Chapter 148: King Jiang of Qin Guang

Even with Fat Er wielding the God-Killing Spear, he was no match for the Peddler at all.

If the Peddler stood guard before the Ghost Gate, breaking through the gate to enter the Underworld for vengeance would be an absolute impossibility. Therefore, gripping the Qingping Sword, I said to Fat Er, "Fat Er, let's do this together!"

Fat Er nodded.

Though the Peddler had saved my life in the past, our stances now conflicted, and I had no choice but to cross him.

I grasped the Qingping Sword.
Fat Er gripped the God-Killing Spear.

Cyan sword qi surged and rippled along the blade of my Qingping Sword, brimming with latent power.

Crimson murderous and malevolent auras roared wildly around Fat Er's God-Killing Spear, burning like a raging, furious fire.

The next moment.

Fat Er and I moved simultaneously. The cyan sword qi intertwined with the crimson malevolent aura, and for a fleeting instant, the cyan and red radiances bathed the entire Ghost Gate in those two distinct colors.

Cyan clouds and blood-red mist surged upward.

The Qingping Sword and the God-Killing Spear seemed to resonate with a mutual affinity. When the two of us unleashed our techniques at the same time, our moves complemented and enhanced one another, drastically multiplying our combat prowess.

This was a completely unexpected gain.

The winds howled and the clouds churned, cyan and red energies soaring to the skies. Outside the Ghost Gate, sand and stones flew through the air, and the very earth trembled beneath our feet. Yet, amidst the violent gale, the Peddler stood completely unmoving.

The sword techniques of the Qingping Sword were infinitely variable.

Bolstered by Fat Er's malevolent aura, the sword qi of the Qingping Sword grew even more ferocious. Every single stroke and stance embodied an endless, killing intent.

The illusory contained the real, and the real contained the illusory.
It was dazzling to behold.

As my sword strike drew infinitely close to the Peddler, the killing intent condensed to its absolute peak. Once unleashed, this blow was bound to result in slaughter, yet at such a juncture, recalling the sword was simply impossible.

My heart skipped a beat. No matter what, I could not harm the Peddler; he was my savior. The very instant hesitation flickered through my mind, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.

The Qingping Sword was exceptionally sharp, and coupled with its heavy murderous intent, it could slice through iron as if it were mud.

However.

The Peddler merely raised his hand and blocked it with sheer physical force.

Under normal circumstances, anyone attempting to block such a blow bare-handed would surely have their arm severed. Yet, when the Qingping Sword struck the Peddler's arm, it produced a crisp, metallic clanging sound.

Across the Peddler's deep purple skin, intricate purple ghostly inscriptions materialized.

The purple radiance deflected the Qingping Sword.

The backlash from this impact sent me reeling backward. I staggered four or five meters away before barely managing to steady my footing.

Right behind me.

The God-Killing Spear crashed toward him. Everything happened as fast as lightning, yet it still failed to surpass the Peddler's speed. The spear, originally aimed at the Peddler's chest, somehow brushed harmlessly past his side. In the next second, the Peddler's footwork shifted, his figure phasing like shadows, and he instantly appeared right in front of Fat Er.

A chilling, sinister smile crossed the corner of his mouth, and the surrounding temperature plummeted sharply.

Fat Er seemed to see something terrifying; in an instant, he froze in place, utterly unable to move.

The next moment.

The Peddler swept out with a single palm strike, sending Fat Er tumbling over and over.

Then.

The Peddler turned his gaze back to me. I found myself looking into a pair of immensely bizarre eyes. They were the exact same terrifying eyes I had seen when he came to my home to harvest my grandfather's soul—eyes filled with extreme horror.

It was a paralyzing, irresistible dread.

The moment I looked into them, it felt as though I had plunged into an icy abyss. My entire body froze completely, my limbs refused to obey my will, and I could not twitch even a fraction of an inch.

The Peddler stared at me, stepping closer and closer.

Yet, I could do nothing at all.

However, just as the Peddler took his seventh step, he suddenly collapsed face-forward onto the ground. I noticed that, unbeknownst when, heavy bronze chains had wrapped around his hands and feet.

Furthermore, two bronze chains had pierced clean through his collarbones.

"What is going on here?" I could not help asking.

Fat Er scrambled up from the ground, equally clueless about what had just transpired. I glanced at Li Chi nearby and asked, "What are these?"

"Only high-profile criminals of the Underworld who are impossible to execute are shackled with these bronze chains. These bronze chains suppress a person's magical powers. To think that he was capable of unleashing such ferocious spells while bound by them is truly astonishing."

At this point, Li Chi paused briefly, then muttered, "However, using magic while wearing these bronze chains is bound to trigger their backlash. Look at him now..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Chi realized he shouldn't have said them. Yet, for some reason, the words had slipped out uncontrollably.

Had he kept silent, the fallen Peddler might have retained a certain level of deterrent presence.

"That's for the best. Boss, you don't have to fight him anymore!" Fat Er said. In truth, deep down, I never wanted to fight the Peddler in the first place. Setting aside the fact that he had saved my life, I had no desire to cross swords with him; if anything, I wanted to become friends with such a person.

Glancing at Li Chi, I instructed, "He's your responsibility now. Keep him safe!"

"This..."

Hearing my command, Li Chi was utterly bewildered. As the leader of the Eighteen Great Ghost Kings, he was expected to take orders from a mortal from the living realm? What kind of logic was that?

Fat Er glared at him and asked, "What? Unwilling?"

"No problem at all!" Li Chi replied.

His compliance wasn't driven by Fat Er's intimidation. Rather, it stemmed from his intense curiosity about the Peddler. He knew the man stood on the side of the Underworld, yet such a powerful figure in the nether realms had been subjected to such heavy shackles—what kind of hidden story lay behind all this?

Of course, this was precisely what I was curious about as well.

The Peddler's true identity grew increasingly shrouded in mystery.

With our path no longer blocked by the Peddler, the Ghost Gate posed no real obstacle to Fat Er and me. As the two of us stepped back in front of the Ghost Gate, a mass of black fog abruptly materialized within the portal.

The moment this black fog appeared, the dim, twilight glow that had lingered across the sky outside the Ghost Gate instantly faded into pitch darkness.

An inexplicable, heavy oppressive atmosphere suddenly weighed down upon the surroundings. The ghost soldiers and minor spirits stationed along the ramparts of the Ghost Gate all dropped to their knees, prostrating themselves fully on the ground.

Li Chi and his subordinates did the exact same thing, bowing prostrate with their bodies pressed flat against the earth.

Amidst the billowing black clouds, the illusory figure of a towering entity stood at the zenith.

Countless minor spirits swarmed beneath his feet. He wore a dark, basalt-colored brocade robe embroidered with black pythons, featuring leopard-like eyes, a lion-like nose, and a thick, flowing beard, crowned with a square official's headwear. When he spoke, his voice rumbled like thunder rolling through dark clouds. Flanking him were two tall, imposing figures, similarly wearing square caps and bearing fierce, ferocious countenances—one wielding a bronze sword, and the other holding a scroll of texts.

"Who dares to be so audacious as to assault my Ghost Gate!"

Judging by his attire and the reaction of the ghost soldiers and Ghost Kings, this person held an immensely lofty status within the Underworld.

I turned my head and asked Li Chi who the newcomer was.

Li Chi lowered his voice and answered, "The newcomer is King Qin Guang! Heavenly Master Zhong Kui! Judge Cui!"

Having said that, he pressed his face hard against the ground, not daring to utter another syllable.

I truly had not expected that this single confrontation would draw one of the Ten Courts of Yama alongside two supreme judges. It seemed the commotion Fat Er had stirred up this time was indeed colossal.

"One of the Lords of Yama in your Underworld declared that when it comes to the people of Old Boundary Ridge Village, it is better to execute the innocent by mistake than to let a single one escape. Today, we have come to exact vengeance. We advise you to hand that King of Yama over to us at once; otherwise, once we shatter the Ghost Gate, my demon clan will march straight to the City of Fengdu!" Fat Er raised a hand, pointing directly at the figure above the dark clouds, and declared thus.

Atop the black clouds, King Qin Guang let out a cold laugh as the dark mist roiled. He said, "Executing the innocent rather than letting a guilty one escape—those were indeed the words of I, King Qin Guang Jiang. What, are you planning to take the life of King Qin Guang?"

So, the mastermind who had been stirring up trouble in the Underworld was none other than him.

Hearing these words, Fat Er and I soared into the air simultaneously.

"Don't go over there!"

Though unconscious, the Peddler cried out those words. However, he was utterly weak at the moment, and his voice was so faint that neither Fat Er nor I heard it.

Even if we had heard him, our enemy was right before our eyes, and Fat Er and I would never show leniency. Even if he was one of the Ten Courts of Yama, King Qin Guang Jiang would undoubtedly pay for his crimes with his life.

The God-Killing Spear in Fat Er's hands flashed with brilliant light.
The Qingping Sword in my grip radiated fierce, piercing sword intent.

The black clouds surged aggressively toward us. The sword intent of my Qingping Sword and the malevolent aura of Fat Er's God-Killing Spear instantly forced the black clouds to recoil. Seeing this, King Qin Guang flew into a rage and commanded, "Zhong Kui, Minister of Punishments, and Cui Yu, Minister of Underworld Laws! These two have rebelled and committed treason—deal with them as prescribed by law!"

"Understood!" Zhong Kui and Cui Yu responded in unison.

Judge Cui drew forth the Underworld Law Register, which instantly emitted boundless radiance. The Law Register, decreed by the Dao of Heaven, possessed an inviolable majesty. At that moment, its golden light surged like blazing fire, enveloping Fat Er and me within its sphere. Cui Yu proclaimed, "Lin Wu and Lin Yi, natives of Old Boundary Ridge Village, have rebelled and committed treason. Their crimes demand their execution, and they shall never reincarnate!"

Zhong Kui, the Minister of Punishments, dressed in a crimson python robe, stood at the pinnacle of the dark clouds. With bulging eyes, an iron-hard face, and bristling whiskers, he unholstered his Heavenly Master Sword, releasing an overwhelmingly fierce sword intent.

Wielding his magical sword, Zhong Kui the Minister of Punishments arrived beside Fat Er and me in the blink of an eye. By then, Fat Er and I had already been bound hand and foot by beams of spell-light generated by the radiance emanating from the Underworld Law Register. The light from the register seemed capable of piercing straight into our marrow and souls, stripping us of any ability to resist.

"Execute!"

Zhong Kui thundered with rage.