Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 116: Sign the Confession on His Behalf

Outside the grand Yama Hall.

The Brass Oil Lamp and the Life-reaping Ghost had already exhausted every idea they could think of.

But the doors wouldn't budge an inch.

There was simply no way in.

The Singular Divine Light was useless. The Life-reaping Ghost's connection to the Soul-Hooking Manual had been severed.

Only the link through the Dog Rearing Scripture remained.

The Brass Oil Lamp asked urgently through their mental bond, "Chen Huangpi, what's happening in there? Has the Yama—have those ghost officials thrown you into the eighteen layers of hell yet?"

"Not yet. But it's about to happen."

Chen Huangpi replied in terror. "Huang Er, the Judge says that counting my years before birth and after, I've lived over thirty-five thousand years. It seems like they want to charge me for crimes I supposedly committed when I was still a dead egg."

"What?"The Brass Oil Lamp seethed with rage. "Does the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands have no justice?! No rule of law?!"

"By the way, what crimes did you commit when you were a dead egg?"

"They say I drained the Yellow Springs and devoured the Yin Lands."

Chen Huangpi protested indignantly, "But I never did any of that. They're framing me."

"Then you're done for."

The Brass Oil Lamp shook its head. "Right now it's a case of 'we're the fish on the cutting board.' Whatever they say goes."

"But this Yama and these ghost officials were clearly dead."

"How did they suddenly come back to life and start putting you on trial as if nothing happened?"

"I'm about to be sent to hell and you're still puzzling over that?! Hurry up and find a way to rescue me!"

"I'm thinking! I really am thinking!"

...

Inside the grand hall, silence reigned.

The Judge stared blankly at the Soul-Hooking Manual, reviewing the charges from when Chen Huangpi was still a dead egg.

Each and every one was a capital offense.

All the criminals the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands had sentenced across countless ages—their combined crimes couldn't match what was attributed to Chen Huangpi alone.

"Trumped-up charges! Where there's a will to condemn, the evidence will follow!"

Chen Huangpi clenched his teeth. "I can't read. I can't write. I won't confess, and I won't sign anything."

If he truly had such abilities.

He wouldn't be trapped here, at the mercy of these ghost officials and this Yama.

Besides, he genuinely hadn't done these things.

Just listen to those charges—drained the Yellow Springs, devoured the Yin Lands.

Even a True Immortal probably couldn't pull that off.

The Judge ignored Chen Huangpi's protests and instead looked toward the headless Yama with bewilderment. "Your Majesty, could there be an error in the Soul-Hooking Manual? When was the Yellow Springs drained? When were the Yin Lands devoured?"

"Moreover, with his level of cultivation, if he fell into the Yellow Springs, his body and soul would disintegrate on contact—to say nothing of the Yin Lands."

If anything were wrong with the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands.

Even the Soul-Hooking Manual would issue a warning.

More than that, every being born from the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands would feel it in their bones.

The Ten Halls of Yama couldn't possibly have failed to notice.

Let alone the Yin Emperor, sovereign of all four directions.

The headless Yama's voice carried a note of uncertainty. "The Soul-Hooking Manual does not make errors. Yet this King also detects nothing amiss with the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands. This matter may be major—or it may be trivial. Let us first see what other crimes this Chen Huangpi has committed before passing judgment."

The Judge said, "Reporting to Your Majesty: this individual's sins are immense. Draining the Yellow Springs and devouring the Yin Lands are merely the most severe charges within our jurisdiction. His crimes in the mortal world are even more exhaustive."

"One hundred thousand divine beings perished because of him."

"Moreover, an ascended deity of the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty had its flesh devoured by him while still alive."

"But could crimes of this magnitude truly have been committed by a cultivator of his level?"

"Exactly!"

Chen Huangpi forced himself to speak through gritted teeth. "If I really could do such things, my cultivation would have to be incredibly powerful. But look at me—I can't even break free of the chains on my hands or the cangue on my neck. These crimes clearly weren't committed by me."

The hundred thousand divine beings had been forged by those Daoists under his master's orders.

He hadn't killed them personally.

That blame should fall on his master.

As for devouring the flesh of a Great Qian deity—that was sheer fabrication.

With that thought, Chen Huangpi hastily added, "I'm a cultivator of the Dao! I don't even eat beef, let alone devour a living deity's flesh. I'm a good child. I'm not that wicked."

Every word came from the heart.

Not a single one was a lie.

The Judge said helplessly, "Your Majesty, this official does not know how to sentence this individual. Every charge is a capital offense, yet none of them could have been committed by someone of his abilities. The Soul-Hooking Manual must have a serious flaw."

"Perhaps there was a mis—"

"Hmm?!"

"A clear determination! I was going to say—a clear determination has been reached!"

The Judge instantly caught itself, because in the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands, making a mistake was the same as ignorance—and ignorance was a grave crime.

"Your Majesty, this official requests the Ten-Directional Bone-Illuminating Mirror!"

The Ten-Directional Bone-Illuminating Mirror was a divine treasure bestowed by the Yin Emperor himself.

The so-called "ten directions" referred to the four cardinal and four intercardinal points.

Eight directions representing eight positions, eight fates.

The remaining two represented time and space.

This mirror could reveal not only a person's entire life history, but also their past lives—every sin committed, every event experienced—all laid bare in crystal clarity.

So the Life-reaping Ghost explained to the Brass Oil Lamp.

Who then relayed it to Chen Huangpi.

Chen Huangpi, confident he hadn't done any of those things and only slightly nervous, maintained a bold front. "Go ahead and shine it. I don't mind. But when you discover I'm innocent, I want you to know—even if you apologize, I won't forgive you."

"Heh heh..."

The Judge said coldly, "Stubbornness is also a crime!"

Chen Huangpi immediately shut his mouth.

His eyes blazed with anger; his heart ached with injustice.

The Yellow Springs and Yin Lands were truly no place for anyone. Ignorance was a crime. Stubbornness was a crime.

Why not just declare that being alive was a crime?

At that moment.

The headless Yama raised one hand and swept it toward the ceiling of the grand hall.

The ceiling above was almost entirely dark.

Chen Huangpi had studied it earlier but couldn't make anything out. Yet the moment the headless Yama waved its hand.

A beam of mirror-light descended, shining directly onto Chen Huangpi.

There really was a mirror up there.

Perfectly square, its surface like liquid mercury.

The frame holding the mirror in place was formed by four sculpted Diting beasts, so lifelike they seemed ready to spring to life.

The Ten-Directional Bone-Illuminating Mirror hung directly above the headless Yama's seat.

Bathed in the mirror's light.

Chen Huangpi felt as though his entire being had been rendered transparent.

On the mirror's surface appeared a skeleton.

Then blood vessels and flesh sprouted from the bones, and in the blink of an eye, the skeleton grew into Chen Huangpi's likeness.

The headless Yama flicked a finger lightly.

The image in the mirror rippled.

But once it settled, nothing had changed.

"You have no past life?"

The Judge exclaimed in shock. "Every living being has a past life and a present life! The only exception is a Dao Lord who has proven their truth once and for all. Otherwise, nothing escapes this iron law. Why does it not apply to you? What manner of creature are you?"

"I'm a Dao Lord?"

"..."

The Judge suddenly burst into three peals of laughter. Every ghost official in the grand hall followed suit.

Even the headless Yama couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"Him?"

"His combined years of death and life don't even add up to forty thousand."

"In our Yellow Springs and Yin Lands, that's a child barely worth a fart. And he's a Dao Lord?"

"Under all the heavens, the only one who could ever attain the Dao Lord's mantle is that figure from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty."

"But the Heaven and Earth Mutation is about to begin. It will take eighteen thousand years. Only after Yellow Heaven is born will that figure merge with the Dao and ascend to the position of Dao Lord."

"Wait!"

Chen Huangpi rushed to say, "Then my master is the Dao Lord! My master is the one you're talking about—from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty!"

"..."

The ghost officials went silent for a beat. Then they all doubled over in uproarious laughter.

As if they'd just heard the joke of the century.

The headless Yama itself could no longer maintain its cold, authoritative tone and snorted derisively. "That figure is an old acquaintance of the Yin Emperor. If you were truly his disciple, it would not be you standing trial here—it would be this King."

That figure had not yet attained the Dao Lord's position.

But since the Heaven and Earth Mutation was imminent, every realm—the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands, the mortal world, the Celestial Realm, and countless smaller worlds—knew that after eighteen thousand years, that figure was destined to become the Dao Lord.

The Yin Emperor was his old friend.

How could he possibly allow that figure's disciple to suffer such a fate?

"The Ten-Directional Bone-Illuminating Mirror cannot reveal this one's past life. That can only mean he does not qualify as a living being—he is merely wearing a human skin."

"Or perhaps he was born of heaven and earth."

"But with the Heaven and Earth Mutation upon us, what would be the point of heaven and earth producing such a waste?"

"Enough, enough."

The headless Yama couldn't be bothered arguing with Chen Huangpi any further and addressed the Judge directly. "Perhaps the Soul-Hooking Manual truly has malfunctioned. Set aside those charges for now. They can be revisited at a later date."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Thank you, Yama King. You're a good person."

Chen Huangpi was ecstatic, convinced he was about to be thrown into the eighteen layers of hell.

He never expected such a dramatic reversal.

But Chen Huangpi had celebrated too soon.

Because the headless Yama promptly continued, "Now tally his crimes of ignorance, stubbornness, impersonating a Dao Lord, impersonating a Dao Lord's disciple, and wasting this court's time."

The Judge replied, "This official has already completed the calculation. According to the laws of the Yellow Springs and Yin Lands, this youth shall be cast into the eighteen layers of hell for nineteen million, eight hundred and twenty-four years, plus four hours and three quarter-hours. Not one moment more, not one moment less."

Chen Huangpi cried out in shock and fury. "How can it be that severe?!"

"We haven't even gotten to the severe part."

The Judge sneered. "After you serve your full sentence, your soul will be shattered and ground down by the millstone bit by bit until your true nature is obliterated. And should your previous charges be substantiated in the future, additional sentences will be stacked on top."

With that, the Judge carried a written verdict to Chen Huangpi, smiling as it said, "Come now. Sign here."

"I can read and I can't write! I'm not signing!"

Chen Huangpi snarled through clenched teeth. "Not only will I not sign—I'm going to report all of you for framing me."

"Report us? To whom could you possibly report?"

"The Yin Emperor is your boss..."

Chen Huangpi said wretchedly. "If he weren't dead, I'd take my case straight to him!"

"Insolent wretch! You dare curse the Yin Emperor?!"

The headless Yama erupted in wrath. "Add another ten million years to his sentence!"

Chen Huangpi lashed back, "Even if you add a hundred billion years, I'll say it again—the Yin Emperor is dead! Killed by the sun! And you lot deserted! All you can do is bully a child like me!"

"Audacious!"

"You're the audacious ones!"

Chen Huangpi roared, "Your Yama title is a joke! My master chopped your head off and hung it on the city gates! Go ahead—throw me into the eighteen layers of hell! When my Third Master gets out, he'll slaughter every last one of you!"

"This King will be waiting."

The headless Yama's voice turned frigid beyond measure. Dark wind howled through the grand hall, so fierce that Chen Huangpi couldn't even keep his eyes open. With a crash, he was blown off his feet and slammed to the ground.

"Sign the confession on his behalf!"

"Yes!"

The Judge picked up a brush and wrote upon the verdict: "I, Chen Huangpi, acknowledge the enormity of my sins and willingly accept punishment. Should I recant hereafter, it shall only be because I could not endure the torments. Therefore, the signature made at this moment shall stand as the binding truth."

Seeing this, the headless Yama gave a cold, contemptuous laugh.

This wild lunatic had no filter on his mouth—every sentence more deranged than the last.

Claiming his master had chopped off the Yama's own head and hung it on the city gates.

Did he think his master was a Dao Lord?

Even if he were, this King had never offended any Dao Lord. Why would one treat him so?

With that thought, the headless Yama went to stroke its beard out of habit—only to grasp at empty air. The moment was genuinely bizarre, and it was left utterly bewildered.

"Where is this King's head?"