Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 114: Let It Clear Its Head a Little More

The path back to the mortal world lay in the area where the Yama sat upon its dragon throne.

The Yellow Springs and Yin Lands had already mutated.

A mutated home was no home at all. Only the Pure Immortal Temple would forever be home.

The Golden Horn just wanted to go home.

It had gathered its full strength, lowered its savage head, and aimed its heaven-defying horn—radiating faint golden light—straight at the Yama's corpse. Then it shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

But why was that skeleton-framed wretch bursting out of the Soul-Hooking Manual like a lunatic?

And why was that stupid lamp firing off the Singular Divine Light at a time like this?

Huh? Why was Yellow-Skin Dad holding something that looked like a sledgehammer, blocking the way to the Yama's corpse? What was that look in his eyes?

How strange...

"Stop!!"Chen Huangpi raised the crane-beak pickaxe and brought it down on Golden Horn's skull with everything he had.

He swore—every last ounce of his strength went into that single swing.

Thunk!

Golden Horn's four legs went rigid. Its body seized up and it collapsed to the ground.

"So he wanted me to stop..."

Golden Horn lay on the floor, all eight eyes glazed with confusion, its mouth twisted sideways as it slurred, "But why... didn't he use... the Dog Rearing Scripture... instead of cracking me over the skull..."

With that, its tongue lolled out and it immediately passed out cold.

Chen Huangpi wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "It happened too fast. I had no choice."

Golden Horn was simply too quick.

And its temperament was pigheaded. Chen Huangpi hadn't even had time to think of the Dog Rearing Scripture.

Thankfully, the Life-reaping Ghost had warned him to block it right away.

The Brass Oil Lamp had also fired off the Singular Divine Light in the nick of time.

And the crane-beak pickaxe was genuinely heavy.

Together, they'd managed to stop Golden Horn.

"Chen Huangpi, you didn't kill this stupid dog, did you?"

The Brass Oil Lamp poked at the Golden Horn with one hand.

The beast's body was already stiff. It was inhaling more than exhaling, and its chances of survival appeared slim at best.

Chen Huangpi shook his head. "Golden Horn is in soul-form. The breathing is just an illusion. It won't die."

"Its skull has an actual dent in it and that's fine?"

"That's the fontanelle. It'll close on its own."

Chen Huangpi didn't want to dwell on the topic of Golden Horn. He casually stowed it back into the Soul-Hooking Manual and turned to the Life-reaping Ghost, who was still shaken. "A Gui, get in there too. Keep an eye on Golden Horn. Don't let it actually die."

"Rest assured, Contract Master. I'll take very good care of it!"

The Life-reaping Ghost cracked its neck left and right with a sinister grin, then transformed into a streak of spectral light and dove into the Soul-Hooking Manual.

This Seventh Hall Yama might not share any blood relation with it.

But that was still a Yama.

Even dead, even with its head hung above the city gates, the body remained a Yama's corpse.

Though things appeared safe for the moment.

This was still the world behind the ghost gate. If that stubbornly determined beast Golden Horn had actually succeeded in its charge, who knew what kind of chaos would have erupted.

"Contract Master, please tread carefully."

The Life-reaping Ghost didn't forget to caution Chen Huangpi. "This Yama and those ghost officials—they're only corpses now. They haven't transformed into evil spirits. That's clearly abnormal. Leave as quickly as you can."

"I was too reckless. I shouldn't have let Golden Horn out."

Chen Huangpi admitted his mistake.

But the only one who could find the path back to the mortal world was Golden Horn. He simply hadn't expected the path to be exactly where the Yama sat—and he certainly hadn't expected Golden Horn to charge at it head-first like a fool.

Inside the grand hall, the Yama's corpse sat upright on the dragon throne.

On both sides, headless ghost officials stood in formation.

At first glance, it looked exactly like a court assembly in session.

Chen Huangpi beckoned to the Brass Oil Lamp.

It immediately floated over to him.

"Come on. Let's go up and take a closer look."

Carrying the Brass Oil Lamp, Chen Huangpi crept toward the Yama's corpse with extreme caution.

He currently stood at the center of the grand hall.

The closer he drew to the Yama's body, the more oppressive the atmosphere became.

Because this Yama's corpse was simply enormous.

It was the largest creature Chen Huangpi had ever seen.

Even seated on the dragon throne, the sole of its shoe alone was as tall as a man.

Its residual aura was so overwhelming it made Chen Huangpi struggle to breathe.

"In life, it must have been something far more powerful than an immortal."

The only immortals Chen Huangpi had encountered were Yi Qingzhou and the Evil Buddha's head.

The Evil Buddha's head and the Yama's head had given him a similar feeling—though the latter was more ferocious, while the former was more sinister.

But the Yama's body standing here.

Was far more terrifying than a mere severed head.

The Brass Oil Lamp, however, was puzzled. "Chen Huangpi, the Yama's head transformed into an evil spirit. How come its body didn't?"

"And look at those ghost officials."

"Doesn't it feel like they're watching us?"

"They're not looking at you or me."

Chen Huangpi glanced at the ghost officials flanking the hall.

Their corpses were all slightly turned to one side. If their heads were still attached, they would have been looking toward...

"The entrance?"

Chen Huangpi turned to look at the grand hall's entrance.

But there was nothing there.

The Brass Oil Lamp murmured with dawning comprehension, "Perhaps long, long ago, the Guanzhu once came here. These ghost officials and the Yama might have been cut down the instant they saw him."

Everything since entering the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands.

Though the Guanzhu's presence was nowhere to be seen, every sight and experience seemed somehow connected to him.

Chen Huangpi shook his head. "Not necessarily Master. There's no trace of that sword's aura on their corpses."

"That sword flew off to the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty ages ago."

"You think the Guanzhu couldn't kill them without the sword?"

The Brass Oil Lamp said disdainfully. "It's not the sword that's powerful and therefore makes the Guanzhu formidable. It's the Guanzhu who's formidable, and therefore his sword is so terrifying."

"But didn't the Yama Kings perish along with the Yin Emperor, reduced to ash?"

Chen Huangpi arrived before the Yama's corpse, his tone strange. "Even if Master came here to kill them, the timeline doesn't add up."

"Maybe they deserted!"

The Brass Oil Lamp speculated maliciously. "Beings at the Guanzhu's and the Yin Emperor's level must have known each other. The Guanzhu was cleaning house on the Yin Emperor's behalf. A Gui, why are you getting so worked up? Don't tell me you think your old man deserted too?"

"Huang, you watch your mouth!"

The Life-reaping Ghost's voice shook with fury. "I may not respect him much, but he would never do something so dishonorable! I saw it with my own eyes—he followed the Yin Emperor and charged straight into the sun."

"Every last one of the Ten Halls of Yama did the same."

Seeing that any more goading would push the Life-reaping Ghost past its breaking point.

The Brass Oil Lamp wisely held its tongue.

Still, deep down, it was convinced these Yama Kings must have been deserters. Otherwise, if the Yin Emperor had ascended.

What business did a Yama have still sitting around down here?

And just then.

Chen Huangpi had also finished circling the Yama's corpse.

But the path to the mortal world was nowhere in sight.

"Golden Horn said the path was right around this dragon throne area, but I've been looking and looking and can't find it. Could it be up above?"

Chen Huangpi thought for a moment, then summoned the billowing black smoke around him and floated upward along the Yama's body.

In a few breaths.

He reached the top of the dragon throne.

The throne's surface was not flat—it was woven from some material Chen Huangpi couldn't identify.

While it might be called a "throne" from the Yama's perspective.

For Chen Huangpi, the gaps between its slats were as wide as river channels.

If he'd been walking instead of flying.

One wrong step and he'd have plummeted through.

The Brass Oil Lamp frowned. "A Gui, is Golden Horn awake yet?"

"It's awake, but..."

"But what?"

"It's still insisting on ramming the Yama's corpse aside."

The Life-reaping Ghost said helplessly. "It says the Yama is sitting on top of the path. Move the body, and the path opens."

"It's delirious."

Chen Huangpi said through clenched teeth. "Let it clear its head a little more."

Move the Yama's corpse aside to expose the path?

What kind of joke was that?

This Yama's body was incomprehensibly massive—truly like an entire mountain.

Forget about moving it—just looking at it was enough to inspire despair.

If not for the fact that the Yama Hall itself was even more colossal, its ceiling so impossibly dark it resembled an abyss, the Yama's body wouldn't have even fit inside.

"Contract Master, Golden Horn still won't change its story. It's still insisting we need to move the Yama's corpse."

"Then it still hasn't cleared its head! Keep checking! Keep reporting!"

"Contract Master, if we keep checking, Golden Horn genuinely won't be able to stay conscious."

"This..."

Chen Huangpi gazed at the Yama's corpse and let out a long sigh. "I know in my heart that Golden Horn is probably right. But how am I supposed to move it?"

"Its corpse is as grand and towering as a mountain."

"I know a thing or two about mining, but moving an entire mountain? I can't do that."

"Huang Er, do you have any ideas?"

Hearing this, the Brass Oil Lamp shook its head. "This Yama's corpse is too large. I'm not at full strength, and the Singular Divine Light can't envelop it entirely. I can't do anything to it either."

"This won't work, that won't work."

Frustration gnawed at Chen Huangpi. Staring at the Yama's corpse, he felt a surge of irritation and blurted out, "What if we just let Golden Horn try again? It said it would ram a path open. Maybe it actually has a way?"

The Life-reaping Ghost said ominously, "Contract Master, are you certain you want to do that?"

"Is there any other option?"

There truly was no other option.

Granted, the idea of Golden Horn ramming the Yama's corpse aside sounded utterly preposterous.

But an unreliable plan was still better than no plan at all.

He couldn't exactly kick the Yama's corpse out of the way himself, could he?

Muttering this, Chen Huangpi absentmindedly gave the Yama's corpse a kick.

And in the next instant...

His eyes flew wide.

The Yama's corpse swayed...

That mountainous body—gargantuan beyond comprehension—rocked as though it were made of paper. A single kick had moved it. There was nothing of the immovable-as-a-mountain grandeur he'd expected.

Chen Huangpi was overjoyed. He immediately released Golden Horn from the Soul-Hooking Manual—battered, its mouth twisted crooked, its once-brilliant horn now dim and lusterless.

"Golden Horn, why didn't you say so sooner? I completely misjudged you."

"Yellow-Skin Dad..."

Golden Horn croaked brokenly, "You... opened up with a full-force blow to my skull... I... I wanted to explain... you didn't give me the chance..."

"And also... that wretched ghost... it said I wasn't thinking clearly... said if I didn't change my answer, it would keep hitting me..."

With that, Golden Horn's eight eyes rolled back, its head flopped to one side, and it passed out again.

Because the breath it had been holding out of sheer stubbornness finally dissipated.

Looking at the Golden Horn now, pressing his hand against the dent in its skull, Chen Huangpi's heart ached terribly.

The Brass Oil Lamp said, "It's fine. Just the fontanelle."

Chen Huangpi pretended he hadn't heard that.

"Golden Horn is this loyal to me. I can't let it down."

Chen Huangpi stowed Golden Horn back into the Soul-Hooking Manual, then whispered, "A Gui, you're going to have to take the fall for this. Golden Horn must never find out I ordered you to do it."

"..."

The Life-reaping Ghost said resignedly, "Yes, Contract Master."

It wasn't the first time. Taking a bit more blame for Chen Huangpi was nothing new.

At this point.

Chen Huangpi turned his attention back to the Yama's corpse.

The thing wasn't nearly as heavy as he'd feared.

Even without Golden Horn, he could move it himself.

With that resolve, Chen Huangpi wasted no more time. A single thought summoned countless thick, colossal tree branches from thin air—vast and serpentine—stretching out endlessly.

The Magic Tree was already eighty to ninety percent subdued.

At this moment, channeling the full power of the Magic Tree was equivalent to a Calamity-class being unleashing its might.

The branches wrapped around the Yama's corpse like whips.

The body swayed and shuddered.

But as though held in place by some unseen force, no matter how hard Chen Huangpi pulled, the corpse remained seated on the throne.

Chen Huangpi poured in every ounce of strength he had.

Not just the Magic Tree's power—he also channeled every last drop of vital essence forging the Liver Temple inside his liver.

And then, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination.

But an unbearable itch began to spread from his liver, gradually engulfing his entire body.

It wasn't the first time this itch had appeared.

It had flared briefly once before, back at the bottom of the God-Burying Mound, when he'd killed the As-You-Wish Bodhisattva. But that time it had come and gone in a flash. This time was different—rather than fading, it was intensifying.

Chen Huangpi's entire body felt wretched. His skin flushed a deep, angry red, veins bulging across his frame.

But just then...

His liver pulsed once.

The maddening itch vanished in an instant.

Every abnormality across his body disappeared along with it—as though whatever transformation his liver had been attempting was still just a spark away from catching fire.

Even so, Chen Huangpi felt as though a surge of new power had materialized out of nowhere. He bellowed at the Yama's corpse, "Get down!!"