Chapter 986: The Twelve Shichen as Judges

Zhang Sanzhi sat in a rickshaw, beside which was another rickshaw.

The two rickshaws ran side by side onto the Yanguan Floating Bridge, suddenly stopping in the middle...

The rickshaws were put down by the porters. Zhang Sanzhi put down his pipe and looked straight ahead, but said to the man beside him who was covering his face with a straw hat: "In the entire Dagukou, there are only four people who can truly fight this lawsuit. Previously, a thousand taels of gold were sent to Fang Tangjing's mansion, and he has already agreed to fight this lawsuit for us! If you also agree, a thousand taels of gold will also be offered!"

"Fang Tangjing is proficient in debate and greedy for wealth. It's no surprise he accepted your money and waded into these muddy waters."

The person under the straw hat said lazily: "But I have a wild and arrogant temperament. Third Master brought me here, could it be that you want to force this unpresentable melon?"

"Previously, we underestimated this new Sect Master of the Xuanzhen Sect and lost two games, both miserable defeats. There was even a Shaman Sect leader from outside the pass appointed by the imperial court, who was beaten and fled in a sorry state by a junior of the Xuanzhen Sect."

"Now, who dares to underestimate that Sect Master?"

"So, this lawsuit must be won! I don't want to let go of any of you four..." Zhang Sanzhi sighed: "The Green Skin Gang has never been presentable. It is natural for Master Liu to have scruples about cooperating with us."

"But Master Liu, ask yourself, the Green Skin Gang is not in the mainstream, but are we still the men of Zhigu?"

"Eating this bowl of wharf rice for so many years, when have we ever broken the rules?"

"You litigation practitioners, and our Green Skin Gang, Martial Arts Gang, Porter Gang, Cao Gang... how do these three religions and nine streams and eight sects mix in this muddy water? It depends on these rules!"

"If the rules are broken, none of us will have food to eat!"

"But the Xuanzhen Sect is also following the rules. According to the rules, you lost twice. It's their loyalty that they are still willing to play with you!" Liu Daoyuan frowned.

Zhang Sanzhi did not deny it, only saying: "But he is digging up our roots!"

"There are three religions and nine streams, mixed together, so there are rules. Now the Xuanzhen Sect wants to swallow Zhigu City. Now they are following the rules to fight us. Once Zhigu is swallowed by him, we will have to follow their rules! I don't know, if the water and land wharves all belong to the Xuanzhen Sect, will I still be able to find you, Liu Daoyuan, to fight a lawsuit? The Xuanzhen Sect does not recognize the laws of the imperial court, so the imperial court's lawsuits are gone! They don't worship other ghosts and gods, so these ghost lawsuits are also gone!"

"If the skin does not exist, what will the hair attach to?"

Liu Daoyuan lifted his straw hat and smiled: "Third Master Zhang has a sharp tongue, but it is not easy to make me wade into these muddy waters just by words."

Zhang Sanzhi understood upon hearing this!

He only stands on the side that can win—a truth that litigation practitioners know best: whoever wins, they help.

"This set of ghost lawsuits, no one in the entire Zhigu is more familiar with it than you! From the beginning of the calamity list, there are household registration documents and travel permits in the human world. Without proof of identity, how can you fight a lawsuit? You must be registered and entered into the book before the government will accept your complaint and take the case! The underworld is naturally the same."

"Only those managed by ghosts and gods will accept our lawsuits."

"So the first requirement is to approve the calamity list. With the calamity list, recording your date of birth and death, the date of burial and funeral, you are not completely considered a living person! Only then can ghosts and gods have a name to accept the lawsuit."

"But this calamity list also has a name..."

"Being noble in life does not necessarily mean having status in death. The underworld also emphasizes that punishment does not apply to nobles. Only with merit in front of the imperial court can one fight a lawsuit, and ghosts and gods are naturally the same. Only after the calamity list is approved can one have status. Only with status can one fight a lawsuit."

"There are only three types of status in front of ghosts and gods: Yin merit, Dao registration, and status."

"Yin merit goes without saying; ghosts and gods protect virtuous people, and ghosts and gods also talk about virtue and reason. Dao registration is the status given by the Three Venerables of Creation, the Dao Lords of Yin and Yang, and the Bodhi Buddha Mother, etc. The twelve Shichen are the creators of the world, six of whom reside in the heavens. Having status in front of them will naturally be looked upon favorably. Status is equivalent to strength. If you have achieved something on the path of cultivation, it would be unreasonable not to have some preferential treatment."

"Approving the calamity list, the most important thing is to clarify the burial objects and the amount of money."

"The lowest are gold, silver, and jewelry, followed by heavenly and earthly treasures, then wealth and fortune treasures, then Yin merit and virtue treasures, and the highest are moral treasures."

"The gold, silver, and jewelry buried can be used as small favors to bribe some wandering ghosts and gods. Next are the heavenly and earthly treasures found by treasure-seekers, which are resources for cultivation and can bribe most ghosts and gods."

"Then there is the fortune of the human world—the longing of relatives, the filial piety of children, the friendship of brothers, and a good reputation among neighbors, all of which will turn into fortune. Ghosts and gods also covet this qi. After all, many ghosts and gods have been dead for thousands of years, long forgotten, cold and gloomy. Getting some human fortune is a great benefit."

"And the highest, the Yin merit treasure of accumulating virtue and doing good, is like gold and silver in the underworld, while moral treasures only exist in legends."

"Originally, these treasures are buried, and they may not be used even if they are truly buried in the ground. Only by finding someone who can pass through the Yin and Yang realms and truly has Dao practice can they be approved and recorded on the calamity list."

Liu Daoyuan listened to Zhang Sanzhi explaining the secrets that even some great lawyers in their line might not know, and sighed: "Third Master speaks clearly, but in this vast Zhigu, there are not many people who can write clearly about burial objects, and wanting to truly write clearly about the calamity list and grant a Yin body is even more difficult..."

"Therefore, only Cui Buer on South Street can do it!"

Zhang Sanzhi said calmly: "We asked him to approve five calamity lists. One is a wealthy man from the south who sank nine ships of treasure in the South Canal. One is an old ginseng seeker from the northeast who brought nine mountains of heavenly and earthly treasures and sat down to bury his bones in the Bone-Burial Tower."

"There is also a nine-generation virtuous person with long-lasting fortune who has already prepared his burial clothes and celebrated his hundredth birthday."

"The last one is a Medicine King Bodhisattva who has benefited countless living beings and has immeasurable merit."

"A moral person, still unknown, but he came with three thousand moralities and is also willing to file this complaint."

Liu Daoyuan took a deep breath: "The wealth of the Cao Gang, the spiritual objects of the Shaman, but what kind of people are the nine-generation virtuous person and the Medicine King Bodhisattva, why would they follow you to file this complaint?"

Zhang Sanzhi smiled: "You don't need to worry about this. I just ask you, can we win like this?"

"Can't?" Liu Daoyuan shook his head: "They have someone above!"

"Then we have to walk the Yin road and see which ghost or god we are complaining to?" Zhang Sanzhi smiled: "Is the Tianhou Palace at the Sancha River mouth enough?"

"Not enough? The White Lotus Sect has tried it, and their face in front of the Heavenly Empress is not as big as his!"

Liu Daoyuan shook his head. He could borrow red thread from the Tianhou Palace to stop ghost ships...

"What about the Tidal Sound Tathagata of Tianjin Port! The Lotus Jade Buddha of the Lianzong Temple, is that enough?"

"Not enough, the two Sages don't have as much face as the Three Venerables!"

"Then add the Bone Bodhisattva of the Bone-Burial Tower, the Nine River Long Wang in the water, the Black Moth Mother of the old graves, the Cold Crow Begging for Bones in the ruined temple, the God Lamp Father of the Western church, the Yin-Yang Dao Lord of the Jade Emperor Pavilion, the Taiyin Silver Mirror of the Moon Worship Festival, the Bottomless Return to Ruins of the foreign ocean, and the Boundless Abyss Darkness of the Nine Netherworlds..."

"Is that enough?"

Zhang Sanzhi said every word clearly, his eyes firm and unwavering, but Liu Daoyuan had already been shocked to jump off the rickshaw, staring with eyes wide, blowing his beard and looking at him, with the expression of looking at a madman.

Liu Daoyuan pointed at his nose: "You... are you crazy?"

"The Three Venerables are righteous gods, pitying the world, easy to ask and easy to see. The Two Sages are compassionate and do not find it strange. The Yin-Yang Dao Lord is the Gate of Xuanpin, doing nothing yet leaving nothing undone. These six are fine, but what are those others?"

"Only one person knows how to go to the Bone-Burial Tower to seek an audience with the Bone Bodhisattva, and that is the strange person who walks the Yin in Zhigu. How did you persuade him..."

"The Nine River Long Wang sees the dragon but not the tail. Legend has it that anyone who sees him once causes a great flood in Zhigu! How many people do you have to drown to see the Nine River Long Wang?"

"The Black Moth Mother is an ominous thing. Anyone who sees her will surely die. It is a dead end of mutual destruction!"

"The Cold Crow Begging for Bones is even more legendary. This god is extremely fierce, eating the bones of the dead. It can only be seen when there is a great plague. The so-called cold crow pecks at human bones, and seeing it breaks human intestines. Is there any place in the world today where there is a great famine and people eat each other?"

"The evil god of the bottomless Return to Ruins in the foreign ocean is even more of a foreign monster."

"The so-called Boundless Abyss Darkness..." Liu Daoyuan looked at Zhang Sanzhi with the expression of looking at a fool and whispered: "Third Master! Do you really not know which two Shichen the Xuanzhen Sect believes in?"

"The incarnation of the Boundless Abyss Darkness is the Xuan Lord!"

Liu Daoyuan slapped his thigh: "That's right! This Shichen is extremely mysterious. You might not be able to find his home, and even if you found it, you are complaining about the Xuanzhen Sect to him? Are you sick?"

Zhang Sanzhi said slowly: "Why doesn't Master Liu ask how I sent people to give them the complaint?"

Liu Daoyuan also nodded: "Right, the most capable Yin-walker in Zhigu City, the one with the hardest life, can only find the Bone Bodhisattva. How are you going to send people to the other five ruthless characters?"

Zhang Sanzhi tapped his pipe: "The Nine River Long Wang has people from the corpse-salvaging team. Although the Jiuhe are hidden, the upper reaches of the canal waterway must lead there. The old river god who retired from the corpse-salvaging team has been invited by us and will take the complaint down the river to see the Long Wang."

"The Black Moth Mother is the responsibility of the Martial Arts Gang. They practice the Dao of True Martial Arts and have some ways."

"The Cold Crow Begging for Bones has people from the Three Emperors Society cooperating with the Tianli Sect. I don't know how many people will die, but they will definitely be able to invite it."

"The evil god of the foreign ocean is the responsibility of the Westerners. They go to sea often and have dug up quite a few things from the foreign ocean."

"The last Xuan Lord, cannot be said, cannot be said..."

Zhang Sanzhi shook his head, tabooing it deeply.

Liu Daoyuan fell into deep silence upon hearing this, and after a long time said: "It seems this lawsuit is not between your Green Skin Gang and the Xuanzhen Sect! But the entire Zhigu, no... the entire Great Qian's three religions and nine streams are all going to take action to deal with the Xuanzhen Sect that has committed a taboo."

From Zhang Sanzhi's "cannot be said," Liu Daoyuan heard only "imperial court," "imperial court"! ===== CHAPTER 987 =====