"Master, is this Small Thunder Pool also part of our Yin Opera lineage's inheritance?"
On the night road, two figures hurried along. Though darkness surrounded them, the grass, trees, strange rocks, and thorny brambles seemed unable to escape their eyes.
"Of course not. This is the signature art of the sorcerer lineage among the Hundred Schools of the Underworld. Their people resemble Daoists somewhat, but they're wilder than Daoists, and their methods are stranger still... You'll understand once you encounter them."
After a pause, Yu Zhensheng cautioned, "The Hundred Schools each have their own strengths. Once your Dao cultivation has matured, you can also swindle—learn more of the signature arts of other Dharma lineages. They might prove greatly useful."
Zhou Sheng nodded, silently committing his Master's teachings to heart.
"Of course, the most important thing is still our skill in performing Yin Opera. You must never let that fall behind."
Hearing this, Zhou Sheng's heart stirred. He hurriedly asked, "Master, when I fought the berserk soldiers before, I entered the realm of Unity of Person and Role again. I nearly couldn't escape from the opera. At that time, I seemed to see—"
"You saw Zhong Kui, didn't you?"
Yu Zhensheng suddenly raised his eyes and looked at him. "Not only did you see Zhong Kui, you also felt that he seemed to want to communicate with you. And if you drew closer, you could even merge into one, right?"
Zhou Sheng nodded.
"Remember this: no matter what you hear in that state in the future, do not take it seriously. And even more so, do not try to make contact with them."
At that moment, Yu Zhensheng's expression became unprecedentedly grave.
"But Master, I feel like that... wasn't merely an illusion?"
Zhou Sheng recalled the scene when he had seen Celestial Master Zhong Kui. He seemed to have truly heard the deity's whisper and sensed the deity's aura.
As though across some stretch of time and space, he had stood before Zhong Kui.
The tremor of that instant gave rise to a powerful intuition within him. The figure who had met his gaze and arrived riding a tiger... had been real.
At those words, ripples surfaced in Yu Zhensheng's eyes. Then he gave his disciple a deep look.
"Back then, your Master asked your Grandmaster... the exact same question."
Zhou Sheng froze, then quickly asked, "Then how did Grandmaster answer?"
"Wisdom at its peak is easily broken; Dao too lofty invites demonic possession. Form and formlessness alike are all empty delusions."
"That was your Grandmaster's answer."
Zhou Sheng felt somewhat disappointed. It seemed his Grandmaster believed those things had merely been illusions.
"But your Master did not believe it. Back then, I was just like you. I absolutely believed in my own intuition. Later, I tried to contact the deity in that illusion."
His voice stopped abruptly. Yu Zhensheng seemed to have fallen into some memory and remained silent for a long while.
"Master, and then?"
Only then did Yu Zhensheng come back to himself. He immediately let out a cold laugh.
"And then?"
"Then my entire Household died, I was crippled, and I had no choice but to wash my hands of it all and hide my name before I ran into a little troublemaker like you!"
Zhou Sheng: "..."
For a moment, he could not tell whether his Master was speaking truth or falsehood. Just as he was about to press further, his Master suddenly stopped.
"Master, what—"
"Shh!"
Yu Zhensheng silenced him, then slowly surveyed their surroundings, a trace of gravity gradually filling his eyes.
Ahead lay a winding, rugged mountain path. Around them stood a forest of towering locust trees, their dense branches and leaves almost completely blocking out the moonlight.
Pitch-black and sinister.
"How long have we been walking?"
"About... two hours."
Zhou Sheng's voice also grew grave. He had clearly noticed that something was wrong.
He had traveled this mountain path back and forth many times. At his and his Master's pace, they would normally leave the mountains after a little over an hour and see the stone pavilion beside the main road.
But they had walked for so long now. Why were they still on a mountain path?
Earlier, he and his Master had been too absorbed in discussing the deities within the illusion to notice this.
Yu Zhensheng bent down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and sniffed it. Then he sneered. "Those who come from below carry heavy Yin energy, and Yellow Springs water clings to their feet. Wherever they pass, even if it hasn't rained, the soil will become unusually damp."
"Looks like they've already caught up."
Zhou Sheng's heart jolted, coldness rising through him. He had not sensed a thing.
Yu Zhensheng patted his shoulder, then looked around and laughed loudly as he cupped his hands. "Yu Zhensheng, inheritor of the Yin Opera lineage, greets you. Since the Judge has come, why not reveal yourself and meet us?"
The surroundings were deathly still. Only the rustling of wind through leaves could be heard.
"My young disciple may have killed Magistrate Zhu and the berserk soldiers, but he did so to uphold the fairness of the laws of the Underworld. After all, the matter of swapping heads... is hardly pleasant to hear about."
"Judge, you have traveled far into the world of the living and must have endured a tiring journey. This little paper money is merely a token of respect. Please take it for tea, and let this matter end here. My disciple and I will keep our mouths sealed thrice over and never involve ourselves in this matter again."
As he spoke, Yu Zhensheng took a thick stack of paper money from his sleeve. Chanting an incantation, he flicked his palm, and flames sprang up on the paper money.
Yu Zhensheng scattered the paper money.
Yet in the next moment, a mountain wind swept through. It not only extinguished the flames on the paper money, but also scattered the notes in all directions.
Yu Zhensheng's eyes narrowed slightly as he said coldly, "So it seems the Judge insists on killing my disciple?"
The surroundings remained empty and silent.
Zhou Sheng activated Wise Eye and examined the area carefully, yet he found not the slightest clue. He could not see even a trace of any underworld deity.
"Don't waste your Magic Power. With that little Dao cultivation of yours, if the Judge doesn't want to show himself, you could exhaust yourself to death and still see nothing."
Yu Zhensheng shook his head. Wise Eye could supposedly see Ghosts and Gods, but that was only if the Ghosts and Gods had no intention of concealing themselves. Otherwise, it was still blindness with open eyes.
"Master, what do we do now?"
"What do we do? Keep walking, of course. Don't look back."
Yu Zhensheng stepped forward. Yet after another full hour, the unchanging mountain path still surrounded them.
"Heh, a ghost wall. It seems the Judge is determined to trap Master and disciple here until we die."
Zhou Sheng's heart tightened at those words.
He naturally feared no ordinary ghost wall; he could break one with a wave of his hand. Yet he could not discern the slightest flaw in the soul-confounding formation laid by the Judge, even with Wise Eye.
The other party did not even intend to show himself. Though Zhou Sheng possessed the fierce resolve to fight to the death, he had nowhere to exert it.
If he did not use the Book of Luo, he would likely be truly helpless, lost here forever until death came for him.
Fortunately, besides the Book of Luo, he still had his Master.
"Since the Judge insists on taking my disciple's life, then take it!"
Yu Zhensheng declared brightly, his voice echoing through the forest with full-bodied force, like gongs and drums.
Zhou Sheng felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
What the hell?
Even the Yin wind weaving through the rocks, grass, and trees seemed to pause for an instant.
In that instant, Yu Zhensheng moved.
At some point, his fingertips had pinched a dab of cinnabar paste. He closed his eyes and smeared it across the center of his brow, leaving behind a crimson vertical mark.
Like a vertical eye formed from condensed flame.
The next moment, Yu Zhensheng suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes. Perhaps it was an illusion, but the pitch-black mountain forest seemed to brighten for an instant, like a flash of lightning.
The lightning arrived first; the thunder followed after.
Yu Zhensheng opened his throat and sang, his voice like thunder crashing down.
"Erlang Shen of the Pure Void and Wondrous Dao, whose mighty name shakes the Heavenly Court!"
"A general of the High Heaven Palace, by imperial decree he captures—"
"Little—mon—key!!"
Thanks to Zhe Shisan for the five hundred reward, hearts!
Before you continue