Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 273 Huangquan Road

"stop!"

At the gates of hell, only a minor official in a black robe stood guard. When he saw Shi Yizhi and Zhu Ye, he called out from a distance, "You two! What are you doing here?"

Since the Gate of Hell is called a "gate," it means a "pass," which is a place where normal people and normal ghosts are prohibited from entering or leaving.

The gates of hell open either on the annual day of the return of the dead, or when the ghost messengers capture newly deceased ghosts and they pass through this gate.

"Fellow Daoist,"

Zhu Ye cupped his hands in greeting and said, "We were told by someone that the City God's Palace is short of manpower, so we came here specifically to seek refuge and offer our services."

The title "fellow Daoist" was also given to them by Hua San Niang.

"Ghost messengers and underworld messengers are all cultivators, so it's normal for them to address each other as 'fellow Daoist.' In fact, no matter which path one takes, as long as one is a cultivator, even a demon cultivator or a spirit, one can be called 'fellow Daoist.' There's absolutely no mistake about that..."

After recalling Hua San Niang's words for a moment, Zhu Ye's thoughts quickly returned to the present.

However, the ghost official looked at the two with disbelief, snorted coldly, and said, "Your soul still carries the scent of a living person. Since you came down before your lifespan was over... are you from outside? Are you also here to find some 'key to passage'?"

"This……"

Zhu Ye felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this, unsure whether she should deny it or not.

Instead, Shi Yizhi said confidently, "Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand. To be honest, our actions are indeed intended to establish a relationship with the City God, not for the 'key to pass through,' but because of the Mountain Lord I offended during the day. Although Miss Hu from the Hu family is protecting me for a while, she is ultimately no match for the Mountain Lord's power..."

"It was only when we had absolutely no other choice that we listened to someone's advice, who said that if we could gain the favor of the City God, we might be able to resolve the matter of the Mountain God."

Shi Yizhi's words piqued the interest of the ghost official: "Mountain Lord? You mean that big yellow cat in the mountains?"

The ghost official's tone was somewhat contemptuous, and his address was also very impolite, which aroused Shi Yizhi's curiosity: "It should be that one. It is said that it also keeps a cougar, which is a large striped tiger!"

"Hmph! He's just a cowardly bully who preys on the weak!" the ghost official sneered. "Years ago, when he acted recklessly, my lord almost killed him. In the end, it was the Peach Blossom Goddess who intervened and, out of consideration for the beast's difficult cultivation, spared his life. She only forbade him from harming the villagers in a few more villages... What, is he harming you now?"

Upon hearing that the so-called "Mountain Lord" had such a bad reputation and such a low status, Shi Yizhi suddenly felt that being resented by the Mountain Lord wasn't so bad after all. He patiently recounted everything that had happened during the day, only omitting some details.

"So that's how it is! This beast is truly petty!"

The ghost official chuckled and cursed, then said to the two, "If you want to gain the favor of my lord, it's not difficult. The method the temple keeper told you is indeed a clear path."

At this point, he looked the two of them up and down carefully again, and then said, "However, this Gate of Hell is a proper pass, and it is not a place where people can just enter and exit at will. I certainly cannot let you pass through."

"How about this, you all wait here until the underworld officials bring back the ghost. They will then take you out to help. Even if they catch the ghost, you can hand it over directly to the underworld officials, so you won't have to go through the gates of hell."

Shi Yizhi questioned, "But aren't we acting as underworld officials? How would the City God know?"

The ghost official replied, "My lord is all-powerful and has boundless magical abilities. There is nothing in the underworld that he does not know. He naturally knows what you have done. As long as you catch a few, when you go to the City God Temple in Dayang Town to offer incense, he will naturally see you."

Since the ghost official said so, Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi, who were unable to enter the gates of hell and had no better solutions, had no choice but to obey.

However, the two had only waited for less than half an hour at the gates of hell when they saw two ghost messengers slowly approaching from afar.

"Hey, you guys are lucky!"

The ghost official casually said something and then pushed open the gates of the underworld so he could wait in advance.

The two ghost messengers were walking at the very back. One of them held an iron chain as thick as an arm, with two "ghosts" with somewhat blank expressions hooked behind it. The other carried an iron hook.

The two ghost messengers walked quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they were close to the Gates of Hell.

"Brother Li Si, Brother Zhao San, don't rush in," the ghost official at the door grabbed the ghost messenger's arm, pointed to Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi who were waiting obediently to the side, and said, "Aren't you always complaining about not having enough manpower? These two have offended the Mountain Lord and want to use the 'Walking the Impermanence' to get in touch with our Lord of the Prefecture in order to save their lives. Do you two brothers think they can be of use?"

"No problem, no problem, we're short-handed!" The ghost guard holding the iron chain said cheerfully, handing the chain to the ghost guard behind him who was carrying the iron hook, and said, "Brother Zhao, you take these two in, I'll take them on a run first to familiarize them with the place, and we'll meet here later. Then we brothers can each take one, and that way we can catch a few more today!"

The ghost messenger surnamed Zhao nodded silently, took the iron chain, and dragged the two ghosts through the gate like two livestock.

"My surname is Li, and I am the fourth son. You two can call me Fourth Brother!"

After watching Zhao San enter the pass, Li Sifang said to Zhu Ye and the other man, "It seems you've received some guidance. I'm quite busy here, so you two can work with me for a day. Once you've finished all the work for the next few days, I'll introduce you to my master!"

Zhu and Ye quickly expressed their gratitude: "Thank you very much, Brother Li Si!"

"Thank you, Brother Li!"

Li Si waved his hand: "Oh, it's nothing. How should I address you two?"

After Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi gave their names, Li Si stroked his chin and said, "You also came in from outside, right? There have been so many people coming in from outside these past few days, and so many people have died! You might even run into someone you know!"

These words were rather ominous, but before Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi could react, Li Si produced an iron hook and a chain from who-knows-where, handing them to the two and explaining, "These are the soul-guiding hook and the soul-binding rope. If someone's lifespan has ended, but their obsession is too deep and they refuse to let their soul leave their body, you must use this soul-locking hook to pull them out, and then use the soul-binding rope to fasten them. In this way, they can be led to the underworld and sent to the gates of hell!"

The two received two treasures and were quite intrigued, so they couldn't help but touch them.

Whether it's the soul-summoning hook or the soul-binding rope, they look no different from ordinary ironware, except that they are exceptionally cold, even feeling like ice to the touch, exuding a chilling aura that almost penetrates to the bone.

As Li Si led the two men along, he explained the process of capturing the souls of those whose lifespan had ended. Suddenly, the view above their heads changed from the stone niche behind the Peach Blossom Inn to a solitary stone tablet. Next to the tablet was another stone niche that looked exactly the same as the one behind the Peach Blossom Inn.

"arrive!"

As Li Si spoke, he grabbed Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi and lifted them up. The two felt a sudden dizziness, and the world turned upside down—

They were now surrounded by that stone tablet!
The stone tablet had three large characters written on it. Although it was dark, ghosts don't actually see things with their eyes, so Zhu Ye and Shi Yizhi could both make out the characters: Dayang Village.

“This place used to be called ‘Dayang Town’,” Li Si said, his mouth never stopping the whole way. Seeing the two looking at the stone tablet with curiosity, he continued to chatter: “Later, after the Prefect isolated this place from the outside world, in order to treat everyone equally, he changed ‘Dayang Town’ to ‘Dayang Village’ and erected this stone tablet. You can see that the chisel marks on it are still brand new!”

Zhu Ye was very curious about this: "I heard that Dayang Village is more than ten hours' walk from Taoyuan Village. How come we got to Dayang Village from Taoyuan Village in just a short while?"

“That’s the world of the living, but the world of the dead is different,” Li Si replied. “The road we just walked on, the one that’s all red clay, is called the Road to the Underworld.”

"The road to the underworld is interconnected. Let alone two neighboring villages, even if they are separated by a hundred and eight thousand miles, as long as you know the direction and can identify the place, there are no passes or obstacles, and you can get there in a short time. That's how the underworld is!"

The two suddenly realized: "So that's how it is..."

Zhu Ye then asked, "If we want to go back, how should we get there?"

Li Si replied, "It's simple. Just go to the Ghost Gate from the Earth Shrine, and then ask the ghost guards on duty at the Ghost Gate to choose your path. You people who walk the path of death are not proper underworld officials. Without an underworld official's order, you can't use the Yellow Springs Road!"

After chatting for a while by the stone tablet, Li Si led Zhu Ye and the other person to the village inn.

This inn looked much larger than the one in Peach Blossom Village. Seeing how different it was from the Peach Blossom Inn, Zhu Ye frowned slightly and remained silent for a while before asking, "Brother Li, I've noticed that all three villages under the jurisdiction of the City God seem to have inns. But if this is a secluded place, what use are inns?"

Li Si replied again: "Although we are isolated from the world, these three villages still have contact with each other, so of course there must be inns! But you are right, precisely because there are no outside merchants, each inn only has two or three rooms. With so many people coming these past few days, there aren't enough rooms!"

As they were talking, the three of them entered the inn.

The innkeeper was a middle-aged man with a large belly, wearing a tall mountain-shaped hat. When Li Si brought Zhu Ye and the other person in, he seemed to notice something and looked up in the direction of the three of them.

However, since both Li Si and Zhu Ye were considered "ghosts," he naturally didn't see anything and lowered his head again to start calculating.

"Ghosts entering a room always have a bit of yin energy, which sensitive people can detect, and some people with some cultivation can even see them, so don't be afraid. We're all ghosts now, what's there to be afraid of!"

Li Si's words were somewhat strange, as if he were speaking to Zhu Ye and the other person, but also as if he were speaking to himself.

(End of this chapter)