*
After a while, Nan Qing slowed down her stirring of the soup, a look of boredom flashing in her eyes. She threw the long spoon back into the pot, and the splashing soup made Meng Po shrink back in fright.
"So boring."
She pouted, turned to look at Meng Po beside her, and said, "Hey, Meng Po, what other fun places are there in your underworld?"
But Meng Po lowered her head, not daring to meet Nan Qing's gaze, and after a long pause, she managed to squeeze out a sentence:
"Replying to Your Excellency...this old woman did not know..."
Nan Qing gave an impatient snort, startling Meng Po once again. Suddenly, the old woman had a flash of inspiration; her cloudy eyes darted around, and she trembled as she raised her hand, pointing towards the direction where black smoke was rising in the distance:
"I've heard that the eighteen levels of hell have recently... acquired new instruments of torture..."
Meng Po swallowed hard, the thought of "better to die than see my fellow Daoist die" popping into her mind, and continued:
"The Hell of Knives is currently undergoing renovations; the blades tremble on their own, and when the souls step on them, it's as if they're dancing. The Hell of Icebergs has also introduced a human ice-making machine, and the Hell of Blood Pools has developed a new formula for its pus and blood that bubbles..."
"And also, a new judge has arrived in the Tongue-Pulling Hell, and the iron pincers there can turn by themselves..."
She became more and more enthusiastic as she spoke, gesturing and describing all eighteen levels of hell. As she wished, Nanqing's eyes indeed grew brighter and brighter as she listened.
"That sounds more interesting than making soup!"
As Nan Qing spoke, she picked up Xiao Ba, who was secretly drinking soup, and brought her back. Then, humming a little tune, she headed straight for the eighteen levels of hell that Meng Po had mentioned.
Gazing at the black smoke rising from the direction of hell, Meng Po silently wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, secretly relieved that her ancestor had finally left.
As for what kind of chaos will ensue in Hell... well, Meng Po Zi hasn't taken a vacation in hundreds of years, so she might as well watch the show.
Nan Qing, accompanied by Xiao Ba, strolled leisurely to the gates of hell. The towering black gate before them pierced the gloom, its doors adorned with countless wailing faces of tortured demons, each one writhing and groaning in agony. On either side of the black gate stood two stone statues of ghost generals with blue faces and fangs, their eye sockets glowing with eerie green phosphorescence.
"What kind of aesthetic sense does the underworld have...?"
Nan Qing muttered a complaint under her breath, and Xiao Ba on her shoulder nodded repeatedly. Neither of them was frightened by the scene before them. On the contrary, they were quite interested. She kicked the tightly closed door with her toe, which happened to hit the head of a fierce ghost with an iron chain piercing its jaw. The fierce ghost immediately let out a piercing scream.
Soon, heavy footsteps and the clanging of chains came from inside the door. The sound seemed to come from the depths of the underworld, each step pounding on one's heart and sending chills down one's spine.
Of course, this does not include Nanqing and Xiaoba.
The bull-headed creature had barely poked half its body out of the door when, before it could even utter a word, its copper bell-like eyes suddenly widened, and the steel fork in its hand abruptly slipped from its grasp.
Nan Qing, who was outside the door, quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the steel fork that was thrown at her.
Upon realizing the trouble he had caused, Ox-Head's already terrifying face turned deathly pale. He didn't even care about the shock in his soul; his massive body immediately prostrated itself on the ground, saying:
"My lord, please forgive me, I deserve to die."
Ox-Head's voice trembled violently, and even his thick horse tail was tightly tucked between his legs. Horse-Face, who was behind the door, had also seen what had just happened and knelt down along with Ox-Head.
Nan Qing had no intention of making things difficult for them. She simply wanted to escape that scoundrel, so she came to the underworld to have some fun and pass the time. She waved her hand dismissively and said:
"Alright, alright, get up, everyone."
Even after rising, the towering Ox-Head and Horse-Face still hunched over, their backs bent, and even their sharp horns were carefully tucked in, as if afraid of offending this great man again by accident.
Although this person was a mortal, the pressure emanating from his soul was as deep and boundless as the ocean, making them tremble. Let alone facing him, just standing in front of him was like facing a scorching sun, stinging their spiritual bodies.
They had no doubt that if this great man wanted to, he wouldn't even need to raise his hand; with just a thought, they would be scattered to the underworld at any moment, without even a chance to be reincarnated.
Horse-face bowed to Nan Qing, his voice tinged with obsequiousness: "Please wait a moment, my lord, I will go and inform King Yama immediately..."
"No need, I just came here to have some fun."
Upon hearing this, Horse-Face immediately fell silent as if someone had grabbed his throat. "Play around? Here?"
He secretly exchanged a terrified glance with the bull-headed man. Who was this brilliant strategist who told this lord that hell was a place to play?
But he still didn't dare to utter a sound. He and Niu Tou stood on opposite sides like two guardian deities, even breathing very softly.
Nan Qing examined the distorted ghost face reliefs on the giant gate with great interest, and suddenly reached out and poked one of the ghost faces that had its mouth tightly shut and dared not groan. The ghost face even trembled when Nan Qing touched it, and pulled out an ugly smile.
Seeing this, Nan Qing nodded in satisfaction, then walked in leisurely as if strolling through a market, while Ox-Head and Horse-Face followed behind him tremblingly, looking like two unlucky souls who had been forcibly dragged along to be tour guides.
Upon arriving at the first floor, Nanqing and Xiaoba were amused by the sight before them.
A group of long-tongued ghosts were hanging in mid-air, their tongues being pulled by iron hooks, swaying like strings of dried sausages.
As she approached, the ghost messengers trembled and almost dropped the hooks in their hands, while the long-tongued ghosts desperately tried to retract their tongues, creating a comical and funny scene.
Seeing that she seemed interested, Ma Mian quickly stepped forward and explained:
"My lord, this is the first level of the Tongue-Pulling Hell, where those who were punished in life were ghosts who liked to sow discord, slander, and harm others."
Nan Qing nodded, then suddenly remembered something and her eyes lit up: "Oh, right, I heard that the Tongue-Pulling Hell has a new judge and iron pincers that can move on their own?"
Upon hearing this, Ox-Head immediately perked up and eagerly offered his words as if presenting a treasure:
"The lord's information network is truly impressive. He's the newly appointed 'eloquent judge,' and his 'silver tongue pincers' are incredibly powerful."
The newly appointed judge, who was hiding behind a stone pillar and already wished he could embed himself in the wall, froze upon hearing Ox-Head's words. He peeked out from behind the pillar with half of his pale face, glaring at Ox-Head with resentful eyes.
This idiot, do we really have to expose him?!
Nan Qing was having a great time in the underworld, but Qin Mobei, who had just returned from the imperial tomb, had a very gloomy expression.
Especially when he searched the entire store but couldn't find her, her phone showed "out of service area" when he called her, and even her pet dog was nowhere to be found, he was so angry he almost laughed.
Very well, so his empress has abandoned him again and run away from home?!
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