At this moment, Judge Cui snorted coldly and directly sent a blue-faced, fanged ghost messenger to drive away Jiancheng and Yuanji, allowing Zu'an to escape.
After they had gone far away, he could faintly hear Jiancheng comforting Yuanji behind him: "He deliberately provoked you. Have you forgotten your younger brother and sister-in-law..."
Unfortunately, the ghost messengers led them away, and the rest of their conversation could not be heard.
Sigh, life without cultivation is really unbearable.
Just then, he arrived in front of a magnificent hall. A burst of laughter came from there. It turned out that the ten Yama Kings—King Qin Guang, King Chu Jiang, King Song Di, King Wu Guan, King Yama, King Ping Deng, King Tai Shan, King Du Shi, King Bian Cheng, and King Zhuan Lun—descended down the steps and bowed to welcome Zu An.
As Zu'an returned the greeting, he sized up the appearances of the ten kings. Each of them was imposing and fierce; an ordinary person would probably tremble with fear upon seeing them.
I figured it was probably a special plot point that allowed me to see their true colors...
At this moment, the Ten Kings said, "Your Majesty is the King of the Living World, and we are the Kings of the Underworld. It is only natural that we are divided among ourselves. Why should we yield to each other?"
Zu An was increasingly surprised. If Judge Cui's enthusiasm could be explained by his relationship with Wei Zheng, then the Ten Kings of Hell were being far too enthusiastic.
Next, we went directly to the Hall of the Ten Kings, paid our respects to the Ten Kings, and then sat down as host and guest.
Next, King Qin Guang inquired about the matter of the Jing River Dragon King, and Zu An explained the whole story.
Upon hearing this, the Ten Kings bowed and said, “Before that dragon was even born, it was already destined in the Book of Death of the Southern Dipper that he was to be killed by the Human Court. We already knew this. But he insisted on coming here to argue, demanding that Your Majesty come here for a trial by the Three Courts. It was we who sent him to the Wheel of Reincarnation to be reborn. Now we have troubled Your Majesty to come here again. We beg your forgiveness for our urging.”
Having said that, he ordered the judge in charge of the Book of Life and Death: "Quickly bring the book and see how much lifespan His Majesty is due."
Zu An's heart tightened. This was the most crucial moment. If his lifespan had ended, he might never be able to leave this hell.
At this moment, Judge Cui hurriedly returned to his office and began to examine the General Register of the Heavenly Blessings of the Kings of All Nations. He saw that the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Great Tang Dynasty in the Southern Continent was set for the thirteenth year of the Zhenguan era. Judge Cui was startled and quickly took a thick brush and added two strokes to the character "one," before presenting the register to the Emperor.
The ten kings looked at it from the beginning and saw that Emperor Taizong's reign was destined to last thirty-three years. King Yama asked in surprise, "How many years has His Majesty been on the throne?"
Zu'an replied, "I have been on the throne for thirteen years now."
Yama said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. You still have twenty years of life left. Now that the case has been resolved, please return to the mortal realm."
A huge weight was lifted from Zu'an's heart, and he bowed in gratitude.
Next, Judge Cui led Zu'an away from the underworld, not by the way they came, but by crossing Yin Mountain and passing through the eighteen levels of hell. The scene there was terrifying even for a well-informed cultivator like Zu'an, let alone the mortal Li Shimin.
Next, they passed through the City of the Wrongfully Dead, where countless evil spirits shouted, "Li Shimin is coming!" Various ghosts with broken arms and legs and no heads came to claim Zu An's life, and Zu An sought help from Judge Cui.
Judge Cui was somewhat troubled: "Your Majesty, those people are the ghosts of the sixty-four bandit groups, the seventy-two outlaw groups, the princes and leaders; they are all unjustly killed, with no one to take care of them, unable to be reborn, and without money for travel, they are all lonely, poor, and hungry ghosts. If Your Majesty gives them some money, I can save them."
But Zu'an had no money on him at the time, so the judge said, "Your Majesty, there is a person in the mortal world who has deposited a certain amount of gold and silver in my underworld. Your Majesty can sign a contract, and I can act as guarantor. I will lend him a treasury to distribute to these hungry ghosts so that he can pass away."
Zu An asked, "Who is this person?"
The judge said, "He is from Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan Province, and his surname is Xiang and his given name is Liang. He has thirteen treasuries of gold and silver here. If Your Majesty has borrowed any from him, you can return it to him in the mortal world."
Zu An was willing to lend his name. So he wrote a document to the judge, lending him a treasury of gold and silver.
His heart was completely calm. Although he had lost all his cultivation, his mind was exceptionally sharp. These days, he had been thinking about the relevant matters in "Journey to the West" day and night, and many previously vague details had gradually become clear.
If I remember correctly, this Xiangliang did not accept Emperor Taizong's offer to repay the money in history, so Taizong built the Xiangguo Temple to thank him.
Li Shimin was just a mortal, and he might have been frightened by these things, but how could he not see that these interconnected events were all a play deliberately arranged for him?
The judge then addressed the many wronged souls, saying, “You may divide this gold and silver equally among yourselves and let your Tang Dynasty grandfather go. His lifespan is still long. I have received the instructions of the Ten Kings to send him back to life and teach him to hold a ‘Water and Land Ceremony’ in the mortal world to help you be reborn and to stop causing trouble.”
Upon hearing this, the ghosts, having received the gold and silver, all bowed and withdrew.
Only then did the judge wave the soul-guiding banner, leading Zu An out of the City of the Wrongfully Dead, onto the main road of Pingyang, and they drifted away.
Next, we passed the Bridge of Helplessness, beneath which flowed the turbulent, blood-yellow waters of the River of Oblivion.
Zuan specifically sought out Meng Po to see if he had a connection with her, but there was no Meng Po on the Bridge of Helplessness. Instead, there were all sorts of fierce and malevolent underworld officials, as well as countless wronged souls and vengeful ghosts drowning in the River of Oblivion, desperately reaching out to him, seemingly asking for his help, or perhaps trying to drag him down with them.
If the real Li Shimin saw this scene, he would probably be terrified, but Zu'an only felt a sense of familiarity, though on the surface he still had to pretend to be terrified.
After crossing the Bridge of Helplessness, they finally arrived at the place of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Seeing the six-colored vortex rotating in the void, Zu An's heart stirred. This Six Paths of Reincarnation indeed contained countless mysteries and laws. Just standing here gave people a sense of awe and longing in their souls.
Judge Cui explained to Zu An from the side: "This is called the 'Six Paths of Reincarnation.' Those who do good deeds are reborn into the Immortal Path; those who are loyal are reborn into the Noble Path; those who are filial are reborn into the Blessed Path; those who are fair are reborn into the Human Path; those who accumulate virtue are reborn into the Wealthy Path; and those who are wicked are reborn into the Ghost Path. Your Majesty, please remember this well and tell the people when you return."
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