Chapter 16

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After

returning to the underworld, Xie Bi An seemed uneasy.

Fan Wu

She glanced at him: "I'm the one who said I wanted to go. I'm also the one

who fought with Song Chun Gui. I will explain it to master."

"You

don't need to worry about this matter. I will explain it to master." Xie

Bi An frowned and said, "I'm actually not worried about getting

reprimanded by master. I'm just worried about whether our fight in

Fumenghui will affect Wuliang Sect's core theft investigation."

"No,

they're mostly looking in the wrong place."

"How

come?"

"The

behavior of that core thief is out of the ordinary. I don't think Meng Ke Fei's

golden core will be traded, at least not in Fumenghui."

"Oh?

Go on."

Fan Wu

She analyzed: "There are only 3 motives for digging out Meng Ke

Fei’s golden core. First, they wanted the core of a high-ranking

cultivator. Second, someone offered a reward. Third, they had a

grudge against him. And with these motives, it is necessary to factor

in the high risk to take his core. Is it premeditated or not? If it is

premeditated, why not wait for him to go out on a trip to do it. The sky and

land are vast, no one will ever notice if

they destroyed the body after killing him. Therefore, I

think that no matter what the motive the thief has, Meng Ke Fei's death was not

premeditated."

Xie Bi An

nodded: "You have a point. Hey, why didn't you tell master

yesterday?"

Fan Wu

She said indifferently, "What does his death have to do with me? I only

saw you being meticulous so…”

Xie Bi An

disagreed and interrupted him: “Don’t say it like this. As a cultivator, one

should have a compassionate heart. Moreover, everyone will punish core

thieves. The earlier we help Wuliang Sect find the murderer, the fewer victims

there’ll be.”

"Yeah."

“In that

case, Meng Ke Fei's death is likely to be beyond premeditation. I think

that out of the three motives you mentioned, killing for revenge is

the most likely motive. No one in Fumenghui offered a reward for Meng Ke Fei's

golden core, and if it's just for the core of a high-ranking cultivator, Li Bu

Yu’s senior nephew is the one who should not be touched the most."

"Right,

so I guess Meng Ke Fei died of a personal grudge. The two were fighting over a

disagreement, the opponent dug up his core, and framed the core stealing

demonic cultivators. Wuliang Sect may have thought of this and probably also

investigated those people who have a problem with Meng Ke

Fei. Investigating Fumenghui might have been a deliberate

show of strength to serve as a warning, or maybe they do not want to

have any fugitives."

"If

it is a personal grudge, perhaps it is better to investigate."

"If

it is a personal grudge." Fan Wu She snorted coldly, "Most likely

it’s Wuliang Sect’s internal conflict. Doing it in their own territory is very

good evidence."

Xie Bi An

drew a breath. The more you think along this line of thought, the

more reasonable it seems.

"Maybe

they have found out long ago who did it and they’re just hiding the

truth for the sake of saving face, pretending to search around. This two-faced Wuliang

Sect..." Fan Wu She saw Xie Bi An's surprised expression before realizing

that his tongue slipped.

Xie Bi An

blinked his eyes: “Did junior brother hear any rumors regarding Wuliang Sect?”

"I

used to work in a wine shop and heard some rumors."

"As

the leading Immortal Alliance, Wuliang Sect had inevitably

offended some people. Plus, they have thousands of disciples, and

there is no guarantee that everyone is righteous. In places like wine shops,

there’s a lot of unorthodox talks. You have to be careful about what you say

without evidence." Xie Bi An sighed, "It's just that we have offended

Song Chun Gui. If we go to Yunding with our master, it will be a bit

embarrassing."

"He

started it first. The two of us combined are not as strong as

him. He's the one who should be ashamed."

"Having

said that…”

While the

two of them were talking, they walked through the Huangquan Road. A group of

huge willow trees appeared in front of them. They assumed that it was

a "group" because the mother root of this tree is as thick as several people, and its

airborne roots were hanging down, drilling into the ground, growing

subtrees, and the subtrees grew more subtrees with twisted roots and

intertwined joints. Finally, it became an endless willow forest. If

you are not familiar with it, you may even lose your way. When you look at its

roots, they are black and red, like dried blood.

A gust of

wind passed through the forest, and hundreds of millions of stems and

leaves were whirling and rustling, sounding like a ghostly cry.

This tree

is called a ghost willow. It is rumored that it lives forever.

After

passing through the Yin-Yang Monument, it is considered passing through the Ghost Gate. After

walking through Huangquan Road, they will reach the ghost willow

forest. Only after passing through the ghost willow forest can they

reach the underworld.

Xie Bi An

is familiar with this willow forest, but this time he stopped in his tracks and

looked up at a dazzling red object between the shadows of the green

trees.

That

red object is a red robe.

Fan Wu

She narrowed his eyes and looked at the person, no, the ghost in the tree.

"Impermanence."

The person in the tree gave a light laugh, "You went to play in the

human realm again?”

Xie Bi

An's expression became restrained, "Red King."

The man

in red flew down from the high willow tree. His hair danced and his clothes flowed in the wind, vaguely

looking like a butterfly playing in the forest. The scene is picturesque,

but it makes people shudder.

The man

in red is a slender man with a face white like paper, only his thin

lips were a little red. He looks ravishing to the extreme, like a blooming

flower, beautiful enough to seduce the soul.

He is the

first of the ten underworld generals - the king of all kings - the red-robed

ghost king Jiang Qu Lian.

"Is

this the new disciple accepted by Heaven Master?" Jiang Qu Lian walked

step by step towards Fan Wu She. His steps were silent. He gently wrinkled

his nose, "Mmm, the smell of a youthful child. He must be

delicious." He was talking about Fan Wu She, but he squinted his

eyes at Xie Bi An.

Xie Bi An

stepped between Fan Wu She and Jiang Qu Lian, "Red King, this is my junior

brother, Fan Wu She. Wu She, meet Red King."

Fan Wu

She looked coldly at Jiang Qu Lian.

Jiang Qu

Lian smiled: "This temperament is so similar to Heaven Master. No wonder

the Heaven Master recognizes his worth."

"Red

King, we still have things to do back in the Heaven Master Palace, so…"

"You."

Jiang Qu Lian winked at Xie Bi An, "I watched you grow up. If I really

wanted to eat you, can Heaven Master stop me? Why are you still so afraid

of me?"

Xie Bi An

said, "You and I were appointed by the emperor as generals of the

underworld. I'm not afraid of you, but my brother is young and new to the

Underworld, so I hope that Red King won't tease him."

Jiang Qu

Lian snickered: "Back then, you were just a kid in crotch pants*. Now you dare to say that you have been ordained with me."

Xie Bi An

was a little ashamed: "Red King, please don't make fun of me

anymore."

"Sometimes

I really think that your master must be that old fogey Official

Lord Cui, who is always so nervous when he sees me. I just came to ask you

for some good tea and wine."

"Tomorrow

I will send it to the Red King's residence."

Fan Wu

She’s face was already unsightly, and he was just about to open his mouth when

Xie Bi An caught his shoulders: "Wu She, let’s go."

Jiang Qu

Lian looked at the two men's backs, his eyes brightening and darkening, and he

suddenly called out lazily, "Bi An."

Xie Bi An

stopped but did not turn around.

"Say

hello to the Heaven Master for me."

"...Many

thanks to Red King."

It was

not until the two of them walked out of the ghost willow that Xie Bi An relaxed.

Fan Wu

She was displeased and said, "Why are you so afraid of him?"

"Do

you know who he is?"

"A

ghost."

"He

is the Ghost King." Xie Bi An took a deep breath, "Not just any ghost

king, but the king of all kings, the king of all ghost kings."

Fan Wu

She said "Oh" indifferently.

Emperor Beiyin

ruled over the ghost world, and under him are

five ghost emperors respectively, guarding the north, south, east, west,

and central Jiuyou to prevent the two realms from interfering

with each other. But the five ghost emperors do not participate in the

affairs of the underworld. The underworld has ten Yanluo Halls, who oversee all

the pivotal affairs of the ghost world, mainly rewarding and punishing through

trials. And there are civil and military judges. The civil judge possesses the

Book of Life and Death and the Judge's Brush, adding or subtracting the

lifespan of the livings based on good and evil deeds. The military judges the

main force of the town, a great general who protects the city. And

below them are the ten underworld generals.

These ten

underworld generals each have different duties. Day and Night patrols

are responsible for inspecting the human realm. Impermanence is responsible for

harvesting human souls. The ox’s head and horse face are responsible for

managing the recovered souls. The leopard's tail, the bird's mouth, the fish

gills, and the wasp are responsible for collecting the souls of animals, and

the ghost king, the head of the underworld generals, is responsible for the

punishment in hell.

Under

each of the generals, there are many subordinates. In the eighteen levels of

hell, there are eighteen ghost kings, who bring the little ghosts to punish

those for their crimes in hell day and night for atonement, and the king of

ghost kings is Jiang Qu Lian.

Xie Bi An

said: “He’s a ghost born from the hungry ghost path, unlike Official Lord Cui,

who was ranked as a ghost immortal after his death because of his great merits

and virtues when he’s alive. Those who reincarnated in the hungry ghost path

will still be a ghost despite reincarnation due to being evil when alive.”

Fan Wu

She eyes were gloomy: "He harmed you before?"

"No..."

Xie Bi An is a little embarrassed, "In fact, he instructed me to cultivate

when I was a child, but I was afraid of him ever since young. You

have to eat a hundred people or a thousand ghosts to become a ghost

king. How many ghosts had that king of all kings eaten? The

emperor appointed him to be the head of the underworld and

manage hell because he was afraid he would go to earth to cause

trouble. The Fengdu barrier cannot stop him."

"With

me around in the future, you don't have to be afraid of him."

Xie Bi An

smiled: "With you around, I do have an extra companion

in the underworld."

"Are

you really going to bring him tea tomorrow? Will you send Bo Zhu?"

"No, if

Bo Zhu is afraid of him, then there will be no other ghosts who are not

afraid of him. I’ll go by myself. In fact, he will not do anything to

me as he avoids master."

"I'll

go on your behalf."

"No,

did you forget that you can't be alone in the Underworld yet?"

"Then

I will accompany you."

"Fine."

Xie Bi An really did not want to face Jiang Qu Lian alone.

"What

evil did he do in his life to be reborn in the hungry ghost path?"

In the

six paths of reincarnation, the hungry ghost path, the animal path, and the

hell path are the lower three paths. Extremely evil people will

reincarnate in these three paths.

Xie Bi An

shook his head: "I remember I asked him when I was a child. He said he did

not know. I asked him why he did not go to the Three Lives Stone to see. He

said he did not want to know."

Fan Wu

She’s pupils sank: "What about you, why didn’t you go to the Three Lives

Stone to see your past life? Aren't you curious?"

"I've

been there."

Fan Wu

She’s breath stalled.

Xie Bi An

lowered his voice: "The Three Lives Stone can only be seen before

drinking Meng Po soup. You can't simply just look at it. Don’t mention it to

others. I went there secretly."

"What

did you see?" Did you see the sins you committed in your previous life?!

"I didn't

see anything." Xie Bi An said disappointedly.

"...How

come?"

"I

asked Official Lord Cui before. Of course, I did not dare to say that I went to

see it or I would have certainly been scolded by him.

I did hear that there are also people who did not see anything on the Three

Lives Stone. Official Lord Cui said the Three Lives Stone cannot show

celestial beings. God is the one who is reborn in a heavenly way. God

transcends beyond reincarnation, thus the Three Lives Stone naturally

cannot display that."

"Why

did you reincarnate into the underworld if you had already transcended the

cycle of reincarnation?"

"Because that

person is the emperor." Xie Bi An smiled, “Official Lord Cui

said, those people who are destined to be imperials are celestial beings

who have come down to earth to experience the calamities. Since

he had been reborn in the heavenly realm before and has come to earth

to be a Human Emperor, and after death, if his merits and virtues are

satisfactory, he will be able to return to the heavenly realm and ascend to

Jiutian, and vice versa, he will fall into the human realm and suffer from

reincarnation, so I don't know which life have I been a

Human Emperor."

Fan Wu

She stared at Xie Bi An, blood vessels creeping into his eyes.

However,

Xie Bi An did not notice how terrible Fan Wu She looked at this moment, and

also mocked himself, "It's a pity. I probably was an incapable ruler,

unable to return to heaven, and have to enter the reincarnation to atone for my

sins."

Fan Wu

She tightened both fists, turned his head, and walked away.

"Hey,

junior brother, do you want to eat wontons tomorrow morning?"

----

Translator Thoughts:

crotch pants* [开裆裤]---worn by toddlers. This term appeared in one of the chapters before (I forgot which), but I didn’t include a picture. Here’s how it’s looked like (see pic below, modernized version), so yeah technically you can see the toddler’s butt exposed when they wear it.

Editor Thoughts:

TGIF! Sorry for the lack of edits recently~ I'm taking a 2 week course that lasts for 2h every day after I end work ( ╥ω╥ ) and each chapter takes about 2 hours to edit followed by another 30mins ish to proofread after I get Ari to make some changes before we post.

As usual, if you liked the chapter, leave a like and comment below! Cya in the next one

-Limit

Edited on 16 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

Edited on 12 Aug 21 (Limit)