The Netherworld, Playing Dou Dizhu

"I don't think I'm a Transmigrator. I'm sure I'm not."

Gu Baishui sat down on the Prayer Mat and carefully brushed off his sleeves.

"My Second Senior Brother asked me that question many times. When I was little, he'd ask me every two or three months. He'd exchange all kinds of strange code words with me and make inexplicable gestures at me."

"But every time, he got the same answer: I had no idea what he was talking about."

The candlelight flickered. Gu Baishui shrugged. "I don't know why you all think I'm a Transmigrator, but I really am not. I'm just an ordinary person who grew up in the mountains."

"I'm just a little more handsome, a little more outstanding in bearing, and a little more talented. That's all."

The Red-Robed Judge raised his eyes, silently pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I believe you. I'll find your Second Senior Brother and talk to him if I get the chance."

Gu Baishui hesitated, seeming unsure whether he should say something.

The Red-Robed Judge saw the youth's hesitation and said calmly, "Are you worried we'll do something to your Second Senior Brother?"

"Not at all."

Gu Baishui shook his head without hesitation. "My Second Senior Brother isn't a good person. He's said it himself: in this world, everyone dies sooner or later. Better a fellow cultivator dies than I do."

"If you have a grudge with him, go after him. Just don't drag me into it."

The Red-Robed Judge's mouth twitched. Then he gave Gu Baishui a long look.

"I will."

Gu Baishui and the Red-Robed Judge waited in the room for a while. Nearly half an hour later, the Side Door was quietly pushed open a crack.

A shadow flashed past outside the door. Its tall Official's Hat blended into the night and vanished.

Black Impermanence from Old Ye Residence did not show himself.

Lu Ziyou, however, had managed to stammer out an answer to that so-called science question.

It wasn't because he was especially smart. He'd realized that, no matter what strange thing he did, nobody seemed to care whether he could answer the questions-or even whether his answers were right.

Those Ox-Heads, Horse-Faces, and Black and White Impermanence seemed to know absolutely nothing about the questions. As long as Lu Ziyou filled in whatever came to mind, they would collect his test paper and lead him to the next place.

He had been shuttled through six or seven places like this, answering test papers on all kinds of subjects, including Mathematics, chemistry, and Physics.

Had Li Shiyi been a science student in his previous life?

And a good one, at that?

Lu Ziyou was puzzled. How could someone who had become a Great Emperor still remember so clearly all those headache-inducing things from his previous life?

But along the way, he had also realized what this Old Ye Residence was doing.

These test papers seemed to be searching for a Transmigrator.

Li Shiyi was a Transmigrator from an earlier generation, and Lu Ziyou was a Transmigrator too.

He thought this was a form of inheritance.

The people who came before planted the trees, and those who came after enjoyed the shade. This was the blessing that Great Emperor senior had left him.

With that thought in mind, Lu Ziyou had made his way smoothly to the final room. But he truly hadn't expected that the eyesore would actually be waiting for him there.

The two of them gathered, sitting opposite each other at the black and white tables, and waited for the final round of the inheritance trial to begin.

The Red-Robed Judge studied them both for a few moments.

He didn't recognize the black-clothed youth who had chosen science, but he faintly caught a whiff of the Yin-Yang Holy Land's rot. The youth was probably some Yin-Yang Prodigy skilled at robbing tombs.

Perhaps he was connected to the Ji Clan, too.

As for the Green-Robed Youth who spouted nonsense, he was someone their Miss had brought to Luoyang City.

Perhaps Miss thought the youth resembled Li Shiyi. But he didn't know whether she meant the Li Shiyi from Luoyang City and the Abandoned Temple, or the later Li Shiyi.

The Red-Robed Judge flipped open the Book of Life and Death, calmly raised his eyes, and addressed the two youths below.

"I know what you came here for. But under normal circumstances, outsiders aren't allowed into the old Ye family residence."

"Whether it's you two or the two Saints outside, it makes no difference to us."

"Enter the Mansion, and you die."

Gu Baishui showed no reaction. Lu Ziyou narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly.

"What's more, tonight is a very special night for everyone in our Mansion. None of us are in a good mood."

The Red-Robed Judge laced his fingers together and said expressionlessly, "If Miss didn't want to leave in peace, I wouldn't let a single one of those old geezers in the city leave."

"They're going to die anyway, so why not die sooner? They're such an eyesore alive in this world, and they disgust me."

"Burying Saint Bones in Luoyang City sounds like it could be quite amusing."

Lu Ziyou's pupils contracted to pinpoints, and his body trembled slightly.

The Red-Robed Judge's words were astonishingly brazen. He meant to wipe out dozens of Human Race Old Saints and crush them all within Luoyang City.

If that really happened, the entire Human Race would be shaken to its core.

And to pull that off would require at least two terrifying beings at the Quasi-Emperor Realm.

Were there two Quasi-Emperors hidden in this tiny Ye Residence?

Lu Ziyou's breathing grew heavier. He felt that only an undertaking on this scale could truly befit the tomb of the Decaying Great Emperor.

"But Miss doesn't like this sort of thing. She has never liked killing or fighting. She hopes we can send her off in peace."

The Red-Robed Judge smiled silently, his eyes holding a sadness and mirth outsiders could not understand.

"Miss said that after she dies, perhaps she'll have to walk across the Bridge of Helplessness in Hell and drink Meng Po Soup. But it'll be her first time dying, and she has no experience, so she wants us to play the Ox-Head, Horse-Face, Black and White Impermanence, and all the rest, and rehearse the whole process beforehand."

"That way, perhaps she won't be so nervous."

The Red-Robed Judge paused, then looked up at the two youths sitting upright before him.

"I think Miss would be lonely by herself, so I want to send one of you two down with her."

Lu Ziyou's face paled. He understood what the Red-Robed Judge meant.

Tonight, there would be only two possible outcomes for the two of them: one would survive, and the other would be reduced to ashes.

Of course, it was also possible that both of them would be reduced to ashes.

"Life and death matter to you too, so I'm going to ask you some questions."

The two youths raised their heads, their expressions different, and watched the Red-Robed Judge flip through the Book of Life and Death in his hands.

"Immortal Platform Realm cultivators have a lifespan of more than three thousand years. I'll record your lifespans in the Book of Life and Death. That will be your wager."

"Let's play a fair game."

"You two... ever played Fight the Landlord?"