Republic of China

Chapter 108 The Book of Life and Death

The wind and snow outside Yaowang Valley gradually subsided, and the roar of the cold wind no longer ceased all day long.

In the main hall, Ksitigarbha's large lantern array was still shining brightly. Liu Mangfan in the array was casually resting on a futon to catch up on his sleep. Kang Mu'ang was taking care of the lantern array at the moment.

The flames of the several lamps were very stable, and the many bells on the red ropes did not make any shaking sound, indicating that everything was going well for the two people who were walking in the dark.

On the surface, Zhao Sanyuan and Shangguan Baitu in the coffin seemed to be asleep, but Kang Muang knew very well that the longer the time dragged on, the two people who went down would starve to death if they were not trapped to death. What could be done for them? We can only occasionally drip snow water into their mouths. As for food, we can only sigh and feel helpless. Feeding them carelessly will probably choke them to death.

At this time, one of the three lotus bags placed in front of the coffin suddenly floated into the air and ignited without fire.

The rising smoke seemed to solidify into a human face.

"Lao Kang? Lao Kang, are you dead? If not, please say something."

Hearing the familiar voice, Liu Mangfan, who was sleeping, became alert and crawled to Kang Muang's side, "It's Sanyuan! Have you finished Sanyuan?"

"We haven't found Gao Shou yet. I have discussed with Rabbit that I will go into the Yin Cao alone to look through the book of life and death. If Gao Shou has been reincarnated, then we will return to the Yang immediately. If Gao Shou has just passed through the Yin Cao and has not yet been reincarnated, I will rush to Naihe Bridge to block him."

"What!?" Liu Mangfan looked anxious, "No! Absolutely not! Not to mention whether you will be sent to hell if you enter the underworld. Anyone who thinks about it knows that looking through the book of life and death is a serious felony. , do I need to say more about the consequences once discovered?"

The smoke from the ashes of the lotus bag began to dissipate.

There is not much time left for Yin and Yang to communicate.

"It's not that I'm not at all sure. There is an old Yin agent in the Yin Cao who is willing to help and is trustworthy. Time is limited and I can't explain too much. Can you tell me first how long it has been since you left the Yin world?"

Liu Mangfan said in a deep voice: "It's a little more than 34 hours. Listen to me, Sanyuan. Don't act forcefully because of the seriousness of the matter. You are already worthy of anyone. Listen to Brother Liu's advice and I have never heard of anyone who is a shady person." Who needs to go through the underworld? Hurry up—"

Before he finished speaking, his arm was gently held down by Kang Muang, and he shook his head at the former.

"Stop trying to persuade me. What kind of temper does Sanyuan have? It's useless for us to talk."

Kang Muang then looked at the lotus bag smoke and said seriously: "Be careful and come back as soon as possible. You and Rabbit Yangbo can't hold on forever."

"I understand, you two also want to open a few more doors. If I succeed, I can help you look at it for a few years."

The smoke dissipates completely.

Zhao Sanyuan turned around and looked at the huge and magnificent buildings behind him, his eyes firm and decisive.

At this moment, he was the only one standing on the dirt road, with neither Lao Yin Cha nor Shangguan White Rabbit beside him.

After lighting a cigarette, he stepped forward and gradually merged into the team of ghosts heading to the underworld.

The Yin Cao is very large and is the most important administrative department of the underworld. It is managed by multiple officials. The leader is the King of Yama of the Ten Palaces. They have the power to judge and judge all the ghosts. Those who commit crimes will be punished and those who have merit will be pardoned.

If bribery and injustice still exist in some small corners of the underworld, then in front of the Ten Palaces of King Yama, all ghosts will be treated equally, and there will be no way out. The merits and demerits of right and wrong are all based on the virtues during life.

But the first stop in the underworld is not to be sent directly to a certain King of Yama, but to the Hall of Ecstasy.

Here, the ghosts must drink the ecstasy water under the guidance and supervision of Yin Chai. There is a large pool not far in front of Zhao Sanyuan, with bubbles bubbling out.

After drinking this thing, the ghosts will speak the truth. No matter how eloquent and eloquent you are in life, it will be useless after drinking it. The good and bad will be spoken one by one.

Not only does one have to drink the ecstasy water, but after drinking it, one has to smash the water scoop into pieces. The fragments will condense into words in mid-air, showing which Yama King the ghost should face the judgment of.

While waiting in line, Zhao Sanyuan thought to himself, if there was such water in the world, it would be a good thing or a bad thing. Although there would be no lies in the world, how many people and how many things could fully accept telling the truth?

"it's your turn."

Follow the reminder sound.

The man in front of him was the old man who promised to help.

He handed over a water ladle, his expression was as usual, and there was no sign of acquaintance.

After drinking it all, Zhao Sanyuan broke the water gourd.

The fragments gathered into a few small words in front of him.

Chujiang Wangli!

It is the second hall of Yincao, in charge of the living hell, also known as Peiyi Pavilion Ice Hell, and there are sixteen smaller prisons.

The King of Chujiang was an upright person. He who harmed people's limbs, raped and killed, took advantage of his position, stole wealth, preyed on the common people, defrauded and abducted, forced girls into prostitution, smuggled and sold drugs, illegally cheated marriages, forged deeds of mutual covenant, sold fake medicines, etc. was unethical and disorderly. The evil souls who have committed countless crimes under the law will be pushed into the volcano and swallowed by the hot magma; or they will be thrown into the ice pool and suffer from the freezing pain. Transferred to the third palace, increased punishment and sent to prison.

At this moment, Zhao Sanyuan couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

According to the plan, the ecstasy water must have been stolen by the old ghost, but the process still needs to be carried out.

Among the ten kings of Yama, King Chu Jiang is really the most suitable to judge him.
Zhao Sanyuan kept his expression as normal as possible and walked into the entrance of the second hall.

There is no gloomy feeling as imagined with hanging instruments of torture, nor are there any wailing sounds like those in the hell prison.

The light in the passage is bright and antique. The passage is very long and can't be seen to the end at a glance.

The ghosts who needed to be judged by King Chu Jiang all took small steps with trembling trembling. It is estimated that everyone who came here had trembling in their calves.

There were also some ghosts who regretted their actions and ran back crying, but without exception, they were all held down and slapped by the gatekeepers.

It can be seen that the sense of fear produced visually is the lowest level. There is no sinister feeling in the underworld, but it still makes pure souls feel pure fear.

"Brother, why don't you look scared?"

A ghost who looked like he was in his 20s came over to chat. He had a short face and a wide mustache. You could tell by looking at his brows that something was going on in his heart.

Zhao Sanyuan shrugged, "It's useless to be afraid even though you're here. If you want to get the ultimatum of reincarnation, you have to enter the underworld. There's no way to escape."

"Awesome!" The mustached ghost sighed, and his accent sounded a bit like someone from Hubei Province and a bit like someone from the Central Plains. "I heard that the number of ghosts who were sent to the underworld for punishment after being judged by the Second Palace was the largest, and most of them had hurt people before they were alive. Life, brother, your accent should be from outside Guan, right? Have you ever killed someone?"

"Don't ask about things outside the customs." Zhao Sanyuan said casually, his eyes always looking for something in the rooms extending on both sides.

According to the information of the old ghost.

The Book of Life and Death is actually not in the Yin Cao, but in the safest place in Fengdu City, under the personal control of Emperor Fengdu.

Of course, for the convenience of reference, the book of life and death is divided into ten auras, and each has a 'clone' in the ten halls of the underworld.

The clone's life and death book in the second palace is in Room 28 of Dingxu. If the old ghost hadn't been in Yin Caoqian for a long time, he might not have known such secrets at all.

As for whether the information is true or false, there is no question of whether it is believed or not.

After all, this is the only way to choose.

After walking for about half an hour, I finally saw the room with the word "Ding Xu" on it. I guess I would arrive not far away.

But the strange thing is that there are no guards in front of each room on both sides of the corridor, only pairs of small stone lions.

"Brother, do you have any familiar ghosts here? Look, you've been looking both ways. Don't blame me for talking too much. I heard that these rooms are unlocked, but ordinary ghosts are never allowed to enter, otherwise the consequences will be serious. .”

"Nonsense, this is not a brothel. As long as you have money in your pocket, you can open any door."

While talking, Zhao Sanyuan finally found his target.

Dingxu No. 28.

Looking around, there were no other ghosts except the ghost with the mustache beside him.

"Are you okay? If nothing happens, get out of here."

"No, brother, I'm afraid without you by my side."

"Why are you so scared after he's already fucking dead? Go quickly, go quickly, I need to take a rest here."

"Then I'll take a break too."

"Believe it or not, I beat you?"

I never expected that I would encounter a dog-skin plaster ghost when I entered the underworld.

It's not your biological father, why are you clinging to me?

Now we have to go through the Book of Life and Death, which is more difficult than looking through the bellyband of a handsome concubine. How can we be watched?At this moment, Zhao Sanyuan had the urge to kill the ghost with the mustache.

It just so happens that there are no other ghosts around, so you can kill it or knock it out.

The mustache walked to the door and wanted to sit down against the wall. "I'm pretty good at judging people. Brother, you must have something going on. If you don't mind, I'll help you look after you. There's--"

"do not go!"

Zhao Sanyuan shouted a reminder, but it was too late.

The ghost with the mustache was too close to the door of No. 28 Dingxu. The two stone lions in front of the door seemed to be greatly stimulated. They suddenly turned their heads and glared angrily, and jumped towards them.

In the blink of an eye, he bit the mustachioed ghost's legs.

Even if there is no physical body, the pure state of the soul is not invincible. After receiving a certain amount of damage, the soul will experience great pain and be shattered.

The mustached Yinghun was still in a state of confusion, even his screams were forgotten, and he couldn't understand what was happening for a while.

At the moment of the loud reminder, countless possibilities emerged in Zhao Sanyuan's mind, and he analyzed one by one which one was more in line with his interests.

Stone lions are the ghost guards. Their greatest ability is to target ghosts, and their strength should not be underestimated.

Zhao Sanyuan was not sure of defeating them in a short period of time.

Besides, there is no reason to fight with it.

Since the mustache ghost accidentally triggered the mechanism and attracted the attention of the two stone lions, he could definitely rush into Dingxu's room No. 28 unimpeded after sprinting.

It only takes a little time to look through the book of life and death. Even if the mustache ghost screams and attracts other evil spirits, it will be no problem. I will definitely have left by then, just use him to delay time.

The price is just an ordinary ghost that I have never met.

Only.

Boom - boom -

A solid hit!

The stone lion collided with great force and was blasted into the wooden wall of the corridor.

"If you want to die, don't fucking die in front of me!"

Zhao Sanyuan dragged the ghost of his mustache straight to the door.

Because the paper sword and the paper scale pole all have Yang energy, once used, they will be known to the entire underworld, so they must not be used unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately, since the old Monument King tied the hole and punched him with an explosive Baji Fist, , many moves seem to be engraved in my mind, and I can use them at any time, but I am not very skilled yet.

Of course, in a pure soul state, Zhao Sanyuan can maximize his own strength and is not restricted by the law of cause and effect. For example, using the method of impeaching the gods will not shorten his life. On the contrary, using this trick will also cause his life to be shortened. The underworld notices.

A muffled sound.

Room No. 28 of Dingxu was knocked open, and then the door closed automatically. The two stone lions paused for a moment, then returned to their original posture, squatting in front of the door, as if nothing had happened.

His eyes turned back to the room.

After Zhao Sanyuan rushed in dragging his mustache ghost, he didn't feel anything substantial under his feet.

Observing the surroundings, I found that the surroundings were actually a mirror world, with bronze mirrors of different sizes and shapes all around.

"Brother, where is this? I thought you knew a familiar ghost who could help us put in a good word with Lord Yama, but this is different from what we thought."

"Are you really stupid or pretending to be stupid? When King Chu Jiang was alive, he thought that Guan Qing was being known to the world. Talking nonsense to him was just asking for death. If you are not guilty, you will be hung up and whipped with a whip dipped in spicy oil."

"No way"

Zhao Sanyuan ignored him and looked for the book of life and death in countless bronze mirrors. However, he couldn't see any books floating around. Strictly speaking, apart from himself and his mustache, there was only copper in this seemingly infinite room. mirror.

Standing in front of a bronze mirror, Zhao Sanyuan patted his cheek and then spoke in a deep voice.

"On the Dingchou month, Bingshen day, and Guisi time of the Gengyin year, people from Shilonggou, Jingmen, Hubei Province, held their heads high."

A miraculous scene happened.

The bronze mirror in front of him flashed with rays of light like tadpoles, and they slowly gathered into a row of small luminous characters.

——Yang life is not over yet, there are 280 and six hours in vain. The time of being introduced into the underworld is the year of Yichou, the month of Guichou, the day of Gengshen. One day ago, he passed the trial of the King of Chu Jiang in the Yincao Second Hall and went to Jinji Mountain to be punished. He can cut 60 taels of stone from a mountain, and after serving his sentence, he can be reincarnated as a fifth-level human being.

"Have it!"

Zhao Sanyuan was overjoyed.

After a lot of effort, I finally found the information about Gao Shou.

Jinji Mountain?
That couldn't be better. The sinister person that Old Monument King mentioned was in Jinji Mountain.

Judging from the results, Gaoshou's decades of life were enough. As a heavy nine, he must have killed a lot of people, but in the next life he can be reborn in the fifth level of humanity, so he probably did a lot of good things.

The first-class royal emperor, the second-class marquis and prime minister, the third-class feudal official, the fourth-class glory and wealth, the fifth-class educator, the sixth-class peasant squire, the seventh-class skilled craftsman, the eighth-class simple meal, the ninth-class actor and actress, The tenth class lived on the streets begging for work.

In addition to being surprised by Lao Gao's identity in the afterlife, he also didn't expect that the Book of Life and Death would appear in this form. It was not the legendary book account book at all.

"Dear me! Brother, why did you come here for it? But you are already dead, so what's the use of this thing?" The ghost with the mustache was not stupid, and he guessed that the whole room was a book of life and death.

Zhao Sanyuan sighed, "There is an elder brother who lost two souls and seven souls to protect me from disaster. I couldn't bear this hurdle, so I came to the underworld to get him back. As you can see, he didn't deserve to die before his life span was over. , if I insist on saying so, it should be me who dies, not him."

"Ah? Brother, you're not dead? I'm really convinced that a living person will go to the underworld. But after all, I heard some people say that Yangshou is not fixed. It seems to be the same today. If a living person does After something good or bad happens, the number will fluctuate, and you really can’t tell who deserves to die. If you don’t believe me, just look at your own.”

It seemed to make sense at first, so Zhao Sanyuan followed the idea that everything has come and started to make the best use of it.

"Lao Kang didn't say where his hometown is? He just couldn't care less, let's give it a try first!"

"On the day of Gengxu in the Gengchen month of the Gengzi year, Kang Muang will appear."

The small luminous characters once again appeared on the bronze mirror.

——The Yang life span is not yet over, but it actually has 19 hours.

"Look, you still have five or sixty years to live in the Yang world. It seems that you have done a lot of good things in the Yang world, brother."

"This is not mine. Damn, Lao Kang is still alive. The promise that Xin Weinian will die seems really unreliable."

Zhao Sanyuan was in a better and better mood, and then asked Liu Mangfan, Li Dongzhi, Shangguan Baitu and others about their longevity. Without exception, they were all long-lived people, and it would not be a problem to live to sixty years old.

Finally, he asked his own.

"Bingshen month, Bingwu day, Bingwu year, no time, Zhao Sanyuan."

——Yang life is not over, there are 23 eight hours, and the time of being introduced into the underworld is the year of Ji Chou, the month of Jia Yin, the day of Y Chou. He enters the Yin Cao at two hours, and has not yet been judged by the King of Chu Jiang of the Second Palace. .

so much?
Zhao Sanyuan was stunned for a while.

Although I am not good at arithmetic, I can still see that living for another few decades is not a problem. According to the book of life and death, at least I will not die in the next Xinwei year.

"You're here, don't just watch."

The mustache ghost waved his hand, "I'm different from you, brother. I'm really dead, so there's no use looking at it."

"Just consider it as compensation for being scared by those two stone lions just now."

Zhao Sanyuan pulled his mustache in front of the bronze mirror. The latter looked helpless, "Then let me see it."

"Why are you bitching, hurry up and read it. After watching it, I will find a way to go through the underworld to Jinji Mountain."

The Eight-Character Hu Yinhun nodded and said softly: "At Renwu on the day of Gengshen, Gengshen, and Gengshen in the year of Dinghai, the people of Zhuo County and Zhuo County were strict and warm."

——The life span of the Yang Dynasty has expired, and the time when he was introduced to the underworld was the end of Renchen, month and Guiyou day in the Gengxu year. Based on his merits in the Yang life, he was granted the title of King of Yama and Chujiang in the second palace of the Yin Cao in the underworld.

Zhao Sanyuan: "???"

(End of this chapter)