Chapter 33:
Oil pan hell and hot pot

The moment Jing Qizhen took the book in his hand, a few lines of words appeared in his mind.

[Name: Journey to Hell]

[Type: Book]

[Quality: Purple]

[Use: Flip through it…]

[Restrictions: Some people may open a new door in life and change their beliefs]

[Remarks: This is a magical book that may give you a spiritual shock when you read it. There were some atheists who read it and thought it was a joke to fool others. Some people with weak beliefs had their views turned upside down after reading it. Xu Siya, the former owner of the book, read it and realized that she did not recognize most of the characters in the book. She only thought that the things in the oil pan in the picture looked so delicious…]

Jing Qizhen read the description and handed it to Manman. At the same time, he also made a gesture and whispered, “Let’s leave this place first.”

Manman nodded. She took the book, and after reading the information that appeared, she rolled it up and put it away.

When they got the book they came for and left the Xu family’s yard, Jing Qizhen and Manman left very easily without any accidents.

After coming out of the Xu family’s courtyard, the duo looked at each other again.

Jing Qizhen took the initiative and whispered, “Did you see the information just now?”

Manman nodded. “This should be the origin of the hot pot—I mean, the oil pan hell we saw before.”

Hearing Manman suddenly mention hot pot, Jing Qizhen was startled. He couldn’t help but joked, “Do you miss the hot pot cooked by Si Jiayang again?”

Manman pretended to be shy and reserved as she smiled. “Is it obvious? I really am!”

Jing Qizhen: “Originally, I thought that Xu Siya during the day was just a little girl who was bullied by her family, while the weird little girl at night represented her crazy or aggressive side.”

Manman understood his words and directly added, “But after reading the book just now, your mind changed again, right?”

Jing Qizhen nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

After a pause, Jing Qizhen said again, “The quality of the book just now is purple. According to the classification of items in various games you play, what kind of items belong to the purple quality?”

Manman considered her words before speaking. “Actually, it’s hard to say. Different games have different classification methods for the rarity of items. Judging from the three special items we have obtained so far, the classification of items in the erosion area is more biased towards online games.

“The common classification will be that the lowest level being useless gray items, white items are of little use, and above that are usually green, blue, purple, and gold. In addition to these color classifications, there may be special growth props, or Western-style naming, such as legendary, epic, etcetera.”

Jing Qizhen directly grasped the point. “In other words, purple items are relatively high-level treasure?”

Manman nodded, but then shook her head. “Not absolute. It also depends on the game settings! If we treat the erosion area like a dungeon in an online game, the items that appear in the first dungeon will be white and blue, but if the second dungeon suddenly drops a purple item, it would be quite strange!”

Jing Qizhen thought deeply and slowly nodded.

After returning to their temporary residence, several people staying behind looked over at the same time, except for Jin Guijuan who was playing with Xu Siya.

Jing Qizhen said succinctly and concisely, “We’ve got the book. It’s a bit special.”

Manman directly reached out and handed the book over.

Old Xiao happened to be the closest and stretched out his hand to take it. When he saw the cover of the book in Manman’s hand, he was stunned and subconsciously said, “Huh? This book looks like the printed books from those cults in the countryside!”

He pointed at the small words ‘Not for Sale’ at the bottom of the book cover.

Manman: “Touch the book first.”

Although Old Xiao was puzzled, he followed suit. Thus, as soon as he took the book from Manman’s hand, the relevant information emerged in his mind. Old Xiao’s expression immediately changed, and cold sweat began to appear on his forehead again.

Yan Hong asked in a deep voice, “What’s wrong?”

Old Xiao handed the book to him.

Soon, the book was passed through the hands of every adult present in the room. When it finally reached Lu Lingxi, he deliberately put down the needle and thread in his hand first and suggested, “Well, I am a staunch atheist. Should I open it and take a look?”

Manman thought for a moment, but rejected Lu Lingxi’s suggestion. “Let’s not do that!”

Lu Lingxi always opened his eyes wide except when staring at the sniper scope. With innocent Bambi-like eyes, he asked in confusion, “Why?”

Jing Qizhen, who probably guessed Manman’s train of thought, hesitated for a moment, and then answered helpfully, “Maybe this book can cause a spiritual attack, and it is better if you’re not affected.”

Manman nodded silently, indicating that Jing Qizhen was right, and then took the initiative. “So let me do it! If anything strange happens to me, just knock me out.”

Lu Lingxi: …

Yan Hong: …

After a short silence, Lu Lingxi silently returned the book to Manman, feeling a little emotional. “Are you girls always this harsh on yourselves?”

Manman calmly replied, “A woman has to be a bit tough on herself!”

The innocent men present: …

As she spoke, Manman had already taken back ‘Journey to Hell’, but before opening the book, she took out her mobile phone and turned on the camera.

Afterward, Manman quickly browsed the special book. In the process, she took pictures of all the contents page by page.

Manman: “I think the second-hand photocopies taken on the mobile phone will not have the same effect as the original book.”

Jing Qizhen nodded. “I think so too. According to what the Earth said before, these special items that appeared in the erosion area actually absorb the special energy in the erosion area.”

Manman: “The law of conservation of energy, right? It’s impossible for these special energies to be created out of thin air just by taking a photo.”

Jing Qizhen: “Well, yes. Judging from the way you speak, it doesn’t seem like you’re changing at all?”

Manman nodded. “After all, I don’t really believe in ghosts and gods!”

As for the female ghost Ms. Li they saw before, she was just a special creature formed in the erosion area!

Manman continued to take photos while flipping through the book, and at the same time, she simply summed up the main content of the book in one sentence. “As the name suggests, a living person visited hell and wrote a travel journal.”

Further through the pages, Manman suddenly let out a soft “Oh” and then said, “Ah, I found it, hot pot hell—no, the oil pan hell is the ninth level of the eighteen levels of hell, as written in this book. The image of the oil pan hell we saw before is exactly the same as the illustration in this book.”

Manman deliberately took a picture of the oil pan hell and sent it directly to her companions via Bluetooth.

Jing Qizhen muttered in a low voice, “I didn’t expect the case to be solved so quickly…”

Manman did not read the book in detail, but just browsed through it quickly. Then, she sorted out all the pictures and packaged them together to send them to the others.

Jing Qizhen took the book from Manman and said, “I’m going to ask Xu Siya about this.”

In the back room, Jin Guijuan was accompanying Xu Siya while holding her mobile phone and teaching the little girl how to read.

Jing Qizhen opened the door curtain and walked in. Xu Siya saw ‘Journey to Hell’ in his hand at a glance, and immediately said, “That’s it!”

Jin Guijuan also saw the writing on the book and was stunned for a moment. “Eh, this…?”

Jing Qizhen: “Guijuan, do you know this book too?”

Jin Guijuan: “I haven’t read this book, but I can often see similar things in the village. When I was a child, the village where I grew up was very backward and isolated. In the early years, unless a family had children who wanted to go to school, there were basically no proper books in the homes of ordinary people, and most of the villagers did not read books at all, nor did they have the habit of buying books.

“Occasionally, there are some agricultural pamphlets on raising pigs and growing vegetables given out at farming support lectures. Those are already considered great.”

Jing Qizhen soon understood. “So, even though they don’t take the initiative to buy books, the common paper products circulated in the village are actually those free pamphlets distributed by cults when they preach?”

Jin Guijuan said, “Hmm, there are also some cheap and outdated newspapers and calendars that can be used to patch up walls.”

Jing Qizhen: …

Simple working people truly made the best use of things. They were so realistic.

Later, Jing Qizhen asked Xu Siya, “Where did this book come from?”

Xu Siya, sitting next to Jin Guijuan, replied softly, “When I was cutting grass in the mountains, I picked it up.”

Thinking of the special scope of the erosion area, Jing Qizhen’s heart suddenly trembled, and he gestured directly toward the direction they came from. “Is it the mountain over there?”

Xu Siya nodded.

Then, before Jing Qizhen could continue to ask, Xu Siya said sadly, “I don’t quite understand the words in the book, but I heard that people will go to hell when they die. Hell is so scary. I dare not die…”

Jing Qizhen and Jin Guijuan fell silent at the same time.

Jin Guijuan gently patted Xu Siya’s head and said softly, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. How can you think about death all day long at such a young age? You are still young. Live well because there is still a long way to go in the future! Don’t be afraid of your mother. One day, you will grow taller and she will grow older. You don’t have to be afraid of her.”

Xu Siya still shrank instinctively, but still nodded firmly and whispered, “Okay, I’m not afraid of her.”

After a moment of hesitation, Jing Qizhen chose to ask directly. “Then are you afraid of the oil pan hell?”

Xu Siya whispered, “The oil pan hell is different. I was hungry when I saw it, I didn’t feel it was scary at all. I just thought it must be very delicious…”

Jing Qizhen was speechless for a moment.

Jin Guijuan couldn’t help but smile, suppressing the bitterness in her heart. How hungry must a child be to be able to think only of food in front of those ferocious pictures of the oil pan hell?

Jing Qizhen suppressed all his thoughts and smiled while he joked, “You are actually a foodie!”

Manman, who had accidentally made two slips of the tongue before, stood at the door with her hands in her pockets and smiled, “Let’s make hot pot tonight!”