City God

The next two days went exactly as Bandit Brother had anticipated.

Chen Guan stayed at his house every night and accompanied him to the tavern during the day.

It was completely "in the bag."

Bandit Brother was even more pleased with this, feeling that he had already captured Chen Guan's heart.

In a few more days, I'll tell him about some things and see if he'll help me do them...

Bandit Brother calculated in his heart, preparing to speak to Chen Guan about certain matters when the time came.

For instance, finding out where that cat burglar was and seeing if he could be killed.

Three more days passed.

As Chen Guan continued to wait for the rabbit to hit the stump.

Evening.

Four hundred miles away.

After making inquiries for many days, Chen Changhong finally headed to a City God Temple outside Ling City and donated some money to the temple keeper.

After the donation.

Chen Changhong took a pot of clear wine that had been sitting on the altar as an offering to the City God for two full years.

Having finished all this.

He left the city at night and arrived at a small City God temple located in the wilderness.

By the moonlight, Chen Changhong gazed at it.

It was only half the height of a normal person, and inside sat a statue.

This was the local "Ling City God."

More than two thousand years ago, he had been the local prefect, and his lifetime achievements in saving people and performing good deeds were so numerous that even a hundred-page book could hardly record them in detail.

Because of this, after his death, he was enfeoffed by Heaven and Earth as the Orthodox God of the Ling City territory.

Chen Changhong had heard these things from his master's master, his grandmaster.

Ling City God and his grandmaster had shared some friendship.

It was precisely because of this.

Chen Changhong knew some things that ordinary people did not.

That was, this was a statue that Ling City God had once possessed.

By offering sacrifices here, the City God would be able to sense it.

But as for other statues, the City God would basically be unaware.

Most matters were handled by others in the Underworld Bureau.

Because the City God was also very busy and had no time to listen to every prayer individually.

Moreover, the realms of the living and the dead were separated.

And at this moment.

Chen Changhong first placed the "City God's wine" down, then looked at the statue.

"Junior Chen Changhong, a disciple of the Guanglin Sect. Today, I beseech the City God!"

With that, Chen Changhong bowed.

He then used his magic power to take down the City God's wine, brought out five cups, and accompanied by the rich scent of incense, drank them one by one.

Drinking the incense wine was actually a shortcut, a way of "stealing the deity's offerings."

The City God of this place would be aware of it.

He would also know that someone was attempting to communicate with the Underworld Bureau.

If the City God were willing, he could guide this person into the Underworld Bureau.

But once they truly entered, the City God would also extract some "yin lifespan" from the one who entered the Underworld Bureau.

Because manifesting the Underworld Bureau in the mortal realm and bringing a "living person" into the Underworld Bureau was a massive drain.

The City God would extract three months, five months, or perhaps one or five years of the living person's lifespan, depending on the situation.

Of course, this was only because Chen Changhong's cultivation realm was too low to communicate directly between the living and the dead, necessitating such trouble and the deduction of yin lifespan.

"Junior Chen Changhong... Today, I beseech the City God!"

Now, seeing that there was no change on the surrounding mountain peaks.

Chen Changhong bowed a second time to summon the deity.

After the second bow, Chen Changhong suddenly felt an intensely powerful, drunken dizziness; it was the effect of the incense-offering wine from the Ling City God, and also the result of his mortal soul having its lifespan shaved away.

Furthermore, the mountaintop suddenly turned deathly cold.

Even the moon in the sky seemed to be obscured by layers of gloomy clouds.

Chen Changhong could not tell if it was the intoxication or if a genuine transformation had occurred in this place.

Afterward.

Chen Changhong forced himself to endure the dizziness and bowed once more.

"This junior... begs to pay respects to the City God..."

Clack—

As these words fell.

Chen Changhong's bow did not reach the ground; instead, he was held upright by a cool breeze.

This place was no longer a mountaintop under a starry night, but a misty, grand hall.

Within the hall, there was only one person.

He sat at the head of the room, appearing as an elderly man with a benevolent expression.

He had white hair, and his eyebrows were also a grizzled white, growing so long that the ends draped down to his chest.

"Little fellow Daoist of the Guanglin Sect, how has the Guanglin Sect Master been lately?"

The tone of the Ling City God was kind, his gaze filled with compassion for the world.

Meanwhile, Chen Changhong, seeing that he had arrived in the Underworld Bureau, steadied his drunken state after a few moments of shock. He kept his head bowed, not daring to look around, and replied respectfully:

"Reporting to Lord City God! The Grandmaster is in good health!"

"Mm." The City God smiled. "Little fellow Daoist, what is your business? Or did fellow Daoist Guanglin entrust you to seek me out?"

"It is this junior..." Facing an Orthodox God of Heaven and Earth, Chen Changhong felt immense pressure, but for the sake of his grandfather, he explained the matter clearly.

"Lord City God, this junior did not intend to intrude upon the Underworld Bureau... it is just that my grandfather... my grandfather, he..."

Chen Changhong's voice choked with emotion, but he quickly explained the sequence of events.

He also provided the birth date and time of Chen Guan.

At the end of his explanation.

Chen Changhong added: "This junior is willing to offer another ten years of my own soul-lifespan to the Ling City Bureau. I trouble Lord City God to investigate the whereabouts of my grandfather's soul...

This junior does not ask to bring my grandfather out of the Underworld Bureau, nor would I dare to request such a thing...

I only ask... to see my grandfather one last time..."

"Mm, very well. This does not violate the laws of the Underworld Bureau." The City God nodded slightly and closed his eyes for a few moments.

"Chen Guan, a native of Beihe Village. Let this old man search the various corners of the Underworld Bureau for you."

As he spoke, the City God utilized his great power to search.

A moment later, amidst Chen Changhong's anxious waiting.

The City God opened his eyes with a look of slight confusion and said to Chen Changhong:

"There is no soul of this person within the Bureau, nor has the Bureau ever received his soul.

However, there are three mountain bandits from outside Little Liuzi Town currently undergoing punishment within the Bureau, and they did see your grandfather.

Your grandfather has indeed passed away.

These people were incapable of harming his soul.

Yet, the Soul-Detaining Official and the Day-Roaming God on that day did not see your grandfather's soul."

"My grandfather's soul is not there?" Chen Changhong was puzzled and asked cautiously: "Dare I ask, Lord City God, did my grandfather... not enter the Underworld Bureau? Did he reincarnate into the world?"

"Nine times out of ten." The City God said calmly: "When the lifespan of some living beings ends, their souls do not return to the Underworld Bureau, but instead dissipate into the heavens and earth, becoming life once more among the myriad things.

This is the profound mystery of the creation of Heaven and Earth.

I did not expect that a little fellow Daoist like you would know of this."

At this point.

The City God inquired further: "Since you know of this, you must have heard your Grandmaster and Master speak of the 'Awakening of Past-Life Wisdom.'

Those who awaken their past-life wisdom are those who have reincarnated without entering the Underworld Bureau."

"This junior is aware..." Chen Changhong forced himself to endure the drunken dizziness.

"My Master once said that besides those who awaken past-life wisdom, there are those with great power who reincarnate their spirits, borrowing life to exist.

When a person dies, it is not inevitable that they enter the main hall of the Underworld Bureau.

Or, those who are Ghost Cultivators may also avoid entering the Underworld Bureau."

"Exactly." The City God nodded. "However, such various karmic reincarnations do not fall under the jurisdiction of my Underworld Bureau.

Since your grandfather did not enter the Underworld Bureau, he must be favored by the fortune of Heaven and Earth, living among the myriad things."

This is the Way of Heaven, not the earthly methods that this old man has merely dabbled in.

In this matter, I cannot assist you, little fellow Daoist."

The City God had lived for thousands of years and had seen far too many wonders between heaven and earth.

He had seen no shortage of cases where someone died, failed to enter the Underworld Bureau, reincarnated as a human, and awakened the wisdom of their past lives.

There was nothing shocking about such things, nor was there any need to pay them any mind.

Yet, it was truly miraculous—so miraculous that even a City God of such great power, having lived for over two thousand years, could not explain it clearly.

However.

The City God knew that if one truly wished to find these reincarnated souls, if one truly wished to track them down, it would be impossible if the person simply said nothing after their rebirth.

After all, once reincarnated, their aura would appear to anyone as that of an entirely different person.

To find them, one must seek the "cause and effect of the past and present lives."

But cause and effect belong to the Great Dao of heaven and earth; no one can see through them.

"Finding your grandfather is a difficult task..."

The City God looked at Chen Changhong, who wore a disappointed expression.

"Cultivation is difficult, seeking the Dao is difficult, but seeking the past and present lives is even harder.

If someone were able to see the cause and effect of past and present lives, they would have to have jumped outside of the Three Realms and Five Elements.

The most difficult thing in this world is the matter of cause and effect.

All gods, ghosts, and living beings wish to avoid it, yet no one can escape it, and no one can see it clearly."

Having said this, the City God let out a rare, long sigh.

"Little Daoist Chen, you came here today, and though this old man failed to help you find your person, your filial piety is commendable.

Considering the difficulty of your cultivation, this office will not take your Yin lifespan.

However, you must do one thing in return for my expenditure of power.

Return to the world of the living now."

As the City God's words fell, everything around them became blurred, gradually revealing the night scene on the surface.

In the blink of an eye.

Whoosh—

The night wind blew across the mountain plains, and the wine cups on the ground turned into black dust.

Chen Changhong knelt alone under the starry night. His sleeves, the wild grass, and the dust on the ground swayed in the wind. It was once again a calm night, as if the trip to the Underworld Bureau had merely been an unintentional drunken dream.

But as the wind swirled.

The dust gradually formed several lines of text.

(Liu Zhen, proprietor of Yanhe Pavilion, is the primary culprit who killed your grandfather. This man's crimes are too numerous to record. Send him to the Underworld Bureau to suffer the punishment of the Avici Hell.

Once this matter is concluded, you shall bear the karmic debt of the killing in the world of the living.

The Underworld Bureau and you shall be square.)