Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 461: It’s Better for the Evil Ghost to Take Action Personally
After waiting for a while, Ox-Head and Horse-Face came out from inside and bowed again, "Yama invites you, please follow me."
They followed them into the hall, where Yama was adjudicating with the Book of Life and Death in hand. Looking up and seeing Chen Nuo, he smiled, "Shopkeeper Chen, your reputation precedes you. And who might this be?"
Before Nuwa could respond, Yama closely inspected Nuwa’s face. He felt it was very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, but couldn’t recall where at that moment.
After a few glances, Yama was shocked and immediately rose from his seat and paid homage to Nuwa by kneeling.
"Goddess Nuwa graces us with her presence; this humble king has failed to greet you from afar. I hope Goddess Nuwa would not take offense!"
Nuwa raised her hand, "It’s alright; we have matters that require your assistance, so naturally, we came to visit you."
Only then did Yama rise, but he dared not return to his seat, standing somewhat stiffly to the side, "May I ask why you have come here?"
"It’s not a matter of much importance," Nuwa said. "I befriended a child in the Earth Realm, and that child’s mother was recently taken by your envoys. The child just wishes to know if her mother is faring well, and I thought since you oversee such matters, I would come to inquire."
"This matter?" Yama felt somewhat troubled; although he managed the life and death of mortals, this kind of information was not publicly available.
Even if it was Nuwa asking, it put him in a difficult position to satisfy such a request.
"How so? Is it not possible?" Nuwa could tell from Yama’s expression that this would be difficult to arrange.
"It’s not that it is impossible, it is just that, once a mortal has passed away, they are supposed to have no connection to their past life, and to forcibly link the two goes against the natural order," Yama explained. "This matter is not within my power to handle. Would you wait until I consult with the Jade Emperor and then return?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"You need to consult over such a trivial matter?" Nuwa was not as patient with others as she had been with Chen Nuo.
"I truly am unable to handle this here," Yama said, seeing Nuwa getting slightly angry, which made him even more uneasy. "I only manage these matters and should not divulge the conditions of a mortal’s afterlife to others. I truly apologize, Goddess Nuwa."
"If you were to consult, how long would it take?" Nuwa asked.
Yama calculated, "After the consultation, we would have to wait for the Jade Emperor to deal with it. This issue is not a big deal; even if it were to be handled, it would only take about ten days to half a month. Although it’s not very long, it will pass swiftly."
"The ten days to half a month you’re speaking of are by the Heavenly Court’s count, correct?" Chen Nuo inquired, raising an eyebrow. "If we truly waited ten days to half a month, I’m afraid that child would be aged by then."
"The procedures are as such, and I truly have no way around it," Yama said, wringing his hands.
"You have no way?" Chen Nuo let out a cold laugh. "The last time I was here, that mortal’s soul had already lost two of its Three Souls and four of its Seven Spirits. She had made a deal with an Evil Ghost. Have you from the Earth Realm managed to capture that ghost yet?"
Yama was visibly alarmed, having forgotten about this matter.
An Evil Ghost escaping the netherworld was a very troublesome affair, and of great importance. It was something that should have been reported to the Heavenly Court, but feeling the responsibility was too heavy for him to bear, he planned to shut the doors and deal with it privately.
With the passage of time, the Evil Ghost’s power grew stronger, devouring many of the envoys he sent.
Those dispatched most recently had not returned, and if they failed to do so again, he would have to call upon Black and White Impermanence to intervene.
Seeing Yama’s expression, Chen Nuo understood that the matter had still not been reported to the Heavenly Court.
"Lord Yama, I’m not sure what counts as an urgent matter in the netherworld, but this Evil Ghost is extraordinarily powerful. The Judge previously told me that after devouring nearby Wandering Ghosts, it began to prey on the spirits of the freshly deceased. If one day the Evil Ghost targets the living, what would you do?"
Chen Nuo’s voice was slow, yet his words pierced the heart, causing beads of sweat to stream down Yama’s forehead.
"This, I, I actually..."
"I know what you are thinking," Chen Nuo said indifferently with a glance at Yama, "You were just thinking about quickly capturing that evil ghost before things got out of hand to prevent the Heavenly Court from thinking you’re ineffective in the Underworld."
"That evil ghost is easy to subdue. I just didn’t want to trouble the Heavenly Court, as this is fundamentally our affair in the Underworld," Yama stammered.
"And then?" Chen Nuo countered, "Why hasn’t the evil ghost been subdued by now? Is this what you meant by ’easy to subdue’?"
"No, I..." Large beads of sweat slid from Yama’s forehead; he stuttered for a while but still didn’t know how to respond.
The scrutinizing looks from Nuwa and Chen Nuo made him even more at a loss.
"So, are you trying to blackmail me with this situation, to make me find that mortal’s afterlife?"
Yama was at a loss for words initially, but suddenly recalled what Goddess Nuwa had mentioned to him at the beginning.
Yama instantly understood their intention; if that was the case, he felt he was on an equal footing with them in this matter.
"No, I was just thinking that we could make a trade," Chen Nuo proposed, "I have always disdained using threats to achieve my own goals."
Yama understood what Chen Nuo wanted to discuss. If so, there indeed was room for negotiation.
"What do you propose, Shopkeeper Chen?"
"I’ll subdue that evil ghost for you, and you help me find Lady He’s afterlife. That evil ghost is quite troublesome, isn’t it? In that case, do you still need to report this matter to the Heavenly Court, Lord Yama?
"Since Shopkeeper Chen has put it that way, I’m not in a position to refuse," Yama said smartly. It was just a matter of finding a mortal soul’s afterlife, a quick flip through the Book of Life and Death, to deal with this troublesome evil ghost, which indeed seemed like a good deal.
"Good, it’s settled then. I will go find that evil ghost now, and you look through the Book of Life and Death for me," Chen Nuo exchanged a look with Goddess Nuwa and turned to leave the Yama Hall.
"Shopkeeper Chen, aren’t you going to ask Yama where the evil ghost frequents?" asked Goddess Nuwa.
Although she had great confidence in Chen Nuo’s abilities, setting off to find an evil ghost without any knowledge seemed unwise.
"No need to ask, I know where it is." Chen Nuo was fully confident in capturing the evil ghost.
Goddess Nuwa was a bit puzzled. Could Chen Nuo’s mana be so powerful? Even for her, it would be no easy task to leave and find someone in this vast heaven and earth without any information.
What spell could Chen Nuo have that would allow him to find that evil ghost without any information at hand?
Even without voice transmission, Chen Nuo could guess what Goddess Nuwa was thinking.
He had already observed upon entering that a group of Yin Envoys had headed southeast. The Underworld had fewer Yin Envoys than the last time he was there; Yama must have mobilized most of them to capture the evil ghost.
He had keen hearing and could discern things happening within a hundred miles just by exerting a bit of mana.
That’s why he had already discovered the general direction of the evil ghost upon entering. With the right direction, it would just take a bit of searching to find it.
