"Ask her what she did to Qi Yu," the Judge said slowly, "otherwise how could Qi Yu have become the Calamity Heavenly Dao?"
As the saying goes, a fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken.
Even if a banished god of sin was once part of the old laws, they could not escape interrogation and punishment.
Thus, when the Judge spoke, all eyes turned to the Old Law.
"If that is the case, then I trouble the Judge to allow me to take her back to the South Sea," Shao Feng looked down at the疯疯癫癫 (fengfengdiandi - madly) Old Law, his heart filled with hatred.
The Judge clasped his hands in a salute, "This is not in accordance with protocol, but if you all wish to inquire about some matters here, I can spare some time."
"Guards, prepare seats for their excellencies."
Immediately, Yin Chai came to move tables, arrange chairs, and even brought over several braziers.
An Nuo thanked the Judge.
After the Judge left, everyone else surrounded the prison cell.
Yan Hua walked in and, under everyone's watchful eyes, lifted the Old Law by the neck.
With her feet unable to touch the ground, the Old Law instinctively struggled, but even so, her face turned red as she let out a wild laugh, "What if you kill me? The fate of the Calamity Heavenly Dao cannot be changed! I will make sure none of you in these Three Realms can rest easy."
"Besides curses, what else did you do?" Yan Hua questioned coldly.
But the Old Law's words were jumbled, alternating between laughter and tears, making it impossible to discern the cause and effect from her speech.
Yan Hua felt like killing her.
"Sister cannot hold on for much longer in the 13th Heaven, let's use a more direct method," Si Qing stepped forward, "I heard that in hell, there is a form of punishment that judges the offender based on their own memories."
By constantly reviewing every evil deed they had committed in their lives on a water screen and then passing a just sentence upon themselves, this embarrassment and pain would be etched into the criminal's memory.
"That is a good idea, I will have someone prepare it," Chen Xi said, turning to leave.
After a short while, he returned with the instruments related to this form of punishment.
The Old Law was controlled by a formation, and memories from her mind rapidly surged outwards.
On the water screen, many memory crystals hung.
Chen Xi waved his hand.
The crystals arranged themselves in order, then merged into the water screen, forming a pseudo-waterfall on a wall in the underworld, and the scenes slowly unfolded on the waterfall.
The first few memories that appeared were all about the Blood Demon Sha's possession of the Heavenly Dao, which led to the corruption of the laws.
After these events, the remaining memories were related to the curses.
Although the Old Law had been acting mad until now, it was clear that it was all an act. Now that she felt her most crucial memories were about to be revealed, she began to struggle desperately within the formation.
An Nuo steadied the formation with one hand and gestured for Yan Hua and the others to continue.
Shao Feng helped from the side.
Yan Hua forcefully channeled spiritual energy into the water screen.
Finally, the memory that the Old Law had been so carefully concealing was completely revealed on the water screen.
Watching in the water screen as the Old Law cried and pleaded before the Old Heavenly Dao, stubbornly refusing to step aside and embrace the new Heavenly Dao and new laws, even going so far as to cast a curse to prolong the Old Heavenly Dao's existence, Si Qing clenched his fists tightly.
When they saw later that the Old Law and the Old Heavenly Dao were discussing how to force Qi Yu to make a choice between two options, the anger of everyone present surged to its peak.
Yan Hua's expression changed as he looked at the dagger the Old Law had given to the Old Heavenly Dao in the memory. He then sneered,
"Now everything is clear. No wonder Qi Yu became the Calamity Heavenly Dao."
"What do you mean, Master?" Si Qing looked at Yan Hua.
Yan Hua pointed to the dagger the Old Law had given to the Old Heavenly Dao in the water screen and explained to Si Qing,
"The dagger the Old Law gave to the Old Heavenly Dao is called the Alliance."
"I suspect that when the Old Heavenly Dao gave this dagger to Qi Yu, he might have said something like, 'If you kill me, it will stop the curse, but then something else will happen...' Regardless of Qi Yu's response during this time, as long as she accepted the dagger, the alliance contract would be established."
"And Qi Yu, by accepting this dagger, signified her agreement to become an ally with the Old Heavenly Dao and the Old Law."
"After becoming allies, all responsibilities would be shared. This is why, after Qi Yu became the Calamity Heavenly Dao, the Old Heavenly Dao felt no pain and simply turned to dust and vanished."
"And the Old Law, despite casting curses that caused the deaths of so many lives in the Three Realms, would only face a maximum of a few more years in hell. Only Qi Yu received such a severe punishment."
Shao Feng was bewildered, "Elder Yan Hua, could you explain it more simply? I don't quite understand."
Yan Hua considered his words carefully and finally chose the simplest explanation:
"What this means is that Qi Yu became the Calamity Heavenly Dao because she was tricked by the Old Law and the Old Heavenly Dao, who used the Alliance Dagger to make her join the alliance without her knowledge."
"After joining the alliance, it was as if Qi Yu had acknowledged and participated in the actions of the Old Law and the Old Heavenly Dao."
"This dagger works by simply wounding oneself. So, the Old Heavenly Dao would have found a way to make Qi Yu use it. After she used it, as allies, most of the burden would have transferred to Qi Yu. The price for the Old Heavenly Dao's longevity was to turn into dust and disappear. The Old Law would only be imprisoned in hell for a few hundred days longer. After the judgment, I estimate her punishment would be at most to work like an ox or horse."
Hearing Yan Hua's explanation, Si Qing's eyes turned red.
An Nuo, disbelieving, lunged forward and grabbed the Old Law by the neck, her strength so great that she seemed to want to strangle her. Her voice was hysterical, "Why did you do this! No wonder the Nightmare Demon specifically targeted Si Qing and Shao Feng. This was all your and the Old Heavenly Dao's scheme! You deliberately forced Qi Yu to become the Calamity Heavenly Dao."
"What did my daughter do to offend you that you would target her like this and harm her!"
"...If she didn't become the Calamity Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao and I would have suffered greatly," the Old Law, seeing that everything was exposed, seemed to no longer want to struggle and finally confessed, "The Blood Demon Sha said, 'If one does not look out for oneself, heaven and earth will destroy them.' I find that saying to be very true."
Chen Xi clenched his fist, "So this is your reasoning for shifting the blame onto others and avoiding punishment?"
The Old Law sneered.
Just then, the underworld shook, and the wailing of evil spirits filled the air.
Si Qing looked up.
A sense of foreboding quietly swept through him.