Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 227
Chapter Title: His Granny's
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The wine from the underworld was not bland like water at all. Chen Shi was poured drunk by the beekeeper Azhuo until he was dead drunk. After a moment, Azhuo was also dead drunk, hooking shoulders with Chen Shi and calling each other brothers.
"Lord, we've found the hideout of the fugitive Xue the Daoist."
At that moment, a bee official came forward and bowed. "Xue the Daoist, aged one hundred and forty-three. Yang lifespan: ninety-two, yin lifespan: fifty-one."
By rights, he should have died fifty-one years ago.
Fifty-one years ago, he escaped using a feigned death technique. Later, found by yin attendants, he escaped again with a body-double method.
Then, found by yin attendants once more, he set up a formation with a seven-star lamp, trapping the yin attendants and fleeing.
The third time he was found was twenty years ago.
Azhuo slurred drunkenly: "How did he escape that time?"
The bee official flipped through the ledger and said: "At that time, Xue the Daoist bought eighty pregnant sows about to give birth and released them in a pasture. From the underworld's view, they appeared as large and small reincarnation halos, impossible to approach."
"Thirty-six yin attendants forced their way through the reincarnation formation, and four of them were reincarnated."
"Xue the Daoist took advantage of the chaos to use the lifespan-borrowing method, borrowing twenty years from a youth passing by the pasture, blinding the yin attendants' sight, and escaped."
Chen Shi's drunken eyes slanted as he laughed: "This guy's a real pro at escaping."
Azhuo asked: "How did we find him this time?"
"The youth whose lifespan he borrowed has died."
"This year he was only forty-two."
"He was supposed to die at sixty-two, but died twenty years early."
The bee official said, "We only just noticed something fishy with that man's lifespan. As the bee swarm was gathering honey, Xue the Daoist passed by. His lifespan was exhausted, yet he was still alive and well, detected by the swarm."
"Little Ten, come with me to capture him and bring him to justice!"
Azhuo stood up, pulled Chen Shi along, and the two hooked shoulders, staggering out of the Underworld Bee Mansion.
The bee official hurried after them. "Lord, when enforcing the law, you can't bring a living person. It goes against underworld regulations."
Azhuo flicked his sleeve. "Chen Shi is my brother too."
"I'm brothers with his grandpa, so he's my brother too. Why can't we go together? You're being unreasonable."
The bee official hesitated, then gritted his teeth. "Fine, anyway, the Azure Heavens Lord isn't in the underworld, no one's in charge."
"Someone, bring honey water for the Lord and Little Lord to sober up."
Bee maidens brought honey water forward and served the two.
The bee official prepared troops and carriage, inviting Azhuo and Chen Shi aboard. The bee swarm escorted the carriage as it sped out from this underworld island, racing across the sea surface.
Chen Shi drank the honey water, sobered somewhat by the yin wind, and was admiring the scenery when suddenly a massive landmass appeared in the South Sea, slanting into the冥海. A giant dragon let out a heaven-shaking roar, flying from the yang world through the barrier between realms into the underworld, landing on that vast land.
"That's a fragment of the Tongue-Pulling Hell."
Azhuo clutched his head, groaning in pain. Seeing Chen Shi staring, he said, "It's already been in the South Sea for ages."
"It was there before I came to the underworld as a yin marshal."
"No more drinking from now on."
Chen Shi withdrew his gaze. "That dragon..."
Azhuo said: "Probably transformed from a treasure. It occupies the Tongue-Pulling Hell fragment, making it a forbidden zone in the South Sea."
As they spoke, the sky above the Tongue-Pulling Hell cracked open. A青石 board paved from the yang world, and a figure as mighty as an imperial daughter stepped along the青石 path into the underworld.
Entering with her was another woman, vaguely resembling the boat lady, but now a dozens-of-zhang tall body, fighting the imperial daughter—it was Granny Sha and the boat lady.
The bee swarm escorted the carriage past them.
On the青石 path, Granny Sha and the boat lady spotted the people in the carriage and were momentarily stunned.
But the swarm was extremely fast, flashing past them.
Immediately after, the bees flapped wings, broke through the air, pierced through the yin-yang realms, and vanished.
"Was that Little Ten and that bastard Azhuo!"
Granny Sha was startled. In that fleeting glimpse, she saw a youth resembling Chen Shi in the carriage, but dressed magnificently like a dashing young lord, different from the usual Chen Shi.
"Fugitive prisoner, riding in a yin marshal's carriage!"
The boat lady was shocked too.
The two had been searching for the Judge's Dragon Whisker Brush, tracking it here and fighting all the way, never expecting to encounter Chen Shi here.
Even more unexpected, Chen Shi seemed to have risen high in status in the underworld.
But the two had no time to think, continuing to fight as they landed on the Tongue-Pulling Hell fragment.
Their tongues suddenly stirred. Alarmed, they clamped their mouths shut, mobilizing some cultivation to suppress their tongues.
This place was filled with strange power—as soon as they opened their mouths, their tongues might fly out.
They soared up, fighting while chasing the giant dragon!
In the sky, dragon whiskers dangled. They shuttled between them, striking ever more viciously.
Granny Sha shouted, activating the Supreme Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art, manipulating wind, fire, thunder, marsh, mountain, water, heaven, and earth, borrowing natural forces, her power growing stronger.
The boat lady revealed her true yin attendant form, her strength surging in the underworld. A horse-headed primordial spirit appeared behind her. She sneered: "Granny Sha, you dare use your full power in the underworld? Aren't you afraid your old rival will come hunting?"
Granny Sha also summoned her primordial spirit and sneered:
"This old lady storms in and out of the underworld like strolling the streets. When have I ever feared you lot? No matter how many yin attendants come, I flip them all."
That Judge's Dragon Whisker Brush, after fourteen hundred years of mutation, had become a great dragon wandering the Tongue-Pulling Hell fragment, climbing high and overlooking the two from above.
It sensed these two were extraordinarily powerful, far surpassing other treasure hunters, so it fled back from the yang world to hide here, never expecting to be found.
Granny Sha fought fiercely, malice rising: "Why not go all out and slay this underworld minor god? It's not like we haven't done it before..."
She had just thought this when the sky cracked with a boom. A brilliant sunny sky invaded the underworld, causing violent spacetime tremors over the South Sea!
The Void Great Realm!
Granny Sha and the boat lady looked up in shock, only to see a massive hand emerge from the Void Great Realm. Vast mana surged with clouds, grabbing down. In an instant, it seized the dragon-transformed Judge's Dragon Whisker Brush!
"Let go!"
Granny Sha and the boat lady attacked the hand simultaneously. But with the Void Great Realm's disappearance, the hand and the Judge's Dragon Whisker Brush vanished together!
Shocked and furious, Granny Sha charged along the青石 path back to the yang world, pursuing aggressively, but only thin mist clung to the lake surface—no one was there.
Her heart chilled, cold sweat beading:
"A Great Vehicle Realm top expert has been tailing us, seizing the treasure at the chance!"
The boat lady caught up and, seeing this, urgently said: "This person's formidable! Granny Sha, can you trace his origins? You and I, join my father—we can surely reclaim the treasure!"
Granny Sha exhausted every method but couldn't divine the thief's identity. She shook her head: "This one planned long-term. After succeeding, he hid all traces—even the soul can't be tracked."
"The Judge's Dragon Whisker Brush... impossible to recover..."
Her face dimmed.
Chen Shi sat in Azhuo's carriage. The bee swarm brought them into the yang world. Chen Shi turned back: "That was Granny Sha just now!"
Azhuo said: "I saw too."
"But duty first. Let's deal with Xue the Daoist, then find her."
"Speaking of which, us Five Lakes Six Great Evildoers haven't gathered in ages!"
"Five Lakes Six Great Evildoers?"
Chen Shi blinked and said, "I heard Granny Sha say it was Five Great Evildoers..."
Azhuo said in surprise: "She didn't count herself? Originally five: your grandpa Chen the Eldest, half-breed sky fox Hu Xiaoliang, evil spirit青羊, stele-carver Old Du, soul-searching rakshasa Granny Sha, and me Azhuo."
"I'm just the filler—not vicious at all."
Chen Shi was dumbfounded. In Granny Sha's words, beekeeper Azhuo was the most vicious of the Five Great Evildoers.
But by nicknames, Granny Sha seemed the most vicious.
Azhuo sighed wistfully: "After your untimely death, Chen the Eldest did everything to revive you and gradually drifted from us."
"Old Du and I have duties, couldn't follow him into seclusion."
"But the sky fox,青羊, and Granny Sha gathered by Chen the Eldest's side."
He sighed: "Probably never see the Six Great Evildoers together again in this lifetime."
Chen Shi laughed: "Uncle Azhuo, who knows the future? It will happen."
Azhuo shook his head and stood. The carriage gradually stopped.
He got off, Chen Shi following. Their clothes gradually turned plain, becoming the coarse hemp garb common folk wore.
Azhuo lost his former heroic image—big hands, big feet, face sunburned red, chest and neck below also sunburned red.
The carriage transformed into a wooden cart loaded with beehives. The bee swarm shrank behind them, clustering and entering the hives, buzzing in and out, wafting honey scent.
Chen Shi marveled. Looking closely, these bees were just like normal—no one would guess these bees were tens of thousands of underworld yin soldiers!
Ahead, the bee official turned into an old ox, pulling the bee cart forward.
They were still at South Lake, but on its north shore.
Chen Shi and Azhuo followed the cart to a village. Village kids, boys and girls, ran joyfully to the beekeeper. Azhuo cut each a small piece of honey, warning: "Don't get near the cart—watch out for bee stings!"
The children cheered excitedly. Adults from the village brought bowls to buy honey.
Honey was a rare sweet, fragrant with flowers. Whenever the beekeeper passed, those with spare coin always bought some.
"Azhuo, it's been ages!"
A village elder recognized him and laughed.
Azhuo wiped sweat from his forehead with his wrist, grinning honestly. "Yeah, I went beekeeping on the south side of Great South Lake—lots of flowers there, delayed me months."
"No kidding."
"From here to the south and back takes months."
Azhuo busied cutting and weighing honey; Chen Shi took money. Soon they sold dozens of catties.
Then a ragged old Daoist passed the cart, sniffed the honey scent, and his appetite stirred. He laughed: "Cut me two catties."
Azhuo opened a hive to extract honey. "Daoist, got something to hold it?"
The ragged Daoist gripped a writing brush. Chen Shi eyed the brush handle, puzzled.
The ragged Daoist noticed and laughed: "I'm back from outside, nothing with me. Follow me home."
Azhuo agreed, driving after the ragged Daoist. "Daoist, last time I was in your village, no sign of you. When did you arrive?"
Someone nearby laughed: "Daoist Xue has lived in our village ages—over ten years."
"Didn't see you last time?"
"No."
Azhuo shook his head.
"Daoist Xue's a good man. These dozen years, he's drawn talismans for our village, cured illnesses, driven off evil—all for free."
The villagers praised.
Chen Shi raised a brow. Azhuo had been here months ago, no Daoist Xue, yet villagers said he'd lived here over ten years. Clearly easier to alter villagers' memories than a yin marshal's.
"That brush just now..."
The ragged Daoist led them to his home, opened the door, and entered. Azhuo followed into the yard, looking around puzzled. "Three months ago, the Shi Jingming couple and family lived here—six people."
"Where are they? How'd it become the Daoist's place?"
The ragged Daoist turned his back, smiling, sword fingers pinching a yellow talisman, shaking it lightly. It burned. He laughed: "Beekeeper, this Daoist wants to borrow something from the boy beside you."
Azhuo laughed: "What? If we have it, yours."
The ragged Daoist turned, eyeing Chen Shi, and laughed:
"I want to borrow twenty years of lifespan from this little brother!"
Azhuo fell silent, then after a moment: "So, Daoist Xue, that's how you've lived to one hundred forty-three? Daoist Xue, the one whose lifespan you stole is dead."
The ragged Daoist paled inwardly, glancing urgently at Azhuo. The surrounding world vanished, replaced by dim, dark underworld. Yin winds howled, sweeping the land!
That honest man now towered immensely, divine light blazing around him, holding marshal seal and treasure codex, gazing coldly!
Behind this yin marshal, countless bees turned yin soldiers—bee-headed humans or human-headed bees—hovering in the air, encircling him!
The ragged Daoist's face changed slightly. He burst laughing, no longer hiding. His aura surged, a Void Great Realm floating behind his head like a jade cave-heaven, spinning in air with sun, moon, stars cycling like a whole world!
"Think of me, Xue the Daoist, lifelong bold and mighty, skills crowning the world, unmatched!"
The ragged Daoist's primordial spirit was vast, dwelling in the Void Great Realm, looking down coldly on yin marshal Azhuo and the yin troops: "Just because my lifespan ran out, you underworld lackeys hunted me like a dog! Enough—today this Daoist hides no more! For I fear you yin attendants no longer! Let me tell you!"
He flipped his palm; a writing brush appeared. He sneered: "This is the Judge's Dragon Whisker Brush from Tongue-Pulling Hell. Today—"
Azhuo stomped. Chen Shi held incense and fire, bowed: "Brush, come."
The brush in the ragged Daoist's hand trembled and whooshed into Chen Shi's grasp.
Chen Shi seized it, overjoyed. "Good thing I've been refining it nonstop these days!"
The ragged Daoist was shocked. But yin marshal Azhuo raised the yin talisman marshal seal and slammed down. He raised a hand to block; his primordial spirit descended from the Void Great Realm to merge with flesh, becoming a law-heaven-earth divine demonic giant!
Even without the Judge's Dragon Whisker Brush, he was a rare supreme expert under heaven. Even against a living yin marshal, he could fight, maybe even turn tables, kill the marshal, roam free!
But the instant his primordial spirit exited the Void Great Realm, whoosh whoosh whoosh—countless stingers pierced it.
The ragged Daoist froze.
A primordial spirit is void, insubstantial—how could it be hit?
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
Countless stingers assaulted, riddling his front.
"His granny's, have the guts for one-on-one..."
Black qi spread over the ragged Daoist's face. His body swayed and toppled.
End of chapter.