This little ancestor is terrifying enough, but now we have to add the Xuanyuan Sword Master, an ancient demon with the bloodline of a serpent, and a tiger demon king with at least a thousand years of cultivation who looks like a force to be reckoned with...
With this lineup, let alone storming the Netherworld, even the Ten Kings of Hell would have a headache facing them!
Seeing that Qiqi was about to rush out with the Divine Thunder Talisman in her little hand, Judge Lu finally broke down.
He practically lunged forward, shouting, "Wait! Young fellow Daoist! Let's talk this out! I... I'll take you there! I'll personally take you to the ninth level to interrogate Dong Jiu! Is that alright?!"
Forcibly entering the Netherworld is a heinous crime, and if investigated, his position as a judge in the Investigation Department will be over.
It would be better if he took the lead himself; at least he could control the situation and go through a "special interrogation" procedure to minimize the impact.
Qiqi stopped and tilted her head to look at Judge Lu, as if trying to determine the truthfulness of his words. "Really? Uncle Judge Lu, don't try to fool me just because I'm young."
"I won't lie! Absolutely not!" Judge Lu swore to the heavens, "I guarantee this with a thousand years of virtuous deeds! I'll take you there right now! We'll use the special passage, it'll be very fast!"
His heart was bleeding; this time, the rules of the underworld had been thoroughly humiliated.
But between two evils, choose the lesser; it's better than having this little tyrant blow a hole in hell with his divine thunder...
"Alright then!" Qiqi put away the Divine Thunder Talisman, and a sweet smile returned to her little face, as if the little devil who had been so fierce as to want to blow up hell was just an illusion. "Thank you, Uncle Lu! Uncle Lu is the best!"
Judge Lu looked at the little dumpling whose expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book, and felt utterly powerless.
He wiped away non-existent cold sweat and waved his hand weakly, "Let's go, let's go... I'll take you there now."
He walked to the wall on one side of the main hall, made hand gestures, and chanted incantations.
Rippling patterns appeared on the wall, followed by a portal emanating a chilling aura.
"This is a shortcut to the outer edge of the Netherworld Hell," Judge Lu explained, taking the lead in. "Stay close to me. Inside Hell, do not wander around, and even more so... well, just stay close to me."
Huo Yuwei and Huo Yusen exchanged a glance, followed closely behind Qiqi, and stepped into the portal.
Tiger Eagle shrunk its size and nimbly jumped into Qi Qi's arms, where she held it.
Beyond the portal was a cold, spiraling passage that led downwards.
The surrounding walls looked like they were made of black ice, radiating a bone-chilling cold.
The air was filled with desperate and painful wails; the deeper you went, the clearer the sounds became, and the lower the temperature dropped.
If it weren't for Qiqi's Yin-avoiding talisman and Huo Yuwei's Xuanyuan Sword Qi protecting them, Huo Yusen and Hu Ying would probably have already succumbed to the pressure.
They encountered several patrols of prison guards along the way. Seeing Judge Lu leading the group, the guards looked at Qi Qi and her group of "living people" and "demons" with surprise, but they all respectfully bowed and let them pass.
After descending for an unknown amount of time, we finally reached the end of the passage.
Before me stretched an incredibly vast, seemingly boundless ice field.
The sky is an eternal dark blue, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, only the biting wind howls like a knife, whipping up ice shards from the ground.
Countless transparent, twisted souls were frozen within massive black ice pillars, enduring endless icy erosion.
Their pain and despair form the main theme of this space.
This is the ninth level of the Netherworld Hell—the Frozen Hell.
Even with the protection of the talisman, Huo Yuwei and Huo Yusen felt a chill that penetrated to their very bones.
Huo Yusen instinctively pulled Qiqi closer to him, using his body to shield her from some of the cold wind.
"Dongjiu is in that area ahead," Judge Lu said, pointing to a particularly dense forest of ice pillars deep in the ice field. His voice sounded somewhat low in the environment.
Qiqi's little face was tense, and her big eyes were full of heartache and anxiety.
She turned to Lu Pan, Huo Yusen, and the others and said, "Dong Jiu doesn't know that he's my junior brother yet, so you all better not let it slip!"
After giving his instructions, he turned and ran off in that direction without looking back.
"Brother Dongjiu! Brother Dongjiu! Where are you? Qiqi is here!" she called out in her sweet, childlike voice, which was full of spiritual power, as she ran.
The sound echoed across the empty ice plain, causing subtle ripples in some of the frozen souls.
Finally, in front of an exceptionally thick black icicle near the center, Qiqi saw that familiar figure.
The spirit of a boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old was wearing a thin blue Taoist robe. His limbs were tightly bound by cold iron chains that emitted a ghostly light and were nailed to an ice pillar.
He lowered his head, his long, dark hair frosted over, his face was so pale it was almost transparent, and his soul trembled slightly in the extreme cold, as if it might dissipate at any moment.
It is Dongjiu.
"Brother Dong Jiu!" Qi Qi's eyes instantly reddened. She rushed to the ice pillar, her chubby little hands reaching out to touch him through the cold pillar.
Hearing that familiar voice, Dong Jiu slowly and laboriously raised his head.
When he saw Qiqi outside the icicle, wearing a cute little dress and with red eyes like a little rabbit, his previously dull eyes suddenly burst forth with an incredulous light.
"Senior...Senior Sister?"
He gazed intently at Qiqi, and for some reason, that look seemed to pierce through a thousand years of time, landing on a particular moment.
At that time, he was the most favored junior brother of the Heavenly Mystery Sect.
On one occasion, he accidentally fell into the clutches of the demons and was captured by the Demon Lord and imprisoned in a dungeon.
I originally thought I was probably going to die.
Unexpectedly, his senior sister, dressed in white, came with a sword in hand.
Alone, Z slew countless demons and stormed into the demon dungeon to rescue him.
Just like the little bundle of milk in front of me right now.
However, the little milk group is not the senior sister.
He was no longer the beloved junior disciple of the Heavenly Mystery Sect.
His senior brothers and sisters risked their lives to protect him, but he couldn't even take care of a wisp of his third senior brother's soul.
He's a complete waste!
The light in Dong Jiu's eyes dimmed. He spoke, his voice weak and hoarse, trembling violently, "Little guy... why are you here? It's... it's too cold here... you should go..."
Even though he was in dire straits himself, his first reaction was to worry about Qiqi getting cold.
"Stupid brother!" Qiqi's tears finally fell, turning into ice crystals that shattered on the ground. "Didn't I tell you that Qiqi would protect you? Why didn't you tell Qiqi when you were wronged! Why did you have to bear it all by yourself!"
She turned around abruptly to look at Judge Lu, who had followed her. Her small voice was trembling with tears, yet unusually firm, "Uncle Judge Lu! Unlock the chains! Now! Immediately! Right now!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com