Hell Emperor.

Chapter 604 Li Feie - Statue
A beam of light shone down, illuminating the gloomy world.

If someone were to look up at this moment, the scene before them would surely leave them speechless. The moon, hanging high in the sky, suddenly cast down a pillar of moonlight, and in the moonlight, several figures could be vaguely seen. They were extraordinary in appearance, as if they were messengers sent to the human world by the moon goddess.

"We've finally arrived. Is this the Bodhi Hall?"

Li Feie's eyes revealed a hint of curiosity. Her experience of descending from the moon to the human world and being carried by the moonlight through the universe was also a first for her.

Looking around, a small town in the distance came into view.

It was midnight, but the small town was brightly lit and bustling with people. There was no sign of the quiet of the night; on the contrary, it was lively and bustling.

Nan Linghe's eyes lit up; she was quite curious about the world hundreds of years ago: "It looks lively up ahead, let's go take a look!"

Just as she was about to leave, Ye Jie suddenly grabbed her: "Wait a minute, it's best to be careful."

"What's wrong?" Nan Linghe asked, puzzled.

Ye Jie looked up and saw the full moon on the horizon:
"It's clearly midnight now. Logically, people should be working at sunrise and resting at sunset, and the world should be quiet. But here, the lights are bright, as bright as day. I'm afraid this is not the case..."

Li Feie suddenly interjected, "Didn't the Taiyin Ancestor send us to the Bodhi Hall? Since this is the Yama Hall, it should be located in the underworld."

Ye Jie nodded, then shook his head: "You're right, but this is clearly the human world, not the underworld."

Su Miao understood: "The Underworld is located in the depths of the Netherworld, where even the moonlight cannot reach. Since the Taiyin Ancestor sent us here, it must not have been chosen randomly. Perhaps this city is the Bodhi Palace's training ground in the human world."

Ren Changhong pondered and said, "A Taoist temple in the human world... So, this place is a ghost town."

Upon hearing the name "Ghost City," Nan Linghe instinctively shrank back, as if thinking of something ominous, and said with some fear, "Ghost City...doesn't that mean there are many ghosts here?"

Ye Jie rubbed his forehead, looking slightly helpless: "So what if you're a ghost? Aren't you a ghost too? We're both ghost immortals. Anyway, let's go ahead and take a look. As for what's hidden in the city, only exploration will tell."

Everyone shared this sentiment. Since they had already come all this way, they certainly couldn't just back down. With Ye Jie's current strength, even if there really was some thousand-year-old ghost king in the city, he would have to respectfully address him as a saint.

Upon arriving outside the city, before even entering, the thick, pungent smoke choked everyone, rendering them speechless.

"Cough... What's this smell? Could it be poisonous?"

Yunxiu coughed a few times. Among the group, she had the lowest cultivation level and was almost suffocated by the fumes. She immediately started complaining loudly.

Shen Qingge's delicate nose twitched slightly, as if she had discovered something: "No... there is no poison in the surrounding smoke, but rather it is produced by something like incense."

Li Feie was slightly puzzled: "Incense? In my memory, incense is always light and odorless, rarely this strong. The incense here is so strong, it must be because thousands of incense sticks were burned. What are the people here doing?"

Ye Jie didn't answer, but focused his attention on the crackling sounds coming from afar. Looking closely, he saw fiery red firecrackers exploding wildly, and onlookers gathered in front of statues with different appearances. Some were pious and praying in hushed tones, while others were deep in thought and remained silent.

Ye Jie released his divine sense, wanting to take in the scenery of the city. However, when his divine sense drifted outside the city, it was as if he had hit a very thick barrier. The barrier firmly blocked his divine sense, preventing him from crossing it in the slightest.

"Who dares to disobey the rules and act so presumptuously here?"

This attempt quickly alerted the people in the city, and a fat man with a fierce face emerged from it, exuding the aura of a second-stage immortal. He shouted a stern question to the people in the distance.

Ye Jie stepped forward slowly. Remembering the warning from the Moon Goddess, he not only concealed his face with the power of the hazy moonlight, but also hid his aura of saintly strength, not revealing a trace of it to avoid causing unnecessary trouble. He exuded only the aura of a mortal and spoke slowly:
"We apologize, we have come from afar and are unfamiliar with the local customs. Please forgive us if we have offended you."

The man snorted: "So you're a pilgrim from out of town. No wonder you're so presumptuous. Remember this: keep your divine sense in check here. If you offend any of the gods and immortals in Yingling City, you'll be in for a world of trouble!"

Ye Jie stroked his chin, realizing he had come to the right place, and asked, "We are unfamiliar with this place and are bound to make mistakes. Could you please give us a tour of the city?"

The man glanced at Ye Jie, his eyes revealing a hint of contempt and disdain: "Open your eyes and look around. This area is full of either wealthy officials or renowned cultivators. They don't have so much to say. You want me to introduce you? And who are you? Can't you see for yourself?"

Ye Jie wasn't annoyed, after all, with his Saint-level strength, he didn't need to get angry about it at all.

Li Feie, standing to the side, couldn't sit still any longer. When had she ever been treated like this? She angrily retorted, "Fine, you don't want to introduce yourself, but what kind of attitude is this? Can't you speak properly?"

Upon hearing this, the man's eyes widened, and he was about to lash out when his gaze fell upon Li Fei'e's face. He was immediately awestruck, unable to comprehend how such an ethereal woman could exist in the world, and how he hadn't noticed her before. He immediately changed his attitude, altering his words:

"Since you are so eager to visit Yingling City, let me guide you on a tour."

Li Feie scoffed, "No need, we'll see for ourselves."

Having said that, he ignored the man and left with Ye Jie and the others.

As Li Feie left, the man's expression darkened, his eyes filled with displeasure as he stared intently at her back.

Beside him, a subordinate dressed in a divination robe approached and whispered, "Should we..."

The man nodded calmly, muttering, "Such beauty, it would be a great pity to leave her. Let's offer her to the master in the city."

In the distance, a group of people strolled around the city, but what they saw along the way made them frown.

Instead of shops lining the streets, people were seen displaying wooden and clay statues of gods. Crowds of people knelt and worshipped before the statues, throwing coins or setting off firecrackers, day and night.

Why are there so many statues of gods here?

Hua Xiaomei frowned. Logically speaking, there are rules about which gods a temple can enshrine. At most, only one god can be enshrined. As the saying goes, "two tigers cannot share one mountain." Enshrining several gods at the same time not only divides the incense offerings but also offends both sides because of a lack of understanding of the rules.

"Maybe this is a temple?" Li Feie scoffed. Putting so many deities here, was it a joke? Just as she was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, the scene in front of her made her stop laughing.

In the distance, a female statue stood out starkly, but her face was no longer as cold and aloof as before; instead, it was radiant with happiness, her smile brighter than that of the God of Wealth. "This...this is utterly disgraceful!"

Even Shen Qingge couldn't help but shrink her cold eyes. If that woman were someone else, it would be fine, but judging from her appearance, she was clearly the founder of the sect, the Goddess Xuan Nu.

The statue of the Mysterious Maiden before me was filled with worldly vulgarity and dust, its original charm completely gone, devoid of any solemnity. I wonder what kind of madman did this.

"How dare you sculpt the Goddess of Mystery in such a way? Do you think the Goddess of Mystery has no one to rely on?"

Su Miao was equally furious. To insult the sect's founder was the most intolerable thing for the successor of Xuan Nu. She wondered who was so bold as to do such a disrespectful thing.

Several people were already kneeling in worship in front of the statue. Hearing the commotion behind them, they all stood up in surprise.

"What are you doing? Are you also here to pray to the Goddess of Mystery?"

"Please do not disrupt the order and wait a moment at the back."

Li Fei'e crossed her arms and immediately said, "Do you know that this statue completely distorts the image of the Goddess Xuan Nu? This is not the real Goddess Xuan Nu at all!"

The group exchanged glances, their faces showing confusion and bewilderment.

One of them spoke up: "We've all come to pray to the Goddess of the Mysterious Woman for marriage, hoping to find a beautiful wife. But what are you, a woman, doing here at the statue of the Goddess of the Mysterious Woman? Are you here to pray for a child?"

Li Fei'e was still catching her breath: "What are you doing? Instead of praying to the statue of the Mysterious Maiden for enlightenment, you're praying for marriage. If you want to pray for marriage, go find the Old Man of the Moon! Why are you looking for the Mysterious Maiden?"

"The Goddess Xuan is so beautiful, doesn't she care about marriage?"

"The Old Man Under the Moon? Do you know where the statue of the Old Man Under the Moon is?"

"I think I know, come with me!"

The crowd dispersed, leaving only a slightly dazed Li Feie, who didn't understand what had happened.

When there was no one left in front of her, Li Feie suddenly realized what was going on. She stomped her foot hard, her eyes filled with lingering anger: "I knew there was something wrong with this city! Even the statue of the Goddess has turned into this state. The people here must be using the name of the Goddess to swindle and deceive. I don't know how many people they have fooled. They must not be let off lightly!"

Seeing Li Fei'e's aggressive demeanor, as if she wanted to immediately demand an explanation from the people here, Ye Jie quickly grabbed her: "Have you forgotten the instructions given to us by the Taiyin Star Lord? This is not our era. If you cause trouble here, it might completely change the face of future history..."

Li Feie understood what Ye Jie meant. For everyone at the moment, keeping a low profile and avoiding unnecessary complications that could interfere with future history was the most important thing. However, she still couldn't swallow her anger.
"As descendants of the Goddess of Mystery, how can we tolerate seeing the statue of the Goddess of Mystery transformed into this state? We must demand an explanation from the people here!"

After saying that, she ignored Ye Jie's advice and immediately summoned divine thunder from her palm.

Divine thunder roared, and dazzling arcs of electricity leaped across the ground, completely shattering the statue of the Mystic Maiden, leaving only a pile of debris.

The commotion caused by the lightning strike startled everyone in the city, and soon a group of people surrounded them, led by the same man from before.

"What are you doing? How dare you destroy the statue of the Goddess of the Mysterious Woman enshrined in the city? Are you deliberately trying to cause trouble? I knew long ago that you were not the kind people who offered incense and prayers. It seems you've come looking for trouble!"

The man flew into a rage, unleashing his aura as a second-stage immortal without any concealment. His immortal essence erupted, transforming into a tangible wave that caused the nearby mortals to tremble in fear, marveling at the power of the immortal.

Li Fei'e laughed angrily: "Why are you asking me? Can't you see that this so-called Xuan Nu statue is a fake? Xuan Nu defends the Heavenly Way with an iron will, how could she possibly make such a fawning gesture towards the world as depicted in the statue? Are you erecting such a statue to deliberately dishonor the name of Xuan Nu? Of course I cannot sit idly by!"

The man frowned, as if he had thought of something, and then changed his words: "You may have misunderstood. This statue was not erected by us voluntarily, but by the worshippers who asked us to erect it."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Su Miao was also slightly puzzled: "If someone tells you to erect it, will you just erect this kind of statue? How is that possible? Do you think we'll believe such an excuse?"

The man explained, “You are unaware of this. Many of the statues in Yingling City were carved according to the needs of the worshippers. As long as the worshippers take out money, they can have a statue carved for the gods or deities they wish to offer incense to. The more money they give, the more prominent the statue will be, and it will even be able to attract the attention of all passersby.”

"Is there such a thing?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Jie couldn't help but twitch his lips. Logically speaking, the statues of gods and immortals enshrined in ancient temples and ancestral halls should not be moved or altered easily, lest they offend the original deity. However, judging from what this man said, it seemed that the statues enshrined here could take the place of other statues of gods and immortals as long as enough money was paid.

Shen Qingge shook her head: "How can people truly worship if they are so casual?"

The man disagreed: “That’s not right. You might as well look around. Every year, countless pilgrims come to Yingling City. Even if this deity can’t bless you, you can try another one. As long as you are sincere enough, you will eventually succeed.”

Ye Jie suddenly noticed something. He stared at it closely and saw that the style of the exquisite stone carvings matched something in his memory.

Previously, when Ye Jie was searching for the Underworld Emperor's Ghost Seal, he saw the image of the Underworld Emperor enshrined in a lost shrine on an island.

In my memory, the statue of the Underworld Emperor there was in the same style as the statue here; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were identical.

Ye Jie stroked his chin and asked, "By the way, if you can erect a statue just by paying money, would you erect any kind of statue?"

The man nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something, his eyes narrowing slightly as he said, "It's not that we can erect any kind of statue. You can erect a statue for any deity or god you want, except for Buddha statues."

"Buddha statue?" Ye Jie frowned, seemingly slightly puzzled.

The man nodded: "That's right... This is the order of the King of Hell. If anyone erects a Buddha statue without permission, their fate will be very grim."

Ye Jie's eyes narrowed, as if he had heard some incredible information. Could the Yama Emperor mentioned by the man be the legendary Underworld Emperor?

(End of this chapter)