Evil Shadow Play

In the dilapidated Wide Hall, Zheng Que opened his eyes. At this moment, Yin Energy surged wildly from between his brows like a waterfall of ink, continuously pouring into the open Life and Death Book.

Seeing that he had suddenly entered the Underworld, Zheng Que's expression shifted slightly. He hurriedly looked at his own name on the Life and Death Book before him.

"...Zheng Que. Place of Origin: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: Sixteen years, eight months, and twenty-eight days."

His lifespan had increased by forty-nine days!

Zheng Que let out a long sigh of relief. This tribulation had finally been weathered!

However, another tribulation would arrive in forty-nine days.

This tribulation seemed to be coming a bit too frequently. He wondered if other cultivators were the same?

Thinking of this, Zheng Que glanced at the black energy between his brows. He hadn't entered the Underworld this time because he had absorbed Yin Energy through cultivation, but because he had fallen unconscious after Yin Energy invaded his body.

"So many names..."

"The others in Changfu Town must all be dead by now."

"I wonder what kind of ghost that bone hand actually was?"

While pondering, Zheng Que began to browse the Life and Death Book in front of him.

The first page of the Life and Death Book was currently filled with a dense list of names, starting with Xu Houde; all of them had been added just this night.

Just as Zheng Que was thinking this, the Life and Death Book suddenly flipped on its own.

Rustle... Rustle...

The yellowed pages stopped at the third page.

At the beginning of this page, a new record slowly emerged.

"Category: Wicked Sin."

"Species: Evil Shadow Play."

"True Name: None."

"Place of Origin: Blood Pass."

"Yin Lifespan: Nine hundred and fifty years exactly."

"Yin Profession: Yin Messenger (Can be deployed)."

"Term of Office: Half a cycle of sixty years."

Evil Shadow Play?

Looking at this newly recorded information, Zheng Que was slightly stunned.

But he quickly realized that this was the giant bone hand that had almost taken his life just moments ago!

He had forcibly performed an Imperial Conferment on it, so its name had appeared in the Life and Death Book?

This was actually a Wicked Sin!

Unlike other names, this entry only had a "Category" and "Species," with no true name.

This might not be a ghost formed after a living person died, but a naturally born ghost!

Furthermore, for some unknown reason, this name did not appear on the first page of the Life and Death Book, but directly on the third page.

Thinking of this, Zheng Que suddenly sneered and immediately shouted at the name, "Evil Shadow Play!"

"Evil Shadow Play!"

"Evil Shadow Play..."

Fearing that Evil Shadow Play might not hear his command, he shouted it seven or eight times in a row.

Soon, a thick mist appeared in the hall below. As the mist rapidly spread, it revealed a figure within—a pale bone hand with seven fingers, looking sinister and cold. It was indeed Evil Shadow Play!

However, in the real world, this Evil Shadow Play looked incredibly massive, its seven fingers capable of easily covering an entire town when spread out. But here, in this dilapidated Wide Hall, it was only the size of a mortal's palm, easily supported by a single floor tile.

Upon appearing in this strange place, the bone hand quickly surveyed its surroundings.

Soon, the entire shell of the bone hand stiffened.

It saw a surging sea of blood above, eerily suspended in the long sky, forming a churning, soaring crimson dome. The dome spun violently like a giant funnel, its center a boundless darkness, as if it were the Return to Ruins.

The towering Wide Hall was deep and gloomy. The pitch-black pillars were carved with the hideous faces of countless demons and ghosts. Thick, tangible Yin Energy mist surged all around, swirling like clouds and obscuring the grim scene. Deep within the mist, it seemed deathly silent, yet it also felt filled with all sorts of voices. The sound of chains rubbing together approached step by step, as if in the next moment, countless shackles would descend from above to lock it layer by layer and drag it into a forbidden abyss.

Above it, upon an Imperial Dais that felt like a mountain, sat a massive, magnificent figure!

That figure seemed like the embodiment of the laws of heaven and earth, as if it were the convergence point of all living beings, radiating boundless death, despair, and silence...

It sat there quietly, the hem of its Black Imperial Robe cascading down like a falling cloud-mountain. Even with all its might, the bone hand could only see the footwear peeking out from beneath the hem of the robe.

The base was black with gold patterns, and the crimson-gold lines pulsed with the radiance of Karmic Fire.

With just a fleeting glance, Evil Shadow Play retracted its gaze as if electrocuted. The entire pale bone hand had the illusion that it was burning instantly, as if that speck of Karmic Fire were about to follow its gaze, pierce through the void, and incinerate it completely!

Enveloped by the intense aura of death, despair, and the end, Evil Shadow Play was terrified. It immediately used its leftmost and rightmost finger bones as support, while the five middle fingers curled and pressed tightly against the ground in a "kneeling" posture.

Under the overwhelming fear, Evil Shadow Play trembled uncontrollably. Click, click, click—the sound of bone striking floor tiles was exceptionally loud in the silent hall.

It hurriedly forced itself to stop shivering, not daring to move a muscle.

Outside, this ghost was incredibly powerful!

But here, Evil Shadow Play was no different from a Ghost Servant of Tongue-Pulling Hell like Qing Li.

Smack!

At this moment, Zheng Que slammed his hand onto the table and shouted with imposing majesty: "Audacious little ghost! Do you know your crimes?"

His voice echoed far and wide throughout the Wide Hall, sounding like rolling thunder. The reverberations layered and oscillated, whipping up a monstrous momentum. Even the whirlpool of the blood sea above the Wide Hall stirred in response; the blood sea roared and surged, with countless sinful corpses, white bones, and shackles bobbing on the crests of the waves. Dense traces of torture flickered in and out of the blood water, conveying a vast, chilling malice.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...

Evil Shadow Play dared not be the least bit negligent. It kowtowed ten times in a row before trembling as it spoke: "My... lord... spare... me... my lord... spare me!"

This Wicked Sin possessed a high level of cultivation and had long since gained sentience, but it seemed rarely to speak; its voice was hoarse and stiff, its pronunciation strange.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...

As soon as it finished speaking, Evil Shadow Play began kowtowing desperately again, as if terrified that if it were too slow, it would lose even the chance to remain kneeling here.

In an instant, the Wicked Sin that had seemed capable of destroying the world in Changfu Town was now so desperate to kowtow that it seemed ready to shatter its own bones against the floor. Its humble, dust-like appearance was no different from that of the lowest-ranking Resentful Soul.

Watching this scene, Zheng Que sneered coldly. He had almost been killed by this thing outside just a moment ago!

How could he possibly let it off so easily now?

Thus, Zheng Que immediately rebuked it coldly: "Wicked ghost! Since ancient times, humans and ghosts have walked different paths. You, as a Wicked Sin, appeared in a place where mortals dwell without authorization—this is your first crime."

"You eroded the shadows of mortals and harmed the innocent—this is your second crime."

"You destroyed a small town, causing suffering to the living and turning homes into ruins—this is your third crime."

"More importantly, you actually persecuted a Person of Destiny, attempting to throw the universe into chaos. With these multiple crimes combined, you are burdened with grave sins. Such perverse and abominable actions are simply unforgivable!"

"You shall be cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell to suffer every manner of torture, after which you shall be cast into the Animal Path, never to be reincarnated for all eternity!"