Journey to the West: Demon Emperor: Beginning as a Little Toad

Chapter 46 The Gate of Hell

"Is this the underworld?"

Whether in his previous life or this life, this is Xiao Chen’s first time going to the underworld.

When he traveled through time, he seemed not to have passed through the underworld. At least he didn't remember having been there.

He did not cross the Naihe Bridge, nor did he drink the Mengpo soup, but he still retained the memories of his previous life.

At the border between the underworld and the world of the living, there are two peaks facing each other, with a gate in the middle, which is the Ghost Gate.

At this moment, Xiao Chen was looking at this legendary gate of hell with curiosity.

There was a big sign hanging high above the city gate, with seven big golden characters "Hell Gate of Hell" written on it.

On both sides of the Ghost Gate are lined up eighteen kinds of ghosts with different costumes and punishments for evildoers. Each one is green in color, with bared fangs and claws, and has different postures, and looks vivid.

The ancient trees on the side of the pass provide shade, the birds and crows are noisy, and the cold stars and the cool moon give people a gloomy and terrifying feeling.

At this time, the front of the Ghost Gate was shrouded in white fog. Xiao Chen stretched out his hand, but he could hardly see his hand in front of him under the white fog. The visibility was extremely low.

"Quack quack..."

From time to time, Xiao Chen's ears could hear the cries of crows and the screams of ghosts, which was very creepy.

The first stop, Ghost Gate, is where ghosts gather waiting to enter the Palace of Hades.

At this time, the streets on both sides of the Ghost Gate were filled with various ghosts, including water ghosts with swollen faces and hanged ghosts with long tongues.

There are ghosts who have fallen to their deaths with mutilated bodies and distorted faces, ghosts with strange looks, hair that stands up like needles, and a big head, and there are also evil ghosts with red faces and fangs that are filled with resentment...

These ghosts reached out their hands and touched around, exploring the road ahead.

Suddenly, a painted skin ghost with a human skin touched Xiao Chen.

"Some are alive, some are alive!"

The ghost was very excited and stretched out its fangs to absorb Xiao Chen's yang energy. The evil ghosts nearby sensed the movement and swarmed over like locusts.

"Humph!"

Xiao Chen snorted coldly, and the power of a celestial being emanated from him, directly shaking away these evil spirits.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into the underworld!"

The noise coming from Xiao Chen's side had already alarmed the ghost officers in front of the door, and three or four of them surrounded him with shackles and handcuffs in their hands.

"My fellow ghost messengers, you have worked so hard. You have worked so hard. Please give me some convenience, please give me some convenience!"

Upon seeing this, Bull Demon King smiled and took out a handful of paper money from his arms, handed it over, and saluted with his fists.

In this underworld, there are Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Goddess Pingxin, Lord of Mount Tai, King Fengdu, the Five Ghost Emperors, the Ten Yamas, the Six Judges... countless underworld gods and ghost officials are in charge, and none of them are easy to mess with.

Even he, the Bull Demon King, did not dare to act recklessly and could only act according to the rules of the underworld.

The four ghost officers took the money and looked at each other. One of the leading ghost officers waved his hand and shouted:

"Let them go! Let them go!"

There were several ghost officials holding mourning sticks who drove away the ghosts and cleared a path for Xiao Chen and Bull Demon King. The ghosts were beaten and screamed in pain, and the scene was filled with the howling of ghosts.

"Money makes the world go round, that's all."

Xiao Chen chuckled, feeling an inexplicable feeling in his heart.

It seems that this unspoken rule applies regardless of past or present lives, the human world or the underworld.

In Journey to the West, even though Emperor Taizong of Tang came to the underworld as an emperor on earth, he could not pass without money.

Emperor Taizong of Tang had no choice but to sign a promissory note with the judge and borrow a hoard of gold and silver from Xiang Liang, a man from Kaifeng, and distribute the money to pave the way.

Xiao Chen and Niu Mowang spent their money to make a road, and they rushed forward. Soon, they saw a green-tiled building, which was really magnificent. The road was paved with gold and the tiles were made of white jade. It was decorated in an extremely magnificent way.

It is:

Thousands of colorful clouds float in the air, and thousands of red mists appear faintly. Monster heads fly above the eaves, and the tiles are stacked like mandarin ducks. The door is drilled with red gold nails, and the threshold is set with a horizontal white jade section.

The windows are filled with morning smoke, and the curtains are bright like red lightning. The towering buildings reach the sky, and the corridors are connected to the treasure house. The beast tripods and incense clouds cover the imperial clothes, and the red gauze lamps and lights illuminate the palace fans.

"My dear brother, this is the second stop of the underworld, the main gate of the underworld, where the palaces of the Ten Kings of Hell are located."

"Those ghosts are there to accept the judgment of the King of Hell. The King of Hell and the judges will arrange which level of hell they will go to and what kind of punishment they will receive based on their life experiences."

The Bull Demon King introduced with a smile. Looking at the palace with golden bricks and jade tiles in front of him, he was extremely envious.

"Brother Lu, how long will my beloved grandson live?"

In front of the Yama Palace, an immortal dressed as a heavenly official was talking to a judge from the underworld without any reservations.

"Brother Han, I checked and found that your grandson died at the age of ninety."

The judge said with a smile.

"Brother Lu, can you add another ten years to his age to make it a perfect number? How about that?"

"My longevity locks are all ready."

The immortal embraced the judge, smiling. "Brother Han, this is not easy to do..."

The judge looked troubled.

"Brother Lu, your nephew's fortune..."

The immortal paused, his meaning was self-evident.

If you help me, I will naturally help you.

"That's all, Brother Han. I'll help you this time."

The judge gritted his teeth and said.

"Hahaha, then I'll trouble you, Brother Lu..."

The immortal in heaven embraced the judge, and the two of them looked very happy.

"Brother, can you just casually extend someone's life span?"

Xiao Chen was a little surprised when he heard this and asked the Bull Demon King.

"Oh, my dear brother, in the heaven and the underworld, whether it is the Jade Emperor or the Buddha, all the gods and Buddhas in the sky, they came to the world to transcend the calamity, and there must be some immortal relatives left in the mortal world."

"To put it bluntly, we are all officials in the same court. You are in charge of wealth, I am in charge of marriage, and he is in charge of life and death... but we are in different departments."

"Behind closed doors, we are all one family, and we don't talk behind each other's backs. We can all ask for help from each other, so how can we refuse?"

"Even if there is an innocent and fair immortal..."

"But this world is dirty, and dirty water splashes all over us. Who can wash it clean?"

The Bull Demon King shook his head and sighed.

He, the Bull Demon King, used to be an upright man, but after being in this world for a long time, he was not so naive anymore. He began to make more brothers and friends widely, and naturally the day would come when he would be useful.

"The lives of gods and Buddhas in this world of Journey to the West are extremely long, almost without counting the years. Over a long period of time, they have become entangled and have long since formed a monopoly on power."

"In the original Journey to the West, Judge Cui changed the fate of Emperor Taizong of Tang by adding two strokes to the character 'one' in the Book of Life and Death, changing the 13th year of Zhenguan to the 33rd year, thus adding 20 years to Emperor Taizong's life."

"A judge has such power, not to mention the Ten Kings of Hell and the Five Ghost Emperors..."

"Could it be that what many Taoist friends in later generations have speculated is true?"

"It does make sense that the monkey went to the underworld and directly settled the bad debts of the underworld."

Xiao Chen seemed to be thinking about something.

The two men walked out of the main gate of the underworld and continued walking forward, and they came to a high mountain.

There was no grass on the mountain, no peaks piercing the sky, no visitors on the ridges, no caves to receive clouds, no streams flowing through. There was no end in sight, dark clouds hanging down to the ground, and black fog obscuring the sky.

The top of the mountain was filled with countless ghosts who had been sentenced in the Yama Palace and were waiting to go to the eighteen levels of hell to execute their sentences. The scene was filled with the sounds of ghosts crying and wolves howling.

"My dear brother, this is the third stop of the underworld, the Netherworld Beiyin Mountain. Beyond this mountain, you will reach the Eighteen Levels of Hell."

The Bull Demon King introduced.

"Brother, how come you are so familiar with this underworld?"

Xiao Chen asked, somewhat surprised.

"Brother, to be honest, this hell's soul-collecting messenger, the Bull-Headed Ghost, and I, Old Bull, also have some superficial blood relationship."

The Bull Demon King smiled mysteriously.

"You are a lineage of the same species, your bloodline is really mixed."

Xiao Chen couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Xiao Chen and Niu Mowang naturally paid ghost messengers to clear the way for them. After passing through the Netherworld Beiyin Mountain, they arrived at the fourth stop of the underworld, the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

Xiao Chen came to the eighteen levels of hell.

Only then did I realize that I had misunderstood before.

He had always thought that the Eighteen Levels of Hell had eighteen levels from top to bottom.

But when Xiao Chen came to the Eighteen Levels of Hell, he understood that the Eighteen Levels of Hell were actually eighteen punishments divided according to the crimes, and each department that specialized in executing these punishments was called a prison.

The Eighteen Levels of Hell actually refer to the eighteen punishment agencies in the underworld.

At this time, in front of hell, a black bull-headed ghost came to greet them.

This bull-headed ghost has human hands but bull hooves on his feet. He has a black coat, a sturdy figure, and holds a steel hairpin in his hand.

The Bull-Headed Ghost Messenger also had all kinds of torture instruments hanging on his body, including large pliers, scissors, clamps, hammers, steel nails...

As he walked, the torture instruments collided with each other, making "clang clang clang" sounds, which was extremely terrifying.

"Brother, I received your message and have been waiting for you here."

The bull-headed ghost came up and saluted to the Bull Demon King.

(End of this chapter)