My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 696: The Underworld
"The Chief Judge has also told you how to enter the Judge's Palace. As long as you follow this method, you will be able to find the Small Prison smoothly, and according to the records on the map, you can see the prisoners imprisoned in the Prison."

"However, there is another requirement to enter the Small Prison, and that is to obtain the approval of the Xiezhi, the guardian beast of the Criminal Officer Hall. If it cannot obtain the approval of Xiezhi, it cannot enter the Small Prison to seek revenge."

"Xiezhi is the most fair beast in the world, symbolizing fairness and justice. It will not make concessions based on identity or bloodline. So whether you can get Xiezhi's approval depends on your luck, because Xiezhi gives different tests to everyone."

"The test that the Great Judge was given was a question of whether he could let go of the families of those who were the culprits behind the incident that brought it to this point."

"The answer to this question must be in accordance with your true inner wishes. You can't think one thing and say another. That way you won't be able to hide it from Xiezhi's discerning eyes."

"So, if the Great Judge cannot let go of the hatred in his heart, he naturally cannot enter the Small Prison. He doesn't know what kind of questions Xiezhi will ask you, but I think they are nothing more than questions related to the law and fairness. You'd better be prepared in advance."

"The Grand Judge has left the dark and damp alley. Where are you going to hang out next?"

"Would you like to find a place to rest for the night, or go to the underworld stall of the Datong Pawnshop in Beiping, or go to the lobby of the Ministry of Justice in Beiping to find out what's going on?"

The game gave three options. Jiang Xinghuo looked up at the time. It was already past two in the morning. It was already this late. There was no need to sleep anymore. He had to finish the task at hand quickly.

"You plan to go to the Datong Pawnshop in Beiping City and redeem the items that Master Tiangong once pawned at the underworld stall."

"But the nights in Beiping City have been a bit restless lately. There are often ghost soldiers from the underworld coming and going. If you encounter them, there is only one outcome: you will be dragged into the underworld and become a dead body lying on the street."

"Now that you have obtained the Mountain Breaking Fist passed down by the Martial Lord, you can activate the blood in your body to transform into Yang Fire, which is a natural nemesis for those ghost soldiers and generals. Even if they discover your existence, they will not dare to approach you casually when they see the Yang Fire on your body. Do you want to use the secret book first to learn this Mountain Breaking Fist before going to Beiping?"

As soon as Jiang Xinghuo saw the description and prompts in the game text, he didn't hesitate or think for too long and directly chose yes.

"You chose to use the Mountain Breaking Fist secret book."

"Learning, please wait..."

"You have successfully mastered the Mountain Breaking Fist."

"The blood in your body has been stimulated and tempered by the Mountain Breaking Fist, turning into a ball of blazing, invisible yang fire. It is a natural force that can restrain those evil spirits and ghosts. Unless it is absolutely necessary, these ghosts will never approach you on their own initiative."

The moment the game text flashed, Jiang Xinghuo also felt the changes in reality. First, a lot of content appeared in his mind, which was the techniques of Breaking the Mountain Fist and the circulation of true Qi. Then his body began to become hot and the blood in his body flowed like a river, making a sound of waves hitting the shore, and finally it turned into a ball of golden flame, splashing out from his pores, turning his whole body into a torch.

However, these flames are catalyzed by the Yang energy in the body and will not affect real objects. Only evil spirits will be burned by these flames and even turned into ashes.

This strange phenomenon lasted for about ten minutes before the golden flames gradually dissipated and everything returned to normal.

Jiang Xinghuo tentatively swung his fist, and two streams of energy swept out, filling the room like a violent storm.

"Have I become a martial arts master too?"

Jiang Xinghuo muttered a few words before picking up his phone and continuing to push the plot forward.

Although he has learned the Mountain-Breaking Fist now, his attainments and skills are still shallow, so he will need to practice more in the future.

Martial arts are different from magic. Once you have mastered a magic, its power will increase as your magic power increases.

But martial arts must be practiced hard every day. Not only do you have to meditate and practice breathing, but you also have to practice changes in your moves. Only by taking both approaches can you truly practice martial arts to the pinnacle.

"You activated the Fengdu Shrine."

"You used the teleportation function of the Fengdu Shrine to teleport yourself to Beiping City and arrived outside the Datong Pawn Shop."

"You walked into the Datong Pawn Shop and said you were going to the underworld stall. The clerk recognized your identity and knew that you were a regular customer of the pawn shop, so he skipped those tedious steps and took you directly to the backyard."

"The guy asked you to close your eyes and sit on a cushion. He also lit three incense sticks in front of you and said that you could open your eyes when you heard the sound of a gong. Then you could walk along the path and see the underworld entrance of Datong Pawn Shop. However, there would be some evil spirits blocking your way along the way, trying to find a substitute to free yourself. You must not pay attention to them. No matter what they say or how much they tempt you with, you must not go over. Otherwise, you will be trapped in the underworld and will never be able to escape. Even if you are an exile rejected by death, it will take you two months to get out of here."

"After the clerk explained these things, he left the backyard. You closed your eyes and waited quietly on the futon. After about a quarter of an hour, you suddenly heard a gong sound in your ears. Should you open your eyes and take a look?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes.

"You opened your eyes and found yourself leaving the backyard of Datong Pawn Shop. You were sitting cross-legged in the middle of a path. There were dense trees all around you, and a faint mist was everywhere. A path stretched forward from under your feet, leading to an unknown area. However, you could vaguely see a little light at the end of the path covered by the mist."

"Do you want to go over and take a look right away?"

Now that he's here, Jiang Xinghuo naturally can't retreat. The place where that light is located should be the underworld stall of Datong Pawn Shop.

"You stood up from the ground, dusted yourself off, and walked towards the light ahead."

"But when you were halfway there, you suddenly heard a delicate female voice coming from the woods on both sides of the path."

"A young woman in her prime is leaning against a tree trunk and waving at you. Her plump, white thighs are bent into an enchanting arc. She is inviting you to go to Wushan with her in a charming manner. Do you want to go over and have a taste of her?"

Jiang Xinghuo curled his lips, thinking that this was clearly a trap, so how could he take the initiative to jump into it? Besides, he already had a clear understanding of this game, and there was no way that anything above 18+ would appear here.

If he went there, he would most likely be taken away as a substitute as the pawnshop clerk said, and then he would be trapped here for two months. By the time he got out of this predicament, the opportunity would be gone. It would be too much of a loss. "You ignored the enchanting woman at the edge of the woods and continued to walk forward. Along the way, you saw a hanged ghost hanging on a crooked tree by the roadside with its tongue sticking out. It said that it was too painful to hang there, and hoped that you could help it get down. It would definitely reward you handsomely, and all the treasures buried during its lifetime would be given to you. Its wife and daughter were also very beautiful, and they were given to you as gifts, and you could do whatever you wanted with them."

Bah, you lowly thing! When seduction failed, you added more chips! I, Jiang, am upright and dignified, how could I let your petty calculations blind me?

Jiang Xinghuo continued to control the character forward regardless.

The clerk at Datong Pawnshop was absolutely right. All the monsters and demons it met along the way tried their best to lure it over, but Jiang Xinghuo turned a deaf ear to them and pretended not to see them.

"You walk along the path and soon you reach the end of it. Not far away you can see a building that looks exactly like the Datong Pawn Shop in the living world, except that the light at the door is green and the clerks standing there are also two paper figures."

"But just as you were about to go over, another cry for help came from the woods. But this time it wasn't from any evil spirits, but from an exile from the same race as you. He said he was trapped here because of ghosts and hoped that you would save him for the sake of your fellow countrymen. Then he would definitely give you a generous gift."

"Will you save him from this misery for the sake of your fellow countrymen?"

Jiang Xinghuo still chose no.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't mind going over to lend a hand, no matter if it was true or false, it wouldn't be a waste of effort anyway, but now he didn't want to be the good guy, it would be too not worth it if he got himself involved.

If the other party is a monster pretending to be a player and wants to lure him over to be a substitute, then he will not be fooled if he does not go over.

If the other party is a player, then he deserves his bad luck. It was because of his greed that he did not listen to the pawnshop clerk's warning. These two months are enough to teach him a lesson.

"You ignored the cries for help in the woods and resolutely left the path. You came to the building that looked like a Datong Pawnshop. You looked up and saw four blood-red characters written on the plaque. It was the underworld stall of the Datong Pawnshop. However, the characters on it seemed as if they were just written with blood, and blood was still dripping down. Do you want to enter?"

"You walked towards the stall, but as soon as you reached the door, you were stopped by two paper men who asked you for the ticket to enter the stall. The stall in the underworld is different from the world of the living. It is a pawnshop specially opened for dead ghosts. If a living person wants to enter the stall, he must either have a ticket from the underworld pawnshop or the procedures of the world of the living. Otherwise, he cannot enter."

As soon as Jiang Xinghuo saw the requirements in the text, he opened his backpack and found the pawn ticket deposit slip of Mr. Tiangong.

"Tian Gong Ye's pawn ticket (special prop). When Tian Gong Ye was traveling in the secular world, he was short of money, so he pawned some of his craft skills to the Datong Pawn Shop in Peking and received a large sum of money. This is the pawn ticket."

"You showed the pawn ticket to the two paper men, and they immediately made way for you and welcomed you into the stall."

"A few underworld shopkeepers who died long ago in the human world are coming over. Do you want to hand over the pawn ticket of Tiangongye in your hand to them?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose Submit without much thought.

"You submitted the pawn ticket to the underworld shopkeeper. He looked at the pawn ticket and ordered someone to fetch the things that Tiangong had pledged. But he also told you a piece of news. If you want to redeem the things that Tiangong had pledged, you need to pay an additional 10000 incense points."

Jiang Xinghuo rubbed it and studied it, then counted the zeros again. After making sure that he was not mistaken, he thought that the believer of Tiangongye was his enemy!
No wonder he asked me to pay for the redemption of the incense incense first. He thought that two or three thousand incense incense would be enough, but who would have thought that it would take 10000 incense incense points! !

"The underworld shopkeeper looked at you with a smile and asked if you wanted to redeem the pawn."

"If you want to redeem it but don't want to spend so much money, you can follow it into the back hall and have a good chat."

"What are you going to choose now?"

"Would you choose to honestly pay 10000 incense sticks to redeem the craftsmanship that Master Tiangong had mortgaged? Or would you go to the back hall and have a good chat with the shopkeeper to see if there is any chance of a turnaround?"

Jiang Xinghuo understood at a glance that these two options had different follow-up plots.

If you choose to honestly pay the money to redeem the pawn, you can get the item immediately and then leave here to return to complete the task.

But if you choose to talk to the shopkeeper, you can start a new plot branch.

Jiang Xinghuo thought to himself that since a new task was triggered, he must not miss it and must choose this option.

Judging from the description in the text, this underworld shopkeeper probably has something to ask of me. Then maybe I can not only get back the things pledged by Master Tiangong without spending a penny, but also get an extra thank-you fee.

This is a deal that involves no one inside or outside.

"You chose to have a good chat with the underworld manager in the back hall."

"When you arrive at the back hall, the underworld manager will personally invite you to take the seat of honor and have someone deliver special products from the underworld. Then he will tell you his purpose."

"The underworld stall of Datong Pawnshop is located between the Yin and Yang worlds. It is connected to both the Yang world and the underworld, so ghosts and monsters from the underworld often appear there, and there are also many fugitives from the underworld wandering between the Yin and Yang worlds."

"A few days ago, a group of bandits escaped from the underworld. They were all extremely vicious ghosts. They killed countless people in the world of the living, and they became even more vicious after death. When they came here, they led people to rob the pawnshop and stole a lot of things."

"Those lost items were nothing. Even if the compensation was a hundred times, with the financial resources of Datong Pawn Shop, the matter could be easily resolved. But we can't just put up with this. The underworld shopkeeper didn't want to lose face and told the stall in the world of the living about it, so he thought that it could be resolved internally so as not to lose face too much."

"Unfortunately, there are not many masters in the underworld, and they dare not leave casually, fearing that they will attract other evil-minded people. Recently, many evil ghosts have been entrenched here, and they have set their sights on Datong Pawnshop. It depends on how we deal with it later. If we just brush it off, Datong Pawnshop will have a hard time winning the support of the public in the future."

(End of this chapter)