Under the watchful eye of Donghai Lin, Xue Zhunluan, the 10th Yama, picked the blunt long sword with hesitance.
He then raised it gradually in the air.
"Don't do it, King Zhunluan! If you do this, then I'll never see eye to eye with you ever again." King Taishan, the 7th Yama, warned while giving pleading eyes.
Yes, both belong to the underworld, and the shame of being killed by a fellow god couldn't be washed away easily.
Hearing that, Xue Zhunluan, the 10th Yama's hand holding the sword, shook uncontrollably.
"No, I can't do it!" He exclaimed, and the sword slipped down from his hands and stuck on the ground.
"Good! You can die now." Donghai Lin said and cut off his both hands swiftly. Then another session of long physical torture began and ended his torment after over ten minutes.
The ten minutes were like 10,000 years to Xue Zhunluan, the 10th Yama.
Just after the 10th Yama mysteriously reappeared in one piece, Donghai raised his red saber gradually in the air.
"W-w-wait, I'll do it!" Xue Zhunluan, the 10th Yama shrieked. He then hurriedly pulled out the blunt long sword from the ground and scuttled toward King Taishan, the 7th Yama, who was lying on the ground.
"King Taishan, I'm REALLY sorry about this. You should have listened to what I said earlier. Then both of us would not be in this precarious situation." Xue Zhunluan, the 10th Yama said and slashed down the blunt sword, aiming at his neck.
"No, don't!" King Taishan screeched in panic.
Whack!
Because the long sword was blunt, the edge of the blade only cut a few centimeters on his neck. Xue Zhunluan retracted the sword and raised it in the air to hack at him again. Then the harrowing cry from King Taishan followed.
Xue Zhunluan hacked King Taishan continuously with his sword, aiming at his neck.
"Ahhh.....ahhhh!" King Taishan's gut-wrenching shrieks echoed throughout the surrounding area.
After hitting over 50 times, Xue Zhunluan finally severed King Taishan's head.
Three seconds later, a brand new King Taishan appeared and bellowed, "Zhunluan!"
"Sorry, I don't like to do this too." Xue Zhunluan, the 10th Yama, said and stabbed him, aiming his heart.
Puchi!
Unlike the bluntness on both edges, the tip of the sword was sharp. So, it penetrated through his chest and punctured the heart. This time, King Taishan died less painfully.
The same process kept repeating three more times.
And the fourth time, a well-bloomed purple lotus appeared out of the blue and blocked the sword.
"What's going on here?" A warmed-male voice spoke out of nowhere.
In the next instance, various fluctuations occurred around the surroundings, and seven noble-looking men with magnanimous air around them appeared in the air. Some of them stood in the air, others rode beasts, and one was sitting cross-legged on a giant purple lotus. They were all the senior gods of the underworld.
Donghai Lin observed them with his fiery crimson eyes* and asked, "Blackie, are these the other Yamas?"
"Yes, they're….." Hui Láng, the Giant Black dog, replied and recited their names, pointing with his paw. "King Pingdeng, King Dushi, King Biancheng, King Yanlou, King Wuguan. King Songdi, and last, King Chujiang, the 2nd Yama."
"Hmm, there's still no sign of the 1st Yama, yet." Donghai Lin mused as he observed all of them and the man sitting on the purple lotus caught his eyes the most. All of them wore Daoist robes of different colors and golden crowns with unique designs over their heads. And all of them looked elegant in their own ways and their serenities were a rare sight to behold too.
"So he's the one who has blocked the 10th Yama's sword!" Donghai Lin muttered under his breath as he contemplated King Chujiang, the 2nd Yama sitting over the purple lotus wearing a purple Daoist robe and a miniature tattoo of a purple lotus on his forehead.
"What is the meaning of this, King Xue Zhunluan, and why are you attacking King Taishan?.... Oh, there's Hui Láng and a human soul too." King Chujiang, the 2nd Yama, questioned him and then he asked the Giant Black Dog courteously, "Brother Hui Láng, did King Zhunluan bother you too?"
"Hmph!" Hui Láng, the Giant Black dog, snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Zhunluan! Why are you still not talking?" King Chujiang, the 2nd Yama, bellowed at him on seeing the attitude of the Dog. "Have you lost your tongue?"
"This isn't what you think, 2nd Brother." Xue Zhuanluan, the 10th Yama, responded meekly.
"What?! Then what am I seeing now? If I didn't interfere in time, then that sword would go right into King Taishan's heart. So, now, you're pointing the finger at me for seeing things differently. Huh!" King Chujiang, the 2nd Yama, questioned him with a low deep tone, narrowing his eyes.
"Yep, he's right! You are misreading the Crux of the matter happening here, and you're going somewhere else, which isn't necessary at all. May I add something here to finish all these farts?" Donghai Lin said, raising his hand and with a smile plastered all over his innocent-looking face.
"Okay! Human, if you have something to arise, then speak your mind. And I assure you I'll protect you, even if your words provoke anyone." King Chujiang said in a soft tone.
"I appreciate your generosity, but honestly, I don't need it. Hmm, you seem to be a nice god…. and I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed." Donghai Lin responded, "Well, I'm the one making him do it?"
"What?!"
"Yes, I'm the one forcing King Xuanluan into this." Donghai Lin responded boldly with a louder tone.
King Chujiang's countenance suddenly changed, and he asked, "King Taishan, is this human telling the truth?"
"Yes, 2nd Brother, this despicable human's the one causing all the turbulence here….. Kill this evil spawn." King Taishan replied and shouted, pointing at Donghai Lin. He then recounted the matter of Donghai Lin continuously killing and torturing the 10th Yama and skipped for his part.
King Chujiang glared at Donghai and asked to confirm once again: "Your last chance!.... Are you sure you are the one causing such a state of disturbance here on the Naihe bridge?"
Donghai Lin shrugged as he grinned at him.
Then suddenly, the purple lotus which had previously blocked the sword zoomed at Donghai Lin instantaneously as it spun at an incredulous speed.
However, before the purple lotus could reach Donghai Lin, the giant black dog opened his mouth wide and barked loudly which was accompanied by multiple sonic waves, and those sonic waves blew the lotus away, melting it into smithereens.
"Daoist Hui Láng, what's the meaning of this?
Are you also in cahoots with this human to wreck God's reputations?" King Chujiang questioned, glancing at the Giant Dog.
"Humph! Who cares? I'll kill anyone who dares to attack my Martial Uncle Lin. Now, it's your turn." Hui Láng, the Giant Black dog, retorted, baring his teeth.
Donghai halted him by tapping on his limb and said calmly while directing his words to the 2nd Yama, "King Chujiang, wouldn't it be a good idea to learn my reasons before further escalation takes place?..... I don't think being rash will lead to a good outcome."
"Reasons?" King Chujiang sneered. "Forget about your intention. Since you are so bold enough to even kill and humiliate gods, that's a serious offense and blasphemous…
He condemned in a loud tone. "You deserve to suffer the eternal damnation deep within nine layers of hell!"
Then he turned his attention to the Giant Black Dog and uttered, "Listen, Brother Hui Láng, you are equally responsible for all of this, and your punishment will be the same as this loathsome human. But... considering your long service in the underworld and also as my good friend, I'll tell you this just once. Leave and never take another foot on the holy ground of the underworld. You're not welcome here anymore."
"Humph! Who're you calling your good friend?! Ain't no friend with you." Hui Láng, the Giant Black Dog, derided as he sneered, "And who would want to stay a minute longer in this harshly unpleasant place?.... Oh, but before I do that, I'm gonna teach you an unforgettable lesson about life, you lofty gods!"
"Fine, everyone attacks them!" King Chujiang yelped, pointing down at them from high above in the air.
"Just come at me all at once. That will make it easier for me to kill you." Hui Láng, the Giant Black Dog barked up in the air. He then tried to jump in the air.
"Wait, Blackie, there is no point in killing them, as they will eventually revive the next seconds. So, why don't you just give them a resounding slap on each of their faces and send them far away from here? I have another plan for you to end this fart already." Donghai Lin whispered under his breath.
"Roger that!" Hui Láng, the Giant Black Dog, responded obediently, and he flew up in the air, approaching the rapidly incoming Seven Gods of Death.
Slap! Slap! Slap!.....
In the next minute, seven resounding sounds of slaps reverberated around the surroundings. The space beside Donghai Lin fluctuated and a giant black Dog appeared.
"Martial Uncle Lin, what now?" Hui Láng asked, mindfully.
"Blackie, since you're the descendant of the Celestial Wolf, Serius star, I guess you can swallow suns and moons, right?" asked Donghai Lin.
"It's easy peasy…. I haven't tried yet, but I can do that." Hui Láng responded while pondering deeply.
"Brilliant! Boy, go down to the Yellow Springs and drink all the yellow water in them. This will be your last task in this life." Donghai Lin ordered.
"Yes..... However, it smells really awful." Hui Láng responded.
"Then block your nose and do it, alright, go and quickly devour all of them before those lousy gods return." Donghai Lin instructed.
"Right, I can cover my nose with Qi." Hui Láng said and in the next instant, he disappeared and reappeared just above the surface of the Yellow Spring.
As he raised his head slightly to the sky and opened his mouth wide, a strange suction force appeared above the surface of the water, causing multiple enormous streams to rise and enter the Dog's mouth.
While glancing down from the bridge, Donghai Lin saw the Dog swallowing hard and swallowing briskly, which allowed him to finally see the entire Mount Tai which he had only seen the tip of before beginning his drinking.
"The Celestial Wolf is indeed an impressive and legendary beast…. Within a few minutes, he could swallow an ample body of water the size of an enormous sea." Donghai Lin praised him.
Meanwhile, the 7 Gods of death, who were sent very far away from the Hui Láng's slaps, finally reappeared and they threw all of their weapons; swords, spears, hammers, and a purple lotus at Donghai Lin.
In response to those incoming attacks, Donghai Lin focused his mind on his back as he had done earlier, and then his body was covered in a thick Azure-Green, Yang Essence Qi, and a virtual image of an Azure-Dragon appeared around him. And the dragon bellowed.
Roar!
The thundering Dragon's roar hurled all the incoming seven heaven-shaking weapons far away.
The giant black dog appeared and was about to jump toward the Gods, but he halted suddenly when a strange phenomenon occurred.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Thundering sounds of the underworld Bell rang yet again. This time, however, they were a lot louder, and with every ringing sound, the Naihe Bridge shook and the blue sky turned bloody, and strange phenomena such as earthquakes and cyclones occurred. Molten lava was also sprayed out from various parts of the ground. It was as if the underworld had entered the phase of its apocalypse.
Next, everyone heard someone chanting a sutra in Sanskrit and all those strange phenomena halted.
A space fluctuation occurred and the person who was chanting the sutra appeared in the air just a couple of hundred meters above the Naihe bridge.
Donghai glanced at the source of the voice and the first thing he saw was a giant white lotus. His line of vision drifted upward and saw a man wearing a white Daoist Robe sitting over the white lotus bed.
"Ah!" he exclaimed in amazement as he saw that the middle-aged-looking man had four heads attached; One just behind his main head, and two on either side of his main head, wearing four golden crowns.
The man was also ten-handed; he had a sword in one hand, a dagger in another, an ornate seashell in another hand, and a book in another, and various weapons were held in the remaining hands.
Donghai came to realize that three of his mouth chanted the sutra.
All the lower gods watching the show and all the nine Yamas also bowed to the man and greeted, "Blessings, King Qin'guang, the Overload of the Underworld!"
This time all the Yamas, including the 10th and the 7th, appeared beside him and knelt before him, showing their subservience.
It was King Chujiang who first opened his mouth, and reported, "Big Brother, all this chaos is because of this sinner human soul and Hui Láng... "
Then he described how they killed the 10th Yama and the 7th Yama were killed, and even how the 10th was forced to kill the 7th.
The 7th and the 10th also jumped into the conversation and retold all of their misfits.
The whole time, Donghai Lin and the Giant Black Dog remained silent.
Donghai Lin was also waiting to see how the 1st Yama handled this.
After the three recounted the series of misfortunate events, King Chujiang pointed at Donghai Lin and the Giant Black Dog and said, "Big Brother, please save the face of us Gods of death by killing these two and tossing their souls into the dept of the Naraka*!"
"Alright, you need to stop now. I know everything from the very beginning." King Qin'guang, the 1st Yama King, said from his front face-mouth that was the only one not reciting the Sutra.
He then glanced down and said, clasping his one pair of hands: "Daoist Donghai Lin, please accept this old man's salute as my way of apology for all the mistakes of my people here." His tone was sincere.
'Oh, he's the first one talking to me with respect. And he knows my name too.' Donghai Lin wondered and had a good impression of him.
Therefore, he clasped back and responded, "My greetings, King Qin'guang. And please accept this mere human's humble salute!"
King Qin'guang reciprocated with a smile beaming from ear to ear.
"Daoist Lin, I, as the Overload of the underworld, respectfully request the return of the Yellow Spring. Otherwise, the destruction of this realm is imminent, and I can stop it for another ten minutes." He begged, not caring about his lofty position.
The atmosphere changed to a rather awkward silence as Donghai Lin remained silent.
Realizing that Donghai Lin was not ready to have that discussion yet, King Qing'guang the 1st Yama made an awkward smile and suggested, "Daoist Lin, I beg you, please save the underworld, and I...no, the whole underworld will be in your debt... And I give my word, I'll accept all of your demands after that."
It dumbfounded all the lower gods and the 9 Gods of death when their lord pleaded, no, begged for the sake of the underworld realm upon a mere mortal. But they still didn't voice out their dissatisfaction.
"Okay," Donghai Lin responded softly. Because of his successful business tycoon's mindset, knowing that the destruction of the entire underworld was not on his agenda, to begin with. And also, even the Overlord had pleaded with him to strike a deal and his first decision was that there was no benefit to him to let the underworld in destruction.
He turned to the Black Giant Dog and commanded, "Blackie, you heard him too.
You and I are both honest, amiable, and considerate people, and we don't take any of other people's things for granted. So, wouldn't it be great if you gave them back their precious Yellow spring and became their savior?"
On hearing him put the words exactly like that, King Qin'guang was all smiles, whereas, on the other hand, all the others made a face that they weren't unsure whether to laugh or cry.
'Shameless!' King Taishan sneered in his head.
The next thing, the Giant Black Dog opened his mouth and sprayed out the Yellow water from his mouth and it took him over five minutes to fill the Yellow spring back.
Then the melodious voice chanting the sutra finally halted.
"Alright, I'll keep my word. Please, tell me your demands without holding back?" King Qin'guang, the 1st Yama, said as he beamed from ear to ear.
"Well, before we make our demands. Let me start by explaining why my nephew and I have caused trouble here." Donghai Lin said.
"I'm all ears." The 1st Yama responded.
"King Qin'guang, let me ask you this; is my nephew, the Great Hui Láng, a subordinate of your underworld?" Donghai Lin asked.
"No, the Great Hui Láng is well known for his strength throughout the 10 planes, and there is no way I can afford to make him the subordinate of the underworld." The 1st Yama responded.
"Then, why did the venerable 10th Yama hoodwink him into doing the service of a mere servant here in this very Naihe bridge for over 1 million years? For what? Just to relieve his boredom and a cup of his wine once a week. He's literally taking the advantage of my nephew's kindness and naiveness as granted." Donghai Lin said.
He added, "At first, we just planned to leave this place as fast as possible, but those hood-loom demonic guardians guarding this place tried to eat me frequently. So, in defense, we killed them all. After that, the 10th Yama attacked us rashly, without knowing the whole truth. To him, I'm just a mere mortal who didn't worth a second of his time to listen to my reasons. So we have reciprocated the same way he did to us….." He then retold the crux of the matter until the 1st Yama came.
He continued, "Now I'll come to our demand…. The only thing we ask is for you to pay my nephew's remuneration for his long service here."
"I agree…. But Hui Láng's service comes with over 1 million years and I don't have any value in my mind to give worth to that service…. So, how about this? You name anything you like that is in our possession and I'll agree to it." The first Yama suggested after pondering deeply.
His words were like the sweetest tonic to Donghai Lin's soul. "Alright, to make this fair, we'll take only 11 things."
"Blackie, what're you waiting for? They're ready to pay for all your bitter sweat. And you heard him too. Go on. Pick only the greatest price-possession from each of the Gods of Death." He said, instructing Hui Láng.
Hui Láng announced as his gaze first landed on the 10th Yama, "Divine Wine gourd!"
As informative as he was, he knew what all of their possessions were, so he named all of them that the Yamas would be unwilling to part with. Among the lists, there were heavenly weapons, 100,000-year-old ginseng*, and last, he demanded three lotus petals from the 1st Yama.
Everyone took out all of their prized possessions and tossed them to the Dog.
Hui Láng placed all of them before Donghai Lin. And then he passed the dull-looking wine gourd and said, "Martial Uncle Lin, have a look? This's the one I have been talking to you about; the Divine Wine Gourd! You can refine it using the spell I mentioned earlier."
Donghai Lin chanted the spell, using the Dragon essence, and tapped multiple times all around the wall of the wine gourd. Soon, various arrays formed, and at last, all of them merged, forming an azure-blue soul mark in the shape of an azure dragon.
The next moment, the dull-looking wine gourd vanished and the next thing, he saw the tattoo of the wine gourd just beside the black dragon tattoo on his right palm.
"Well, Daoist Lin, you still have one more thing to request." The 1st Yama reminded him.
"A Heavenly Space Ring of the High grade will be my last demand!" Donghai Lin said.
The 1st Yama plucked a white petal from the lotus he had been sitting on and blew it toward Donghai with his breath.
A white petal drifted in the waves and it turned into multiple specks of white essence Qi and then all entered Donghai Lin's ring finger. In the next instance, Donghai Lin saw a white ring on his finger.
"Daoist Lin, you can keep it within your soul with just a thought of yours. It's completely in your control now." The 1st Yama said. "Try it."
Donghai Lin brought the red saber near it, and with a thought, the saber disappeared. He sent his consciousness inside and saw the red saber laying on the ground inside the space of the ring and it even flabbergasted him on seeing the boundless space of the ring.
Later on, Donghai Lin instructed Hui Lang to remove all the things and meats that he had stored in his inner space realm which were then stored in his space ring.
Then finally it was time for them to reincarnate as Granny Meng Po came out with two large soup bowls.
Before Donghai Lin drank the soup of forgetfulness, he even suggested removing everyone's memories of the day, saying that all the things that had happened today would leave a disgrace to the underworld. Which was accepted and under the request of the 1st Yama, Granny Meng Po made another ample soup to remove the memories of the day and let everyone drink it except for the 1st Yama and Meng Po.
After that, Hui Liang used a spell and self-destructed his body into smithereens and his soul body materialized several minutes later.
Then, both Hui Liang and Donghai Lin chugged the soup in one fell swoop and their souls disappeared from their spot…
- End Of Volume 1 -