Chapter 783
"In the Heavenly Court?"
Sun Wukong cried out in disbelief.
Goddess Pingxin slowly nodded. "That's right. Her soul is in the Heavenly Court."
Sun Wukong muttered to himself, "How could it be in the Heavenly Court?"
Tongtian also said, "Yes, Fellow Daoist. Don't all departed souls in the Earth Immortal Realm come to your Underworld? Why is that Immortal Zi Xia's soul in the Heavenly Court instead?"
Goddess Pingxin said, "Although souls returning to the Underworld is jointly decreed by the Heavenly Dao and Earth Dao, and my Netherworld Underworld is indeed the final destination of all departed souls, there is one situation I cannot prevent."
"What situation?"
Goddess Pingxin did not answer immediately. Instead, she began telling a story.
"Long ago, a Qi Refiner's wife died. By rights, her soul should have returned to the Underworld and fallen under my Netherworld's jurisdiction. But the Qi Refiner was deeply devoted to his wife and could not bear to part with her. Thus, he used a secret art to retain her soul, preventing her from following the Soul Reaping Envoys to the Underworld."
"The Soul Reaping Envoys were weaker than him and were driven away by him. After that, the matter was simply left unresolved."
Sun Wukong quickly caught on. "Your Ladyship, do you mean Zi Xia's soul was also likely retained in the Heavenly Court through some secret technique?"
Goddess Pingxin slowly nodded. "That should be the most likely reason. Otherwise, since all souls return to my Underworld, her soul would not be in the Heavenly Court rather than the Underworld."
Tongtian frowned. "But if the underworld envoys were unable to reap the soul, shouldn't stronger people have been sent?"
"If Black and White Impermanence were not enough, there were still Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and the Judge. If