Xuanzang's bow fell like a boulder cast into a lake, leaving the entire Hall of Senluo utterly silent.
The Kings of Hell hastily stepped aside, standing helplessly on either side, none of them knowing where to look.
This was the master of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Holy Monk undertaking the Journey to the West, the Pilgrim charged with heaven's mandate. Who would dare accept such a profound bow and invite trouble upon himself?
King Qin Guang approached with a miserable expression, his voice nine parts helplessness and one part pleading:
"Holy Monk! You... you are putting us in an impossible position!"
He pointed at Tuo Jie, who lay on the ground like a dead dog.
"This wretch keeps crying injustice, yet cannot produce a shred of evidence."
"When the Underworld Bureau judges a case, we require witnesses and material evidence. Even with both plaintiff and defendant present, we must judge by the records in the Book of Life and Death and the reflections in the Mirror of Sin."
"Our refusal to hear the case is by no means favoritism because you are the accused! He has no proof, only a mouthful of nonsense. We cannot accept a case on nothing but words spilling from his bare lips!"
King Qin Guang paused, clenched his back teeth, and decided to lay everything bare:
"Besides, Holy Monk, there is something you do not know."
"Wretched as Tuo Jie may be, he does indeed belong to the Jing River Dragon Bloodline. He is a true descendant of dragons. At birth, he received an investiture decree from the Heavenly Court and entered the immortal registers."
"Such beings fall outside the jurisdiction of our ten courts of the Underworld Bureau."
"Only when they violate heavenly law, meet a tribulation ordained at birth, or