Shi Chen was sitting crosslegged on 13th, enjoying the trip, watching the breathtaking scenery from high in the sky. The silver light, that he discovered was being emitted by some strange clouds, was dimming by the minute, leaving in its place the absolute darkness of the Underworld.
The huge scaly back of the dragon made it seem like they were having a picnic on a large black volcanic plain. Everyone was gathered in a circle sipping some delicious tea made by Ankai and discussing the next steps of the plan, while the professor was simply relaxing.
Actually, Shi Chen wasn't relaxed at all, he was thinking and analyzing everything that had happened in the last few hours. The more he thought about it the more confused and amazed he became. He died, walked in the Underworld, met his previous incarnations and saw their memories. But, still, something was bugging his mind: why were they helping him? Shi Chen was quite paranoid since he had lived his whole life in a world made of lies, where he himself was one of the best liars and schemers, so, of course, he was very suspicious of these souls he just met, unable to completely trust them. First of all, it was too big of a coincidence that the first people he saw were surprisingly his previous lives. Second, if they were who they said, how was it possible that he could speak to them? Shouldn't they be only vague memories?
Also, the story of the limited reincarnations was something a lot of people believed even on earth, and a random plan he thought, had been surprisingly accepted as a possible solution...was it possible that he was the one being fooled while trying to fool others? Anyway, before doing anything, he had to speak with one of the Kings of Hell, to avoid any misunderstanding.
"So, if I'm the last one, who's the first?" Shi Chen asked with curiosity.
"13th is the first ... so technically this makes us, at least in part, dragons among humans," said Wen Rong jokingly "then there are Fang Xiu, Bai, Ankai, Qing Zheng, me and you!"
A mysterious light flickered in his eyes like he knew exactly what he was thinking, and, ambiguously smiling, he patted a scale of the monster they were riding, whispered something to Fang Xiu and then they both started laughing loudly.
Shi Chen looked at them confused but didn't say anything.
After a few months, in the distance, a magnificent and imposing palace could be barely seen. The palace wasn't comparable to anything he had seen on Earth, in fact, certainly, it was much larger than Earth itself.
Ten Pagodas were piercing the sky like they were trying to ascend, the tallest buildings of the palace.
One of them could actually be seen even from where their Truesoul Fire was, but he mistook it for a really tall mountain chain.
The Pagodas were the Ten Courts of Hell, where the Kings lived and worked, while the Central Palace was King Yama's, and, while lower in highness, was way bigger than all the other buildings put together, including the courtyards and gardens. Obviously, King Yama wasn't the only one living there; countless cultivators, demons, and devils - dead and alive - had their living quarters in the Palace, forming a frightening force that rivalled the Celestial Court. Few knew about it, and those who knew called it Hell's Gate. These shocking things were told to him by the other six, who were very knowledgeable even on the better-kept secrets of the Three Realms. This gradually diminished his suspiciousness in their regards, after all, he saw the memories and knew that lying to someone like him was beneath them and also meaningless, because, previous lives or not, they couldn't gain another reincarnation for themselves.
One year later they finally arrived at the closest Pagoda entrance. While descending from the sky Shi Chen sucked in a breath of cold air. What he assumed was an incredibly vast sea that surrounded the Palace was in reality people. A swirling sea of people. If the others didn't support him, he probably would have fallen off 13th's back. He was left shocked and desperate by the sight of it. If just the queue to enter was so big, he didn't dare to think about the crowd that was inside.
"The first thing to do is taking you to the judge. The Kings aren't easily disturbed, so usually, almost all the work is done by the assistant judges. But don't worry we know people, plus you're a particular case. This is King Qinguang's Pagoda, the First Court, he's in charge of preliminary trials and he'll take care of you." explained Bai.
13th elegantly landed right in front of the gate scaring all the souls in the vicinity, who were running away with all the speed they could muster, cursing their parents for not giving them more legs.
There were two guards near the gate, who watched them expectantly, hoping for some big ruckus to be thrown so they could finally beat someone to a pulp to blow off some steam after aeons of boredom. One was a burly man with the head of an ox, wearing a black armour with a long spear in his hand and he irradiated an aura of violence and heroism. He had an evil grin that went from ear to ear and he was greedily licking his lips already tasting the moment when he would crush these idiots who were courting death. The other was a refined man with the face of a horse, dressed in white and grey robes and black pants on which he had lots of daggers and knives. While he showed more self-control than his colleague, his hands were eagerly twitching on the hilts of the two weapons at his sides - a sword and sabre.
They were about to say something but they choked on their words as soon as they recognized the dragon and the people on his back. Then their faces darkened when they saw Shi Chen with them.
Those infamous people were the ones who caused King Yama unending headaches. Every time a new soul appeared in the group, it meant that they would stir things up because of some matter with their True Soul. The last time, they occupied the whole palace blocking the cycle of reincarnation demanding justice, and it required for all the Kings to come down from their Pagoda's to assist King Yama in throwing them out, failing. They had to break the taboo and take their True Soul hostage to make them surrender.
The two of them were worried because they knew that Shi Chen was their last soul and he could only be judged but not reincarnated and they were preparing for the worst.
"Brother Ox-Head, Brother Horse-Face, greetings! How much time has passed! How have you been?" asked Ankai cupping his hands smiling amiably to the two, who were gobsmacked by this.
"Hahaha we've been well, don't worry Brother Ankai! You are here to accompany the new guy to see King Qinguang, right? Leave everything to us Big Brother!" swiftly spoke Horse-Face, sweating bullets. It was better to end this quickly before these walking calamities changed their minds and, instead of talking civilly, they would start to trash the place.
"What's your name Little Brother?" asked nervously Ox-Head.
"I'm Young Sword Master Chen of the Shi clan. Let's get done with this, I have things to do" said Shi Chen putting up the airs of a busy and mighty expert who had the power to produce clouds with one turn of the hand and rain with another. He wanted to intimidate them a bit since his companions couldn't come with him. He didn't know why he said Sword Master, it was just the first thing that came to his mind. He was a little interested in martial arts when he was a youth, especially the ones involving a sword, and, even if he wasn't some famous master, he won a few kendo and fencing tournaments in Korea, China, and Japan... good times.
The guards seemed a little scared when they heard the words Sword Master, but they calmed themselves when they didn't see any sword on him.
"This way Young Master!" said Ox-Head not daring to call him Little Brother again.
After entering the gate, a paved path extended for who knows how many kilometres in a luxurious garden after which was a classy courtyard, and finally the elaborated entrance of the First Court of Hell. Shi Chen for the first time thanked the fact that he was dead, otherwise his legs would have killed him to take revenge for this abuse. While he was walking he admired silently the decorations and took notice of the fact that, despite the sea of people outside, not even a single person could be seen.
The grass was of a particular dark green like it was made of jade, and while all the flowers and plants seemed deadly, they had a gloomy and mournful beauty. The courtyard seemed perfect to relax and have tea while enjoying the view. But all this beauty and the emptiness just accentuated the creepy and sad feeling of it.
The doors opened and Shi Chen went inside, after saluting his escorts. The inside was surprisingly very plain and practical, not different from what you would see in an important court on Earth. There was even an information desk where an employee was reading a book to pass the time. He approached and asked:
"Sorry, I'm shi Chen, I should have an appointment with His Majesty the Judge? Where do I have to go?"
The woman was startled and, after checking a few scrolls, she jumped up and answered scared "Lord Shi Chen you are quite early...hem, His Majesty will receive you immediately. Just go through that door, it'll lead you to the last floor where His Majesty is." "Thank you."
He walked towards the door with a frown on his face. He hoped that there wouldn't be any stairs.