Hell Emperor.

Chapter 642 Ye Jie - The Change in the City
Not long after, Ye Jie returned to Kashmir.

"As agreed, the Peacock King will no longer cause trouble for the king here. He should also be able to find out the whereabouts of Fairy Zixia and find hope of returning to the original era..."

With a glimmer of hope, Ye Jie returned to the city, only to soon discover something amiss.

The last time I visited, the city was filled with the sounds of chanting, and people were solemn and devout, burning incense and fasting, creating a grand and solemn scene. But now, people are sighing and complaining, and the city is deathly still, a far cry from its original atmosphere.

"what happened……"

Ye Jie was puzzled; it seemed that many things had happened here while he was away.

Upon returning to the main hall in the city, Ye Jie soon saw a familiar figure, none other than the Venerable Juzuyi with a bald head.

"It's you...you haven't left yet."

Ju Zuyi also saw Ye Jie, and her eyes showed a hint of surprise.

"How can I leave so easily before I achieve my goal? Why has the atmosphere in the city become so heavy after just a few days? What exactly happened here? Could some calamity have occurred?"

Ye Jie shook his head and asked in a slow voice.

After a moment of silence, Juzuyi finally spoke:
"You are unaware of this... right after you left, a group of heavenly soldiers arrived here and took away many of the Venerable Ones from the temple. There has been no news of them since. Not only that, they also left people in the city to prohibit people from burning incense and worshipping the statues. Those who violate this rule will be severely punished."

"Really? Who are they looking for?" Ye Jie asked, frowning.

"you."

"what?"

Ye Jie frowned, as if he hadn't heard clearly.

"They are looking for you."

"What are you looking for me for?"

Ye Jie's heart tightened, and he pressed for more information.

Why don't you go and ask them yourself?

Ye Jie waved his hand and said, "I don't care about their purpose, I only care about the answer I want. I have fulfilled Kanishka's request. Where is he now?"

Juzuyi glanced at him: "Don't you know that even King Kanishka was taken away by those heavenly soldiers? It won't be so easy for you to find him now."

Upon hearing this, Ye Jie couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. It seemed that his timing for arriving was truly unfortunate.

"So, if I want to see Kanishka, I'll have to go find those heavenly soldiers first..."

Thinking of this, Ye Jie couldn't help but frown, feeling that things weren't so simple.

After bidding farewell to Juzuyi, Ye Jie, guided by him, quickly arrived at a restaurant in the city. Before he even got close, he heard a series of loud explosions and the sound of things being smashed in the distance, followed by an angry shout: "Well! You lot! I ordered the expensive beast brain carving, and you dare to use radishes to impersonate it! What, do you think I can't afford it?"

Looking closely, Ye Jie also took in the situation in the restaurant. He saw several silver-armored soldiers with precious swords at their waists standing in the middle of the place. The leader was furious and was grabbing a waiter by the collar and lifting him up like a chick. At his feet, a group of simply dressed wounded people were lying haphazardly on the ground, and they looked like they had barely breathed their last.

The waiter, trembling with fear, hurriedly revealed: "Sir...you don't know this, but people in the city don't like meat. This is a vegetarian restaurant, and all the food here is made with vegetables. We're not trying to fool you with fake meat. Why don't you calm down first, and we'll go make you another bowl?"

Behind them, another heavenly soldier sneered, "You dare to sell such expensive vegetarian dishes? Anyone who doesn't know better would think they're some kind of delicacy. Cultivators should eat meat to absorb nutrients and benefit from the creation of heaven and earth. But you're trying to fool people with these vegetarian dishes and spouting such fallacies. In my opinion, this must be a shady shop!"

The leading celestial soldier was immediately enraged. He unleashed a palm strike, his immortal energy bursting forth and whipping up a fierce gust of wind. He seemed to have already foreseen his companion's demise with a single blow, and he didn't even bother to draw the sword at his waist. It was as if allowing his precious sword to be stained with the blood of mortals would be an insult to him.

With a muffled thud, the heavenly soldiers, whose faces had been either mocking or smug, could no longer laugh. The scene before them filled them with rage.

The waiter was not dead, but the soldier who had attacked him was sent flying backward, his arm twisted like a pretzel, clearly seriously injured.

Then a man appeared, blocking the waiter's way. His face was cold and stern, and he exuded an aura of awe and respect. With his appearance, an invisible pressure spread throughout the room.

Despite sensing the aura emanating from Ye Jie that far surpassed their own, the heavenly soldiers were not afraid at all. Instead, they questioned him:
"Who are you? How dare you injure a celestial soldier! Do you know who we are? If you dare to do this, even if you escape to the ends of the earth, you will never have peace again!"

Ye Jie remained calm. Seeing those heavenly soldiers bullying others and even preparing to kill his unarmed men on the spot, he certainly couldn't stand idly by.

"I'd like to ask you, as heavenly soldiers, why do you not think about protecting all living beings, but instead abuse the innocent and weak?"

"Innocent? The people here are not innocent. Not only did they commit such a grave mistake, but it is already an act of mercy from the Emperor to spare their lives. Now they dare to use such inferior vegetarian dishes to pass off as superior ones. They are clearly courting death!"

The heavenly soldier answered in a deep voice, and the group moved quickly, surrounding Ye Jie in the center in the blink of an eye, seemingly preparing to deploy some kind of unique battle formation.

Ye Jie seemed to have caught something and asked again, "You said the people here made a mistake? What exactly did they do wrong? You might as well explain it clearly."

The leading heavenly soldier took out a lingzhi mushroom from his waist, swallowed it, and quickly refined it. Not only did his aura return to normal, but even his arm, which had been injured by Ye Jie at the beginning, was now completely healed, showing no signs of injury whatsoever. After recovering, his eyes almost blazed with fury.

"You dare to injure me? Very well, then I'll let you die knowing why. We are here on the orders of Emperor Gouchen to capture a wanted criminal from the Heavenly Court. The fact that the people here dare to conceal the news is their greatest fault! And now that you have injured a Heavenly Court official, you are even more intolerable to Heaven and Earth. Once we kill you, we will wipe out all the traitors in the city!"

Upon hearing this, the waiter was terrified. Daring to defy the heavenly soldiers, this was the tragic end he would suffer. He wailed, "I was wrong! Kill me if you must, but don't drag the others into this..."

Ye Jie's expression darkened, and he spoke slowly, "Since that's the case, do you know what the Heavenly Court's wanted criminal you're looking for actually looks like?"

The heavenly soldiers stood frozen in place, exchanging glances, each seeing the other's confusion:
"Appearance? Wait a minute... what exactly did it look like?"

"Strange, before I came here I clearly had that person's image etched in my mind, so why can't I remember it at all now?"

"Oh, right, I also brought the portrait that Emperor Gouchen gave us. You'll know immediately!"

As he spoke, the heavenly soldier took out the portrait. The face on the portrait was bathed in moonlight, which was gradually fading over time. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before the face on the portrait would disappear completely.

After carefully comparing the faintly visible face in the portrait with Ye Jie in the distance, the heavenly soldiers were horrified, as if they had discovered something unbelievable.

(End of this chapter)