Chapter 1 A Dirty Monkey

A dirty monkey huddled in the corner of the roof. The wind was strong up here, and even with its fur, it was shivering in the late night chill.

For creatures with heavy fur, being dirty or sticky made them even more susceptible to the cold. The fur that was supposed to keep them warm could end up extracting the last of their body heat.

The dirty monkey leaned against the short concrete wall,

drool dripping from its mouth,

its eyes clouded.

It instinctively felt cold but didn't know what to do.

During the day,

Ying Gou had indeed crushed and burned the paper doll,

but he hadn't "uprooted" the monkey.

Firstly, he didn't have the time,

and secondly, it wasn't necessary.

The First had long since departed. He ended the turbulent years of Hell, reorganized the order of yin and yang, and calmed the chaos that had persisted since Ying Gou.

But he still couldn't resist the tides of time,

like a shooting star,

leaving behind a brilliance,

eventually fading away.

Just like what this monkey had been doing, it was nothing more than a last struggle before the end of its lifespan.

It was now like a pile of garbage, not needing to be swept away, as the wind would eventually blow it away completely.

However,

in Hell,

there was still a Yama chasing a monkey,

though it was close to catching it,

it would still take some time.

And in the yang world,

there was still a dirty monkey, waiting for its final end.

It had come, it had seen, and it had conquered,

it had obsessions,

but only those from its life,

unlike those who, after death, lingered in the world as wandering souls because of their obsessions.

The dirty monkey only knew to "do its best and leave the rest to fate,"

everything else,

was up to chance.

The night wind blew again and again,

the dirty monkey felt its body temperature getting lower and lower,

and at the same time,

the aura of the huge, all-black monkey in Hell was also getting weaker and weaker.

King Qin Guang seemed to have noticed this as well,

but he just kept following, following,

without forcibly trying to eliminate it ahead of time,

not giving it a chance to "desperately lash out" in the end.

Between the two,

there seemed to be a tacit understanding,

one chasing, but only chasing for the sake of chasing;

one running, but only running because it wanted to run.

Running,

taking in the scenery again, recalling the Hell it had once conquered, and when it couldn't run anymore, it would be over.

And for King Qin Guang, as long as it didn't cause any more destruction, he was willing to see it off on this last journey.

Before, his Dharma body had been shattered, and the newly condensed Dharma body, though powerful, was like a newly repaired vase, always making people subconsciously want to take extra care of it.

This was a duel purely using time as a consumable,

the outcome had already been decided,

and now,

it was just waiting for time to slowly pass, finally reaching a result that everyone agreed on.

The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva once told King Chujiang,

each era is a stage,

some leave, and others enter,

this is the rule,

and also the theorem.

The current situation,

was just reinterpreting this theorem.

On the roof,

the dirty monkey silently took out the silver mask that it had always kept with it,

and put the mask back on its face.

…………

"Hoo…………"

Lawyer An, having just taken a shower, came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel,

and poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Since he wasn't going to sleep but meditate, it didn't matter if he spent a little more time.

Glancing at the torn cards in the trash can behind the bar, Lawyer An smiled,

a woman's interests always changed like the wind.

At this moment,

Lawyer An seemed to hear a vibrating sound.

He bent down,

and searched under the bar,

was someone's phone ringing?

He found it,

it wasn't a phone,

it was the mask.

There were some cracks on the mask, but it was vibrating now.

"A magical artifact? A communication artifact?"

Lawyer An picked up the mask,

looked around,

Xu Qinglang was just here, where was he now?

Actually,

this silver mask had always been held by the little monkey. Boss Zhou had answered several calls, but each time it was to play the game of "taking off his head and kicking it like a ball," so he simply tossed it to the little monkey.

Now the little monkey had gone to the pharmacy to accompany the old Taoist, so it didn't bring the mask.

Lawyer An hesitated for a moment,

oh well,

no matter who it belongs to,

he'd help answer it first,

so,

Lawyer An put on the mask.

………………

"Boss, should I bring more clothes or less?"

"No need to bring too much, we'll probably be going into the old forest, walking a lot, it's inconvenient to carry too much."

"It's okay, I can carry it anyway."

"Then… okay."

Simply packing a few more clothes, Yingying looked at the time, felt it was about time, and proactively got into bed, lying flat on the outer side, and said:

"Boss, you should rest."

"Yeah."

Zhou Ze turned over properly,

Yingying carefully picked up a blanket and covered Zhou Ze's stomach.

They had slept together so many times that they had long developed a natural understanding, and everyone was very comfortable and enjoyed this kind of atmosphere.

When they woke up from this sleep,

they would have to set off for the Northeast,

for some reason,

Zhou Ze felt a bit uneasy about this upcoming trip to the Northeast, as if he already sensed that something was going to happen.

But that's life, sometimes it seems to give you a choice, but in reality, you have no choice at all.

The old Taoist's matter, his own matter, including Ying Gou's matter,

three choose one,

seemingly giving you plenty of room to choose,

but still forcing you down a single path… the Dragon Vein.

The Book of Life and Death of the underworld isn't some heaven-defying thing, all it can do is help Zhou Ze thrive like a fish in water in the "system."

It doesn't have the ability to directly plunder your luck, nor can it turn you into a so-called battery, but going down this path, Ying Gou, who is one with Zhou Ze, or rather, the same soul, will inevitably become a sacrificial offering on this path.

This is a conspiracy in broad daylight, fair and square;

this is perhaps the most helpless thing for Ying Gou.

"Knock knock knock, knock knock knock, Boss, phone."

Lawyer An's voice came from the door.

Zhou Ze sat up from the bed,

while Yingying put on her clothes,

and went to open the door.

Lawyer An stood at the door with the silver mask,

and said to Zhou Ze:

"Boss, someone's calling."

As he spoke, Lawyer An pointed to the silver mask,

"I just answered it, he said he wasn't looking for me."

Zhou Ze raised his head in surprise and asked:

"It spoke to you?"

This surprised Boss Zhou a bit,

before, Boss Zhou thought that communicating and transferring power with the little monkey was because they were both monkeys, and it was only natural that it didn't talk to him and only played games.

But how could it communicate with Lawyer An?

"Hey, he even took off his head and kicked it like a ball, doesn't that mean he was telling me to get lost and have someone else answer the phone?

Of course, I wouldn't stand there and foolishly play kickball with him, my brain isn't waterlogged."

"…………" Zhou Ze.

"Boss, will you answer it?" Lawyer An asked.

"Go to the pharmacy, give it to the little monkey."

"Oh, looking for the monkey?"

Lawyer An nodded,

"Then Boss, you continue to rest, we have to travel tomorrow."

…………

In the pharmacy ward, the little monkey took the mask from Lawyer An's hand, and Lawyer An watched the old Taoist for a while before leaving.

The little monkey held the mask in its hand,

with resentment on its face.

But as the mask continued to tremble,

the little monkey hesitated,

and finally put it on its face.

"Squeak squeak squeak!!!!!!!"

The little monkey shouted,

it needed to question, to scold, to accuse, it was very angry.

And over there,

the red-bellyband-wearing doll sat on the table,

waved its hand,

and just listened to the female doll representing the little monkey shouting there.

In the depths of its eyes,

was a deep nostalgia,

as if looking at itself countless years ago.

…………

In Hell,

King Qin Guang chased the big black monkey all the way to the swamp.

Legend has it,

a long time ago,

this was a boundary between Hell and the yang world, an area that was once considered as a possible location for the Bridge of Helplessness (Naihe Bridge), but this place was always unstable. Ordinary wandering souls would be crushed and torn apart when passing through here, but some giants from the yin and yang realms could enter and exit from here, which was also called smuggling.

Later,

the First set up a seal here, forcibly merging this area, which completely blocked it off.

When the big black monkey ran here,

it stopped,

its feet stepping into the swamp,

looking around,

as if reminiscing.

King Qin Guang also stopped, also surveying this place.

Legend has it,

countless years ago,

the First first encountered the Purple-Gold Divine Monkey here,

the divine monkey was captivated by the First's grace,

willingly becoming his divine beast, and later accompanied him in conquering the world.

This encounter between a man and a monkey directly led to the later birth of the underworld, and later formed many interesting stories and legends about this man and monkey.

But legends always carry some beautification and unavoidable distortions,

for example, the emperors of the yang world, especially the founding emperors, history books often record that there was a glow or auspicious omen when they were born, or that their mothers were always busy dreaming about dragons and phoenixes and other immortals.

In reality,

the monkey remembered,

it did indeed meet the First here for the first time,

but it was nonsense that it was captivated by the First's grace,

however,

the monkey was indeed attracted to the First back then,

not because of the First's handsome appearance and god-like talent,

but because of the ten carts of bananas that the bull-headed and horse-faced minions following behind the First were pulling along.

…………

In the space created by the mask communicator,

communication,

continued.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak!!!!!!!"

"Squeak."

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!!!!!!!"

"Squeak."

"Squeak!!!!!!!"

"Squeak…………"

"Squeak?"

"…………"

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!!!!"

…………

In Hell, the black monkey's body began to collapse, its decaying flesh began to merge into this black swamp, merging into this place where it first met the First.

King Qin Guang witnessed this scene beside him.

In the yang world,

on the roof,

the dirty monkey had drool and a smile on its lips,

its face gradually solidified,

the silver mask originally worn on its face,

also slowly fell off.

It,

was over.