Hell Emperor.

Chapter 382 Xiao Yun-Birthday Flag
"Yun'er, several children have gone missing in the village these days. The villagers are in a panic and everyone is very scared. We don't know what happened..."

"Children love to play. When they are in high spirits, they will inevitably forget the time. It is not surprising that they don't come home for a few days. Maybe they will come back on their own after a few months."

"Really? I'm afraid they'll get lost in the mountains, meet with an accident, and be killed by monsters. You can travel back and forth between the underworld. If you see their souls, tell me so I can tell their families not to go into the mountains to look for them. If they run into the monster king in the mountains, that would be terrible."

"I'll ask other ghost officials to keep an eye out." Xiao Yun nodded in agreement.

In his arms, the longevity flag slowly spread out. After storing enough life, the flag seemed to be thoroughly moisturized, changing from its original yellowish brown color to a bright and dazzling golden yellow, emitting a captivating light. If one's eyes stayed on the flag for too long, they would sink to the bottom.

That day, he only got fifteen years of life from the old man in the village. This amount of life was not enough for Xiao Yun. He hoped that his mother could live for thousands or even tens of thousands of years and be immortal. How could fifteen years of life be enough?
So he shifted his target and stopped targeting middle-aged people who were over half of their lifespan. Instead, he targeted children who had longer lifespans.

Children are at the beginning of their lives, and they have a lot of lifespans. Any of them can live for 60, 70, or even longer, which is exactly what Xiao Yun wants. In addition, children are inexperienced, so if you scare them, they will piss and turn over all their lifespans, which is much easier to do than stubborn adults.

After several nights of hard work, a total of 360 years of life were stored in the longevity flag. I don't know if it was Xiao Yun's illusion, but I always felt that this longevity flag was a little different from the first time he held it.

However, the continuous attacks on children for several days finally made the villagers alert, and Xiao Yun began to consider whether he should use the ghost catcher to go to other villages and capture children in different places.

Although he gained a lot of life, how to pass it on to his mother is still a problem. Three hundred years of life is not a small number. If his mother becomes suspicious, things will be worse.

"Mother, I have made great contributions in the underworld, and the judge has awarded me a hundred years of life. You can live another hundred years!"

Xiao Yun waved the longevity flag, adding a hundred years to his mother's lifespan.

After a hundred years of life, Xiao Yun was pleasantly surprised to find that his mother, whose face was full of wrinkles, seemed to have become much younger. The dark spots on her skin disappeared, and the wrinkles also faded, as if she had returned to her fifties or sixties.

The old mother was a little suspicious: "You haven't been a ghost messenger for long, and you have already been granted a life span of 100 years? Is life span so easy to obtain? As far as I can remember, unless they are cultivators, there are not many people who can live over 100 years old."

Xiao Yun pretended to be calm: "The present is different from the past. The life span is announced to all living beings. It is the work of the Lord of the Golden Wheel Palace. The Lord allows people to trade their life span freely. The ghost messengers can also get a lot. Soon, I may get a few hundred more years of life span."

The old mother's face was filled with worry. "Life span is determined by heaven. How can people trade their own life span? This is coveting heaven's merits, and will be punished by heaven..."

"This is the Palace Master's decision. All the ghost messenger can do is just listen to the Palace Master's words." After a pause, Xiao Yun continued, "Besides, life span is determined by people. Isn't this good? Thanks to the Palace Master's decision, you can extend your life. Otherwise, I'm afraid that day..."

His mother interrupted him and said, "People shouldn't have this ability. When you reach the end of your life, you should die. How can you use life-long transactions to forcibly extend your life? Birth, aging, sickness and death, reincarnation, is the right way for the world. If possible, you should persuade the Lord of the Golden Wheel Palace to stop this..."

Xiao Yun agreed verbally but he didn't agree in his heart. It was because of this ability that he saved his mother who was about to die.

After leaving home, Xiao Yun was about to go to other villages. Suddenly, the longevity flag in his arms trembled violently. He took it out and checked it, and his expression changed slightly.

However, the originally golden and shining birthday flag had now lost its color, and there were several holes left by weathering on the tattered flag surface, as if it had been worn out for decades.

"What...what's going on?"

Seeing that there was something wrong with the longevity flag, Xiao Yun suddenly panicked. He was not one of the longevity ghost messengers strictly selected in the Golden Wheel Palace. He was able to take longevity from others thanks to the longevity flag in his hand. If something happened to the longevity flag, how could he extend his mother's life?
Xiao Yun waved the longevity flag, however, the thing he was most worried about happened. The longevity flag did not react at all, as if it was completely broken. Even the more than 200 years of life stored in it was now like a drop in the ocean. No matter how he called out, there was no response.

"Oh no... What should we do now? Without the birthday flag, mother can only live for a hundred years? What should we do after that?"

Xiao Yun was extremely upset and worried about his mother's longevity, completely forgetting that his mother had only lived for eighty years.

Xiao Yun was really at a loss, and he didn't dare to take down the longevity flag for inspection. After all, the longevity flag was a magic weapon, and he didn't know anything about magic weapons. If he took it apart rashly, this rare object would only be completely destroyed.

In desperation, he had to go to the Golden Wheel Palace to find the ghost messenger who specialized in this matter to see if they had any solution.

"Longevity flag? I don't know, what is that?"

"Go away, don't hinder me from guiding the souls. The time wasted will be good deeds!"

After some questioning, Xiao Yun was disappointed. The ghost officials either didn't want to pay attention to him or didn't know what a longevity flag was at all.

Just when Xiao Yun was feeling discouraged, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. It was Shan Yao, the ghost messenger who was guiding his soul. He quickly explained his purpose to Shan Yao and finally got a useful answer:
"Go to the Golden Wheel Cafeteria and find the ghost fairy there, and you will know the answer."

Following Shan Yao's instructions, Xiao Yun came to the only open cafeteria in the hall. His eyes quickly fell on the eye-catching huge body.

In the center of the cafeteria, there sat a huge meat ball with fat piled up on his body. It looked like he had difficulty even moving, but his aura was amazing. He was a genuine ghost fairy. There was a pile of empty bowls next to him, and he kept guzzling spiritual porridge, like a monster that was never tired.

Xiao Yun stood there awkwardly. He wanted to go up and start a conversation, to ask about the birthday flag, but he was afraid of disturbing the ghost immortal and making him unhappy. So he had to just stand there and watch the ghost immortal eat and drink.

I don't know how long it took, a cup of tea, or half an incense stick? Meatball finally stopped moving, burped loudly, and looked at him: "You've been waiting for so long, you shouldn't be here to drink free spiritual porridge, right?"

Xiao Yun quickly took out the birthday flag and asked respectfully, "Excuse me, Immortal, do you recognize this flag?"

Meatball laughed: "This is a birthday flag, what a treasure!"

Xiao Yun's eyes lit up, and he asked again: "My Lord, my birthday flag was working fine, how come it broke? Can you help me take a look?"

The meatball did not take the flag, but just said: "The longevity flag carries the life span of the living being. If you use it like this, it will of course break. Before you use it to increase the life span of others, you must use a flag of the same amount of life span as a sacrifice."

After learning the method of offering sacrifices to the flag, Xiao Yun tried it out and offered 115 years of longevity. The longevity flag really recovered as before, but he didn't know where the longevity used for offering sacrifices went. "I see... Thank you for your guidance, Immortal."

Xiao Yun was overjoyed when the longevity flag was restored. He said goodbye to the ghost fairy and was about to return to the human world when he heard a noise in his ears.

"I could have lived forty years! But all my remaining years were taken away by the King of Goguryeo!"

"You died like this too? What a coincidence, so did I."

"I'm different from you. I don't want to give up my life and cause my wife and children to be killed... If I had known this would happen, I would have given up my life."

"It was only after I came to the Golden Wheel Palace that I realized that everything about my life span was caused by the Palace Master! My life ended just like that. I could have lived a long time!"

"I heard that there are ghosts petitioning outside the Document Hall. Let's go and petition too, asking the Hall Master to withdraw the decree and abolish everything related to the Yangshou trade! Let order be restored to the world!"

"Yes, although our strength is limited, we must do our best to prevent the tragedy from spreading further."

The ghosts were all excited. When the trade of life span came into being, tragedies occurred in the world. Countless lives suffered and died prematurely. After their souls gathered in the underworld, they gradually realized that something was wrong. After some calculation, they realized that all this was caused by the Lord of the Golden Wheel Palace.

In front of the Documents Hall, a large number of ghosts gathered there. It was a sea of ​​ghosts, with numerous ghost shadows. A rough count showed that there were probably thousands of ghosts. Some ghosts were shouting loudly, while others were sitting silently. All these behaviors were petitions to the Hall Master, hoping that he would change his mind and abolish the Yangshou trade.

Outside the palace gate, the white-robed and white-faced Hua Judge had a face as green as iron, and his eyes were filled with deep displeasure. The actions of these ghosts had disrupted the basic order in the palace. Under their leadership, more ghosts would join in, and the administrative efficiency of the palace would also be dragged down by them, causing trouble for the judge.

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"Judge Hua, let us see the Palace Master!"

"I beg the Palace Master to revoke the order and let the merit return to God. Humans cannot covet the merit!"

Seeing Judge Hua leave the hall, the ghosts started shouting and yelling, but she looked frosty and replied in a cold voice: "The hall master has important matters to attend to and has no time to deal with this matter. I will convey it to you."

Fairy Miaorou from the Nether Spirit Palace also left the palace with Judge Hua. She also heard the commotion outside the palace and shrugged her shoulders: "I told you it would be like this. Are you satisfied now?"

Judge Hua did not answer, but said to Wu Chang beside him: "Tell the ghost officers to strengthen their vigilance. If any ghost takes the opportunity to cause trouble, lock it up in the Ice Prison."

Judge Hua walked past the ghosts without paying any attention to their shouting, and soon came to a reed field. The reeds, like white snow floss, swayed endlessly, like soft and dense clouds in the sky, making people feel like they were in a fairyland.

She walked slowly forward, and the reeds parted the path on their own, revealing a path for travel.

As you step in, the temperature around you rises noticeably. The further you go in, the more warm and humid the air becomes. Soon, a burst of cheerful laughter comes from the front.

The air was filled with warm mist, and in the lukewarm water, a pair of lovers were laughing and playing.

Nan Linghe was wrapped in a light blue bath towel, with water droplets flowing down her skin. She scooped up a handful of water with both hands and splashed it hard on her companions, letting out a silver bell-like laugh that echoed by the pool, crisp and pleasant, making people feel the beauty from the heart.

The water flowed onto Ye Jie's sturdy dragon body. A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and suddenly a large splash of water was made as if in revenge. Nan Linghe screamed and leaned back, her wet hair sticking to her forehead, making her look particularly delicate and cute.

Beside the pool, there is a jade plate filled with carefully cooked delicacies from the mountains and the sea. Beside it, there is also fine wine with a strong aroma, which can be seen at a glance as having been sent from the wine country.

In the Soul-Nourishing Spring, the two were playing in the water like mandarin ducks, having a great time, accompanied by delicious food and wine. In comparison, the complaints and uproar in front of the Documents Hall seemed like another world.

Seeing the two of them being affectionate and tender, Hua Xiaomei looked gloomy and sighed, "It seems that I came at the wrong time."

"No, you came just in time."

Ye Jie stood up, the divine dragon energy emanated from his body, and water drops fell off his body one after another: "I expanded the Heart-warming and Soul-nourishing Spring. Nan Linghe likes to use reeds for decoration. Are you satisfied with the surrounding environment?"

Hua Xiaomei glanced at the reeds around her and said with no interest: "It's okay, but why didn't you ask for my opinion before expanding? Is my opinion so unimportant?"

At the end, there was a hint of grievance in Hua Xiaomei's words. She turned her head, her pale face looked even more bloodless, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she was unwilling to look directly at Ye Jie. Sure enough, in Ye Jie's heart, Nan Linghe's opinion was more important than hers.

Ye Jie touched his chin and said, "If you were asked to choose, what plants would you choose for decoration?"

Hua Xiaomei pursed her lips and said, "You should choose plum blossoms... But since you have already chosen, what's the point of asking me again?"

"Then how do you know there are no plum blossoms here?" Ye Jie showed a meaningful smile and walked straight forward. Lu Wei led the way for him, "Follow me."

Hua Xiaomei was stunned for a moment, thinking carefully about Ye Jie's words, and suddenly her eyes lit up, and her whole body was filled with nervousness and excitement. As expected, Ye Jie would not ignore her. On the contrary, even her choice and her favorite things were guessed by Ye Jie.

Hua Xiaomei bit her lower lip lightly, and with some anticipation, she soon followed Ye Jie to a light pink plum forest.

Although winter has not yet arrived on earth, under the magical power of the spring that warms the heart and nourishes the soul, plum blossoms proudly bloom on the branches. The branches are arranged in an orderly manner, weaving a dreamlike picture. In the center of the plum blossoms, a pool of hot spring is shrouded in mist. The rising mist and the fragrance of plum blossoms are intertwined, which is intoxicating.

"This is a special hot spring just for you. You can add some spices or other medicinal baths." Ye Jie introduced, "Want to try it?"

Hua Xiaomei smiled. How could she refuse the kindness that Ye Jie had prepared specially for her? She immediately pulled Ye Jie along to try it together.

(End of this chapter)