Qin Mu was astonished. He turned to look at Chi Xiu, but the god buried his head in his feathers, pretending to see nothing.
For Chi Xiu to be the trusted aide of King Yama, his reputation wasn’t undeserved. He was firm in not looking at King Yama’s sorry form, which was the wise method of protecting oneself. If it were other people, they would have rushed into the debris to save King Yama
Qin Mu sighed ruefully in his heart. Saving King Yama would show that one was loyal, but the person would also see the sorry state of King Yama, causing damage to his wise and strong image. There were merit and demerit to it, but since one wouldn’t know if the merit or demerit would be bigger, the best was to pretend one didn’t see anything.
Besides, the collapse of the hall wouldn’t hurt King Yama so it was better to not show one’s loyalty by rushing over to him.
‘King Yama said that I can walk through the darkness of Great Ruins and not get hurt. Is this true or not?’
Qin Mu was slightly hesitant because going into the darkness concerned his life. If it wasn’t true, he would die if he went out, so he didn’t dare to try. Ever since he was young, he had been taught by the villagers of Disabled Elderly Village about how there were great terrors in the darkness and he was not to go in no matter what. On top of that, during Qin Mu’s growth, he had also seen the horror of the darkness, so he had never even considered the possibility that the darkness might not touch him.
He had entered the darkness numerous times, but he had always relied on treasures or strong practitioners that were like gods to protect himself from being closed in on by the darkness. He’d used Xing An’s chest, Village Chief’s protection, or Dragon Rearing Sovereign’s protection to remain unharmed.
He was somewhat afraid of attempting to enter the darkness without any protection.
“Let’s go,” Chi Xiu hurried him. “After sending you off, I can rest.”
“God Chi Xiu, I still have to go to where Heavenly Saint Cult and the human emperors are to fetch the dragon qilin and the chest.”
Chi Xiu could only bring him to where the past cult masters of Heavenly Devil Cult stayed. All the doors were locked tight, and the dragon qilin was shut outside by the young patriarch. He was currently wagging his tail and saying sweet things to get Patriarch to open the door.
The young patriarch didn’t acknowledge him no matter what, only shouting from inside, “In the journey of life and death, I’m already dead while you are still alive, so we can’t be together. Follow Cult Master out!”
The dragon qilin clawed at the door and cried loudly.
The young patriarch was also choking as he held back his tears. He wanted to open the door, but he was afraid that the fellow would come in and rub against him again, so he steeled his heart.
Qin Mu called the dragon qilin over and said with a smile. “Fatty Dragon, no need to be sad. Patriarch is living fine here and we are living perfectly fine outside. We can always come to see him anytime in the future.”
The dragon qilin walked over. When he was touched by the true fire of pure yang, flesh slowly grew on his body. The incomparably huge sun had risen very high by then and become so large that it looked like it could fall out of the sky at any moment.
Qin Mu raised his head and saw that the sacred halls on the sun were made of gold. The gods and devils in front of them could be faintly seen still beating the drums frantically. They were using the true fire of pure yang to refine Fengdu.
The sun was so close to them that Qin Mu began suspecting that the gods and devils on the sun would attack at any moment.
“They don’t dare to attack.” God Chi Xiu pruned his feathers calmly, unruffled in the mid of the chaos. “This is Fengdu, which is part of Youdu. They look close, but they are actually very far away. There’s a world barrier between us. On top of that, we have fought a few times in the past, and they were the ones on the losing end. They only dare to hide in the sun and beat their drums.”
Qin Mu was puzzled about it, so he asked, “The sun in this sky is different from the one in Eternal Peace, so this sun…”
“Is the sun of Great Ruins. It’s real,” God Chi Xiu said. “The sun of Eternal Peace is fake.”
Qin Mu was speechless. The sun before him was too terrifying. Luckily, they were living in the facade of the sun, moon, and stars. Otherwise, if the people of Eternal Peace saw such a terrifying sun, even the emperor might go crazy.
“Patriarch do you have money?” Qin Mu asked through a slit in the door. “Entering Fengdu requires Fengdu gold coins and I only had three to get here. I need coins to take the boat.”
The young patriarch stuffed a few gold coins out through the slit. “I just died so I don’t have much money, be thrifty.”
Qin Mu acknowledged it and went to knock on the other cult masters’ doors. “Fellow cult masters, if you don’t pay up, I’ll stop your offerings and dismantle your memorial tablets.”
“You scum, who bullies their ancestors? Isn’t it just money? Take it!”
Qin Mu knocked on every door and extorted about two hundred Fengdu gold coins. He then went to the residences of the human emperors and asked the strange beasts in front of Sacred Hall of Five Yang, “Is First Ancestor back?”
The two strange beasts ran into the hall and threw the taotie out. “Old master still hasn’t returned.”
The taotie landed on the ground and got burned by the true fire of pure yang. With a few bangs, it turned back into a huge chest that followed obediently behind the dragon qilin.
“Cult Master Qin, it’s time to leave!” Chi Xiu hurried him.
“God Chi Xiu, please wait a moment.”
Qin Mu went to Second Ancestor’s home who opened the door but didn’t walk out as he was worried about being burned by the true fire of pure yang. “Both of my sleeves are flowing in the breeze, and I really don’t have money, so I can only go to teacher’s house to freeload.”
Qin Mu took out a few Fengdu gold coins and smiled. “I know you have noble character and unquestionable integrity, so I’m here to give you a few gold coins to tide through this period of time. When I go back to Hall of Human Emperors, I’ll burn some money for all the ancestors.”
Second Ancestor was delighted and hurriedly took the gold coins. “You are much more filial than Little Su. Little Su isn’t back yet, but when he returns, we are planning to give him a huge surprise!”
“Second Ancestor, don’t forget to tell Village Chief I came by.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely tell him!” Second Ancestor gritted promised through gritted teeth.
Qin Mu hesitated before saying, “Second Ancestor, can you lend me First Ancestor’s Between Life and Death? I would like to do business…”
Second Ancestor was puzzled. “How would you use Between Life and Death for business?”
Qin Mu smiled. “There are many gods and devils in Fengdu who can’t go to the world of the living, so I would like to use Between Life and Death as a bridge for the divine arts practitioners to make deals through it. Divine arts practitioners can take their gold coins or learn their divine arts, paths, and techniques in payment for helping those already passed on fulfill their wishes. I think this could be a big business! I plan to pave a road through Great Ruins so I require some money to subsidize the expenses.”
Second Ancestor was still puzzled and asked, “Where will the money come from?”
“The divine arts practitioners will have to pay an entrance fee to use Between Life and Death, and I will earn a huge amount from it.”
Second Ancestor came to a realization and scolded him with a smile, “You wily brat.”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Between Life and Death can connect Fengdu to the world of the living, so Second Ancestor can collect money here too, taking entrance fee from the gods and devils. Like that, you can also earn a huge amount. Even if I don’t give offerings, you guys could live comfortably. In just a few years’ time, all the ancestors would become the richest tycoons in Fengdu!”
Second Ancestor was dumbfounded and cried out, “Collecting money from both sides? Such a good deal? Won’t people be jabbing our spine and scolding us?”
“Between Life and Death is in our hands and there’s only this road that can connect the world of the dead and the world of the living. Even if they scold, they will still have no choice but to take our road and pay us.”
Second Ancestor hurriedly rushed out, braving the true fire of pure yang, to get to First Ancestor’s Sacred Hall of Five Yang. He cared not for the blazing fire all over him as he dashed into the hall to fetch Between Life and Death.
The lips of the two huge beasts guarding the door twitched, and they said, “Second master, old master only had this much of property left. You will bleed him dry sooner or later!”
Second Ancestor smiled at them. “My master still regards me as an outsider? When I’m rich, you guys will benefit as well.”
Qin Mu took Between Life and Death, which was a small river that was about three yards long. There was a boat and a bridge within it.
Second Ancestor then instructed him, “Refine this Between Life and Death first. When you perform the rites, I will be able to sense it over here. Remember, perform the rites at night. If you perform it in the day, you’d see the same sight as right now. The gods on the sun would burn us and we wouldn’t be able to do any business.”
Qin Mu acknowledged it and hung the long river on his body. “Second Ancestor, wait for my news.”
Second Ancestor woke up at that moment and said immediately, “Business is a small matter. Don’t spend too much effort on this and focus on your cultivation. Leave collecting money to others.”
Qin Mu nodded and said, “I understand.” After saying so, he took out some more Fengdu gold coins. “Second Ancestor, please hand these over to the other ancestors for them to tide over these few days.”
“Human Emperor Qin is considerate.”
Qin Mu bade farewell, and God Chi Xiu sent him to the boundary stone of the living realm of the dead. “After going past here, there will be no more true fire of pure yang. Just take the boat back.”
Qin Mu gave his thanks. After walking out of the living realm of the dead, his corporeal body returned to normal. He waved to God Chi Xiu who spread his wings to fly away.
The dock was nearby, and Qin Mu called the lone boat in the sea of fog. The skeleton Daoist Ling Jing steered the boat over, carrying him, the dragon qilin, and the chest to the opposite shore.
When they came there, Qin Mu disembarked from the boat and took out three gold coins to pay the fare. Daoist Ling Jing was astonished and immediately said, “They are not humans so there’s no need to pay.”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Daoist, just take them.”
Daoist Ling Jing hurriedly accepted his payment before probing him. “Human Emperor Qin struck a windfall?”
Qin Mu laughed loudly. “I’m going to get rich! Daoist, farewell.”
Daoist Ling Jing saw him off and put away the gold coins properly while thinking to himself, ‘Another few hundred years, and I will be able to buy a house in Fengdu too…’
God Chi Xiu returned to Hall of King Qin and saw that the collapsed building had already returned back to normal. God Chi Xiu carefully walked over and saw King Yama standing at the back of the hall, looking at the flames behind the door.
“Visitor from Carefree Village, very interesting,” King Yama suddenly said. “Even though he wasn’t born in Carefree Village, his lineage is still that of Founding Emperor. He’s extraordinary. From just this short meetup, I actually have great expectations for him. If it was his father that had come, my expectations may be big, but I would still have become dispirited afterward. Yet now, even though I was disappointed when he arrived at first, my anticipation is only going to grow and grow.”
God Chi Xiu didn’t understand. “This Cult Master Qin, Human Emperor Qin, has a temper that jumps all over the place, so why is King Yama holding expectations for him? He stayed half a day in Fengdu and beat up all the past human emperors, smashed the palace of Cult Master Zu Yang, and beat up the past Heavenly Devil Cult Masters. He even went to extort money from the past cult masters and asked for Between Life and Death, planning to connect the world of the dead and the world of the living to do some business! Isn’t this fooling around?”
King Yama turned around and said with a smile, “Fengdu is too cold and cheerless, so let him play crazy and some unexpected changes might happen. I have never seen such an interesting person with such ideas. Maybe he can achieve what others couldn’t. Besides, the secrets about him aren’t as simple as he thinks. This makes me look forward to him even more…”
God Chi Xiu was astonished. “King Yama will really allow him to connect Fengdu to the world of the living for him to do his business?”
King Yama waved his hands and didn’t speak anymore.
Even though the sun had risen, darkness covered Youdu. There was no sky, no land, no sun, moon, or stars.
Xing An floated in the darkness, but at that moment, a faint voice rang out, waking him up.
“Xing An, wake up…”