Volume 1 Flood 061, Send me back to Ai Jiu

  Take me back to Eju

  Amon's predicament was of his own making, for he had awakened too many souls and set them free. He couldn't help but wonder to himself: "If I had known it would turn out like this, would I still have done it?" The answer was yes, he would still have done it; he couldn't just stand by and watch as his father's soul, along with those of the people of Dastin, remained trapped in the underworld.

  As he pondered in this self-inquiry, Amun was also using his divine detection technique to explore the surrounding void, and suddenly discovered that someone had appeared not far away. He hastily turned around to look, only to see the Gatekeeper of the Underworld emerging from the darkness, holding a black mist-like chain in his hand, and coldly saying: "Amun, please hand over your soul to me for imprisonment, and become the eternal slave of the Lord of the Underworld."

  The voice inside was icy, seemingly devoid of any human emotion, leaving Amun no room for resistance. However, the moment this underworld gatekeeper approached, his black mist-like chain not yet fully extended, he suddenly let out a terrified wail, as if he had seen something that frightened him to the extreme, and turned around to disappear into the shadows, running faster than flying.

  He saw Amun take out three scrolls and throw two of them over, still holding a gray scroll in his hand. Amun's decision was very decisive, if he wanted to escape, he should try his best to escape now, otherwise, if he was sealed by Neit, his soul would probably never have the chance. The most powerful means at his disposal were the three unmarked high-level divine scrolls left by Nero.

  Nero deliberately used these three scrolls as a reward, showing how precious and powerful they were. Amun thought he wouldn't use them for a long time, but didn't expect to have to use them so soon.

  After passing through the seven gates of the underworld, Ahmon saw King Erebus and judged that he had not gone elsewhere, but was still in that huge cave. King Erebus did not know what kind of power he used to set up a strange divine array, making everyone who entered here seem to have come to another world, which must also include some extremely high-level space magic and information magic.

  The silver-white, slender axle-core scroll left by Nero is called "Spatial Turbulence", which can shatter the spatial barrier's seal and is the best means of escape when trapped in a divine spatial confinement. However, casting Spatial Turbulence will produce countless spatial fissures, possibly harming the caster themselves, making it a very dangerous high-level divine technique.

  Another golden axle core scroll is called "Information Oblivion", which can disrupt the sealed divine technique information, and belongs to a destructive divine technique. A clever combination of information divine techniques with spatial divine techniques can not only be used to preserve and transmit information but also create various disguises and traps, while "Information Oblivion" is used for destruction.

  The effects of these two scrolls were precisely tailored to the environment where Amun was currently located. When he took out the scroll from under his ribs, he also took out the gray scroll with unknown effect, but didn't throw it away. The gatekeeper of the underworld seemed to know what he was doing and knew something was wrong when he saw Amun take out these scrolls, so he quickly retreated, not knowing which one he was afraid of.

  "Information Erasure" can disrupt the illusory world constructed by this divine technique, while "Spatial Turbulence" can allow Amun to escape from the divine space, but it is unknown where he will be taken. Using this scroll, with his current abilities, he cannot fully control it, and it's possible that he will also be torn into pieces by countless spatial turbulence, but Amun has another way to protect himself.

  Two scrolls were taken out and unfolded one after another. Amun took out the bone from his bosom and unfolded it into an invisible giant ship in the endless void, entering that strange space within.

  "Information collapse" erupted, and the surroundings became a mess, everything was unclear. Immediately after "space turbulence" erupted, the world around him was torn into countless fragments, and the invisible giant ship carrying Amun was pulled by various chaotic forces, traversing the chaos without knowing where it went, even Amun himself was unclear. No matter where he went, it was better than being trapped in this gloomy underworld with his soul locked up.

  He disappeared and escaped from the underworld world.

  ……

  In the depths of the cave, in that vast underground palace, Erebus's angry voice was like thunder: "Neti, you couldn't even stop a fifth-level magician, and let a living person escape from my underworld... What angers me the most is that as the guardian of the underworld, you actually opened up the path for him"

  Always shrouded in a dark aura, the Inti stood before Erebos, trembling with fear and replied: "My great queen, guess what I saw in his hands? He took out a 'Destruction Storm' just as he was about to unleash it."

  Erebus was taken aback: "What? Who could create such a scroll and would be willing to create such a scroll?"

  "Doesn't Your Majesty know that Nil, the divine magician of Ergo, is capable of creating such scrolls?" Naie reminded her cautiously.

  Erebus furrowed his brow: "I've heard of him, he's a genius among humans, and actually made this scroll? But that person died more than 30 years ago, how old was Amun then, how could he know Nero?... When he came, I saw through it at a glance, there's no way he had the scroll on him. Besides, using the destructive storm is suicidal, not an escape, I sensed it clearly, he didn't use it."

  "He simply held it in his hand without using it, but unfolded two other scrolls - Information Erasure and Spatial Turbulence."

  "Erebus scolded: 'What happened in my domain, of course I am clear. It is indeed the effect of these two scrolls. Amun has disappeared.'"

  The voice inside was very fine, as if afraid of speaking loudly and provoking the queen again: "The information eraser made him temporarily undetectable to you, but he himself was probably torn into pieces by the space turbulence long ago."

  "Ah, Erebus roared: "If he really wanted to commit suicide, using the destructive storm would have been enough. If you can't escape quickly, you'll end up dead anyway. Why bother with those two scrolls? He's clearly trying to escape from the underworld... I only have one thing I don't understand - how did he manage to bring the scrolls in without my underworld gatekeeper noticing? Do you have an explanation for this?"

  The queen's furious gaze was as terrifying as a chaotic space, and she subconsciously took a step back, saying: "Mu Yun, it must be Mu Yun who is playing tricks on you. Only a goddess can do this to humiliate you, intentionally making things difficult for you. It's possible that she colluded with Amun long ago."

  How is this possible? Mu Yun Goddess left without Amun, and it's even more impossible to hand over the three scrolls to Amun. The three scrolls of Amun were suddenly taken out from his body, as if they appeared out of thin air. As the master of the divine domain, Erebus naturally sensed it clearly. But before she could figure out what was going on, the information explosion erupted, and Amun disappeared in the spatial chaos.

  But in the eyes of Neith, the only explanation that makes sense is that Mut is playing tricks on her, and the greatest doubt is left to Ereshkigal herself. Now there's another problem, if Mut really wants to exchange a person for Amun, but the Queen of the Underworld can't deliver anyone.

  ……

  Even Mu Yun, the goddess, didn't expect that as soon as she left the underworld, Ah Mon would escape right after her, not even delaying for a moment. When Mu Yun reappeared outside the cave in the canyon, she had already restored her attire, with her dress, golden crown, accessories, and staff all back to normal. She turned her head to glare at the entrance of the underworld, saying hatefully: "Erebus, my sister, I will remember today's humiliation, and I will return it to you sooner or later."

  After finishing speaking, she was about to leave, but sensed a mysterious spatial fluctuation coming from the depths of the underworld. She cursed again: "What are you up to now? You're making such a big fuss just to restrain an Amun, trying to make things difficult for me? Fine, I'll send someone to exchange Amun back."

  Her figure disappeared from the canyon, and after a long time, the goddess reappeared somewhere on the Assyrian plateau. This was already within the borders of the Assyrian kingdom, a high and cold place shrouded in clouds and mist, with glaciers and snow visible all around, a vast and desolate plain. The goddess Mu Yun walked forward, waving her staff made of wisteria, entering a mysterious world that ordinary people could not see.

  The vast grassland stretches out, like a rolling green carpet, with crystal-clear streams flowing through the hills. In the distance, the foot of the mountain is filled with blooming flowers, and among the flowers stands a beautiful palace, from which the sound of music and dance comes. Who would have thought that in the depths of the Assyrian plateau there was such a wonderful place? If the gods had not opened the gates, even if mortals came to this land, they would not have discovered any trace.

  The goddess Mu Yun walked quietly into the palace, silently passing through the corridors and entering a grand hall decorated with great luxury. The sound of music and dance was coming from here. A beautiful young girl was standing in the center of the hall, swaying gently to the rhythm. She wore a thin, gauzy dress that barely covered her chest, revealing tantalizing glimpses as she moved. Her lower body was clad in a short skirt, with a golden chain wrapped around her waist and abdomen, from which hung teardrop-shaped pendants. The pendants struck against her raised buttocks, producing a pleasant tinkling sound.

  In the front of the hall, there was a reclining chair, which originally belonged to the goddess's seat. Now, however, a man was half-reclined on it. This person had fair skin and looked very young, with a handsome appearance, his facial features seemingly carved from perfect marble. He held a cup of wine in his hand, enjoying the beautiful dance of the girl in front of him.

  "What are you doing, Shubra and Dumuz?" The goddess suddenly appeared in the hall and shouted, her voice filled with a deep chill.

  Shubra, the dancing maid, heard this voice and turned around to prostrate herself at Mu Yin's feet, exclaiming in surprise and joy: "My great goddess, you have returned from the underworld!"

  Mu Yun's goddess said coldly: "Of course I'm back, did you hope I wouldn't come back? I really didn't expect that my maid would seduce my husband while I was away."

  Shubra took two steps forward on the ground, opened his arms and wept: "No, goddess, you misunderstood... It was your husband Dumuzi who said that you went to the underworld, and your sister would not let you come back. ... He asked me to offer a beautiful dance and serve him sincerely, and he will think of a way to save you. What I said is true, goddess, I couldn't deceive you."

  The man sitting in the chair jumped up, somewhat flustered and embarrassed, forcing a warm smile: "My dear goddess, I'm so thrilled to see you back, I was just thinking of ways to rescue you."

  "This is the method you thought of? Very well, then go and save me. The Queen of the Underworld wants me to send a man I once loved as a slave to the King of the Underworld, and that would be you." As she spoke, she raised her staff and pointed it at Dumuzi.

  "Muyun, you're going too far! Just because you're a goddess, can you do whatever you want? ... You rejected Gilgamesh, but made Enkidu fall in love with you... How many men have you loved and hurt? I just made the spirit maidens dance, and I'm subjected to such brutal punishment"

  Dumuz's face also showed anger, loudly scolding the goddess Mu Yun. Suddenly, he poured the wine in his hand towards her. The wine turned into a golden mist, enveloping the entire hall. Just as Mu Yun let out a soft cry, the mist condensed into countless tiny ice drops, falling to the ground with a tinkling sound.

  "Was it just a dance? Would I do something like that, I punish not only betrayal but also the crimes committed during the betrayal." The goddess Mu Yun emerged from the disappearing smoke, but Dumuzi was nowhere to be seen.

  As he poured out the cup of wine, his body transformed into a snake and slid out of the hall and the palace, quickly leaving this strange divine cave, disappearing in the mountains of Assyria.

  The goddess Muyun, still seething with anger, saw Shubra still kneeling before her and asked: "My spirit maid, why didn't you follow Dumuzi in his escape, but instead remain loyal to me?"

  "Great Goddess, Shubra has always been loyal to you, you should know."

  Mu Yun's angry face slightly cleared, and he nodded slowly: "Yes, I understand, this is Dumz's betrayal. Take my staff, go to each of my divine domains, bring the divine servants Xiala and Takku, capture Dumz. Bring him to the underworld and hand him over to my sister Ereb, in exchange for a person named Amun."

  The fairy maid reminded: "Goddess, Dumuzi is your husband after all."

  Mu Yun said coldly: "Ex-husband"

  ……

  Ah Meng never thought that he would be so "lucky", Mu Yun actually ordered someone to capture the escaped "ex-husband" and planned to send him to the underworld in exchange for Ah Meng. Where did Ah Meng go at this time?

  He entered the invisible great ship, and a violent turbulence erupted in space. In the chaos, he was subjected to intense shocks and chaotic pulls, as if navigating through turbulent waters. Dazed and disoriented, he lost track of time and space, with no clear sense of where he was. Fortunately, the strange space formed by his bony body protected him; otherwise, Amun would have been torn apart by the spatial turbulence.

  A massive spatial shockwave came from all directions, Amun almost fainted, and then the invisible giant ship stopped, everything finally returned to calmness. He appeared in a world under a starry sky. The invisible giant ship was stranded on the water's edge, it was unknown whether this place was a lake or an ocean, ahead was the shore, and between the muddy shores grew shallow wild grasses. Looking further ahead, it was an endless desert.

  What is this place? How did he end up here? However, Amun didn't have time to think much, he immediately jumped off the big boat and beckoned to retrieve that bone, and rushed towards the lake shore. ——Because he saw a cat, lying on the lake shore very weakly, gasping for breath, it was Xue Ding'an who had not been seen for a long time.

  "This is the Syr Darya Desert, the border of Anu's domain. I know you have the scroll and bones, can escape from the underworld, using all my power to bring you here, go southwest, take me back to Egu..."

  This is the word written by Xue Dingyuan with his paw on the ground, it's very messy and unfinished, his paws are soft and hanging in the mud. The cat was lying on the wet soil at the shore and had fainted, its fur was covered with mud and lost its original luster. It turned out that it was the one who "led" Amun here, it's really an indescribable miracle.

  Looking at the words on the ground and then looking around, Ah Mon suddenly recognized this place, which he had also seen in the divine technique image shown by Yin Nanna. The landslide caused by the flood cut off a tributary of the Yu Di River, and the river changed its course through the swamp, converging into a huge inland lake in the northern depression of the Xuya Desert, where he was standing on the south bank at this moment. From here, passing through the desert to the south and then turning west, you can reach the border of the Hai Jiao City-State of the Egu Empire.

  From the mountain valley where the entrance to the underworld is located, to the southern shore of this lake, it's thousands of miles away. Amun escaped from the underworld and traversed the chaotic space flow, and actually appeared directly here. Whether it was the strange space of the underworld or the magical power of Xue Dingyan, but at this moment, this cat can no longer explain anything to Amun.

  Ammon remembered that Xue Dingyuan always liked to sleep soundly, was it accumulating strength all the time? This time, however, he used up all his energy to guide him.

  He infinitely grateful to hold Xue Dingyuan, and with the bone as a magic wand, he hastily performed almost all the healing spells he knew. The light on the lake shore flashed, gathering from all sides and the sky onto the cat in his arms. But Xue Dingyuan was still unconscious, seemingly unable to wake up for the time being.

  Amon was worried but couldn't do anything, and looked at Xue Dingyuan's message again. This magical cat should be fine, just need to rest, and left a message before fainting to let Amon take it back to Eju.

  Armon's original plan was to return Nero's belongings to the city-state of Cape after leaving Akkad. This time, he was able to escape from the underworld smoothly, and he should thank Nero for leaving behind the scroll. He would take this cat to Egypt, where Dick, the lord of the city, had issued a pass.

  According to the old madman, this cat was stolen by Baal from the Temple of Isis back then. Now it wants Amun to take it back to Egypt. Does it also want to return home?

  Amon found it strange that Xue Ding could run from the Yu Di River Valley to Du Ke Town at first, and now he can cross the desert from where they parted to get here. If he wants to return to Egu, he can go back by himself, why does he need Amon to escort him?

  It's possible that this magical cat lost some kind of power during its long journey and needed protection, so it kept waiting for Amun to appear. Or maybe it used up some kind of power to guide Amun, so it can't return on its own now. As for the specific reason, I'm afraid we can only ask Schr?dinger, but unfortunately, this cat can't answer us now.