Ch 3- The Underworld
The smell of rot hit Chen Heng's nose hard,
Chen Heng awakened immediately, but he was neither in the lab nor in the hospital, Chen Heng was standing on the land of skull's
"ah you finally awakened" a voice from behind sounded
Chen Heng turned back to observe the figure who had just spoken
looking at Chen Heng who was observing the figure with a horrified gaze
as the figure spoke
"oh where are my manners, ahem was the line like this"
figure scratched his skull
"ah I remembered, welcome to the underworld, dear traveler hope you have lived a good life in the mortal world"
the figure has no eyes in his socket, and instead of a face the figure has a skull
"wh..who are you" Chen Heng spoke in a trembling voice, to figure
"oh we have the brave one, most who see me for the first time are so horrified that they fall unconscious, you know how hilarious it is that a soul falls unconscious, only a few brave ones can speak like you and there are only some who can face me directly"
"well enough about that, I know you must have heard of me after all I am famous across many dimensions "as one who carries the soul to the underworld 'The Boter'."
"well from your reaction it seems you have heard of me"
"a..a..am I...am I dead" Chen Heng spoke in a trembling voice
"no no, you are still alive and living the good life on earth, Boter spoke in a hilarious tone, Of course, you are dead why would you come to the underworld if you are still alive"
why does a mortal always ask such stupid questions Boter taught
"anyway what price are you willing to pay to cross the Nile, Boter asks"
"p..pr...price"
"ah" Boter sighed, "don't you see the dead bodies of people on your feat they were people who couldn't pay the price to go to the underworld"
"no..i..I mean I don't have any money to give you"
"Who needs your money" boater spoke in disdain
"What I want is your 5% of good karma which you performed in your life"
"if you agree I can help you, cross over otherwise you can stay with them"
Boter pointed his finger toward the Chen Heng feat where skulls of several people were present
"Is there no way to return to my life?" Chen Heng asked, in a depressing voice
"And, how did I die"
"well you will know everything once you reach the underworld," Boter said, "decide fast there are millions of people coming to the underworld every second you know"
"All right," Chen Heng said
Boter stretched out his hand and sucked away the golden aura present on Chen Heng's body
"all right according to the ancient convent price has been paid now you can sit on the boat"
Chen Heng stretched his legs to sit on the boat, but suddenly boat ejected him out
"what" boater was first puzzled
and then surprised
"How is this possible" Boter spoke in an extremely angry and surprised tone
"Did you lie to me"
Chen Heng's soul body trembled involuntarily as Boter applied pressure on him
for the first time, Chen Heng remembered what primordial fear is, it was just like when a mouse came in front of a snake in a cage where he couldn't run and could only play dead and pray the snake ignored him
this was the kind of fear Chen Heng was experiencing
before he could speak Chen Heng fell unconscious on ground
after several hours
"That was a nightmare" Chen Heng opened his eyes
"It was not a nightmare kid" the man sitting beside him spoke
in horror, Chen Heng looked around to notice he was still in the underworld
the man looked into Chen Heng eye's as if dead serious
"did you lie to me kid" his previous comedy or anger was gone only seriousness was in his voice
"n..no," Chen Heng said still, trembling from what he experienced previously
"ah shit, you know I can't move to other places unless I cross you over to the other side"
"what ha..happened" Chen Heng asked
"sigh, well somehow your body is still alive in the mortal world and you crossed over to the underworld but, this should be impossible, no mortal can enter the underworld"
"then how am I here"
"I don't know, and most of anything, since I have taken a price from you for the fair unless I let you reach the other side I will have to wait"
"I am sorry" Chen Heng now somewhat composed spoke "but, I don't think you will have to wait enough, sooner or letter my body will die in the mortal world"
"well that's not the case, to effectively manage the underworld ancient gods have changed the timeline of the underworld, here 1 second of the mortal world is equal to 10,000 years of the underworld"
"which means you and I have to stay together for millions of years," Boter said
"then how will you manage the underworld,"
"Well I have several avatars, so you don't have to worry about the underworld, what I worry about most is staying here for millions of years trapped with a mortal like you"
"so, is there any solution"
"no either you cross to the underworld, or you go back to the living world but, both seem impossib... wait, what a brilliant idea"
"I can send you back to the living world"
Chen Heng was excited to hear that he could go back to the living world but, his excitement was soon gone
"though I can't send you to your world, but I can send you to other world"
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"Thank you all for taking the time to read Chapter 3 of my novel. Your support, insights, and enthusiasm mean so much. I'm grateful to share this journey with each of you. Thank you!"