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

Chapter 279 The Trial in the Underworld (Revised)
In the afternoon, with no more mining business, the two did odd jobs at various shops. By the end of the day, they had only earned 103 coins—that was the combined earnings of the two of them.

When the appointed time arrived and everyone gathered at the shrine of the local earth god to settle their accounts, even Zhu Ye, on whom the two had placed high hopes, earned less than them, only thirty-one coins.

The three exchanged wry smiles, but Shi Yizhi perked up and said, "Don't worry, once we settle the matter with the mountain lord today, I can go hunting in the mountains. With my skills, I can earn it back in just a few days!"

Just then, the old fisherman arrived.

"You must be the victim!"

As soon as the old fisherman arrived, a wisp of white smoke suddenly rose from in front of the stone niche. Then, a short, kind-faced old man with a white beard, leaning on a cane, emerged from the smoke and said to the old fisherman with a smile, "This time we are going to the City God Temple, which is the road to the underworld. If you go in your physical body, it may be quite arduous. If you trust me, you may leave your body with me. After we are done, I will return it to you in its entirety!"

The old man looked exactly like the statue in the stone niche, and the old fisherman immediately replied respectfully, "I leave it to the local earth god to decide!"

The Earth God then turned to Zhu Ye and the other two with a smile and said, "You are the same; your physical bodies are safest in my temple!"

Jiang Wanli stared wide-eyed, pointing at the small stone niche that was barely knee-high, and stammered, "In...this temple?"

"Hehehe..."

Seeing that the crowd was skeptical, the Earth God didn't argue. He simply chuckled and tapped the ground with his cane. Immediately, a puff of white smoke enveloped everyone, and in a few moments, the stone niche before them grew enormous—

No, it's not that the niches got bigger, it's that they themselves got smaller!
Jiang Wanli looked around in shock at everything.

Ordinary trees now appear to reach into the clouds. Bamboo fences that were once only chest-high seem to be so tall that their tops are nowhere to be seen!

"Hehehe, come in, all of you come in!"

The Earth God beckoned everyone into the stone niche. As soon as they stepped over the high "threshold," the appearance inside the niche suddenly changed.

The stone statue in the center has disappeared, replaced by tables, chairs and benches, just like the furnishings of an ordinary house. Looking to the right, there is even a stove, but it is covered with a thin layer of ash, as if it has not been used for a long time.

Once inside the house, the Earth God pointed to the bed behind the bamboo screen and said, "You lot, squeeze in and lie down on the bed. Leave the rest to this old man!"

Everyone followed suit and lay down on the couch. In the blink of an eye, they felt as if they were floating. After regaining their senses, they looked at each other and realized that they had all become "ghosts".

With the help of the Earth God, "walking the underworld" is no longer as troublesome as before!

Immediately afterwards, the Earth God tapped the ground with his cane, and the surrounding scenery changed again. The houses suddenly appeared upside down in the "sky," and the ground beneath everyone's feet turned into a reddish-brown dirt road—the road to the underworld.

Shi Yizhi and Zhu Ye were alright, as they had witnessed similar scenes when they traveled to the underworld before. Jiang Wanli, however, was experiencing this for the first time and was amazed by what he saw.

The old fisherman, on the other hand, looked somewhat frightened, but seeing that Zhu Ye and the other two were all calm, he gradually calmed down.

The group followed the Earth God and walked for less than half an incense stick's time before they saw Li Si waiting at the Gates of Hell.

"The Lord has specially ordered me to wait here because I have received the complaint. This case is related to both the living and the dead, so I must go to the underworld to hear the case. Please follow me."

Li Si smiled and nodded to everyone as a greeting, then said to the old fisherman, "Please rest assured, sir, my colleague has already gone to invite the mountain lord. You will be able to see your son in the hall in a little while."

The old fisherman bowed repeatedly in gratitude, saying, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" Li Si quickly waved his hand and said, "You mustn't. My surname is Li, and I'm the fourth in my family. You can just call me Li Si, sir!"

As he spoke, he went to help the old fisherman, who then stopped, though his face was still visibly agitated and his eyes were red.

The group followed Li Si all the way to the underworld, where they saw a magnificent hall with a wide-open vermilion gate studded with copper nails and a mythical beast head hanging from the door knocker.

Once inside, Zhu Ye and the others finally saw what the legendary "underworld" looked like.

The City God sat upright above, with four people standing on each side below him. They were all dressed in black robes, but wore strangely styled square hats with crowns on their heads. Long ribbons hung from the sides of the square crowns of the hats, and the ribbons were embroidered with illegible characters or talismans. They looked like ancient characters carved on bamboo slips, without any brushstrokes.

After only a few glances, a gust of wind blew in from outside the door, and then a large, striped tiger emerged from the wind with a long roar.

The tiger's roar could be heard for miles, its power astonishing. It frightened the old fisherman so much that his face changed color, and he fell to the ground with a thud, panting heavily.

The City God, seated above, was so enraged that he slammed his gavel and roared, "How dare you! How dare you shout in the courtroom! I will only issue a warning since this is your first offense, and I will take away your supernatural powers. Do not let me administer punishment!"

The voice was very strange. Zhu Ye and the others didn't notice anything unusual, but it sounded very majestic. The striped tiger next to them immediately lay down on the ground, unable to move, as if it were terrified. However, its wide-open tiger eyes were full of resentment.

Bao Chenghuang slammed his gavel again and shouted, "The old man below has accused you of eating his only son without cause, leaving him destitute and without anyone to care for him in his old age. The investigation has confirmed this to be true. Lord Mountain God! What else do you have to say?!"

Although the striped tiger remained lying on the ground, it refused to back down, saying, "You be your city god, and I'll be my mountain lord. We'll keep to ourselves and mind our own business!"

Bao Chenghuang sneered, "Although I cannot control you, I can control the people here. You have harmed the people under my jurisdiction, how can I tolerate your insolence?!"

The tiger retorted, "Your words, City God, are utterly ridiculous! When have I ever harmed the people?!"

Bao Chenghuang said, "Let's not even talk about how you coerced the people to build a temple a hundred years ago. Just take this old man as an example. His only son taught you to eat, so that no one can support him. You are the one who is causing trouble. Do you admit your guilt?"

The tiger continued, "His son coveted the nonexistent treasures in the mountains, which is why he became my accomplice. Heaven and earth bear witness to this. How can he be my scourge?"

Bao Chenghuang continued, “His son has sworn an oath to become your accomplice, which is a matter between the son and you. But this old man has no entanglement with you and owes you nothing, yet you have taken his only son away, leaving him destitute and unable to enjoy family life!”

After the City God finished speaking, the Mountain Lord fell silent.

It was a tiger spirit that had come to power in the mountains. It had always disliked humans and rarely had any contact with them. The few accomplices were also lured and captured by it with evil intentions. In truth, it was indeed in the wrong.

Besides, since the ghost was under his control, it could also sense his thoughts. There was indeed a young man inside who had begged for mercy and wanted to leave more than once because he only had an elderly father at home, but he wouldn't allow it. Perhaps...

Does this world really care about supporting one's parents?
Although the mountain king is extreme in nature and holds grudges, he is not stupid and actually very much wants to achieve enlightenment.

Having cultivated its current level of cultivation among so many living beings, it naturally understands some principles. It also knows that if it wants to become a mountain god, it cannot harm living beings, especially the local people who live in this mountain. If it offends the people or ruins its reputation, it will be difficult to attain enlightenment in the future...

Besides, this City God surnamed Bao had a grudge against him last time and had long wanted to deal with him, but he had no excuse. Now that he had this pretext, even if he really punished him, it would be an upright act, and he would not be condemned by Heaven...

For various reasons, it became even more afraid to utter a sound, lying there panting heavily, and the hall fell into silence.

(End of this chapter)