Introduction. Sanzu River

A pleasant voice, taking for the soul, gently persuaded and prophesied:

"The Sanzu River has overflowed! The grief of people has caused the Sanzu River to become full-flowing and seething. You who are reading this now, try not to hurt those who are nearby for the next ninety days, for no one is eternal, and you do not know what fate has prepared for you.
May the sun be above your head, and become the sun for someone at least once in these ninety days, or better yet, be the sun every day and may the road across the Sanzu River pass you by in the near future! "
The IT department of the waterfront across the Sanzu River broadcast this text every ninety minutes. The voice penetrated into the hidden depths of everyone who heard these words. The text was inaudible for the deaf at heart, those who were open to the world received this message in the form of sounds of nature. It was raining, the wind was blowing, the fog was dropping, the sea was noisy.
 The IT staff at the Sanzu Riverfront had many ways to convey information to those who could hear without creating too much hype.
The Sanzu River really overflowed and the waterfront attendants were knocked off their feet to prevent flooding.
There were wars on earth, and this year they were especially bloody. The pain and tears of people poured into the river, and the river obediently accepted the suffering of people.
There have been wars on earth in all ages, but with the development of science and technology, the art of war has also developed to destroy entire nations.
Ghosts, apparitions, gods, heroes, villains, all those Sanzu Riverfront attendants were in turmoil right now. The waters of the river were steadily filling up and rising higher and higher! A catastrophe could happen if the main war, which claimed one human life after another, did not stop.

Chapter one. Sanzu riverfront

According to Buddhist philosophy, the human soul experiences rebirth until it has passed its entire path.
Before continuing my story, I want to tell you a little about the Sanzu River. The Sanzu River served those who died and went to a better world. There were three ways to cross the Sanzu River: by bridge, ford, or swim across it. People who crossed the river on the bridge in comfort and tranquility were very worthy people during their lifetime. Those who forded across the river, uniformly throughout their lives, sinned and did good deeds. I want to dwell in more detail on those who were forced to swim across the Sanzu River. Those who were forced to be transported to the next world in this way were sinners. These people committed such bad deeds during their lifetime that now they had to pay for their sins. All the wealth that they accumulated during their lifetime remained there, in the real world, but here, near the crossing, the soul of such a person was in huge stains of sin that could not be washed away or erased by anything. Sinners went swimming, but the waters of the Sanzu River are a dangerous place. The waters of the river boiled and rolled menacingly. However, this was not the danger that met the sinners who sailed. Something more terrible was waiting for them in the water. The waters of the river were teeming with ferocious dragons. The dragons had teeth like sharpened daggers, and their breath burned like hot steam. No matter how hard the sinner tries, how fast he swims, he could not avoid meeting the dragon. Those sinners who were overtaken by the dragon were doomed. The dragon wrapped its tail around its victim, and dragged it to the bottom with it. There, at the bottom of the Sanzu River, there were caves where dragons lived. So, the dragon took his prey and, together with it, sank to the bottom of the Sanzu River. Maybe you think that the sinner, having sank down with the dragon to the bottom of the river, was dying?
 No.
We have already agreed that this earthly life is fleeting, and the soul lives, undergoing one after another rebirth, until all rebirths are over. As soon as the dragon took with him a living soul, which still had the form of a human body to the bottom of the river, the soul began to take on its own form. Here, at the bottom of the river, it no longer made sense for the human soul to pretend, only here the sins of a person were exposed. The dragon carried the soul with him. The dragon caves were a dark place. The dragons did not need to see, their vision in the dark was replaced by their five senses. So, here, in complete darkness, the dragon punished the soul of the sinner minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. The unfortunate soul screamed and strained, but no one was in a hurry to run to her aid. The dragon tore off piece by piece from the soul with its teeth. The torture was sophisticated and varied. So, the dragon burned the unfortunate soul with steam, tore off pieces after pieces, slashed with claws sharp as daggers. However, every day the sinner had exactly nine minutes to take a breath and remember why he ended up in this hell. If sinners who sin during their lifetime knew, felt and believed what happens to such souls after death, they would probably be corrected during their lifetime and begin to live differently.
But this rarely happens!
 The nature of man is such that he does not listen to other people's advice, he prefers to go through his sinful path himself and sin again and again.
Especially not the dragons saw those people who mocked the weak during their lifetime.
Sinners who abused children, defenseless women and the elderly were especially punished by the dragons.
The dragons could not be fooled. They easily read all the sins and vile deeds from the souls.
However, sometimes sinners managed to escape punishment. Such a person could swim across the river, but when he reached the other side, he, however, like all souls, lost his memory and tumbled into the ranks of the staff of the Sanzu River. However, these were isolated cases. I will deal with such people in more detail in the next chapter. The sinners who swam across the Sanzu River and managed to escape the dragon's teeth were marked with the spot of the god. However, in the memory of the manager of the Sanzu River Embankment, there were only two such cases during his entire time at this place.

Chapter two. Sanzu River Customs Post

As I said in the introduction, in order for the Sanzu River crossings to work smoothly and smoothly, the Sanzu Riverfront had a large maintenance staff, even its own IT department. There is a small theme park on the approaches to the Sanzu River embankment. A person who came to such a park could see all nine circles of hell that a sinner goes through. However, since the park was Asian, the circles of hell were made with an eye to the east.
The IT department is located on the territory of the park, in the main administrative building. The main function of the IT department was small announcements, which sounded with a certain frequency under the arches of the park. These announcements were heard by all visitors. Unlike those announcements that were disguised as the noise of nature and which were heard only by people tuned in to this wave, the announcements that sounded under the arches of the park were heard by everyone. The park staff, like the rest of the staff at the Sanzu Riverfront, had a clear purpose. Their task was to convey to the guests who came to the park the main idea:
"Do not sin, and your life now and after death will be beautiful"
That is, in this park it was clearly shown what awaits a person after death, depending on what kind of life he led during his lifetime. Of course, there were ordinary carousels in the park, various themed quests, you could even celebrate your birthday here, but I have already voiced the main theme and idea of this park to you. Terrifying figures are located throughout the park. There was a special pavilion where one could see what happens to a person after death if he caused pain to others during his lifetime. However, such parks were not new. Many countries in Asia have such parks: in Thailand, China, Korea, Japan and so on. However, the park near the riverfront of the Sanzu River was certainly special and I will return to this park in the pages of our history from time to time.
Of course, ordinary people did not even suspect that the beautiful embankment, which could be accessed directly from the park, was the Sanzu River embankment. However, people saw before them an ordinary river. However, ordinary human eyes could not see the afterlife bridge. The bridge for people is located a little further. I want to clarify, the human river was not wide and not very deep, except for the bridge, it was possible to cross this river on small river buses made in the shape of a dragon, or on a cable car in the cab of the trailer. Now you know about as much about the Sanzu River Park as I do now. My brain, the brain of the author of this book, will learn what I do not know now, in the process of writing the book with you.
I wrote it rather confusingly, but I will not correct it.
We pass to the customs post.
The dead man, who found himself in front of the palace of the customs post, did not know what was ahead of him. The man, of course, did not know how he would cross the Sanzu River, wade, swim, or cross the bridge. There was also a fourth way to cross the Sanzu River. For people who crossed the river in this way, a special boat with a carrier was prepared. In European mythology, the carrier Charon transported dead people across the river Styx. Here, on the Sanzu River, there was also such a service, but it was provided to special people.
However, we will talk about these people later, now my task is to give you a complete picture and tell you about the customs post of the Sanzu River embankment, about the theme park, and also tell a little about the manager, who had a huge responsibility for the smooth operation of the Sanzu River customs post.
The manager was a man, but he was, as you understand, a special man. Firstly, this person had to have good organizational skills, he had to get along well with both the world of the living and the other world. I have already said that he had a huge team under his command. Apart from the manager, there was not a single living person here, but ghosts, villains, heroes - all who were people during their lifetime, being here all twenty-four hours a day side by side, sometimes quarreled with each other. However, there is nothing special about this, because these creatures were once people, and even turning into undead, they still had some qualities of people, some microscopic particles of memories of their past. That is, among themselves, they behaved simply like a team of people who were forced to meet every day and perform certain functions. The manager had a huge responsibility, however, I have already said this. Among other things, the manager had to deal with living people. Every day he signed some documents, very often he had to go to official offices and so on, he kept financial records for the theme park, paid taxes, etc. . The manager has already written reports to his superiors many times that he needs an assistant, and preferably even two, from among living people, but so far there has been no response to his reports.
So, back to the customs post, or rather, to the customs palace. The customs palace was divided into sectors. There was a bathhouse where the dead people, if desired, could wash themselves and be cleansed of minor sins, there was a hotel where the deceased person could rest before setting off on his last journey, but this was not necessary. Some dead people went to the customs post immediately, and some needed time to think and rest. Well, and, of course, the main hall here was the customs post.
To make the transition easy, male customs officers appeared before the women, and, accordingly, beautiful girls appeared before the men - customs officers of the underworld. As you understand, passports were not needed here, the deceased were asked to put their hand to the glass separating the customs officer from the one who was ready to cross over to the other side now. People put their palms on, and the customs officer read the full information about his life from the palm of a person with a scanner. Immediately, information from the scanner entered the afterlife computer, and a ticket was issued to the person. According to this coupon, he went to the transition that was indicated on the ticket. Sometimes a deceased person had to wait in line and listen carefully to the announcements that sounded under the vaults of the customs palace. If a person was absent-minded and for some reason did not hear that his turn had come up, then the manager of the hall would approach him. This year, as the war raged on earth, and the coronavirus epidemic continued, people who died had to wait a long time for their turn. Here, in the customs palace, time certainly did not have such power as in the outside world, but still, those who died still had a clear idea of time. The built-in clock, which was supposed to stop after death, in some people was still ticking and counting the time, and therefore, if you had to wait a long time, people began to get nervous and turn to the ash managers. If a person began to get nervous, then he was sent to the rest room. There, a person could watch a movie, listen to music, or even play computer games. The computer of the afterlife already knew all his preferences in advance, since by attaching a scanner to a person’s hand, the customs officer gave the computer access to every piece of the deceased’s memories. As a result of this, people now could listen to exactly the music that they loved during their lifetime, watch all the films that they wanted to watch for a long time and even, as I said, play their favorite computer games. When the turn of this man approached, he, rested, appeared where the stewards were waiting for him to see him on his last journey. The stewards treated all people equally, it did not matter to them who was in front of them - a sinner or a saint. The administrators did not now have the task of dividing people into good and bad. This will be handled by other officials who have been waiting for people at the end of each crossing. The customs hall stewards, as I have already said, treated all people equally, even, I can clarify, they treated people with a certain tenderness, caution and compassion. Because the person who found himself here, in the customs hall, was still full of memories, pain and anxieties. And the task of the administrators of the customs hall was to ensure that people reached their crossing without losses and tears.
So, the person safely passed from the customs hall to his transition. Well, it's kind of like at the airport, when people go through the passages to the plane. If we follow this analogy, then at certain transition points, employees in uniform were waiting for the deceased people and supervised the whole way from point A to point B.
In general, here, in the customs hall, order reigned.
It could not have been otherwise. The people who found themselves in this place were still full of rebellious thoughts, memories, pain, fear, and the task of the manager of the hall was to lead these people to where they were already expected.
And so the man approached the goal for which he was prepared from the very moment he entered the customs palace.
The man was met by an old man and an old woman. These two, for many centuries, performed the same functions and were quite stubborn.
The manager spoke to them many times and asked them to keep up with the times, but the old man and the old woman did not want to change, and in front of the frightened man tavali in its centuries-old form.
The old woman took off the man's shirt, the old man hung this shirt on a scale tree to measure the man's sins and decide exactly how he would cross the Sanzu River, in accordance with his sins.

Chapter three. Incident at the Sanzu River Customs Post

The morning started with trouble. When the manager entered his office, he saw that his computer had burned down. This has happened over and over again. As soon as they began to get angry up there in the sky-high realms, the manager's computer turned out to be charred. The lightning that struck the computer burned it over and over again. The manager was philosophical about such blows. Of course, the first time it happened and he didn't have time to save important information, he was damn hurt. But then he began to save all the information that had accumulated during the day on a flash drive, and every evening he disconnected the flash drive from the computer. Of course, this was a rather troublesome business, but there was no other way out. The manager never knew at what point thunder and lightning would turn his computer into a piece of burnt plastic. The burnt computer was a signal that something was wrong in his afterlife kingdom and the authorities were angry. Each time the computer was struck by lightning, the manager called the warehouse manager and the computer was replaced. However, while the computer was being changed, the manager, of course, did not sit still. As I said, the lightning strike was a signal that something was wrong on the Sanzu River embankment. Workers and maintenance personnel also perfectly understood what a lightning strike on the manager's computer meant. And so now, when the manager went on an inspection, each of the workers was especially attentive and careful. The steward walked around his entire afterlife kingdom in three hours, but to his surprise, there was nothing to complain about. Everything was in perfect order. Sitting on a bench and immersed in thoughts, the manager nevertheless did not forget to watch those around him. Something was wrong. The lightning that hit the computer was so strong that it also burned down the manager's desk. And this was a signal that the top was angry in earnest. Not that the manager was afraid, he knew that he was an indispensable person for this job, but still he was unpleasant. And anxious. The manager did not know where to go and where to look for that person, or rather, not a person, but a ghost, because of which his computer and table were damaged. However, he did not have to wait long. The watch he had on his hand started beeping. The manager took out his phone. That's right, a message came to the phone. The underworld computer pretty quickly figured out who the entire underworld kingdom of the Sanzu Riverfront was now on its ears because of. The manager read the message and clutched his head. Everything was very bad. The service staff of the kingdom, as I said, consisted of former people who used to live on this land. On what basis the supreme authorities chose who would serve in the kingdom, and who should go to where the rebirth takes place, the manager did not know, and he did not care. He worked with those who were provided to him by the supreme authorities and easily found a common language with everyone. In general, I will not pull the cat by the tail, but I will explain what happened. One of the customs hall workers, a man, suddenly regained his memories when he saw a woman walking through customs. The woman had once been his lover. You can't say she was a bad person, but she wasn't particularly good either. However, I must have given this woman the wrong description. The woman was a bad person, she was very bad. During her lifetime, many people died because of her. I will not go into details now, but I will only say that the customs officer who suddenly regained his memory also died because of this woman. However, his death was unintentional. That evening, he was not the target of this woman, but it turned out that it was she who killed him. When the woman realized what she had done, she screamed and cried, and tried to bring her lover back to life, but the man died. And now he suddenly recognized this woman. And not only learned, but immediately remembered everything. I even remembered that this woman did not kill him on purpose. He remembered her screams and tears, at the moment when she realized that she was left alone. All these thoughts, memories, grief of loss - all this flashed quickly through the man's head and he instantly made a decision. The ghost man understood what lay ahead for this woman. She was terrified. Probably, a dragon is already circling in the waters of the Sanzu River, which was awakened from a short sleep by the signal of the afterlife computer. The dragon was already ready to capture the sinner and take her to his cave. However, the dragon did not wait for its prey, because the male ghost made a decision and immediately brought it to life. The customs officer changed the ticket. It was almost impossible, and yet the operation could be done. And now the manager was forced to correct what the ghost customs officer had done. The customs officer has not yet been punished. It was the height of the working day. There was no one to replace the customs officer. The dragon was sent back to sleep. And the woman, however, the decision on the woman, which the manager made, I will announce in the next chapter. Everything was calm in the customs hall, everyone tried to control himself so as not to create disorder, but whispers flew and stung the guilty customs officer like bees. The man knew that he would be punished and punished very seriously. However, he didn’t care much now, he thought about the woman and realized that he had only made her worse. And, there was something worse than torture in an underwater cave, but now I will not talk about it. A decision had to be made quickly. The manager was forced to apologize to the woman. He explained to her that there was an overlay, the computer issued the wrong ticket. The woman was escorted to the hotel and even allocated a suite. Of course, the manager was not to blame for the situation, but the man knew that he was responsible for everyone here, and if something out of the ordinary happened, then it was he, the manager, who overlooked it.