You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

Chapter 41 The Fourteenth Gate of the Underworld, Mount Dongyue!
"who am I?"

"This...where is this?"

A blood moon hung high in the sky.

The world was filled with a thick fog, making it dark and desolate.

A seemingly endless road stretched out through the mist, and a lone figure walked along it.

She was wearing a white dress and had short hair. The confusion on her face gradually faded, and a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes: "I remember now..."

"My name is Zhang Li."

"I am already dead... I was sent to the underworld by a grim reaper."

That figure was none other than Teacher Zhang.

Unable to discern her direction or know where she was going, she could only keep moving forward along the path beneath her feet!
She is a ghost.

I don't feel hungry or thirsty.

The blood moon in the sky never set, making her unaware of the passage of time.

I don’t know how long it took.

Two temples suddenly appeared ahead of the road.

These two temples are quite peculiar; one is magnificent and imposing, while the other is small and simple.

City God Temple!
Earth God Temple!
In folk mythology, the City God Temple enshrines the "City God," who holds a high position and great power. He is a god of the underworld in various parts of the human world, responsible for supervising human laws, recording life and death affairs, and protecting the peace and order of the people in a certain area.

The City God is regarded as a bridge between the underworld and the human world, and also has administrative and judicial functions.

The Earth God Temple is not as prestigious as the City God Temple and belongs to the "grassroots belief" of the people. People believe that the land can produce grains and is the source of food and clothing for mankind, so they worship the Earth God!
of course……

No matter how small the temple is, the Earth God is still a righteous deity appointed by Heaven and Earth, possessing a certain degree of "divine authority".

According to folklore, after death, a person must go through forty-nine days and pass through fourteen checkpoints in the underworld before they can enter the underworld and complete the process of reincarnation. Each of these fourteen checkpoints has a special meaning, and each checkpoint will judge and test the good and evil deeds of the deceased in their previous life!

For those who do good, this is the necessary path to bliss; for those who do evil, this is the beginning of paying for their sins.

Therefore, all ethnic groups in the world, regardless of whether they are Hui, Han or any other ethnic group, have the custom of observing a "seven-period" after a person's death.

The first stop for the souls of the dead upon entering the underworld is the "Earth God Temple" and the "City God Temple".

When a person's lifespan comes to an end, their soul leaves the body after death. At this time, underworld messengers carrying documents will come to collect the soul. They will first take the soul to the local earth god temple to report. The earth god will check the local "Book of Life and Death". If there are no problems, he will stamp the document and send the soul to the city god temple.

The City God Temple is the first checkpoint for judging the good and evil deeds of the deceased in life. Based on the deceased's behavior in life, the City God will issue the deceased a yellow paper guide, stamped with the seal of the City God of the Underworld!

However, after the heavens and earth were sealed off and the yin and yang were separated, the city gods and earth gods of the human world either died and disappeared or returned to the underworld. That is why the underworld built city god temples and earth god temples on the "road to the underworld" where the yin and yang meet.

In front of the two temples, the local earth god and the city god were resting comfortably on reclining chairs.

Next to it, there were some fruits and snacks with underworld characteristics.

The short-statured local deity looked on expectantly: "The nine-year term has come to an end. I wonder when the local deity and city god will take over the shift... Nine years have passed, the path between the living and the dead is severed, and I can hardly see a ghost in this wretched place!"

The City God ate a piece of pastry and said, "Didn't dozens of wandering souls come down a few days ago?"

The Earth God complained, "Those wandering souls are in a daze, they know nothing... Perhaps they broke through the seal by chance, oh... another ghost!"

The Earth God jumped up: "Could it be that the path between Yin and Yang has been opened? It's only been a few days... how come there are ghosts coming down again?"

As he looked ahead, the City God had already put on his official robes, summoned his underworld officials, and announced the start of court proceedings.

soon.

Zhang Li was escorted into the City God Temple by two underworld officials.

"Zhang Li, a commoner!"

The Earth God took out a "Book of Life and Death" and flipped through it. He saw Zhang Li's life story appear on a blank page. He frowned and said, "After you died, your soul lingered in the mortal world, harming people's lives. What is your punishment?"

Zhang Li knelt on the ground. When she looked up, she saw two underworld officials with green fangs and wielding execution clubs on either side of her. In front of her sat the City God, who wore a stern-faced official robe and a ceremonial tablet. Thinking he was the judge, she quickly said, "Your Honor, I did not harm any innocent people. I only killed those who deserved to die..."

"presumptuous!"

The City God slammed his scepter down and roared, "You mere little devil, how dare you spout such nonsense! You say someone should be killed, so you think that's enough? Where is the law of the underworld?"

"Zhang Li, a woman, hanged herself and remained in the mortal world for forty-five years after her death, murdering four people. According to the law, she should be sent to the eighteenth level of hell, suffer the torture of the mountain of knives for a hundred years, and then be sent to the hell of wrongful death!"

The eighteen levels of hell in the underworld correspond to eighteen kinds of punishments.

Those who kill or murder in their lifetime will be sent to the "Hell of Knives" after death, while those who commit suicide by hanging, cutting their wrists, or taking poison will be sent to the "Hell of Unjust Death".

"Your Majesty the Judge!"

Zhang Li was startled. She remembered Chen Yang's letter and quickly took out her letter, saying, "Your Honor, a messenger from the underworld promised me that if I could deliver this letter to you, I would be spared punishment."

"I am not the judge, but the City God... Hmm?" The City God stopped mid-sentence, suddenly stood up, and stared intently at Zhang Li, saying, "What did you just say? Who brought you down here?"

The living world...

Ghost error?

He reached out and grabbed.

Whoosh!
The letter was snatched into his hand, and the envelope was inscribed with the words "To be opened by the Judge" in large characters!
Signed: A wandering underworld official
...............

world.

Yinkun Expressway.

A white Geely SUV is speeding along the highway.

In the car.

Chen Yang reclined the passenger seat, lay down on it, and while scrolling through short videos on his phone, asked, "Old Gu, how much did you pay for this car?"

Gu Jinghui: "It'll cost less than 11 on the road, right... You're also planning to buy a car?"

He glanced back and cursed, "Damn it... put your foot down, it's my new car!"

Chen Yang withdrew his foot and said, "I have this plan... but thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem to be very useful, since I can fly wherever I want to go in the future!"

Gu Jinghui exclaimed in surprise, "You can fly?"

"Not yet, at most you can only let your spirit leave your body... By the way, why don't you forget about practicing martial arts? I'll ask Director Wei for a secret cultivation method later, and you can try practicing Taoist arts?"

They were chatting.

Chen Yang's phone rang.

But Wang Lin sent him a document.

Open the file.

A document was displayed.

Qi Ruifeng, 64 years old.

"The abbot of the Dongyue Mountain Taoist Temple in Gucheng is a disciple of the Quanzhen School, and has reached the ninth level of Qi Refining. He is known as the number one Taoist cultivator in Gucheng."

Chen Yang carefully browsed through the document, then crossed it out. He sneered inwardly, "When the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king... A mere ninth level of Qi Refining, whose Divine Soul Realm hasn't even reached the [Day Travel] stage, dares to call himself the number one Daoist cultivator in Gucheng?"

"correct."

"Old Gu..."

Chen Yang asked, "Which is farther, Jing County or Gucheng?"

"Jingxian is south of Gucheng. After passing Gucheng, it's about 70 kilometers away... Why are you asking this?"

Gu Jinghui glanced at the navigation and said, "If we're going to Gucheng, we'll be off the highway in about half an hour."

"Then let's go to Gucheng first."

Chen Yang said, "I've been on the bus for more than two hours and I'm a little tired... I've never been to Gucheng before, so I'll take this opportunity to explore."

The distance from Wucheng to Gucheng is nearly 300 kilometers, and it takes about three hours to drive there on the highway.

Chen Yang and Gu Jinghui set off at 11 a.m., and it's almost 1:30 p.m. now.

Around 2 p.m., the two got off the highway and entered Gucheng.

Although Gucheng is a city, it is slightly smaller than Wucheng, and there are not as many vehicles on the streets as in Wucheng. You can even find empty parking spaces on the side of the streets in the bustling city.

The car is parked.

The two found a small restaurant, filled their stomachs, and then Gu Jinghui urged them to set off. Chen Yang asked, "How many days of leave did the team approve for you?"

"Captain Su didn't mention a time, he just told me to follow you."

"Then why are you in such a hurry!"

"You've finally managed to get out of town, so treat it as a few days off... You've never been to Gucheng before, have you?"

Chen Yang said, "I heard there's a Taoist temple in Gucheng called Dongyue Mountain, and its abbot is also a cultivator. Let's go and pay him a visit."

…………

PS: First update!

(End of this chapter)