Borrowing the Spear

It was said that there were three great strange books in the world.

The Book of Heaven, the Investiture of the Gods; the Book of Earth, the Classic of Mountains and Seas; the Book of Man, the Book of Life and Death.

The Book of Life and Death recorded the names, birth dates, times of death, and allotted lifespans of every human and beast in the mortal world. Once one's lifespan ran out, Ghost Messengers would come to claim the soul.

If King Yama ordered you to die at the third watch, how could he possibly let you live until the fifth?

But Zhou Sheng was an exception. His allotted lifespan had long since ended. He should have starved to death, yet he had borrowed a corpse to return his soul, and had even lived to the age of twenty-one.

A judge held the authority to consult the Book of Life and Death, reward good, and punish evil. At this moment, his divine gaze had already detected Zhou Sheng's anomaly.

"A dead man lingering in the world of the living is an act of defiance against Heaven. According to Underworld Law... his soul shall be shaved away, his spirit extinguished, his soul scattered to the winds, never to be reincarnated for all eternity!"

"Today, this official shall set the law aright and uphold the majesty of the underworld. I sentence you—to immediate execution!"

The judge did not mention Magistrate Zhu or the Savage Soldiers in the slightest. He spoke with righteous indignation, his voice booming like a great bell, as though he were the incarnation of Underworld Law itself—upright and impartial, unable to tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes.

Zhou Sheng was so furious that he laughed.

"Pah!"

He cursed loudly, "First you helped Magistrate Zhu replace his heart, then you helped his wife replace her head. You ruined countless households, and now you have the nerve to talk about Underworld Law?"

"What, is Underworld Law your wife's waistband? Loose whenever you please, only tightened when you need it?"

When they murdered and took lives, they never spoke of Underworld Law. But when one of their own was killed, suddenly their mouths overflowed with strict codes and lofty statutes.

Zhou Sheng suddenly realized that the world of the living and the world of the dead were the same damned thing.

A trace of anger flashed through the judge's eyes, and his expression grew even colder. Yin wind immediately howled all around them, while faint blood-red lightning actually began to strike from the sky.

Zhou Sheng hurriedly raised the Patriarch's statue.

The blood-red lightning vanished into thin air three zhang before the statue. And though the howling Yin wind carried the force to send sand flying and rocks rolling, it could only stir Zhou Sheng's robes and could not force him back even a single step.

With the statue in hand, it was as though he possessed a needle that steadied the sea. Let the storm come crashing down—he remained immovable.

"What, are you trying to murder me to silence me? Afraid I'll report you to King Yama?"

Zhou Sheng burst out laughing, utterly fearless.

If he had been somewhat afraid at first, then as the judge continued to press him and revealed that sanctimonious, hypocritical face—

The fear in Zhou Sheng's heart had instead vanished without a trace. His blood surged, and he cursed aloud. What could be more exhilarating?

The judge's voice remained full of authority, echoing between Heaven and earth, only now it had become even colder.

"Falsely accusing an Underworld Official is an aggravated crime. According to Article Two Hundred and Seventy of the Underworld Law Codex—"

But before he could finish this time, Zhou Sheng's curses cut him off.

"Still going on about the law? You're nothing but a shit-stained latrine stone piled in a golden hall. When you squat on the dragon throne, do you spray out royal law?"

"Now that shit and piss are raining down on your head, you're using the Underworld Law Codex to wipe your ass?"

"Pah!!"

Facing the true culprit behind it all, the one who had started this entire affair, he cursed with utter abandon, as though every pore on his body had opened in bliss.

If it had been anyone else, facing a deity of the underworld, even if they harbored resentment, they would have been trembling with fear and trepidation. In this world, many people's reverence for Ghosts and Gods was carved into their bones.

But Zhou Sheng came from Earth.

How grand were the ambitions born of sacrifice—daring to teach the sun and moon to wear a new sky!

He respected gods as well, but he had never blindly worshipped them. Indeed, the moment a god committed evil, it was no longer a god, but—

A demon awaiting execution.

If he had enough strength, he would kill them just the same!

"Disrespecting the gods, falsely accusing an Underworld Official, borrowing a corpse to return your soul..."

The judge's voice grew colder still. "With these three crimes, even if this official must expend a century of cultivation today, I will still kill you, you yellow-mouthed brat!"

As his voice fell, his body abruptly dissipated. Then a violent gale rose around them, and streak after streak of blood-red lightning crashed down like a torrential rain, exploding with crackling blasts.

The statue in Zhou Sheng's hand released stream after stream of golden light. Even the heavenly eye between Patriarch Huaguang's brows opened, causing every terrifying bolt of blood-red lightning to dissipate three zhang away.

But Zhou Sheng's expression changed, because the statue was trembling in his hand, and the vibrations were growing ever more violent.

"Do you truly think a mere clay statue can keep you safe?"

The judge's voice echoed without end, deafeningly loud.

"Killing you here will merely cost this official a little more cultivation. Even without Yellow Springs water, a clay idol cannot stop this official!"

Rumble!!

The next instant, the thunder grew louder. The blood-red lightning became like rain pouring from an overturned basin, swifter and more violent than before. Dense flashes of crimson electricity nearly lit up the entire night.

The statue in Zhou Sheng's hand shook even more fiercely, until a crisp sound rang out.

Crack!

A tiny fissure appeared on the statue's body.

Boom!

A bolt of blood-red lightning seemed to break through some invisible barrier and struck beside Zhou Sheng's feet. Though it did not hit him, it signified that the statue's protection had reached its limit.

His gaze turned grave. He had not expected the other party to dare strike Emperor Huaguang's statue with lightning.

King Ma's temper was not particularly good. He had once been a ruthless figure who wreaked havoc in the underworld.

Was the judge truly not afraid that once the statue was smashed, King Ma would personally descend to act?

Judging by the other party's utterly fearless manner, he seemed unconcerned about angering King Ma at all.

"Master, if you don't come now, your disciple is going to die here!"

Zhou Sheng shouted, directly crying for help.

The next moment, his head was struck hard, and heavy panting sounded by his ear.

His vision blurred. A lean yet upright figure stepped before him. White hair streamed loose in the wind. There was no weapon in his hands, yet the killing intent soaring from him made one feel as though they stood amidst ten thousand swords.

"Old, old... My legs really aren't as nimble as they used to be..."

Yu Zhensheng panted faintly and shook his head with a sigh. "If this had been twenty years ago, how could he have had the chance to take you away from my side?"

As he spoke, he stepped forward, but Zhou Sheng's pupils contracted.

Because his Master had taken that step with a limp. His right leg seemed to bear some kind of disability. It was normally impossible to notice when he walked, but after rushing here at full speed, he could no longer conceal it.

In that instant, he finally understood why his Master had once mocked himself as a cripple.

Singing, speaking, acting, and martial arts—the latter two required coordination from the legs. Singing Yin Opera in particular demanded great skill in movement techniques and legwork.

With one lame leg, the foundation of one's stance was ruined. Wouldn't half of one's martial skill be crippled as well?

No wonder his Master, such a renowned Ghost Opera Performer, had chosen to wash his hands in a golden basin and withdraw from the martial world.

At this moment, blood-red lightning continued to strike without cease, as though it intended to bury both master and disciple here.

Yu Zhensheng remained expressionless, but something seemed to come alive in his weathered eyes. He stared directly at the bolts of lightning, his gaze bright as torchfire.

"Disciple, remember the incantation that follows. This is the... trump card hidden at the bottom of the chest for our Yin Opera lineage."

Having said that, his white hair flew wildly as he chanted cryptic words.

"Chief god of the Dipper's Mouth, heavenly general of the Jade Pivot. Three heads, open and upright, answering the form illuminated by the Three Platforms; nine eyes, radiant and resplendent, bearing the image of the Nine Dippers' brilliance..."

As his voice rang out, the trembling statue of Patriarch Huaguang gradually calmed, as though it had received the empowerment of some divine force—or perhaps... was slowly awakening?

Its golden armor and red robes shone brilliantly, and even its eyeballs seemed to shift.

Most eye-catching of all was that golden spear. At this moment, it bloomed with dazzling golden radiance, like a small sun burning fiercely.

The blood thunder filling the sky suddenly trembled, no longer able to approach within ten zhang of the statue.

Feeling that vast Magic Power, as boundless as an ocean, Zhou Sheng even wondered whether Emperor Huaguang had truly descended to the mortal world.

"Commander of clouds, thunder, rain, and lightning; inspector of evil demons across the Three Realms. Universal Chief Constable, Orthodox One Numinous Officer Ma Tianjun, Great Unity Thunderclap Immovable Heavenly Venerate!"

As Yu Zhensheng finished the incantation, the statue's Magic Power and presence also rose to their peak. The stone-womb dragon and serpent coiled around the golden spear actually came alive.

Hiss!!!

The nine-inch dragon and serpent coiled around the golden spear, hissing as though guarding a sacred relic.

Yu Zhensheng slowly reached out his hand.

"Yu Zhensheng, inheritor of the Yin Opera lineage, respectfully asks the Patriarch to lend me his spear!"