Chapter 401: Feimeng's Deal

"Feimeng, those techniques you practiced before."

"The Tathagata Divine Palm, Daoist cultivation techniques, and the like—who taught you?"

On the sea surface, a vehicle sped forward, being pulled by a few beings that could only be described as humanoid in shape but not in appearance.

Yu Lin withdrew his gaze from the receding sea, turned his head, and asked Feimeng.

"Well..." Feimeng's face showed a hint of embarrassment, and he said awkwardly:

"Isn't this also my first time coming to the Human World?"

"When Uncle you pointed the way back then, I didn't see clearly and went to the wrong place."

"I went to a place called Western Ling Mountain Great Thunder Sound Temple; the Tathagata Divine Palm was taught to me by the Buddha there called Tathagata."

"I heard he's actually an incarnation of the Tianzhu Shakyamuni Buddha? Anyway he's very powerful; I feel he could lift my father and beat him."

"As for Daoist methods... when I returned, I passed a place in Xia Guo called Hangu Pass, where an old Daoist riding an ox said our meeting was fate, gave me a manual of techniques, and told me the real destination I should go to."

"After that, I suppose we don't need to go into the details, right?"

After Feimeng finished recounting his self‑proclaimed legendary experience, Yu Lin fell into silence.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Finally he just nodded and said, "Alright, I understand."

"Consider yourself lucky."

Feimeng chuckled, "Isn't this all thanks to you, Uncle?"

"If you hadn't, uh, educated me well back then, I'm afraid I wouldn't know now that I'm locked in that Underworld cell..."

"Just handle it as you see fit." Yu Lin gave a slight nod and said no more.

The vehicle continued forward.

Until at the far end of his sight a vague coastline appeared, followed immediately by a bustling dock.

A massive cargo ship was loading and unloading containers, tiny fishing boats came and went, workers in work clothes shuttled back and forth on the dock, and the crane emitted a deep rumble.

Further on lay the land's characteristic, densely packed, slightly low‑rise housing complex.

However, everyone on the dock completely ignored this uniquely shaped vehicle, pulled by a few twisted humanoid creatures, racing across the sea like a flash.

They merely buried themselves in their own tasks, or gathered in small groups, discussing daily trivialities and pressures.

As if they couldn't see Yu Lin and his companions at all.

"Yamada, your recent performance report looks rather poor,"

A middle‑aged man in a suit, his hair slicked back, said to the young employee bowing repeatedly in front of him:

"Did you know? Headquarters is currently considering optimizing certain positions."

The young employee Yamada bent his waist even lower, his voice trembling with fear:

"President Fujimoto, I'm very sorry! Please give me another chance! In the next assessment I will definitely, definitely work hard to meet the target!"

President Fujimoto adjusted his glasses: "I see... I heard Yamada just recently married a very beautiful wife?"

Yamada's body stiffened, the color drained from his face instantly, his voice quivered:

"Presi—President, what do you mean? I… I cannot… cannot betray my wife!"

"No, no, no, Yamada, you've misunderstood," President Fujimoto showed a seemingly friendly yet unsettling smile, patted Yamada's shoulder, and gave a gentle pinch:

"What I mean is, you should call your gentle wife now; tonight… she probably won't have you home for dinner. You need to stay and accompany me to a very important business cocktail party."

"Got it?"

"Huh? This..." Yamada was stunned, his face full of struggle.

President Fujimoto leaned in, his voice lowered, bearing a suffocating 'concern':

"Yamada, you don't want to just throw away this hard‑won job, do you?"

"Think of your mortgage, think of your parents, think of your wife, and the children you might have in the future... All of this requires this salary to sustain, right?"

The vehicle silently passed by the two people in conversation.

Yu Lin withdrew his gaze from the pallid, desperate‑eyed Yamada, couldn't help tugging at his mouth corner, thinking to himself:

"What a fellow, still playing tricks here in Neihong."

The vehicle kept moving, passing through the town and sweeping over the fields.

Finally, a towering, snow‑capped conical peak appeared in view—one of Neihong's symbols, Mount Fuji.

At the foot of the mountain, Feimeng cracked his whip, a crisp "Snap!", and shouted at the few pulling "human power" ahead:

"Stop! Can't you see the place? No eyesight at all!"

The twisted figures ahead, labeled "Class‑A war criminal", instantly froze as if a pause button had been pressed, reflexively bowed deeply, shouting in unison:

"Ha Yi! Red bean paste private Marseille!"

Only then did Feimeng, satisfied, withdraw his whip, turn to Yu Lin, his face instantly switching to a smile:

"Uncle, we've arrived, this way! The entrance is right ahead."

He courteously leapt from the vehicle and opened the door for Yu Lin.

Yu Lin stepped out, his gaze fixed ahead.

It was not the imagined Hell scene or Demon lair, but a spacious, distinctly styled Japanese garden complex.

White walls, blue tiles, a towering torii, stone lanterns dotted among meticulously trimmed pines and cypresses, a clear stream babbling past bamboo‑crafted deer, it resembled a grand, high‑spec Shinto shrine.

Feimeng explained beside him, "Uncle, this is now my 'territory', also the place where I am venerated."

He pointed to the cloud‑shrouded summit of Mount Fuji behind the shrine, "I moved the true entrance of Gaotianyuan—from that ethereal sky above the clouds—to the top of this mountain."

"Formerly, the priests, shrine maidens, onmyōji and the like of Neihong needed my permission to enter Gaotianyuan."

"If I say you can enter, you may."

Yu Lin raised an eyebrow at the words: "They... never thought of resisting? After all, you're an outsider Demon who seized their Holy ground and even controls their 'Heavenly Realm' entrance."

Feimeng grinned, "Rebellion? In the past they had to enter Gaotianyuan, as hard as climbing to heaven; if not for the gods' grace, they would have to endure harsh cultivation or something."

"Now? They only need to obey my words, follow the rules I set, sincerely worship me and please me, and I will send them into Gaotianyuan."

"There, their cultivation can truly increase, they can feel the Baptism of the Divine Realm, and fulfill their pilgrimage dream."

"I gave them a clear, predictable upward path, and the threshold is far lower than the one set by those lofty gods before, and the efficiency is far higher."

He spread his hands, "Why would they rebel against me? Compared to that, am I not far more 'merciful' than those gods they had before, also far more 'generous'?"

"Now they think that whoever opposes me is the heretic, the 'cultist' hindering everyone's pilgrimage."

Yu Lin: "…………"

No wonder he's of Demon origin; fundamentally it's still a slick set of beguiling trades.

"…Feimeng, you truly are a genius."

Receiving Yu Lin's reaffirmation again, Feimeng's smile at the corner of his mouth could not be suppressed.

But he also knew to stop at the appropriate point, did not continue bragging, and instead enthusiastically pointed at the immaculate pilgrimage path under the torii ahead:

"Uncle, it's windy outside, let's go inside to talk, come, come, this way, please!"