The identity of that Jurchen woman was not hard to guess; she was naturally a Bodhisattva from the Western Paradise.
In fact, during the first trial, Zu'an had already made a rough guess: how could Yuan Shoucheng, a mere mortal, possibly know the secrets of heaven in advance? There must be a powerful being behind him.
After much thought, the only ones with the ability and motive to do so are naturally the Buddhist sect of the Western Paradise.
I never expected that the beings from the Western Paradise would be of such a high level.
This was the first time he had ever seen such a legendary god or Buddha. The pressure and power emanating from him still sent chills down his spine. Even if he had all his cultivation, let alone his current mortal body without any cultivation, it wouldn't have been too difficult for the other party to kill him.
A similar feeling probably dates back to the being summoned by Qiu Honglei's Heaven and Earth Ritual Dance. Unfortunately, the difference in their cultivation levels was too great, making it impossible to determine which was stronger. He only vaguely felt that the other being's oppressive aura was stronger...
In the following days, Zu'an originally thought that he would get better after resting, but his body became weaker and weaker and he had to stay in bed for a long time. Many imperial physicians came to see him but were helpless.
Zuan was speechless. The bodies of ordinary people are really fragile. He was clearly not frightened by the ghost of the Jinghe Dragon King, so why was his body getting worse day by day? Could it be caused by the ghost energy he was exposed to before?
He originally wanted to visit the Bodhisattva at the local temple in Chang'an, but he was bedridden and could only send someone to invite her, since she should have a way to exorcise evil spirits for him.
Those who went returned empty-handed, having not seen the Bodhisattva, and only brought back an ambiguous message: "The opportunity has not yet arrived; it cannot be forced."
Zuan pondered when the right opportunity would be.
These days, he sent people to find Yuan Shoucheng to come to the palace, wanting to find out his background. Who knew that he had already disappeared and gone to travel around to study geomancy.
Zuan sneered inwardly; in truth, this outcome was not unexpected.
So he simply went directly to Wei Zheng, since the latter already held a divine position in the underworld, dealing with such dragon king ghosts would be a perfect fit for him.
Wei Zheng hesitated for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, I am still a mortal and have not yet officially assumed my duties, so I cannot use many of my supernatural powers. I was only able to slay the Dragon King before because of the decree issued by the Heavenly Court. However, it is not difficult to deal with the Jing River Dragon King. We can have Generals Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao guard the gate. These two generals have fought all their lives and their aura is so fierce that even ghosts and gods have to keep their distance.”
Zu'an agreed, as he was well aware of the incident. Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao were regarded as door gods by the common people, who often pasted their portraits on their doors.
With Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao protecting him, the effect was indeed much better. Zu'an didn't have nightmares in the middle of the night, and no ghosts came to bother him.
However, Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao were now just ordinary people, and their bodies couldn't withstand the nightly guard duty. So Zu'an had a painter paint their portraits and paste them on the door.
But after only two days of peace, ghosts began to attack from the back door again, so Wei Zheng personally took his sword and guarded the back door.
Since then, no ghosts have attacked, but Zuan's body has become increasingly weak, getting worse day by day, and soon he was terminally ill.
On his deathbed, Wei Zheng tugged at the dragon robe and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I have a matter to guarantee Your Majesty's longevity."
Zu An deliberately sighed, "The illness has reached a critical stage, and his life is in danger. How can we save him?"
Wei Zheng replied, "I have a letter to present to Your Majesty. Please take it to the Underworld and give it to Judge Cui Jue of Fengdu."
Zu An's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Who is Cui Jue?"
Wei Zheng replied, “Cui Jue was a minister of the late Emperor, first serving as the magistrate of this prefecture and later rising to the position of Vice Minister of Rites. He and I were sworn brothers and had a very close relationship. He is now dead and serves as the judge of Fengdu in the underworld, in charge of the register of life and death. He often meets me in my dreams. If I give this book to him, he will remember my humble position and surely release Your Majesty. I guarantee that His soul will return to the world of the living and bring back His Majesty’s countenance to the capital.”
Zuan breathed a sigh of relief. He had been cooperating with the charade all this time, and finally, this plot point was triggered.
Other participants, unaware of the situation, mostly tried various ways to break the deadlock, but the more they did, the more mistakes they made, turning what was once an easy task into an increasingly dangerous one.
Of course, he only benefited from knowing this historical story; if he hadn't known beforehand, he probably would have made more and more mistakes, just like the other contestants.
He then took the letter in his hand, tucked it into his sleeve, and closed his eyes to die.
Meanwhile, Zu'an's soul left his body and gradually drifted away from the palace. He was not panicked, after all, it was not the first time he had experienced something like this.
Just then, a person came from a distance shouting: "The Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty is coming this way!"
Zu An looked over and saw that the man had a black gauze hat on his head and a rhinoceros horn around his waist, which looked very much like the judge he had seen in TV dramas in his previous life. He already had a guess in his mind, but he still pretended not to know and asked, "Who are you?"
The man replied, “In my previous life, I served under the late Emperor as the magistrate of this prefecture, and later became the Vice Minister of Rites. My name was Cui Jue. Now I am in the underworld, serving as the judge of Fengdu. In the Hall of Yama, I saw the ghost dragon of the Jing River tell Your Majesty why Your Majesty had promised to save him but instead punished him. King Qin Guang of the First Hall immediately sent a ghost messenger to urge Your Majesty to have the Three Courts examine the case. I already knew this, so I came here to await your arrival. I did not expect to be late today. I beg your forgiveness, please forgive me.”
Zuan sized him up. His status should be higher than that of the Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face he had seen before. Unfortunately, his cultivation was now completely sealed, so it was impossible to sense how powerful he was.
"Sir, you have come from afar. I, Wei Zheng, have a letter to send to you. It is a pleasure to meet you here."
As Zu An handed the letter from his sleeve to the other party, he secretly wondered why this judge, who was a high-ranking official in the underworld, was so respectful and courteous to Li Shimin.
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