Chapter 986

Zhang Sanzhi sat on a rickshaw, beside him another rickshaw.

The two rickshaws ran side by side onto the Salt Pass Floating Bridge, then suddenly stopped in the middle…

The rickshaws were set down by the coolies; Zhang Sanzhi tapped out his pipe and stared straight ahead, yet spoke to the man beside him whose face was hidden under a straw hat: “In all of Dagukou, only four men can truly win this lawsuit. A thousand taels of gold have already been delivered to Fang Tangjing’s residence—he has agreed to take our case! If you also agree, another thousand taels of gold shall be yours.”

“Fang Tangjing excels in verbal warfare, greedy for wealth; it’s no surprise he took your money and waded into this mess.”

The man under the straw hat replied lazily: “But I’m a wild, unruly type. Third Master sent men to bring me here—surely you don’t mean to force this unworthy gourd onto the stage?”

We underestimated this new leader of the Xuanzhen Sect—we lost two rounds, both devastating defeats, and even the imperial-appointed Shaman Lord from beyond the pass was driven into panicked flight by a mere junior disciple of the Xuanzhen Sect.

“Who now dares underestimate that Sect Master?”

“So this lawsuit must be won. Of your four men, I won’t let a single one of you slip away…” Zhang Sanzhi sighed: “The Qingpi gang has always been beneath notice. It’s natural that Master Liu hesitates to cooperate with us.”

“But ask yourself, Master Liu—though we Qingpi thugs are lowly, are we still men of Zhigou?”

“For all these years, earning our living from the docks—when have we ever broken the rules?”

“Your litigation guild, our Qingpi gang, the martial guild, the coolie guild, the Caobang … all these countless people who pass through Zhigou’s underworld—the three teachings, nine streams, eight doors—how do we survive in this murky water? We rely on these rules!”

“Break the rules, and none of us eat!”

“But the Xuanzhen Sect is also following the rules. By the rules, you lost twice. It’s only because they’re honorable that they’re still playing with you,” Liu Daoyuan frowned.

Zhang Sanzhi did not deny it, only said: “But he’s digging up our roots!”

“Only when the three teachings and nine streams are mixed together do rules exist. Now the Xuanzhen Sect seeks to swallow Zhigou whole. They play by the rules to fight us—but once Zhigou is swallowed, we’ll have to follow their rules! Will there still be a place for you, Liu Daoyuan, to file lawsuits when the water and land docks belong to the Xuanzhen Sect? The sect doesn’t recognize imperial law—imperial lawsuits vanish! They don’t worship other gods or spirits—ghost lawsuits vanish too!”

“When the skin is gone, where will the hair cling?”

Liu Daoyuan lifted his straw hat and smiled: “Third Master Zhang, your tongue is sharp indeed—but mere words won’t easily make me wade into this mire.”

Zhang Sanzhi understood at once.

He only stands with the side that will win—the litigators’ most fundamental truth: whoever wins, they serve.

“No one in Zhigou knows the ghost lawsuit system better than you! From the Yàngbǎng to the beginning, human society requires household registers, travel permits—without official credentials, how can you file a lawsuit? You must be registered, enrolled in the rolls, before the authorities will accept your petition. The underworld is no different.”

“Only those under the jurisdiction of gods and spirits can have their lawsuits heard.”

“So the first necessity is the Yàngbǎng. Once the Yàngbǎng records your birth and death dates, burial and funeral times, you’re no longer fully alive—only then can gods and spirits have grounds to accept your case.”

“But the Yàngbǎng has ranks…”

“One may have been noble in life, yet die without status—even the underworld observes ‘punishment does not reach the noble.’ Only those with imperial titles can file lawsuits before the court; the same applies before gods and spirits. Only after the Yàngbǎng is properly issued do you gain status—and only with status can you file a lawsuit.”

“Before gods and spirits, status comes in three forms: merit, Daoist registry, and rank.”

“Merit needs no explanation—virtuous people are protected by gods and spirits, who themselves value virtue and reason. Daoist registry is status granted by the Three Creators and the Yin-Yang Great Lord, the Bodhi Buddha Mother, and other Celestial Officials. The Twelve Celestial Officials are primordial creators; six dwell high in heaven—those who gain status before them are naturally held in higher regard. Rank is merely equivalent to power: on the cultivation path, each step is a barrier; if one achieves success yet receives no privilege, it would be unjust.”

“The most crucial part of issuing the Yàngbǎng is clearly listing the burial offerings and wealth.”

“The lowest are gold and silver treasures; next are celestial and terrestrial treasures; then come wealth, fortune, and blessings; above them are merit and virtue treasures; the highest are moral treasures.”

“Gold and silver treasures—any practical worldly goods—can serve as minor favors to bribe wandering ghosts, evil spirits, and minor deities. Next are celestial and terrestrial treasures, refined from the essence of heaven and earth, found by treasure-seekers; these are cultivation resources capable of bribing most spirits.”

“Then there are human virtues—family remembrance, children’s filial piety, brotherly love, a good reputation among neighbors—all transform into fortune. Spirits crave this too, for many have been dead for millennia, long forgotten, cold and dark; a touch of human fortune is an immense boon.”

“At the very top, the merit treasure of accumulated virtue is a treasury of gold in the underworld; the moral treasure exists only in legend.”

“These treasures buried with the dead are often useless even underground—only those who can truly traverse the realms of yin and yang, and possess genuine cultivation, can issue them properly, inscribing them clearly on the Yàngbǎng.”

Liu Daoyuan listened as Zhang Sanzhi laid bare secrets even top litigators might not know, and sighed: “Third Master speaks plainly—but in all of Zhigou, few can even properly list burial offerings; to truly write a Yàngbǎng and grant a ghostly identity is even harder…”

“Only Cui Bu’er on South Street can do it!”

Zhang Sanzhi said calmly: “We commissioned him to issue five Yàngbǎngs: one for a southern merchant who sank nine ships of treasure in the South Canal; one for an old ginseng trader from the northeast who brought nine mountains of celestial and terrestrial treasures and was entombed in the Bone Tower.”

“One was a man of nine lifetimes of virtue, whose blessings stretched long—he had already prepared his death robes and celebrated his hundredth birthday.”

“Lastly, a Medicine King Bodhisattva, who has blessed countless beings with boundless merit.”

“As for the moral man, his identity remains unknown—but he came bearing three thousand moral deeds, and is willing to file this petition.”

Liu Daoyuan drew a sharp breath: “The Caobang ’s treasure, the Shaman’s spirit objects—but who are the nine-lifetime virtuous man and the Medicine King Bodhisattva? Why would they join you in this lawsuit?”

Zhang Sanzhi smiled: “You don’t need to know. I only ask—can we win?”

“No,” Liu Daoyuan shook his head. “They have powerful patrons above!”

“Then we take the yin path—let’s see which spirit we petition,” Zhang Sanzhi smiled. “Is the Tianhou Palace at Sancha River mouth enough?”

“Not enough? The White Lotus Sect tried—they have less influence before Tianhou than he does!”

Liu Daoyuan shook his head—those who could borrow red threads from Tianhou to block ghost ships…

“What about the Tide-Sound Buddha of Tianjin Port? The Lotus Temple’s Lotus Jade Buddha—enough?”

“Not enough. The Two Saints have less influence than the Three Primordials.”

“Then add the White Bone Bodhisattva of the Bone Tower, the Nine Rivers Dragon King beneath the waters, the Black Moth Mother of the old graves, the Cold Crow Begging Bones in the ruined temple, the God Lamp Father of the foreign church, the Yin-Yang Dao Lord of the Jade Emperor Pavilion, the Great Yin Silver Mirror of the Moon Worship, the Bottomless Abyss beyond the sea, and the Infinite Abyss of Jiuyou…”

“Enough?”

Zhang Sanzhi spoke slowly, word by word, his gaze unwavering—but Liu Daoyuan had already leapt from the rickshaw, staring wide-eyed, beard bristling, looking at him as if he were mad.

Liu Daoyuan pointed at his nose: “You… are you insane?”

“The Three Primordials are orthodox deities, compassionate toward mortals, easy to petition. The Two Saints are merciful, not strange. The Yin-Yang Dao Lord is the Gate of the Mystical Feminine—wuwei yet nothing left undone. These six are tolerable—but what are those others?”

“Only one man in Zhigou knows how to reach the Bone Tower to petition the White Bone Bodhisattva—he’s a yin-traveler of extraordinary ability. How did you persuade him…”

“The Nine Rivers Dragon King appears only rarely—legend says whoever sees him brings a great flood to Zhigou! How many must drown before you see him?”

“The Black Moth Mother is an omen of doom—anyone who sees her dies without fail—it’s a path to mutual destruction!”

“The Cold Crow Begging Bones is mere legend—this deity is monstrous, feeding on dead bones; only during great epidemics or plagues can one encounter it. As the saying goes: ‘Cold crows peck human bones, seeing them breaks the intestines.’ Where in the world today suffers famine so great that people eat each other?”

The foreign demons of the Bottomless Abyss are overseas devils.

“The Infinite Abyss…” Liu Daoyuan stared at Zhang Sanzhi as if he were a fool, whispering: “Third Master—don’t you know which two Celestial Officials the Xuanzhen Sect worships?”

“The Infinite Abyss’s avatar is the Xuan Jun!”

Liu Daoyuan slapped his thigh: “That’s it! This Celestial Official is utterly mysterious—you may never find his door. Even if you do, you’d petition him against the Xuanzhen Sect? Are you mad?”

Zhang Sanzhi spoke slowly: “Why don’t you ask how I send the petitions to them?”

Liu Daoyuan nodded: “True. The most skilled yin-traveler in Zhigou, the one with the hardest fate, can barely find the White Bone Bodhisattva. How will you send men to the other five?”

Zhang Sanzhi tapped his pipe: “The Nine Rivers Dragon King will be reached by the corpse-retrieval team—they may hide, but the canal’s upper reaches must connect to him. We’ve persuaded the retired River God of the corpse-retrieval team to take the petition downriver to the Dragon King.”

“The Black Moth Mother is handled by the martial guild—they cultivate the Zhenwu Dao and have some connections.”

“The Cold Crow Begging Bones is handled by the Three Imperial Associations, in cooperation with the Tianli Sect—I don’t know how many must die, but they’ll be summoned.”

The foreign demons are handled by the foreigners—they sail often and have unearthed many strange things from overseas.

“As for the Xuan Jun—cannot be spoken of, cannot be spoken of…”

Zhang Sanzhi shook his head, his expression grave with taboo.

Liu Daoyuan fell into deep silence, then said at last: “So this lawsuit isn’t just your Qingpi gang against the Xuanzhen Sect—it’s the entire Zhigou underworld… no, the entire Great Qian’s three teachings and nine streams, rising together to oppose the Xuanzhen Sect, who has broken the taboo.”

From Zhang Sanzhi’s unspoken words, Liu Daoyuan heard nothing but “Imperial Court,” “Imperial Court!”