Forest Hall of Yama

Someone was going to die.

That was Lu Bian's first thought when he saw Black and White Impermanence.

Who was going to die?

Lu Bian fully unleashed his magnetic-field perception, sensing everyone's vital signs.

It wasn't just one person. Several people were going to die!

Seven of them were on the verge of death.

"I knew we shouldn't have been drinking that liquor."

Lu Bian flashed over to the seven doomed people and struck each of them once with the Cell Reconstruction Fist, restoring their bodies to perfect health.

Before Black and White Impermanence could react, the seven people who had been about to die suddenly sprang to their feet, ran to a corner, and vomited violently, spewing out everything that had been poisoning them.

"What are you doing?!"

Black and White Impermanence glared at Lu Bian.

"I can't let them die like this, here and now," Lu Bian said.

"Their allotted lifespans have ended. You've violated the laws of Heaven!"

"Today, we'll not only drag their souls down to the Underworld, but take you down as well!"

One of Black and White Impermanence raised a Mourning Staff, while the other held a Soul-Hooking Chain. They flanked Lu Bian from both sides.

"Fine. Then come at me!"

Lu Bian hooked a foot beneath a long bench and sent it swinging at Black and White Impermanence.

The bench passed straight through White Impermanence's body. It couldn't hit them.

"What?!"

As Lu Bian stared in shock, White Impermanence, Xie Bi'an, brought the Mourning Staff down on his shoulder, while Black Impermanence's Soul-Hooking Chain coiled around his legs.

"Waaah~~~!!"

Grief surged from Lu Bian's heart. His most painful and depressing memories crowded into his mind, and he couldn't stop himself from bursting into tears.

That was the Mourning Staff's power.

It didn't force people to cry by striking them with overwhelming force. Instead, it made them cry of their own accord.

The Soul-Hooking Chain bound Lu Bian from the feet upward, but to Black Impermanence's horror, Lu Bian seemed completely unaffected. He tore himself free, his powerful body snapping the chain into several pieces.

"How can this be?!" Black Impermanence, Fan Wujiu, nearly bulged his eyes out of their sockets.

"Ultimate Palm Thunder!!!" Lu Bian roared through his tears.

"Gah!!! Run!"

Lu Bian thrust his hands outward. Before his Ultimate Palm Thunder could hit Black and White Impermanence, they fled underground at top speed.

With no target left, Lu Bian drew in his power.

He wiped away his tears, and the Mourning Staff's effect gradually faded.

Lu Bian steadied his emotions and took a deep breath.

He'd gotten himself into trouble again.

"Sigh~!"

He'd saved one person, only for seven to end up dying as a result. Lu Bian couldn't accept that.

Since he could still save those seven lives, that meant their fates weren't supposed to be written in the Book of Life and Death as they were.

Now that he'd scared Black and White Impermanence away, what should he do next?

One option was to stay and see if Black and White Impermanence would come back to claim their souls. The other was to leave the village right away, so the trouble he'd caused wouldn't drag everyone there into it.

"I can't leave just yet."

"I'll wait a while and see."

After Black and White Impermanence's appearance, Lu Bian had no thoughts of sleeping. He kept his eyes open, watching everyone's condition in case the two ghost officials used some method he didn't know to take their souls.

Lu Bian sat quietly, deep in thought.

How many people died across the world each day? Could Black and White Impermanence keep up with them all? Were the two he'd encountered incarnations or their true bodies? Or did the Underworld have countless ghost officials like them?

He'd driven Black and White Impermanence away just by using Ultimate Palm Thunder. Were ghost officials afraid of thunder techniques?

He practiced Magnetic Rotation, but whenever mountain gods or earth gods saw him, they assumed he was cultivating thunder techniques.

What were thunder techniques?

Aside from the Dragon Clan of the Four Seas, who naturally commanded wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, thunder techniques were the orthodox arts of the Daoist sects. Ordinary practitioners of unorthodox methods had no way of accessing them.

At daybreak, the people who'd gotten drunk went back to their homes to sleep it off.

As promised, Lu Bian left A-Quan's village the next day. But after traveling some distance, he took a roundabout route back and hid far away to secretly watch the village.

If Black and White Impermanence came to claim anyone's soul again, Lu Bian could reach the village in a single breath.

A day passed. Black and White Impermanence didn't return.

Two days passed. Nothing happened.

Black and White Impermanence really weren't coming back.

Lu Bian wasn't sure whether to feel disappointed. He climbed onto his donkey and continued his travels.

In the Underworld, inside the Hall of Yama, Black and White Impermanence knelt before the throne and reported every detail of their encounter.

"Lord Yama, that's exactly what happened!"

"Hm? Such a thing is possible? I'll look into it myself!"

"..."

"..."

"Strange..."

"How did these people's lifespans suddenly increase by twenty years? They're just country bumpkins, fated to toil all their lives and die young. How could this happen?"

"That man—he'd only arrived at Chai Family Village that very day, correct?" Yama asked Black and White Impermanence.

"Yes, my lord!" Black and White Impermanence answered at once.

"What? His name isn't in the records?!"

Yama's eyes widened too as he muttered under his breath.

What's going on? Has the Underworld got ghosts causing trouble now, too?

Lord Yama chuckled at the cold joke he'd suddenly thought of, then coughed twice and put on a serious expression again.

"Ahem... That's enough. You two may leave. This is no longer your concern."

"Yes, my lord." Black and White Impermanence withdrew from the hall.

The two ghost officials exchanged glances, both guessing they'd probably run into someone they couldn't afford to offend again.

After Black and White Impermanence left, Yama repeatedly pored over the Book of Life and Death. Piles of ledgers covering the Three Realms, the Six Paths, and the ten categories lay stacked on his desk.

Yama searched the Book of Life and Death from cover to cover, but couldn't find Lu Bian's name anywhere.

Back then, Son Goku had ordered Yama to erase all the monkeys from the records. Some monkeys had no names, yet they were still recorded in the Book of Life and Death. But Lu Bian simply didn't exist in its pages. Yama couldn't claim his soul or alter his lifespan, even if he wanted to.

"..."

"This matter is no small thing. Should I report it to the Jade Emperor?"

"..."

"Better not."

"That man seems to have violated the laws of Heaven, but the natural order itself changed to follow his lead. That, too, is in accordance with Heaven's will."

"Someone with such divine power is best left undisturbed."

Yama closed the Book of Life and Death, then carried the stacks of ledgers back to the shelves behind him.

Searching for that divine being, Lu Bian, had kept Yama busy for quite some time.

Lu Bian continued toward the capital of Dali, enjoying the scenery along the way and sharing photos of it in the Chat Group.

He came to a vast lake. The water was crystal clear, and the fish swimming beneath the surface looked as though they were gliding through the air.

"Gah~!"

"What's wrong, you stupid donkey?"

The donkey stared at the distant lake. A large crowd had gathered on the far shore, seemingly performing a sacrifice.

Out on the lake, a small boat drifted toward its center...

"Ah? Ah? Ah?"

Lu Bian's magnetic-field-enhanced vision picked out a little boy sitting in the boat, with fruits, gold, and silver piled beside him.

"Are they performing a human sacrifice?!"