Chapter 95

Since we are brothers, there's no need to haggle over every penny. Xuankong silently remembered that he had gained another brother. If his brother ever needed help, he would certainly go through fire and water for him!

Zhonglimai was also pleased. For so many years, this was the first time an upper immortal had truly treated him as an equal.

He was not at all afraid because of the bloodstained name he had left in the human world, nor did he feel distant because of his current state as a ghost immortal.

He smiled and said, "King Qin Guang must have been waiting for a long time. Let's enter the Xuanming Palace, Immortal Xuankong."

Xuankong angrily said, "Just call me Xuankong. I only call you Zhonglimai!"

Zhonglimai naturally nodded in agreement and led Xuankong into the Xuanming Palace to see how King Qin Guang would deal with Master Mila.

Speaking of Master Mila, he was being dragged by the yin soldiers with a soul-binding rope around his neck, his consciousness muddled.

He was only aware of following the yin soldiers forward until they reached a palace, where the soul-binding rope was finally loosened.

With the soul-binding rope around his neck, Master Mila had no awareness. Only after it was removed did he feel his neck sore and weak, his whole body in agony. He panted heavily, "I almost suffocated. Where are you taking me?"

The yin soldiers did not answer. Master Mila looked up and saw a uniquely styled palace towering above. Although he had never had the fortune to visit the imperial palace of the Song Dynasty in the human world, he was certain that this palace would not be inferior to any ancient imperial residence.

A gate made of a single piece of Xuan Yin Iron stood before the palace, with unknown characters carved on it.

But as Master Mila's gaze swept over it, he naturally understood the meaning of the characters:

It read, "Xuanming Palace," the residence of King Qin Guang, the first ruler of the Underworld. This Xuan Yin Iron gate was actually a defensive treasure that had been created along with the Underworld.

In the distant past, the Great Sage Houtu, out of compassion for the wronged spirits who had died unjustly on the vast land, sacrificed herself to create the Underworld and establish the Six Paths of Reincarnation. At that time, this palace and gate had already appeared in the Underworld.

Being a product of the natural order, Master Mila did not need to learn to understand its meaning.

Understanding the meaning of the characters on the gate, Master Mila was so frightened that he lost two and a half of his three souls. He fell to the ground and said woodenly, "The Xuanming Palace is where the King of the Underworld resides. Could it be that I, Young Master Zhang, have become a dead ghost?"

The yin soldier in front, hearing his muttering, turned around and shouted, "Shut up, little ghost! Now that you're in the Underworld, don't you realize you're already dead!" After he said this, the ghosts in front and behind, who had been neatly lined up, all woke up and began to wail.

The yin soldier frowned, drew the soul-binding rope from his waist, and with a flick of his hand, it turned into an iron whip and lashed at the ghosts' heads.

Strangely, the soul-binding rope, which should have been able to subdue the ghosts, had lost its effect, and the ghosts' wailing only grew louder. Soon, a ghost cultivator emerged from the palace, angrily shouting, "Who dares to wail and howl in front of the Xuanming Palace?"

The yin soldier hurriedly reported what had happened to the ghost cultivator, who looked at Master Mila and said, "This little monk? Very well, since he is a disciple of the Buddhist sect, there's no need to send him to the judge..."

Master Mila's face broke into a smile, and he was about to flatter the ghost cultivator for his wisdom when he heard the man say, "I will take him directly into the palace. King Qin Guang wants to personally interrogate him!" As he spoke, he used his powers to suppress the ghosts' mudan palaces, preventing them from continuing to wail.

Still being dragged by the ghost immortal, Master Mila was escorted forward and backward. Without the suppression of the soul-binding rope, Master Mila was conscious and followed the ghost cultivator, feeling both fear and regret.

He truly regretted it. Why had he conspired with Brother Xiaor to defraud the people of the county?

If he hadn't conspired with Brother Xiaor, he wouldn't have provoked Daoist Xuankong.

If he hadn't provoked Daoist Xuankong, he wouldn't have died so early.

This time, Master Mila did not indulge in any fantasies. He was almost in front of the King of the Underworld, and he didn't believe that anyone could conspire with the King of the Underworld to put on a show for him.

At this moment, King Qin Guang had already changed into a robe of law, wearing a square cap and holding a tablet in his right hand in front of his chest. He was judging a small ghost in an official robe, with some judges and yin soldiers formally standing on both sides.

"Bold little ghost, why don't you kneel before this king?"

Master Mila, held by the ghost cultivator in the queue of ghosts waiting for judgment, secretly opened his eyes and saw a king with leopard eyes, a lion's nose, and a long beard sitting above, his eyes as large as copper bells.

Looking down, he could only see the style of the small ghost's official robe, which seemed familiar, so he perked up his ears to listen to the small ghost's response to the King of the Underworld.

The small ghost, who could wear an official robe in the Underworld, must have held a high position in his previous life. He looked at King Qin Guang with a commanding presence and said, "I am an official of the Song Dynasty. I only kneel to heaven, earth, and my parents. Who are you to make me kneel?"

King Qin Guang sneered, "I am the King of the Underworld, King Qin Guang. Do you think I am worthy of your kneeling?"

The official finally came to his senses and exclaimed, "Ah, so I am really dead?" Seeing King Qin Guang sitting above, he was so frightened that his legs turned weak, and he fell to his knees.

King Qin Guang asked, "Where are you from, and why did you die?"

The official kowtowed on the ground and said, "This official's surname is Zuo, from Bianjing City, and I hold the position of a thousand-man commander in the Song Dynasty's Jinyiwei." King Qin Guang exclaimed, "Hmm," and ordered the judge to bring the Book of Life and Death. After checking, he was surprised, "You still have one year of life left. You shouldn't be here yet."

Hearing King Qin Guang's words, the Jinyiwei commander Zuo quickly raised his head and reported, "This official was ordered by the current imperial preceptor, Master Cihang Pudu, to arrest the former commander of the Jinyiwei, Lord Nie, and his daughter..."

Before he could finish, Xuankong and Wang Jun, who were secretly listening in a hidden room in the Xuanming Palace, both exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!"

Xuankong was surprised because he seemed to have encountered a character from a movie he had seen before. Wang Jun, after another exclamation, muttered, "So he was going to arrest Xiaoxian..."

King Qin Guang and Commander Zuo in front could not hear Xuankong and Wang Jun's exclamations in the hidden room. They only heard Commander Zuo recall, "This official received a report that someone had seen the daughter of the criminal official, Nie Xiaoxian, in Jinhua County. When I went to investigate and stayed overnight at Lansi Temple, I woke up in the Underworld."