Nine Netherworld Demon Subduing Record

"Hmm...he's a strong and healthy young man, good." The old woman nodded, her eyes full of appreciation.

Fu Qing felt a little awkward under his gaze, so he said, "What do you need me to do, sir? Please give me your orders."

The old woman said, "Old Zhang has been out of work for some time now, and there are quite a lot of books piled up here. This floor is full of the documents that were delivered in packs, the case files that have been processed, as well as the books I have organized and the ancient books that I have copied. You just need to classify these according to their respective categories and put them on the bookshelf. Put the official documents on the second floor and the rest on the first floor."

After saying that, she pointed to a pile of wooden crates on the ground and said, "These books are on the third floor. No one is allowed to look at them without permission. Also, except for work-related needs, no one is allowed to go up to the third floor without permission. Do you understand?"

As the old woman spoke, Fu Qing's heart grew heavier and heavier. This hall was densely packed with books, numbering at least tens of thousands. It would take several days to organize them all.

But then I thought, the test is in two days, so I might as well start working now.

"Yes, sir."

Fu Qing agreed, then began to pick up the books at hand and flip through them. He saw that the contents were mostly records of trivial matters, such as minor public security incidents like Zhang San stealing a stool from Li Si's house. He understood that these were "official documents" and began to slowly organize them.

As he continued to peruse the book, Fu Qing soon discovered a record of the Nine Netherworlds in a corner. The book was called "Exploring the Netherworlds." After carefully flipping through it, he found that it contained records of the topographical features of various places in the Nine Netherworlds.

"As expected, there are books on this subject!"

He glanced at it briefly before placing it on the bookshelf, silently noting its location. Strangely, he only found this one book about the Nine Netherworlds throughout the entire morning; the rest seemed to be nonexistent.

There are records about Taoist masters, but most of them are related to public security incidents, and there are not many other records.

It seems that the matter between Jiuyou and the Daoist Master was deliberately concealed.

Time passed slowly, and by noon, the old woman put down her work and said to Fu Qing, "I'll leave the afternoon's work to you. Remember to wash my brushes and inkstones and put them in the cabinet."

Fu Qing nodded, and saw the old woman stand up using all six of her hands. Only then did Fu Qing notice that her lower limbs were extremely short, as if her muscles had atrophied, and she crawled purely on her six large hands. As she passed by Fu Qing, she glanced at him and said with a smile, "There is some food in the cupboard. If you are hungry, please help yourself."

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't be so hasty. My surname is Murong, and my given name is Yu. You can just call me Grandma Yu."

Fu Qing bowed and bid farewell to Grandma Yu, then began tidying up on his own.

-

It wasn't until after he finished work in the evening, when the sky had darkened, that Fu Qing took out the book "Exploring the Mysterious" and picked up some pastries from the cupboard. He ate them and flipped through the pages by candlelight.

The first page of the inscription reads: "The Nine Netherworlds first appeared during the reign of Emperor Sui Ji, and later emerged during the reign of Emperor Dang Yao. Its opening was accompanied by extraordinary phenomena of heaven and earth."

"Sui Ji? Dang Yao? It sounds like a place name. Does it mean that the Nine Netherworlds first appeared in these places?"

He then turned to the next page: "When the sun shines on the king Si, he mobilizes the power of ten thousand people to descend to the Nine Netherworlds, seize the power of demons, and merge it into his body, thus opening the Six Paths. People of that time practiced it, and their power was unparalleled, as if demons had come to them in person."

"King Si..." Fu Qing chewed on the name, vaguely feeling as if he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite recall where.

Below is a description of Si obtaining the power of demons from the Nine Netherworlds and opening up the Daoist system. At this moment, Fu Qing was completely confused. If that's really the case? Doesn't that mean that this Daoist power didn't exist in the world in the first place?

At this moment, Fu Qing thought of another question: before this, the Nine Netherworld did not exist, and after the Nine Netherworld was opened, there were only demons inside. In other words, there were no people like him who came out of the Nine Netherworld directly. So what was he?

He inexplicably thought of some of his previous speculations. Based on his condition when he woke up, he should have been sleeping there for a long time. But if that was the case, it was very unusual that he had not been attacked by any demons until he woke up and encountered the black-faced ghost.

"Moreover, according to Brother Chen's information, there seems to be some kind of formation inside."

"Could it be because of that formation?" Fu Qing felt as if he had grasped a thread: "Perhaps that formation is some kind of teleportation array?"

He knew that he had to go back and see it again no matter what.

He flipped through the pages, and they were mostly about a "door" that opened in a certain place, someone entered it, and gained some kind of power.

In addition, there are some sentences describing the scenery of the Nine Netherworld, such as "The Realm of the Heavenly River, where a river hangs in the sky, its color is dark red, and corpses and blood float on the water." Or "The Realm of Refining Fire, which burns heaven and earth, its fire is brilliant gold, melting iron and molten gold."

"It seems that there isn't just one type of Netherworld, but rather different appearances in different places. Could it really be eighteen levels of hell?"

There are many theories about hell, but most refer to the different hells where evil people are sent to be punished after death, depending on the severity of their sins. However, according to the records in the classics, there are far more than eighteen types. This book alone records as many as twenty-seven different environments in the Nine Netherworlds in Xizhao, Jinming, and Yunmeng. Moreover, new "gates" open from time to time, and the Nine Netherworlds are slowly increasing.

Furthermore, it also records a situation where the "gate" of the Nine Netherworlds is not just one place, but may have multiple gates opening in different regions. For example, it records that "in the realm of suspended stones, the boundary has collapsed, and the gates have scattered in all directions, with some in the north and some in the south."

Closing the book, Fu Qing still felt like he was in Schrödinger's state of "reading but not really reading." Although there was some information about the Nine Netherworlds, the most crucial clue was how he came to this world. He read through the whole book but didn't find any mention of "teleportation array," "transmigrator," or "otherworldly person." Instead, there were records of people being sucked into that door.

"It seems that I am currently the only transmigrator."

Fu Qing stood up, stretched, and glanced at the sky outside the window. It was completely dark. There was only this one book about Jiuyou. At this moment, he suddenly remembered the secret books that were to be sent to the third floor. He hurriedly ran to the boxes piled together.

Although Grandma Yu had warned him not to touch the books in the box without permission, this matter was of great significance to Fu Qing, so he decided to try to investigate.

He looked at the lacquered red boxes, all locked with brass locks. He tapped them gently and found that the boxes didn't seem to be made of wood. He stared at the brass locks and found that, apart from some strange patterns, there were no keyholes on them.

"No keyhole? How do I open it?"

After nearly half an hour of fruitless research, Fu Qing even considered the idea of ​​forcibly breaking down the structure, but after thinking about it for a while, he had to give up.

"Let's wait for a chance to investigate slowly. Grandma Yu said that we can't look into it without permission. We'll ask how to get permission when the time comes."

Having made up his mind, he yawned, extinguished the candles, and returned to his storeroom.

The next day, the work was the same again. Fu Qing did not find any more records about Jiu You, which disappointed him greatly.

He didn't directly ask Grandma Yu how she got the permission. After all, he was new here, and if he asked directly, people might think he had ulterior motives. Although he did want to see it for his own selfish reasons, Fu Qing chose to sweep the floor out of curiosity rather than be kicked out.

On the third day, just as Fu Qingzheng was cleaning up the area, Chen Xing'an appeared in front of the library, but he had changed his clothes, wearing a black robe with protective gear covering his arms and calves.

"It's here!" Fu Qing was overjoyed. Today was the day to test the spiritual veins.

Accompanied by Chen Xing'an, he bid farewell to Grandma Yu and walked out of the library together. Grandma Yu clearly had a very good impression of Chen Xing'an and Fu Qing, and immediately agreed to Fu Qing's request for leave with a smile.

Before long, Fu Qing followed Chen Xing'an out of the government office, where a beast-drawn carriage was waiting. It was called a beast-drawn carriage because it was not pulled by horses, but by a giant beast that resembled a huge armadillo.

"Isn't the testing location at the government office?" Fu Qing asked.

"The Imperial Household Department has a special place for testing." Chen Xing'an let Fu Qing sit in the beast-drawn carriage first, and then jumped onto the carriage himself with a slight leap.

All the way, Fu Qing was extremely excited. He saw the beast-drawn carriage pass through the streets and head straight for the colorful pool in the city center.