Chapter 326: The Remnants of the Upright Official's Party |
Chen Shi walked outside and realized it was already late, the time when the Three Corpses Gods were active. He couldn't afford to delay. His foot stamped down, a gentle breeze arose, and the wind lifted him. Chen Shi rode the wind, his speed increasing rapidly.
Black Pot caught up from behind. Arriving in the underworld was like a fish returning to water for it. Even though Chen Shi's wind-riding speed was extremely fast, it couldn't shake him off at all.
The Immortal Capital's night gradually grew lively. The Three Corpses Gods from various Primordial Palaces came out to roam again. The masters of the Primordial Palaces also found it hard to resist the temptation of the Three Corpses Gods, plucking incense money from their respective Treasure Trees to go out and indulge in wild pleasures.
The Celestial Streets were bustling with people and ghosts, and the sky was also extremely lively. Many Ghost Carriages sped through the air at great speeds.
Some Ghost Carriages were pulled by skeletal dragons and phoenixes, some had a string of giant skulls burning with flames floating ahead, and others used giant underworld insects as beasts of burden—all sorts of strange and wondrous sights, everything one could imagine.
There were also drifting red sedan chairs in the air, carried by ghosts and monsters, their feet treading on paper coins as they raced across the sky.
There were also those ghost gods who chose the easy route, riding the underworld wind to travel, charging recklessly through the air.
Chen Shi and Black Pot swiftly weaved through, avoiding the carriages in the air.
"Meng Banshan has been gone for some time now. The Immortal Capital is so complex, where would he go?"
"However, even if we rush there, the pursuers have probably already set out. Huh?"
Chen Shi was speeding along like the wind when he suddenly saw Heaven's Listeners flapping their ears, flying over the structures of many Primordial Palaces.
"Could the direction these Heaven's Listeners are heading be the same direction Meng Banshan left in?"
He immediately changed course, chasing after those Heaven's Listeners.
Suddenly, the Heaven's Listeners vanished into thin air one by one.
"These Heaven's Listeners have gone to the world of the living! Black Pot!"
As soon as Chen Shi's words fell, Black Pot rushed from behind, demonic energy billowing, engulfing him.
The next moment, Chen Shi and Black Pot appeared high above a vast, boundless ice plain. The north wind howled, whipping up heavy snow, everything wrapped in silver.
This was the world of the living, also at night. A crescent moon hung askew in the sky—the eye of the Celestial True God.
In Xinxiang, the moon was in the north. In the Western Capital, it was in the northeast. And on the northern border ice plains, the moon appeared in the south.
However, although it was night on the ice plains, the ice and snow reflected light, so it wasn't particularly dark.
Heaven's Listeners flew across the ice plain one after another. Chen Shi followed these Heaven's Listeners, his eyes flickering. "Heaven's Listeners record major events happening everywhere. Then the ambush and killing of Marshal Meng Banshan is absolutely a major event! These Heaven's Listeners should be rushing about for this very matter."
A series of clinking and clanging sounds came from ahead. Chen Shi looked in the direction of the noise and saw that, on this late night, in this icy, snowy wilderness, there was actually a quarry. Inside the quarry, an old man had lit a bonfire and was quarrying stone in the ice and snow, splitting the stone with an axe and chisel.
"Working so late at night?"
Chen Shi took a quick glance and saw that the stone the old man was quarrying was likely for tombstones, with many stone tablets standing nearby.
He continued chasing the Heaven's Listeners. After flying for about half an hour, the Heaven's Listeners suddenly halted, each landing in the snow.
They scurried about on the snow, gradually spreading out, forming an arc-shaped distribution.
Chen Shi was slightly taken aback. He had previously thought these Heaven's Listeners came from the underworld to the world of the living because the underworld's territory was vast, thousands or tens of thousands of times larger than the world of the living, so traveling through the world of the living would be faster.
Yet these Heaven's Listeners actually hadn't returned to the underworld!
"The ghost gods under Young Master Wei Yue's command are surely blocking Marshal Meng Banshan in the underworld. Why would these Heaven's Listeners need to monitor in the world of the living? Did I follow the wrong people? Is their purpose not to monitor this event?"
Just as Chen Shi was about to have Black Pot take him back to the underworld, his expression suddenly shifted.
He sensed that apart from him, Black Pot, and these Heaven's Listeners, there were other presences on this ice plain.
Chen Shi had cultivated the Three Lights Righteousness Technique since childhood, his spirit trained far beyond his peers. Now that he had cultivated to the level of the Xiao Lang Imperial Chapter Technique, an immortal-grade cultivation technique, his spirit was even more incredibly resilient.
At this moment, he released his spirit. Everything within a radius of ten li in his mind was as if seen with his own eyes.
He saw forty-two people hidden in this icy, snowy wilderness, and twelve "emptinesses."
That's right, emptiness.
His spirit swept over those places, sensing nothing. It was as if his spirit was lost there.
The feeling he got was of empty, vacant space, with nothing there at all—hence, emptiness!
Only when facing existences far more powerful than himself would this strange feeling appear!
"The forty-two people I can sense doesn't necessarily mean they are weaker than me; they might even be much stronger. Being able to sense them is because they haven't exceeded my comprehension. Everyone has cultivated a Primordial Spirit. Even those at the Refining Void realm, Unity realm, who have slain the Three Corpses, cultivated pure yang, and refined their spirit to a hundred zhang—all are within the scope of understanding. Only existences beyond spirit refinement are beyond my comprehension. Such people are 'emptiness.'"
Chen Shi thought silently to himself, "There are twelve places of 'emptiness' in this ice plain. That means there are at least twelve Return to Emptiness realm existences."
These twelve supreme experts, like the other forty-two people, made no movement whatsoever.
Clearly, they were waiting.
They had set an ambush, waiting for their prey to enter the encirclement.
And these Heaven's Listeners had come here to monitor this battle.
The ambush circle wasn't large. A ten-li range was very small for cultivators, almost right next door for Nascent Soul Transformation realm cultivators. For Return to Emptiness realm existences, a distance of ten li was practically non-existent.
Chen Shi's eyes flickered as he quietly retreated.
Within the ten-li ambush circle, an old man in white robes sat quietly amidst the wind and snow, seemingly waiting for something.
"Sixth Uncle, the Heaven's Listeners are here!"
A middle-aged man hurried over, whispering, "There's also a yaksha nearby, accompanied by a black dog."
The white-robed old man sat there motionless, puzzled. "A dog and a yaksha?"
He was a Return to Emptiness realm existence. The Realm of Emptiness within the Return to Emptiness realm would separate the yin and yang worlds, allowing underworld ghost gods to also see the Realm of Emptiness, potentially exposing the ambush. Therefore, he sat here without using any cultivation power and hadn't noticed Chen Shi and Black Pot's arrival, needing the middle-aged man's reminder.
The middle-aged man said, "That black dog is from the Chen family. Presumably, that yaksha is Chen Shi. How should we handle this?"
"Chen Shi?"
The white-robed old man frowned, whispering, "Does this Chen Shi have a grudge against us? Why does he appear nearby whenever we want to do something? Causing trouble in the Western Capital is one thing, but this place is not for him to mess with!"
He was about to give an order when the middle-aged man's expression shifted. "That yaksha retreated with the dog."
The white-robed old man also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to provoke Chen Shi.
Chen Shi wasn't strong. Any one of them could easily kill Chen Shi. But the problem was, killing Chen Shi would allow the demons hidden within his body to seize the opportunity to crawl out and wreak havoc.
That would be difficult to handle.
"As long as he doesn't provoke us, let him be," the white-robed old man said.
Chen Shi retreated several li, discovering these experts didn't directly attack him, and only then did he relax.
"This battle is extremely important to these people; they cannot act rashly. I didn't step into their ambush circle, so they let me leave," he thought to himself.
However, retreating several li still wasn't safe. Chen Shi continued to retreat, pulling back twenty or thirty li, far from the encirclement.
At this distance, even going to the underworld wouldn't be safe.
Return to Emptiness realm experts' spells could reach directly into the underworld.
He needed to go even farther to be considered safe.
"This should be enough. Black Pot, let's go!"
"Whoosh—"
Underworld wind blew. Black Pot, carrying Chen Shi, plunged into the underworld.
As Chen Shi fell from the air, he saw Black Pot's body rapidly expand, instantly transforming into a mountainous behemoth. This scene stirred something in his heart, and he looked up at the sky.
"These people ambushing in the world of the living have an encirclement of about ten li. A ten-li range is already extremely vast in the underworld; it might even be a hundred li, a thousand li! Their target isn't someone from the world of the living, but a ghost god from the underworld! They... are experts from the Yan Family, right?"
Black Pot, treading on demonic fire, charged towards the Immortal Capital.
Chen Shi's eyes flickered.
The Yan Family, with this many Return to Emptiness realm existences?
Twelve Return to Emptiness realm existences—that's simply too many!
"The person they're ambushing, could it be Marshal Meng Banshan? Something's off. If they are from the Yan Family, how would they know Marshal Meng Banshan would definitely take this route? How would they know he would definitely pass through here?"
His mind raced. Just then, underworld wind howled, blowing in. Paper money filled the sky, dancing—paper cut into coin shapes and paper ingots, swirling in the underworld wind, flying forward. Countless pieces of paper money formed a path.
Two fire oxen with large heads and small bodies pulled a carriage clip-clopping from the distance, precisely traveling on this paper money road, speeding through the air.
The two fire oxen snorted smoke from their nostrils, their eyes like lightning, majestic and extraordinary. Occasionally, they let out a roar that sounded like thunder.
Their speed was astonishing, as if riding on lightning.
The carriage had a Huagai canopy on top. Under the canopy sat a ghost god, not blue-faced with fangs, but with a human body, surrounded by incense offerings. On the four sides of the carriage stood four ghost gods—ox-headed underworld officers and Horse-faced Underworld Officers.
A flag hung on the carriage, inscribed with the character "Meng"!
"Marshal Meng Banshan!"
Chen Shi opened his mouth to speak but held back.
Marshal Meng Banshan sat in the carriage, turning his head to look at Black Pot, showing surprise. But the carriage didn't stop, swept along by the paper money as it charged into the distance.
Suddenly, a huge wheel blade, spinning rapidly, sliced through the air with a *shriek*, cutting through the fire ox treasure carriage, oxen and all!
Meng Banshan and the four underworld officers leaped up as the wheel blade struck the carriage, avoiding it.
The wheel blade was about four or five mu in size, like a disc, bright and new. However, its outer edge was a sharp blade, and inside the disc were sharp serrated teeth.
The wheel blade whistled as it spun, flying past in front of Chen Shi before clanging into a patch of dark clouds.
That patch of dark clouds was rushing towards them from behind at an astonishing speed, gloomy and bleak. Behind the dark clouds was a long river, surging through the air. Small boats sailed down the river, each manned by a Horse-faced Underworld Officer, their killing intent palpable—likely the underworld officers pursuing Marshal Meng Banshan!
One of the officers held a strange weapon in his hand; the wheel blade was mounted on this pole.
The officer brandished the strange weapon. Suddenly, the long river in the air accelerated, rushing ahead of Meng Banshan. Boats skimmed across the river's surface. The leading officer swung the wheel blade, and it shot out with a *whoosh*, slicing towards Meng Banshan and the underworld officers!
Six or seven other officers simultaneously activated Children's Heavenly Aperture Lamps. The light shone, fixing their Primordial Spirits in place, preventing them from moving or escaping.
"You even dare to kill me? Lawless!"
Meng Banshan roared, erupting with majestic, extraordinary power. He raised his hand to block the wheel blade, protecting the other four officers, and broke out of the long river's encirclement. He sneered, "Where is Wei Yue? Do you think killing me will silence the murmurs of all the ghost gods in the world?"
His combat power was astonishing. With a flick of his finger, the wheel blade flew back, shaking the leading officer so hard that his boat slid backward, crashing into another boat.
At that moment, two marshals laughed heartily, attacking from the side, both striking at Meng Banshan. They laughed, "Meng Banshan, you don't know what's good for you. Better hand over the marshal seal and let's choose a more obedient marshal instead!"
The two marshals were extremely powerful. Surrounding and attacking Meng Banshan, they quickly forced him into repeated retreats.
The four ox-headed and horse-faced underworld officers under his command were also besieged by other officers.
Meng Banshan fought desperately. Suddenly, another marshal led his troops to attack, laughing, "Meng Banshan, you are ambitious, plotting rebellion and usurpation, scheming against the righteous and incorruptible official. Today, your conspiracy is exposed. We will execute you to set the record straight!"
Meng Banshan was already struggling. Now he was only able to defend himself. The four marshals battled in the air, heading straight for the distant ambush circle.
Black Pot looked at Chen Shi. Chen Shi remained unmoved, whispering softly, "Wait a bit longer. I feel there's something strange about this."
Suddenly, one of the ox-headed underworld officers took a fatal blow for Meng Banshan. His bones were broken, and he fell from the sky, crashing not far in front of Chen Shi.
"Woof!" Black Pot said to Chen Shi.
Chen Shi said, "Wait a bit longer. I really feel there's something odd about this..."
Before he could finish, the wheel blade flew over, slicing across the ox-headed officer's neck, instantly severing his head.
"Woof! Woof!" Black Pot barked angrily.
Chen Shi hesitated, then said, "I feel the ambush in the world of the living doesn't seem to be targeting Meng Banshan. Am I being overly suspicious..."
Meng Banshan and the remaining three officers fought while retreating. Chen Shi followed unhurriedly, not intervening, just watching from afar.
They fought their way for a thousand li. Two more officers died protecting Meng Banshan. The remaining horse-faced officer was also covered in wounds, on the verge of death at any moment. Meng Banshan himself bore dozens of injuries, his energy nearly exhausted.
Black Pot glared angrily at Chen Shi. Chen Shi muttered, "Did I really misunderstand him? I can't just watch him enter the ambush circle..."
Black Pot's spirits lifted, ready to act. Suddenly, a powerful aura rushed over from the distance. A deep, resonant voice boomed thunderously, "Brother Meng, don't panic! Soul Pursuit Judge Wang Fu is here to rescue a righteous man!"
Chen Shi's spirits were greatly lifted. He signaled Black Pot not to act.
He saw three ghost gods led by a red-robed ghost god charging over from the distance!
Another excited voice came from afar, "Brother Wang, I thought you had passed away! I was the only one left of the King of Hell's old subordinates. I never expected you were still in this world! Good, truly wonderful!"
Four more ghost gods, surrounding a green-robed ghost god, flew over, their killing intent palpable. The green-robed ghost god declared loudly, "Righteous Man Meng, do not panic! Sin and Karma Judge Jia Yuan has come to assist!"
Soul Pursuit Judge Wang Fu was both surprised and delighted. Then another voice laughed, "Two elder brothers, I never thought after the great calamity, I could still see you both again! Righteous Man Meng, Knife Mountain Judge Zhu Shun has come to assist!"
The three judges each led their troops to attack, startling the three marshals who were escorting Meng Banshan as they retreated.
The three judges converged. Old friends meeting, they each laughed heartily, greatly heartened.
Soul Pursuit Judge Wang Fu said, "Back then, when the righteous and incorruptible official sensed something was wrong, he immediately hinted for us to flee and wait for an opportunity. I lived under an assumed name. Later, I heard many judges had either died, were injured, or disappeared. I was frantic with worry. I thought I was the only one left in the underworld. I never expected to meet you two elder brothers again!"
The three judges pressed forward step by step towards those marshals. Sin and Karma Judge Jia Yuan smiled, "If not for hearing about Marshal Meng's deeds, I would still be hiding, not daring to show myself. Marshal Meng is righteous and awe-inspiring. I absolutely cannot stand by and watch him die at the hands of petty villains!"
Knife Mountain Judge Zhu Shun laughed, "Today, after rescuing Marshal Meng, we must drink until we're drunk!"
Just then, a laughing voice came, "You three, if you take another step forward, you'll enter their ambush circle. Then you won't be drinking until you're drunk; you'll be dying until you're dead!"
Jia Yuan's face changed slightly. He looked towards the voice and saw a large yaksha standing on the forehead of a giant dog in the distance.
The large yaksha had an unfamiliar face; they didn't recognize him.
"Young brother, what do you mean by that?" Jia Yuan asked patiently.
The large yaksha was Chen Shi. He laughed, "Why don't you ask Marshal Meng?"
The three judges all looked at Meng Banshan. Wang Fu said, "Brother Meng, what difficulties do you have? Speak frankly!"
Meng Banshan struggled, "Three elder brothers, don't save me! Preserve your strength, wait for the righteous and incorruptible official to rise again from East Mountain!"
Soul Pursuit Judge Wang Fu had the most fiery temper. He immediately charged forward to attack, shouting, "Don't worry, I will never stand by and watch you be captured!"
Jia Yuan quickly grabbed his hand, smiling, "Brother Wang, let's first hear what this yaksha brother has to say."
Chen Shi laughed, "Listen to me for what? Why not listen to what your good brother Marshal Meng has to say?"
Meng Banshan cried out, "You all, leave quickly!"
Judges Jia Yuan and Zhu Shun remained completely motionless.
Wang Fu wanted to charge over to rescue him but was held back tightly by Jia Yuan.
Meng Banshan shouted, "Don't worry about me! I would go through fire and water for the righteous and incorruptible official... Ha ha ha ha! They're not falling for it!"
He suddenly burst into laughter. The three marshals escorting him as they retreated also released him, joining in with hearty laughter.
"Today's 'bitter flesh' scheme has indeed lured out three remnants of the King of Hell! If we don't eliminate you, how can Lord Wei peacefully ascend the throne and become the new King of Hell?"
Meng Banshan straightened his back, his gaze falling on Chen Shi atop Black Pot's head. "You are Chen Shi? You think just because they don't enter the ambush circle, the circle can't move to find them?"
Chen Shi's expression changed abruptly. He hurriedly said, "Black Pot, run!"
At that very moment, twelve Realms of Emptiness in the sky cut through the yin and yang worlds, surrounding them!