The Netherworld, Ox-Head and Horse-Face
"Another one can be given to Senior."
Ji Changsheng's voice was calm and unruffled, but the boldness and confidence in his words made people look at him in a new light.
The old beggar was stunned. After a long silence, he let out a slow sigh.
"You brat, are you planning to drag these old bones of mine into your Ji Clan?"
Ji Changsheng smiled warmly. "I'm only trying to forge a bit of goodwill."
"To forge goodwill with a Fruit of Immortality-I've never seen a family head make a bigger offer than you. It seems there's a reason the Ji Clan has flourished under your leadership."
"Though the Ji Clan isn't anything particularly impressive, I think supporting Senior for a few thousand years would still be no problem."
Ji Changsheng turned his head and asked, "What do you think, Senior?"
The old beggar silently nodded, accepting Ji Changsheng's suggestion. "Looks like you have a lot of confidence in the brat you chose."
"I do have some. Ziyou is the Saint personally selected from the Yin-Yang Holy Land by the Old Master of my household. He knows a great deal about tombs."
"What else?" the old beggar asked again.
Ji Changsheng raised his eyes. "What else?"
"You know very well what the Old Ye Residence is. It's the only Emperor's Tomb lost outside the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone. Would you really have such confidence in a young junior? You're not making fun of these old bones of mine, are you?"
Ji Changsheng was quiet for a moment, then nodded without concealing anything.
"Ziyou is a lot like that person."
"That person?"
"Li Shiyi."
Ji Changsheng said, "The Old Master of my household says that, among the younger generation, You is the person most like the Li Shiyi he remembers. If Ziyou can't win the approval of the One in the Residence, then probably no one else is qualified to open Li Shiyi's Emperor's Tomb."
At that, the old beggar fell silent for a moment, then looked at Gu Baishui, who had remained quiet all along. "What do you say?"
Gu Baishui showed no reaction. He merely glanced at the tightly shut door of the old residence behind him and said, "I want to go in and take a look."
"Then go in and take a look. To be honest, I have quite a bit of confidence in you too, brat."
The old beggar waved his hand, and he and Ji Changsheng stood at a peculiar spot outside the Old Courtyard.
The night rain pattered down. The Hour of the Rat had arrived.
The long-sealed gates of the Old Ye Residence silently cracked open.
In the torrential rain, the two youths standing at the entrance looked at each other. Then they let out a quiet, soundless laugh.
They memorized each other's faces, and saw the undisguised hostility and coldness in each other's eyes.
"The seniors' affairs are their own."
Lu Ziyou narrowed his eyes, expressionless, and watched the Green-Robed Youth with a cold gaze. "Actually, I've been inside the Old Courtyard before. There are a few decent spots in there, suitable for burying you."
Gu Baishui ignored him. After a moment of silence, he gave an answer that sounded very strange.
"I know."
I know you've been here before. I also know you were driven out. And I know there are two strange Red-Haired Monsters in this Old Courtyard, one old and one young.
I know even more that you're actually a Transmigrator, you bastard.
The cold wind and rain blew into the quiet, deathly still Old Courtyard.
The two youths pushed open the gates of the Ye Residence, then ventured deeper into the lonely, deserted Old Ye Residence.
"Creak~"
The heavy vermilion gates slowly closed, shutting the two silent Saints outside and also cutting off the shadows of the old Saints from Luoyang City, who had been secretly probing the residence from beyond its walls, scattered beneath the night sky.
The two youths stood at the entrance of the Old Courtyard, feeling the same irresistible, icy chill seep into their bodies. It devoured all the spiritual power in their Dantians, then dispersed.
Their Seas of Consciousness fell silent, and all their Divine Sense was sealed within them by the old residence at the same time.
Within just a few breaths of stepping into the Old Courtyard, Gu Baishui and Lu Ziyou had fallen from cultivators at the peak of the Immortal Platform Realm to powerless mortals.
The Hour of the Rat had passed, and ghostly Qi filled the air. Lu Ziyou's expression darkened as he looked toward the courtyard beyond the entrance.
Before the two of them were five or six steps leading downward. They led into the courtyard.
The courtyard held two winding stone paths, stretching from the entrance straight to the main hall opposite.
One path was paved with black bricks, restrained and somber;
the other was paved with white bricks, clean and spotless.
Clearly, these were two paths leading to the same place, one for Gu Baishui and one for Lu Ziyou.
But neither of them knew what awaited them at the end of the paths, so they fell silent and hesitated as well.
At almost the same moment, a strange "clack-clack~" sound came from the main hall at the end of the paths.
Gu Baishui and Lu Ziyou both froze involuntarily, and both felt that the sound was vaguely familiar.
Why did it sound like the clopping of ox hooves and horse hooves on a floor?
"Moo~"
"Pfft~"
Strange noises came from the main hall. Two massive, burly figures emerged from the shadows on either side of the screen.
The massive figure on the left swayed as it walked, hot, foul breath puffing from its thick nostrils;
the burly figure on the right stomped heavily, its broad lips turned outward as it chewed at the froth in its mouth.
Both figures were nearly twice the height of a man. If they straightened up a little, they might hit the beams overhead.
So the two shambling figures hunched over as they walked through the hall, looking quite cramped. Only when they reached the courtyard did they manage to straighten up with some effort, then they opened their wide mouths and panted.
"This is damn cramped. Was this old courtyard always so small? I remember it wasn't like this before." The one on the right grumbled.
The one on the left shot it a sidelong glance, then curled its lips in mockery. "Did you look like this before, too? Can't you use your brain?"
"Use my brain? How?"
The one on the right scratched its head, looking both foolish and irritated. "The eaves are this low. What if I use my brain and poke a hole in the roof? Wouldn't I be the one Miss scolds afterward?"
The one on the left had no answer. It could only call out to the two dazed youths at the entrance, "What are you two idiots standing there for? Hurry up and pick a path over here. I, Lord Ma, have a pile of things to take care of."
Gu Baishui fell silent. Lu Ziyou's expression was complicated.
He knew the two who had come out of the main hall very well: one Ox-Head, one Horse-Face.
The one on the left, whose words were sharp and caustic, had a long horse's face. The one on the right, honest and slow-witted, had a square ox's head.
These two underworld bailiffs, described in ancient texts, had appeared alive and well in the first courtyard of the Old Ye Residence.
The two youths at the entrance still did not move. Ox-Head and Horse-Face, the two bailiffs, were growing impatient too, and walked toward them.
The huge ox head blocked the rain overhead. Horse-Face impatiently urged them, "One person to each path. Go to the main hall and take the exam."
"Take the exam?"
Gu Baishui thought for a moment, then raised his head and asked Horse-Face, whose appearance was somewhat terrifying, "Are the exams on the two paths the same?"
"No."
Horse-Face did not answer. Ox-Head honestly shook his head instead, giving away everything without a trace of wariness.
"The end of the white stone path on the left is an exam in the Literary Dao, prepared for cultured people."
A strange glint flashed through Lu Ziyou's eyes. He asked tentatively, "Then the exam on the right is in the Martial Dao?"
The huge Ox-Head paused, then gave Lu Ziyou a rather disdainful glance, as if he were looking at some ignorant fool.
"The left is the Literary Dao. The right is, of course, Science."
"Have you never been to school?"