Chapter 959: Yincao Si

“Sizzling… sizzling… sizzling…”

The Nine Heavens’ Mystic Fire spewed forth again, scorching Zhao Xiangdu.

“Ahh…”

“Stop! Stop! Stop!”

“It hurts…”

Zhao Xiangdu screamed in agony as he burned.

He Pingsheng extinguished the fire and said: “Who knows if you’re telling the truth or lying? I’ll give you some pain to make you remember—otherwise you’ll trick me again!”

“I didn’t!” Zhao Xiangdu looked utterly wronged.

He Pingsheng said: “Tell me… how does the Underworld operate?”

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.

At least get a general idea of the Underworld’s workings?

“Yes, yes, yes!” Zhao Xiangdu trembled as he spoke: “I’m just a lowly ghost officer—I don’t know much. I’ll only tell you what I know!”

“First, when a living being dies, their soul follows the Huang Quan, drawn by the Six Paths into the Underworld!”

“The first step upon arriving in the Underworld is being led by us ghost officers to a place called the [Yincao Si]!”

“The soul is detained in the [Yincao Si], and the duration varies—some stay for hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years!”

“Others are released in just one or two days!”

“After leaving the [Yincao Si], they are sent to the Judge’s Hall, where the Judge reviews each soul’s accumulated sins to determine whether they must enter Hell, which Hell they enter, and how many years they serve there!”

“Once at the [Diyu Si], they begin enduring the various tortures of Hell!”

“After serving their sentence, they exit the [Diyu Si] and are sent with the innocent souls into the [Lunhui Si]!”

“Outside the [Lunhui Si] stands the Naihe Bridge!”

“On the Naihe Bridge, drinking a bowl of Meng Po Soup erases all memories, allowing passage into the [Lunhui Si]!”

“Inside the [Lunhui Si], the guardians of the Six Paths cleanse every soul—whether of karmic debts or merit and incense offerings—until they are utterly pure!”

“Finally, only a single strand of pure, spotless soul remains, placed into one of the Six Paths!”

“Of course, which of the Six Paths they enter depends on their past-life karma and merit!”

“The [Lunhui Si], [Yincao Si], and [Diyu Si] all fall under the jurisdiction of the [Panguan Fu]!”

“And the [Panguan Fu] is itself under the authority of the [Mingwang Dian]!”

“The entire Underworld does not have just one [Mingwang Dian]—there are ten of them, and each [Mingwang Dian] does not have just one [Panguan Fu], but dozens!”

“As for the Six Ministries’ Gongcao above the [Mingwang Dian], the Five Directions’ Ghost Emperors above them, and the Fengdu Great Emperor above all—that’s beyond the comprehension of lowly creatures like us!”

Zhao Xiangdu spoke at length.

He Pingsheng now had a basic understanding of the entire Underworld’s operations.

“Good!” He took a deep breath and said: “Now, let’s get to the real matter.”

“Do you know why I’m here?”

Zhao Xiangdu shook his head.

He Pingsheng said: “Zhou Qingmei died roughly seven hundred years ago, and her soul entered the Underworld!”

“I believe you’ve seen her.”

He Pingsheng stared at Zhao Xiangdu.

Zhao Xiangdu nodded with a complex expression: “Yes…”

He Pingsheng asked: “Where is she now?”

Zhao Xiangdu said: “Still detained in the [Yincao Si]!”

“Zhou Qingmei’s case is unusual—she was originally a lone wandering ghost dead for tens of thousands of years, but due to extraordinary circumstances, she revived. Upon arriving in the Underworld, she was immediately sent to the Judge’s residence for judgment!”

“But the Judge said such resurrection is a stroke of fortune, not an escape from guilt. He couldn’t immediately pass judgment, so she was sent back into the [Yincao Si]!”

“To this day, no verdict has been reached!”

Hearing this, He Pingsheng exhaled in relief.

At least Zhou Qingmei was still detained in the [Yincao Si]!

As long as she hadn’t entered reincarnation, it was fine.

Jin Ku had actually been right after all!

“That…,” He Pingsheng asked again: “How can I take Zhou Qingmei’s soul away and return her to the Spirit Realm?”

“What?” Zhao Xiangdu’s face paled: “Absolutely not… Zhou Qingmei is special—her trial isn’t over. If you take her out now, it’ll cause serious trouble!”

“If the Judge later asks about her, everyone will suffer!”

“Even you could be arrested and dragged into the Underworld!”

He Pingsheng sneered: “Enough nonsense. I’m asking how to take her—not what happens after!”

Zhao Xiangdu still insisted: “You’re brazen beyond reason!”

He Pingsheng said: “Zhao Xiangdu, don’t think I don’t know—previously, a woman named Bing Xuan came here and took her son’s soul away. That person… you should know her…”

As he spoke, He Pingsheng gathered his magic power and conjured the image of the Bing Xuan Immortal.

Zhao Xiangdu looked and said: “Yes, I was the one who let her in!”

“But it’s different!”

“Her son was just a negligible nobody!”

“He Pingsheng, to be blunt—the [Yincao Si] decides how long a soul waits before being judged!”

“I let her son’s soul go; later, when he died again, I sent him back to the Judge’s Hall—it made no difference!”

“No one ever knew he’d come back to life once!”

“But Zhou Qingmei is different—she’s a soul the Judge personally ordered to be reviewed!”

“What if one day the Judge remembers her and demands her for judgment? How will we hand her over?”

“All ghost officers, messengers, and [Yincao Si] clerks will be punished!”

“Moreover, the Judge himself said Zhou Qingmei’s resurrection didn’t trigger karmic consequences—it was pure fortune and destiny!”

“I suspect she won’t even be sent to Hell!”

“I’d guess she’ll be directly reincarnated!”

He Pingsheng shook his head, ignoring Zhao Xiangdu’s words, and asked: “What did Bing Xuan give you last time she came?”

“Don’t say you got nothing!”

“I know if she hadn’t paid you, you’d never have returned her son’s soul!”

“Hss…”

Before Zhao Xiangdu could answer, He Pingsheng unleashed the Nine Heavens’ Mystic Fire.

“No!” Zhao Xiangdu screamed: “Don’t! Don’t! I’ll tell the truth—I swear!”

“Yes, I did take her bribe!”

“Along with two other ghost officers in the [Yincao Si], the three of us took ten thousand years of her lifespan!”

“What?” He Pingsheng was slightly startled: “You can take lifespan?”

“What use do you have for that?”

“Sigh…” Zhao Xiangdu sighed: “Life as a ghost officer isn’t easy. We seem immortal, toiling endlessly in this dark, lightless place—but each year, we need something to survive!”

“That’s [Yang Qi]—yes, yang energy!”

“Solitary yin cannot grow; solitary yang cannot be born!”

“Even souls beneath the earth require yang energy!”

“The lifespan of the living is the best source of yang energy!”

“The yang energy allotted to us from above is stripped away at every level—it’s never enough, so we resort to these methods!”

Fifth update delivered. Please give me a little electricity…