Chapter 1

Hell,
Yin Division,
Second Hall;

The Second Hall is located in a vast canyon.

The canyon isn't narrow; it's broad because the valley is deep and the mountains are high.

And the Second Hall,
is located in the suspended area in the center of the canyon.

This is a magnificent and ancient palace, with two long staircases built of stone, each leading to the peaks of the mountains on either side.

The staircases are wide enough to accommodate eighteen carriages side by side.

The sky above the palace is not the signature black of Hell, but a deep blue color. This is the bottom of the sea, imprisoning countless sinful souls.

Their tears, accumulated over thousands of years, have gradually formed this special barrier.

This scene is naturally incomparable to the ancient Youming Sea (Nether Sea), but in the entire Hell, this is the only place where you can look up and deceive yourself into seeing a blue sky.

Below the palace is a yellowish-brown swamp.

Countless亡魂 (w亡 souls) rolled and wailed within,

Hands reached out,
eager to leave but unable to.

This is the Fen Niao Ni Xiao Diyu (Excrement and Urine Mud Minor Hell),
one of the sixteen minor hells under the jurisdiction of the Second Hall.

The Ten Yama Kings rose to power after the last Lord left, through cooperation with the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to change the heavens.

The ranking of the halls has nothing to do with strength or influence, but King Chujiang, as one of the Yamas with the best relationship with the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, has attained a transcendent position in the Yin Division.

The sky of Hell is black, and the main tone of Hell is gray. Everything originally came from and went towards conformity.

There is no change between day and night, and everyone has long been numb and accustomed to this mode of operation.

But today,
just now,
a terrifying tremor suddenly came from the deepest part of the Second Hall's palace.

The officials coming and going inside were collectively stunned, causing quite a bit of confusion.

After all,
the Yin Division's main city being breached by a group of fierce beasts and the large-scale slaughter of officials inside had only happened recently. This tremor was hard not to make people suspicious.

But this is, after all, a place personally guarded by Yama,
and fundamentally different from the awkward position of the Yin Division's main city, which no one cared about.

Therefore,
after the tremor,
although there were events of roaring and rioting evil ghosts in the sixteen minor hells under its jurisdiction, they were all suppressed by the officials.

When eight judges with purple belts around their waists came down from the staircases on the two mountains,
the officials here were completely calmed down.

A purple-belted judge with a blue face and fangs, and a fierce look, even took out a leather whip and lashed it in the void, issuing a stern reprimand.

He rebuked the officials for their negligence and absent-mindedness;
at the same time, he warned the suppressed evil ghosts to behave themselves!

The small riot was finally suppressed, and the operation of the Second Hall returned to normal.

The eight purple-belts were usually responsible for guarding their respective minor hells. Now, due to the sensation of the main hall's tremor, they collectively returned.

At this time,
the eight people knelt in two rows in front of a stone door.

No one spoke, or even looked around.

This is the true core area of the Second Hall, involving the Yama's dignity, and does not allow anyone's impudence or contempt.

However,
the eight purple-belts present saw that the statue originally standing on the left side of the stone door had shattered into pieces,
meaning that the Yama's dharma body had just been broken again.

Why "again"?
Because more than a year ago,
that one suddenly appeared in Hell,
and their own king's dharma body was also shattered.

The previous tremor, plus the now confirmed shattered dharma body, all indicate that something major is happening.

But the eight people present still knelt there, unmoving.

Finally,
the stone door slowly opened,
Inside,
was where their own king secluded himself;
At any time, it was forbidden to summon or enter, violators would die!

"Cough cough... cough cough..."

A series of coughs came from inside.

But no one looked inside. Everyone collectively lowered their heads even further.

King Chujiang's figure seemed a bit desolate.

The dharma body had been destroyed twice,
and his own divided soul had just been annihilated in the Yang realm.
In less than two years,
he had suffered two heavy blows.

Although his foundation, his true body, had never been directly harmed, the consumption he had suffered in these two years was also enormous.

He agreed with the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's theory that an era is a stage.

When the time comes,
those who should go up will go up;
and those who should go down will go down.

Those who go down might even get a seat in the front row, continuing to lean on the stage, not to point fingers, but at least to sit and watch.

The root cause is,
after a thousand years,
he had gradually sensed his own existence, and seemed to be nearing the end.

Continuing to sit in this position would only continue to bear the pressure and consumption brought by this position. At that time, this loss would be even more rapid.

No matter how attractive this position is, when it's time to let go, you have to let go.

At least,
he had sat on it, and sat for a long time, and should be content.

Taking a deep breath,
King Chujiang sat down in the chair beside the stone table.

He reached out,
poured a glass of wine,
and drank it all in one gulp.

"Get up."

The eight purple-belts all stood up, but still kept their heads lowered.

No one wants others to see their weak side, especially those of high status.

"In the Yang realm, I met him again, ha, he's not dead, and he destroyed my dharma body again."

He said it lightly,
but the eight purple-belts present were instantly horrified.

The last sentence almost identified the person in their king's mouth.

You should know that,
the Second Hall originally had nine purple-belts, taking the number of supreme.

But one of them fell during the Hell turmoil a year and a half ago.

Even among the remaining eight, the soul injuries of two of them haven't fully healed.

"Zheng He."

"Your subordinate is here!"

A purple-belt stepped forward and bowed.

"Send a message to the other eight halls, saying that I have discovered news about the Youming Sea (Nether Sea). Tomorrow, meet at the small temple on the top of Mount Tai. We need to discuss this matter together."

"Your subordinate obeys."

King Chujiang nodded.

Hell has never been monolithic. The structure of the Ten Yama Kings divides the power of the Yin Division into ten parts, definitely not a unified system.

The only advantage of this structure is that it allows the Bodhisattva's position to remain transcendent, and there will be no more Lord with supreme authority.

But correspondingly, sometimes when you want to do something, you inevitably feel a little restricted. Moreover, the Yamas each have their own plans and calculations.

Of course,
the most opinionated one,
is gone.

Even now, the Hall of King Equality has not been fully rebuilt. A small judge surnamed Lu is responsible for this matter, but that judge is only a red-belt.

From this, it can be seen that the Yin Division's high-level only talks about rebuilding the Hall of King Equality.

When the Ten Attendants went out of the mountain in advance and slaughtered the Ninth Hall, in addition to the Ten Attendants' ten fingers being connected to the heart, and their methods being powerful, how could there be no indifferent factors from the other nine Yamas in this?

Otherwise,
if a few Yamas really stood up to stop it,
even if they couldn't prevent the Ninth Hall from being destroyed,
they wouldn't have let King Equality Lu be chased and fled by the Ten Attendants all the way.

Therefore, the bloodbath of the Ninth Hall can be said to be the reason of the Ten Attendants, but the biggest reason is that King Equality Lu's personal character and his views were collectively abandoned by the other Yamas.

"Cough cough cough... cough cough..."

Accompanied by the re-sounding cough,
the faces of the remaining seven purple-belts in the room were promptly filled with concern.

King Chujiang suddenly felt a little bored,
it seemed that the little thing that took him to prostitutes and stood behind him pointing at him and scolding him as "fake King Li" was more interesting.

It's a pity,
he didn't think about opening his head to see if there was anything more interesting inside.

But there's no rush,
after this period,
he could go to the Yang realm again,
that guy's identity,
it would be clear after sending someone to investigate it later.

A person with a criminal record, plus those characteristics, it's not difficult to find out.

It's just a pity that the Yin Division's main city was just breached, and it's a bit chaotic inside. It is said that some of the Yin Division's archives were also damaged, which may cause a little more twists and turns than expected.

As for why he doesn't go up again immediately,
it's not because the body left in the Yang realm was destroyed,
the real reason is,
to be on the safe side,
wait a little longer.

At least,
he had to make sure that that one had returned to his role of hiding again.

With this thought in mind,
King Chujiang waved his hand,
no matter what,
even if he knew that this kind of acting was a bit fake, the people below were, after all, his right-hand men, and usually helped him suppress the affairs of these minor hells.

Naturally, he had to play this scene of a benevolent ruler and loyal subjects with them. At the same time, some platitudes had to be said, even if everyone knew it was self-deception, it was still a necessary procedure.

"I'm fine, you can rest assured."

"Your Highness has good fortune as great as the heavens, and is supported by all the officials of the Yin Division, so naturally, you can turn bad luck into good."

"This time, Your Highness only suffered because what went up was just a divided soul. If Your Highness had sent your true body, or if that lingering guy came down to this hell again, Your Highness would definitely make him unable to return!"

...

Hell,
Huangquan Road (Road to the Yellow Springs),
front end;

Since the last incident of the rampage of fierce beasts, some time has passed,
Huangquan Road (Road to the Yellow Springs) has returned to its bustling state,
People are dying all the time,
from the dead to the living,
from the living to the dead,
they all have to walk this road honestly.

On this road, it seems to be a truly equal place for all beings.

And at this time,
a black crack was torn open in the upwind of Huangquan Road (Road to the Yellow Springs),
and a figure of a man walked out from inside.

His gaze swept over Huangquan Road (Road to the Yellow Springs) below,
and then projected towards an extremely distant direction in the vast Hell.

After a while,
he smiled,
and said:
"As you wish... I'm here."