Outside, chaos and carnage raged, but inside the Primordial Palace, all was quiet and peaceful, with no sound from beyond.
The Primordial Palace was clean and tidy, clearly tended to regularly.
It was nightti now, when the Three Corpses Gods were most active. Chen Shi saw his mother's Three Corpses Gods.
The Upper Corpses God, Peng Ju, lay on the ground, his face ashen, staring blankly at the sky.
The Middle Corpses God, Peng Zhi, sat leaning against a tree, his eyes empty, his spirits low.
The Lower Corpses God, Peng Qiao, lay prostrate on the ground, awaiting death's arrival.
They were shrouded in grief, like stone statues.
The mistress of the Primordial Palace was so deeply sorrowful that her Three Corpses Gods, born from desire, were also trapped in anguish, unable to break free from their sadness.
Chen Shi walked past these three ugly corpse gods, and they didn't spare him a single glance.
The Divine Court's gate within this Primordial Palace was open, yet they did not enter to persuade their mistress to accompany them out for revelry.
They had lost all vitality because of their mistress's grief, and were trapped inside this Primordial Palace by the ghost gods, unable to leave.
Chen Shi climbed the steps, his body transforming as he walked.
He had been in the form of a large yaksha these past days, and only now did he end the deity transformation technique, reverting from a yaksha back to human form.
He worried the yaksha form would frighten his mother.
Chen Shi entered the Divine Court. From the outside, it appeared to be a magnificent palace, but as he stepped inside, an endless corridor stretched before his eyes, with room after room lining both sides.
"Mother, where are you?" Chen Shi called out loudly.
His voice echoed through the corridor, fading into the distance, but no one answered.
Chen Shi reached the first room and pushed open the door. Soft, warm light t his eyes.
This room looked like a delivery room. Old Lady Wuzhu, acting as midwife, held a baby in her arms, her face beaming with a smile.
A young Chen Tang stood beside Old Lady Wuzhu, leaning in to look at the baby in her arms. He reached out wanting to hold it, but was afraid his strength might hurt the child.
There were over a dozen versions of Old Lady Wuzhu in the room, each holding little Chen Shi in a different pose, standing in a different spot.
There were also many more versions of a young Chen Tang, scattered around the room. So didn't hold the baby, so did. So had grown bold, lifting little Chen Shi high into the air, while others secretly peeked under the swaddling to check.
They were like figures made of smoke. When touched gently, one's hand passed right through them as if nothing was there.
Their bodies would dissipate where the hand passed through, but would soon reform, still maintaining their original posture.
Chen Shi passed through them, arriving at the bedside. Another Chen Tang sat at the head of the bed, looking at the person on it with a tender, loving, and grateful gaze.
But when Chen Shi followed his gaze, there was no one on the bed.
Chen Shi understood. This was the perspective of the woman who had just given birth on that bed.
She had just gone through childbirth, weak and powerless, lying in bed watching the midwife bustle around the room with her child. Then she watched her husband cautiously enter, going from not daring to hold the newborn, to holding it in his arms, to lifting it high, and finally coming to her side, caring for her health. The couple exchanged touching words.
"This room holds Mother's mory of when I was born," Chen Shi thought to himself.
He left this room and went to the room across from it.
This room was filled with cradles, each one holding a tiny Chen Shi. These little Chen Shis looked identical. So were wailing loudly, so had their fingers in their mouths, so were giggling non-stop.
Chen Shi entered the next room. This one was filled with babies who had soiled themselves everywhere, a chaotic ss, slling foul, with diapers hanging all over.
Chen Shi arrived at another room, full of little Chen Shis crawling on the floor, causing a ruckus.
He continued along the corridor, entering room after room. As he went deeper, the little Chen Shis inside gradually grew older. From crawling everywhere, to sitting on the floor gnawing on table legs, to wobbling as they learned to walk, to sprouting a few tiny teeth.
The Chen Shi in the rooms also grew taller. There was one grabbing a duck by the neck and dragging it inside, saying they should have it for lunch. Another drew and scribbled all over the walls and floor. Yet another had turned the couple's clothes and belongings upside down. And one Chen Shi, after being spanked by Chen Tang, hid under the bed crying...
The scenes behind the doors gradually shifted from bedrooms to the outdoors.
It was the Chen family's courtyard now.
He would learn to write in the study with Chen Tang, lie on his mother's lap in the sunshine while she cleaned his ears, help her wind balls of yarn, flee in panic from Chen Tang's whip, and co back covered in mud, one hand holding his shoes, the other holding a few fish, a silly grin on his face as he listened to scoldings.
Then, behind the doors, scenes of Huangpo Village appeared. A Chen Shi running around everywhere, standing on walls, climbing trees, playing gas with other village children, and standing in a corner getting reprimanded.
...
"These are all mories about ."
Chen Shi rapidly opened door after door, searching for his mother's trace. But the more he saw, the more puzzled he beca.
In these mories behind the doors, Chen Shi occupied most of the fra, and part of it was Chen Tang. But he couldn't find his mother's mory of herself.
She always focused her energy on Chen Shi and Chen Tang, rarely paying attention to herself.
So in these mories, she was always absent.
Chen Shi hurried onward, pushing open door after door. The mories behind them were warm, sweet, and harmonious. The figure of Grandpa Chen Yindu also appeared, and whenever Grandpa ca ho, the house was bustling with activity.
There was also a sullen Chen Tang, pouring out his heart to her about being bullied by Creation Little Five.
The Chen Shi behind the doors grew older day by day. From a tiny infant, he gradually grew to eight or nine, studying with Chen Tang, and would even go to the loess slope outside the village to read.
He was getting taller.
...
"Mother! I'm alive, Mother!"
Chen Shi stood in the corridor and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I've co to save you! Where are you?"
His voice echoed through the empty corridor, but no one answered.
Chen Shi opened another door. The mories behind the previous doors had been rich in color, more vibrant than the colors of the real world. But the mory behind this door was black and white, without any other color, except for a pool of blood on the ground that was a vivid red.
A body lay on the ground, tiny. It was Chen Shi's corpse.
In this mory behind the door, there was no sky, no earth. Complete darkness surrounded everything.
A woman knelt before Chen Shi's corpse, weeping bitterly, but no sound could be heard. She trembled, but her face could not be seen.
She seed to be calling her son's na, begging him to co back, shouting until her voice was hoarse.
This ti, Chen Shi saw his mother. But the perspective was high above, a soul's perspective, not that of human eyes.
Pain.
Too much pain.
It hurt so much that the soul couldn't bear it, actively tearing itself from the flesh, escaping the body, and watching this grieving mother from a detached, elevated perspective.
The soul that had left the body wanted to return to the flesh, but the pain was still too great.
Chen Shi stared blankly at this scene, then turned and closed the door. Standing in the long corridor, his nose stung.
He steadied himself and opened the next door.
Behind it was a black-and-white world, no sky, no earth. Besides little Chen Shi's corpse and the grieving mother, and a streak of bright red blood, there was nothing else.
Chen Shi opened another door. Behind it was the sa black-and-white world. Little Chen Shi's small corpse and the mother kneeling on the ground.
He opened yet another door. The world behind it was still black and white, the sa as before.
Chen Shi opened door after door, pushing deeper into the corridor, but every single door behind was the sa. It never changed again.
His mother's soul, wrenched from her body by pain, had ford this mory from a soul's perspective. For a very long ti afterward, she was imrsed in this painful mory, unable to ever walk out of it!
No grief in all the world could surpass this.
Chen Shi didn't rember how many doors he had opened. He still couldn't find his mother. He called out loudly, but received no response.
He ran forward, shoving open door after door. Behind each one was the sa black and white. He still couldn't find his mother.
He ran forward like a madman, but this path seed endless. It was as if every room was a repetition of little Chen Shi's death. He kept running, kept opening new doors, and behind each one was the sa scene.
Chen Shi ran forward, his heart burning with anxiety.
This rescue of his mother was not a sure thing!
Her imprisonnt here was the King of Hell's arrangent. Judging by Young Master Wei Yue's tone, the King of Hell had once used this setup to catch Chen Shi and imprison him.
This ti, he had enlisted the help of the Boat Girl, the Three Great Judges, as well as Black Pot and the Stone Tablet Carver Du Yiran. But they couldn't hold out for long!
There were too many underworld officers in the Immortal Capital, charging over in an endless stream. Even the Emperor of Heaven could be worn down and buried by them!
Chen Shi had to rescue his mother in the shortest possible ti!
But how could he find his mother among these seemingly endless doors?
He ran forward, frantically opening door after door, calling out loudly. But this corridor seed to have no end, and the doors had no end either. No matter how fast he ran or how far he went, there were always more doors ahead.
Chen Shi opened another door and took a quick glance. It was the sa scene as before.
He turned to close it. He couldn't look in every single room. He had to save ti. Skip over a dozen rooms, then open a door. That way, he could save a lot of ti. When the scene behind the door changed, then he would search carefully.
He was about to run forward when a voice ca from behind a door nearby.
"Little Ten, Mother has finally found you."
Chen Shi's body suddenly froze. He looked at that door, his hand trembling as he pushed it open.
Behind the door, a boundless sea of fire greeted his eyes. Flas leaped high, and within the fire stood towering demon gods, all gazing in the sa direction.
Demonic flas churned in the sea of fire, shooting up to the sky.
A frail woman knelt in the flas, tightly holding a child of eight or nine years old.
"Little Ten, Mother has found you."
Chen Shi stared blankly at this scene. A mother's soul, crossing the ghost-and-demon-infested underworld, everywhere filled with man-eating monsters, traversing mountains of blades and seas of fire, to search for her child.
He didn't rember any of this.
He didn't rember his mother's soul leaving her body to find him in the underworld. He didn't rember the mother and son's reunion in the sea of fire.
He stared at this scene for a mont, then quietly backed away and gently closed the door.
"Little Ten..."
A trembling voice ca from behind him. Chen Shi's body shuddered. He turned around.
His mother's soul had sohow appeared behind him, staring straight at him, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing.
"Little Ten!"
She rushed over and hugged Chen Shi tightly, just like in the hellish sea of fire, surrounded by a host of demons, she had tightly held the nine-year-old little Chen Shi.
"Little Ten, Mother has finally found you." She choked out.
Chen Shi opened his arms and held her tightly, afraid that this fragile yet incredibly strong soul would fly away from too much heartache.
"Mother, I've co to take you ho!"
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