After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

After hesitating for a while, Little Yama sneaked off in the direction of the sedan chair.

The sedan chair wasn't moving fast, but after a quarter of an hour, it had traveled through two streets and several alleys before arriving at a palace called "Daming Palace".

Standing before the palace were a row of gatekeepers and patrol soldiers, their flesh and blood corroded away, leaving only skeletons.

Little Yama looked at the grandeur of the "Daming Palace" and then at the patrolling guards in front of the gate, muttering in surprise.

"This place... how come there are so many earthbound spirits..."

These soldiers patrolling the palace gates are all earthbound spirits who cannot rest in peace after death, bound to the ground and unable to find release.

If it were during the time when Little Yama possessed divine status, he could send all these earthbound spirits to reincarnation with just a snap of his fingers. But now, Little Yama can only watch as these earthbound spirits do as they please.

Four sedan chair bearers arrived at the city gate. A gatekeeper wearing a helmet adorned with gold flowers and silver bells walked over, mumbled a few words to the sedan chair bearers, and then waved his hand after seemingly confirming their identities.

The city gates of the Daming Palace opened inwards with a loud rumble.

The sedan chair bearers carried the sedan chairs into the city gate, which then slowly closed until it engulfed and swallowed the departing bearers.

The gatekeepers and patrolling soldiers at the gate returned to their original order.

Zhou Yan waited for a while until the next shift of guards came to relieve him, then stealthily approached one of the outer walls of the "Daming Palace".

He made a little noise that alerted the patrolling soldiers, but no one could find where Little Yama was. Little Yama made his way to the top of the city wall without any danger.

The area above the city wall was much more chaotic than the city gate. After Little Yama climbed over, he didn't encounter any patrolling guards or archers, but he did see corpses all over the ground.

Archers and patrolling soldiers used to gather at intervals on the city wall to observe the situation outside the city. But now, these soldiers who were supposed to be observing the situation outside the city have all fallen to the ground, their clothes torn to dust, and their pale skeletons piled up in heaps.

Little Yama looked down and examined the skeleton beneath his feet.

There were no wounds or fractures, but the yin energy had seeped into the bones. If I'm not mistaken, the cause of death for these skeletons was likely the entry of yin energy into their bodies, which suppressed their yang energy, ultimately leading to the depletion of their yang energy and their death.

Little Yama has seen many large cities in the underworld, including Fengdu, Youdu, and even the capital city where he obtained the Yama Seal. They all have vast areas of buildings that seem to be for human habitation.

However, there were no large areas of human bones among these buildings.

These cities, ruled by Yama, the Emperor of Fengdu, and other underworld deities, are for the dead and their souls. Even if there are living humans, they could not possibly appear in such large numbers as before Little Yama.

With so many corpses, it doesn't look like the ruins of a city in the underworld, but rather like the ruins of a human city in the mortal world...

Little Yama put down the skeleton in front of him, walked to the top of the city wall, and looked out from the wall.

Chudu is a city with a population of one million. As a result, when Little Yama looked around, he saw large areas of buildings silent in the darkness, with faint lights flickering from different buildings, indicating that there must be something belonging to the underworld inside these buildings.

Of course, Little Yama had seen too many of these things and didn't think they were unimportant. What was important was that Little Yama saw majestic stone lions for warding off evil, fish-shaped statues for preventing fire and disaster, and shikigami statues for protecting against lightning and exorcising evil spirits on the rooftops and entrances of several nearby buildings.

Stone lions are one thing, but when did the underworld ever need to guard against fires or lightning strikes?

Little Yama has visited many cities in the underworld, and these cities also have statues of gods, but most of them are great gods like Gouchen Shangdi, Zhenwu Dadi, and Houtu Niangniang. The strange beasts in front of him are just for fire and lightning protection, and Little Yama has never seen them before.

After all, it's a city with a true god in charge, so who would care about such a few strange beasts?

Therefore, it is highly likely that this city is not the city of the underworld.

It is very likely that a long time ago, this city belonged to the human world. Then, some great disaster occurred, and it fell from the human world to the underworld. At the moment of the fall, naturally, all the living people in this city were corrupted by the yin energy of the underworld and died.

Continuing to extrapolate from this idea, Xiao Yan Ba ​​Jun began to think that Jiu Feng had left him and the others in this city, and that An's intentions were probably not just about having fun.

Is Jiufeng trying to do something with these people?

A sinister aura blew from behind Little Yama.

Little Yama squatted down, leaning against the wall, his whole body enveloped in yin energy.

A group of earthbound spirit soldiers, carrying lanterns and clad in armor, walked by. Because they were all ghosts, they walked as if floating, not even stepping on the pile of white bones on the ground. The patrolling soldiers came quietly and left quietly.

As the ghost soldiers receded into the distance, Little Yama crawled out little by little, stepping on the gaps between the bones, with his hands and feet on the ground.

At the end of the city wall, there is a downward staircase.

Little Yama carefully observed his surroundings as he descended the city wall, and without any incident, he reached the bluestone path behind it.

At this point, Little Yama entered the Daming Palace.

This palace in the underworld was unlike the underworld capital that Little Yama had visited before; it exuded a cold and desolate atmosphere. As soon as Little Yama came down, he saw that dozens of buildings inside the palace walls were lit up with lanterns, making them bright inside and out. In the brightly lit areas, there were palace maids and eunuchs bustling about.

Little Yama also has many ghost generals and eunuchs under his command, but Little Yama's ghost generals and eunuchs, whether in terms of physique or appearance, all show signs of being inhuman.

Inside the Daming Palace, the palace maids and eunuchs who came and went were actually quite presentable, with both legs intact and rosy complexions.

This is getting more and more interesting.

Little Yama sneaked into a palace and waited to come out. He was already dressed in a dark brown eunuch's robe.

With uniforms, things become much easier. (The remaining text appears to be a series of seemingly unrelated characters and symbols, possibly a corrupted or incomplete sentence.)

Little Yama walked towards the nearest palace, which was lit up with lanterns.

Before they even arrived, Little Yama heard a majestic female voice.

"Clean it all up so that you can touch the ground with your fingers and palms and not see any dust, and come barefoot without getting a speck of dirt on you..."

Little Yama wisely bypassed this palace and went to another palace with the inscription "Datong Hall".

This time, before they even arrived, they heard a strange, hoarse voice.

“Little Dezi, you’ve been spending too much time with Prince Zuo these past few days…”

A clear and pleasant voice replied.

"The prince truly favors treacherous people..."

He said in a hoarse voice.

"This is not a good thing, Xiao Dezi. Let me remind you, His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, those important figures, they don't say anything when you play around, but when the time comes... Xiao Dezi, do you know that Xiao Guizi and Xiao Xiangzi were just like you back then, wanting to climb the social ladder by marrying into Prince Zuo's family? Prince Zuo also favored them. Go and see where Xiao Guizi and Xiao Xiangzi are now..."

A voice lowered its tone.

"They're dead... Prince Zuo is finished. To avoid ruining his reputation, he killed them all..."

A gasp of disbelief.

"Do you understand now? Your godfather came here specifically to tell you this for your own good. If you want to keep this little life, you have to stay far away from Prince Zuo. Your godfather doesn't want you to be gone in a little while."

The expression on Little Yama's face outside the door changed several times.

The eunuch inside the gate seems to be saying a lot of information.

But it's none of my business.

Little Yama withdrew from the palace lit by lanterns and candles. This time, Little Yama planned to go further afield and find the largest palace or the best courtyard to eavesdrop.

It's obvious that the largest palace and the best courtyard are where important people live, and Little Yama can guarantee that with his ability to control Yin energy, he will never reveal that he is not a local eunuch.

So you can give it a try and have some fun.

This idea was shattered halfway through the journey.

As soon as Xiao Yanjun walked through a garden, a violent explosion rang out in the distance. In the quiet Daming Palace, the explosion was piercing and abrupt, clearly intended to draw people's attention to it.

After the explosion, a firework that could illuminate half of the gloomy sky above the underworld shot into the sky and then bloomed.

Boundless brilliance.

Little Yama looked in surprise at the direction from which the fireworks came. If Little Yama remembered correctly, that direction seemed to be the direction where Leng Qing and Mu Yuan were hiding...

They've been discovered?

It wasn't entirely unexpected. These two demigods from the mortal realm had been staying in such a deep part of the underworld for so long that they were bound to be discovered by the spirits and monsters with keen senses. It's just that Little Yama didn't expect these two demigods to be discovered so quickly.

It's likely that these two demigods were feeling restless from being cooped up in one place, so they came out to check out their surroundings, only to be discovered by the ghosts lurking outside.

Thus, we have the fireworks and explosions that now illuminate the sky. It is unclear whether this is another attack by both sides or just Leng Qing and Mu Yuan creating a diversion.

After the fireworks burst in the sky, the light and the explosions diminished simultaneously until they disappeared.

Little Yama clasped his hands together and prayed for the two demigods, hoping they could safely leave the area and, ideally, escape back to the human world.

6. After praying, Little Yama went to two of the best courtyards nearby, where sounds were constantly coming from.

It's not time to sleep now. The owner of this courtyard seems to be having a pleasant chat with his friends, his tone quite cheerful.

Si: "...Yingyu, Lord Jiufeng has promised the Emperor that he will lift Chudu up from the underworld and bring it back to the human world later!"

Si Xiao Yanjun's expression changed.

"Really? Lord Jiufeng is indeed the guardian deity of our Chu capital, capable of single-handedly lifting Chu capital back to the mortal realm..."

"We haven't been back to the human world for hundreds of years. When we go back this time, we wonder whose family name has been changed."

"It's alright. With the protection of the Nine Phoenixes, we, the people of Chu, will have a place in this vast world."

A series of clear, crisp laughs echoed from the courtyard.

Outside, the little Yama King's expression changed several times before he sighed sadly.

Is Jiufeng going to carry the capital of Chu from the underworld to the human world?

This is why Jiufeng could destroy the world, yet was sealed away.

After that, the two dignitaries started talking about snacks, relatives, and witty remarks.

Unable to hear anything of substance, Little Yama turned and left, preparing to go to the next place to eavesdrop.

Just after leaving the courtyard, Little Yama arrived at a square near the courtyard.

There weren't many people in the square, but as soon as Little Yama took a few steps, a dense sound of footsteps approached from afar.

Turning his head toward the source of the sound, Little Yama saw a group of soldiers dressed in neat armor, their bodies still covered in the blood and flesh of living people, looking like normal humans, marching in orderly from the east entrance of the square.

Then came the point.

Behind the soldiers, Leng Qing and Mu Yuan, who had been blessed by the Little Yama King, were revealed. These two demigods were chained, with their necks and hands bound by shackles.

The two demigods looked to be in bad shape, their clothes were torn and their hair was messy. Mu Yuan, in particular, was a demigod who looked like a social elite, but now all that was left on his face was a pair of glasses.

The two sides must have fought before.

But this place is the abyss of the underworld, with heavy yin energy and cold. Mu Yuan was not used to the local environment and could not muster even half of his strength, so he was captured by these soldiers.

Before Little Yama, the soldiers led Mu Yuan and Leng Qing to a palace called "Da Qing Palace".

Upon arrival, most of the soldiers stopped outside the palace, except for two of the tallest, strongest, and slightly overweight junior officers who grabbed the chains tied around Mu Yuan and Leng Qing's necks and forcibly dragged the two demigods inside.

Little Yama watched from outside, pondering whether he could go in and save the people.

Is there any way to rescue these two demigods while ensuring my own safety?

A figure walked past Little Yama at this moment, and Little Yama's heart stirred, so he quickly said.

"Hey you in front, wait a minute!"

The person in front of Little Yama was a eunuch dressed in the same clothes as Little Yama. The eunuch was holding a wooden tray with a teacup and a teapot on it.

Little Yama clearly saw that the little eunuch was heading towards the Great Sunshine Palace. If nothing unexpected happened, the little eunuch was delivering tea to someone in the Great Sunshine Palace.

"This eunuch..."

The eunuch carrying the tea looked Little Yama up and down.

"Is there something you need from me?"

Little Yama walked up to the eunuch and forcibly snatched the tea. The eunuch's expression changed, and just as he was about to say something, Little Yama struck him on the chin with the sole of his hand. The eunuch's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground.

Little Yama hid the eunuch in a palace, then used underworld magic to control him, ensuring he wouldn't wake up for three days. After that, he went back to the original spot to get some tea and headed towards the Great Sunny Palace.

There were dozens of soldiers guarding outside the Daqing Hall, but these soldiers had no reason to stop a eunuch who was serving tea and water.

Little Yama entered the Great Sunshine Palace without any hindrance. He didn't need to search for anything; the room with the brightest lights and the loudest noise was definitely the one.

Little Yama walked to the room with the brightest lights and the loudest noise. The door to this room was half open, and sounds were constantly coming out from the crack in the door.

"Your Highness, these two seem to be from the mortal realm..."

Next came a male voice that even Little Yama found strangely alluring.

"People from the mortal realm are rare guests..."

Little Yama lowered his head, pushed open the door, and walked into the room.

There were five people in the room: Leng Qing, Mu Yuan, two junior officers holding Leng Qing and Mu Yuan hostage, and a handsome man sitting in the main seat at the front, dressed in brightly colored Hanfu that even Xiao Yanjun couldn't tell what era it was from.

This person must be the Left Prince.

"Your Highness, your tea..."

Little Yama bowed and walked to the left prince's side, placing the tea on the table.