; why can't he be as cute as little FeiFei."

Heng Taio's lips twitch slightly, but he still says nothing. Who let her be Granny Meng? She is temperamental and very petty. If she feels like she suffered the slightest injustice, she'll sneak you some soup when you least expect it and then watches the fun as you forget who you are. Even though it only lasts a year or two, it is not fun acting like a baby. Especially when you get your memories back and see your embarrassing history of running around naked and eating mud posted all over the Underworld halls. Ah, not even King Yama dares to tangle with her.

 Heng Taio thankfully never annoyed her, but Yin Bolin crossed her more than once; that fool cannot control his mouth and always ends up being pitted. It was not a pretty sight, but it was sure amusing.

Bo Youfei then asks: "Brother Taio, I have been missing for over 80 years; who has replaced me? I have never seen the creation of a new supervisor. I hear it is quite the sight."

Heng Taio then replies: "What new supervisor? Do you know how difficult it is for King Yama to create new ones? It was just not worth it, so he also gave me your post to oversee until you return. While you were gone, I've spent so much overtime these past years that my eyes are seeing double. You are such a troublemaker; let's get you back to your post so I can finally rest a little."

Bo Youfei understands now how Heng Taio reacted so quickly and found him as soon as the restriction was broken; he was probably waiting for his return so he could stop working this hard.

He feels awful to trouble his brother Taio, so he says flatteringly: "I'm sorry for giving you so much difficulty brother Taio; I promise that as soon as I finish my punishment, I will help you with your work so you can take a much-needed vacation, I might lose my post after this so I can always be your assistant." He then gives a silly smile.

Heng Taio replies, "Heh, Who says you'll lose your post? As long as you just do your own work, I will be happy, don't worry yourself over biting more than you can chew."

But Bi Youfei knew how much work a supervisor has, and to take on the position of another supervisor for such a long time, he feared that Heng Taio had not rested in 80 years. He suddenly feels a slightly sour feeling in his heart and blinks away his tears. This time he really troubled everyone and made a huge mess. He vows to help in any way he can and get stronger.

The two finally cross the bridge and stop in front of a giant hall door; it is red, decorated with gold embellishments, and looks very imposing.

Bo Youfei feels a slight trepidation; he knows he made a big mistake, and his punishment will not be light.

As the door opens, another figure in black suddenly walks behind them and says, "Yo, look who it is. If it isn't our missing troublemaker. Tell me, Bo Youfei, what in the world made you do such a stupid thing as collecting souls that were not scheduled? You even collected from other people's regions and then Dissapeard so none could find you. Did you think we do not have enough work and decided to give us some extra challenges?"

If Hu Weiqi was here, he would recognize him as the same man that appeared and quickly disappeared in front of him at the park.

Bo Youfei looks downcast at this comment, while Heng Taio replies, "Yin Bolin, why are you complaining about being overworked? You obviously have nothing to do, seeing you are idling here like a drifter."

Yin Bolin, this idler, feels provoked and is about to reply, but a voice is heard inside the hall. "Ah, you are here? Come in. This one would like to hear what insanity has possessed supervisor Bo Youfei to carelessly trample on my Underworld's laws."

An oppressive silence enveloped the hall, and no one dared to speak.

 

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