Chapter 218
Chapter 218
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: The Underworld's Strongest Enforcer
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The underworld's geography differed from that of the mortal world, but Chen Shi had learned before that changes in positions in the mortal realm would alter positions in the underworld as well.
For instance, entering the underworld from Huangpo Village meant navigating through heavy mists filled with terrifying ghosts that devoured wandering spirits.
Entering from the De River, however, led to the River of Forgetfulness, where children hid everywhere beneath shells.
From Phoenix Ridge, it was a vast lotus field, with ghost gods lurking in the skies to guard it.
Lord Wuwang had deduced, based on the underworld's geography, that the crescent moon had ultimately fled to Bath Capital.
"If one wishes to evade detection by the underworld's ghost gods, the best choice isn't hiding in Bath Capital or reincarnating into a child about to be born. Instead, it should be reincarnating into a child that shouldn't be born at all."
Lord Wuwang spoke with profound meaning.
"The filthiest, most chaotic place, a mother who had just died, a child that shouldn't exist—that's where the crescent moon hid, perfectly evading the underworld's pursuit."
Everyone's hearts stirred slightly. Guo Guo—could she be that crescent moon that escaped from Yanluo Yuanchen Palace?
The Great Serpent Xuanshan said:
"To know if she is that escaped crescent moon from the underworld is simple: just inspect her Yuanchen Palace."
"Yuanchen Palace is the dwelling of the divine soul. If she is that crescent moon reincarnated, she would surely carry her previous Yuanchen Palace with her."
Chen Shi hesitated for a moment, recalling how Lady Shiji had been stripped of her honesty, and kindly advised:
"Everyone, if you threaten her, you might draw the underworld's demon gods known as Black and White Impermanence. They're extremely formidable."
Granny Sha laughed.
"Soul-related spells—no one surpasses me in them."
She was quite confident.
Over these years, her mastery of soul arts had reached unparalleled heights in the world. Otherwise, Chen Yindu wouldn't have repeatedly sought her aid to save Chen Shi.
Lord Wuwang smiled faintly.
"Granny's soul arts are indeed exquisite, but I am no inferior."
The Great Serpent Xuanshan said:
"Little Ten, rest assured. We're just examining Tutu's soul to trace her origins. We won't harm a single hair on her head."
"Besides, we don't know if she's good or evil. We must clarify her background first. Otherwise, letting her stay on Qianyang Mountain isn't safe."
Chen Shi hesitated. Azure Sheep laughed:
"You don't need to worry."
"Everyone here is among the top existences on Qianyang Mountain. It'll be foolproof."
Chen Shi thought it over. With Qianyang Mountain Lord and Yellow Tiger present, things shouldn't go too wrong. He said:
"Be careful, then."
Tutu was currently in Huangpo Village, playing with Blackie Pot.
The Great Serpent Xuanshan said:
"I've already spotted her."
He transformed into Black-Clothed Xuanshan and strode through the sky straight toward Huangpo Village.
The sky was like flat ground beneath his feet, utterly leisurely, leaving Chen Shi envious. He thought to himself:
"Once I form my core, I can cultivate flight techniques. I wonder if the stele forest outside the Tomb of the True King has such methods."
Azure Sheep shot off with a whoosh. Granny Sha carried her basket, Qianyang Mountain Lord rode with the tiger, and the group headed toward Huangpo Village.
"Wait for me!"
Chen Shi couldn't fly, so he hurriedly activated his Galloping Horse Talisman, dashing down the mountain like the wind, racing toward Huangpo Village.
By the time he reached the base, Black-Clothed Xuanshan, Lord Wuwang, and the others had already arrived outside Huangpo Village.
The boatman and his daughter were casting nets on the Jade Belt River. The father and daughter had built a house in Huangpo Village, seemingly intending to settle there.
Blackie Pot and Tutu were fishing by the shore, each holding a fishing rod, wearing golden straw hats, and sporting blue filter lenses over their eyes to avoid glare from the river's reflection.
"Dog, get out of the way."
Granny Sha said.
Blackie Pot turned back, looking at them in confusion.
"Little friend, no need to fear."
Black-Clothed Xuanshan approached and extended a finger, gently pointing toward Tutu's brow. He said:
"We mean no harm. We just want to see your Yuanchen Palace."
The boatman and his daughter were startled and moved to block him, but Black-Clothed Xuanshan's finger had already touched Tutu's brow. The sky around them darkened instantly,阴风阵阵, rolling black qi surged behind Tutu, intertwining like enormous chains!
Suddenly, a Mourning Gate Cudgel whipped out, striking Black-Clothed Xuanshan's finger. Two black-and-white demon gods strode forth from the darkness, interrupting his spell. The two Mourning Gate Cudgels flew up, down, left, and right, lashing at Black-Clothed Xuanshan.
Black-Clothed Xuanshan grunted, his body convulsing.
The Mourning Gate Cudgel didn't harm his flesh, but it sent excruciating pain through his divine form and soul.
His body trembled, and his divine form was beaten out of his body, flying ten li away!
"Watch out!"
Black-Clothed Xuanshan collapsed in agony, suddenly realizing. He shouted:
"They're targeting your primal spirits and divine forms!"
Before he finished speaking, Granny Sha reached out virtually and grabbed his divine form and soul, stuffing them back into his body.
Azure Sheep charged forward. Seeing a Mourning Gate Cudgel coming, he raised his hand to block, but his primal spirit shook violently and was yanked out, flying over ten li away. His body convulsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth like he was having an epileptic fit.
Yellow Tiger roared and leaped forward, only to take a blow to the head. His divine form flew backward as he yelled:
"They specifically target souls, primal spirits, and divine forms! Be careful!"
White Dragon and Granny Zhuang rushed from the side but were struck by two cudgels before they could act. Their primal spirits and divine forms flew out, their bodies twisting in near-agony.
Granny Sha extended hands as if she had dozens of arms, grabbing their primal spirits or divine forms. But though she was fast, Black and White Impermanence were faster.
Azure Sheep's primal spirit returned to his body, and he charged again, ready to fight Black and White Impermanence desperately. A Mourning Gate Cudgel struck his sheep horn, convulsing his body and ejecting his primal spirit once more.
He shouted:
"It hurts like hell, but it can't really injure me! Go for it!"
The two demon gods suddenly dispersed into black smoke and white smoke, reappearing around the group, swinging their cudgels. They flickered between the underworld and mortal realm, appearing and vanishing unpredictably, preventing anyone from gaining distance.
The two Mourning Gate Cudgels flew wildly, equally elusive and impossible to defend against.
Lord Wuwang smiled faintly, discerning the demon gods' methods. He stepped forward, Wuwang City manifesting behind him, unleashing boundless power as he reached for Black Impermanence. He laughed:
"Fellow daoists, we mean no harm..."
Black Impermanence retreated as White Impermanence's Mourning Gate Cudgel lashed his arm with a massive thud.
Lord Wuwang's smile froze, unimaginable agony surging through him.
Black Impermanence advanced, his cudgel striking the other arm. Lord Wuwang's smile vanished. White Impermanence closed in, and together with Black Impermanence, they rained down over a dozen blows: thud, thud, thud.
It wasn't that Black and White Impermanence had wounded him—it was the pain.
The Mourning Gate Cudgels weren't overwhelmingly powerful, but they hurt too damn much when they hit.
Pain that made one wish for death!
Pain that ejected the soul from the body, primal spirit fleeing the flesh!
Lord Wuwang's primal spirit quaked nonstop under the assault. Even his body couldn't endure; his primal spirit nearly escaped. He hurriedly retreated into Wuwang City, which burrowed into the underworld and vanished.
Having driven off Lord Wuwang, Black and White Impermanence turned to Granny Sha, who was still trying to yank primal spirits. They charged at her.
Granny Sha spun low once, producing a Sheep Horn Heavenly Spirit Lamp in her hand. She sneered:
"Others may fear your Mourning Gate Cudgels, but I don't!"
The lamp's light blasted White Impermanence away, hurling him into the underworld hundreds of li distant.
Black Impermanence seized the chance to close in, lashing Granny Sha with a cudgel.
Granny Sha had thought her primal spirit strong enough to withstand it, but tears streamed down her face the moment it hit.
Black Impermanence swung again, ejecting her primal spirit. Granny Sha's body trembled on the ground in pain!
At this point, everyone's primal spirits or divine forms had been beaten away, leaving only Qianyang Mountain Lord.
Qianyang Mountain Lord stepped forward.
"Fellow daoists, do you still recognize an old acquaintance from Shenzhou?"
Before he finished, Black and White Impermanence's gazes swept over. As the saying goes, enemies meet with special enmity. The two demon gods bristled with fury.
Black Impermanence sneered:
"How many times have you snatched wanted criminals from our grasp? You're the one we're hitting!"
Seeing them charge, Qianyang Mountain Lord hurriedly mounted Yellow Tiger. Lightning gathered in his palm, Nine Yang Thunderfire roiling in the air. He shouted:
"Halt!"
The air filled with gunpowder scent, on the verge of explosion.
Black and White Impermanence sensed the terrifying thunderfire about to erupt, fearing harm to themselves. They didn't dare press, retreating but still lurking around Tutu, watching him warily.
Qianyang Mountain Lord breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm a saint of medical arts, but my thunder and fire arts are no less. Don't force my hand."
Black and White Impermanence hid in the underworld, their eerie voices drifting out:
"We bear duties. Don't make things hard for us."
"You've saved many from our hands before. Today, you're just an avatar—not our match!"
Qianyang Mountain Lord said:
"You two are mere incarnations from West Ox New Continent. How much power can you wield?"
Despite his words, he feared their Mourning Gate Cudgels too and didn't press. He said to Granny Sha and Black-Clothed Xuanshan:
"This won't work. If I go all out, I might summon true gods."
With that, he rode off on the tiger.
Black and White Impermanence didn't stop him.
Chen Shi arrived outside Huangpo Village to find everyone sprawled in disarray, twitching.
He was baffled.
They looked gravely injured, yet weren't. They just howled in pain without visible wounds.
It resembled Lady Shiji's state after being beaten.
Chen Shi thought.
He checked Tutu; the little girl was just startled, unharmed. He relaxed.
Once the pain subsided, Granny Sha, Black-Clothed Xuanshan, and the others dropped the matter of probing Tutu's origins, seemingly accepting the little girl.
When Chen Shi brought the child to visit Granny Sha, she had needed her Sheep Horn Heavenly Spirit Lamp just to speak with them.
Azure Sheep Uncle dodged meetings.
Chen Shi visited the Mountain Lord Temple again. Qianyang Mountain Lord appeared.
"I've basically learned Tutu's origins."
"This person judges mortals by day and ghosts by night—a righteous god from Huaxia Shenzhou, fallen for unknown reasons."
Chen Shi asked for guidance:
"How does one judge mortals by day and ghosts by night?"
Qianyang Mountain Lord said:
"Human divine souls reside in Yuanchen Palace, said to be in the underworld."
"Tutu's past life was a great meritorious figure in Huaxia Shenzhou, hailed as 'Azure Heaven.'"
"His merits were so vast that even in life, his soul gained a post in the underworld called Yanluo, responsible for judging ghosts."
"Hence the saying of judging mortals by day and ghosts by night."
Chen Shi asked:
"Can I become a Yanluo in the underworld too?"
"No, your merits aren't sufficient."
Qianyang Mountain Lord said.
Chen Shi felt deep regret. After a thought, he said:
"Please inform Granny, Senior Xuanshan, and the others, Mountain Lord, so they stop worrying."
Qianyang Mountain Lord said:
"Tutu hasn't awakened her Yanluo memories, so their concern is natural."
"After all, one bow from her costs years of life."
"Now, this little Yanluo only listens to you. Take her wherever you go."
"Otherwise, a great meritorious being without awakened memories wandering the mortal world may not be a good thing."
Chen Shi felt some distress.
In the days Tutu followed him, she'd learned to offer incense everywhere.
But who on Qianyang Mountain could withstand her incense? Accidentally killing an acquaintance would be bad.
"What if Tutu offers incense to Godmother?"
Chen Shi's eyes lit up. From then on, whenever he offered incense to Godmother, he brought Tutu.
Though Tutu killed whoever she bowed to, her massive incense power vanished into the sea when offered to the stone tablet Godmother. The tablet remained unharmed, but its inscriptions gradually clarified.
Each time Chen Shi offered incense to Godmother, he brought Lady Shiji too, having her pay respects.
But Lady Shiji always feared Tutu, dreading those demon gods with Mourning Gate Cudgels emerging.
After days of their worship, extraordinary power swirled around the stone tablet like coiling white smoke, profoundly mysterious.
Drawing near, one could even hear vast, enigmatic chanting.
Chen Shi listened closely—not human chanting, but that of gods and demons.
As if Godmother's subjects weren't humans, but the gods and demons humans worshipped.
The voices were distant and ethereal, seeming from countless temples across mountains and lands, from the underworld and netherworld, piercing through time and space.
"Grandpa had me worship this stone Godmother, and she seems extraordinary."
Chen Shi thought.
At Mirror Lake Manor, Chen Shi awoke in his coffin, slowly opening his eyes and pushing off the lid.
He'd commissioned a brand-new coffin for himself. It felt a bit large now, but he was growing; in a few months, it'd fit perfectly.
Tutu excitedly roamed Mirror Lake Manor, tapping this coffin, touching that sarcophagus. No one in the vast manor dared make a sound.
Chen Shi emerged from the coffin, laughing.
"Tutu, enough playing. Let's head to Wuwang City!"
Tutu agreed and followed him out. Blackie Pot guarded outside the manor.
Chen Shi lifted Tutu onto the cart. This trip to Wuwang City was at Lord Wuwang's invitation—he couldn't refuse, lest his tongue grow restless.
Chen Shi knew nothing of this mysterious Lord Wuwang, but with Tutu by his side, it should be fine.
Night fell. The wooden cart traveled the mountain post road. At a broken bridge in the mountains, moonlight suddenly poured down, illuminating the span.
Under the moonlight, the other half of the bridge grew forth, forming a complete whole.
The bridge's far end was Wuwang City. Ghosts lived within; bold mountain folk hawked goods outside.
Selling mortal wares to ghosts fetched good prices.
To ghosts, gold and silver were worthless—only paper money mattered.
So they gladly traded worthless gold and silver for food.
The cart entered the city.
Chen Shi repeatedly warned Tutu not to speak or lie if she did.
"Little Ten Brother, are you afraid I'll lie and get my tongue pulled?"
Tutu looked up and asked.
Chen Shi didn't dare lie.
"Honestly, no."
"I'm afraid Black and White Impermanence will beat the Lord away."
Under a lantern ghost's guidance, they entered the city lord's mansion.
The lantern ghost had a human body and lantern head, with an oil lamp inside—a red lantern painted with mandarin ducks frolicking in water. As it walked, the flame flickered.
Blackie Pot quietly hoisted Tutu high. The little girl peered inside and whispered:
"It's all lamp oil in the belly!"
Chen Shi glanced; the lantern ghost's belly was full of intestines, one serving as the wick.
They entered the mansion, where Lord Wuwang welcomed them warily, glancing at the little girl before seating Chen Shi.
He laughed:
"Little friend, do you know Wuwang City's origins?"
Chen Shi shook his head.
Lord Wuwang laughed:
"Mortals think Wuwang City is my ghost god domain—they overestimate me."
"Wuwang City made me, not the reverse."
"This place is a fragment of the underworld. I obtained it by chance and became Lord Wuwang."
He poured tea for Chen Shi, laughing:
"No one can lie in Wuwang City—not even me."
"Wuwang City is a remnant of the underworld's Tongue-Ripping Hell."