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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 126: The King of Hell's Hall
As the old saying goes, once you reach the Viewing Platform, you can only gaze at your hometown without the chance to return. This means that when these Wandering Souls arrive at the Viewing Platform, they have almost no chance of returning to life, as their physical bodies in the mortal realm are likely already prepared for burial. They have no way to do anything other than look at their families in the living world.
The Viewing Platform is filled with Wandering Souls, each one with tears streaming down their faces, heartbroken. Clearly, they have seen their hometown and loved ones, and more importantly, they have witnessed their decaying physical bodies in the mortal realm. At this moment, they must accept the harsh reality of their own deaths.
Those Wandering Souls who descend from the Viewing Platform are either sorrowful, regretful, or lamenting. Indeed, those who have not experienced the pain of parting in life and death cannot understand this heart-wrenching suffering. Therefore, while living in this world, I urge you to be more tolerant and treat your family and friends kindly; do not wait until it is too late to regret, for then it will all be over.
The Viewing Platform has borne countless tears of sorrow and regret. It truly is a place where even in death one still clings to their past, with pain severing the ties between the living and the dead!
On the other side of the Viewing Platform stands Meng Po. Every Wandering Soul that descends from the platform must drink a bowl of her Meng Po Soup, which allows them to forget their past lives and be reborn.
Of course, we are not here to be reborn; we are here to seek an audience with King Yan. So we did not ascend the Viewing Platform but instead headed directly toward Fengdu City nearby.
This city lies on a plain before us, with yellow walls towering several meters high, spanning across the entire plain. Although we are still some distance away and cannot see the buildings within the city, its majestic presence is undeniable!
Even though we are still quite far away, our white horse seems to sense that we are nearing our destination and runs very quickly. Soon after, we arrive at the base of the ancient city walls.
Standing at the foot of the walls and looking up at the towering yellow structure makes it feel so high above us; its massive and grand aura becomes even more apparent. The entire city exudes an ancient atmosphere; the earth-toned walls are already weathered and worn by time, yet they do not appear dilapidated. On the contrary, it is precisely because they have endured through time that they seem even more solid and imposing—just one glance commands respect!
Looking up at the walls, I notice two lanterns floating high in the dim sky above.
Though these two lanterns hang in mid-air, they remain completely still. One is a vibrant red that looks like a pool of fresh blood; the other is a dark green reminiscent of Ghost Fire from beyond the underworld. Regardless of whether these lanterns are red or green, they appear eerily out of place against the dark sky of this realm.
In the center of the city wall is a massive gate with three large black characters inscribed above—Fengdu City. This place is also known as "Hell City" or "Underworld," where souls return after death.
All ghosts will be taken to the various offices in Fengdu City, where the Four Great Judges are located, responsible for rewarding good and punishing evil, overseeing the affairs of souls. Beside the hall, there is a couplet that reads: "In the mortal world, villains harm heaven and reason by their own actions; in the underworld, retribution has spared no one from ancient times to the present."
After determining the good and evil deeds of a person during their lifetime, if they were good, they would wait in Hell City for reincarnation. During this time, paper clothes and money burned by their living relatives will be sent here by the Spirit House's ghost sedan chair, allowing the waiting Wandering Souls to await their rebirth peacefully. If they were evil, they would be directly cast into hell to suffer corresponding punishments such as skinning and being boiled in oil, enduring various tortures.
As we approached the city gate, we were stopped by the underworld soldiers who asked for our Pass. We understood the rules; without a Pass, we could not get through. So we took out our Underworld Ghost Seal. The soldier glanced at it and then allowed us to enter the city smoothly.
Inside the city, both sides of the streets were lined with buildings where souls waited for reincarnation. The underworld is actually similar to the mortal world; there are shops and various goods here. If you want to buy something, you must use ghost money.
Those without money naturally have nothing—no incense or candles to eat, no clothes to wear, and no houses to live in. Along the streets, beggars are everywhere; these people either have no descendants or their descendants are unfilial or do not believe in the afterlife. Therefore, no one burns paper money for them or offers them Spirit House clothes during festivals. They can only beg in the underworld until the day they are reincarnated.
Sometimes people have children because they believe it is for enjoying family happiness while alive. But who knows that having descendants means that one will not go hungry or cold in the underworld after death?
Only those who have been to the underworld understand how detestable unfilial descendants can be.
As we walked along the street, our mood was heavy because there were many begging souls who were truly pitiful.
From time to time, ghosts would rush over upon seeing us riding white horses, knowing we were Yin-Yang Masters, pleading with us to convey messages to their living relatives to burn some paper money for them. I wished I could help them convey their messages; however, there were simply too many of them, and even if I wanted to help, I couldn't find their relatives at that moment.
After walking a few hundred meters forward, a large hall appeared before us. Above it hung a big plaque with three large characters: "Yama Hall." Several underworld soldiers stood guard at the entrance with Demon-Whipping Whips in hand; this was the power center of the Underworld where little ghosts could not cause trouble.
We knew that this was our destination; Yama was inside handling affairs, so we quickly walked over.
Upon reaching the door, we displayed our Ghost Seal and said to the guarding soldier: "Brother Yama Official, we are disciples of Paper Craftsman and have urgent matters to discuss with Yama. Please inform him on our behalf."
However, after glancing at our Ghost Seal, he threw it back and said: "This is Yama Hall; Lord Yama cannot be seen just because you wish it. Leave quickly, or beware of my beating."
As soon as we saw this little ghost being so difficult to communicate with, we were instantly taken aback, thinking, "Could it be that we've arrived at Fengdu City and can't even see King Yan?" If that's the case, then this trip would truly be in vain.
However, seeing the cold and frosty expression of the ghost officer, we knew that with the Ghost Seal now ineffective, there was no way we could come up with a better solution.
"Why are you two little yin-yangs here?" Just as we were feeling anxious and troubled, a familiar voice suddenly echoed from within the hall.
We hurriedly looked up and saw that the speaker was none other than Black Wuchang! Although every time we encountered him, he would scold us harshly, seeing such a familiar face here made me feel more joy than worry. After all, Black Wuchang is a favored aide of King Yan; as long as he was willing to help, meeting King Yan wouldn't be difficult.
Thinking of this, I quickly cupped my fists in salute and said, "Lord Yin Shuai, I came here this time mainly to find King Yan to discuss..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Black Wuchang interrupted me with a wave of his hand, saying, "Don't bother. Do you think I wouldn't know why you're here? It's because you've made a mistake that you can't solve on your own and came to the Underworld for help?"
Hearing this, I immediately broke out in a cold sweat. I thought to myself that this old ghost was indeed hard to deal with; every time we met, he never missed an opportunity to point out my shortcomings. However, it was true that I had made a mistake this time. He wasn't wrong; I could only chuckle awkwardly and say, "Well, it's all my fault for being reckless. But right now the Ghost Gate is unguarded; if any souls escape, it would be disastrous!"
"You can still say such things? If I had known it would come to this today, why did you act recklessly back then?" After saying this, he turned around and added, "Why are you still standing there? Don't you want to see King Yan? Come in!"
At that moment, I became excited, knowing that Black Wuchang was willing to help us. I quickly followed him into the hall.
As Black Wuchang led us inside, he said, "The Ghost Gate cannot be guarded by just a few ghost soldiers. I won't clean up your mess for you. I can take you to see King Yan, but you'll have to plead with him on your own."
I nodded but inwardly grumbled. Although I had caused this trouble myself, weren't they ghost officers? If something happened at the Ghost Gate, wouldn't they care at all?
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