*

In the underworld.

The silver-tongued judge took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, and walked out with a stiff upper lip. He was thin, and his black judge's robe looked particularly loose. The judge's pen hanging at his waist swayed slightly with his steps.

He walked up to Nan Qing, bowed respectfully, and a few beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"This humble official... the newly appointed eloquent judge greets Your Excellency."

His voice was clearer and more melodious than I had imagined, though the last syllable trembled slightly.

Nan Qing looked him up and down with great interest: "I didn't expect there to be such a handsome judge in the underworld. Were you a scholar in your previous life?"

Upon hearing this, the judge's ears burned slightly, and he replied:

"Your Excellency, in my lifetime... I was indeed a scholar..."

But before he could finish speaking, a series of metallic clanging sounds came from afar...

Nan Qing looked in the direction of the sound and saw a pair of jet-black iron pincers hopping and skipping toward them, even snapping a lock of the judge's hair with a "click".

The judge winced in pain, but dared not retaliate in front of Nan Qing. He could only grit his teeth and whisper:

"Give in..."

Looking at this pair of clowns, Nan Qing couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Is this the iron pliers you used to use that could move by itself?"

The judge awkwardly twitched the corners of his mouth, nodded, and thought to himself that this job was truly unbearable; he shouldn't have taken up the post so soon!

He secretly glanced at Niu Tou, his eyes filled with "It's all your fault." Niu Tou guiltily turned his face away and pretended to examine his own hooves.

He knew nothing, he knew nothing at all.

Nan Qing found it amusing and beckoned to the iron clamp: "Come here."

As soon as she finished speaking, the iron clamps that were holding the judge's hair flew to Nan Qing's face with a "whoosh," tapped twice, and rubbed against her hand in a fawning manner.

Nan Qing chuckled and patted the iron pliers, saying, "You're quite clever; how did you recognize whose tongue to clamp?"

Upon hearing this, the iron clamps immediately snapped open, their jaws gleaming with a faint red light. The judge quickly explained:

"Your Excellency, these pliers can detect lies. If a ghost has uttered evil and falsehoods, its tongue will turn black..."

The pincers turned towards the judge, clicking twice in a wronged manner, as if accusing the judge of stealing its words. Nan Qing couldn't help but laugh at its little antics. She pointed at the pincers and said:

"Okay, okay, I know you're really good. Can you give me a demonstration?"

Upon hearing Nan Qing's praise, the iron clamp seemed to be injected with some kind of chicken blood, and immediately charged towards the ghost horde with great spirit, frightening the ghosts into covering their mouths. For a moment, the sound of "crack" echoed continuously on the execution ground.

"I...I didn't lie, I really didn't lie!"

"My lord, spare me! Spare me!"

“I confess, I confess! I did spread rumors during my lifetime.”

Seeing the chaotic scene, Nan Qing nodded in satisfaction: "Now that's more like it!"

After saying that, she put her hands behind her back and leisurely continued walking down to the next level, the judge's desperate cries still faintly echoing behind her:

"Come back! That's one of our own tongues, you can't pinch it!"

...

Nan Qing didn't know how long she had been playing in the eighteen levels of hell. Anyway, she went to see each level. In the third level, the Iron Tree Hell, there were "human face fruits" on the trees where the dead were crying. In the seventh level, the Knife Mountain Hell, the blades could indeed tremble on their own. There was also the Ice Mountain Hell, which was frozen with countless infant spirits, and the Blood Pool Hell, which had many withered hands and was bubbling.

There is also the Stone Mill Hell, where evil spirits who oppressed the people, such as local bullies, corrupt officials, and unscrupulous merchants, are ground into mincemeat with a millstone and then ground again and again.

After seeing the eighteenth level of Avici Hell, Nan Qing stretched, poked the little hedgehog who looked like it hadn't had enough, and glanced back at the ox-headed and horse-faced demons who had followed her tremblingly all the way, saying:

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Ox-Head and Horse-Face immediately bent their backs even lower, the ox's enormous horns almost touching the ground:

"It's not tiring at all! It's our privilege to accompany the adults on their trip!"

Nan Qing waved her hand, turned around and walked outside. Ox-Head and Horse-Face stood there without daring to move until her figure disappeared in front of the gates of hell. Only then did the two of them breathe a sigh of relief and slump to the ground without prior arrangement.

"Finally gone..."

Ox-Head wiped away non-existent cold sweat, and two streams of white vapor shot out from his nose. Horse-Face lay flat on the ground with its four hooves in the air.

"If this ancestor doesn't leave soon, I'm afraid I won't even have the strength to stand up..."

Bull Head looked towards the gate with lingering fear: "Old Ma, who do you think she is? Even the King of Hell wouldn't dare to challenge her, saying she can do whatever she wants with him..."

Horse-face shook its mane and shook its hoof: "Who knows... Anyway, it's not something we should be asking about."

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a clear bell sound coming from afar, which startled them so much that they jumped up and stood up straight.

Horse-face asked tremblingly, "They're not back again, are they?"

Ox-Head pricked up his ears and listened for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief: "It wasn't her, it was those two unlucky guys, Black and White Impermanence."

Sure enough, a moment later, Black and White Impermanence arrived. Seeing Ox-Head and Horse-Face's appearance, they joked:

"What, that esteemed person just left?"

Bai Wuchang added with a smile, "Looks like you two have been through quite a bit."

The bull-headed horse exchanged a glance and sighed in unison, "Don't even mention it..."

Unlike Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Nan Qing was having a lot of fun. As they walked towards the Gates of Hell, he chatted and laughed with Xiao Ba, discussing the punishments and some bizarre evil spirits they had seen in the eighteen levels of hell.

However, all her happiness vanished when she saw that familiar figure on the verge of death.

Qin Mobei had his back to her, toying with a blood-red jade pendant between his fingers. Hearing footsteps, he slowly turned around.

Nan Qing paused, raising her eyes to look at Qin Mobei, who had blocked her path to death.

Today he was wearing a black shirt, suit pants, and black leather shoes, but he still had his long hair tied up with a jade crown, with a few strands hanging down his neck, making his skin look even whiter.

His outfit, a blend of modern and traditional styles, created an eerie harmony against the gloomy backdrop of the underworld.

Did you have a good time?

Qin Mobei's voice was very soft, yet it caused the wandering spirits around him to instantly shrink into the red spider lilies. He slowly walked closer, his leather shoes crunching over the fallen petals.

Nan Qing, clutching the already departed Xiao Ba, forced himself to raise his chin and said, "It's...it's alright...um, I...I suddenly remembered..."

"Shh!"

His cool fingertips touched her lips. Qin Mobei lowered his eyes and gazed at her. With his other hand, he gently plucked a petal of the Lycoris radiata flower from her hair. The petal suddenly ignited with a ghostly blue flame in his palm and turned to ashes in an instant.

"Since the Empress enjoys visiting Hell so much..."

He suddenly leaned down, his cool lips pressed against her earlobe, his deep voice carrying a strange kind of laughter.

"How about I personally show you how it goes..."

"What do you mean...?"

"The eighteen levels of hell..."

"Deep, Dimensional, and Swimming"

Nan Qing: "......."

Oh no, could Qin Mobei be the one to bring her to her death in this world?

If this continues, won't this body die from excessive indulgence?!