Xiaofeng, still reeling with excitement, packed up his things. He was eager to find a quiet place to comprehend the Dao.
Li and He, however, were left deeply disturbed. Was something wrong with this man? He had just been struck by heavenly lightning in broad daylight—yet now he was preparing to depart?
Magistrate He offered a forced smile. “Immortal sir, where are you off to? This matter of extending life……”
Xiaofeng had already pocketed the treasures, incense, and votive offerings, and was turning to leave. But then it struck him. He’d received a divine boon. It was not to be shared.
He turned, eyes glinting with a cold and righteous fury. “You vile scum, murdering the innocent and stealing their merits. Have you no conscience, you beasts? Thousands of young men in this county have died because of you! Families destroyed, clans broken. Today, I, Xiaofeng, shall act on Heaven’s behalf and exterminate both you despicable officials!”
Neither Magistrate He nor Prefect Li had foreseen this turn. Panic seized them. But Xiaofeng gave no quarter, slashing with his sword.
Li attempted to flee in terror. A hapless servant tried to intervene, only to be cleaved in two. In desperation, Li seized his sickly-looking son, holding him up like a shield. Young Master Li let out a scream, wetting himself: “Dad!”
Prefect Li had no time to grieve his son who’d just been hacked to death. He threw himself to the ground, scrambling to hide. “Immortal sir! Immortal! My family has powerful backers aaa!”
Which is precisely why I fear you’ll spread word of my receiving a celestial edict.
A glint of hatred flashed in his eyes. “I’ve always despised nepotism like yours. It’s because of parasites like you that I’ve never risen in the sect.”
He drove his sword through Li’s chest, killing him instantly. Then, he proceeded to massacre the entire pleasure barge, going through it several rounds until the lake water turned crimson and the boat splintered and sank beneath the waves.
He lit a fire talisman, cremated the remains, and scattered the ashes on the wind, letting them dissolve into the water, leaving no trace.
“Eliminating evil for the people. Surely this merits my ascension to immortality?”
Satisfied, he departed. Yet halfway into the clouds, two disciples came rushing over, breathless. “Da-shixiong! Something terrible has happened! Xiao Dongping’s life-lamp has gone out!”
Xiaofeng’s expression darkened.
Xiao Dongping was a minor disciple with no powerful connections. But Xiaofeng himself was far from the favoured lineage of the sect. This instance where he’d lead the disciples out and suffered a failure would only further erode his standing.
“When did this happen?”
“Several hours ago,” one of them answered.
Xiaofeng’s heart skipped a beat. He sneered inwardly.
These two idiots, with their evasive gazes and speech faltering. They’d clearly known earlier and delayed delivering the news, seizing the chance to get him blamed and affecting his position.
He betrayed no reaction, but murderous thoughts were already forming. Still, he needed to plan it carefully: “Where does the life-lamp point to? Take me there.”
—
Xue Cuo was utterly exhausted, yawning continuously.
The red-haired ghost peeled open his eyelids and began to paint grand visions. “Young Master, look about you! If you would serve our Ladyship, the rarest materials of the underworld are yours to command. Supreme cultivation techniques, riches and glory. You’ll be free and unfettered. Beneath one god, above ten thousand ghosts! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Xue Cuo looked out. All he saw was cold winds shrieking and buildings stood in collapse. Paper money littered the ground. Above, black waters hung in reverse. Violent Dao-seals gusted through the void, forming chains strung with golden talismans and divine inscriptions, plunging into an endless darkness. These sights were far beyond someone of his cultivation level.
He barely dared glance. Immediately blood welled from his nose and mouth, his soul nearly shattered.
Only one phrase turned in his mind: cause and effect.
The karmic weight here. Who in the entire Eastern Lands would dare shoulder Her Ladyship’s intentions? Xue Cuo spat blood, his voice trembling: “Uncle, I’m only six. I can’t even reach the seat in the Judgment Hall.”
The red-haired ghost hesitated awkwardly. Then, from the sky above, came a soft sigh.
The green-haired ghost listened, then leaned close to Red-Hair to confer. The pair deflated like wilting weeds: “Aai… those who are willing will come. Those with fate shall receive. Her Ladyship bids us send you home.”
Xue Cuo sprang up. “Let’s go, let’s go!”
The red-haired ghost huffed, his whiskers twitching. Xue Cuo, suddenly self-conscious, lowered his head and minced his words: “I’m terribly homesick.”
The two ghosts lifted the sedan chair and let Xue Cuo climb in. His heart felt like it had sank to his stomach. Lifting the curtain, he asked, “Uncles. What will happen to those who followed me in?”
The green-haired ghost answered gruffly, “Once they enter the underworld, they are spirits. Through various oddities over the years, many souls have found their way here. When their allotted underworld years are spent, they move on.”
“Until then, they may yet offer incense to Her Ladyship.”
As they spoke, they left the Ghost City and strode with ease across the floating paper money, heading towards the black waters.
Once they reached the deep, the sedan was set down.
“Jump from here. Your soul will return to your body. A day in the mortal world is half a month here. Not many hours will have passed.”
Xue Cuo stepped from the sedan. “Farewell, uncles.”
The green-haired ghost rolled his eyes. The red-haired one said, solemnly, “Go.”
After a few paces, Xue Cuo turned back. “Am I the first living soul to reach this place?”
The red-haired ghost paused. Then the pair hefted the sedan and walked back the way they came.
“There were others before you. Some led here by us, others who wandered in. Over a thousand, across ten thousand years. We’ve never left Her Ladyship’s side. We wait with her.”
Xue Cuo watched their retreating forms, then offered a solemn Daoist salute. A strange sorrow welled in his chest, but he did not look back.
He leapt into the water, then sank into shadowy depths. A crushing stillness pressed around him, as if the world itself were holding its breath.
He did not know how long had passed, then… Xue Cuo heard a rooster crow.
Xue Cuo’s eyes flew open. Pain was the first thing he felt. It was like his organs had all been violently displaced.
He struggled and pushed himself upright, patting down his limbs. “Good, good. All my parts are still here.”
The village was eerily quiet. Though he knew they had all gone to farm below, a chill still pressed in his chest.
Then, clouds surged across the sky. A group of young cultivators descended, their robes fluttering as they rode the wind.
At the head flew a familiar, handsome youth who seemed somewhat familiar.
This youth was Xiaofeng. He had brought his fellow disciples, following the trail of Xiao Dongping’s extinguished life-lamp. They found the body, yet its soul had dispersed off somewhere. The village was devoid of life, save for a five-six year old child. Suspicion immediately bloomed.
Xiaofeng observed for a while, then instructed the disciples, “Xiao Dongping was killed by practitioners of the evil Xianghuo Divine Dao.”
A shimei was terrible shocked. “Evil Xianghuo Divine Dao? Then we must report this to the elders. But why would Xiao-shidi have provoke those people?”
Xiaofeng replied coldly, “You’ll have to ask Xiao Dongping that.”
“As for this child, it’s better to kill rather than let him go. Take him back and hand him over to the higher-ups.”
Xue Cuo had heard every word. He wiped blood from his mouth and stood. “My father is the Sword Immortal Jun Wuwei of Tianyi Sect. My mother is Tianyi Sect’s elder and master of the Dragon Might Sword, Xue Zhenzhen.”
Xiaofeng frowned. A disciple beside him narrowed his eyes at the muddy boy and sneered. “And we’re just supposed to take your word for it? When immortals enforce the law, you obey. Follow us back. Up!”
Just then, a flash of light streaked across the sky.
A snow-white sword hovered mid-air, clutched in a dark green hand. It pointed toward the group, humming twice as if asking a question.
