Journey to the West: Starting with the True Lord of the Pure Land

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Chen Jiao lowered his eyes, looking at the ghost general's terrified and anxious state, his head banging on the ground. He didn't say much, only calmly saying:

"Get up, and don't let this happen again."

The ghost general, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, kowtowed again before carefully getting up. His back hunched, and his face plastered with obsequiousness, he hurriedly said:

"Thank you for your mercy, Your Excellency! Thank you for sparing my life!"

Chen Jiao didn't care about his posture, and only asked:

"You just mentioned that a Star Lord passed by here. When did that happen? And what was his purpose?"

Upon hearing this, the ghost general hurriedly nodded and bowed, replying, "Indeed, indeed! Your Excellency is wise; this humble general is absolutely not lying!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand behind him, signaling the ghost soldiers to continue inspecting the ranks behind them and not to delay.

He then turned to the side and gestured with his hand, quite solicitously inviting Chen Jiao to rest on the stone seat for a while.

Chen Jiao did not sit down, but stood with his hands behind his back.

Seeing this, the ghost general simply stood aside with his hands at his sides and replied in a low voice:

"In reply to your question, sir, it was the four constellations implicated in the recent Weak Water Case in the East Sea, as well as an accomplice, the Water Department Immortal Lord."

I, the humble servant, am guarding this gate of hell, and I see it clearly.

The golden bodies of those four constellations had long since disappeared; only a trace of their true spirit remained, in a daze, being escorted by heavenly soldiers and generals.

I heard they'll all be cast into the deepest hell, to suffer eternal torment.

As for that Water God, although he was an accomplice, I heard he was sentenced quite severely. It is said that he will be cast into the animal realm to suffer the torments of ignorance and slaughter in order to cleanse his sins…”

The ghost general shook his head, a hint of regret appearing on his pale face:

"For a dignified star lord and immortal lord to have fallen to such a state is truly..."

He was halfway through his sigh when he suddenly realized that there was this important person beside him. He was afraid that if he spoke too much, he would cause trouble again, so he quickly fell silent and stole a glance at Chen Jiao's expression.

Chen Jiao remained calm, merely nodding slightly, and then asked:

"The calamity of the Weak Water swept across the East China Sea, causing countless lives to be lost along its shores."

At that time, the underworld was overrun with ghosts, and the resentful spirits were accumulating. How has that been handled recently?

Seeing that the lord did not blame him for his earlier slip of the tongue, the ghost general felt somewhat relieved and said:

"Your Excellency is wise; in those great calamities, countless people perished, both in body and soul."

The souls of those who died unjustly due to the flooding of the Weak Water alone numbered nearly ten million!

Their resentment was overwhelming, their malevolence profound, nearly collapsing the Bridge of Helplessness and disrupting the order of reincarnation.

He paused, glanced at Chen Jiao, and seeing that he was listening quietly, continued:

"Fortunately, with the personal coordination of King Yama, the judges of all departments and the underworld gods of all palaces worked together day and night to clear up the case."

Subsequently, the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, the Lord of the Underworld, out of great compassion, used his supernatural powers to create another city of the unjustly dead behind Yinshan Mountain, specifically to house and deliver these wronged souls.

Only through all these measures was the situation barely stabilized, preventing a major upheaval.

"only……"

The ghost general sighed and pointed behind the Gates of Hell.

"There are simply too many wronged souls. Although the City of the Unjustly Dead is large, it must accept them in an orderly manner. To this day, many wronged souls still linger on both sides of the Road to the Underworld, waiting to enter the city."

"Sir, once you pass this checkpoint, continue along the road, and you will see that endless procession."

…………

Watching that figure in crimson robes pass through the solemn gate and disappear into the yellow sands of the Yellow Springs.

The ghost general then slumped back onto the stone seat, letting out a long sigh of relief. He felt that the inner layer of his iron armor was soaked with cold sweat.

He touched his two empty sleeve pockets, and a look of deep regret immediately appeared on his face.

The trusted ghost soldier, who had been huddled at the back of the ranks, finally mustered his courage and stepped forward, lowering his voice to ask curiously as the general took his seat:

"General, who exactly was that deity just now? Why did you remove all those 'rules' we had previously accepted...?"

He made a gesture of surrendering, his tone full of doubt and confusion.

"From what I can tell, he's just a mere cultivator from the mortal realm..."

The ghost general, already feeling annoyed, glanced sideways at his trusted confidant upon hearing this and rebuked him irritably:

"You don't know anything! I don't care if they're alive or dead, I'm only interested in that token!"

"Let alone a living person, even if a boar demon came today, as long as he brought that token, this general would still have to respectfully address him as 'Sir'! Understand?"

The ghost soldier shrank back slightly from the scolding, but wasn't particularly afraid. His eyes darted around, and he moved closer, a fawning smile plastered on his face, as he whispered:

"General, since that lord accepted it, isn't that... kind of leverage?"

"Can we...?"

He rubbed his fingers together and chuckled twice, his unspoken meaning clear.

He hadn't finished speaking.

The ghost general kicked the ghost soldier, sending him rolling several times on the ground before he crashed into a stone pillar and came to a stop, covered in dust.

"Go to hell!"

The ghost general laughed in anger, pointing at the ghost soldier lying on the ground groaning. He wanted to curse, but felt it was pointless to argue with such a fool.

In the end, he could only wave his hand weakly, his voice filled with exhaustion and lingering fear.

"What do you mean, 'accept'? That's the rule!"

Get out of here! Stop coming up with these crazy ideas. If you're looking to die, don't drag this general down with you!

If you dare spout nonsense again, I'll throw you into a vat of boiling oil and fry you for a hundred years!

The ghost soldier was kicked until he was dizzy and disoriented. Seeing that the general was truly angry, he dared not say another word and scrambled back into the shadows in the distance, not daring to utter a sound.

Once the surroundings quieted down, leaving only the howling of the cold wind, the ghost general sat alone on the cold stone seat.

The anger on his face gradually faded, leaving only a deep sense of lingering fear and helplessness. The more he thought about it, the more unlucky he felt, and his pale face looked even more gloomy.

He touched his empty sleeve, and felt another wave of pain in his heart, liver, spleen, and kidneys.

But he only dared to sigh in his heart, and dared not think of anything else.

The ghost general spat inwardly, muttering to himself:

"I must have had the worst luck in the world to have been on duty like this."

"To be able to survive unscathed today is truly a testament to the good deeds we have accumulated over time."

The image of the ancient locust tree token and the four ghostly characters on its back that sent chills down his spine at the mere sight of it appeared before the ghost general's eyes once more.

That's no ordinary road sign.

In the underworld, which god of the underworld wouldn't change his expression upon seeing this?

Luckily... luckily I reacted quickly...

He touched his knee with relief.

The ghost general was in a daze when he suddenly heard the rattling sound of chains being dragged in the distance.

He looked up and saw two figures slowly walking towards him at the end of the gray-white dirt road shrouded in a thin mist.

One was tall and thin, dressed in a plain white robe, with a face as pale as paper, lips bloodless, and a long scarlet tongue hanging down to his chest. He wore a tall official hat with the words "Seeing him brings wealth" written on it.

The other was a stout and burly man, dressed in a black robe, with a dark and fierce face, eyes like copper bells, and wearing a similar official hat with the words "Peace Under Heaven" written on it.

They are the Black and White Impermanence, two of the Ten Underworld Marshals, who are in charge of capturing evil spirits and malevolent souls.

The ghost general quickly composed himself, forced a smile, and cupped his hands, saying, "Seventh Master, Eighth Master, the errand is over."

"What kind of ghost is it that warrants your personal intervention to capture it?"