The wine of the underworld was anything but bland and watery. Chen Shi was thoroughly drunk by the beekeeper A Zhuo, and a mont later, A Zhuo was also completely wasted. The two hooked arms over each other's shoulders, addressing each other as brothers.
"Lord, we have found the hiding place of the fugitive criminal, Daoist Xue."
At that mont, a Bee Official approached, bowing as he reported, "Daoist Xue, current age one hundred forty-three years. Yang lifespan ninety-two, Yin lifespan fifty-one. Logically speaking, he has been dead for fifty-one years. Fifty-one years ago, he used a false death technique to escape. Later, he was found by underworld officers and escaped again using a body double technique. After that, when underworld officers found him, he used the Seven Star Lamp to set up a formation, trapping the officers and escaping once more. The third ti we found him was already twenty years ago."
A Zhuo, slurring his words, asked, "How did he escape that ti?"
The Bee Official flipped through a ledger and said, "At that ti, Daoist Xue purchased eighty pregnant sows about to give birth and placed them in a pasture. From the underworld's perspective, they appeared as large and small halos of reincarnation, making it impossible to approach. Thirty-six underworld officers forced their way into the reincarnation array, and four of them were reincarnated. Daoist Xue took advantage of the chaos to use a life-borrowing technique, borrowing twenty years of lifespan from a young man passing by the pasture. This obscured the vision of the underworld officers, allowing him to escape."
Chen Shi, his eyes bleary and crooked from drink, laughed, "This guy is certainly a master at escaping."
A Zhuo asked, "How was he discovered?"
"The young man whose lifespan he borrowed died. This year, at only forty-two years old. Originally, he should have died at sixty-two. He died twenty years early."
The Bee Official said, "That's when we realized there was sothing strange about this person's lifespan. Coincidentally, the bee swarm was gathering nectar when Daoist Xue passed by. His lifespan was exhausted, yet he was still alive and well, which was detected by the bee swarm."
"Little Ten, co with to capture him and bring him to justice!"
A Zhuo stood up, pulling Chen Shi with him. The two hooked arms over shoulders, staggering out of the Underworld Bee Mansion.
The Bee Official hurriedly chased after them, saying, "My Lord, when enforcing the law, you cannot bring a living person along. It's against the underworld's rules."
A Zhuo flicked his sleeve dismissively. "Chen Shi is my brother. I am brothers with his grandfather, and I am also brothers with him. Why can't we go together? Your words lack human feeling!"
The Bee Official was caught in a dilemma, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, anyway, the Righteous and Incorruptible Official is not here, and no one in the underworld is in charge. Soone, bring honey water for the Lord and the Young Lord to sober up."
A Bee-woman ca forward with honey water and served it to the two of them.
The Bee Official prepared soldiers, horses, and a carriage, inviting A Zhuo and Chen Shi to board. The bee swarm surrounded the carriage as it drove out of this underworld island, speeding across the sea's surface.
Chen Shi drank the honey water and was blown by the underworld wind. His drunkenness gradually faded a bit. He was looking at the scenery outside when suddenly, he saw a huge landmass, slanted and embedded in the Dark Sea, appear in the Southern Abyss. A giant dragon let out an earth-shaking roar, flying from the mortal realm, piercing through the barrier between the two realms, entering the underworld, and landing on that enormous landmass.
"That is a fragnt of the Tongue-Pulling Hell."
A Zhuo held his head, complaining of a headache. Seeing Chen Shi staring intently, he said, "It has been in the Southern Abyss for a long ti. It existed even before I ca to the underworld to beco an underworld marshal. I really shouldn't drink anymore in the future."
Chen Shi withdrew his gaze. "That dragon..."
A Zhuo said, "It's probably transford from so treasure, entrenched on the fragnt of the Tongue-Pulling Hell. It's a forbidden zone in the Southern Abyss."
As they spoke, they saw the sky above the Tongue-Pulling Hell split open. A bluestone path extended from the mortal realm. A powerful figure, like an Imperial Maiden, stepped along the Bluestone Path, charging into the underworld.
Fighting alongside her as they entered the underworld was another woman, vaguely resembling the boat girl in appearance. But at this mont, she had transford into a body dozens of *zhang* tall, battling the Imperial Maiden. It was none other than Granny Sha and the boat girl.
The bee swarm, surrounding the carriage, drove past them.
On the Bluestone Path, Granny Sha and the boat girl saw the people in the carriage clearly and were both montarily stunned.
However, the bee swarm was extrely fast, flashing past their eyes in an instant.
Imdiately after, the bee swarm beat their wings, broke through the air, pierced through the boundary between Yin and Yang, and disappeared.
"That seed to be Little Ten and that bastard A Zhuo!"
Granny Sha was shocked. In that fleeting glimpse, she saw a youth who looked very much like Chen Shi sitting in the carriage, but dressed in splendid attire, a refined young master, sowhat different from the usual Chen Shi.
"A fugitive prisoner, sitting in an underworld marshal's carriage!" The boat girl was also astonished.
The two had been searching for the Judge's Dragon-Whisk Brush, tracking it all the way here, fighting all the way here. They never expected to encounter Chen Shi here. Even more unexpected was that Chen Shi seed to have prospered, holding a rather high status in the underworld.
However, the two had no ti to think much. While fighting, they landed on the fragnt of the Tongue-Pulling Hell.
Both felt their tongues stirring restlessly. Startled, they hurriedly clamped their mouths shut, mobilizing a portion of their cultivation to suppress their tongues.
This place was filled with a strange power. As long as one opened their mouth, their tongue might fly out.
They leaped into the air, fighting as they chased after that giant dragon!
In the sky, dragon whiskers hung down. The two darted among the dragon whiskers, their attacks growing fiercer and more ruthless.
Granny Sha let out a sharp cry, activating the Supre Eight Trigrams Body Protection Art, manipulating wind, fire, thunder, marsh, mountain, water, heaven, and earth, borrowing the power of nature. Her might grew increasingly stronger.
The boat girl revealed her true form as an underworld officer. Her combat power in the underworld also surged dramatically. A horse-headed Primordial Spirit manifested behind her as she sneered coldly, "Granny Sha, you dare to use your full strength in the underworld? Aren't you afraid your old rival will co looking for you?"
Granny Sha also summoned her Primordial Spirit, sneering coldly, "This old woman has fought her way in and out of the underworld as if walking through streets and alleys. When have I ever been afraid of you all? No matter how many underworld officers co, I'll take them all down!"
The Judge's Dragon-Whisk Brush, after over a thousand and four hundred years of mutation, had transford into a great dragon. It andered across the fragnt of the Tongue-Pulling Hell, climbing to a high place, looking down upon the two from a commanding position.
It sensed that these two were truly formidable, far more powerful than the other treasure seekers. That's why it had fled back from the mortal realm to hide here. Unexpectedly, it was still found.
Granny Sha, her fighting spirit ignited, felt a surge of wickedness: "Might as well go all out and slay this petty underworld deity. It's not like I haven't done it before..."
Just as this thought crossed her mind, suddenly, the sky cracked open with a *crack* sound. A stretch of brilliant clear sky invaded the underworld, causing violent spatial tremors in the sky above the Southern Abyss Sea!
"Realm of Emptiness!"
Granny Sha and the boat girl looked up, hearts startled. They saw a giant hand reach out from that Realm of Emptiness. Its magical power was vast and mighty, carrying clouds as it grabbed downward. In an instant, it seized the Judge's Dragon-Whisk Brush that had transford into a great dragon!
"Let go!"
Granny Sha and the boat girl simultaneously attacked that giant hand. However, as the Realm of Emptiness vanished, the giant hand disappeared along with the Judge's Dragon-Whisk Brush!
The two were both shocked and furious. Granny Sha rushed along the Bluestone Path back to the mortal realm, pursuing with murderous intent. However, she only saw a thin mist clinging to the lake's surface, with no one there.
Her heart turned icy cold, cold sweat beading on her forehead. "A supre expert at the Great Ascension Realm has been following us all along, seizing the opportunity to steal the treasure!"
The boat girl also caught up. Seeing this situation, she urgently said, "That person is incredibly powerful! Granny Sha, can you trace this person's origins? You, , and my father joining forces will surely be able to reclaim this treasure!"
Granny Sha exhausted all her thods but ultimately could not calculate who the treasure thief was. Shaking her head, she said, "This person planned this for a long ti. After succeeding, they imdiately concealed all traces, even their soul cannot be tracked. The Judge's Dragon-Whisk Brush... it's impossible to recover..."
Her expression darkened.
Chen Shi sat in A Zhuo's carriage. The bee swarm carried them into the mortal realm. Chen Shi looked back and said, "That person just now was Granny Sha!"
A Zhuo said, "I saw her too. But official business cos first. Let's deal with Daoist Xue first, then go look for her. Speaking of which, us six great villains of the Five Lakes haven't gathered together for a long ti!"
"Six great villains of the Five Lakes?"
Chen Shi blinked, saying, "I heard Granny Sha say it was five great villains..."
A Zhuo said in surprise, "Did she not count herself? Originally, it was five great villains: your grandfather, Boss Chen; the mixed-blood celestial fox Hu Xiaoliang; the evil spirit Blue Goat; the Stone Tablet Carver, Old Man Du; the Soul-Searching Rakshasa, Granny Sha; and , A Zhuo. I'm the filler, not fierce at all."
Chen Shi was dumbfounded. In Granny Sha's account, the beekeeper A Zhuo was the fiercest of the five great villains.
Yet, judging by the nicknas, Granny Sha seed to be the fiercest one.
A Zhuo, feeling rather lancholy, said, "After you died young unexpectedly, Boss Chen tried every thod to revive you and gradually drifted apart from us. Old Man Du and I both have official duties and couldn't follow him into seclusion. But the celestial fox, Blue Goat, and Granny Sha gathered around Boss Chen."
He sighed. "Perhaps for the rest of our lives, we can never recreate the scene of the six great villains gathering together."
Chen Shi smiled. "Uncle A Zhuo, who can say for sure about the future? It definitely will happen."
A Zhuo shook his head and stood up. The carriage gradually ca to a stop.
He got off the carriage, and Chen Shi followed. The clothes on their bodies gradually beca plainer, turning into the coarse linen clothes commonly worn by farrs.
A Zhuo also no longer had his previous heroic image. He was large-handed and large-footed, his face tanned red by the sun, his chest and neck below also sunburned red.
The carriage changed accordingly, transforming into a wooden cart. The cart carried many beehives. The bee swarm behind them grew smaller and smaller, gathering together, drilling into the beehives, going in and out, emitting waves of honey fragrance.
Chen Shi clicked his tongue in wonder. Looking closely, these bee creatures were just like normal bees. Who would have thought that the bee creatures would actually be the tens of thousands of underworld soldiers of the underworld!
Ahead of the bee cart, a Bee Official transford into an old ox, pulling the cart forward.
The place they were in was still the South Lake, but it was the north shore of the South Lake.
Chen Shi and A Zhuo followed the bee cart to a village. The little boys and girls in the village, seeing the beekeeper had co, ran over joyfully. A Zhuo cut a small piece of honey for each of them, repeatedly saying, "Don't get close to the cart, be careful of getting stung by the bees!"
The children were overjoyed. Then, adults from the village ca with bowls to buy honey.
Honey was a rare sweet treat, carrying the fragrance of flowers. When the beekeeper passed by, anyone in the village with a little spare money would buy so, more or less.
"A Zhuo, you haven't been here for a long ti!" An old man in the village who knew him said with a smile.
A Zhuo raised his hand, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his wrist, giving a simple, honest smile. "Yes, I went to the south side of the Great South Lake to keep bees. There are many flowers there, very fragrant. It delayed for a few months."
"Of course. From our place to the south to keep bees, the round trip takes several months."
A Zhuo busied himself cutting and weighing honey, while Chen Shi collected money. The two quickly sold dozens of *jin* of flower honey.
At that mont, a slovenly old Daoist passed by the cart. Slling the fragrance of the honey, he couldn't resist his appetite and said with a smile, "Cut two *jin* of honey."
A Zhuo opened a beehive to get honey. "Daoist Master, do you have sothing to hold it?"
The slovenly old Daoist held a writing brush in his hand. Chen Shi looked at the brush handle, a puzzled expression on his face.
The slovenly Daoist noticed him and smiled. "I just ca back from outside, I don't have anything. Just co with to my place."
A Zhuo agreed and drove the cart, following the slovenly old Daoist forward. "Daoist Master, I didn't see you last ti I ca to your esteed village. When did you arrive?"
Soone nearby laughed. "Daoist Xue has lived in our village for a long ti, over ten years already. Didn't you see him last ti you ca?"
"I didn't."
A Zhuo shook his head.
"Daoist Xue is a very good person. For over ten years, he's drawn talismans and incantations for our village, cured illnesses, exorcised evil, and never charged a single coin." The villagers praised.
Chen Shi raised an eyebrow. A Zhuo had co here a few months ago and hadn't seen this Daoist Xue, yet the villagers said he had lived here for over ten years. Clearly, altering the mories of villagers was much easier than altering the mory of an underworld marshal.
"That brush just now..."
The slovenly Daoist led them to his residence, opened the door, and walked in. A Zhuo followed into the courtyard, looking around, puzzled. "Three months ago, the Shi Jingming couple and their family of six lived here. Where are they? How did it beco Daoist Master living here?"
The slovenly Daoist, with his back to them, smiled. He held a Yellow Talisman between his sword fingers, gave it a light shake, and the talisman ignited. Smiling, he said, "Beekeeper, this Daoist wants to borrow sothing from the little boy beside you."
A Zhuo smiled. "Borrow what? If we have it, we'll definitely lend it to you."
The slovenly Daoist turned around, looking at Chen Shi, and smiled. "I want to borrow twenty years of lifespan from this little brother!"
A Zhuo fell silent. After a mont, he said, "So, this is how Daoist Xue has lived to be one hundred forty-three years old? Daoist Xue, the person whose lifespan you stole has already died."
The slovenly Daoist's heart jolted. He hurriedly looked at A Zhuo. The surrounding heaven and earth instantly vanished without a trace, replaced by a dark, gloomy underworld. Underworld winds howled, sweeping across the land!
That honest-looking fellow now had a body that beca incomparably majestic, radiant with divine light all over. He held a marshal's seal and a precious register in his hands, his gaze stern as he looked at him!
Behind this underworld marshal, tens of thousands of bee creatures transford into underworld soldiers, so with bee heads and human bodies, others with human heads and bee bodies, hovering in the air, surrounding him!
The slovenly Daoist's expression changed slightly. Suddenly, he laughed heartily, no longer hiding himself. His aura surged violently. A Realm of Emptiness, like a jade-like grotto-heaven, appeared behind his head, rotating in the air. Sun, moon, and stars operated within the grotto-heaven, like a miniature world!
"Think of , Daoist Xue, a hero all my life, my skills and arts unmatched under heaven, never eting a worthy opponent!"
Daoist Xue's Primordial Spirit was vast and imnse, residing within the Realm of Emptiness. Looking down from a high position, he gazed upon Underworld Marshal A Zhuo and the underworld soldiers and officers, sneering coldly, "Just because my lifespan was exhausted, I was hunted like a dog by you underworld lackeys! Enough! Today, this Daoist Master won't hide anymore! Because Daoist Master no longer fears you underworld officers! Let tell you!"
He flipped his palm, and a writing brush appeared in his hand. Sneering coldly, he said, "This is the Judge's Dragon-Whisk Brush from the Tongue-Pulling Hell. Today..."
At A Zhuo's feet, Chen Shi raised incense offerings and bowed, saying, "Brush, co."
The Dragon-Whisk Brush in Daoist Xue's hand trembled and flew out with a *whoosh*, landing in Chen Shi's hand.
Chen Shi grabbed the brush, overjoyed, and laughed, "Fortunately, I've been constantly refining and tempering it these days!"
Daoist Xue's heart was startled. He saw Underworld Marshal A Zhuo raise the underworld talisman marshal seal and bring it down. He raised his hand to block it directly. His Primordial Spirit imdiately descended from the Realm of Emptiness, about to rge with his physical body, transforming into a divine demonic entity of the Law Manifestation of Heaven and Earth!
Even without the Judge's Dragon-Whisk Brush, he was still one of the rare, peerless masters under heaven. Even facing a living underworld marshal, he had the strength to fight, even the possibility to turn the tables, kill the underworld marshal, and escape justice!
However, at the very mont his Primordial Spirit flew out of the Realm of Emptiness, *whoosh, whoosh, whoosh*, countless venomous stingers pierced into his Primordial Spirit's body.
Daoist Xue was stunned.
The Primordial Spirit was a thing of emptiness, without substance. How could it be hit?
"*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*"
Countless venomous stingers attacked, covering the entire front of his body.
"His grandmother's, have the guts to fight one-on-one..." Daoist Xue's face was covered in black energy. His body swayed and he fell down.
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