You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

Chapter 121 River God and Thirteen Eagles
"What's the background of that female ghost?"

"Don't know her... So what if she's someone important? Is she some kind of Hongshan Goddess?"

"In the territory of Xixia Prefecture, apart from the Lady of Hongshan City, who are we Thirteen Eagles afraid of?"

"Where's that old geezer from Qingshui River?"

“Those two are clearly after that old man. We are saving him, how could he repay kindness with enmity?”

"Hehehehe... 2000 million!"

"Once we pull off this deal, the Thirteen Eagles of the Burial Mound will be completely turned around. We'll buy a big house in the Ghost Market and hire eight maids to serve us thirteen brothers!"

"Big...big...big brother, eight...eight...eight..."

"Eighth Brother, stop talking. I understand what you mean. Don't worry, you, Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, Eleventh Brother, Twelfth Brother, and Thirteenth Brother will only need to use one of you."

…………

It's convenient when leaving the "ghost market".

As he plunged into the darkness, Chen Yang felt a dizzying sensation, and when he landed, he found himself on the bank of a small river.

The river is clear, though.

The riverbank is lined with smooth, round pebbles, and neat rows of pine trees are planted on both sides of the river. Not far away, there is a bridge spanning the river, with some high-rise buildings built on the north and south sides of the bridge.

"here it is……"

Ali said, "Tongxin County, right? This should be Qingshui River. The old town of Tongxin is to the north, and the new town is to the south."

As a native of Wucheng, Chen Yang naturally knew about Tongxin County. Tongxin County was under the jurisdiction of Wucheng City and was only a little over an hour's drive away. The "Yuzhen" and Xiamaguan Town that he visited last time belonged to Tongxin County.

The old man fell into the river.

He stood on the river, carrying a snakeskin bag, and turned to look at Chen Yang and Li Ali. He said in a deep voice, "Aren't you two going a bit too far? Even if a deal falls through, we can still be friendly... If you think the price is too high, we can talk again. Being a ghost is not easy. There's no need to kill each other over a river god's decree that has already become scrap metal."

Chen Yang naturally knew what the old man was thinking.

He immediately smiled and said, "Old sir, you misunderstand. I came with you not to kill... to kill ghosts and steal treasures, but because I have a few questions I want to ask you."

Stealing treasure without killing ghosts?
Where are you going to fool a three-year-old kid?
The old man sneered inwardly, about to speak, when suddenly his expression changed slightly.

But then, ten meters behind Chen Yang, thirteen gusts of cold wind carrying billowing black energy descended.

"The Thirteen Eagles of the Mass Gravesite?"

The old man cried out in disbelief.

Chen Yang glanced back at the thirteen ghosts. Seven of them had reached the "Red Robe" level, while the rest, though still fierce ghosts, were considerably weaker. He couldn't help but chuckle, "The Thirteen Eagles of the Mass Grave? What's their background?"

The old man standing on the river pointed into the distance.

"Do you see that temple?"

"That's the Tongxin Great Mosque. Behind that mosque is a village... In ancient times, that village was a mass burial ground. These Thirteen Eagles were originally bandits, but they were captured and beheaded after robbing a relative of the county magistrate. Their heads were all thrown into the mass burial ground."

"Later, they became ghosts, but they still called themselves the Thirteen Eagles and did not change their habits from when they were alive. They often robbed and plundered some passing ghosts and evil spirits."

Chen Yang: "Have they been recovering for a long time?"

The old man said, "It's been about seven or eight years."

This surprised Chen Yang, who asked in astonishment, "I've never heard of them committing any major crimes... They've been around for seven or eight years and haven't harmed anyone?"

"Harmful?"

A fierce ghost laughed loudly: "We should be heroes in life and ghosts in death. In life, we Thirteen Eagles robbed the rich to help the poor. We killed those rich and heartless landlords, merchants and corrupt officials. Even after death, we will not be ashamed to harm the weak and vulnerable people!"

One of the vengeful ghosts, wielding a bone club, stammered, "Robbery...robbery!"

"Boy... if you know what's good for you, hurry up and hand over all your money... money... money!"

"Eighth Brother, shut the hell up!"

Another vengeful ghost slapped the stutterer and said, "Brother, we Thirteen Eagles only seek wealth, not lives. Just hand over the money yourselves. We hope you won't make things difficult for us brothers."

"Husband?"

Li Ali looked at Chen Yang.

Chen Yang said, "These thirteen little devils are quite interesting... Let's spare their lives."

"I understand."

Ali slowly turned around and looked at the Thirteen Eagles of the "Mass Graveyard"!

boom!
Her aura suddenly erupted, and the overwhelming yin energy around her transformed into rolling black clouds. The resulting yin wind swept in all directions, and the green plants within a hundred meters radius of Ali were blown away, with sand and stones flying everywhere!

"How dare a few blind fools rob me?"

She reached out and grabbed at something in the air.

The rolling black clouds condensed into a giant hand, reaching out to grab the thirteen eagles!
"This...this...this..."

The Thirteen Eagles of the Mass Grave were stunned. The usually stuttering Eighth Eagle suddenly roared, his speech becoming extremely fast: "Ghost Queen... This is the Ghost Queen. She calls herself 'This Empress.' Could she be the Red Mountain Lady?"

boom!
The big hand fell.

A huge "handprint" was directly slapped into the location of the Thirteen Eagles of the mass grave.

Chen Yang withdrew his gaze and looked at the old man standing on the river.

It is different from the Yellow River.

Tongxin's "Qingshui River" is very clear when there is no heavy rain, but the water flow is small, the river is only ten meters wide, and the river flows slowly.

But at this moment, the entire river seemed to boil.

The old man stood on the river, the water churning and surging beneath his feet, as if he could transform into a water dragon and pounce out at the slightest thought!

The old man, carrying a snakeskin bag, looked serious and said in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you? To be able to command Lady Hongshan... you must be no nobody!"

Before this, the old man had never met Li Ali, but the name "Red Mountain Goddess" was known to every ghost in Wucheng City and even the entire Xixia Prefecture who had lived a long time.

Seeing the river surging beneath the old man's feet, Chen Yang became even more certain of his guess.

He sighed, looking regretful, and said, "I never imagined that after more than six hundred years of separation between Yin and Yang... the former River God is now even selling his own laws."

The old man's pupils contracted sharply, and he said in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you?"

Chen Yang smiled and said, "I am the Daily Inspector, favored by Lord Cui. Now I am the Inspector of the Mortal World, responsible for touring the human realm."

With a flick of his wrist, a decree appeared in his palm.

The words "Daily Patrol" were inscribed on the decree.

After the old man clearly saw the words on the decree, his body trembled involuntarily.

The churning river beneath his feet quickly calmed down. He bent his knees and knelt on the river's surface with a thud, crying out, "River God of the Clear Water River, I pay my respects to the Inspector... Your Excellency, is the Path Between Yin and Yang open?"

He had no tears, so he secretly gathered river water into tears and cried, sobbing uncontrollably, "My lord, I have been waiting for this day for over six hundred years!"

"........."

These "gods" on earth are all incredibly talented.

Cat Lord is one thing... but I never expected that a "River God" could be such a good actor.

Chen Yang: "Alright, stop crying, get up and talk."

The old man got up, bowed, and came to Chen Yang's side. He wiped the river water from his eyes and knelt down with a "plop," kowtowing repeatedly: "My lord, I am guilty." "Although I have been stripped of my divine status, I would never dare to sell the River God's decree... but... but I owe a high-interest loan. If I cannot repay it, I will be captured and forced into hard labor."

"When I was the River God, I was penniless and never accumulated any wealth."

"More than six hundred years have passed, and things have changed... To repay my debts, I have no choice but to resort to this desperate measure!"

"........."

Chen Yang realized that his previous understanding of "ghosts" was too one-sided.

"No...why are you taking out a loan at exorbitant interest rates?"

"You must live in this river all the time, right? You don't need to eat or drink... How did you end up selling river god decrees?"

The old man's face turned red.

“Your Excellency may not know this, but I am different from most gods. Most of those gods were born after the temples were built and the people made offerings and sacrifices to them. Then they were recognized by the underworld and entered the register of gods.”

"This humble god was originally a mortal."

“Back then, a child fell into the water, and the little god jumped in to save the child, but he himself drowned in the Clear Water River and turned into a water ghost.”

"Later, somehow, the story of the little god rescuing the child reached the imperial court, and he was granted an official title by the court. The local magistrate also built a River God Temple for the little god and sculpted a clay statue with gold."

It turned out to be the case.

Chen Yang suddenly realized.

No wonder other gods either had a wisp of their souls left behind and turned into evil gods, or their souls were scattered, while this guy was still alive and kicking!

It was first a ghost, and only later became a deity.

After the Yin-Yang Road was severed, its temple and golden statue were destroyed, but its soul remained, and like Li Ali and Ruyi, it slumbered at the bottom of the Qingshui River.

As for the imperial conferment of titles?

This is called "divine right of kings".

For example, Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, ascended the throne just as a "turbid tide and fog" broke out. He then launched a large-scale conferment of titles on City Gods and granted them "noble titles" in order to have them protect the city.

Unfortunately, the Yin-Yang Path had been severed for three or four hundred years, so his investiture had no effect. Otherwise, the "Dragon Slayer Madman" Liu Bowen would not have been forced to sever ninety-nine dragon veins, causing the spiritual energy of the human world to dissipate and the Great Dao to fall silent in order to combat the turbid tide and mist!

Chen Yang: "But what does that have to do with you owing money to loan sharks?"

The old man chuckled somewhat embarrassedly, "In my previous life, I was poor and never married. After my death, I was made the River God... Now that I've become a ghost again, I want to experience the pleasures of love..."

"Once I experienced this, I became so addicted that I couldn't extricate myself. Moreover, the prices at [Yixianglou] were high, and before I knew it, I had accumulated a large amount of high-interest debt."

As they were speaking, the Thirteen Eagles of the Mass Grave had already been suppressed by Li Ali.

Some of them knelt on the ground begging for mercy, kowtowing and shouting, "Your Majesty, spare our lives!"

Others stood their ground, their necks stiff, and said, "Lady Hongshan, a scholar can be killed but not humiliated. There is absolutely no way you'll make me, Flying Eagle, kneel down... Go ahead and do it. I've already died once, so I'm not afraid to die again!"

Li Ali ignored them and turned to look at Chen Yang.

Chen Yang ordered the old man from the River God to stand up, then stepped forward to the "Flying Eagle" and asked, "Your name is Flying Eagle?"

The ghost retorted defiantly, "Hmph, I am Yan Feiying, the third of the Thirteen Eagles. Today, I have met my match and admit defeat. Do with me as you please."

"If I, Yan Feiying, even frown, I am no good!"

"it is good!"

"a!"

Chen Yang flicked his finger...

Boom!

A bolt of black lightning exploded above the thirteen eagles' heads, crackling black arcs of electricity spreading in all directions with astonishing power.

Chen Yang: "Since you are so eager to die, I will grant your wish... Ah Li, make your move and send Thirteen Eagles on their way!"

Just as Ali was about to make his move, the other twelve eagles begged for mercy.

"Your Majesty... it was that fool Yan Feiying who sought death, it has nothing to do with us."

"Please, Your Majesty, show mercy."

Yan Feiying was furious and shouted, "You dog! I am ashamed to be associated with you! When we swore brotherhood, we agreed not to be born on the same day, month, and year, but to die on the same day, month, and year!"

"But today, you've all turned into cowards... Bah!"

"Third...Third...Third Brother, have you forgotten? Back then, we...we...we had our heads chopped off on the same day, we've already died...died...died together once!"

Seeing that his other brothers were unwilling to die with him, Yan Feiying had no choice but to kneel down and say with a reluctant expression, "Please, Your Majesty, have mercy and spare us brothers."

"Be bold!"

The old River God was not happy about it.

He had been cautiously following behind Chen Yang, but now he stepped forward in a few strides, head held high, and shouted, "Thirteen Eagles of the Mass Grave, you have some nerve!"

"Do you know who this esteemed person standing before you is?"

"He is the Imperial Inspector of the Day, appointed by the Underworld to oversee the mortal realm. He is specially granted the title of Inspector of the Mortal World... You have no guts to rob the Inspector! For this crime alone, you will be cast into the eighteenth level of hell, never to rise again. If your ancestors for eighteen generations are still in the Underworld, they will all be arrested!"

This is true.

In ancient times, robbing an imperial envoy was almost like playing a game of elimination, where nine generations of one's family would be wiped out.

Chen Yang's status as the "Yangshi Inspector" is far greater than that of an imperial envoy in ancient times; his ancestors for eighteen generations will truly be implicated.

Yan Feiying is not afraid of death.

But he was a filial son.

He couldn't bear the thought of his father being implicated, let alone his ancestors who had been dead for countless generations. He immediately kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Chen Yang chuckled and said, "Actually, I noticed it the moment you left the Ghost Market... According to my original plan, I was indeed going to send you down there, and you would have to go to the eighteenth level of hell."

"However, I admire your character in life and your principles as ghosts after death... so I can let you go."

Thirteen Eagles were overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly to express their gratitude.

"but……"

Chen Yang changed the subject: "You must do me a favor."

"Sir, please give us your orders. We brothers will brave any danger, even going through fire and water!"

Eight Eagles spoke first, and he stopped stuttering.

Chen Yang pointed at the old man, the River God, and said, "The River God owes a huge debt. Go and settle this debt. If you do a good job, I will not only not punish you, but I will also give you a tremendous opportunity!"

The thirteen eagles all responded in unison.

Yan Feiying patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely handle this matter perfectly."

Eight Eagles, however, looked the old man up and down and asked in surprise, "You old...old...old ghost, are you actually the River God?"

…………

PS: Third update. That concludes today's three 10,000-word update. Brothers, if you have any monthly tickets or recommendation tickets, please give me a few. Thank you.

(End of this chapter)