A master of comedy!

Chapter 204 Money Makes the World Go Round

Although the two words were not connected in the other person's sentence, but were separated, Zhou Sheng felt that this was not a coincidence.

Those pale golden eyes seemed to hold a deep meaning.

Zhou Sheng's spirits lifted immediately; among these sixteen ghost kings, there was actually a friend of Bao Ying!

He realized that he had underestimated the identity of being a descendant of Bao Gong; the other party's network of connections in the underworld was beyond his imagination.

"Don't perform plays about Bao Gong," was the advice the other party gave me.

Zhou Sheng kept it firmly in mind and continued to follow the Black and White Impermanence on their journey. Just as they passed through the Gates of Hell, the two large doors slammed shut with a loud crash.

It was as if all escape routes had been completely blocked.

"Be careful not to bump into anyone else."

Black and White Impermanence suddenly spoke up to remind them.

Zhou Sheng looked up and realized that the scene before him had changed drastically after entering the Gates of Hell.

The surroundings were no longer so dark, but there were no stars or moon in the world, and it seemed as if all four seasons had been squeezed into one place.

In some places, peach blossoms are in full bloom, while in others, the land is parched and cracked. In some places, lava flows and fire erupts, while in others, the land is frozen solid and snow flies everywhere.

Time seemed to be disrupted here, and Zhou Sheng couldn't clearly sense how much time had passed.

It seemed to happen quickly, yet it also felt like it took a very long time.

But he was no longer alone here; on that seemingly endless road to the underworld, there were many other figures.

Most of them are wandering ghosts who have been escorted to the underworld. They have no magical power to protect them. After their souls leave their bodies, they are in a daze and many have not yet woken up. They just walk forward aimlessly.

Actually, this is not so bad. Those who wake up early due to some special conditions are actually more unlucky.

They were forcibly escorted amidst endless fear. If they struggled too violently, their collarbones would be pierced, and they would be dragged along the ground by the ghost messengers, their blood splattering everywhere.

Screams rang out intermittently, and the strong smell of blood made Zhou Sheng frown slightly.

Some people asked Zhou Sheng for help because they saw many ghost messengers bowing to the Black and White Impermanence, while the Black and White Impermanence treated Zhou Sheng very politely, so they assumed that Zhou Sheng was some kind of high-ranking official.

Zhou Sheng was also powerless to help in this regard.

He had been walking on the road to the underworld for a long time when his ears twitched and he heard a terrified voice.

"Don't hit my face! Don't hit my face!"

"I still need my looks to perform in operas!"

"I've already given you incense money, why are you still hitting me?"

Zhou Sheng looked around and saw a fat man lying on the ground not far ahead, his body bound in chains, being punched and kicked by the ghost guards who were escorting him.

The fat man covered his face, curled up, and screamed and begged for mercy.

"Heh, other sorcerers at least give ten coins as incense money, but you, we travel all over mountains and rivers and you only give us one copper coin, and you dare to call it filial piety?"

"Pah, you might as well not give it to me at all. Who do you think you are?"

The two ghost messengers cursed more and more fiercely, and in the end they were not satisfied with just punching and kicking, they even raised their sticks and smashed them at the man.

Screams continued to ring out.

Other disciples of the Yin Opera Masters who were passing by were also terrified, but none of them dared to meddle.

The saying "money makes the world go round" applies to the underworld as well. If you offer enough incense money, you can not only avoid being beaten, but even have your soul-snatching chains unlocked.

However, if the money is not enough, they are likely to be beaten and scolded. If it affects their performance on stage, they may not be able to come back alive.

Therefore, before a practitioner of Yin-Yang magic is to graduate, they must prepare a large sum of money as a form of filial piety, which has become an unspoken rule in recent years.

The fat man only gave one coin as incense money; no wonder he was beaten so badly.

One of the ghost messengers grew increasingly enraged as he fought, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. He then swung his staff down at the fat man's head. This staff was a low-grade version of the mourning staff, causing excruciating pain when it struck a soul. Even those with some magical powers would be rendered dazed and confused by a blow to the head.

It's easy to imagine that going on stage to perform after that was basically a one-way trip.

But at that moment, a slender, fair hand with well-proportioned joints suddenly reached out, its five fingers slightly spread like dragon claws, and firmly grasped the mourning staff at the last second.

The stick instantly froze, as if it had been clamped by iron clamps.

"How dare you—"

The ghost guard holding the staff blushed but couldn't pull out his weapon. He turned to glare angrily, but was suddenly jolted.

"Black, the Black and White Impermanence!"

"Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

"Yes, I've met this person before..."

They saw that Zhou Sheng seemed to be a spirit, yet his inner radiance was profound, his body glowed, and his demeanor exuded an indescribable majesty.

Moreover, he was personally escorted by the two Yin generals, Black and White Impermanence, and was not bound by soul-snatching chains, so for a moment, no one could be sure of his identity.

"I am just a lowly ghost performer, one of the many ghost performers who come to perform Ghost Plays during the Ghost Festival."

Zhou Sheng's words took them by surprise.

The others were somewhat surprised by this, but not entirely unexpected.

Because Zhou Sheng's claw strike just now used the "Dragon Claw" movement from traditional Chinese opera, with his feet stepping in the Meridian Step and his five fingers shaped like a dragon. If he were to combine it with a cloud hand turn, it would be exactly "a dragon appearing but not its tail."

Zhou Sheng's move was simply too brilliant, and the fact that he could so easily clamp down on the Mourning Staff, which was extremely effective against soul-bound beings, showed that he was no ordinary person.

They were even somewhat incredulous, wondering how someone who hadn't even completed their apprenticeship could possess such skill.
"Let me ask you, is there a rule that we, the sorcerers of the underworld, must offer incense money when we perform ghost plays?"

"No, that's not the case, but..."

"If not, then as a ghost messenger, aren't you afraid of violating the laws of the underworld and being held accountable by King Yama for privately beating and humiliating a performer who came to sing but did nothing wrong?"

"Do you think we, the Yin Opera Masters, are so weak and easily bullied, that we can be slaughtered at will?"

As Zhou Sheng spoke, he grew increasingly angry, and a terrifying aura surged from his body. His eighty-three years of cultivation swept over him like a whirlwind, causing his hair and robes to flutter wildly. The astonishing pressure terrified the two ghost messengers, who dared not even look him in the eye.

"Answer me!!"

His roar was like thunder, which terrified countless ghosts around him. Although he did not use his tongue-twister supernatural power, it still rolled like thunder, rumbling and echoing among the mountains and rivers.

Click!

During Zhou Sheng's questioning, the mourning stick he was holding made a crisp sound, and then cracks appeared.

Whoosh!

The entire mourning staff shattered into pieces and scattered.

"puff!"

The ghost messenger's face turned deathly pale in an instant, his yin energy dissipated in large quantities, and he swayed unsteadily, almost fainting.

All the ghost messengers within a radius of several hundred feet were alarmed, thinking that a vicious person had invaded the underworld, and they were all on high alert, feeling uneasy.

Even the Black and White Impermanence were slightly surprised.

This Zhou Sheng's cultivation seems to be... a hundred years deep?
The young occult practitioners stared in disbelief at the scene, almost unable to believe their eyes.

The fat man who had been beaten got up, stared blankly at Zhou Sheng, lost in thought for a long time, his lips trembling slightly.

"So... a master of occult arts..."

"It can be this impressive..."

(End of this chapter)